Arlington - Lexington 

             Arlington Lexington
first settlers  1635     1642
incorporated    1807     1713
first ancestor  1640     1653+
last ancestor   1747+    1767
# of ancestors    3       15
# of immigrants   0        0
# born in town    1        5
# died in town    2       12
  • CUTLER family (1653-1694)
  • MERIAM family (1653-1757+)
  • MUZZY family (1705-1767)
  • RUSSELL family (1640-1767)

    The town of Lexington was originally a part of Cambridge, which stretched from the Charles River all the way northwest to Billerica. The first settlers arrived there around 1642, but most of the land was owned by settlers of Cambridge who either held it for speculation, or had summer farms in the many meadows. In 1691, there were a sufficient number of permanent residents who complained of the distance to the Cambridge church and meeting house, that a new parish was created called Cambridge Farms. In 1713 the parish was incorporated as a separate town, called Lexington. The town remained a farming community throughout the 1700s. The Lexington Green was the site of the first battle of the Revolutionary War on the morning of April 19, 1775.

    The town of Arlington was also originally a part of Cambridge, called Menotomy and first settled in 1635. In 1637 Captain George Cooke built the first mill in this area, and eventually seven mills were built along Mill Brook. The area in 1732 became a precinct of Cambridge called Second Parish, then in 1807 incorporated as the town of West Cambridge, and finally renamed to Arlington in 1867.
    The CUTLER family (1635-1694) 
                      |-James Cutler
    Joanna Cutler-|
                  |-Phebe Page
    JAMES CUTLER, born in England in 1606, settled in Watertown in 1635 where his first son was born. (See the Watertown chapter). In 1653 the family moved to Cambridge Farms (now Lexington), where JAMES' second wife Mary died within a year. JAMES then married PHEBE PAGE of Watertown, who was 21 years younger, never married, but who had a daughter Phebe. They had four children together, including JOANNA, born about 1661, all born in Cambridge Farms. PHEBE died before JAMES wrote his will in 1684; JAMES lived another ten years and died in 1694. He lived on Wood St, not far from the Concord (now Bedford) line. He built one of the first houses in Lexington, located some 30 rods from the prsent highway, on an elevation commanding an extensive view. His will gave most of his estate to his sons James, Thomas, and John, with the rest of the estate divided equally between all of his other children and step children. He also gave his daughter JOHANNA RUSSELL "one featherbed and bolster and coverlet and an iron pot", and he explicitly stated that Phebe was to receive a list of items that were not a part of his estate but which were from Phebe's mother, PHEBE. The total inventory of the estate was 108 pounds 7s 6d, of which real estate accounted for 100 pounds. See the RUSSELL family in this chapter for more about JOHANNA.
    The MERIAM family (1653-1757+) 
                                                         |-Joseph Meriam
                                   |-Thomas Meriam  -|
                |-Nathaniel Meriam-|                 |-Sarah Stone
    Mary Meriam-|                  |-Mary Harwood
                |-Ester Muzzy
    JOSEPH MERIAM Jr. of Concord married SARAH STONE of Cambridge in 1653, and at some point moved to Cambridge Farms, the part of Cambridge that became the town of Lexington. They lived on land that originally was owned by SARAH's father, GREGORY STONE. GREGORY owned 300 acres on the edge of Cambridge Farms by Concord. He had four sons: John, Daniel, David, and Samuel. David moved about 1653 to a house he built on the southwesterly portion of land that he and his father had been granted at Cambridge Farms, about seven miles from Cambridge Church. The land was in both of the present towns of Lexington and Lincoln, with the house being in the Lincoln part. The house is still standing in 2014 (in back of 291 Concord Turnpike), with additions and modifications. The gift of deed from GREGORY to his son of this land, written in 1665, says: "One parcel thereof conteyning by estimation twenty and eight akers, more or less, and is that on which his dwelling house standeth, being bounded by Joseph Mirriam north, common south and west, and Joseph Cutler east." Finally Samuel settled at Cambridge Farms about when he married in 1655. His farm was located to the east of brother David's, with his house about a mile from David's house, near the corner of the present Lincoln and Weston Sts. in Lexington.

    During the time JOSEPH lived there, Cambridge Farms was still a part of Cambridge and seven miles from the church/meeting house in Cambridge. Since his brother John's land at Meriam Corner in Concord was only three miles away, he naturally would have felt more connected to Concord. When he died in 1677, he was buried in the Old HIll Burying Ground in Concord, and his gravestone is the oldest in Concord. JOSEPH and SARAH had nine children between 1654 and 1672. In 1700 the eight surviving children signed an agreement that divided JOSEPH's land among them, and allowed SARAH to live there the rest of her life. She lived until 1704.

    JOSEPH's son THOMAS was only five years old when his father died. Along with his uncle Samuel Stone, he was among the founders of the First Church and Town of Lexington in 1696. That is also the year he married MARY HARWOOD of Concord. They had seven children over the next 17 years, including NATHANIEL born in 1705. In March 1698/99 THOMAS was given permission to build a seat for his wife in the new church. In 1711 he paid five shillings to help the town buy the land around the meeting house for a common, and in 1713 he was on the committee in charge of building a new meeting house. He was elected a selectman in 1717, 1722, 1723, and 1731. THOMAS died in 1738, but MARY lived until 1756.

    NATHANIEL MERIAM married ESTHER MUZZY by 1733. They had seven children born between 1734 and 1757, all in Lexington. There are no other records of them in Lexington. At some point they moved to Harvard, where their daughter MARY married Silas Welch in 1766 and where NATHANIEL died in 1783. There is a Meriam St. in Lexington that runs to the northeast from Lexington Green. The area bounded by Meriam St., Oakland St., and Glen Rd. is called Meriam Hill. The names are said to come from the pre-Revolutionary Meriam family who owned much of the area. I do not know if NATHANIEL or THOMAS lived on this street.

    This house was built by David Stone, son of ancestor GREGORY STONE, on land originally owned by GREGORY.
    The MUZZY family (1705-1767) 
                     |-Benjamin Muzzy
    Esther Muzzy-|
                 |-Patience
    BENJAMIN probably grew up in Newbury, and then moved to Lexington when he was old enough to be on his own. His cousin Benjamin, 23 years older, had moved to Lexington by 1683 and owned considerable land there. Cousin Benjamin lived in what is now the center of Lexington, and sold the town land for the meeting house and Lexington Green. He was one of the most influential men in town, and virtually all references to the name Benjamin Muzzy refer to him. The first reference to our ancestor BENJAMIN in the Lexington records was in 1705, when he was denoted as Benjamin Jr. He was frequently called to fill town offices, and from time to time was chosen on the school committee, etc. His will dated 19 Feb. 1763, proved 13 Feb. 1764, mentioned wife PATIENCE, sons Joseph and John, daughters ESTHER MERRIAM and Mary Reed, and grandsons Benjamin, James, Seth and Benoni, sons of Benjamin, deceased. His son John was appointed executor, to whom he gave all his land and buildings at Lexington. BENJAMIN died in 1764, while PATIENCE died in 1767. ESTHER married NATHANIEL MERIAM, described above.
    The RUSSELL family (1640-1767) 
                                                                        |-William Russell
                                                   |-Philip Russell-|
                                   |-James Russell-|                |-Martha Davies
                   |-James Russell-|               |-Joanna Cutler
    Submit Russell-|               |-Mary Howe
                   |-Mary Fosket
    Five generations of our RUSSELL ancestors lived in Arlington and Lexington. WILLIAM RUSSELL, carpenter, and MARTHA DAVIES were married in England in 1632, and had one or two children before coming to Massachusetts in 1636. They joined the Cambridge church, and might have moved around in Cambridge before settling in the Menotomy section. They had ten children, including PHILIP born in 1650. One year after their tenth child was born, WILLIAM wrote his will and died 12 days later February 14, 1661/2. MARTHA married Humphrey Bradshaw in 1665, and Thomas Hall in 1683, before dying in 1694 as "Widow Russell, alias Hall". At least two of his seven sons, William Jr. and Jason, continued to live in Menotomy on or near their father's home in what is now considered Arlington Center, near the intersection of Water St. and Massachusetts Avenue. There are four streets there named after the RUSSELL family: Russell Street, Russell Place, Russell Terrace, and Jason Street. The entire neighborhood around Russell Street is now the Russell Historic District. Son Jason built his house on Jason Street, which was later expanded by his grandson Jason Russell. That house still stands, and is a museum owned by the Arlington Historical Society. On April 19, 1775, when the British retreated from Concord back through Lexington and Arlington, A group of Minutemen fired on the main British forces marching on the main highway, but failed to anticipate a British company flanking them to the south. When these British fired at the Minutemen, they ran to the Russell house for shelter. The British stormed the house and shot everybody they found, although a group hiding in the basement escaped unharmed. Eleven Minutemen were killed at the house, including 59-year-old Jason Russell who was shot and bayoneted on his own doorstep. That skirmish was the single bloodiest fight of the Battle of Lexington and Concord.

    The house on the left was built by Jason Russell, son of ancestor WILLIAM RUSSELL. The sign on the right is for the Russell Historic District
    PHILIP RUSSELL grew up in Menotomy, but probably moved as a young man further west to the area that became Cambridge Farms. He was a carpenter like his father, and owned several lots to the east of Mill Brook, adjacent to the Munroe land on Woburn St. The list of taxes accessed to town members for the payment of the minister's salary in 1692 shows PHILIP's tax payment 12th highest out of 54 people. Our ancestor "widow Meriam" (SARAH (STONE) MERIAM) had the 4th highest tax payment. Also on the list were two other Meriam relatives, one other Russell relative, seven Stone relatives (descendents of GREGORY STONE), two Cutler relatives, and one Muzzy relative, for a total of 15 out of the 54 people. In 1711, money was received to buy land for a new meeting house; 21 out of 55 people were from the Cutler, Meriam, Muzzy, Russell, and Stone families. PHILIP married JOANNA CUTLER in 1680 and they had eight children starting with their oldest JAMES in 1681. JOANNA died in 1703, and PHILIP married Sarah Brooks of Medford two years later. They had one daughter. PHILIP died February 7, 1730/1, aged 80, and is buried with JOANNA in the Old Burying Ground in Lexington.
    JAMES married Mary Howe of Concord in 1706. They had nine children from 1706 to 1720, with their first son JAMES born in 1709. They probably lived on the Russell land along Woburn St. After he died in 1748, his seven living children confirmed the title to his estate. JAMES Jr is mentioned as a cordwainer at Cambridge (probably Menotomy), Samuel a cordwainer at Sudbury, the women in Stow, Groton, and Westborough, and only Josiah still living in Lexington. JAMES Jr. married MARY FOSKET in 1733 in Charlestown. We do not know where they lived initially, but they were living in Menotomy when their daughter SUBMIT was baptized in the church. They had twin girls born in Menotomy in 1747. We know nothing more about their life. SUBMIT married JOHN HASTINGS of Bolton and lived in Bolton the rest of her life.

    We must end our journey to Arlington and Lexington with words about the Battle of Lexington Green on April 19, 1775. Our ancestors had already left town by that date (with the possible exception of JAMES RUSSELL Jr), although several of them living in other towns responded to the Lexington Alarm. However there were certainly descendents of our relatives there. First of all, Samuel Prescott, who rode with Paul Revere, was a descendent of our Concord Prescott ancestors. At Lexington Green, there were about 80 militia waiting for the British, of which 8 died in the battle. One who died was relative Isaac Muzzy, and another who fought was Amos Muzzy. Muzzey Street and Muzzey High School (which has now been converted to condos) were named after these men. Muzzey Tavern (now called Buckman Tavern), which overlooked the Green and was where Paul Revere stopped to spread the word, was built by cousin Benjamin Muzzey in 1692 and run by his offspring. And as mentioned earlier, Jason Russell was killed in Arlington during the retreat of the British.
    The Old Burying Ground in Lexington

    Left: looking northeast; the Meriam and Stone graves are in the circle
    Middle: looking north; the Russell graves are in the foreground and the Muzzy graves at upper left
    Right: looking southwest with the Muzzy graves in the middle 

    Here lyes ye body    |     Here Lies Buried     |     HERE LIES BURIED    
 of Sarah Miriam     |        The Body of       |       ye BODY OF Mr     
  wife to Joseph     |      Mrs Mary Meriam     |       THOMAS MERIAM     
  Miriam aged 71     |        Wife of Mr.       |       WHO DEPARTED      
 years died April    |       Thomas Meriam      |         THIS LIFE       
     5 1704          |      Who Died Septr      |      AUGUST ye 15th     
                     |       ye 29 1756 In      |         A.D. 1738       
                     |       ye 81 year of      |      IN ye 66th YEAR    
                     |          her age         |         OF HIS AGE      


    Here lies the | Here lies the    |              Mr      
Body of Mr    | Body of Mrs      | Mrs Patiance Benjamin
Benjamin Muz  | Patiance Muzzy   |     Muzzy      Muzzy 
zy who depar  | wife of Mr Benj  |                      
ted this Life | Muzzy, who       |                      
January 19th  | departed this    |                      
1764 in the   | Life Octr 7th    |                      
84th year of  | 1767 In the 80th |                      
his age       | year of her age. |                      


     HERE LYES YE   |     Here lyes Buried        |  Mr Phillip    
BODY OF JOHANA  |       ye Body of Mr         |    Russell     
RUSELL WIFE TO  |      Phillip Russell        |                
 PHILIP RUSELL  |     Who Departed this       |                
 AGED 42 YEARS  |  Life Febey 7th 1731 in ye  |                
 DIED NOVEMBER  |    81st Year of His Age     |                
  ???? ????     |                             |