From Townsend to Cary Farm

FROM TOWNSEND TO CARY FARM

Some time after purchasing Winnisimmet from Samuel Maverick, Governor Richard Bellingham divided his land into four farms, each operating under the name of its tenant farmer. The farms included: the Lieutenant John Smith or Smith farm, the Rice/Eustis farm and the Senter farm. It is not known as to who occupied the fourth and largest farm between 1635 and 1663. The inland area of this part of Bellingham's property was heavily forested and fairly wild with small game animals. In 1659 Governor Richard Bellingham, who occupied a summer home near the ferry, built a hunting lodge on the southern slope of Powderhom Hill, a house that exists to the present day. The earliest evidence of a tenant for this the largest of Bellingham's farms was from a written account of work done by Samuel Townsend in 1663 for the Governor. Townsend remained as tenant until his death December 21, 1704. Townsend created a farm that was that the most profitable and productive not only in farm produce, but also dairy, poultry and livestock. He also was working the clay pit, malting and carting bricks and clay and timber. Townsend also constructed other buildings for convience on the property.

Governor Bellingham died in 1672 and his estate was inherited by his wife, Penelope. When Penelope died May 28, 1702, the estate went to her son Samuel and his second wife the former widow Elizabeth Savage. Elizabeth passed the property to her sister Rebecca, wife of Edward Watts a London lawyer. Meanwhile the Townsend family remained managing the farm and improvmg the estate while the absentee landlords remained abroad. Rebecca bequeathed the property to her widowed daughter-in-law Ann Watts who married Thomas Greaves of Charlestown. The estate was then passed to Thomas Greaves' daughter Margaret. Margaret married Captain Samuel Cary, a sea captain from Charlestown December 24, 174 1. Margaret was described as "small of stature, plain and pitted with the smallpox, but very intelligent and active." They had four children Samuel, Thomas, Jonathon and Abigail. During this time the tenant occupying the estate was Samuel Sprague, a man who was moderator at the town meetings and influential in the town. Sprague died in 1783 at the age of seventy-one and by his will provided that two blacks that worked for him, be supported by his estate, for the rest of their lives.

By 1865, three years after Margaret's death, October 8, 1762, Captain Cary had complete possession of the Bellingham farm and house. Four years later on December 4, 1769, Captain Samuel Cary passed away. The estate was acquired by the oldest son, Samuel Cary Jr. After graduating from Harvard College, Samuel Cary Jr. received one-thousand pounds and went to the West Indies becoming involved in buying and selling cargoes. He eventually purchased a plantation in Grenada and became a planter. Samuel became acquainted with Sarah Gray, a young lady eleven years his junior, and they were married November 5, 1772. Samuel and Sarah immediately moved into what was to become the Cary mansion and the Cary estate. The following summer Samuel Cary Jr. received word of trouble and insurection arising in Grenada and had to return leaving his expectant wife with her mother at the Cary mansion. The Cary's first child a son, named Samuel, was bom October 17. 1773. The next winter she reluctantly left her infant son with her mother and went to join her husband in Grenada. Samuel and Sarah remained in Grenada for eighteen years and had eight more children. Samuel and Sarah Cary returned to Chelsea in 1791 and spent $12,000 paneling and beautifying the mansion making it the showplace in the east. The Carys once back in Chelsea, had four more children for a total of thirteen and thus the real beginning of the Cary family of Chelsea.

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Some time after purchasing Winnisimmet from Samuel Maverick, Governor Richard Bellingham divided his land into four farms, each operating under the name of its tenant farmer. The farms included: the Lieutenant John Smith or Smith farm, the Rice/Eustis farm and the Senter farm. It is not known as to who occupied the fourth and largest farm between 1635 and 1663. The inland area of this part of Bellingham's property was heavily forested and fairly wild with small game animals. In 1659 Governor Richard Bellingham, who occupied a summer home near the ferry, built a hunting lodge on the southern slope of Powderhom Hill, a house that exists to the present day. The earliest evidence of a tenant for this the largest of Bellingham's farms was from a written account of work done by Samuel Townsend in 1663 for the Governor. Townsend remained as tenant until his death December 21, 1704. Townsend created a farm that was that the most profitable and productive not only in farm produce, but also dairy, poultry and livestock. He also was working the clay pit, malting and carting bricks and clay and timber. Townsend also constructed other buildings for convience on the property. Governor Bellingham died in 1672 and his estate was inherited by his wife, Penelope. When Penelope died May 28, 1702, the estate went to her son Samuel and his second wife the former widow Elizabeth Savage. Elizabeth passed the property to her sister Rebecca, wife of Edward Watts a London lawyer. Meanwhile the Townsend family remained managing the farm and improvmg the estate while the absentee landlords remained abroad. Rebecca bequeathed the property to her widowed daughter-in-law Ann Watts who married Thomas Greaves of Charlestown. The estate was then passed to Thomas Greaves' daughter Margaret. Margaret married Captain Samuel Cary, a sea captain from Charlestown December 24, 174 1. Margaret was described as "small of stature, plain and pitted with the smallpox, but very intelligent and active." They had four children Samuel, Thomas, Jonathon and Abigail. During this time the tenant occupying the estate was Samuel Sprague, a man who was moderator at the town meetings and influential in the town. Sprague died in 1783 at the age of seventy-one and by his will provided that two blacks that worked for him, be supported by his estate, for the rest of their lives. By 1865, three years after Margaret's death, October 8, 1762, Captain Cary had complete possession of the Bellingham farm and house. Four years later on December 4, 1769, Captain Samuel Cary passed away. The estate was acquired by the oldest son, Samuel Cary Jr. After graduating from Harvard College, Samuel Cary Jr. received one-thousand pounds and went to the West Indies becoming involved in buying and selling cargoes. He eventually purchased a plantation in Grenada and became a planter. Samuel became acquainted with Sarah Gray, a young lady eleven years his junior, and they were married November 5, 1772. Samuel and Sarah immediately moved into what was to become the Cary mansion and the Cary estate. The following summer Samuel Cary Jr. received word of trouble and insurection arising in Grenada and had to return leaving his expectant wife with her mother at the Cary mansion. The Cary's first child a son, named Samuel, was bom October 17. 1773. The next winter she reluctantly left her infant son with her mother and went to join her husband in Grenada. Samuel and Sarah remained in Grenada for eighteen years and had eight more children. Samuel and Sarah Cary returned to Chelsea in 1791 and spent $12,000 paneling and beautifying the mansion making it the showplace in the east. The Carys once back in Chelsea, had four more children for a total of thirteen and thus the real beginning of the Cary family of Chelsea.
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