“Several early settlers of Redding came to Massachusetts at the time of Gov. Winthrop’s arrival and a few were here years before; Richard Walker, Redding’s first representative, was in Salem with Gov. Endicott in 1629; Peter Palfrey, whose homestead during his last years was near Crystal Lake, was with Roger Conant in Gloucester and Salem from 1624 to 1629; John Poole, the town-miller, was one of the eight men who with Lieut. Gov. Dudley began the settlement of Cambridge in 1631. Redding, therefore, may justly claim to be one of the pioneer towns of the Commonwealth.” p.1
“In 1639, nine years after the arrival of Gov. Winthrop with the charter of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, settlements were begun in Lynn Village near the shore of Lake Quannapowitt. At that time there were only seventeen towns in the Colony and they had only recently been given the right to elect officers, pass by-laws and give title to land within their borders.” p.1
Remember, in 1651, the Court granted to the inhabitants of Redding, two square miles north of the Ipswich River that became the Second Parish – now North Reading. Remember also, North Reading, North Parish and Second Parish are names for the same location. ”In 1658, the land north of the River was divided among the forty-five inhabitants of Redding, few of whom settled in the North Parish but sold their land to settlers who came from Salem and Danvers. The Town of Redding later gave one-half of Sadler’s Neck, south of the River, to six proprietors of the Second Parish.” p.3
Howard, Loea Parker. Ancient Redding in Massachusetts Bay Colony; its planting as a Puritan village and sketches of its early settlers from 1639 to 1652. (1944). Internet Archive
