Military History. 231 



many of whom have become celebrated ; and here in this exciting 

 period was a little settlement almost by itself, of which Antony 

 and William Sprague, the younger, Robert Jones, then quite an 

 old man, his son Joseph with his family, and the Lazells, John 

 and his sons Joshua and Stephen, formed the greater part. From 

 the Lazells the street bearing their name was called, and probably 

 their homes were upon it. Leaving the common with its fort in 

 easy reach of all the surrounding houses, and following the general 

 direction of Main street as it now lies, we should have come at 

 Cold Corner to the lot allotted John Tower. Upon it he built his 

 house, which was admirably located for defence from Indian 

 attack, and commanded not only a considerable portion of the 

 highway, but also a long line of the river and no inconsiderable 

 part of the country in its vicinity. Tower was a resolute man, 

 who determined to take advantage of his position and defend his 

 home untrammelled by the behests of the town authorities. To 

 this end he petitioned as follows : — 



To the Honored Gov. & Council convened in Boston, March 10, 1675, 

 John Tower Senior of Hingham is bold to inform your Honors that he 

 hath at his own proper charge fortified his house & to begg your flavor 

 that his four sonns & one or two persons more that he may hire at his 

 own cost may be allowed to him for garrisoning his house ; and may not 

 be called off by the Comittee of the Town for to come into any other 

 garrison, my sonns having deserted their own dwellings and brought their 

 goods into my fortification. I shall thankfully acknowledge your Honors 

 ffavor herein & be thereby further obliged to pray for a blessing on your 

 Counsels. Your humble Servant 



J. Tower, Senior. 



Ibrook Tower, one of his sons, probably lived near his father, 

 and together with John Jr., Jeremiah, and Benjamin, constituted 

 the " four sonns " of which his garrison was to mainly consist. 

 John Tower was not only a brave man, but a diplomatic one also, 

 and is said to have possessed no little influence with the red men. 

 There is a tradition that even during the war, and while lurking 

 in the vicinity, the Indians permitted him to get water from the 

 river without molestation. 



Edward Wilder, Jr., ancestor of all the Hingham Wilders and 

 husband of Elizabeth Eames, owned at one time all the land 

 between Tower's and Wilder's hridges and resided between High 

 and Friend streets, on Main. He was a soldier in the war against 

 Philip. With him lived his son Jabez and in the immediate 

 vicinity several more of his children, including Ephraim and John. 

 The region about the meeting-house at South Hingham was occu- 

 pied largely at this time by the Jacobs, a wealthy and influential 

 family. Foremost anions- them was Capt. John Jacob, a member 

 of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company, probably one 

 of its officers and perhaps at one time its commander, and an able 



