SEPARATION FROM HINGHAM. 



253 



marine industry of the mother town beyond us that in 

 the year 1754 there were two wharves in Hingham owned 

 by them, while we had only one, and its size was about 

 one fifth that of the Hingham wharfage. 



This first wharf at our Cove large enough to be taxed 

 as valuable property (in 1754) was owned by Samuel Bates, 

 whose enterprise was a boon to Cohasset and whose 

 descendants were kings in the Cohasset fisheries until the 

 fisheries were abandoned. The place of that first wharf 

 was probably at or near where the late John Bates' wharf 

 now is ; for this last fishing merchant was a nephew of 

 Samuel Bates' grandson, and the successor to the original 

 business. 



But the fishing industry was only a small one at the 

 date of 1737, and whether there was any wharf at all 

 worth taxing is not shown by the tax list of that year. It 

 may be well to say here that the recurrence of this date 

 1737 is not because the date marks an epoch in Cohasset 

 history, but because the tax list of that date is the only 

 one the author can find subsequent to the year 171 1 until 

 the year 1753. 



The houses of the precinct at that time numbered about 

 fifty, as we have noted already. How many of those fifty 

 houses have survived the decay of a hundred and sixty- 

 one years until the present time cannot be told with 

 certainty ; but the following have been traced to that time 

 and earlier. 



Perhaps the oldest fragment of a dwelling house now 

 standing is a part of the present Norfolk House. Thomas 

 James settled at that spot upon the end of the strip 

 (lot 59) which was granted to his father, Francis James. 

 The exact date of his settlement is not known ; but he 

 married in 1704 the daughter of Ibrook Tower, who then 

 was living where Abraham H. Tower now lives beside our 

 Common, and it is fair to infer that Thomas James set up 

 his first home in the year 1704 or 1705. 



