HISTORICAL REFERENCES: MASSACHUSETTS. 711 



niul, as our liver was 'the uotedest place' for fish iu the early days of onr plantation, we presume that the 'seine, 

 being a net sent to fish with,' was the first seine ever drawn in iis waters, and the first (Irau-ii on this continent. This 

 was probably in 1631 ; and the first draft was doubtless au event of liveliest interest, of rare wonder, and exceeding 

 ioy. If any web or filament of that pioneer 'seine' had come down to us, it would be fitting for the town, in the year 

 1881, to parade it as a banner, and under it to unite in celebrating the tilth fishermen's jubilee on the river. 



"June 6, 16u9 : 'It is ordered that all wears shall be set open from the last day of the week, at noon, till the 

 second day in the morning.' Johns' n, iu his ' Wonder-working Providence,' says ' The Lord ii pleased to provide for 

 them great store of fish in thospi'ing-time, and especially alowives, about the bigness of a herring. Many thousands 

 of these they use to put under their Indian corn.' 



Had Mr. Cradotrk's letters to his ageLts in Medford been preserved we should certainly have in them a complete 

 hUtory of the fishing establishment he maintained here, and probably a comparative estimate of sea and river fishing. 

 The introduction of the drag-net, in Hi:!l, when Mystic River was lull of fish, was an example that would be followed 

 more and more as proper seines could bo knit and easy markets secured. The narrowness, of the. river, the steepness 

 of its banks, its freedom from rocks, and its many convenient landing-places rendered net-fishing easy and cheap. It 

 settled clown iuto a regular business, and any one had a right to pursue it. We have no account of the intermittent 

 run of certain fish as witnessed iu our time. We presume it may not have been so remarkable then, when dams 

 and water-wheels had not impeded or frightened the tinny adventurers, or when filth and poisons had not made their 

 highways dangerous. We think it will be found that several species of fish will have periodic returns to^laees which 

 they have left for many years. Acts of legislation have not been wanting by our town or State ; Imt the fish care 

 nothing about rotes. 



"The first mention of specific action by the town, as such, is dated January 18, 1768, when it was voted 'to 

 petition the general court concerning the fishery in this town.' 



"March 3, 1768: Mr. Benjamin Hall and others petition the general court ' for liberty to draw with seines at two 

 Uili'rreut places iu MUtick Kiver three days in a week.' This petition was not acted upon for some years. The next 

 act of the general court touching this prolific trade in Medford was in February 1(>, 1769. and was as follows : 'An act 

 to prevent the destruction of fish called alewives and shad iu Mystic River, so called, within the towns of Cambridge, 

 Charlfstown, and Medford, and for repealing all laws heretofore made for that purpose. Whereas the. fishery in Mystic 

 River, iu the conuty of Middlesex, if properly regulated, will be of great public utility, as it serves to promote the 

 cod-fishery and is also of advantage to the particular towns through which the river ruus, affording, iu some measure, 

 subsistence and support to the inhabitants thereof, and is therefore necessary to be preserved,' &c. 



" The act provides that each of the three towns is empowered to choose a committee for the preservation of fish, 

 whose duty it shall be to keep out of the river all obstructions to the free ingress of the fish. The act grants to Cam- 

 bridge the right to fish, within the limits of that town, on Monday, Tuesday, and Friday; and to Charlestown and 

 Medford the right of fishing, within the limits of those towns, on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from the first of 

 March to the last day of June. Penalty for each violation of the law, 3. In this act the right of each inhabitant 

 to fish is recognized and secured. If persons from other towns should either stop or catch fish in this river they shall 

 each be fined 3 for every such otfense; and the committee shall have power to arrest them, and sell their seines, 

 drag-nets, marsh-uets, baskets, or any other implements used by them. This act to be in use five years and no 

 longer. 



"Immediately on the passage of this act the town proceeded, April 2, 1798, to a new step, indicated iu the follow- 

 ing vote : ' Voted that the town will let out their fishing-grounds to the highest bidder the present year.' While this 

 vote was based upon the original right of the town to the fisheries within its borders, some minor questions arose, 

 whicli led the inhabitants, at the same meeting, to choose a committee to inquire into the rights of the town iu the 

 fishing-grounds. The result was that January 21, 1803, the town ' voted that a petition be presented to the general 

 court, at their present session, to enable the town to let out the right of taking fish iu Mystic River, within the limits 

 of the town.' The legislature granted the petition ; and Medford then divided the fishing districts thus : ' First, from 

 Charlestown and Maiden line to Medford Bridge ; second, from the bridge to the beach opposite James Tuft's barn ; 

 third, from the above-named beach to the Charlestown line westerly. 



"Among the earliest fishermen were John Cutter, Jonathan Tufts, and Benjamin Teel. Iu 1803 Cutter paid 65, 

 Tufts 13, and Teel $13, for the right of fishing. John Cutter fished near the 'dike,' or 'labor in vain;' Isaac Tufts 

 fished from the bridge to Rock Hill; and Capt. Samuel Teel and his nephew from Rock Hill to the pond. The names 

 of the. fishermen are seldom given in the records. Charles, Simon, and Seth Tnfts are there. Iu 1812 the fishermen 

 paid $100 for the right. The average, for twenty years, has been $,>50. In accordance with the decision of the legis- 

 lature, the town voted, March .14,1803, to sell their right of fishing iu Mystic River. It was sold for $91, at public 

 auction. The next year it was sold, in the same manner, for $160 ; and this equitable mode of disposing of it became 

 established, and the premium offered continued for several years to increase. The vote of the town was generally 

 thus, as in March 1, 1824 : ' Voted that the selectman be appointed a committee to dispose of the privilege of taking 

 shad aud alewives within the limits of said town the ensuing season.' 



" In 1855 Joseph L. Wheeler bought the ' upper reach,' from Marble Brook to the pond, for $27.50 per annum ; and 

 James Rogers bought the 'lower reach,' from Marble Brook to the eastern border of the town, for 122.50 per annum. 

 The annual sales have lately (1855) been less than 2HO. The shad and alewives were abundant till 1815 or 1820, when 

 they began gradually to withhold their visits. A writer says that about the year 1800 it was common to take 1,500 

 shad annually at ' Little River' (ucar Fresh Pond), but that in IK.'.! there was not one taken, and that, proportion- 

 ally, a similar statement might be made concerning alewives. 



" Nothing can frighten alewives ; but the shad is an exceedingly shy aud timid fish Its disappearance from our 



