[60] be transplanted and live. The price paid for it was $6, and it was brought from a tract of land just across the railroad, very near the Franklin school. It out-topped the others in the court.
The apple trees on Ezra Robinson's place near by, on Spring street, now owned by John M. Woods, were good-sized trees in 1847.
The well-known ‘Round House,’ built by Enoch Robinson in 1850, has near it an elm set out by him soon after, and a double birch tree, which grew up of its own accord. A sweetbrier rose, brought from Polly Swamp, tempts the children in the springtime with its lovely blossoms.
At the foot of Spring street a tree of Revolutionary date stood in front of the old Kent house. A large willow once grew near Pitman street, and was the scene of many good times remembered by scholars of the Franklin school. The girls used to sit in the branches, which spread out near the ground, and the boys made whistles of the twigs, which led to trouble in school later.!
The Franklin school yard, now a playground, is well stocked with shade trees, which were set out under the supervision of the school committtee in 1849 or 1850. One of the scholars recollects that Deacon Charles Forster, so well remembered by residents of Winter Hill, was on the school committee and had a prominent part in the work. Another scholar remembers the willows at the foot of the yard in 1847. None are there now, but two or three peep over the high fence of the Bleachery, and a row of them probably once thrived on the border of a creek there.
A walk along Elm street reveals a thoroughfare in keeping with its name. A row of aged pine trees, however, on the corner of Cedar street gives a little diversion to the fancy. These pine trees were probably set out by John Tufts, son of that John Tufts whose house on Sycamore street has long been a landmark. Mr. Tufts lived for some time in the old house which stood on this estate until within a few years. There were some cedar trees in the front yard. Cedar street was probably named from the great number of cedars growing in the vicinity. Years ago it was a pasture, known as the ‘cedar pasture,’ and was owned and
