“Samuel Truesdell, brought up by his Uncle Richard, is first mentioned in this country in the will of the latter when on 9 September 1669 he implied an early forthcoming marriage by Samuel and bequeathed to him 50 [pounds]. Samuel Truesdell is next noted in 1672 as coming from Boston and being the 26th settler in Newton, age 26.

Samuel Truesdell acquired land on the south side of the Charles River amounting to 120 acres. The site is south of Newton Highlands being bounded on its western and southern sides by Winchester St. and Nahanton St. as indicated in "Plan of Newton" to show holdings prior to 1700. From other sources the farm must have extended eastward, at least in part, to the "famous Dedham highway" (now Dedham St.) being so mentioned in connection with Eliot's indian wigwam on that road in 1713. Visited in 1951, the area was found to be rough, traversed by ravines, wooded and rocky. The north end, only, was practical farming land. A country club and a boys' home occupied much of the land, elsewhere were built, or were being built, countless attractive suburban cottages and homes. “