Lake Maspenock History- Hopkins Trust Leases

Hopkins Trust Leases → Chapin → Nelson →Ball → Taft → Hunt → Cody
Hopkins Trust Leases Early New England educational institutions benefitted from the bequests of wealthy donors. The 1657 will of Connecticut Governor Edward Hopkins allocated money for New England schools and an 1713 British decree established the Charity of Edward Hopkins to manage the Hopkins legacy and to allocate funds to support students at Harvard College and a Cambridge grammar school. Hopkins's will bequeathed money for "The breeding up of hopeful youth in the way of learning both at ye Grammar School & College for the public Service of the Country in future times", and on the death of Hopkins's wife, the will called for additional donations. One of the first transactions of the Trustees was the purchase of land known as Maguntaquog from the Natick Indians on October 11, 1715. The land was incorporated as Hopkinton, Mass. on December 13, 1715. The Trustees were actively involved as land owners and municipal administrators of Hopkinton until 1832, when the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and the tenants jointly paid the Trustees for release of their land rights. James Gorden was the signee to the Trustees for several plots of land around what is now Lake Maspenock including the areas that were eventually flooded by the dams. He was representing and signing "Letters of Indenture" for several people. These Letters of Indenture are what we would call Land Leases today. They stipulated that the assignee would hold the land from March 15, 1720 until the 25th of March, 1823. Records of the Hopkins Trust have been preserved at Harvard University enabling us to deep dive into the first people to take title to the land.
Interactive Map of tenants of James Gorden of Boston, Lessee from the Trustees of Harvard University about 1720
James Gorden, was born 1693 in County Down, Ireland and came to Boston about the year 1718. At this time there was a great Scotch/Irish migration. James married Elizabeth Tinkham on September 14, 1721. When he first came to this country, he was a constable in Boston. In 1723, he bought a pew (#62) in the King's Chapel, in Boston. At some point thereafter, he was living in Georgetown, ME. where he was a farmer and perhaps a missionary. He went back to Boston in 1736 and his status in the church increased to the point he became it's first Warden. James was merchant, most likely specializing in Irish linen. James died May 24th, 1770 at age 77 and because of his prominent position in the church, he was buried beneath the chapel in tomb #8. He is buried in the same burial ground as Thomas Bulfinch. James Gorden was also a land speculator and landlord that leased or purchased lands in various sections of Massachusetts in the early to mid 1700s including Hopkinton Massachusetts. The people he leased land to were of Scottish decent. A Congregational church was organized in Hopkinton Sept. 2nd, 1724. Seven of the original members of the church were Scotch Presbyterians, and five other families soon joined them. The beginnings of the church were informal and no real discussion of church government was had at the outset. These men only conscientiously assented to the covenant and united in Christian communion without much form of organization. On April 9th, 1731, the church voted to comply with the "Platform of Church Discipline" agreed to by the Synod of Churches assembled at Cambridge, 1649. This vote gave great offense to the Scottish Presbyterians. About ten families withdrew from the communion of the church, were brought under discipline, and eventually several of them were excommunicated. The records of the First Congregational church in Hopkinton contain the names of those who were excommunicated. Many of the people were those Scots that leased lands from James Gorden. William Dunahy, Robert Hambleton, Jane Wark, Rebecca Wark, John Hambleton, Israel Gibbs. Mary Gibbs, Hugh Hambleton and Mary Hambleton were all part of the group that were excommunicated. In 1734, these families all left Hopkinton and became some of the first settlers of what is now Blandford, Massachusetts. They agreed to have their new village named New Glasgow, because they were promised a church bell from the city of Glasgow, Scotland, if they would name the town after it. They quickly organized a Presbyterian church and built a small meeting-house about a mile and a half west of their village.