Native / Indigenous Families
Since indigenous peoples were in what is now Massachusetts from 8000 BCE, there had to be some native population in the area. We have far
too many watering holes, hills, and good gathering lands for there
not to have been either people living here or traveling through or to here
to good hunting and gathering locations. The "Historical Atlas of Massachusetts" by Richard W. Wilkie and Jack Tager shows Foxborough is near the four corners of land populated by the Massachusett, Narragansetr, Nipmuc, and Wampanoag, but contained within the area considered Massachusett settlement and quite close to the trail leading from approximately present day Providence and Narraganset Bay to the present Boston area. See here for some further information.
Who lived in my home?
Some Early Foxborough Families [ mid 18th century]
Many streets in tow are named for someone in
these families.
Y Old Foxborough Meeting House
The first meetinghouse in town also served as its church. In
1766 the first meetinghouse was finished and stood until 1822.
In the colonies, in order to form a town a meeting house was required. People from this area tried numerous times between 1756 and 1778 to be incorporated but their attempts failed until 1778. The following people are listed as having pews.
Balcony
More Historic People & Families
Noah Hobart was the Postmaster in 1816.
Oake Knoll Farm & the Morse Family
Oake Knoll Farm also known as Lawton's Farm on North Street in Foxborough was founded by Jedidiah Morse in 1734. The farm was originally more than 1,000 acres. Jedediah also constructed a dam across the Neponset River and started a forge. He was a bloomer by trade . The Morse family is integral to the history of Foxborough. In fact, a section of North Foxborough was once called Morseville.Morse family members to have owned and worked this land include founder Jedediah Morse, Jerimiah Morse, Amos Morse, Amos Morse Jr., Newell Morse, Edson Morse, Ruth Morse Lawton and current owners Edward Norm and Nancy Lawton.
The houses of Amos Jr., Nelson, David and Newell Morse still stand. These four houses are still lived in though all have been sold except for Newell Morse's house.
From 1930 to the late 1970s, the farm was internationally known for the Lawton's Buff Sex Link chickens which were developed by selective mating. This business flourished until problems with the feed caused the incubated eggs to die at 19 days resulting in an irrecoverable loss of baby chicks. The chicks had been sold domestically and internationally, so along with tighter export laws, this loss caused the family to return to milking cows again. Today the 26 acre Oake Knoll Farm is a dairy and vegetable farm with a roadside farmstand.
Source: Governor's Proclamation, Massachusetts Century Farms Day, September 17, 2000, by Gov. Argeo Paul Cellucci.
