Military History. 233 



although it is more than probable that there were other garrison 

 houses in the small hamlets, like that " over the river " or the 

 one in the vicinity of Weir River. The " pass " where Captain 

 Jacob's garrison house was situated is somewhat uncertain. It 

 may have meant simply the street leading toward Plymouth 

 Colony, or possibly the Indian trail near Accord Pond was so 

 denominated. 



This, then, was the Hingham of 1675, and these, with perhaps a 

 few more whoso names the kindly and gentle hand of time has 

 shadowed into the great oblivion, were the heads of families in this 

 olden time, — a little town consisting of perhaps one hundred and 

 twenty homes, divided among several small villages and a few nearly 

 isolated settlements ; a half-dozen or so streets, of which Town, or 

 North, Fort Hill Street, South, Bachelor's Row, a part of Leavitt, 

 what is now School, and the part of Main from Bachelor's Row 

 proper to the extreme southern boundary, were the principal. 

 These streets, however, were mere grassy lanes, almost unimproved, 

 whose deep-cut ruts were strangers to any other vehicles than the 

 heavy, lumbering teams which served as farm wagons two centuries 

 ago. Here and there it is probable that necessity or the public 

 spirit of an individual, or perhaps the combination of several, had 

 resulted in trilling attempts at road making, and in some of the 

 swampy sections bits of corduroy were constructed. One such, at 

 least, was upon the low approaches to the brook at Broad Bridge, 

 and some of its remains were found several years since, and even 

 yet lie in the bottom of its bed. Road surveyors and superintend- 

 ents and working out of taxes, and even taxes themselves, were for 

 the most part blessings of a later period. There were no sidewalks 

 either, and along the little side paths leading from house to house 

 and farm to farm, the blue violet blossomed in the early days of 

 May as now, and the white violet scented the air with its delicate 

 fragrance, while the wild rose and the golden rod in their season 

 made the ways bright with their beauty. The chipmunk, his 

 cheeks filled with the yellow Indian maize stolen from the adjoin- 

 ing field, sat saucily upon the fresh-cut stump and chipped at the 

 passer, while the golden-winged woodpecker tapped for insects in 

 the tree overhead, the kingfisher flashed his steel-blue breast across 

 the waters of the bay and uttered his shrill cry, and the robin 

 and the cat-bird danced along with their familiar friendliness be- 

 fore the settlers' feet. On either hand, and nestling near together 

 for mutual protection, were the low log or hewn-board thatch- 

 roofed homes of the people, in most of which glazed windows 

 were unknown, the light entering through oiled-paper panes and 

 the opened door. Heavy board shutters added something to the 

 warmth and much to the safety of the interior after dark. The 

 rooms were few in number, unplastered and not always sheathed 

 inside, while a single chimney, with a great open fireplace and a 

 crane, served as oven and furnace alike. Here and there, how- 



