The Angle Tree Stone – Silently Marking History
Yesterday I was driving through the farms and woods of Bristol County, Massachusetts looking for a bird (a shrike). What I found instead, much to my great surprise, was the Angle Tree Stone, a historical marker quietly tucked away in the woods of North Attleborough.
The original boundary between Plymouth Colony and Massachusetts Bay Colony was set in 1640. This border was very important because the grant given to the Massachusetts Bay Colony extended all the way to the Pacific Ocean.
A plaque at the site provides more details:
This Stone was engraved and placed here in 1790
to identify the location where a white oak tree had
stood marking the point where the boundary line
between the Massachusetts and Plymouth
Colonies changed directions.
Once in an open field, the stone was later enclosed
by an iron fence, and since 1985 it has been
protected by this brick shelter building.
The Angle Tree Stone was place on the national
Register of Historic Places in 1976.
Historical Details
The plaque above reads:
Massachusetts Colony
This monument, erected by order of the government to perpetuate the place on which the station or Angle Tree formerly stood.
The commissioners appointed by the old colonies of Plymouth and Massachusetts to run out and establish this line in 1664 were Robert Studson, Constant Southworth, Josias Winslow, Jos. Fisher, Roger Clapp and Eleazer Lusher. They began this work on the 10th day of May, the same year, and marked a tree then standing on this spot, it being 3 miles south of the southern most part of the Charles River.
Lemuel Kollok, Esq. was appointed agent to cause this monument to be erected. By an order of the General Court the Selectmen of the towns of Wrentham and Attleborough were present viz: Samuel Fisher, John Whiting, Nathan Hawes, Nathan Comstock and Nathaniel Ware, Esquires of Wrentham.
From this stone the line runs due west the extent of the Commonwealth. Done at Wrentham the 29th day of Nov. 1790 by Samuel Fisher and Son.
The Angle Tree Stone was added to the National Register of Historic Places on January 1, 1976.
Perhaps one of the men mentioned here is your ancestor! I’ll bet you didn’t know about their involvement with this boundary marker.
Before stumbling across this marker I did not know the history of the Angle Tree Stone and its role as a boundary marker in Colonial New England.
If you find yourself near North Attleborough, Massachusetts stop by and see it for yourself. It is located to the right of 657 High Street in North Attleborough. Please note there are two driveways side by side. The one on the right is a well-paved drive leading to a private residence. The one on the left, a stone drive, leads to the historical market monument. Be sure to take the driveway on the left!