Our farm is a sweet spot… Birds and trees, sloping green hills, and hay fields as far as the eye can reach and a brook clear running.
”The Ward Grant
The land we know as Brook Farm was first settled by the English in the early 18th century. In the late 1600s, the land was part of a large parcel of Massachusett land granted by the English crown to John Ward. The rocky, uneven, acreage is not good for large-scale agriculture. Therefore, Edward Ward, John Ward’s son, used the land for raising cattle. Fittingly, nearby Cow Pond is named for the many cows in the area.
The Ellis Dairy Farm
Cows continued to dominate the landscape into the 19th century. It remained a dairy farm through subsequent owners after the Wards. The farm was enlarged when Maria Mayo inherited the property and several others; she consolidated them to create the large 170-acre farm that we recognize today. Maria Mayo was married to Charles Ellis, a wealthy Dorchester butcher and merchant.
Image courtesy of American Society of Landscape Architects
Archaeologists recovered many artifacts from the site that date to the 18th and 19th century farmers. Though there are no complete vessels, the many pieces of pottery that were excavated are representative home and farm life. The redware fragments and pieces of animal bone represent the utilitarian and agricultural tasks that would have taken place on the farm.
It is evident the families in residence were well-off and this farm was successful. They could afford the Canton ware—a Chinese exported porcelain—and transfer-printed plates and tea pots used by those connected to an international trade network.
The clothing artifacts retrieved here—including the large belt buckle below —also suggest that these rural Roxbury farmers enjoyed a relatively high social and economic status.
A calf bone
Image courtesy of American Society of Boston City Archaeology Lab
Belt buckle
Image courtesy of American Society of Boston City Archaeology Lab
Canton ware
Image courtesy of American Society of Boston City Archaeology Lab