THE FIRST HOMES. 1 6 I 



Tower with his father kept a stronghold in Hingham 

 against the Indians in that war ; but no touch of that 

 trouble reached Cohasset. 



Perhaps there were no settlers here at that time ; and 

 if so, then the date of Cohasset beginnings must be the 

 close of the King Philip War, when stray settlers were no 

 more in danger from the savages in this region. 



It would be natural to suppose that the first settlers 

 upon Cohasset land would be in those parts nearest Hing- 

 ham, on the fringe of the mother settlement. Indeed, the 

 Turkey Meadows lying within the present boundaries of 

 this town had been so many years used for hay and grass 

 that one might fairly suppose some farmhouse to have 

 sprung up in that vicinity before the uplands v/ere di- 

 vided. There was one Perth McFarlin, who was granted 

 a house lot on the north side of Turkey Hill as early as 

 1669, and three years after that a place for his barn was 

 granted him. But the town boundary in that region has 

 been changed so that none of Cohasset is on the north 

 side of Turkey Hill ; and McFarlin's home, though it 

 might possibly have been a Cohasset one formerly, is now 

 foreign land. 



There was one man as early as 1676 who seems to have 

 lived a bachelor on King Street, not far from the pond. 

 It was Clement Bates, a son of James Bates ; and his death, 

 while yet a young man, left his property to be probated 

 by his father. 



In those public documents, under the date April 20, 1676, 

 one can find the following items of Clement Bates' estate: — 



£ s. d. 



Wearing apparel 5. o. o. 



Two acres of land with a dwelling house upon said 



land 45. o. o. 



Three shares in three divisions of land — viz. ist 



3rd & 4th with commons belonging thereto .22. o. o. 



One saddle and bridle and saddle cloth .... o. 13. o. 



