THE BEGINNING OF A TOWN CALLED HARDWICK
by Sherry Johnson
Captain Samuel Ruggles Jr., born in 1658 in Roxbury, Massachusetts Bay Colony, was a prosperous man, innkeeper, and an active participant in town and colony matters, spending many years as selectman, representative, and Captain of Roxbury military company.
In 1686, he and seven other men from Roxbury--Joshua Lamb, Nathanial Paige, Andrew Gardiner, Benjamin Gamblin, Benjamin Tucker, John Curtis, and Richard Draper--formed a group that would be the proprietors of Wombemesscook, the Indian name of the large tract of land 12 miles long by 6 miles wide, now known as Hardwick.
On that cold December 27 day in the year 1686, this group of men from Roxbury would meet four Native Americans--John Magus and Lawrence Nassawano, (who represented Annogomok, the sachem of land called Wombemesscook), James and Simon, (who were the heirs of “Black James,” the Sachem of the Nipmuck country), to transfer rights in the land for the sum of 20 British pounds. After this deed was signed, few Nipmuck remained in this territory.
Captain Samuel Ruggles Jr.’s son, Reverend Timothy Ruggles, was born in 1685 in Roxbury, graduated from Harvard College in 1707, and was ordained pastor of the church in Rochester, Massachusetts Bay colony. He held a high rank in the ministry and was preeminently a man of business. Reverend Timothy was more active and efficient than any other individual in promoting the settlement of Hardwick. Through his influence and exertions, six sons and a daughter of his own family, five sons and a daughter of his sister Patience, wife of James Robinson, and many members of his parish were among the early settlers of Hardwick. On behalf of the proprietors, he visited the town several times, arranging the financial affairs of the people and ministering to their spiritual wants.
In 1732, the claim to the plantation or the settlement of “Lambstown” (named after one of the proprietors, Joshua Lamb), was finally granted by the general court to the sons and heirs of the Roxbury purchasers.
Prior to receiving incorporation as a town, the provincial government made certain mandates of the proprietors. It would take many years to accomplish this as settlers would need to live up to these many requirements:
A surveyor had to measure and draw the plan of each person’s land.
Within 5 years, they must have 60 families settled on the land, needing to be native of New England.
110 Lots of 100 acres each were laid out; this 11,100 acres was less than 1/2 of Lambstown’s total acres. It is believed that the balance of the land was used to entice useful settlers such as lumber, grist, and carding millers.
Provincial requirements also specified building a good and convenient dwelling house, 18’ square and one story high. Many of these early Hardwick homes exist today as a larger or expanded version of the original footprints.
In order to provide for a strong agricultural community, settlers were required to “clear and bring 4 acres fit for improvement, and 3 acres more well stocked with English grass.”
Settlers needed to build fences and walls to enclose their properties and roads that would connect them to the mills, markets, and surrounding neighbors.
They were required to have a school in the town.
Building a meeting house settled with a “learned and orthodox minister” was required and would be placed at the geographic center of town. Lambstown’s first meeting house built in 1736 was situated on Greenwich Road (currently marked by a stone with a plaque). Its first minister was Reverend David White.
During this Puritan time period, the minister played a critical role in the town, typically the most educated person in town, providing stability on the frontier, discipline for its settlers, and a sense of community with strong morals. Attending all day services on the Sabbath was mandatory.
By 1739, the proprietors of Lambstown had finally fulfilled the needed requirements, and the general court granted them the right to incorporate as the town of Hardwick, (named for Phillip York, Lord Hardwicke, a member of the privy council). After 53 long years, a new town and viable community was born.
The Grandson of Samuel and the son of Reverend Timothy Ruggles, Brigadier General. Timothy Ruggles was born 1711 in Rochester, MA., and was a graduate of Harvard Law in 1732. He came to Hardwick in 1753 with his wife Bathsheba, their 7 children, and other Ruggles kin. He was an extremely prominent leader in the Massachusetts Bay colony, a pioneer in scientific farming, and saw the advantages of removing himself from Sandwich to Hardwick to lead a gentleman farmer’s life on his new 400-acre farm. He began a lifestyle in fitting with his wealth and that of an English country gentleman in what was once the frontier. He brought to life the dreams of his father and grandfather, all 3 having played a vital role in creating and bringing into existance a town we now call Hardwick.
