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Archiver > MAMIDDLE > 2002-12 > 1039003832


From: "BBFFRRPP" <>
Subject: [MAMIDDLE] RootsWeb Mailing List for .. Cambridge, MA .. ??? (Incorp. 1630)
Date: Wed, 4 Dec 2002 07:10:32 -0500


Good morning,

This morning on one of the Mailing Lists someone brought up the MOORE
surname. I had posted a query on Francis MOORE of Cambridge, MA, a few
months ago. I haven't yet found my (paper) notes, so that I can offer a
summary of what I found, but it just occurred to me .. that there is not a
CambridgeMA List .. at www.rootsweb.com

This is surprising because, as I understand it, Cambridge (then Newtowne or
Newe Towne) was incorporated in 1630 .. I think before Boston was
incorporated. And, this city has a wonderful history .. going through
each century.

I just found the web site for the Cambridge Historical Society and was
disappointed that it did not offer a "History" section:

http://www.cambridgehistory.org/

But, I found the web site for the Cambridge Historical Commission, and it
does offer a "brief history" ...

http://www.ci.cambridge.ma.us/~Historic/cambridgehistory.html

I'm always wondering how close in time.. the founding of Boston and
Cambridge were, and I just found this web site which seems to help explain
it:

Some time after landing, Winthrop found a clear spring of water on a
peninsula called Shawmut, and there he took up his abode, founded a town,
and called it Boston. Newtown, now Cambridge, was the first capital, but
Boston was soon chosen as the seat of government. Meantime, Roxbury,
Charlestown, Watertown, Dorchester, and other towns were founded.

http://usahistory.info/New-England/Massachusetts.html

http://www.bostonhistory.info/

Actually, I just found a different web site which offers the following:

By mid-July of 1630, Winthrop’s fleet had reached the shores of
Massachusetts, but their first landing at Salem was a disappointment as the
settlement was short of food and not able to support another thousand
inhabitants (much like cars today). Though they found their way to the mouth
of the Charles River, their health had deteriorated so badly that at least
200 had died. Across the Charles River, William Blackstone, a former
clergyman, was living an isolated existence as a trapper on the Shawmut
Peninsula - the original land mass of Boston. Word came to him from Indian
friends of the difficulties his fellow countrymen were having. He sent a
message to John Winthrop advising him that the Trimountain hills on his side
of the river were far more suitable for settlement

http://www.iboston.org/mcp.php?pid=taleOfTwoBostons

It now seems that both Cambridge and Boston were founded in .. 1630!

Thank you for your time.

Betty (near Lowell, MA)


"There are two lasting bequests we can give our children;
one is roots, the other is wings."

Hodding Carter, Jr.


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