224 History of Hingham. 



church, and a man of no little consequence. The house in its 

 modernized form still remains, and is the first one west of St. 

 Paul's Church. Directly in its front is Thaxtcr's Bridge, span- 

 ning the brook, and diagonally across the street, as already men- 

 tioned, was the abode of Samuel Lincoln, weaver and mariner, 

 and of his son Samuel, who served in the war as a cornet of 

 cavalry. Opposite the General Lincoln place, Broad Cove Lane, 

 now Lincoln Street, branched off, passed a low, marshy thicket, 

 which, cleared and filled, has become Fountain Square, climbed 

 the gentle slope beyond, and then descended again until it reached 

 the broad, and then deep arm of the sea from which the lane 

 was named. Beyond this point it continued for perhaps half a 

 mile, and terminated in pastures and planting fields beyond. 

 From it another lane running nearly at right angles led, as 

 does the wide avenue which has succeeded, to the deep water 

 at Crow Point and to Weary-all-Hill, since called Otis Hill, 

 where, through other lanes and by deep ruts and numerous bars 

 the rich lands granted as planting lots were reached. Upon Lin- 

 coln Street were located the homes of the Chubbucks, of John 

 Tucker, and perhaps a few others ; and on the corner, and front- 

 ing on Town Street, we should have found Benjamin Lincoln, 

 great-grandfather of General Lincoln. He was a farmer, with a 

 young family, and on his lot stood the malt-house given him by 

 his father, Thomas Lincoln, the cooper; here was carried on one 

 of the primitive breweries of our ancestors, and here doubtless 

 was enjoyed many a glass of flip. Mr. Lincoln's next neighbors 

 to the westward were his brothers-in-law John and Israel Fearing;, 

 who occupied the family homestead nearly opposite to the site of 

 the Universalist Church ; while just beyond, and extending for 

 a long distance up towards the West End, were the domains of 

 the Hobarts, a very prominent family at the time. Here was 

 Edmund the younger, but now a venerable man of seventy -two 

 years, a weaver by trade, prominent in town affairs, and a twin 

 brother of the minister. His house was near Hobart's Bridge, 

 where with him lived his son Daniel, who followed his father's 

 occupation and succeeded to his influence. John and Samuel, 

 elder sons, and both just married, had their homes with or near 

 their father, while just beyond, and opposite Goold's Bridge, 

 the Rev. Peter Hobart occupied the parsonage, which for forty 

 years had been the centre of social and intellectual life in the 

 town. It may be well to mention here that the brook, which in 

 general occupies nearly its original bed for the greater part of its 

 length, has had its course materially altered in recent years 

 between the site of John and Israel Fearing's house and Hobart's 

 Bridge. It formerly flowed quite up to, and in places even into 

 the present location of North Street between these points ; and 

 the line of the sweep of the marsh and old Town Street is clearly 

 indicated by the segment of a circle upon which the houses from 



