Introduction
As we enjoy harvest season here in New England, it is a good time to appreciate Chelmsford’s first farmer.
Before European settlers laid claim to our Chelmsford, members of the local Native American tribes called this area home. Robin was a member of the Penacook confederacy and was an early cultivator of land on a prominent hill.
Life on Robin’s Hill
In his History of Chelmsford, Rev. Wilkes Allen states that Robin was the first to cultivate slopes on Robin’s Hill. (1) As early as 1652, he and his family grew corn (maze) on the land. The hill became known as Robin’s Hill as his name became tied to the land he cultivated.
Prior to living in what became Chelmsford, Robin had been a Nipmuc sachem (leader), known as Pentuhanit or Old Robin. He lived at the praying Indian village of Hassanamesit (Grafton, Massachusetts), who had close kinship ties to the Pawtucket/Pennacook confederacy. (2) Old Robin was a friend to the colonists and known as a peaceful man. In fact, Rev. Thomas Cobbett and others recorded an oral tradition from Ipswich where Robin warned the colonists of an impending attack in 1631. he secretly informed John Perkins of Ipswich about a plan by hostile Tarrantine (Eastern Abenaki) raiders to lure settlers into an ambush, thereby helping the English thwart the attack. (3)
The Land Deal with James Parker
When one of Chelmsford’s founders, James Parker bought the southern side of the hill from Robin in 1653, Parker did not force Robin to leave the land. Parker was developing a piece of land in Billerica known as Dudley’s Farm at that time. Perhaps this was why He allowed Robin and his family to continue to farm the land. Use of the name Robin’s Hill showed respect for a culture unappreciated at the time.
Ten years later in 1663, Parker sold the land to Thomas Barrett Sr. and his son Thomas Barrett Jr. of Braintree. (4) With new owners of the land, Robin and his family moved on. By the late 1660’s, records indicate that his wife, daughter and grandchildren were living on Wigwam Hill in Ipswich. We do not know what happened to Robin however.
A Strategic Hill
Robin’s Hill was a strategic lookout and used for signal fires when raiding Mohawk Indians approached from the west. (5) They warned the Pawtucket tribe living at Wamesit, the confluence of the Merrimack and Concord rivers according to oral traditions. During the tense years leading up to King Phillip’s War, early Chelmsford settlers also used Robin’s Hill as a vantage point to scan for advancing Indians from the West. The town of Chelmsford even had a house built on top of the hill for a family to live in and keep a wary eye out for advancing Indians.
Remembering Robin
Robin’s Hill is still part of Chelmsford’s geography. It is a quiet reminder of the town’s Native past. As we remember Robin, we glimpse a rare personal story of an indigenous man whose life bridged two worlds. Farming the land like his ancestors did, while cooperating with the newcomers who would transform it.
Why Robin Matters
Robin’s story is more than just a footnote. Long before deeds written by colonists put the town’s landscape on paper, native families shaped and cultivated Chelmsford.
That Robin’s name persists to this day, is an honor to the presence of those families.
Support your local farmer.
(2) Pentahunit
(3) Historic Ipswich – Tremblay, Mary Ellen (2022), “The Story Behind the Story of Wigwam Hill”. (Research on regional Native history. Includes details on “Old Robin” Petuhanit’s family in Chelmsford, the 1653 sale of Robin’s Hill, and aftermath .)
(4) Massachusetts Archives & Middlesex Deeds – e.g. Middlesex North Deeds, Book 5, p. 457, recording James Parker’s sale of Robin’s Hill to Thomas Barrett in 1663 . Early General Court records regarding the 1653 Chelmsford land grant and Wamesit reservation (context for Indian English land agreements).
(5) Chelmsford Historical Society Archives – e.g. Parkhurst, E. “Robin’s Hill Tower has Mighty History” (newspaper column, 1986) and Fun Facts compiled by the Society. (Contains local lore about Indian signal fires and the Lone Pine on Robin’s Hill.)
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