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HISTOEY
OF
WOECESTEE COUNTY,
MASSACHUSETTS,
WITH
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
OF MANY OF ITS
Pioneers and Prominent Men.
COiMPILED UNDER THE SUPERVISION OF
U. HAMIL'TON HURK.
VOL. II.
I L LTJS T I?. J^T E ID .
P H I L A D E L P II I A :
J. W. LEWIS & CO.
1889.
PRESS OF
JAS. B. RODQERS PRINTING COMPANY,
PHILADELPHIA.
77^
/V| 3'S >ch/? c, -h
Copyright, 1889,
By J. W. LEWIS & CO.
y4// Rights Reserved.
/'
CONTENTS OF VOL. II.
TOWN HISTORIES.
CHAPTER CXVII.
BOYLSTON
Territory iind Surface — Situation — Geology — Population
— Stiilistics — Public Library — Town Officers.
CHAPTER CXVIII.
BOYI^STON— (Continued)
Early Families and Settlements.
CHAPTER CXIX.
BoYLSTON — (Continued)
Civil and Political History.
CHAPTER CXX.
BOYLSTON — (Continued)
Ecclesiastical History.
8S5
888
891
S95
CHAPTER CXXI.
BOYLSTON — (Continued) 899
Proniiueut Persons, College Graduates, Etc,
chapter cxxii.
Upton 902
chapter cxxiii.
Grafton 921
CHAPTER CXXIV-
Grafton— (Continued) 935
An Historical Address.
CHAPTER CXXV.
Sutton 953
chapter cxxvi.
Sutton — (Continued) 957
Church History.
CHAPTER CXXVII.
Sutton — (Continued)
Educational.
CHAPTER CXXVIII.
Sutton — (Continued)
Manufactures.
CHAPTER CXXIX.
Sutton— (Continued)
Miscellaneous.
965
968
972
chapter cxxx.
Princeton 981
chapter cxxxi.
southbridge 995
chapter cxxxii.
Athol I02I
Location — Boundaries — Face of the Country— Produc-
tions — Ponds and Streams — Wild Animals, Etc,
CHAPTER CXXXIII.
Athol — (Continued) 1022
Loss of the Proprietors' Records -Efforts to Ee-establish
their Authority — Orant of the Township — Drawing for
House-lots— First Settlers— Perils from Indians — First
Meeting-House— Second Meeting-House — Call of Mr.
James Humphrey to the Pastorate — Ordination— Pas-
tor's Home— Second and Other Di visions of Lands- Acts
of the Proprietors.
CHAPTER CXXXIV.
Athol (1762-iSoo) — (Continued) . .
1028
Its Incorporation as a Town— Its Name — Its Organiza-
tion — Civil History — Provision for Schools and Relig-
ious Privileges — Patriotic Measures at the Opening of
the War of the Revolution — Service in the War — Con-
dition at the Close of the Century.
CHAPTER CXXXV.
ATHOL (1801-1888)— (Continued)
1034
Cuuditiun of the Town before tho Civil War— Excite-
ment in 1801 — Acts of the Town to Encourage Enlist-
ment of Soldiers — Eiilistnieuts— Bounties Offered —
Military Companies Organized — Private Munificence
to Obtain Recruits— Aid to Soldiers' FaTuilies — Number
of Soldiers from Athol — Expense Account of the War.
CHAPTER CXXXVI.
Athol — (Continued) 1038
Public Schools — Early Provision for Them — Interest
in Them Gradually Developed — Early School Commit-
tees — Branches Taught — Athol High School — Its Mas-
ters—Census of Scholara— Appropriations^Athol Town
Library.
CHAPTER CXXXVII.
Athol — (Continued) 1043
Miscellaneous.
CHAPTER CXXXVIII.
WiNCHENDON 1054
CHAPTER CXXXIX.
Oakham 1079
CHAPTER CXL.
MiLLBURY 1092
iii
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER CXLI.
Hardwick 1 129
CHAPTER CXLII.
Westminster . 1142
Origiu — Settlement — Eiirly Annals — Incorporation.
CHAPTER CXLIII.
Westminster — (Continued) 1149
Name — Locution — Physical Clharacteristics — Roads—
Industries.
CHAPTER CXLIV.
Westminster — (Continued) 1155
Education — Religion — Military Affairs — Miscellaneous.
CHAPTER CXLV-
Harvard 1164
chapter cxlvi.
Bolton 1165
chapter cxlvii.
Phillipston 1 168
CHAPTER CXLVIir.
Hubbardston 1170
Settlement — The Pioneers — "Old Eph Grimes" — Fami-
lies in 18U0.
CHAPTER CXLIX.
Hubbardston— (Continued) 1172
Petition for Incorporation — Act of Incorporation — First
Town-Meeting — Officers Elected — Various Votes.
CHAPTER CI,.
HUBB.\RDSTON — (Continued) 1173
Response to (Circular from Boston — Committee of Cor-
pondence — Votes — Bunker Hill — Bounties — Deprecia-
tion of Currency — Names of Soldiers.
CHAPTER CLI.
HUBB.\RDSTON^(Continued) 1177
Shays' Rebellion— War of 1S12— War of the Rebellion
— Amount E.vpended by the Town— Number of Men —
Names of Soldiers.
CHAPTER CLII.
Hubbardston — (Continued) iiSo
The First Congregational Church — The Evangelical
Congregation — Methodist Church — The Willianisville
Society — Schools — Libraries — Fire Oomp-nny — Promi-
nent persons — Centennial— Copperas Mines — Physicians
— The Militia— G. \. R.— Soldiers' Moninuent- Post-
OfBce — Manufacturing — Hubbardston Grange, P. of H.
— Civil History — -Town Officers.
chapter cliii.
Warren 1185
chapter cliv.
i,eominster 1200
Early History.
CHAPTER CLV.
Leominster — (Continued) 1203
Ecclesiastical,
CHAPTER CLVI.
Leominster — (Continued) 1213
Educational.
CHAPTER CLVII-
Leominster— (Continued) 1224
Industrial.
CHAPTER CLVIII.
Leominster— (Continued) 1236
Military.
CHAPTER CLIX.
Leominster — (Continued) 1246
Civil and Miscellaneous.
CHAPTER CLX.
MiLFORD 1261
CHAPTER CLXI.
Milford — (Continued) 1266
Boundaries— The Revolution.
CHAPTER CLXII.
Milford — (Continued) 1279
chapter clxiii.
Rutland 1287
Indian Deed and Grant of Twelve Miles Square- Pro-
prietorships and Hardships of Early Settlers — Location
and Surface — Roads and Schools — Revolutionary War —
Encampment of Burgoyne's Army — Indians.
CHAPTER CLXIV.
Rutland — (Continued) 1294
Ecclesiastical History— Cemeteries — Physicians — Busi-
ness Enterprises — Civil War — Grand Army— Dedication
Soldiers' Monument — Eminent Men.
chapter clxv.
Oxford 1306
CHAPTER CLXVI.
Dana 1322
CHAPTER CLXVII.
Westborough 1331
CHAPTER CLXVIir.
Dudley 1360
CHAPTER CLXIX.
RoyalsTON 1370
CHAPTER CLXX.
HOLDEN 1381
Location— Original Grant — Indian Deed — Division of
Lots— Settlement — The "Lime Lot" — First Survey —
Incorporation — Petition —Act of Incorporation — Names.
CHAPTER CLXXI.
HoLDEN — (Continued) 1383
French and Indian War — The Revolution — Sfaays' Re-
bellion—The Civil War.
CONTENTS.
I
CHAPTER CLXXII.
HOLDEN— (Continued) 1385
Kiret Congregational — First Baptist — Roman Catholic.
CHAPTER CLXXIII.
H01.DEN — (Continued) 1387
Early Schools— Statistics of 1840— The Schools of 1888—
School Committee — The DamoD Memorial — Manufac-
tures.
CHAPTER CLXXIV.
HoLDEN — (Continued) 1389
Physicians— Masonic — The Centennial Celebration —
Town House — Distinguished Natives — Population — Val-
uation.
CHAPTER CLXXV.
HOLDEN — (Continued) 1390
The First Town-Meeting- OtBcers Elected— List of
Town Clerks from 1741 to 1889 -Selectmen — Assessors
— Treasurers— Representatives— Delegates to Provincial
Congress.
chapter clxxvi.
Douglas 1395
Territorial — Early Grants — Boundaries — Topography —
Geology.
CHAPTER CLXXVII.
Douglas— (Continued) 1398
Early Settlements.
CHAPTER CLXXVIII.
Douglas — (Continued) 1410
First Congregational Church — Second Congregational
Church — Reformed Metiiodist— Methodist Episcopal —
Catholic — Manufactures — Educational — The Willis
Fund — Masonic — G. A. R. — The Press — The Revolution
—The Rebellion,
CHAPTER CtXXIX.
Worcester 141 2
CHAPTER CIvXXX.
Worcester — (Continued) 1432
Civic and Political H istory from the Close of the Revo-
lution to the Present Time.
CHAPTER CLXXXr.
Worcester— (Continued) 1453
Ecclesiastical History.
CHAPTER CLXXXII.
Worcester— (Continued) 1491
Public Libraries.
CHAPTER CLXXXirr.
Worcester— (Continued) 1509
Educational History.
CHAPTER CLXXXIV.
Worcester — (Continued) 15 21
Societies, Associations and Clubs.
CH.\PTER CLXXXV.
Worcester— (Continued) 1538
The Newspaper Press.
CHAPTER CLXXXVI.
Worcester— (Continued) 1542
The Drama in Worcester.
CHAPTER CLXXXVII.
Worcester — (Continued) 1546
Banking and Insurance.
CHAPTER CLXXXVIII.
Worcester— (Continued) 1554
Medical History — Individuals — Societies — Hospitals.
CHAPTER CLXXXIX.
Worcester— (Continued) . . 1574
Homoeopathy,
CHAPTER CXC
Worcester— (Continued) 1576
Military History.
CHAPTER CXCI.
Worcester— (Continued) 1592
Early Encouragement of Manufactures — Saw and Grist-
Blill— The Silver Mine — Potash— Timothy Bigelow —
Early Manufacture of Cloth — PaperMills — Character
of Business prior to 1-20 - Trades-people Disconteuted
with Heavy Taxes Public Jlen Appear in Home-made
Cloth — Worcester Honorable Society- The First Exhi-
bition of the Worcester Agricultural Society.
CHAPTER CXCII.
Worcester — (Continued) 159S
streams and Mill Privileges — Population of Worcester
— Blackstone Canal — The Railroads — 'I'lie First Ex-
presses—The Old Coal Mine — Peat — Stage Lines,
CHAPTER CXCIII.
Worcester — (Continued) 1605
Textile Fabrics and Machinery for Making Them —
Early Manufacture of Cloth — Condition of Woolen
Manufacture — John Goulding — Manufacture of Cotton
and Woolen Machinery — Card Clothing — Looms — Car-
pet — Thread.
CHAPTER CXCIV.
Worcester — (Continued) 1617
Foundries — Slachinists^ Tools — Agricultural Imple-
ments — French's.
CHAPTER CXCV.
Worcester— (Continued) 1625
Wire — Wire-Workers— Copperas.
CHAPTER CXCVI-
Worcester— (Continued) 1632
Cairiagesand Cars— Wood-Working Machinery — Musi-
cal Instruments — Envelopes.
CHAPTER CXCVII.
Worcester — (Continued) 1637
Fire-Arms- Iron and Steel Business — Screws — Steam
Engines — Boilers,
VI
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER CXCVIII.
Worcester— (Continued) 1644
Boots and Shoes — Bigelow Heeling- Machine — Leather
Belting— Boot tind Shoe fllHchinery — Lasts— Dies.
CHAPTER CXCIX.
Worcester — (Continued) 1649
Paper Machinery— Razors— Holyoke Machine Company
— Norton Eniery-Wheel Company — Corsets— Skates—
Cliaira— Gas— Contractors and Biiildeils- Summary of
Industries not lieretofore Mentioned.
CHAPTER CC
Worcester — (Continued) 1654
Reasons for Worcester's Prominence as a Manufac-
turing City — Room witli Power for Rent- Merrifield
Building — Hey wood Buildings Estabrouk Building —
Enterprise of Worcester Business Me ii — Mechanics'
A«ociation— Worcester Polytechnic Institute — Wash-
burn Shops— The Laboring Chisses — Evening Schools —
Worcester's Rapid Growth — Heart of the Common-
wealth.
CHAPTER CCI.
Worcester— (Continued) 165S
Worcester County in the Free-Soil Movement.
CHAPTER CCII.
Worcester- (Continued)
The Settlement of Kansas.
1669
Appendix :
Bench and Bar 1749
Hon. John D. Washburn.
BERLIN 1745
Business Men.
New Braintree 1745
Soldiers who served in the French War and the Revo-
lution.
Millbury 1746
Sketch of Leonard Bunnell Gate.
Holden 1747
The Damon Memorial.
Douglas 1748
List of Soldiers, continued from page 1141.
HISTORY
OF
AYOECESTER COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.
TOW^N HISTORIES.
CHAPTER C X V 1 1 .
BOYI.STON.
BV GRORGK h. WRICHT.
Territorii atid Siirfari'-
-Httiiatioti — Gciilogn — Puptihilioii— Slulislii
Ltbrnry — Towii (IfflcerH.
This town is situated in the easterly part of Wor-
cester County, about seven miles northeast from Wor-
cester and Hbout thirty-five miles in a nearly due west
line from Boston. It is bounded on the north by West
Boylston, Sterling and Clinton ; on the east by Berlin
and Northborough ; on the south by Shrewsbury; and
on the west by AV^est Boylston. The boundary lines of
the city of Worcester come within about one mile ol
the present town lines. The total area of the town is
twelve thousand six hundred and eighty acres, of which
eleven thousand seven hundred and thirty-seven acres
are taxable, and three hundred and twenty-five acres
are covered by water. The surface is broken and un-
even, but not hilly. There are three swells or undula-
tions of laud extending through the town. One of
them extends across the southeast part of the town
and is a part of the range of highlands reaching from
BoFton to Shrewsbury, and here, with another range ol
hills in the southwest part of the town, forms a portion
of the water-shed between the Nashua, Assabet and
Blackatone Rivers. The third range of hills is situated
in the northwest part of the town, and extends into
West Boylston and Sterling, and on this range, just
over the town-line in Sterling, near the Waushacum
Ponds, was once the Indian town and residence of
Sholan, the sachem of the " Nashaways." On these
swells are some of the strongest lands in the town, and
they are especially adapted to grazing purjjoses. In
the southwest part of the town the soil is lighter and
largely plain land, well adapted to the cultivation of
the ditl'erent kinds of grain and market produce, and
good crops are raised with comparatively little labor.
On Muddy Brook there is a large tract of valuable
meadow land, a portion of which, now covered with
water, is knowu as the " Dover Ponds," and furnishes
power for the saw-mill of Asa Bee at Scar-bridge.
( )u the intervales of the Nashua River lies some of
the most fertile land in Worcester County, equally
adapted for grazing or arable purposes, and producing
abundant crops of the various productions common to
this section. The soil in the remaining portions of the
town is heavier and more broken, but is capable, under
a proper state of cultivation, of producing large crops.
The highlands are wooded with the different kinds of
oak, walnut, chestnut and pine. Along the intervales
of the Nashua Kiver the oak, walnut, maple, elm and
buttonwood grow in luxuriance. The scenery from
the highlands of the town is magnificent. On the
north, Mt. Wachusett, with the picturesque village of
Princeton nestling at its base and surrounded by the
lesser highlands of Worcester and Middlesex Counties,
terminating in the extreme northeast in the Monad-
nocks and hills of New Hampshire, and dotted here
and there with pleasant villages, lakes, wiudingstreams
and wooded hills and valleys, offers a fitting background
to a most charming picture of nature. From the high-
lands in the southern portion of the town a fine view
can be had of the State Lunatic Hospital, at Worces-
ter, Lake Quinsigamond, and portions of the Black-
stone Valley, and from the easterly parts of the town
fine views may be had extending over some of the
pleasantest towns of western Middlesex County.
There are four natural sheets of water in the town,
the largest of which lies in the easterly part, near the
Northborough line, and is called Rocky Pond, on ac-
count of the innumerable granite boulders with which
the bottom is covered. This pond contains forty-five
acres, according to a survey made by Gardner Smith
under a resolve of the Legislature in 1830.
An outlet flowing southeasterly from this pond pa.sses
into Cold Harbor Brook, in Northborough, and thence
into the Assabet River. Sewall Pond is in the south-
erly part of the town and is a part of one of the grants
made by the General Court of Massachusetts Bay to
Judge Samuel Sewall, after whom it received its name,
and contains about eleven acres. This pond is noted
for its great depth. Adjacent to it and flowing into it
is Pout, or Mud Pond, which contains according to
Mr. Davenport, in his history of the town, about twenty-
three acres. An outlet flows from Sewall Pond .south-
erly through a part of Shrewsbury into Lake (.^uinsig-
amond. On this outlet is situated a saw and grist-
885
886
HISTORY OF WORCESTER COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.
mill, long known as Banister's Mills. Spruce Pond, the
only other remaining sheet of water, is also situated in
this part of the town, and contains about five acres.
The south branch of the Nashua Kiver enters the
town on the west, about one and one-half miles east
of the confluence of the Quinnepoxet and Stillwater
Rivers in West Boylston, and flows in a circuitous
course nearly six miles, through the northerly portion
of the town to the Clinton line. There are also num-
erous brooks and livulets in every section of the town,
the most important of which is Muddy Brook, called
in the early records Malagasco Brook, which rises
about one-half mile easterly of Boylston Centre, and
flows in southwesterly, westerly and northeasterly
courses into the Nashua River at Scar-bridge. Another
brook rising within a short distance of the one above-
mentioned, and called on the early records Spring
Garden Brook, flows into Sewall Pond, near the house
of Sumner Moore. On this stream was formerly a
saw-mill, known as Locke's Mill.
Mill or French Brook rises in the easterly part of the
town, in East Woods (so-called), and flows westerly,
for a distance of nearly four miles, into the Nashua
River. On this stream several saw and grist-mills have
sto<id at different periods of the town's history. There
are also several smaller brooks in the westerly, north-
erlv and easterly portions of the town. The ponds are
well stocked with fish, and the brooks furnish some of
the best fronting places in Worcester County.
The geological formations consist of Merrimack
schist, calcareous gneiss and the St. .John's group.
Sulphate of iron is found in different sections of the
town. On Diamond Hill, about one-half mile south-
west of Bovlston Centre, are found large and beautiful
specimens of crystallized quartz, and which, according
to Rev. Peter Whitney, the historian of Worcester
County, gave the name to the hill from their similarity
in size and shape to diamonds. Coal, resembling that
found in Worcester, has been discovered in the north-
westerly part of the town. In the easterly part, about
two miles from Boylston Centre, on the road to Berlin,
extensive gold-mining operations were carried on un-
der the lead of the late Rev. Andrew Bigelow, D.D.,
of Southborough, a native and former minister of
Boylston. A shaft about forty feet in depth was sunk,
and considerable quantities of ore taken out and trans-
ported to New York for analysis. The precious metal
is said to exist in paying quantities; but the work was
abandoned upon the death of Rev. Dr. Bigelow, in 18S2,
and nothing has since been done. In thissection of
the town, upon the farm of Israel L. Barnes, is a val-
uable quarry of building stone. Excellent clay for the
manufacture of brick is found in several places, and a
spot of clay ground on the farm of Cliarles (1. Allen,
about one mile from Boylston Centre, was set apart by
the proprietors of Shrewsbury in 1728 for the common
use of the settlers in the manufacture of their pottery-
ware and kitchen utensils. The manufacture of brick
is now quite extensively carried on by George Hazard,
about two miles from Boylston Centre.
The town is well accommodated with very good
roads; there are nearly fifty miles of highways within
iU limits. The Nashua River is spanned by three iron
bridges, all of which have recently been erected by the
town at a cost of about $7,000. The present county
road to Clinton was built aboutl860, at a cost of nearly
$4,000. Mr. Davenport, in his history of the town
published in 1830, says the principal road at that time
was the county road, which passes through the north-
westerly, northerly and northeasterly portions of the
town to Berlin, and crossing the Nashua River at Saw-
yer's Mills. At th.at time a stage passed over this road
three times a week from Boston, and Mr. Davenport
says the road was then thought to be the most direct
and level route for a road from Boston to Northampton ,
and a petition was presented about that time to the
County Commissioners for the location of a road from
the line of Worcester County at Ware Factory Village
through Barre, Rutland, Holden and West Boylston to
the Middlesex County line,— a fact interesting as the
beginning of the project of communications between
Boston and Northampton now carried out by the Cen-
tral Mass. R. R., and being the same route taken by
that railroad, which passes through the town from east
to west, and has two stations within the town limits, —
one, called South Clinton, is in the northeast part, near
the Clinton line; the other is known as Boylston, and
is situated at Sawyer's Mills. There are two post-offices
in the town, the older of which is known as Boylston,
and is located at Sawyer's Mills, and supplies the po.stal
wants of that village, the population of which is largely
made up of operatives in the cotton-mills there and a
few farmers in the northerly part of the town and the
southeasterly part of Sterling. Thomas C. Sheldon is
the present postmaster. The other and principal post-
oflSce is located at Boylston Centre, and supplies the
wants of nearly three-fourths of the town. At this
village islocated the town-hall. Congregational Church,
public library, etc., and it consists of about thirty
dwelling-houses. John Tucker is the present post-
master. There is a small village situated in the south-
east part of the town near the Northborough and
Shrewsbury lines, called "Straw Hollow," and it was
at one time largely the property of David T. Moore &
Sons, who carried on extensive farming interests,. to-
gether with a large cider and vinegar refinery. In 1878
there were furnished from this place for the Boston
market, 55,224 quarts of milk and 17,60.3 quarts of
cream, selling for $6,165.13; 19,801 bushels of apples
were made into eider, producing 860 barrels. The cider
and vinegar refinery and the home buildings of the late
D. T. Moore were destroyed by fire several years since
and have never been rebuilt. A portion of the farm is
now called the Adelphia farm, and is operated by Clapp,
Moore & Co., who do an extensive creamery business.
In the northeast part of the town there is a tract of
land extending into the southerly part of Clinton,
known by the name of the "Six Nations," and so
called according to the tradition of there having ouce
lived families of six different nationalities at one time
within the territory. In this section of the town is a
high wooded, rough tract of land, called in the early
records Rattlesnake Hill, and said to have once been
a great haunt for these reptiles. It is said that the
other sections of the town were much infested by
them during the early settlement and that it was not
BOYLSTON.
887
uncommon for them to enter the houses of the settlers.
East Woods, a large wooded and rocky tract of land
in the easterly part of the town, was said to be another
favorite haunt of the reptiles.
It is perhaps known to but few of the present inhab-
itants of the town that a search was ever carried on
here for buried treasure. Mr. Davenport, in his his-
tory, says, about the time of the incorporation of the
town, in the autumn of the year, twenty or thirty per-
sons from tlie towns of Northborough, West BoyUton,
Hubbardston and Brookfield, upon the authority of
dream!", began to break the earth on land of Nathaniel
Davenport, E-^q., now belonging to the estate of the
late Nathan L. Daggett, where they continued their
labors, occasionally, for several weeks, until they had
made an excavation eight or ten ftet in depth, and
perhaps forty feet in circumference. The labor w:\s
principally performed in moonlight evenings, with a
table on the ground, with an open Bible and rusty
sword upon it, one man at the same time sitting upon
the bank, with smeet apple-true or witch hazelroAs in his
hands, to inform the workingmen in what particular
spot the money was, as it was believed the money had
the power of locomotion, and was, therefore, uncer-
tain whether it would remain stationary for any length
of time. The money was supposed by the searchers
to have been placed there by pirates, and that some
person was murdered and buried there to take care of
it. To appease the manes of this person a dove was one
day procured by one of the party and bled over the spot
where the treasure was supposed to have been buried,
and the blood sprinkled about the excavation. Pro-
found silence was required to be observed while
searching for the treasure. One evening a man, while
at work alone, struck the point of a bar, as he report-
ed, under the bale of the kettle which contained the
money, and heard distinctly the sound of the specie,
but hearing at that moment a discharge of musketry,
looked and saw upon the summit of the hill an army
firing upon him. Just then the bale of the kettle
slipped off the point of the bar and could be found no
more. This is said to have been the nearest attain-
ment to securing the coveted prize.
From its high elevation Boylston is essentially an
agricultural town, and offers but little opportunity for
manufacturing or other industries, but as a farming
town it takes a liigh rank with the other towns of the
county, both in the industry and prosperity of its
inhabitants and in the cultivation and appearance of
its farms. From the assessors' returns for the present
year it appears that the valuation of the town is
$.523,573 ; rate of taxation, $1.5 per $1000. There are
160 dwelling-houses, 208 ratable polls, 224 horses, 820
neat-cattle and 147 swine in the town. Its dairy
products are extensive, and it has some of the best
orchards in the county. According to the Massachu-
setts State Census of 1875, there were produced in
the town during the year ending May 1, 1875, 20,930
oarrels of apples, valued at $8,100 ; 4,639 bushels of
corn, valued at §4,706 ; 18,689 bushels of potatoes,
valued at §11,847 ; 2,240 tons of hay, valued at S37,-
053; 148,415 gallons of milk, valued at $22,211;
43,500 pounds of pork, valued at $4,521; 49,425 pounds
of beef, valued at $3,876. The total value of all
agricultural products for that year was $147,537. The
only manufacturing interests in the town are situated
at Sawyer's Mills, where there is a cotton-mill owned
and operated by the Lancaster Mills Company, of
Clinton. The resident superintendents of the mills
have been Deacon Moses Brigham, Levi Hoi brook,
James A. Weeks, Edmund C. Forbes and Thomas C.
Sheldon.
The people of the town have always been noted
for their healthfulne^s and longevity. For a period
from 1797 to 1830 there were thirty-four deaths of
persons over eighty years of age. Miss Betsey Stone,
a descendant of one of the oldest families, died June
30, 1868, at the great age of one hundred years and
eight months. Abel Farwell, a pensioner of the War
of 1812, died September 1, 1888, at the age of ninety-
seven years, and was at the time of his death the
oldest person in the town. Ezra Ball, now in his
ninetv-fourth year, at present enjoys that distinction,
and is the oldest resident member of the Congrega-
tional Church, an honor which was enjoyed by his
grandfather at the time of the settlement of Rev.
Mr. Hooper in 1794, and by his father when Rev.
Mr. Sanford became pastor of the church in 1832.
The population of the town, according to the last
census, is eight hundred and thirty-four, and it has
not varied very much from this number at any period
of the town's historj^. The greatest number of inhab-
itants at any one time was in 1808, the year of the
incorporation of West Boylston as a separate town,
when it was ten hundred and thirty. In 1885 there
were fourteen persons in the town above eighty years
of age.
There are six schools in the town. The number of
school-children, between five and fifteen years of age.
May 1, 1887, was one hundred and sixty-six. The
total number of different scholars in the schools for
the year 1887 was one hundred and seventy-seven,
and the amount expended for all school purposes was
$2,228.07.
Boylston has an excellent public library, which
was established by the town at its annual meeting,
March 1, 1880, when the sum of two hundred dollars
and the amount of the dog fund remitted from the
county treasurer was appropriated for the purpose.
On the 27th day of the following June the Boylston
Social Library — a library existing in the town, organ-
ized March 2, 1792, eighty-eight years previous, and
consisting of three hundred and eighty-six volumes —
was by vote, and subsequently by deed, added to the
library. The library was completed by the donation
of agricultural works to the amount of fifty dollars,
from the Boylston Farmers' and Mechanics' Associa-
tion, and twenty-five volumes from Mrs. John B.
888
HISTORY OF WORCESTER COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.
Gough. The library contained, when open for circu-
lation September 4, 1880, eleven hundred and ten cata-
logued volumes. It has since received many valuable
donations, the more important of which have been from
Hon. Phinehas Ball, of Worcester, the late John B.
Gough, Esq., the late Oliver Sawyer Kendall, the late
Sanford M. Kendall, Miss Ellen William?, of North-
borough, Hon. George F. Hoar and others. In 1887
Miss Hannah E. Bigelow. M.D., of Marlborough,
Mass., gave to the library one hundred and fifty dol-
lars in books and money, in remembrance of her
mother, the late Mrs. Levi Bigelow, of Marlborough,
who was a native of the town. An interesting feature
of the library is a collection of photographs of the
present and former citizens of the town and the sol-
diers of 1861-05. The collection now comprises five
large volumes and was the design of the late Oliver
S. Kendall and has been largely carried out by his
fiimity. The library now contains about twenty-five
hundred volumes. George L. Wright is the librarian,
and has held that position since its organization. A
library has also been established at Sawyer's Mills by
the Lancaster Mills Company for the use of its oper-
atives. There is also a large and flourishing Grange
of the Patrons of Husbandry in the town, of which
George A. Hastings is the present master. The fol-
lowing is a list of the town officers chosen at the
annual town-meeting in March, 1888 : Moderator,
George L. Wright; Town Clerk, Henry H. Brigham
(died June 19, 1888, and P. M. Brigham chosen to
fill the vacancy); Selectmen, George E. Hastings,
Penuiman M. Brigham, Wm. A. Andrews ; Assessors,
Elmer Shaw, Lyman S. Walker, Wm. H. Hastings ;
Overseers of the Poor, Lyman P. Kendall, Nathaniel
L. Kendall, Charles E. Smith; Treasurer and Col-
lector, Benj. C. Lane ; School Committee, George L.
Wright, F. B. Willard, Thomas C. Sheldon ; Trustees
of Public Library, P. M. Brigham, A. V. R. Prouty,
George L. Wright, Miss F. M. AVhitcomb, Mrs.
Everett Kendall.
CHAPTER CXVIIL
BOYLSTON {^Continued.)
E.4.RLY FAMII,IES AND SETTLEMEKTS.
Of the territory now constituting the town, about
three-fourths belonged to Shrewsbury, the northerly
and northeasterly portions were included in the
original grant made to the town of Lancaster by
Sholan, Indian Sachem of the Nashaways in 1643, and
the remainder, a ver)' small tract in the northerly
part of the town, was derived from the Lancaster new
grant made by George Tahanto, nephew of Sholan, in
1701. It is not certain when the settlement of the
town began, but three large grants were made within
its territory by the General Court of the Massa-
chusetts Bay long before the actual settlement began.
One of these grants was known as the "Maiden
Farm " and was made to the church in Maiden in
1655, and consisted of one thousand acres and lay in
the southwest part of the town and partly within what
is now West Boylston. This grant was the cause of a
long and vigorous suit between the proprietors of
Shrewsbury and the church in Maiden. Another
grant was that made in 1658 and confirmed in 1659
to Capt. Richard Davenport, commander of the castle
in Boston Harbor, and consisted of six hundred acres
laying in the northwesterly part of this town and
extending along the Nashua River into West Boylston.
The third grant was the Sewall farm, comprising
within its limits one thousand five hundred acres, and
was partly in Boylston and partly in Shrewsbury, and
probably adjoined the easterly line of the Maiden
farm, and was granted to Chief Justice Samuel
Sewall.
The first permanent settlement began in that por-
tion of the territory taken from Lancaster by descend-
ants of Thomas Sawyer, one of the first settlers of
Lancaster, on the farm now owned and occupied by
James E. Ball. Vestiges of the cellar of this house
may now be seen a short distance south of the present
buildings. The estate of the Sawyers included the
farm now owned by Nathaniel L. and Everett
Kendall, sons of the late Oliver Sawyer Kendall, and
descendants of the Sawyer family, and extended to
Sawyer's Mills village, where the Sawyers erected a
corn-mill on the Nashua River. It is uncertain
when they settled in that part of Lancaster now
Boylston, but they were probably there as early as
1705 or '06. The Sawyer family were long and
prominently connected with this part of the town.
Lieut. Aaron Sawyer, a member of the tiimily, was pro-
minent in Lancaster affairs during the Revolution ;
was first town clerk of Boylston, assistant United States
assessor in 1798, and a prominent land surveyor.
The house erected by his father, bearing on a stone in
its chimney the date 1745, is now standing at Sawyer's
Mills, and probably the oldest house in the town.
The settlement of that part belonging to Shrewsbury
began about 1717. Among the early settlers are
found the names of Bennett, Stone, Bigelow, Taylor,
Ball, Hastings, Newton, Keyes, Temple, Howe, Bush,
Davenport, Flagg, Andrews and Wheeler.
The Ball family was prob.ably the second family
that settled in what is now Boylston and came from
Watertown. The family is descended from John Ball,
who came from Willetshire, England, and settled in
that part of Concord now Bedford, where he died
October 1, 1655. He had Ebenezer, Eleazer, John
and Nathaniel ; the last-named was the father of
Caleb, and grandfather of Reuben, who married
Experience Flagg in 1713, and had eight children,
three of whom lived to be over ninety years of age.
The sons of the first-named John Ball settled in
Lancaster and Watertown, and were among the first
settlers in those places. John Ball, probably a son of
BOYLSTON.
8SU
the first of that name, settled at South Lancaster,
where he, wiih his wife. Elizabeth, and an infant child,
were slain by the Indians in the niassaore of February
10, 1(J76, and two others of his family were carried
into captivity. The portion of the family which
settled in Boylston located in the easterly portion of
the town, within the territory derived from Lancaster
and very near the line which separated that town
from Shrewsbury. The original farm is now occupied
b3'Alonzo Ball, and has always been in the possession
of the family since its first settlement. The family
has always been noted for its longevity.
The Bennett family were from Lancaster, where
George Bennett, a descendant of James Bennett, of
Concord, and a nephew of Richard Linton, one of the
early settlers of Lancaster, came some time previous to
1665. Bennett vpas killed by the Indians August
22, 1675. He left a widow and five small children,
among whom was Samuel, born 1665, and who suc-
ceeded to his father's estate. This Samuel Bennett,
Mr. Ward says, was i)robably the one who was in the
Shrewsbury north part as early as 1723, and whose
son Samuel was one of the permanent settlers in that
part of Shrewsbury. The place where he resided in-
cluded the farms now owned by Leonard Brewer and
Augustus Flagg, situated about one mile east of Boyls-
ton Centre, on the road leading to Berlin. The site of
the original house may be seen marked by a slight
depression in the ground, on the left of the road, a
short distance below the present buildings on Mr.
Brewer's farm, and near where the brook crosses the
road. This house was used during the early settle-
ment as a garrison-house for protection against the
Indians. The Bigelow family came from Jlarlborough,
where they settled some time between 1690 and 1700,
coming to that place from Watertown. The history
of the family can be traced in England as far back as
the time of Henry III., when the family name was
written Bagulay, and was derived from the place where
they dwelt. Richard was Lord of Bagulay in the
time of Henry VIII. ; Ralph De Bigulay was Lord of
Ollerton Hall, and died in 1540. The name has also
at different periods been spelled Biggeley, Bigulah,
Bigloh, Biglo and Biglow in the early records. John
Bigelow was the first of the family in New England,
and settled at Watertown, where he married Mary
Warner, October 30, 1642. His grandson, John
Bigelow, settled at Marlborough. In 1705 he was
taken captive by the Indians with Thomas Sawyer,
Jr., and his son Elias, and carried to Canada. Sawyer
offered to erect a saw-mill for the French government
on the Chambly River upon the condition that he
should obtain the ransom of the three captives. The
Indians, however, refused to accept the ransom of
Thomas Sawyer, and bound him to the stake for tor-
ture, when a friar excited the fears of the savages by
brandishing a key, and threatening with it to unlock
the door of purgatory and thrust them into its
fires if they did not release their prisoner. They
immediately unloosed him, and, (rue to his promise,
he completed the mill, which was the first erected in
Canada. When Sawyer and Bigelow returned home,
Elias Sawyer was detained a year longer to run the
mill. Captain Joseph Bigelow, a son of this John
Bigelow, settled in the north part of Shrewsbury
about 1729, a prominent man there, and was the
ancestor of most of the families of the name living in
Boylston. Dea. Amariah Bigelow, a son of Samuel,
of Marlborough, settled in Shrewsbury North Parish
about 1747, in that portion now belonging to West
Boylston, and on the farm now owned by George T.
Brigham, Esq. He was a prominent man and had a
large family of children. One daughter was the wife
of Rev. Eleazer Fairbanks, the second minister of the
Boylston Church.
There are several families of the name now residing
in both towns. The Stone farailj' probably came
from Andover and settled in the e.\treme northerly
part of the town. The T.iylor, Tveyes, Temple and
Bush families came from Marlborough. Lieutenant
Eleazer Taylor, first of the name in Boylston, was
probably the first settler in the central part of the
town. He resided on the place afterwards owned by
Rev. Ward Cotton, and now in the possession of
Henry V. Woods. He was the father of Anthony
and David Taylor, both of whom were noted for their
prodigious strength. The Keyes family came here
about 1720 and settled in the south part of the
town. They were prominent in church, precinct and
town affairs. John Keyes, Sr., was the first magis-
trate in the territory now Boylston, and one of the
first deacons of the churches in Shrewsbury and
Boylston, first town clerk of Shrewbury, a member of
the first Boards of Selectmen, Assessors, etc., and Re-
presentative in 1746. Cyprian Keyes was also a deacon
in both churches, one of the selectmen of Shrewsbury
eighteen years, assessor fourteen years, town clerk
seven years, etc. One of his daughters married Major
Ezra Beaman and another was the wife of Jotham
Bush and mother of Colonel Jotham Bush. Deacon
Keyes died June 18, 1802, aged ninety-five years and
nine months. His brother, Jonathan Keyes, was also
a deacon in the Shrewsbury Norlh Parish (now Boyls-
ton). The family name is now e.xtinct in Boylston.
The Temples settled in the southwest part of the
town and on territorv now embraced within the lim-
its of both Boylston and West Boylston. Isaac Tem-
ple was the first of the name and appears to have
been a very influential man in the early town and
precinct affairs. His son, Lieutenant Jonas Temple,
was a very prominent man in both Shrewsbury and
Boylston and much employed in town affairs and
Representative from both towns.
His residence was within the present limits of West
Boylston, and when that town was incorporated, in
1808, he refused to be set off to the latter town, and
the Legislature made provisions in the act of incorpo-
ration whereby he and his farm should remain a part
890
HISTORY OF WORCESTER COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.
of Boylston until his decease, which occurred Novem-
ber 3, 1815, at the age of eighty-three years. John
Bush was the first of that name who settled in Boyl-
ston, and was the son of Abial Bush, who settled in
Marlboro', in 1690. John Bush settled on the place
now owned by the estate of the late Charles Andrews,
Esq., at Boylston Centre; he was prominent in both
town and precinct aftairs and was instrumental in the
incorporation of the North Parish, their agent before
the General Court and the first precinct clerk. His
son, Jotham Bush, Jr., and his son-in-law, Rev. Ebe-
nezer Morse, M.D., were royalists in the time of the
Revolution; and Jotham Bush was compelled to leave
his estates and flee the country; he was finally taken
and sent on board a ship in Boston Harbor, where he
died of small-pox in 1778. After his deatli his estate
came into the hands of his son,' Colonel Jotham Bush,
where he erected a large and fine mansion, at the time
one of the best in Worcester County. This house was
destroyed by fire October 20, 1859; Colonel Bush re-
sided there until his death, November 13, 183ii, at the
age of eighty years. He was an honored and influen-
tial citizen, devoting himself untiringly to the best
interests of the town, and in return was honored with
nearly every oflSce within its gift. He was promi-
nently identified with the movement, in 1786, which
led to the division of Shrewsbury and incorporation of
Boylston. Three of his daughters married clergymen
and left descendants who were prominent in that and
the medical professions, among whom is Dr. William
F. Holcombe, of New York. One daughter, Mrs.
Martha Dickinson, of Brooklyn, N. Y., widow of Rev.
Baxter Dickinson, was living in 1880, at the age of
eighty-eight years. One of her sons is Rev. William
Cowper Dickinson, of Cincinnati, Ohio ; another son,
Rev. Richard Storrs Dickinson, was associate pastor
of Rev. Dr. Barnes, of Philadelphia. Deacon Jotham
Bush, son of Colonel Jotham Bush, died here in 1880
and was the last of the family in Boylston.
The Howe family came here about 1725, when
Phineas Howe, then a young man, was sent from
Marlboro' by his father to form a home in the then
more unsettled wilderness ; he settled on the farm now
owned by George Hazard, and spent the first winter
here alone. It is said that he found his way to and
from Marlboro' by blazing the trees with an axe. He
married Abigail Bennett, daughter of Samuel Bennett,
one of the earliest settlers and his nearest neighbor,
and resided here until his death. The family is de-'
scended from John Howe, E-q , wlin caine from War-
wickshire, in England, and was connected with Lord
Charles Howe, Earl of Lancaster, in the reign of
Charles I. There are many descendants of the family
now living in the town.
The Newtons also came from Marlborough, and
settled in the extreme southeast and northwest parts
of the town. The Wheelers were from Watertown.
Both of these families are now extinct. The Daven-
ports were descended from Capt. Richard Davenport,
the commander of the castle in Boston Harbor, who
came over to Salem in September, 1628, with Gov.
Endicott. He was a prominent man in the Massa-
chusetts Bay Colony, and was one of the guardians
of Adam Winthrop, Jr., a grandson of Gov. John
Winthrop, and was also much employed in the ser-
vice of the colony, and received from the General
Court, in 1659, the grant of land already mentioned,
and where his grand-ons — William and Nathaniel —
settled in 1786, and which remained in the family
for eight generations. Capt. Davenport was killed
by lightning, July 15, 1665. The family was also
connected with the families of Dr. Isaac Adding-
ton, whose son of the same name was chief justice
under Gov. Dudley, register and judge of probate for
Suffolk County, etc. and also with the family of Gov.
John Leverett. His grandson, Addington Daven-
port, was register of deeds and clerk of courts for
Suffolk County, clerk of the House of Representa-
tives and judge of the Supreme Court. The history
of the family can be traced in England in unbroken
descent from the time of the Norman Conquest, and
was very highly and honorably connected. What
relation Capt. Richard Davenport was to the distin-
guished Rev. John Davenport is not known, but the
relationship, if any, must have been distant, as they
were contemporary together, and were not father
and son, as stated by Mathew Davenport, Esq., in
his " History of Boylston." The Flaggs came from
Watertown and Concord. Thomas Flagg was in.
the former place as early as 1643. Gershom Flagg
was in Boylston in 1729, and was the direct ancestor
of the families here of that name. This family has
produced many influential men. The Hastings
family came from Watertown, in the person of Dan-
iel Hastings, who settled in the easterly part of the
town, on the farm now owned by A. V. R. Prouty.
He was a prominent man, and much employed in
town and precinct affairs. It is said that when he
settled here, in 1729, he traveled on horseback with
his family and goods through an unbroken wilder-
ness, and was several days in making the journey.
This family is of Danish origin, and dates back to
the early times, when the Danes made frequent in-
cursions into that part of England and Scotland bor-
dering on the North Sea. In one of these incur-
sions Hastings, a Danish chief, made himself for-
midable to Alfred the Great by landing a large
force of men on the English coast. He took a por-
tion of Sussex, and the castle and seaport were
held by his family when William the Conqueror
landed in England, and held it for the crown many
years. Henry was Lord of Hastings and son of
William De Hastings, steward of Henry II. They
were allied by marriage with the royal family of
England and Scotland. Sir Henry and George
Hastings, grandsons of the Earl of Huntingdon, be-
came Puritans, and fled from England to the New
World, and were the first of the family in this country.
BOYLSTON.
891
The Andrews family came here about 17415, when
Robert Andrews, a son of Robert Andrews, of Box-
ford, i-ettled on the farm hitely owned by the heirs of
Willard Andrews and now occupied by Henry L.
Shumway. This farm was in the possession of
Robert Andrews and his descendants from its first
settlement until 1887. He was a prominent man,
captain of militia and during the Revolution was one
of the selectmen of Shrewsbury. He was accidentally
killed November 11, 1789. His wife was Lucy Brad-
street, of Top.'-field, a descendant of Governors Dudley
and Bradstreet. This family has furnished many in-
fluential men to the town. Of all the Boylston fami-
lies, the Flaggs, Hastings and Andrews were the
most numerous, and many families of each name are
now residing in the town. It is not known that the
early settlers were ever attacked by the Indians in
hostile manner, but Shrewsbury and Lancaster were
among the frontier towns put into a state of defense
by the General Court in 1722, and garrison-houses or
stockade forts were early maintained. One of these
was at the house of Samuel Bennett, already described,
on the farm of Leonard Brewer. Another was at the
house of John Bush and the third stood within the
present limits of West Boylston, about eighty rods
from the present residence of George T. Brigham,
Esq. The early settlers carried firearms into their
fields of labor and many false alarms of savage incur-
sions are believed to have taken place. One anecdote,
said to be authentic, is that the wife of one of the set-
tlers who came from Marlborough was preparing
dinner, and putting her meat into the dinner-pot,
hung it over the crane, when the family were
suddenly alarmed and fled to Marlborough, returning
in about a year. She found her dinner preparations
in the same situation in which she had left them.
Specimens of Indian arrow-points, stone implements,
etc, have been found in different parts of the town,
and the sites of some of their corn-fields and grana-
ries, which were simple excavations in the ground,
have been discovered.
CHAPTER CXIX.
BOYhiirON—{Coi!tiH!tcd. )
Civil. .\ND POLITICAI, HISTORY.
As early as 1738 it is evident that the inhabitants
of the north part of Shrewsbury considered them-
selves sufficient in numbers and in strength to assume
the responsibilities of a separate town government,
and a bill was introduced into the General Co.urt for
the incorporation of the northerly part of Shrewsbury
into a separate township. This passed the General
Court, but was negatived by Cxovernor Shirley for the
reasons that the too rapid increase of new towns was
injurious, since each town was entitled to one Repre-
sentative to the General Court, and every town having
one hundred and twenty or more voters to two Repre-
sentatives. Only Boston, Salem, Ipswich and New-
bury, of all the towns entitled to send more than one,
availed themselves of the law ; some of the towns did
not send any. There were one hundred and sixty
towns, and only from one hundred and nine to one
hundred and twenty Representatives were yearly sent
to the General Court; but in a case of emergency the
number could be doubled, and even trebled, and any
matter introduced by the King's Governor which met
with their opposition would be defeated, and he accor-
dingly recommended the incorporation of precincts
and districts without the right of representation.
These matters were reported to the Royal government
at London, and in>tructions returned to the Governor
that no new town should be erected without the
King's consent. Thus defeated in their plans to
become a separate town, they soon alter made appli-
cation to the General Court for incorporation as a
distinct precinct. In this they were successful, and
on December 17, 1742, were incorporated as the
North Precinct of Shrewsbury, At the same time the
town of Lancaster voted to grant the request of
Joshua Houghton and other.s to be joined to them by
the following bounds: Beginning at Bolton (now
Berlin) line, one and one-half miles from Lancaster
(southwest corner); thence to run due west to the
Nashua River, to the town line, excluding only the
lands of Philip Larkin that might fall within the
said lines. By this a strip one and one-half miles
wide was given to Boylston. On the 19th of January,
1743, in obedience to a warrant from John Keyes,
Esq., "one of His Majesty's Justices of the Peace,"
the first precinct meeting was held, and the following
officers were chosen: Moderator, John Keyes, Esq.;
Precinct Clerk, John Bush ; Precinct Committee,
John Bush, Joseph Bigelow, Dea. Cyprian Keyes,
Joshua Houghton and Abner Saw-yer. About the
same time they relinquished their rights in the meet-
ing-house to the town of Shrewsbury for £32 10.?.,
to be paid when the new parish should have erected
and covered a meeting-house. At the next meeting,
held February 7, 1743, they "voted £26 8«., old
tenor, to pay for preaching for eight days past,"
which probably included each Sabbath that there had
been since they were incorporated; also "voted £-50,
old tenor, for preaching in the future," and Daniel
Hastings, Abner Sawyer and Joseph Biglo (or Bigelow)
were chosen as a committee to provide a minister;
" voted, that the centre of the North precinct in
Shrewsbury, that is, south of the Quinnepoxet River
or the nearest convenient spot to the centre, be the
place to set the meeting-house on ;" " voted, that
Capt. Flagg be the surveyor to find the centre of the
North precinct in Shrewsbury," and Jonathan Liver-
more was chosen " in case Capt. Flagg fails this week."
This was Deacon Jonathan Livermore, of North-
borough, for many years clerk of that town, and who
892
HISTORY OF WORCESTER COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.
lived to be over one hundred years old. On the 18th
of the same month they voted to proceed to build a
meeting-house forty-five feet long, thirty-five feet
wide, and twenty feet between the joints, and that the
house should be up and covered with shingles and
rough-boarded around the sides by the 1st of the fol-
lowing June. The following year the house was
nearly completed. This church stood on the present
South Common, and nearly in front of the Old Ceme-
tery, at the north end of which was the " Noon or
Sabbath-day house," built in 1772, where the people
were accustomed to retire between services for lunch
and warmth, no fires being had in the meeting-houses.
The stocks, for the punishment of petty crimes, was
I'icated near the cemetery gate. The Old Cemetery
was purchased about the time of the erection of the
meeting-house of Lieutenant Eleazer Taylor, and
the first interment was made April 14, 1745, as appears
from the following epitaph upon a head-stone near
the gate :
Here lies ye body of Garner Maynnrd, son of BIr. Eliaba and .Mrs.
Hulduh Mayuard, who died Apr. ye Hth 1745, aeg. 11 nionlhs and
11 days.
And on the foot-atone :
ThU is ye first body that ju this burying-ground doth lie.
From this time forward the relations of the North
and Souih Precincts were largely distinct save in
town business.
September 16, 1751, Dr. Zachariah Harvey, Ed-
ward Newton and others, living in the extreme north-
western part of the precinct, at what was known as
the " Shrewsbury Leg," and near the present village
of Oakdale, in West Boylston, petitioned the Shrews-
bury North Precinct that the meeting-house might
be moved more into the centre of the precinct, or else
that they might be allowed to draw their proportional
part of the money granted for precinct and preach-
ing purposes from the treasury, so that they might
have preaching by themselves, at least during the
winter season. The precinct refused to grant the re-
quest, but voted " that the portion of the North Pre-
cinct lying between the Quinnepoxet and Lancaster
Elvers might become a separate town, district or par-
ish by themselves."
October 9th of the same year Bartholomew Par-
sons, Mephibosheth Bixby, Daniel Wheelock, Jona-
than Foster, Reuben Moore, Daniel Bixby, Josiah
Cutting, Zachariah Eager, Daniel Allen, John Par-
sons, Edward Newton, William Whitney, Ezekiel
Newton, Samuel Newton and Dr. Zachariah Harvey
renewed the petition, alleging that the distance from
the meeting-houi^e was so great as to render their at-
tendance upon divine worship inconvenient. At this
time the precinct granted the sum of six pounds to
pay the rates of the petitioners. This same year the
town of Shrewsbury voted to allow those living on
the north side of the Quinnepoxet River, and be-
tween the towns of Holden and Lancaster, to be set
off and annexed to Lancaster. The annexation,
however, did not take place until 1768.
Dr. Zachariah Harvey, named in this connection,
seems to have been the most prominent resident in
that section of the Shrewsbury North Precinct. In
1758 he gave, by deed, to the inhabitants of "Shrews-
bury Leg " a lot of land for a burying-place and a
school-house lot, and soon after removed into what is
now Princeton, where he was the first practicing phy-
sician ; and, upon the incorporation of the district of
Princeton, was chosen moderator, clerk, selectman,
assessor and agent to the General Court. The " Har-
vey " apple, well known in this section many years
ago, was introduced by him.
By an .act of the General Court, passed September
18, 1762, Bezaleel Howe, Josiali Bennett, Levi Moore,
Daniel Albert, Frederick Albert, Edmund Larkin,
Jonathan Goodenow, Mathias Larkin and Zebulon
Rice, with their lands bounding by a line beginning
at the northeast corner of the Shrewsbury North
Precinct, thence running to the Nashua River on the
north side of the house of Daniel Albert, and so on
the river to the precinct line at Aaron Sawyer's (now
Sawyer's Mills Village), were set off from Lancaster
and annexed to the Shrewsbury North Precinct.
April 25, 1774, the precinct voted to receive William
Dunsmore and others, with their lands, from the
First Precinct in Lancaster. About this time the in-
habitants of the Shrewsbury North Precinct renewed
their original intentions of forming a separate town
organization, and at a precinct meeting held January
13, 1772, an article was inserted in the warrant
calling the meeting, on the petition of Dea. Jona-
than Keyes and others, " to see whether the inhabit-
ants would take the proper and necessary measures
to have the precinct, and such of the inhabitants of
Lancaster as might be accommodated, erected into a
district, and this passed in the negative." At the
precinct meeting held April 25, 1774, the matter of
separation was again brought before the precinct,
when " they signified by vote their minds to be set
off from Shrewsbury as a separate town," and a com-
mittee, consisting of Capt. Joseph Bigelow, Jr., Lieut.
Jotham Bush, Benjamin Fisk, Ezra Beaman and
Thomas Andrews, was chosen to present a petition to
the selectmen of Shrewsbury for the above pur-
pose, and to see if the town would grant their desire.
This, it is supposed, the town refused to do, and in
the impending political crisis of the Revolution
which followed, all thought of an immediate separa-
tion from the parent town seems to have been laid
aside. In 1780 Aaron Sawyer, Nathaniel Lamson,
Frederick Albert, Silas Howe, John Dunsmore, Jacob
Winn, Hugh Moore, Nathaniel Hastings, Oliver
Sawyer, Silas Hastings, Samuel Bigsby, Micah
Harthan, Joseph Sawyer, Ezra Beaman, Edmund
Larkin, Levi Moore, Josiah Bennett, William Duns-
more, John Glazier, Phinehas Howe, Elijah Ball,
Robert Andrews, Jr., and Nathaniel Davenport,
BOYLSTOX.
893
some of whom resided within the limits of Lancaster,
and the others had lands there, petitioned the town
of Lancaster that they might be set off and annexed
to Shrewsbury. Some of them had already been
joined to the Shrewsbury North Precinct, although in
Lancaster, for town purposes. This request the town
granted June 23, 17S0. The line of division was the
present north line of Boylston.
March 28, 1785, the precinct again voted to take
measures to become a separate town, and a commit-
tee, consisting of Lieutenant Jonas Temple, Captain
Joseph Bigelow and Ephraim Beaman, was chostn to
again petition the town of Shrewsbury. This time
they were successful, and, at a town-meeting held
May 9, 178.5, a joint committee from the two parishes
was chosen "to perambulate the line and renew the
boundaries between the precincts, as also to settle all
matters relating to a separation of .Parishes," etc.,
and Colonel Job Gushing. Captain Jonah Howe and
Major Asa Rice were chosen on the part of the South
Precinct, and Lieutenant Jonas Temple, Captain
Joseph Bigelow and Major Ezra Beaman were chosen
on the part of the North Precinct. At a subsequent
meeting, held January 2, 1786, it was voted to set off
the North Precinct as a separate town ; and on the
1st day of March, 178G, the town of Boylston was
incorporated. It received its name in honor of an
eminent family of Boston and Roxbury, two of whom
were skillful physicians in succession, and another
founded the chair of rhe'oric and oratory in Harvard
University. This family, through Ward Nicholas
Boylston, Esq., of Princeton, gave to the two churches
a large pulpit Bible, communion cup and bell, and in
1799 the sum of forty pounds sterling, directing the
town to keep it on interest until it should amount to
a sum sufficient to-erect some public building for the
use of the town. In January, 1827, he died, and in
his last will he directed that the sum of three hun-
dred dollars should be added to that already given>
and that the present Town Hall should be built,
which was completed in 1830. The first town-meet-
ing was held March 13, 1786, and these officers were
chosen : Moderator, Lieutenant Ephraim Beaman ;
Town Clerk, Lieutenant Aaron Sawyer; Selectmen,
Major Ezra Beaman, Liutenant Jonas Temple, Lieu-
tenant Timothy Whitney, Captain Jonathan Fassett,
John Hastings ; Assessors, Ephraim Beaman, Jonas
Temple, Edmund Stiles; Town Treasurer, Captain
Joseph Bigelow.
June 1-1, 1796, the westerly part of the town, with
certain other lands, taken from the towns of Sterling
and Holden, were set off and incorporated as the
Second Precinct in Boylston, Sterling and Holden.
Two years previous, in 1794, Major Ezra Beaman and
twenty-seven others, living in this portion of the town,
had presented a petition to the town, asking its con-
sent that they might be set off and incorporated,
either as a town, district or society. This petition
the town had refused to grant, and application had
been made to the General Court, which resulted in
their incorporation as a precinct. By the terms of the
act of incorporation, those persons residing within the
territory embraced within the limits of the Second
Precinct, who should signify, in writing, to the clerk
of the Second Precinct, within six months from the
passage of the act, their choice to remain within the
First Precincts of the respective towns from which
the new precinct was composed, should thereafter be
considered as members of said First Precincts. Among
those from Boylston to avail themselves of the terms
of the act of incorporation was Lieutenant Jonas
Temple, who had been most prominently identified
with the affairs of Shrewsbury North Parish, and
thus far with the affairs of the town of Boylston, while
most prominent among the seceding portion were
Major Ezra Beaman and Captain Joseph Bigelow, Jr.,
both of whom had been very active in the affairs of
the town and church. The new precinct had already
erected their meeting-house three miles westwaid
from the centre of the town, where the old church
now stands on West Boylston Common. From this
time forward the church and parochial affairs of the
two sections of the town became separate and dis-
tinct.
The pari.sh affairs of the old precinct were sepa-
rated from the affairs of the town, and vested in the
First Precinct in Boylston, which organized Septem-
ber 5, 1796, with the following officers : Moderator,
Captain Robert Andrews ; Precinct Clerk, Lieutenant
Aaron Sawyer; Precinct Committee, Dr. Samuel
Brigham, Deacon Levi Moore, Lieutenant Aaron
Sawj'er ; Assessors, Captain James Longley, Lieu-
tenant Jacob Hinds, Jonathan Fassett, Jr. ; Treas-
urer, Captain Robert Andrews ; Collector, Major
Jotham Bush, and were so continued separate from
the affairs of the town until the incorporation of the
Second Precinct into the town of West Boylston, in
1808, when the parish affairs were again vested in the
town, and so continued until 1823, when the organi-
zation of the parish was revived. That Boylston was
in as prosperous condition at this time as most of the
other towns of the period may be seen from the fol-
lowing extract, taken from the " History of Worcester
County," published in 1793 by Rev. Peter Whitney,
of Northborough. This reverend author says, "It
may be styled a rich town, for they are not only clear
of debt, but have several hundred pounds in their
treasury. There are sure indications of n-eallh and
prosperity among them. Here are some large and
good farmers as perhaps anywhere in the country,
who keep large stocks of cattle. The people raise
all kinds of country produce, especially beef, pork
and grain, butter and cheese ; vastly more than they
consume, and carry more into the market, perhaps,
than any town of its size and numbers." Previous to
1808 it is said that not les-s than three thousand
bushels of rye, with not less than the same quantities
of corn and oats, were produced; and during the
894
HISTORY OF WORCESTER COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.
winter seasons the farmers carried large quantities of
rye meal to Boston, lor which they received $1.25 per
bushel. Large quantities of cider were annually
made, and at this time there were not less thau thirty
cider-mills in the town.
The division of the town into parishes did not, how-
ever, restore the harmony expected, and much oppo-
sition was continually manifested between the two
sections of the town until 1807, when a petition,
signed by Ezra Beaman, Jonathan Plyrapton, Paul
Goodale and William Fairbank, as agents in behalf
of the parish in Boylston, Holden and Sterling, was
presented to the General Court, asking that body that
"they might be incorporated into a District by some
proper name and vested with all the powers and priv-
ileges which by law appertained and belonged to dis-
tricts." This petition was received by the General
Court January 2.S, 1807, and referred to the commit-
tee on towns, who thereupon reported an order that
the petitioners serve the towns interested in the pro-
posed district with a copy of the petition and order at
least fifty days before the first Tuesday of the first
session of the next General Court, which date was as-
signed as the time for the hearing of the petition and
any remonstrances that might be brought against it.
In reply thereto, Captains James Longley and Robert
Andrews and Aaron White, Esq., appeared as agents
on the part of the town of Boylston, and protested
against the prayer of the petition, provided the pro-
posed district was to be annexed to the town of Boyls-
ton. Another remonstrance agaijist annexation was
also presented to the Legislature by Jonas Temple
and sixty-one others. Some time afterwards the
agents of the town and precinct met and signed
articles of agreement, the first of which was that "the
precinct might be incorporated into a town," and
January 30, 1808, an act passed the General Court to
that eflect, and the Second Precinct of Boylston,
Holden and Sterling became a town by the name of
West Boylston.
The history of the town of Boylston during the first
century of its existence was, like that of most country
towns of its size and situation, quiet and uneventful.
As a part of Shrewsbury it took an earnest and active
part in the events of the Revolution, and, with the ex-
ception of a very few, its inhabitants were ardent
patriots and well-wishers for the independence of the
colonies ; and the North Precinct of Shrewsbury
sent its full quota of soldiers into the Continental ser-
vice. The town of Boylston was well represented in
the War of 1812, and on its town records are spread
some able memorials and papers relating to national
aflairs for the period between 1790 and 1812. It sent
eighty soldiers into the War of the Rebellion, which
was a surplus of one over all demands made upon it,
one of whom was a commissioned oiBcer. The first
recorded action of the town relating to the war was
taken April 29, 1861, when it was voted that "whereas
the President has called upon the loyal States for
men to defend the integrity of the Union, therefore,
it was the duty of all good citizens, forgetting all past
ditferences, to rally and unite as one man to sustain
the government and put down rebellion." A commit-
tee consisting of Captain Lambert Lamson, A. W.
Andrews, and David T. Moore were chosen to consider
the matter of providing uniforms for all persons in
the town who should volunteer to form a military
company, and that each volunteer should be fur-
nished with a Colt's revolver and bowie-knife and be
paid one dollar a day by the town while in the United
States service and one dollar for every half-day spent
in drilling previous to being mustered into service.
It was also voted to raise the sum of two thousand
dollars to carry above objects into effect. July 28,
1862, the town voted to pay a bounty of one hundred
and five dollars to each volunteer who should enlist
before the 5th of August to fill the quota of the town.
August 25, 1862, this bounty was increased to one
hundred and twenty-five dollars. August 15, 1864,
the town fixed the sum of one hundred and twenty-
five dollars as the bounty to be paid each volunteer
enlisting to the credit of the town. The amount of
money expended by the town for war purposes, ex-
clusive of State aid, was ten thousand six hundred
and fifty-seven dollars. The amount of money paid
for State aid during the war to soldiers' families, and
repaid by the Commonwealth, was $6520.46.
At the annual town-meeting in March, 1886, the
town voted to celebrate the one hundredth anniver-
sary of its incorporation, and a sum of money was
appropriated to carry this vote into eflect. At a
special meeting in month of April following the
proper committees were chosen to carry out the pro-
posed centennial gathering. The 18th of August was
selected as the date. The day prove'd unusually pleas-
ant and the features of the celebration were most
successfully carried out. Very many of the residences
in the town were elaborately and appropriately deco-
rated and it was estimated that nearly five thousand
people were present. A salute of one hundred guns
was fired by Battery "B," Light Artillery, Massachu-
setts Volunteer Militia, under Captain Fred. W. Wel-
lington. The music was furnished by the Worcester
Brass Band. The address was given by Henry M.
Smith, Esq., of Worcester, Mass., a son-in-law of
Rev. Wm. H. Sanford, a former pastor of the Boylston
Church, and the poem w.os read by Hon. William N.
Davenport, of Marlborough, a native of the town.
Hons. Phinehas Ball and Charles B. Pratt, both ex-
mayors of Worcester and natives of the town, were
respectively president and chief marshal of the day.
An interesting feature of the occasion was the presen-
tation of a tablet erected in the town hall to the
memory of the soldiers who fell in the War of the
Rebellion by George A. Cotting, Esq., of Hudson, a
former citizen of the town. This tablet is of Italian
marble and bears the following inscription in gilt
letters :
BOYLSTON.
895
This Tablet,
erected on the One nundredth Anniversary of Boylsfon, by George A.
C'otting, is in rommemoriilion of tlie valnr of its citizens wlio died in Ibe
great civil war of 1801, to preserve tlie unity of our country.
Jobn R, Roberta, private, Co. K, 2d Regt. Mass. Vols ; liilled at battle
of Cedar Mountain, Va., Aug 9, 1803 ; ffi. 25 years. He was the first
soldier enlisted front Boylston.
Elliot J. Flagg, private, Co. I, 4th Kegt. N. T. Vols. ; killed at battle
of Antietam, Md., Sept. 17, 180i ; as. 23 years.
James H. Wilson, private, Co. I, alst Regt. Mass. Vols ; died of
wounds at Fredericksburg, Va., Dec. 15, 1862 ; x. 28 years.
Albert Hastings, private, Co. E, 2l6t Regt. Mass. Vols. ; died at Camp
Nelson, Ky., April 12, 1804; a;. 24 years.
.lobn W. Partridge, private, Co. D, 25th Regt. Mass. Vols. ; died at
Andersonville, Ga., Ma.v, 1804 ; se. 29 years.
George W. Brewer, corporal, Co. D, 25th Regt. Mass. Vols. ; killed at
Cold Harbor, Va,, June 3, 1804 ; w. 23 years.
Watson Wilson, private, Co. I, 30th Regt. Mass Vols; died of wounds
at Washington, D. C, June 28, 1804 ; m. 22 years.
John M. Forbes, sergeant, Co. C, 34th Regt. Mass. Vols. ; died at
Salisbury, N. C, Sept. 27, 1804; as. 25 years.
Ferdinand Andrews, corponil, Co. D, 25th Regt. Mass. Vols. ; died at
Boylston, Mass., Nov. 20, 1804 ; as. 25 years.
George C. Flagg, private, Co. F, Mass. Vols, ; in Me.\icau War ; at
U. S. Hospital Barracks, New Oi leans July 26, 1848 ; te. 24 years.
August 18, 1S80.
CHAPTER CXX.
BOYLSTON— (Co;/.//;/;/?,/.)
ECCLESIASTICAI, HISTORY.
The churcli was gathered on the 6th d.iy of Octo-
ber, 1743, Rev. Mr. Gushing and the church in
Shrewsbury assisting, in obedience to a re.quest from
Deacon John Keyes and twelve others. The precinct
made choice of Mr. Ebenezer Morse to settle over
them in the Gospel ministry. They agreed to give
him £400 (old tenor) settlement and £160 (old tenor)
annual salary, for the first two years, and £6 (old
tenor) additional every year until his salary should
reach £180 (old tenor), provided that Mr. Morse
should, when so desired, give to the precinct a quit-
claim of the ministerial lands that were in the North
precinct.
These terms were not satisfactory to Mr. Morse,
and at another meeting it was voted to increase his
salary £10 per year for the first two years till it be-
came £200 (old tenor) a year, and so to be higher or
lower, as the price of provisions should rise or fall ;
allowing, at that time, wheat to be twenty shillings
per bushel, rye fifteen shillings, Indian corn ten shil-
lings, oats six shillings in the North Precinct of
Shrewsbury, and poik eighteen pence per pound and
beef eleven pence per pound in Boston.
These terms wete accepted by Mr. Morse, and he
was ordained on the 2tith day of October, 174.S. It is
said that at the time of the ordination the meeting-
house was in an unfinished condition and had neither
pulpit nor pew, nor floor laid, and neither windows
nor doors.
Rev. Mr. Morse's connections with the people ap-
pear to have been harmonious until the beginning of
the Revolutionary period, when he and a few of his
friends became royalists, and they were called to an
account by the town of Shrewsbury, disarmed and
forbidden to leave the limits of the precinct. This
so excited the indignation of his parish, the majority
of whom were patriots, that a meeting was called,
early in the year 1771, to take into consideration the
difiiculties existing between them. At this meeting
they voted, by a division of thirty-seven yeas to
twelve nays, that the pastoral relations should be
dissolved, and a committee, consisting of Daniel
Whitney, Nathaniel Davenport, Jonas Temple, Fred-
erick Albert and Silas Howe, were chosen to inform
Rev. Mr. Morse that he was dismissed, and take mea-
sures to see that he did not enter the pulpit again as
their minister.
The matters between pastor and people remained
in an unsettled condition for some time longer, until
finally the church voted to call an ecclesiastical
council, which assembled and advised the precinct
to reconsider their former vote dismissing Rev. Mr.
Morse, which was done, and then, after a protracted
sitting, dissolved the pastoral relations. Rev. Mr.
Morse remained in the town, occasionally preaching
to a few of his friends, until his death, January 3,
1802, at the age of eighty-three years and nine months.
He was a native of Medfield, and was a son of Hon.
Joshua Morse. He graduated at Harvard College,
1737. Soon after his settlement here he married
Persis, daughter of John Bush, with whom he lived
thirty-three years. He was a man of unusual ability,
and, previous to his settlement, had studied law, with
a view of entering that profession. He afterwards
studied medicine and practiced that profession in
connection with his ministerial work and after his
dismis-ion. He also fitted many students for college ;
among the number was the late Rev. Dr. Thaddeus
Harris, of Dorchester, Mars.
After the dismission of Rev. Dr. Morse the church
remained without a pastor a little more than a year,
when a call was extended to Mr. Jesse Reed to settle
with them. This call he declined, and, although
urged to become their pastor, remained firm in his
decision. In the following October the church in-
vited Mr. Eleazer Fairbanks to become their min-
ister, and he was ordained March 27, 1777.
The council met on the 26ih of March, and that day
was spent in hearing Rev. Dr. Morse's objections to
his settlement, which were overruled, and he was
ordained on the following day. His salary and settle-
ment were the same as had been offered to Mr. Reed,
viz.: £66 ISs. -id. salary, and £133 Qs. 8d. settle-
ment. His salary was afterwards increased to £70,
and his settlement £180. Just previous to his settle-
ment the church voted to dispense with the Half-way
Covenant, so-called, and during his ministry important
changes were made in the manner of conducting
church music. During this time also the North Pre-
cinct of Shrewsbury was incorporated into the town
896
HISTORY OF WORCESTER COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.
of Boylston; and the erection of a new meeting-
house was undertaken, the location of which was the
subject of a great controversy; several committees
were chosen, both from this town and the neighbor-
ing towns. The town was surveyed to find the centre
orin some way to fix upon a spot that would be satis-
tory, but without success. Finally, upon the recom-
mendation of a committee consisting of Nathaniel
Longley, Esq., of Bolton, General John Whiting, of
Lancaster, and Abraham Monroe, of Northbo rough,
the location where the Centre School now stands was
selected, and the meeting-house was completed in
1793, and the present Common purchased of the
heirs' of Eleazer Taylor and Colonel Jotham Bush.
In December, 1792, Rev. Mr. Fairbanks asked his
dismission, which the church refused to grant, but
afterwards consented, and he was dismissed April 23,
1793, after a pastorate of over sixteen years. He was
born in Preston, Conn. ; graduated at Brown Univer-
sity in 1775 ; he married Sarah, daughter of Deacon
Araariah Bigelow, and after his dismission removed
to Wilmington, Vt., and then to Palmyra, N. Y.,
where he died in 1821.
November 1, 1793, the church voted to invite Mr.
Hezekiah Hooper, of Bridgewater, to settle over them
according to the Cambridge Platform. This call was
concurred in by the town and accepted by Mr.
Hooper. In the month of February previous to his
ordination the church observed a day of fasting and
prayer, and, in accordance with the usual practice of
the times, invited several of the neighboring clergy-
men to unite with them and assist on the occasion.
Eev. Drs. Reuben Puffer, of Berlin, Joseph Sumner,
of Shrewsbury, Nathaniel Thayer, of Lancaster, Reu-
ben Holcomb, of Sterling, and Rev. Peter Whitney,
of Northborough, were present. They convened Feb-
ruary 6, 1794, and were met by Rev. Mr. Morse, and
an attempt was made to adjust the difficulties between
him and the church. It was a delicate and difficult
affair, and whatever may have been the result of the
coundl, it is certain that the matter was not fully
settled until some time after the ordination of Rev.
Mr. Hooper. At the same time important changes
-were made in the church covenant, and the practice
of receiving members on the Half-way Covenant, so-
called, was renewed, which practice continued for
more than twenty years afterwards.
The onlination of Mr. Hooper took place on the
9th of March, 1794 ; the churches in Shrewsbury,
Northborough, Bridgewater, Holden, Sterling, Berlin,
Marlborough and Lancaster assisted in the ordina-
tion. The council convened at the house of Deacon
Daniel Andrews, and organized with Rev. Dr. Joseph
Sumner, of Shrewsbury, as moderator, and Rev. Dr.
Reuben Holcomb, of Sterling, as scribe. The inhabit-
ants of the westerly portion of the town presented a
paper to the council, signifying their intentions to
Ibrm a new religious society by themselves, and mani-
festing their perfect neutrality in the proceedings of
the council and in the choice of a minister. A re-
monstrance was also presented by Rev. Mr. Morse
and his adherents " against any person being ordained
over him or the church, until he had been regularly
heard in an ecclesiastical council, as he presumed he
had never had a regular dismission." The first of
these two papers was the result of the controversy
between the two sections of the town in relation to
the location of the meeting-house then recently
erected, and is the first intimation on the church re-
cords of the intention of the inhabitants of the west-
erly portion of the town to form a separate church
and precinct. The council, having voted that they
considered neither of these papers as any bar to the
ordination, proceeded to the public exercises of the
ordination. When Rev. Mr. Hooper began his labors
the church consisted of one hundred and eighteen
members. His salary was £115 per year. He was a
young man of much talent, and gave great promise of
success in the work of the ministry.
The discordant elements in the church were united.
Rev. Mr. Morse and his adherents returned and be-
came members of his congregation, and he received
the harmonious support of the church and town.
His ministry, was, however, brief, failing health forced
him to relinquish the duties of the pastorate and he
returned to his friends in Bridgewater, where he died
of consumption, December 2, 1795, having been the
minister of this people one year, nine months and
twenty-five days. During his pastorate he received
into the church fifteen members on confession of
faith and five by letter from other churches. , Agree-
ably to the desires of the deacons of the church and
the selectmen of the town, the 24th day of December,
1795, was set apart and observed as a day of fasting
and prayer, that the death of Rev. Mr. Hooper
" might be sanctified to the church and town, and the
church and town might be directed to the choice of
an able minister to settle with them in the work of
the ministry."
After the death of Rev. Mr. Hooper several candi-
dates were heard and several meetings were held to
take action in regard to the settlement of his succes-
sor. On the 19th of September, 1796, the church
made choice of Mr. Ward Cotton, of Plymouth, to
settle with them, which choice was concurred in by
the parish by a large majority, and the same salary
granted him as was paid Rev. Mr. Hooper, viz., one
hundred and fifteen pounds per year. This call was
accepted by Mr. Cotton and he was ordained June 7,
1797. .
The following October the church assisted m the
ordination of the Rev. William Nash as the first
minister of the Second Precinct. The town was now
divided into two precincts, each having its own
church and minister; this necessarily lessened the
First Precinct in numbers and strength, but had the
effect of restoring harmony to the two sections of the
town, a result which could hardly have been hoped
BOYLSTON.
89-,
for had both parishes remained together, and Mr.
Cotton found himself the pastor of a church united
both among themselves and in him as their minister.
Mr. Cotton continued as the minister of the towa
twenty-eight years, until June 22, 1825, when he was
dismissed by a mutual ecclesiastical council. His
pastorate during nearly its entire period was charac-
terized by a high degree of harmony.
In the early part of his ministry he inaugurated
some important changes in the church policy and
discipline, and in 1S17 the custom of receiving mem-
bers on the Half-way Covenant was discontiuued. In
1818 the present Sabbath-school was organized. The
only breach of harmony, which seemed to have oc-
curred during his early ministry began about 1810,
when several of the members of the church withdrew
and united with the Baptist denomination. A church
and society called the Shrewsbury and Boylston Bap-
tist Society, was organized in 1812, holding services
alternately in the two towns, and the following year,
1813, a church building was erected in Shrewsbury
twenty-five by thirty-two feet, at a cost of four hun-
dred and fifty dollars, and Rev. Elias McGregory
was ordained, in 1818, as its regular pastor. This
church soon became divided, and the services were
afterwards occasionally continued in Boylston, Rev.
Henry Archibald and others officiating.
During the ministry of Rev. Mr. Cotton ninety-
eight members were added to the church in full com-
munion ; there were also four hundred and one bap-
tisms, three hundred and si.xty-five deaths and one
hundred and sixty-seven marriages in the town, ex-
clusive of those who were married by justices of the
peace. After his dismission Rev. Mr. Cotton
preached for some time to a congregation of his
friends and adherents at the Town Hall, and contin-
ued to reside in the town until his decease, Novem-
ber 15, 1843, at the age of seventy-four years.
Rev. Mr. Sanford says of him : "As a man, Mr.
Cotton was amiable, with strong sympathies for those
who were in affliction, obliging in his disposition,
took pleasure in conferring favors and never sought
to give unnecessary paiu and trouble to those around
him." He took a deep interest in the affidrs of the
town and especially in the education of the young.
He was for many years a member of the School Com-
mittee, and for eight years represented the town in the
General Court. He was a son of Rev. John Cotton,
of Plymouth, and was born there March 24, 1770. He
graduated from Harvard College in 1793. He de-
scended from a line of ministers, illustrious in the
religious annals of New England. His father gradu-
ated from Harvard College and was settled as the first
minister in Halil'ax, Mass., in 1735, where he remain-
ed until 1756, when he resigned on account of ill
health and returned to his native town of Plymouth,
where he was chosen register of deeds for Plymouth
County, in which office he died. His grandfather was
Rev. John Cotton, Jr., born March 15, 1640, gradu-
57
ated at Harvard College 1657, and preached first at
Wethersfield, Conn., and from 1664 to 1667 to a con-
gregation of Indians and white people at Martha's
Vineyard. He was settled as the minister at Plymouth
June 30, 1669, and remained there until October 5,
1697, when he went to Charleston, S. C, and gathered
a church there, of which he was the pastor until his
death, September 18, 1699. His church erected a
handsome monument over his grave. He was dis-
tinguished for his knowledge of the Indian language
and the whole care of correcting and revising the
second edition of Elliott's Indian Bible, published at
Cambridge in 1685, was entrusted to him. His great-
grandfather was the distinguished Rev. John Cottou,
minister of the First Church in Boston.
After the dismission of Rev. Mr. Cotton the church
remained without a pastor for nearly a year, when,
after having heard several different candidates, the
church, by a unanimous choice, determined upon Mr.
Samuel Russell. This choice was concurred in by
the parish by a large majority and a call was extended
to Mr. Russell to settle with them in the Gospel min-
istry at a salary of five hundred dollars per year.
This call was accepted, and on the 21st of June, a.d.
1826, Mr. Russell was ordained by a council selected
by mutual agreement. The examination of Mr. Rus-
sell was vigorous, the council frequently assuming the
appearance of a heated theological discussion and " in
it, says Rev. Mr. Sanford in his anniversary sermon,
preached on the completion of the twentieth year of
his settlement, in 1853, "were represented all the
isms that distracted the Congregational churches of
Massachusetts at that time," which was a peculiar
crisis in the religious history of New England, and
especially in Massachusetts, the condition of this
church and people being similarly disturbed with the
other Congregational Churches of all this region, and,
in liict, through the whole of the New England States',
by the conflicting doctrines which had for some years
divided their harmony. Some of the church and par-
ish looked for a new pastor from the liberal school,
while others were more in sympathy with Calvinist
doctrines. These conflicting doctrines and the lack
of harmony resulting therefrom had been the cause of
the severest trials during the last years of Mr. Cotton's
ministry. His dismission bad by no means removed
them and it was hardly within the bounds of possi-
bility or reason that the next pastor should unite them.
To this arduous and difficult task Mr. Russell had
been called. He was at the time of his ordination
twenty -seven years of age, having been born at Bow,
N. H., September 24, 1799. He was the eldest child of
his father's fitmily and had early been intended for
the ministry, and at the age of fifteen years had
united with the church in Dunbarton, N. H., of which
the Rev. Dr. Harris was then pastor. He was gradu-
ated at Dartmouth College in the class of 1821 and
from the Andover Theological School in 1824. Soon
after coming to Boylston he was united in marriage
898
HISTORY OF WORCESTER COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.
to Miss Mary J. Howe, daughter of Rev. Nathaniel
Howe, of Hoplcinton, Mass. His religious faith aud
teachings when he entered upon his ministry agreed
essentially with the Shorter Catechism of the West-
minster Assembly. During his pastorate here the
church covenant was changed and the present articles
of faith adopted, to which all who should unite with
the church in the future should be required to give
assent, and to a large extent the entire policy of the
church was changed.
While this same controversy was going on in the
Congregational Churches of Eastern Massachusetts,
the Evangelical Churches of New England experienced
one of the most powerful revivals of religion which
had been felt since the lime of Rev. George White-
field. This revival was felt in the Boylston Church,
and many were added to its membership.
During Rev. Mr. Russell's ministry in Boylston
one hundred and four persons were added to the
church— ninety-nine on profession of laith and five
by letter from other churches. There were also one
hundred and nineteen baptisms, twenty-five mar-
riages and sixty-three deaths in the town. February
13, 1832, Rev. Mr. Russell, by letter, requested his
dismission, which was granted by the church and
parish, and on the 17th of the following April the
pastoral relations were dissolved. His ministry in
Boylston covered a period of five years, nine months
and twenty-six days. Soon after leaving Boylston he
received a call to the church in Norwich, in this
State, where he was installed September 5, 1832, and
where he remained sustaining the most harmonious
relations with his people until his death, which oc-
curred from consumption, Jan. 27, 1885, at the age of
thirty-five years. Rev. Dr. John Todd, of the Edwards
Church at Northampton, in his sermon preached
at the funeral of Mr. Russell, says of him : " In his
manners and appearance he was simple, unaflected
and kind. His judgment was clear, sound and dis-
criminating. As a husband, a friend, a pastor and a
brother he was respected and beloved. As a preacher
he was plain in manner and plain in matter, but he
was uniformly judicious and practical."
On the 9th of August, 1832, the church and parish,
by a unanimous vote, invited Mr. William H. San-
ford, of Belchertown, to become its pastor at an an-
nual salary of five hundred dollars. This ofier Mr.
Sanford accepted, although at great personal sacrifice,
and on the 17th of October, 1SS2, was ordained as
their pastor. At the time of his ordination the
church consisted of one hundred and forty-eight
members. Soon after assuming the pastorate the
present church edifice was erected, and was dedicated
December 10, 1835. So harmonious was the condi-
tion of the church and society at this time that only
eight parish meetings were held for the purpose of
transacting the business connected with the erection
of the house. When the first house of worship was
erected, in 1742, not less than fourteen precinct meet-
ings were needed for completing the house, and the
erection of the second house, in 1791, was the cause
of about twenty town-meetings and a subsequent di-
vision of the church, parish and town. During
twenty years of Rev. Mr. Sanford's pastorate, from
1832 to 1852, one hundred and thirty-five members
were added to the church. There were also one hun-
dred and forty-five baptisms, ninety-one marriages
and two hundred and fifty deaths in the town. He
had also preached one thousand aud twenty-eight
Sabbaths. He was dismissed on account of ill-health,
September 15, 1857, after having been the pastor of
the church a little less than twenty-five years.
Eev. Mr. Sanford was independent and fearless in
his manner and preaching, never hesitating to pro-
claim what he considered to be the truth, and in all
his ministrations was greatly beloved by his people.
He ever took a deep interest in the afi'airs of the
town, and especially in all matters relating to educa-
tion. During nearly the entire period of his ministry
he served as chairman of the School Committee of the
town. In 1857' he represented the town in the Gen-
eral Court. He was a graduate of Harvard College
in the class of 1827. Previous to coming to Boylston
he married Harriet S., daughter of the late Rev.
Ethan Smith, A.M., for some time city missionary of
Boston, and the author of several theological works.
After the termination of his pastorate in Boylston
Rev. Mr. Sanford removed to Worcester, where he en-
gaged in the book aud publishing business, which is
now carried on by his sons. He died in Worcester,
November 27, 1879, aged seventy-nine years, nine
months and thirteen days.
After the close of Rev. Mr. Sanford's labors a
period of supply intervened, and several clergymen
were acting pastors, among them the late Rev. Wil-
liam Murdock, of West Boylston, and Rev. Daniel
Wight, afterwards for many years librarian of the
Morse Institute at Natick, Mass., until October 17,
1861, when Rev. Abel Hastings Ross, a graduate of
Oberlin College, Ohio, was ordained. During his
pastorate the country passed through the great Civil
War, and Rev. Mr. Ross was away from his parish
for some time in the service of the Christian Commis-
sion. He was a minister of growing ability, and a
talented and eloquent preacher. He resigned to accept
a call from the Congregational Church at Springfield,
Ohio, and was dismissed from the Boylston Church
aud Society January 16, 1866. He has been quite
prominent in the Congregational denomination, and
has received the degree of Doctor of Divinity. He
has been for several years Southworth lecturer on
Congregationalism in Andover Theological Seminary
and special lecturer on Church Polity in Oberlin
College. He is now located at Port Huron, Mich.
Soon after the close of Rev. Dr. Ross' pastorate Rev.
Andrew Bigelow, D.D., became the acting pastor of
the church, and remained here until April, 1873.
During his service the interior of the church was re-
Is
T^i^li^CiAf) yjcpi-'Ciy^ur^
BOYLSTON.
899
paired and improved by the addition of a fine organ.
Rev. Dr. Bigelovsr was a native of the town, and the
son of Andrew' and Lydia Bigelow. He fitted for
college at the Amherst Academy, under the care of
Rev. Dr. Cotton, and graduated at Amherst College
in 1838 in a class of forly-two members, nineteen of
whom became clergymen. Before en'teriug the min-
istry he was for two and a half years principal of
Rochester Academy, Mass. He read theology with
his brother, Rev. Jonathan Bigelow, and Rev. Dr-
Thomas Robbins ; was licensed by the Old Colony
Association, and ordained over the church at South
Dartmouth in 1841. He afterwards was settled at
West Needham, West Hampton and Medfield, where
he remained eleven years. His pulpit and parish
labors were characterized by soundness of theology,
spirituality of discourse, and boldness in proclaiming
what he thought to be the truth. He took a deep
interest in all educational matters, and served during
nearly all of his residence here as chairman of the
School Committee, and labored earnestly to bring the
schools to a high standard. He was twice married —
first to Emily Louisa, daughter of Hon. William
Blackler„of Marblehead, who died at Medfield July
4, 1857, and second to Nancy J., daughter of Hon.
Marshall P. Wilder, of Boston. After finishing his
labors here he removed to Southborough, Mass., where
he died September 23, 1882, at the age of seventy -two
years, nine months. In his will he made provisions
for the benefit of the Boylston Church. From April,
1873, to October 1, 1877, the pulpit was supplied by
Rev. W. H. S. Packard and Rev. Francis F. Williams
and in 1873 the present parsonage was erected. Octo-
ber 1, 1877, Rev. Henry S. Kimball became the acting
pastor, and remained until April, 1882. During this
period the church debt was paid, largely by J. Avery
White, Esq., of Fraraingham, Mas«., and Thomas W.
White, E-q., of Brooklyn, N. Y., sons of the late
Aaron White, of this town, John B. Gough, Esq., and
family, and Rev. Dr. D. O. Mears and others of Pied-
mont Church, Worcester. During this time, also, a
deep religious interest took place.
April 29, 1884, Rev. Israel Ainsworth was installed
as pastor, and remained until Sept. 21, 1887, when he
was dismissed at his own request. He is now the pastor
of the Congregational Church in South Peabody, Mass.
Rev. Mr. Ainsworth is a native of England and came
to this country about 1870, at the age of eighteen
years, and had been for two years previous to that
time a preacher in England in fellowship with the
Methodist denomination. In 1875 he entered the
regular ministry among the Methodists in the New
Hampshire Conference, and for the last two years
previous to coming to Boylston was pastor of the
church in New Boston, N. H. On his change of de-
nominational connection he became a member of the
1 Andrew Bigelow was a soldier of the Revolution, and the father of
tifteen children, three of whom became ministers.
Congregational Church at Amherst, N. H. He is a
man of fine talent, and of independent thought and
action, and a pleasing and eloquent speaker. During
his pastorate the church building was repaired and
thoroughly painted and beautified, and a neat and
commodious barn erected for the parsonage by the
young people of the parish. Many additions were
made to the church membership and a large and
flourishing society of the Young People's Christian
Endeavor was organized. Rev. Austin Dodge, a
graduate of Amherst College, 1861, and of the An-
dover Theological Seminary, ISGG, came in December,
1887, and is the present acting pastor.
The following persons have served as deacons of the
church : John Keyes, Esq., and Cyprian Keyes, chosen
1743, and were formerly deacons of church in Shrews-
bury; Jonathan Keyes, chosen 1743; Amariah Bigelow
to 1779 ; Levi Moore, 1770-1815 ; Jonathan Bond, 1779
-1793; Jonas Goodenow, 1794-1811; Cyrus Houghton,
1794-1797; Daniel Andrews, chosen 1794; Jonathan
Bond, Jr., 1797-1821 ; Joshua Stiles, 1809-a828; Rob't
Andrews, Jr., 1821-1829 ; Abijah Flagg, 1829-1837 ;
Dr. John Andrew.s, 1829-1837; Wm. HrMoore, 1837-
1846; Jotham Bush, Jr., 1837-1844; Simeon Partridge,
1844-18fi5 ; Henry H. Brigham, 1846-1888 ; Harvey
A. Stowell, 1867-1877; Preston P. Lane, 1877-1881.
Lyman S. Walker, chosen 1876, and A. V. R. Prouty,
chosen 1888, are the present officiating deacons. Of all
the persons holding the office, Deas. Levi Moore and
Henry H. Brigham held it for the longest period, about
fifty years each. At the time of his death, June 1 9, 1888,
Dea. Brigham had been town clerk for thirty-eight
years and parish clerk for fifty years, and had repre-
sented the town twice iu the General Court. He was
a man of great usefulness, and in all his long service
to both town and church labored with untiring zeal
for their best interests.
CHAPTER CXXI.
BOYLSTON— iCoi//i/t//ed. )
PROMINENT PERSON.S, COLLEGE GRADUATES, ETC.
The town of BoyUton has sent forth many men of
ability and influence who have honored the several
professions and stations in which they have been called
to act. Among the most prominent citizens of the
Shrewsbury North Parish during the dark period of
the Revolution, and one who afterwards became one
of the prime movers for the incorporation of the town
of Boylston and finally was influential in the sepa-
ration of that town and the incorporation of the town
of West Boylston, was Major Ezra Beaman. He was
born October 16, 1736, in Lancaster, in that portion
of the town which two years later became the town of
Bolton. He came with his father, Capt. Jabez Bea-
man, in 1746 to that part of the Shrewsbury North
900
HISTORY OF WORCESTER COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.
Precinct that is now included within the limits of
West Boylston. Upon the death of his father in 1757
the homestead estate came into his possession, and
upon it he resided until hisdeaih, June 4, 1811. Thus
it may be said of him that he resided successively in
the towns of Shrewsbury, Boylston and West Boy Iston
without changing his place of residence. During the
Revolution he was an ardent patriot and was con-
tinuously in the military service of the colonies. He
repeatedly served the towns of Shrewsbury, Boylston
and West Boylston in their most important town offices.
A more extended sketch of his life will probably be
given in the historical sketch of West Boylston.
Among the most prominent of the citizens of Boylston
soon after the incorporation of the town, and who were
zealous opposers of Major Beamau in the separation
of the parishes in 1795 and the ultimate division of
the town in 1808, were James Longley and Aaron
White, Esqs. James Longley, Esq., settled in Boyls-
ton soon after the close of the Revolution. He was a
native of Shirley, in this State, and the son of a large
family. At an early age he was apprenticed to a car-
penter to remain until he should have reached the
full age of twenty-one years. Under this master he
received harsh and severe treatment, was coarsely and
inefficiently clad and kept constantly at work without
obtaining a single day's schooling. After obtaining
his freedom he secured a teacher and began to study,
and by patient ettbrt gained such an education as en-
abled him afterwards to take an honorable and useful
station in life. He served throughout the Revolution-
ary War in the service of tbecolonies, first in the ma-
rine, or privateering service, and afterwards with the
land forces and was present at the battle of Saratoga,
and also took an active part in the Shays" War. After
coming to Boylston he was continually called upon to
assume an active part in the affairs of the town ; was
captain of militia, magistrate and held almost every
town office, and served as representative to the Gen-
eral Court for thirteen consecutive years. His family,
like many other early Boylston families, were of honor-
able English extraction, and of high standing in
Church and State. Several were clergymen of the
Established Church, and one of whom became Bishop
of Durham, Cardinal and Lord Chancellor. The an-
cestor of the American branch of the family embraced
the Puritan doctrines, and came to New England,
where he married a sister of Thomas Gofife, Deputy
Governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony.
Aaron White, Esq., was born in Roxbury June 9,
1771. His early education was such as the common
schools of Roxbury afforded one hundred years ago.
Evincing a fondness for reading, he had access to the
old Boston Public Library, by the means of which he
stored his mind with a good knowledge of English
history and literature. At the age of twenty-one
years, in 1792, he opened a store in the easterly part
of Holden. There he remained five years, until
1797, when he removed to Boylston and engaged in
the tavern and store business, and afterwards in the
store business alone, keeping a general country store
until within a i'ev/ years of his death, in 1847. He
served for many years as a magistrate and in nearly
all the town offices, and for several years represented
the town in the General Court.
In 1798 he married Mary, daughter of Rev. Dr.
Joseph Avery, of Holden, and by whom he had a
largo family of children, all of whom lived to grow
up and have been very successful in the business,
professional and other stations to which they have
been called.
Among the natives and others who have received
a liberal or professional education the following have
honored the ministry :
Ministers. — Rev. Jonathan Bigelow, son of An-
drew and Sarah (Fassett) Bigelow, graduated from
Brown University in 1817, and at Andover Theologi-
cal Seminary in 1820 ; married Eliza Tappan, a sis-
ter of William Tappan, the poet, and herself a ready
writer. He was ordained and settled July 11, 1821,
at Lubec, Me., where he remained until 182C. From
1827 to 1849 he was settled at Rochester, Mass., and
at Euclid, Ohio, from 1850 until his death, which oc-
curred January 26, 1854, at the age of sixty-one
years. Rev. Ashael Bigelow, also a son of Andrew
Bigelow, graduated from Harvard College in 1823,
and subsequently from Andover Theological Seminary ;
he was ordained over the Congregational Church in
Walpole, Mass., March 28, 1823, and, in 1850, was
installed at Hancock, N. H., where he died August
16, 1817, after a pastorate of twenty-five years, and a
ministry of forty-nine years. Rev. Andrew Bigelow,
Jr., D.D., brother of above, was for several years the
acting pastor of the Boylston Church. A sketch of
his life appears in connection with the history of the
church. Rev. Jonathan Longley, son of James
Longley, E<q., entered Harvard College in 1812, but
was forced on account of ill health to leave the Uni-
versity before completing his course. He studied
theology with Rev. Nathaniel Emmons, D.D., and
resided at Northbridge, where he died January
26, 1850.
Rev. John Flagg graduated at Harvard College
1816 ; ordained pastor of the Second Church in Rox-
bury February 2, 1825; died March 14, 1831, aged
forty-one years.
Rev. William J. White, son of Aaron White, and
a graduate of the Andover Theological Seminary,
was ordained September 20, 1842, and is now residing
in Worcester.
Rev. William D. Flagg graduated at Amherst Col-
lege 1853; died 1859, at the age of thirty years.
Rev. William W. Whipple, A.M., graduated at
Amherst College 1841, and is now settled at Yonkers
N. Y.
Rev. Frank D. Sanford, son of Rev. Wm. H. San-
ford, is a widely-known Evangelist.
Rev. George S. Ball, of Upton, a well-known
BOYLSTON.
901
Unitariau clergyman of Worcester County, and chap-
lain of the Twenty-first Regiment Massachusetts
Volunteers during the War of the Rebellion and an
ex-member of the Massachusetts Senate, is also a
direct descendant of a Boylston family.
Lawyers. — Hon. Asa Andrews, A.M., graduated
at Harvard College 1783, studied law and settled at
Ipswich, Mass., where he was appointed by President
Washington collector of the port, which office he
held for over thirty years; he died in 1856. Mathew
Davenport, Esq., graduated at Harvard College 1802,
studied law and .settled on the homestead of the
family in Boylston, where he died in 1860. He was
the author of a ''Historical Sketch" of Boylston,
published in 1830. James Savvyer, Esq., graduated
at Brown University 1814, studied law and settled in
Texas, where he died in 1823.
Aaron White, Jr., Esq., graduated at Harvard
College 1817, studied law and settled first in Rhode
Island, where he took an active part in the " Dorr's
Insurrection." He afterwards settled in Connecticut
and in Dudley, in this county. He died in Connecti-
cut in 1887.
Thomas W. White, Esq., brother of above'uamed,
studied law, and is now engaged in business in
Brooklyn, N. Y. Hon. William N. Davenport
studied law at the University of Michigan 'and at
Hudson, Mass., and is now engaged in practice at
Marlborough, Mass., which place he represented in
the General Court in 1885-86, and has just been
elected to the Massachusetts Senate. Asa Welling-
ton, Esq , who studied law and practiced in Boston,
is now residing at Quincy, Mass.
Among the physicians of the town have been Drs.
Abraham Howe, who died October 19, 1779, aged
twenty-one years ; Amariah Bigelow, Jr., Uriah
Bigelow, Eliakim Morse, son of Rev. Ebenezer
Morse, M. D., who afterwards settled in Water-
town, and died at the age of nearly a cen-
tury ; Samuel Brigham, Seth Knowlton, Thaddeus
Chinnery, William Davenport, who died at Boston
in 1816, aged twenty-two years, and John Andrews.
The latter was the physician of the town for forty
years, and a man of much influence and prominence
in the civil, parish and church relations of the town.
William S. Bigelow, M. D., graduated at New York
HonKPopathic Medical College 1S84, and is now lo-
cated at Phillipsburg, Pa. Charles A. .Stearns, A.B.,
M,D., graduated at Amherst College 1881, and Har-
vard Medical School 1884, and is now located at
Pawtucket, R. I. Dr. Fred Bigelow, now located in
Maine. Rev. Ebenezer Morse, A.M., M.D., the first
minister of the town, united in himself the three-
fold offices of minister, lawyer and physician.
Among others who have gone from the town and
held prominent positions elsewhere should be noticed
James Longley, Jr., who settled in Boston, where he
was well-known in the hotel business, and afterwards
largely connected with several manufacturing inter-
ests. He was twice elected an alderman of the city
of Boston. In 1863 he gave the sum of five hundred
dollars to the town for the benefit of the Old Ceme-
tery.
Hon. E. Hastings Moore, of Athens, Ohio, for
several years a member of Congress from that State.
The late Major-General Aaron Sawyer Gibbs, once
prominent in the military circles of Massachusetts
and New York, and the late General Lysander
Flagg, a prominent capitalist and business man of
Rhode Island, and formerly quartermaster-general of
that State.
Hon. Phinehas Ball, of Worcester, is a native of
the town. He served the city of Worcester in 1865
as mayor, and was for many years city engineer.
He is a well-known civil engineer, and for many
years a partner of Elbridge Boyden, which firm built
Mechanics' Hall, Worcester, Taunton Insane Hos-
pital and the jails at Greenfield and Fitchburg.
He planned and constructed the water-works at Wor-
cester, Springfield and other places. He is now
president of the Union Water-Meter Company.
Hon. Charles B. Pratt, mayor of Worcester in 1877-
78-79, is emphatically a Boylston man, coming to
the town when very young. His early years were
spent here. Mr. Pratt has been city marshal, alder-
man and, in fact, has held nearly all the city offices,
and in 1859 represented the city of Worcester in the
House of Representatives, and has since been a
member of the State Senate. He is now president
of the First National Fire Insurance Company.
Hon. Charles G. Reed, ex-mayor of Worcester,
is also a descendant, on his mother's side, of another
Boylston family. Boylston has sent many men of
influence and note into the city government of Wor-
cester. Hardly a year has elapsed since Worcester
became a city, but what the town has been represented
to a greater or lesser extent. It has also many repre-
sentatives among the successful business men of the
city.
For more than forty years this town was the
chosen home of John B, Gough, the distinguished
temperance orator, lecturer and philanthropist.
Coming here in 1843, Mr. Gough married Miss Mary
G. Whitcomb, and purchased a large tract of land,
situated midway between Boylston and Worcester,
where he erected large and fine buildings, con-
structed the finest avenues through his grounds,
planted thousands of fruit and ornamental trees and
developed his beautiful homestead of " Hillside,"
the mansion of which he filled to repletion with the
bric-a-brac of all climes, and with a magnificent
library of the choicest works, and one of the finest
and most valuable private collections in America.
To this beautiful home Mr. (xough came for recuper-
ation and rest after his extended and successful lec-
ture tours through this country and abroad, and here
he delighted to gather about him the most distin-
guished and cultured of both contiueuts.
902
HISTORY OF WORCESTER COUiNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.
The story of Mr. Gough's remarkable life is so
well known to all, that an extended notice of it
hardly seems necessary here. A brief sketch of it is,
however, appended. He was born at Sandgate, Eng-
land, a romantic little watering-place, about ten miles
from Dover. Hi.-j fatlier was a veteran of the Peninsular
War, and his mother was a schoolmistress of the vil-
lage. When about six years of age he was sent to a
seminary at Folkstone, two or three miles from Sand-
gate. About this time, attracting the attention of
the visitors at the little watering-place, he was often
sent for to read to the ladies and gentlemen gathered
at a small reading-room in the place.
In 1829, when twelve years of age, he came to
America with a family from Sandgate. He reached
New York, after a voyage of fifty-four days, and soon
after removed, with the family, to a farm in Oneida
County, iu that State. Alter remaining here two
years, he went to New York City, where he entered
the Methodist Book Concern as an errand boy and
apprentice to the book-binding trade. After this
followed the dark and discouraging period of his lifei
duringwhich he drifted about todifferentplaces, — first
to Bristol, R. I., then to Providence, R. I., and New-
buryport, Mass., and finally to Worcester, Mass.
This was during the Washingtonian Temperance
movement, and, after coming to Worcester, he was
induced to take the pledge, and, after a long and
desperate struggle, overcame his appetite for strong
drink, and entered the work as a speaker. From
1843 until the time of his death not a year passed
without his entering the lecture field.
In 18S3 he went to England at the invitation of
the London Temperance League, and was absent two
years, speaking throughout all parts of Great Britain.
In Edinborough alone seventeen thousand people
flocked to hear him, and the London Temperance
Society gave him a silver dinner service.
In 1877 he again visited Great Britain, and spent
three years in England and Ireland, delivering in
England alone three hundred and ninety addresses to
five hundred thousand people, and secured twelve
thousand signatures to the pledge. After his return
to America he began to speak on other topics besides
temperance. His published works have had a large
sale, — one million copies of his lectures have been
sold, and over one hundred thousand copies of his
autobiography.
On the 1st of January, 1886, he had delivered
eight thousand five hundred and sixty-seven lectures
and traveled five hundred thousand miles. He was
stricken with apoplexy while speaking at Frank-
ford, Pa., aad died there February 17, 1886, at the
age of sixty-eight years, six months and twenty-six
days.
Precinct Clerks — Shreivshiiri/ Nurth Precinct,
1742 to 1786.— 1742, John Bu.'ih ; 1843-1748, Deacon
Cyprian Keyes ; 1749-17y5, Daniel Hastings; 1756-
1758, Deacon Amariah Bigelow; 1759, Deacon John
Keyes; 1760, 1761, Deacon Cyprian Keyes; 1762-
1764, David Taylor; 1765, 1766, Deacon Amariah
Bigelow; 1767-1772, Captain Joseph Bigelow, Jr.;
1773, 1774, Thomas Andrews; 1775, 1776, David
Taylor; 1777, Deacon Amariah Bigelow ; 1778 to Dec-
ember, David Taylor; December, 1778, 1779, 1780,
David Goodale; 1781-1785, Dr. Amariah Bigelow.
Town Clerks — Town of Boybton, 1786 to 1888. —
1786, Lieutenant Aaron Sawyer; 1787-1799, Colonel
Jotham Bush; 1800-1818, Aaron White, Esq. ; 1819,
Pitt Moore; 1820-1824, AaronWhite, Esq.; 1825, Cap-
tain Eli Bond ; 1826-1837, Nathaniel Davenport, Esq.;
1838-1849, John T. Cotton, Esq.; 1850 to June 19,
1888, Deacon Henry H. Brigham ; June 25, 1888,
Pennimau M. Brigham.
Representatives to General Court — Shrews-
bury North Precinct, 1742 to 1786.— 1746, John Keyes,
Esq.; 1747, 1749, 1756. 1758, Isaac Temple; 1V83,
Lieutenant Jonas Temple.
To%on of Boyhton, 1786 to 1888.-1787,1788, 1792 to
1796 inclusive. Lieutenant Jonas Temple; 1789-1791,
Ezra Beaman, Esq. ; 1798 to 1810, inclusive, James
Longley, Esq. ; 1811, 1812, 1813, 1814, Deacon Jona-
than Bond ; 1815, 1816, 1817, Colonel Jotham Bush;
1818, 1819, 1821, 1822, Aaron White, E,q.; 1827, 1829
to 1835 inclusive. Rev. Ward Cotton; 1837, 1838,
1839, 1840, Captain Eli B. Lamson ; 1843, 1844, 1845,
John T. Cotton, Esq. ; 1848-1880, Henry H. Brig-
ham, Esq. ; 1849, Nathaniel Davenport, Esq.; 1851,
Captain John Andrews; 1852, Robert Andrews, Jr.;
1854, Oliver S. Kendall ; 1857, Rev. William H. San-
ford ; 1860, Dr. John Andrews; 1863, Horace Ken-
dall ; 1869, Henry White; 1874, Henry V. Woods;
1884, Levi L. Flagg.
Delegates to Constitutional Conventions. —
1788, Lieutenant Jonas Temple ; 1820, Deacon Jona-
than Bond; 1853, Rev. Daniel S. Whitney.
CHAPTER CXXII.
UPTON.
BY WILLIAM T. DAVLS.
The territory constitutiog the town of Upton was
occupied before the migration of the white men from
the sea-coast to the interior by the Nipmuck tribe of
Indians. Before the incorporation of the town, in
1735, it belonged to the towns of Sutton, Uxbridge,
Mendon and Hopkinton. Among the first setilera
on this territory were John Hazeltine, David Batch-
eler, J )nathan Wood, Israel Tait, John Sadler, Wil-
liam Johnson, John Bromly, William Green, Benja-
min Perham, Samuel Nelson, Stephen Denny, Sam-
uel Watkius, Marshal Baker, Samuel Work, Samuel
ReeTcs, John Warfield, VVillson Rawsou, Robert
Tyler, Matthias Taft, Peter Holbrook, Stephen Ten-
ney and Thomas Palmer. Of these, Matthew Taft
UPTON.
903
was a settler as early as 1728, having bought his
land of Harvard College. This territory included
thirteen thousand and ninety-four acres. A portion
of it, including about three thousand acres, formed a
part of the tract of land belonging to the Hopkins
P^und, which, during nearly a hundred years, was a
source of trouble and vexation to the inhabitants.
Edward Hopkins came from England in 1637, and
settling in Connecticut, became its Governor. He re-
turned to l^ngland and died in 16ri7, giving the sum
of five hundred pounds out of his estate in New Eng-
land to trustees, after die death of his wife, to be in-
vested in houses and lands in New England, the in-
come from which sbould be devoted to the support of
students in the grammar and divinity schools at
Cambridge, and to the purchase of books to be given
to meritorious students at Harvard College. Anne
Hopkins, his wife, died in 1G98, and after a suit in
Chancery the trustees obtained, in 1715, in satisfac-
tion of the legacy, a verdict and payment of five
hundred pounds, with interest, amounting to three
hundred more. This money wa-i invested in the pur-
chase of Maguncog from the Natick Indians, which,
with other lands, finally became the town of Hop-
kinton, one of the contributors to the township of
Upton.
In 1716 the court gave to the Hopkins Trustees
the province lands in Hopkiuton, swelling their pos-
session to twenty-five thousand acres. About one-
half of these acres were lea^^ed for ninety-nine years,
dating from March 25, 1728, and the remainder were
reserved as common lands. Troubles ensued con-
cerning the payment of rent and taxes ; the courts
and the Legislature were resorted to for relief by both
trustees and tenants, and not until 1832 was peace
restored. In that year the Legislature agreed to pay
eight thousand dollars and the tenants two thousand
dollars, and for this consideration the trustees aban-
doned their claim on the lands.
The territory of Upton is not specially attractive
in soil or scenery. Its surface abounds in rocky hills,
with here and there a plain of better land, like those
on which the pleasant villages of. Centre and West
Upton are situated, while West River, the chief
stream of the locality, finds its way through the richer
meadows of the valley towards its outlet in the Black-
stone River, at Uxbridge.
On the 31st of January, 1735, John Hazeltine and
others, living on this territory, presented a petition
to the Provincial Court to be incorporated as a town-
ship, and on the 1-lth of June the following act was
passed :
.\n Alt for dividing tUo towns of Blendon, Sutton, Uxbridge «nd
Hopkinton, iind urccting a. new town in the County of Worcester by the
name of Upton.
Tna'ret(«, tlio ontlands of tlie sever.-^l towns of Mendou, Sutton, Ux-
biidge and Ilopliinlon tire completely tilled with inhabitants who labor
\iuderdiflicnltie8 by reason of their remoteness from the places of pub-
lic woiship in tlio said towns, and have therefore addressed tliis Court
that tboy may be sett off a distmct and separate township and vested
with all the powers and privileges that other towns in this Province are
vested with ;
Be it enacted by His Excellency, the Governor, Council and Repre-
sentatives in General Court assembled and by the authority of the
S]ime :
Sect. 1. That all the ontlands of the aforesaid towns of Mendon,
Sutton, Uxbridge and Hopkinton comprised within the following
bounds, containing in the whole twelve thousand nine hundred and
forty-three acres, together with one hundred and fifty-one acres taken
off Mr. John Rockwood's farm, bounded as follows, viz, : beginning at a
pine tree, being the southeast corner of Grafton, and from thence ex-
tending north, bounding west on Grafton till it comes to the northeast
corner thereof; and from thence bounding by Westboro' line till it
meets with Hopkinton line ; from thence extending southerly two hun-
dred and twelve perch in the bounds between Sutton and Hopkinton;
from thence south nine degrees east four hundred and ninety perch, to
a stake and heap of stones ; from thence south tliirty-one degrees and
thirty niiuutes east one hundred and forty perch ; from thence south
sixty-one degrees thirty minutes east two hundred perch to a heap of
stones at Haven Meadow ; from thence eafiterl.v one hundred and thirty-
four perch to the north end of a pond called North pond and there
bounded easterly on said pond till it comes to the place where tlie Mill
River runs out of said pond ; and thence bounding by said River till it
comes to a wading place called Peck's Wading Place, above the lower
North Meadow, from thence south thirty degrees thirty minntes west
two huudred and seventy-four perch ; from thence soutli forty de-
grees west ninety perch to Tyler's lane alias Marlborough road ; from
thence south fifty-five degrees west four hundred perch to Uxbridge,
where Uxbridge and Mendon meet ; thence bounding by Misco Hill
Brook till it meets with West River so called; then runs north twenty-
five degrees west ten hundred and twenty-two perch on Uxbridge line
to a heap of stones at Hazeltine's goat pasture ; from thence nortlierly
to a pine tree; thence easterl,v to a stake in a meadow ; and thence
north twenty-five degrees and thirty minutes west one hundred and
seventy perch to Grafton south line ; and thence bovinding northerly on
Grafton one hundred and ninety-six perch to tiie bounds first men-
tioned ; be and hereby are set off a distinct and separate township by
the name of Upton.
Srct, 2. And that the inhabitants thereof be and hereby are vested
with all the powers, privileges and immunities that the other towns in
this Province are or ought, by law, to be vested witii.
Provided,
Sect. 3. That the whole of Mr. Nathan Tyler's farm be and hereby is
excluded out of the abovesaid township and he and it forever remains
to the town of Mendon as heretofore.
Provided also,
Sect, 4, That the inhabitants of the said town of Upton do within
three years build a suitable and convenient house for the public worship
of God and settle a learnedorthodox minister and provide for his com-
fortable and honorable support.
By an order of court passed June 17th John Hazel-
tine, as one of the principal inhabitants of the new
town, was authorized to notify and warn the inhabit-
ants to meet on the 28th of July and choose town
officers. On that day the town met at the house of
John Sadler and John Hazeltine was chosen moder-
ator, Jonathan Wood was chosen clerk and Samuel
Work treasurer. The condition of the town records
is such that it is impossible to learn who composed
the first Board of Selectmen. Mr. Work, the treas-
urer, died not long after his election, and on the 10th
of November Jonathan Wood was chosen in his
place.
The following is a list of persons who have served
as selectmen in the years set against their names:
John Hazeltine.
Israel Taft,
Jonathan Wood.
William Green.
John Sadler.
Jonatbau Nelson.
1738.
John Hazeltine,
Sanmel "Watkins,
- Sn]ith.
Tafr.
Jonathan Wood.
1739. Matthew Taft.
904
HISTORY OP WORCESTER COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.
Stephen Tenney.
William Gieen.
1740. John HazeltiD©.
Jonathan Wood.
Bubei-t Tyler.
1741. John Hrtzeltine.
Jonulhan Wood,
Stephen Tewney,
1742. StepheD Tenney.
Jonatliiin Wood,
Sunuiel Nelaon.
1743. Jonutban Wood.
WfttthiaaTaft.
Wilaon Ruwboik
Stephen Tenney.
1744. Wilson Rawsou.
.ToDas Warreis.
Robert Bradish.
Benjamin Stewart,
Ebenezer ¥istk.
1745. John Sadler.
JoiKithaa Wood.
Stephen Tenney.
SeDJamiu Palmer,
Jonas Warren.
1746. Jc^iathan Wood.
John Hazeltine.
Wile«.iu Rawson.
1747. Wilatui llawaon.
Jo-uathrtu Wood.
' JonathaD NelaoDi.
174i&. John Sadler.
Jubn Hazeltine.
Jonathan Wood.
174^ JonathaB Wood.
John Ha'/eltintr.
Jooas Warren.
1750. John HazeltiDe.
Jonas Warren.
Jonathan Nelson,
17&1. Beriab Rice.
David Wood.
Ebenozer Fisk.
1762. John Sadler.
Beriah Rice.
Francis Nelson.
1755. Marshal Buker.
Benjamin Perham,
Jonas Warren, Jr.
1754. 3Iarsl>aI Baftw.
Matthew Lackey.
Epliraini Whitney,
1755. Jonathan Wood.
Stephen Sadler.
Wilson Rawaon.
1756. Matthew Taft.
Abiel Sadler.
Ephraini Whitney,
1757. Wilson Rawaon.
Steplien Sadler.
Ephraini AVhitney.
17p«. Samue) Wright,
Jonathan Kelson.
Benjamin Perham,
1759. Ahiel Sadler.
Stephen Sadler.
Xzra Wetxl.
1760. Abiel Sadler.
Ephraim Whitney.
Daniel Batchelor.
1761. Same,
17C2. Abiel SadkT.
Sleplw-n Sadler,
Nathan Tyler,
1763. Joiiatlian Wouii.
Wilrion Kaweoi>.
Abitl SuUlev.
1764. Abiel Sadler.
Ezra Wood.
Nathan Tyler.
17G5. Abiel Sadler.
Elijah Warren.
Elisha Taft.
1766. Abiel Sadler,
Nathan Tyler.
Ezra Wood.
1767. Nathan Tyler,
Stephen Sadler.
Ezra Wood.
1768. Nathan Tyler.
WilBon liawsoD.
Elieha Talt.
1769. Josiab Deaue.
Ephraim Whitney.
Robert Taft.
1770. Abiel Sadler.
Elisha Taft.
Elijah Warren,
1771. Joseph Sadler,
Robert Talt.
Josiah Childa.
1772. Josiab Deane.
Ezra Wood.
Beujauiiu Farrar.
1773. Elijah Warren.
Abiel Sadler.
Elisha Taft.
1774. Ezra Wood.
Ephraim Whitney.
Benjuuiia Fisk.
1775. Josiab Deane.
Stephen Sadler.
Nathaniel Flagg.
1776. Marshal Baker.
David Nelson.
John Taft.
1777. Josiah Deane.
Stephen Sadler.
Epbraim Whitney,
177S. Epbraim Whitney.
Thomas Nelson.
James Torrey.
1779. Josiab Deane.
David Kelly.
Wm. Fisk.
17SD. Ephraim Whitney,
Joseph Sadler.
Ebeuezer Walker.
1781. Abiel Sadler.
Thomas Forbush.
Abner Palmer.
17S'2. Thomas Forbusb,
Ezra Wood.
Jonathan Batcheler.
1783. Thomas Forbush.
Asa Hazelline.
Stephen Sadler.
1784. Jonathan Batcheler.
Elisha Brodish.
Elijah Warren.
1785. Jonathan Batcheler.
Beujamiu Farrar.
Jonas Hayward.
1786. Jonathan Batcheler.
Ezra Wood.
John Taft.
Epbruim Whitney.
1787. Ezra Wood.
Robert Fisk.
Simeon Holbrook.
Thomas M. Baker.
Nahum Warren.
178S. Ezra Wood.
Robert Fisk.
Simeon Holbrook.
Thomas M. Baker.
Nahum Warren.
1789. Wilson Rawson.
Benjamin Fisk, Jr.
Abner Palmer.
Enoch Batcheler.
Jonathan Batcheler.
1790. Ezra Wood.
I<}lisba Bradish.
David Chapin.
Jonas Warren.
Thomas Nelson, Jr.
1791. Ezra Wood.
Elisha Bradish.
David Chapin.
Jonas Warren.
J. Rawson.
1792. Ezra Wood.
Elisha Bradish.
David Chapin-
Silas Warren.
Nahum Wood.
1793. Same.
1794. Elisha Bradish.
Thomas Nelson, Jr.
Wilaoii Rawson.
Paul Nelson.
Amos Whitney,
1795. Elisha Bradish.
Abiel Sadler.
John Taft.
David Chapin.
Ebenezer Stearns.
1796. Ezra Wood.
Paul Nelson.
Thomas NeUon, Jr.
Amos Bradish.
Wihon Rawson.
1797. Ezia Wood.
Thomas Nelson, Jr.
Wilson Rawson.
Enoch Batcheler.
Constant Ilandy.
1798. Ezra Wood.
Wilaou Kawson.
Enoch Batcheler.
John Childs.
Daniel Fisk.
1799. Ezra Wood.
Elisha Bradish,
Elisha Taft.
Ephraim Whitney.
Ilezekiah Rockwood.
ISOO. Ezra Wood.
Elisha Bradish.
Wilsou Kawson.
Ephraim Whitney.
Hezekiah Rockwood.
1801. Ezra Wood.
Amos Bradish.
Daniel Fisk, Jr.
Ezekiel Stoddard.
Peter Forbush.
1802. Ezra Wood.
Amos Bradish.
Danitl Fisk, Jr.
AsaChilds.
Wilson Rawson.
1803. Ezra W' ood.
Amos Biauisb.
Daniel Fisk, Jr.
Asa Cbilds.
Nathaniel Flagg.
1804. Ezra Wood.
Amos Bradish.
Daniel Fi»k, Jr.
Conatant Hardy.
He/ekiah Rockwood.
1806. Amos Bradish.
Wilson Rawson.
Constant Ilardy.
Hezekiah Rockwood.
Stephen Taft.
1806. Wilson Rawson.
Elisha Bradish.
Amos Whitney.
Daniel Fisk.
John Sadler.
1807. Wilson Rawson.
Elisha Bradish.
Amos Whitney.
Daniel Fisk.
Daniel Fisk, Jr.
1808. Daniel Fisk.
Daniel Fisk, Jr.
Wilson Rawson,
Elisha Bradish.
Amos Whitney.
1809. Daniel Fisk, Jr.
Ezra Wood, Jr.
Elisha Bradish.
Enoch Batcheler.
Silas Warren.
1810. Daniel Fisk, Jr.
Ezra Wood, Jr.
Enoch Batcheler.
Silas Warren.
Jonathan Ward.
1811. Daniel FiaU, Jr.
Ezra Wood, Jr.
Silas Warren.
Jonathan Ward.
Stephen Taft.
1812. Same.
1813. Daniel Fisk, Jr.
Ezra Wood, Jr.
Elisha Fisk.
Jonathan Ward.
Stephen Taft.
1814. Daniel Fisk, Jr.
Ezra Wood, Jr.
Jonathan Ward,
Stephen Tftft.
Elisha Fisk.
1815. Jonathan Ward.
Ezra Wood, Jr.
Ward Palmer.
John Sadler.
Ephraim Taft.
1816. Daniel Fisk, Jr.
Amoa Whitney.
Elisha Bradish.
John Sadler.
Hezekiah Rockwood.
1817. Ezra Wood.
Amos Whitney.
EHsha Fisk.
Daniel Holbrook.
Jonathan Ward.
1818. Ezi-a Wood,
Amos Whitney.
Silas Warren.
Daniel Holbrook.
Josiah Rockwood,
1819. Jonathan Ward.
Amos Whitney.
Josiah Hockwood.
Samuel Forbush.
Elisha Chapin.
1820. Ezra Wood.
Elisha Chapin,
Ward Baker.
Elisha Fisk.
UPTON.
905
3822.
1823.
1828.
1831,
1833.
1834.
1835.
1836.
1837.
Janiea Vial.
Ezra Wood.
Eliaba Cliapin.
Jamee Vial.
Eli Warren.
Wm. Flsk.
Same.
Daniel Fiak, Jr.
Ezra Nelson.
Elisha Fisk.
Elijah Warren.
Moses Whitney.
Daniel Fibk, Jr.
Ezra Nelson.
Elisha Fiek.
Elijah Warren.
Reuben Wood, Jr.
Daniel Fisk, Jr.
Elisha Fi»k.
Janiea Vial.
Reuben Wood, Jr.
Eliab Lelaud.
Elialia Fisk.
Elijah Warren.
Eliaba Chapin.
Joseph Wood.
Stephen Taft.
Eliaba Fisk.
Stephen Talt.
AVm. Fisk.
Elijah Whitney.
Jonathan Nelson.
Eliaha Fisk.
Stephen Taft.
Eliab Leland.
EliJHh Whitney.
Jonathan Nelson.
Elisha FiBk.
Stephen Taft.
Elijah Nel»OD.
Clark Fisk.
Joseph B. Chapin.
Elisha Fiak.
Stephen Taft.
Elijah Nelson.
Clark Fisk.
Joseph B. Chapin.
Ezra Nelson.
Stephen Taft.
Elijah Nelson.
Clark Fisk.
Joseph B. Chapin.
Wm. Legg.
Ezra Wood.
Joseph B. Chapin.
Daniel Nelson.
David Batchekr.
Same.
Wui. Legg.
Elijah Warren.
Stephen Taft.
Jonathan Nelson, Jr,
Joel Taft .
Same.
Same.
Joseph B. Chapin.
David Batclieler.
Abel Walker.
Elijah Nelson (2d).
Orra Wood.
Joseph B. Chapin.
Elijah Nelson (2d).
Orra Wood.
J. B. Bradish.
David C. Wood.
Ori-a Wood.
Elijah WaiTen.
1841.
1844.
1849.
1850.
1853.
1866.
W. B. Hall.
Joaiah A. Rockwood.
Wm. Knowlton.
Eliaha Fisk.
Stephen Taft.
Amos Stearns.
John Hunt.
Henry Barna,
Jothani Bradish.
Joel Taft.
Moses Whitney.
Perley P. Taft.
Fisher Taft.
Nahum W. Holbrook.
Loring Johnson.
Jonathan Nelson (2d).
Wm. Legg.
Elijah Nelson.
Henry Barns.
J. T. McFarland.
Chapin Wood.
Wm. Legg.
Elijah Nelson.
David C. Wood.
Levi Fiak.
Hartford Stoddard.
Elijah Stoddard.
Thomas J. Hal I.
David Batcheler.
John H. Leseur.
Elisha Fisk, Jr.
Elijah Stoddard.
Wm. Hall.
Thomaa J. Hall.
Jonathan E. Ward.
David W. Batcheler.
Elijah Stoddard.
Wm. Hall.
Thomas J. Hall.
John Hniit.
David W. Batcheler.
Wm. Hall
John Hunt.
David W. Batcheler.
Velorous Taft.
Nahum W. Hail.
David C. Wood.
J. T. McFarland.
Thomas J. Hall.
David G. Chapin.
Velorous Taft.
Velorous Taft.
Thomas J. Hall.
J. T. McFarland.
Elisha Fisk.
Ste]iheu L. Boswfrth.
Velorous Taft.
Nahum B. Hall.
Elisha Fisk.
Jonathan E. Ward.
J. T. McFarland.
A'elorous Taft.
J. C, Ward.
G. N. Morse.
Whitman Holbrook.
Elisha Fisk.
Velorous Taft.
J. C. Ward.
G. A. Morse.
Lewis Fisk.
Arba T. Wood.
Elisha Fisk.
John C.Welch.
Perley P. Taft.
Jolin Hunt.
Arba T. Wood.
Arba T. Wood.
1865.
186G.
Elisha Fisk.
Stephen L. Bcsworth.
Royal Lackey.
John C.Welch.
Velorous Taft.
ArbaT. Wood.
Henry T. Barnes.
Emory W. King.
Elisha Wood (2d).
Arba T. Wood.
Thomas J. Hall.
Melvin Webster.
Elisha B. Fiak.
Wesley L. Fisk,
Arba T. Wood.
Thomas J. Hall.
Elisha B. Fisk.
Wesley L. Fisk.
Emerson Haven.
Stephen L. Bosworth.
Edward S. Leiand.
Emerson Haven.
Levi W. Taft.
Rufua H. Harbauk.
Stephen L. Bosworth.
Edward S. Leiand.
Elisha Fisk.
Benjamin F. Holbrook.
Calvin H. Ruggles.
Arba T. Wood.
Perley P. Taft.
Adams Fisk.
Arba T. Wood.
Calvin H. Ruggles.
Adams Fisk.
Velorous Taft.
Arba T. Wood.
Henry W. Whitney.
Same.
Velorous Taft.
Arba T. Wood.
E. S. Leiand.
C. H. Leiand.
Fi«her Taft.
Whitman Holbrook.
Arba T. Wood.
Fisher Taft.
Wuithrop B. Fay.
Arba T. Wood.
1870.
1873.
1874.
1876.
1877.
1879.
1880.
188i.
1885.
188C.
Emery W. King.
C. N. Harrington.
Whitman Holbrook.
Emery W. King.
Dennis T. Fisk.
Arba T. Wood.
Eli W. Batcheler.
Thomas J. Hall.
Thomas J. Hall.
Horace Forbush.
B. A. Jourdan.
Thomas J. Hall.
Horace Forbush.
B. A. Jourdan.
Thomas J. Hnll.
Horace Forbush.
B. A. Jourdan.
Thomas J. Hall.
B. A. Jourdan.
James J. Nelson.
Same.
Velorous Taft.
Charles A. Davis.
Dennis T. Fisk.
Thomas J. Hall.
B. A. Jourdan.
James J. Nelson.
Same.
Thomas J. Hall. ■
B. A. Jourdan.
Velorous Taft.
Velorous Taft.
George D. Whiting.
H. C. Holbrook.
Thomas J. Hall.
B. A. Jourdan.
J. Plummer Taft.
Thomas J. Hall.
B. A. Jourdan.
Velorous Taft.
Same.
Same.
Dennis T. Fisk.
George D. Whiting.
Velorous Taft.
Thomaa J. Hall.
Dennis T. Fisk.
Wm. H. Willington.
Same.
At this point in our narrative a completion of the
list of perilous who have held the more prominent
offices of the town would he proper. The following
is a list of the moderators of annual meetings, of
treasurers and town clerks for the years set against
their names:
Moderators.
1735. John Hazeltine.
1736. John Hazeltine.
1737. John Hazeltine.
1738. Jonathan Nelson.
1739. William Green.
1740. John Hazeltine.
1741. Matthew Taft.
1742. W illiam Green.
1743. William Green.
1744. John Sadler.
1745. John Sadler.
174G, John Hazeltine.
1747. John Hazeltine.
1748. John Hazeltine.
1740. John Hazeltine.
175U. John HaZ';Itiuc.
1751. John Hazeltine.
Treasurers.
Samuel Wood and
Jonathan Wood.
John Sadler,
Jonathan Wood,
Jonathan Wood.
Jonathan Wood,
Jonathan Wood,
Israel Taft.
Jonathan Nel.-*on.
Jonathan Nelson.
John Sadler.
John Sadler.
John Sadler.
John Sadler
Matthew Taft.
Matthew Taft.
Julin Sadler.
Jonathan Wood.
J'own Clerks.
Jonathan Wood.
Jonathan Wood.
Jonathan Wood.
Jonathan Wood.
Jonathan Wood.
Jonathan Wood.
Jonathan Wood.
Jonathan Wood.
Jonathan Wood.
Jonathan Wood.
Jonathan Wood,
Jonathan Wood.
Jonathan Wood.
Jonathan Wood.
Jonathan Wood.
Jonathan Wood.
Jonathan Wood.
906
HISTOKY OF WORCESTER COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS,
1752.
1753.
1754.
1755.
1756.
1757.
1758.
1759.
1760.
1761.
17G2.
17G3.
1764.
1765.
17(;G.
1767.
1768.
17G9.
1770.
1771.
1772.
1773.
1774.
1775.
177G.
1777.
1778.
1779.
1780.
1781.
1782.
1783.
1784.
1785.
1786.
1787.
1788.
1789.
1790.
1791.
1792.
1793.
1794.
1795.
1796.
1797.
1798.
1799.
1800.
1801.
1802.
1803.
]80i.
1S06.
ISOG.
181(7.
1808.
1809.
1810.
1811.
1812.
1813.
1814.
1815.
181G.
1817.
1818.
1819.
1820.
1821.
1822.
1823.
1824.
1S25.
1826.
1827.
Moderators,
John Sadler.
Marslial Baker.
Marshal Baker.
Wilson Kawson.
Marshal Baker.
Wilson Rawson.
Slarshal Baker.
Marshal Baker.
WilsuD Rawson.
"Wilson Rawson.
Eben. Wadsworth.
Marshal Baker.
Ezra Wood.
Marshal Baker.
Marshal Baker.
John Hazeltine.
Nathan Tyler.
Wilson Rawson.
Abiel Sadler.
Ezra Wood.
Ezra Wood.
Wilson Rawson.
Ezra Wood.
Ezra Wood.
Ezra Wood.
Ezra Wood,
Ezra Wood.
Ezra Wood.
Benjamin Farrar.
Benjamin Farrar.
Ezra Wood.
Ezra Wood.
Ezra Wood.
Benjamin Farrar.
Jonathan Batcl.eler.
Ezra Wood.
Benjamin Farrar.
Ezra Wood.
Ezra W^ood.
Ezra Wood.
Ezra Wood.
Tliunias M. Baker.
Thomas M. Baker.
Thomas M. Baker.
Jonathan Batcheler.
Ezra Wood.
Ezra Wood.
Ezra Wood.
Elisha Bradish.
Stephen Bradish.
Wilson Rawson.
Wilson Rawson,
Elisha Bradish.
David Chapin.
David Chapin.
David Chapin.
David Chapin.
Wilson Rawson.
Ezra Wood, Jr.
Ezra AVood, Jr.
Ezra Wood, Jr.
Ezra Wood, Jr.
Ezra Wood, Jr.
Ezra Wood, Jr.
Ezra Wood, Jr.
Ezra Wood, Jr.
Ezra Wood, Jr.
Daniel Holbrook.
Daniel Holbrook.
Daniel Fisk, Jr.
Daniel Fisk, Jr.
Daniel Fisk, Jr.
Lyman Stoddard.
Ezra Wood, Jr.
Ezra Wood, .Ir.
. Ezra Wood, Jr.
Treasurers.
Jonnthan Wood.
Jonathan WooU-
Jonas Warren, Jr.
Stephen Sadler.
Stephen Sadler.
Stephen Sadler.
Stephen Sadler.
Stephen Sadler.
Stephen Sadler.
Stephen Sadler.
Stephen .Sadler.
Stephen Sadler.
Stephen Sadler.
Stephen Sadler.
Stephen Sadler.
Wilson Rawson.
William Fisk.
William Fisk.
Josiah Dean.
Josiah Dean.
Josiah Pease.
Aaron Warren.
Stephen Sadler.
William Fisk.
Abiel Sadler.
Abiel Sadler.
Josiah Deane.
Robert Taft.
Stephen Sadler.
Stephen Sadler.
John Talt.
John Taft.
John Taft.
John Taft.
John Taft.
Thomas Nelson, Jr.
Thomas Nelson, Jr,
Thomas Nelson, Jr. Jonathan Balch
Thomas Nelson, Jr. Ezra Wood.
Town Clerks.
Jonathan Wood.
Jonathan Wood.
Jonathan Wood.
iJonathau Wood.
Jonathan Wood.
Abiel Sadler.
Abiel Sadler.
Abiel Sadler.
Abiel Sadler.
Abiel Sadler.
Abiel Sadler.
Abiel Sadler.
Abiel Sadler.
Abiel Sadler.
Abiel Sadler.
Josiah Dean.
Josiah Dean.
Josiah Dean.
Joeiali Dean.
Josiah Dean.
Josiah Dean.
Elijah Warren.
Josi.th Dean.
Josiah Dean.
Jo:iiah Dean.
Ephraim Whitney.
Ephraini Whitney.
Josiah Deane.
Ephraim Whitney.
Abiel Sadler.
Thomas Forbush.
Thomas Forbuah.
Jonathan Batcheler.
Jonathan Batcheler.
Jonathan Batcheler.
Ezra Wood.
Ezra W'ood.
EHsha Bradish.
Henry Fisk.
Daniel Fisk.
Daniel Fiak.
Daniel Fisk.
Jonathan Ward.
Jonathan Ward.
Daniel Fisk.
Daniel Fisk.
Amos Whitney.
Amos Whitney.
Amos Whitney.
Amos Whitney.
Eli.sha Fisk.
Elisha Fisk.
Mayuard Wood.
Maynard Wood.
Calvin Ruggles.
Calvin Ruggles.
Job Carpenter.
Elijah Warren.
Ezra Nelson.
Ezra Nelson.
Ezra Nelson.
Ezra Wood.
Ezra Wood.
Ezra Wood.
Elisha Bradish.
Elisha Bradish.
Ezra Wood.
Ezra Wood.
Ezra Wood.
Ezra Wood.
Ezra Wood.
Ezra Wood.
Ezra Wood.
Ezra Wood.
Ezra Wood.
Daniel Fisk, Jr.
Daniel Fisk, Jr.
Daniel Fisk, .Jr.
Daniel Fisk, Jr.
Daniel Fisk, Jr.
Daniel Fisk, Jr.
Daniel Fisk, Jr.
Daniel Fisk, Jr.
Daniel Fisk, Jr.
Daniel Fisk, Jr.
Samuel Forbush, Jr. Jonathan Ward.
Samuel Forbush, Jr. Daniel Fisk, Jr.
1828.
1829.
1830.
1831.
1832.
18.33.
1834.
18.35.
1836.
1837,
1838.
1839.
1840.
1841.
1842.
1843.
1844.
1845.
1846.
1847.
1848.
1849.
1850.
1851.
18V2.
1853.
1854.
1855.
1856.
1857.
1858.
1859.
1860.
1861.
18G2.
1863.
1864.
1865.
1866.
1867.
1868.
1869.
1870.
1871.
1872.
1873.
1874.
1876.
1876.
1877.
187t.
1879.
1880.
1881.
1882.
1883.
1884.
1885.
18S6,
1887,
Ezra Nelson.
Eli Warren.
Eli Warren.
Eli Warren,
Daniel Fisk, .Tr.
Daniel Fisk, Jr.
Jonatlian Ward.
Eli Warren.
Ezra Nelson,
Ezra Nelson.
Ezra Nelson.
Ezra Wood.
Ezra Wudd.
Jonathan Ward,
Ezra Wood.
Ezra Wood.
Ezra Wood.
Daniel Fisk, Jr.
Daniel Fisk, Jr.
Daniel Fisk, Jr.
Elisha Fisk.
Elisha Fisk.
Moderators.
Daniel Fisk, Jr.
Ezra Wood.
Daniel Fisk, Jr.
Daniel Fisk, Jr.
Ezra Wood.
William Legg.
William Legg.
Elijah Nelson.
Elijah Nelson.
Abel Walker.
Nahnm W. Holbrook.
Lyman Stoddard.
Timothy B. Allen.
AVilliam Legg.
NahumW. Holbrook.
Joseph S. Farnum.
Hiram Fowler.
Hiram Fowler.
Velorous Taft.
Yelorous Taft.
Velorous Taft.
Velorous Taft.
Velorous Taft.
Velorous Taft.
Velorous Taft.
Velorous Taft.
Velorous Taft.
Velorous Taft.
Velorons Taft.
Velorous Taft.
Velorous Taft.
Velorous Taft.
Velorous Tafr,
Stephen L. Bosworth.
Stephen L Bosworth.
Stephen L. Bosworth.
Velorous Taft.
Velorous Taft.
Velorous Taft.
Arba T. Wood.
Velorous Taft.
Velorous Taft.
Charles C. Mower.
Levi W. Taft.
Arba T. Wood.
Albert Davis.
Velorous Taft.
Velorous Taft.
Velorous Taft.
Vc-Iorous Taft.
Whitman Holbrook.
Velcrous Taft.
Velorous Taft.
Velorous Talt.
Velorous Taft.
Velorous Taft,
Velorons Taft.
Velorous Taft.
. Velorous Taft.
Thomas J. Hall.
Velorous Taft.
lYeasitrers.
Ezra Nelson.
Ezra Nelson.
Harvey Bradish.
Harvey Bradish.
Harvey Br dish.
Harvey Bradish,
Harvey Bradish.
Harvey Ilradish,
Harvey Bradish,
Harvey Bradish,
Joseph Perry.
Joseph Perry.
Joseph Perry.
Joseph Perry.
James A. Nelson.
James A. Nelson.
James A. Nelson.
Elisha B. Fisk.
Elisha B. Fisk.
Elisha B. Fisk.
James A. Nelson.
James A. Nelson.
James A. Nelson.
James A. Nelson.
James A. Nelson,
Charles H, Leland.
Charles H. Leiaud,
Horace Forbush.
Horace Forbush,
Horace Forbush,
Winthrop B. Fay,
Winthrop B. Fay.
Winthrop B. Fay.
Winthrop B Fay.
Winthrop B, Fay,
AVinthrop B. Fay.
Winthrop B. Fay.
Winthrop B. Fay.
Edwin Nelson.
Edwin Nelson.
Elisha B. Fisk.
Elisha B. Fisk.
Whitman Holbrook
Horace Forbush.
Horace Forbush.
Horace Forbush.
Horace Forbush.
Horace Forbush.
Horace Forbush.
E. S. Leland.
E. S. Letand.
E. S. Leland.
E. S. Leland.
E. S. Leland.
J. J. Nelson.
J. J. Nelson.
J. J. Nelson.
J. J. Nelson.
S. B. Fisk.
S. B. Fisk,
S. B. Fisk.
Town Clerks.
Elisha Fisk.
Elisha Fisk.
Elisha Fisk.
Ezra Nelson,
Daniel Fisk, Jr.
Daniel Fisk, Jr.
Daniel Fisk, Jr.
Daniel Fisk, Jr.
Daniel Fisk, Jr,
Daniel Fisk, Jr,
Daniel Fisk, Jr .
Harvey Bradish.
Elisha Fisk.
Harvey Bradi»h.
Harvey Bradish,
Harvey bradish.
Harvey Bradish.
Harvey Bradish.
Harvey Bradish.
Harvey Bradish.
Harvey Bradish.
Harvey Bradish.
Harvey Bradish.
Harvey Bradish.
Harvey Bradish.
Harve^' Bradish.
Harvey Bradish.
Perry G. Wood.
Perry G. Wood.
Perry G. Wood.
Perry G. Wood.
Perry G. Wood.
PeiTy G. Wood.
Perry G. Wood.
Perry G, Wood.
Perry G. Wood.
Perry G. Wood,
Perry G. Wood.
Edwin Nelson.
Edwin Nelson.
Winthrop B. Fay.
Winthrop B. Fay.
C. H. Leland.
Jerome Wilmarth.
Jerome Wilmarth.
Jerome Wilmarth.
Jerome Wiimartli,
Jerome Wilm.irth.
Jerome Wilmarth.
Jerome Wilmarth.
Jerome Wiimartli.
Jerome Wilmarth.
Jerome Wilmarth.
Jerome Wilmarth.
Jerome Wilmarth.
Jerome Wilmarth.
Jerinne Wilmarth.
Jerome Wilmarth.
Jerome Wilmanh,
Jerome Wihuartb.
Francis T. Nelson.
On the 10th of November, 1735, five months after
the incorporation of Upton, the town voted to build a
meeting-house on a part of the old burial-ground,
about fifty rods north of the south road to Mendon
and about one mile from the centre. It was to be
forty feet long and thirty-five feet wide, and the sum
of one hundred pounds was raised towards defraying
its cost. From year to year small sums were raised
to complete it, but it was never entirely finished.
Twelve years elapsed before a pulpit was built and
five yeara before all the windows were glazed. Dur-
UPTON.
907
ing the first three years the town-meetings were held
in private houses, but after that time the meeting-
house was so far finished that town-meetings were
held within its walls. On the 18th of August, 1735,
Rev. Thomas Weld, of Eoxbury, and a graduate of
Harvard in 1723, was invited to become pastor and
was ordained January 4, 1738.
The sum of one hundred and fifty pounds, old tenor,
was given to him as a settlement, and eighty pounds
as an annual salary. He was dismissed in December,
1744, and was afterwards settled in Middleboro'. Dur-
ing the French War he entered the army as a chaplain
and died in the service. Rev. Elisha Fisk was invited
January 2-5, 17.51, and ordained June .Sth, with aset-
tlement of one hundred and twenty pounds, and a
salary of sixty pounds. Mr. Fisk was a native of Ston-
ington, and graduated at Harvard in 1750. He
married Hannah Forbes, of Westboro', and died
August 6, 1795, having had nine children.
During the ministry of Mr. Fisk, in 1761, many of
the people became dissatisfied with the location of
the meeting-house, and three questions were con-
sidered : whether the old meeting-bouse should re-
main where it was and be finished at once ; whether
it should be moved ; and whether a new house should
be built. The territorial centre was found to be on
the plain not far from the new burial-ground on the
Westboro' road, and three sites were at various times
discussed : the centre, the ground on which the meet-
ing-house of the First Church now stands and a small
hill, which was called Meeting-house Hill. Finding
it impossible to come to any harmonious agreement,
the town voted to refer the question to a committee
composed of Captain Edward Davis, of Oxford;
Hezekiah Rice, of Framingham; Colonel Oliver
Wilder, of Lancaster ; Major Daniel Hayward, of
Worcester; and Captain Caleb Hill, of Douglas. On
the 24th of June, 1761, the vote, however, was re-
scinded, and it was voted to let it remain seven years
and then to move it to the spot on which the meeting-
house now stands. On the 23d of March, 1768, at
the expiration of the seven years, at a meeting of the
town, action was had on the following articles in the
warrant:
Will the towD remove the meeting-honse tu the epot agreed upon
June 2t, 1761 ? Will the town divide into two pjirishes? and will the
town choose a committee to report what in their judgment would be the
best coui-se to pursue? On the tiist two questions the town voted in the
negative, and on the last in the affirmative. The committee selected
consisted of Jonathan Livermore. of Northboro' ; Samuel Keed, of U.x-
bridge ; William Jenuison, of Meudon ; and Hezekiah Taylor, of Graf-
ton. This committee at a subsequent meeting reported as follows:
•'Having taken into serious consideration your complaints and your
different opinion«, and after a very patient hearing of all parties so
deeply concerned, we are of the opinion that it will he best for the in-
habitants of this town to let their meeting-house remain where it now
Is. being fully sHti tied that the town will be divided into two parishes
before many years. All things, therefore, being duly considered, we thus
Judge."
Notwithstanding this advice, two years later, in
1770, the majority voted to build a new house. In
1821 the church built in 1770 was repaired, a belfry
added to it, with a bell, and a clock was given by
George Hoi brook, of Med way.
In 1848 the present meeting-house was built on the
west side of the Common, and dedicated January 3,
1849. The old house was sold to D. B. Fisk, and now
stands on the easterly side of the Common, devoted
to other uses.
Rev. Benjamin Wood was invited to settle as the
successor of Mr. Fisk, December 17, 1795, and was
consecrated June 1, 1798, with a salary which, at the
end of fifteen years, was raised to four hundred dol-
lars, and which, during his (lastorate of fifty-one
years, never exceeded that sum. Previous to 1812 the
church had only a covenant, but in that year adopted
articles of faith, and not until 1834 was the parish
legally organized. On the 25th of June, 1835, Mr.
Wood delivered a centennial address of much interest
and value, and in 1848 an address commemorative of
the fiftieth year of his settlement. He died April
24, 1849, at the age of seventy-six years, and at his
funeral services Rev. A. H. Tracy, of Sutton, preached
the sermon. He was born in Lebanon, N. H , Sep-
tember 15, 1772, the youngest of twelve children, and
graduated at Dartmouth in 1793. An older brother
of Mr. Wool was the teacher who, it is said, fitted
Daniel Webster for college.
Rev. William Warren, a native of Maine, and a
graduate of Bowdoin, was installed November. 14,
1849, and dismissed April 29, 1856. His successor
was Rev. Andrew J. Willard, a native of Vermont
and a graduate of Vermont University, who was or-
dained April 30, 1857, and dismis-ed July 8, 1865.
After the dismissal of Mr. Willard, Rev. Spencer O.
Dyer supplied the pulpit from November 30, 1865, to
November 30, 1870, and was followed by Rev. John
E. M. Wright, who was installed November 15, 1871,
and dismis!^ed March 31, 1875. Rev. Frank J. Marsh
was ordained January 26, 1876, and was succeeded by "
the present pastor. Rev. Almon J. Dyer. Mr. Marsh
was a native of Leominster, and a graduate of Am-
herst.
A Baptist Society was organized in 1751, but was
never vigorous, and, after a few years under the min-
istrations of Elder Abraham Bloss, it was dissolved.
In 1787 a new society was formed, which at various
times was presided over by Elders Ingalls, Simeon,
Snow, Sawyer, Smith and Bullard. After the de-
parture of Mr. Dexter Bullard the society was merged
in the First Unitarian Society, which was organized
in 1846. The last-mentioned society built a church
on the easterly side of the Common, which was dedi-
cated in 1848. The first pastor of the society was
Rev. William Cutter Tenney, a Harvard graduate in
1838, who left in 1849, and w'as succeeded by Rev.
George S. Ball, whose service has continued up to the
present time, with the exception of two years (1857-
58) when he was the settled minister over the First
Church in Plymouth. During the War of the Rebel-
lion, Mr. Ball served eighteen months as chaplain of
908
HISTORY OF WORCESTER COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.
the 21st Regiment of Massachusetts Volunteers, and
is remembered by all who come within his influence
as a fearless soldier as well as a faithful minister of
God. As a pastor he extends his sphere of useful-
ness beyond his church and his flock, and is univer-
sally beloved as a citizen, neighbor and friend. In
1873 Hon. William Knowlton built a church at West
Upton, the use of which he gave to the Unitarian
Society, and in 1874 the old church was sold to the
bishop of the diocese for Catholic worship. The
Catholic Society has been organized only a few years,
but it is steadily gaining in strength and vigor.
A Universalist Society was incorporated March 9,
1825. Like the Baptist Society, it had no church,
and when the Unitarian Society was organized the
members of the two societies became united.
A Methodist Society was formed in 1873, and has a
commodious and handsome house of worship at the
southerly end of the Common, in Upton Centre. Its
first pastor wa? Kev. N. B. Fisk, who served three
years, and was followed by Rev. John Short, the Rev.
Mr. Hubbard and the present faithful pastor. Rev.
Wm. P. Blackmer.
In the latter part of the last century there was a
respectable body of Quakers in the town, but no dis-
tinct society was ever organized.
With the incorporation of the town and the organi-
zation of its church, the municipal machinery of
Upton was complete. Like all other towns in Massa-
chusetts, in their earlier days, the town was the parish
and the parish was the town. The town settled the
minister, fixed and raised his salary, built and main-
tained the place of worship, and the collector of the
town collected the precinct or parish tax. With one
parish, with united and harmonious interests, and
with an industry — that of agriculture — in which most
. of the people were engaged, the early life of the town
was passed with no disturbance of the public peace
to check its development and growth. Before many
years, however, had passed away the French War
checked for a time its advancing prosperity, and called
on its sons to bear their share of the burdens of the
strife. Exactly what part the town performed in the
war it is difficult to learn from available records. From
what can be gleaned from the archives of the State
concerning its activity in some of the events of the
war, it may be fairly inferred that in all its varying
scenes it thoroughly performed its part.
The records state that the following Upton men
enlisted " for the intended expedition, in 1756, against
Crown Point, under the command of General John
Winslow/' and were attached to the regiment of Col.
Richard Gridley :
Nathan Tyler, captain.
James Steward. Jonathan Pritchard.
Benjamin Jones. Thumas Rowel.
The following were mustered, October 11, 1756, in
the company of Lieutenant-Colonel Irving, attached
to Colonel Richard Gridley's regiment, to march to
Fort William Henry :
Benjamin Stewart. Benjamin Jones.
James Stewart. Ephraim WarfieJd.
Jonatlian Pritchard.
The following is " a list of training soldiers, March
23, 1757, in Upton, under command of Captain Jona-
than Wood, alarm-man, and who stand in a body."
Moses W'ood, sergeant, Joseph Plunily.
Abiel Sadler, sergeant. Daniel Wood.
Stephen Sadler, sergeant. Samuel Taft.
Ebenezer Sadler, corporal. David Nelson.
James Flagg, corporal. Benjamin Perham, Jr.
Preserved Partridge, corporal. lieinnel Perham.
Samuel Wright, drummer. Benjamin Farrar.
Joaiah Peas, drunmier. Moses Baker.
Josiah Peas, Jr. John Wood.
Elijah Rice. .John Lackey.
Samuel Forbush. Daniel Fislier.
Ephraim Whitney. Ebenezer Walker.
Nathan Bracliett. Joseph Sadler.
Oliver Whitney. Josiah Wood.
Wm. Johnson, Jr. Elijah Tyler.
John W'ard. John Nichols.
Thomas Palmer. Benjamin Rockwood.
David Palmer. Aarou Warren.
Thomas Nelson. Zacheus Stevens.
James Torrey. Israel Taft.
Kobcrt Taft. Elisha Taft.
Wm. Green. Ephraim Warfield.
James Taft. Isaac .\hirich.
Nathan Taft, Jr. Nathan Wood.
John Taft. Adonijah Rice.
Daniel Fiak. Joseph Cody.
Benjamin Fisk. Moses White.
Samuel Fisk. Thomas Rowel.
"William Fisk. Jacob Hill.
Josiah Fielc. John Wilson, Jr.
Ebenezer Ober. Benjamin Stewart, Jr.
Ebenezer Wood. James Stewart.
Samuel W^ood, Jr. Jonas Warren, clerk.
Samuel Warren.
A list of the alarm-meu. at the same date, bears the
following names :
Rev. Elisha Fisk. Robert Bradish.
Deitcoa Jonas Warren. Thomas Newman.
Jamed Bradish. Samuel W'ood.
Eeriab Rice. Alexander Cleaton.
Marshal Baker. Jonathan Wood, Jr., miller.
Matthew Lackey. Ebenezer Wood.
Hezekiah Ward, lielltenant. Stephen Rice.
Wilson Rawson. Samuel Wood, school-master.
Wm. Patten. Francis Nelson.
Ralph Uill. Elijah Warren.
The following men enlisted for the relief of Fort
William Henry in August, 1757, in the company oi
Captain James Whipple, attached to the regiment ol
Colonel Artemas Ward :
Stephen Sadler, sergeant.
Jonas Warren, sergeant.
Preserved Partridge, sergeant.
Samuel Wright, corporal.
Samuel Fisk.
Samuel Wood.
Elijah Rice.
Daniel Fisher.
Francis Nelson.
John Nichols.
.\arou Warren.
Benjamin Farrar.
Samuel Warren.
Joaiah Fisk.
Nathan Wood.
Joseph Wilson.
Thomas Webster.
Beriah Rice.
The following enlisted for the reduction of Canada
in 1759, in the company of Captain Stephen Maynard,
attached to the regiment of Colonel Wm. Williams :
UPTON.
909
Benjamin Farrar.
John Nichols.
Nathan Wood.
Elijah Rice.
The following enli&ted for the invasion of Canada
in 1759, in the regiment of Colonel Abraham Williams,
under the command of His Excellency, Jeffry Am-
herst, general and .commander-in-chief:
Wilson Rawson. Nathan Wuod.
James Long. Samuel Wright.
John Wilson. James Flagg.
Israel Taft. Daniel Fisher.
Michael Bond. Thomas Marshal Baker.
Benjamin Stewart, Jr. John Watkins.
After the close of the French War the public mind
of the Massachusetts Province became so soon agi-
tated concerning the relations of the colonies with
the mother country, and actual hostilities broke out
after so short an interval of peace, that the small
communities into which the province ivas divided
had little time to shake ofl'ihe burdens of one season
of hostilities before they were called upon to enter
upon another with burdens largely increased and
much longer continued. It is not necessary to state
in detail in this narrative the expressions of patriot-
ism made at various times by the town in sustaining
the measures proposed by the Boston Committee of
Correspondence and of the enthusiasm with which
Upton, in common with other towns, strengthened the
arms and intensified the will of that committee in their
advancing march towards a Revolution. Let a single
extract from the town records suffice. On the 26th of
March, 1770, at a town-meeting held for the pur-
pose of considering the condition of public affairs, it
was — -
Revived, That we will treat with contempt all those persons that do
continue to import goods from Great Britain contrary to the non-impor
tatiou Hgreomeut, and that we will look upon such men with detesta-
tion, who, for the sake of their own private Interest, are willing to re-
duce their posterity and their countrj' to a state of abject slavery.
Resolved^ That we will not purchase or drink any foreign teas until
the revenue acts are repealed, and that we will discountenance in our
families the wearing of or using any foreign superfluities, and that we
will use every lawful method in our power to encourage our own manu-
factures.
As far as can be ascertained from the records at the
State-House, the following lists include the names of
men who represented Upton in the military service
during the war.
On the 19th of April, 1775, after the news of the
battle of Lexington had been received, the follow'ing
Upton men marched to Roxbury in the company of
Captain Robert Taft, attached to the regiment of
Colonel Silas Wheelock :
Kohert Taft, captain,
William Fisk, let lieutenant.
Daniel Boyden, id lieutenant.
David Nelson, sergeant.
Benjamin Sadler, sergeant.
Ebenezer Walker, sergeant.
Micah Bates, corporal.
Matthew Taft, corporal.
Benjaniin Fisk, corporal.
Jonas Warren, Jr., corporal.
Amos Wood.
Henderson Walker, Jr.
Absalom Forbes.
Jonathan Dwight.
Josiah Tenney.
Jason Batherick.
John Morse.
Seth Sadler.
Wilson Rawson.
Daniel Fisk.
Jonathan Rawson.
Elisha Wood.
Solomon Taft.
Samuel Lackev.
Daniel Wood.
Fdward Forbes.
Thomas Barns.
Benjamin Batcheller,
Joshua Felt.
Eliphalet Felt.
Thomas Xelson.
AVm. Putnam.
Ephraim Whitney.
Artemas Rawson.
Jonathan Batcheller.
On the 20th of April, 1775, the day after the battle
of Lexington, the following men marched from Upton
to Roxbury in the company of Captain Stephen
Sadler, attached to the regiment of Colonel Silas
Wheelock :
Stephen Sadler, captain,
Benjamin Farrar, lieutenant.
Asa Hazeltine, sergeant.
Levi Legg, sergeant.
Sherebiah Baker, sergeant.
Timothy Fisher, corporal.
Perrin Batcheller, corporal.
Benjamin Cotter, corp.>ral.
Jonathan Gay, fifer.
James Torrey.
Jonathan Roft.
Jonas Warren.
Jonathan Evans.
Samnel Wood.
Ebenezer Wood.
David Warren Leiand.
Josiah Flagg.
Peter Holbrook.
Aaron Ilayward.
Hezekiah Learned.
Abraham Ball.
Nathan Bratkett.
Samuel Brackett.
Thomas Wilson.
John Long.
Abraham Boyd.
The following men enlisted for three months in
August, 1775, in the company of Captain David
Batcheller, attached to the regiment of Colonel Jo-
seph Read :
Benjamin Farrar, lieutenant.
Robert Taft, lieutenant.
Sherebiah Baker, sergeant.
Thomas Barnes, sergeant. •
Abner Stanford, corporal.
Benjamin Clemons, corporal.
Eliphalet Felt, corporal.
AraoB W'ood.
Jason Batherick.
Benjamin Batcheller.
Peter Brown.
Benjamin Balch.
Charles Hudson.
Nathan Nelson.
Josiah Torrey.
Joseph Wood.
Thomas Wilson,
Henderson Walker.
Nathan Brackett.
Samuel Brackett.
Increase Daniels.
Wm. Daniels.
Absalom Forbes.
Edward Forbes.
Ichabod Fisher.
James Flagg.
Joshua Felt.
Jonathan Gay.
Aaron Hayward.
Hezekiah Learned.
Henry Chase.
Moses Haven,
Wm. Legg.
Benjamin Powers.
John Wood.
Daniel Wood.
Jonathan Wright.
The other enlistments in 1775 were Joseph Smith
in the company of Captain Edward Crafts, and
Joshua Felt and Jonathan Gay in the company of
Captain Ezra Badlam, both companies being attached
to the artillery regiment commanded by Colonel
Richard Gridley, and also Joshua Tenney in the
company of Captain Isiac Bolster, of Sutton.
The only enlistments in 177G, so f;ir as the records
show were those of Peter Holbrook, James Torrey,
Benjamin Batcheller and Samuel Wright in the com-
pany of Captain Benjamin Richardson, attached to
the regiment of Colonel Nicholas Dike, engaged for
three months in service at Dorchester.
The following enlisted in 1777 in the company of
Captain Robert Taft, for a service not stated in the
records :
Robert Taft, captain.
Thomas M. Baker, lieutenant.
.A.8a Hazeltine, lieutenant.
Thomas Nelson.
Thomas Bardis.
Enoch Batcheller.
910
HISTORY OF WORCESTER COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.
Daniel Kelley, sergeant.
Beujamin Patten, sergeant.
Benjamin demons, sergeant.
Jonathan Warren, nergeant.
Stephen Nelson, corporal.
Daniel Wood, corporal.
Francis Boon, corporal.
Thomas Foibusli, corporal.
Elijah Warren, fifer.
Edward Forbes, drummer.
Benjauiin Farrar.
Ephraim Whitney.
Daniel Fisk.
Daniel Boyden,
Jonas Warren (3d).
Enoch Forhush.
Isaac Nelson.
Matthew Taft.
Joseph Sadler, Jr.
John Morse.
Hezekiah Wood.
Ebenezer Walker, Jr.
Ahner Palmer.
Stephen Child.
Oliver Whitney.
Josiah Torrey.
Benjamin Wood.
Wilson Rawson, Jr.
Aaron Hay ward.
Joseph Patten.
Joshua Hicks.
Jonathan Evans.
Simeon Holbrook.
Elisha Wood.
The following enlisted in Capt. Nelson's company
in 1777 :
Thomas Forhush.
Aaron Hayward.
Matthew Taft.
Jonathan Warren.
Ebenezer Walker.
Ebenezer Taft.
William Hall.
Josiah Flagg.
Joshua Tenney.
Elezar Flagg.
Stephen Warren.
Jason Harrington.
John Morse.
Levi Legg.
The other enlistments in 1777 were Jona. Wright,
Samuel Brackett, Lieut. Long, Samuel Miinroe,
Frederick Nelson and Lieut. John Nelson, with an-
other whose name cannot be deciphered, in Capt.
Baldwin's company ; and Benjamin Brigham, James
Johnson, Prince Hazeltine, Abner Stanford (cor-
poral), John Perry (sergeant), and John Green
(sergeant), who enlisted in the Continental Army for
three years.
The following enlisted for service in Rhode Island,
in 1778, in Capt. Thomas Marshal Baker's company,
attached to the regiment of Col, Benjamin Hawes:
John Darling, sergt.
Jacob White, eergt.
Daniel Wood, sergt.
Oliver Fisher, eorp.
John Warfield, corp.
Elijah Nelson,
Benjamin Batcheller.
Elisha Thompson.
Gershom TwLchel.
John Nelson.
Pelotiah Gibbs.
Ebenezer Walker.
Stephen Kilborn.
Seth Thompson.
David Ward.
Hezekiah Wood.
Perrin Batcheller.
David Wheelock.
Isehemiah Nelson.
David French.
Samuel Twist.
Joshua Tliayer.
Joshua Sprague.
Thomas Nelson.
Joseph Johnson.
Simeon Lesure.
Joshua Daniels.
Grindall Taft.
Samuel Washhuin.
William Bower.
Jonas Twichell.
The following served at Dorchester three months
in the company of Capt. Mark Chase, commanded by
Col. Nathan Sparhawk :
Stephen Nelson. Baruck Bolster.
Ebenezer Taft. Eleazur Flagg.
Joel Turner, corp.
Jeptha Clark, drummer.
David Ellis, fifer.
Jonathan Wright.
William Putnam.
John Flagg.
Jonathan Evans.
Grindley Jackson.
Jonas Warner.
William Potter.
Benjamin Perhani.
Ichabod Albee.
Ebenezer Taft.
George Taft.
Joseph Laurence.
Samuel Warfield.
Jesse Chapin.
William Fuller.
William Boyes.
Samufl Lackey,
Samuel Brackett.
The following were drafted in 1778 for nine months'
service :
Edward Forbes.
Abraham Forbes.
Isaac Johns.
Ebenezer Buck.
The following recruits entered the Continental
Army in 1778, under the command of Capt. Benja-
min Farrar:
Benjamin Farrar, capt.
Jonathan Gay.
Abner Stanford.
Jason Batherick.
Timothy Batherick,
Jothain Forbes.
Joel Bolster.
John Green.
John Sullivan.
John Perry.
Prince Hazeltine.
John Hopkins.
Kathaniel Milliken.
Peletiah Harmon.
William Harmon.
Timothy Berry.
Abner Harmon.
Humphrey Tyler.
Thomai* Libby.
Joseph Waterhouse.
Robert Dodge.
Jonathan Thomas.
Thomas Middleton.
Itobert Shillingsford.
John Sadler.
Cato Fortunatus.
The following marched to Claverick, on the Hudson
River, in 1779, in the company of Capt. Thomas Mar-
shal Baker, attached to the regiment of Col. James
Denney :
Thomas M. Baker, capt.
Eliphalet Stearns, lieut.
Increase Thayer, lieut.
Frederick Taft, sergt,
Jonathan Bacon, sergt.
John Brown, sergt.
Nathaniel Torrey, Corp.
John Whitney, corp.
Baxter Hall, corp.
Joseph Daniels, corp.
Edward Forbes, drummer.
Samuel Lesure, fifer.
Aniasa Aldrich.
Francis Boon.
Benjaniiu Batcheller.
Samuel Clemons.
Benjamin Gary.
John Darling.
Peleg Darling.
Comfort Eddy.
Nathaniel Fisk.
John Flagg.
Edwaid Hunt.
Silas Holbrook.
Peter Holbrook.
William Hall.
Joseph Hayward.
William Johnson.
Grinuall Keith.
Jesse Morse.
Jesse Marsh.
Samuel Maynard.
Stephen Nelson.
John Pickering.
Thompson Raweon.
Benjamin Spooner.
Benjamin Spear.
Sylvanus Scott.
Elijah Stearns.
Solomon Stockwell.
Thouuis Streight.
Joseph Torrey.
Amos Thayer.
Noah Tytus.
Antipas White.
Timothy Wood.
Jonathan Wright.
Nathan Nelson.
Caleb Lamb.
Other enlistments in 1779 were Ezra Keys and
Grindley Jackson, for two months in Khode Island, in
the company of Capt. Thomas Fisk and regiment of
Col. Nathan Tyler ; James Lackey, Jeremiah Batch-
eller, Abiel Taylor and Wm. Patten, under Capt.
William Henry, for service at Castle and Governor's
Islands; and, James Johnson, for the Continental
Army.
The following marched to Rhode Island, in July,
1780, in Capt. Thomas Marshal Baker's company and
Col. Nathan Tyler's regiment:
Thomas M. Baker, capt. Joseph Jackson.
Robert Taft, lieut. Abram Knowlton.
Daniel Boyden, lieut. Samuel Lackey.
Benjamin Sadler, sergt. James Lackey.
Solomon Taft, sergt. John Morse.
Timothy Fisher, sergt. Alvin Munroe.
Daniel Wood, sergt. Nehemiah Moore.
Simeon Holbrook, corp. Paul Nelson.
UPTON.
911
William Putnam, Corp. Benjamin Potter.
Silas Warren, Corp. Jacob Perliam.
Selb Sadler, Corp. Matthew Taft.
Amos Wood, corp. David Taft.
Ezra Wood, corp. Joshua Tenney.
Natllan Brackett. Stephen Temple.
Enoch Batcholler. ' Samuel Wood.
Elisha Bradish. Jonathan Wright.
Jason Batherick. John Wood.
Benjamin demons. Jonas Warren.
Samuel Forbush. Amos Whitney.
Ebenezer Forbush. Daniel Warren.
Jacob Fisk. Ezi a Whitney.
Samuel Goldthwaight. Stephen Warren.
Kathaniel Gould. Nahum Warren.
Joseph Hill. Joseph Wood.
The following enlisted in 1780 for si.x months' ser-
vice at West Point:
Joseph Sadler. Joel Bolster.
John Brown. Nathaniel Hynea.
Elijah Nelson. Asa Evans.
William Potter.
Josiah Nelson, Jr.
Jotiiam Forbes.
Joseph Batcbeller.
Jeremiah Batcheller.
Others enlisting in 1780 were Samuel Laftin and
Jacob Beyer, in the Continental Army.
The following enlisted for three months in 1781,
in the company of Capt. Reuben Davis and regiment
of Col. Luke Drury :
Joseph Jackson, corp.
Stephen Temp!e.
William Patten.
Asa Evans.
Paul Nelson.
The only other enlistment in 1781 was that of
Abner Warren for four months in Captain Joseph
Eliot's company and Colonel William Thomas' regi-
ment.
After the declaration of jjeace, little else was at
first considered by the people of the town beside the
best means of meeting the jiecuniary liabilities in-
curred during the exigencies of the war and of put-
ting the town once more on the road to prosperity.
The excitement attending the Shays' Rebellion dis-
turbed, for a time, the public mind, but was allayed
as suddenly as it rose. For many years the industry
of the town was confined to agriculture; but, with
the exception of the products of the dairy, the' crops
were held for home consumption, and furnished the
farmer with little more than the means of support.
In later years the growth of the shoe business in
New England was shared by the town, and for a
time seemed well-rooted and permanently estab-
lished. At various times John Hill, Daniel Nelson,
Josiah Pease, Jr., Adams Batcheller, Adam Whee-
lock, Reuben Eames, Millet Baker, Newton Warren,
Amos Batcheller, Asa Wood, Eli Warren, Daniel W.'
Batcheller, Eli W. Batcheller, D. G. Rawson and
Tyler Rawson engaged in the manufacture; but in
Upton, as in many other small towns, the shoe busi-
ness ha? been destroyed by the tide of centralization
which has given to larger towns, with better facili-
ties for obtaining labor, a rapid growth both in pop-
ulation and wealth. The absence of railroad com-
munication with the world has had its effect,— an
effect which is now sought to be repaired by the
construction of a line from Worcester through the
westerly part of the town to Milford or some other
adjacent point.
The tannery business, too, — once an important
industry,— has di,?appeared with the shoe business,
and, with the exception of the saw-mill and box-
factory of L. W. Hill & Son, at West Upton, and the
saw and grist-mills of P. P. Taft, E. C. Fisk, L. & H.
Chase and others, the chief industry of the town is
the manufacture of straw hats and bonnets. This
business is conducted by three concerns,— Windsor
Chamberlin, who makes ladies' hats and bonnets,
Benson & Nelson, whose product is men's and boys'
hats, and William Knowlton & Sons, at West Upton,
about a mile from the centre, who are largely en-
gaged in the manufacture of ladies' hats and bonnets.
The plant of the Knowltons is a valuable one ; its
buildings are large, heated by steam and lighted by
electricity, and a large number of hands are em-
ployed in turning out an annual product largely in
excess of that of any other straw-mill in the country.
The career of William Knowlton, the founder of this
mill, is worthy of record in this narrative. He was
born in Boston, June 29, 1809, and died in Upton,
July, 188(i. His parents attended the church over
which Dr. Lowell was pastor, whose pulpit is now
occupied by Dr. Bartol, and the impressions made by
that distinguished clergyman on his youthful mind
found their fruit in the later years of his life, when,
out of the abundance of his store, he built a church,
and gave it to the Unitarian Society of his adopted
town. After the death of his father in Hopkinton,
where he had removed from Boston with his ftimily,
he was, at the age of about twelve years, placed in
the family of John Holmes, of Hopkinton, soon after
which he was apprenticed to James Bowker, who
was a farmer and cooper. At the age of twenty he
bought a year's time, and went to Northbridge to
learu the trade of bottoming shoes, and at the end of
a year found his way to Upton, and entered the em-
ploy of Asa Wood, a shoe manufacturer. In 1832 he
entered the store of Lyman Stoddard, of Upton, who
kept a country store, and bought and sold straw
braids made in the families of Upton and its neigh-
borhood. While engaged in this business he at-
tracted the attention of Colonel Elijah Stoddard, an
older brother of Lyman, and Mr. Stoddard proposed
to him a partnership in the straw business in which
he was engaged. In 1833, at the age of twenty-four,
the partnership of Stoddard & Knowlton began the
business of a country store, to which were added the
purchase of domestic straw braids and the manufac-
ture of straw bonnets. The partnership continued
until 1830, when Mr. Knowlton moved to West
Upton, and, in partnership with William Legg, car-
ried on the manufacture of ladies' goods in both for-
eign and domestic braids. Joseph S. Farnum, of
Upton, succeeded Mr. Legg in the partnership, but
912
HISTORY OF WORCESTER COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.
after a year left the firm, and Mr. Kaowlton contin-
ued the business alone until his sons were old enough
to enter the partnership. The four sons— William,
Edwin F., George W. and Ebenezer F. Knowlton—
since the death of their father, have conducted the
business. The firm has salesrooms in New York,
which are under the management of Edwin F.
Knowlton.
Notwithstanding the engrossing cares of business,
Mr. Knowlton felt a deep interest in the public wel-
fare, and found time to make himself useful in its
promotion. He represented the Fourth Representa-
tive District of Worcester County, consisting of the
towns of Northbridge and Upton, in 1868 and 1872,
and was a member of the Senate in 1878 and 1879.
In 1880 he was a delegate to the Republican Na-
tional Convention, and was' a trustee and patron of
the Massachusetts Agricultural College. He was
also a director in the First National Bank in Mil-
ford, and held other positions of responsibility and
trust.
Up to the time of the War of the Rebellion little
occurred in the life of Upton worthy of record in this
narrative, except what has been already incidentally
referred to. In that war, as in the French and Revo-
lutionary Wars, the town performed a creditable
work. On the 11th of June, 1861, the town appro-
priated $2000 for the families of volunteers, and on
the 3d of March, 1862, $1500 for the same purpose.
On the 21st of July, 1862, the town voted to pay a
bounty of $100 to any volunteer enlisting after that
date, and March 7, 1864, it appropriated $4000 for
further aid to families of the soldiers. On the 8th of
August, 1864, it voted to pay $125 in gold to any vol-
unteer in the service. The writer finds on the books
of the town, and on the records of the adjutant-gene-
ral the names of the following volunteers credited to
the quota of the town. Many of those whose names
are included in the following list enlisted more than
Third Battalion of Eifles [three months).
Harry T. Bradisb. George E. Childa.
Silas B. Dunn. Charles K. Stoddard
Wm. H. Aldrich.
Seventh Eegimeiit {three years)
Chandler J. Pike.
Ninth Begiment (lliree yean).
Michael Keynolds. Malachi Curling.
Simeon Curling.
Thirteenth Regiment (.three years).
Wm. K. Warner, sergeant. Wm. R. Kawson.
Charles W. Conistock, corporal. John H. Johnson.
Wm. Cordwell.
David Brown.
John G. Thurston, musician.
Warren E. Bruce,
John D. Plunimer.
Willard Wheeler.
Charles H. Wellington.
Fifteenth Begiment {three years).
Wilson B. Kobbins. Charles A. Beed.
Albert Davis. Stephen Smith.
Wni. R. Dean. George F. Wellington.
John Southland. Thomas Horn.
Winsor Chamberlain. levi V. Jose.
Johti Clancy. Da^W J- Messenger.
Charles H. Stoue. Darius Murphy.
Benjamin S. Hill. Edward 0. Eames.
Sixteenth Regiment {three years).
Charles H. Burnham. Amos A. Holbrook.
Seventeenth Begiment {three years).
Stephen S. Hall.
Eighteenth Regiment {three years).
Charles M. Fales.
Nineteenth Regiment {three years).
Thomas Flanegan.
Twentieth Begiment {three years).
Frederick Volt. Albert Davis.
Henry W. Brewer.
Twenty-first Regiment {three years).
George S. Ball, chaplain. Charles K. Stoddard, lieut.
Wm. A. Aldrich.
Twenty-second Begiment {three years).
James 0. Wood.
Twenty-fifth Regiment {three years)
James W. Hanly.
George W. Wood.
Charles E- Holbrook.
Wm. H. Holbrook.
James A. Rockwuod.
George E. Cliilds, corporal
Perry C. ,\lexauder.
Harrison T. Bosworth.
Charles Beed.
George J. Drake.
Harrison K. Wood.
Edward J. Blood.
Joseph C. Rogers.
Twenty-eighth Begiment {three years).
Stephen Martin.
Thirty-second Begiment {three years).
William W. Marsh, Jr.
Tiiirty-fourlh Regiment {tliree years).
Charles W. Aldrich. Loriiig A. Walker.
Alfred H. Hall, musician. Charles L. Walker.
Charles H. Brown.
Jonathan 0. Fisk.
Lyman A. Leighton, Jr.
Wm. A. Aldrich.
Charles W. Bogers.
Charles W. Aldrich.
Davis Southland.
Lowell Southland.
George H. Walker.
Henry A. Whitney.
Leander Wood.
James W. Goodenow.
Thirty-sixth Begiment {three years).
Alonzo A. White, lieutenant.
Lysander M. Perham, corporal
Stephen S. Kogers.
Judson Southland, corporal.
Wm. H. Bailey.
George W. Bardwell.
Junius Bates.
John A. Bosworth.
Nelson H. Brown.
Lorenzo S. Chamberlain.
Orra Chamberlain.
Myron W. Claflin.
Thirty-ninth Begiment {three years).
William C. McNeal.
Fortieth Begiment {three years).
Sanford Bruce. Charles 0. Fairbanks.
Forty-second Regiment {one hundred days).
Edward H. Aldrich. Alonzo P. Taft.
Fifty-first Regiment {nine months)
Wm 0. Davenport.
Hezekiah Hall.
William Hall.
Alvah H Johnson.
Luke Lerain.
Hosea D. Leighton, Jr.
John McGrath.
Isaac K. Potter.
George A. Wood.
Junius D. Bates.
Alverado Drake.
Ezekiel Packard, lieutenant.
Hiram M. Clark, sergeant.
Band liord, sergeant.
John H. Slocum, sergeant.
Levi Smith, corporal.
Alonzo L, Benson, corporal.
Curtis M. Harrington, corporal.
Joseph F. Simpson, corporal.
John Conlon, corporal.
Charles M. Hall, musician.
William E. Drake.
Charles E. Brooks.
Frank A. Brooks.
Sylvanus W. Farrington.
Benjamin F. Gibson.
Arthur Hutchinson.
Wm. P. Kent.
Curtis A. King.
Charles H. Nichols.
George A. Norcross.
Oliver Orr.
James Orr.
Hardius N. Eockwood.
James A. Rockwood.
George W. Tuft.
Alexander A. T. Temple.
UPTON.
913
James A. Kockwood.
Thomas T. Watkin.
Moses \V. HoUis.
Charles L, Chamberluin.
Timothy Doyle.
Daniel Tenney.
Thomas T. Walker.
Elijah Ward.
Wm. G. Wilmot.
Augustus C. Young.
George Bradford.
Arthur iHaloney.
Fijti/seoevlfi Rpgiment {three }/ear$),
Wm. A. Aldrich. Albert C. Warren.
Fifly-cighth liegimenl.
Cbarles Jordan.
Sixty-first Regiment.
John Perkins.
Second Cavalry {three years).
Alexander McDonald.
James Marks.
Thomas Wat^son.
Fourth Cavairy (three years) .
Thomas Davis. Edward Galvin.
Fifth Oivalry (three years).
Tliomas Dodson. John H. Jackson.
Lewis Cooper. Stephen Durben.
Charles Smith. George Murphy.
Second Seavy Artillery (three years).
Edward Burk.
Third Heavy Artillery.
Arthurs. Johnson, sergeant. Charles H. Johnson, sergeant.
Lyman Leighton. John H. Walker.
Wm. II. Potter.
Fourth Seavy ArlUlery (three years).
Joseph Andy. Alonzo C. Southland.
Charles H. Benson. Richard Dwinell.
Albert P. Clifford. Charles D. Holmes.
Wm. E. KobbiuB. Samuel Wilson.
Wilson R. Robbins.
Second Company of Sharpshooters (three years).
James 0. Wood.
Second District of Columbia Volunteers (three jjears).
James Hill.
Veteran Reserves.
Louis Peters.
Drafted Men.
Eli W. Batebeller.
Thomas S. Brown.
Regiment Unhioica.
Charles H. Thompson. Charles E. Haynes.
Navy.
Henry Sbaw, surgeon.
The above list comprises one hundred and eighty-
three volunteers, nine less than are claimed by the
town as the number of enlistments. The remainiuo-
nine would doubtless be made up by double enlist-
ments, only a few of which are iucluded in the list.
Of these, Harrison T. Bosworth, Charles E. Haynes
and Charles H. Thompson died in Andersonville
prison, the last on the 4th of July, 1864; David J.
Messenger was killed at the battle of Ball's Bluff,
Charles A. Kogers was killed at Newbern, Simon
Curling was killed at Fair Oaks, J. Orson Fisk was
killed at Newbern, and Lieutenant Charles K. Stod-
dard was killed at Annapolis Junctiou.
On the 25th of June, 1835, the town celebrated the
one hundredth anniversary of its incorporation.
Daniel Fisk presided on the occasion, assisted by Dr.
John Starkweather and Mr. 0. Walker, and Lyman
Stoddard acted as chief marshal. A procession, num-
bering fifteen hundred persons, marched through the
streets, escorted by a volunteer militia company
58
Benjamin S. Benson.
Daniel Fiak.
commanded by Captain Wood, and seven hundred
sat down at dinner. At the centennial service an
oration was delivered by Rev. Benjamin Wood, and
other parts of the service were taken by Rev. Mr.
Fisk-, of Wrentham, Rev. Mr. Long, of Milford, Rev.
Mr. Johnson, of Grafton, and Rev. Mr. Forbush, of
Northbridge ; an ode, written by Mr. Charles Thur-
ber, was sung, and the music was under the direction
of Colonel Daniel Newhall.
A public library was established by the town in
1874, a reference to which must not be forgotten.
This institution and the High School, which was es-
tablished by the voluntary action of the people, are
creditable indications of a public spirit and a regard
for the cause of education not often found in the
small towns of the Commonwealth. Various gift^
have been made to enlarge the usefulness of the libra-
ry, among which was one of §500 by Wm. Knowlton,
in 1876, and it receives an annual appropriation from
the town. It was formerly kept in Waverly Hall,
which was the old Congregational meeting-house
when the hall was used by the town, but was re-
moved to the Town House when that building was
finished in 1884. According to the last report of the
librarian, there were, on the 1st. of March, 1888,
two thousand live hundred and eighty-eight volumes
on its shelves, and si.x thousand four hundred and
eighly-eight volumes had been delivered for circula-
tion during the year ending at tliat date.
Previous to the erection of the present town hall,
it has been already stated that the town held its
meetings in Waverly Hall. Before that hall became
available, meetings were held in the meeting-house
in early times, and later, in one of the school-houses.
In the autumn of 1884 the commodious building now
in use was finished and dedicated. Its cost was 819,-
945.87. On the occasion of its dedication, George H.
Stoddard presided and after a prayer by Rev. George S.
Ball, the keys were presented to the selectmen by Velo-
rous Taft. After a poem by Mrs. M. A. Stoddard had
been read, Hon. Elijah W. Wood, of Newton, deliv-
ered an address, and was followed by Hon. Elijah
Brighara Stoddard, of Worcester, Stephen S. Taft, of
Palmer, natives of the town, Hon. S. N. Aldrich, of
Marlboro', whose mother was a native of Upton, and
Rev. Fr. Boyle, of Grafton, in interesting remarks. The
house was built on the site of the old Nelson tavern, on
the westerly side of the Common, which was one of the
ancient landmarks of the town. Ezra Perry, Joseph
Perry, Sylvanus Aldrich, E. H. Fisk, Luther Pike
and Judson Childs were among its landlords in days
when country taverns ware important features in every
town.
In an earlier part of this narrative lists of persons
who have held the prominent town offices have been
given to show who among the inhabitants of the
town were conspicuous in their day and generation.
That this may be further shown, it will be proper to
insert in this record the names of those who have at
914
HISTORY OF WORCESTER COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.
various periods represented the town in the General
Court. The first General Court of Massachusetts,
after the adoption of the Constitution, was held in
what is now called the old State House, on State
Street, in Boston, on Wednesday, October 25, 1780.
The writer has no record of the Representatives from
Upton prior to 1786, but the following list covers the
period from that date to 1889, inclusive :
Ezra, Wood 1786
None 1787
Thomas Marshal Baker 1788
None 1789
None 1790
None 1791
None 1792
Ezra Wood 1793
None 1794
Ezra Wood 1795
None 1790
None - 1797
Jonathan Batdieller 1798
None 1799
None 1890
None 18111
Elisha Bradish 1802
None 1803
W. Rawsou 1804
None ISOo
Ezra Wood, Jr 1800
Ezra Wood, Jr 1807
EzraW'ood, Jr 1808
Ezra Wood, Jr 1809
Ezra Wood, Jr 1810
Ezra Wood, Jr 1811
Ezra Wood, Jr 1812
Ezra Wood, Jr 1813
Ezra Wood, Jr 1814
Ezra Wood, Jr 1815
Ezra Wood, Jr 1816
Ezra Wood, Jr 1817
None 1818
None 1819
Ezra Wood, Jr 1820
Hone 1821
Ezra Wood, Jr 1822
None 1823
None 1824
None 1825
None 1826
None 1S27
Ezra Wood 1828
None 1829
Ezra Wood 1830
Eli Warren 1831
Elisha Fisk 1832
Ezra Wood 1833
None 1834
Benjamin Wood 1835
None 1836
None 1837
William Legg 1838
William Legs 1839
Elijah Warren 1839
Nahum W. Holhrook 1840
Elijah Warren 1840
Nahum W. Holhrook 1841
William Legg 1842
William legg 1843
None 1844
None 1845
William Legg 1846
None 1847
None 1848
Nahum W. Holbrook 1849
None 1850
None 1851
John Forhnsh '. 1852
Velorous Taft 18i3
Gilbert Lincoln 1854
Velorous Taft 1855
Elijah W. Wood 1850
Henry D. Johnson 1837
On the 1st of May, 1857, the twenty-first article
of amendment of the Constitution, which had been
adopted by the General Court of the years 1856 and
1857, was ratified by the peonle. That amendment
provided that a census of the legal voters of each city
and town on the 1st of May shall be taken and re-
turned to the Secretary of the Commonwealth on or
before the last day of June in the year 1857 ; and a
census of the inhabitants and legal voters of each city
and town in 1865 and every tenth year thereafter. It
further provided that the House of Representatives
should consist of two hundred and forty members,
which shall be apportioned by the Legislature to the
several counties, which counties should be divided
into Representative districts by the county commis-
sioners, except in Suffolk County, where the division
should be made by the mayor and alderman of the
city of Boston. Under the apportionment made in
1857, Northbridge and Upton constituted the Eigh-
teenth Worcester District, and were represented until
the next apportionment as follows :
Henry D. Johnson, of Upton 1858
Charles P. Whitin, of Northbridge 1859
Henry D. Johnson, of Upton I860
Joshua W. Morse, of Northbridge 1861
Henry Shaw, of Upton 1862
William Kendall, of Northbridge 1863
George S. Ball, of Upton 1864
Samuel J. Fletcher, of Northbridge 1865
Arba T. Wood, of Upton 1866
Under the apportionmentof 1866, based on the cen-
sus of 1865, Northbridge and Upton constituted the
Nineteenth Worcester District, and were represented
until the next apportionment as follows :
Jonathan C. Taylor, of Northbridge 1867
William Knowlton, of Uptoo 1868
George L. Gibbs, of Northbridge 1869
Adams risk, of Upton 1870
Davis P. Gray, of Northbridge 1871
William Knowlton, of Upton 1872
Emory A. Howard, of Northbridge 1873
Nahum B. Hall, of Upton 1874
Cyrus F. Baker, of Northbridge 1875
Wesley L. Fisk, ot Upton 1876
Under the apportionment of 1876, based on the
census of 1875, Mendon, Milford and Upton consti-
tuted the Second Worcester District, and were repre-
sented until the next apportionment as follows:
William H. Cook, of Milford 1877
Augustus S. Tuttle, of Milford 1877
William H. Cook, of Milford 1878
Charles A. Davis, of Upton 1878
Homer W. Darling, of Mendon 1879
Isaac N. Crosby, of Milford 1879
Isaac N. Crosby, of Milford : 1880
Benjamin A. Jourdan, of Upton 1880
Silas W. Hall, of Milford 1881
Charles W. Wilcox, of Milford 1881
Silas W. Hall, of Milford 1882
Edward S Leland, of Upton 1882
Thomas J. Hall, of Upton 1883
David M. Eichardson, of Mendon 1883
James F. Stratton, of Milford 1884
Daniel Keed, of Milford 1884
James F Stratton, of Milford 1885
Henry J. Bailey, of Milford 1885
James F. Stratton, of Milford 1886
Henry E. Fales, of Milford 1886
Under the apportionment of 1886, based on (he
census of 1885, Northbridge, Upton and Uxbridge
constitute the Tenth Worcester District, and have
been represented as follows :
Daniel W. Taft, of Uxbridge 1887
Bowse B. Clarke, of Northbridge 1S8S
Joseph Addison Partridge, of Upton 1889
But there have been other representative men who
must not be forgotten, some of whom have passed
away and some of whom are now living, reflecting
credit on their native town in the places of their
adoption. Among these may be mentioned Hon.
Georo-e W. Johnson, who was born in Upton October
6, 1832, and became a prominent citizen of Milford,
where he died respected by the citizens of his adopted
town, and remembered with affection by his old
townsmen of Upton as their frequent and liberal
benefactor. Samuel Austin Nelson, too, who was
born in Upton October 9, 1819, and died in Charles-
ton, South Carolina, June 26, 1887, carried with him
UPTON.
915
to his distant home the seeds of his New England
training, and developed into a successful, large-
hearted Christian gentleman, who secured the respect
and love of all who were so fortunate as to live within
the sphere of his influence. Hon. Henry Chapin,'
of Worcester, was born in Upton May 13, 1811, and
died in Worcester October 13, 1878.
Nor must Colonel Elijah Stoddard be overlooked in
this narrative, who, with the exception of a temporary
residence at the South, where he had formed business
connections, was a lite-long citizen of Upton, and
filled a large space in its social and business life.
Though more than once he was a member of the
Board of Selectmen, he never sought office, and only
accepted it under the urgent pressure of his fellow-
citizens. Colonel Stoddard was descended from An-
th<my Stoddard, who appeared in Boston in 1639.
Through John, Daniel and Samuel came Jeremiah,
the son of Samuel, who lived in Hingham and mar-
ried Rebecca Bates, of Bellingham. Jeremiah Stod-
dard had a son Ezekiel, also of Hingham, who mar-
ried Lucy Forrestall. Both Jeremiah, the father, and
Ezekiel, the son, were soldiers in the Revolution.
Jeremiah Stoddard removed to Milford, and his son
Ezekiel in early life removed to Upton, where he
bought a farm and carried on the business of a farmer
until his death. His children, all born in Upton,
were Elijah, the subject of this sketch, born in 1785;
Lucy, who married Daniel Forbes ; Polly, who mar-
ried Asa Wood ; Lyman, who married Effa Colburn ;
Lucretia, who married a Moors ; Electa, who married
William Hale, of Fairhaven ; Hartford, who married
Sarah Taft ; Rebecca, who married Merrill Ruggles;
and Ezekiel Bates, who married Sarah Starkweather.
Colonel Stoddard married, in 1809, Zilpha, daughter
of Isaac and Hannah (Fisk) Nelson, and Isaac Nelson,
the father of his wife, as well as his own father, was
a soldier in the Revolution. His children were Ann
Maria, born in 1810, who married Charles H. Batch-
eller, of Grafton, and Lemuel Torrey, of Wey-
raoulh; Isaac Nelson (1812), of whom later mention
will be made; Lucy Jane (1815), who married Syl-
vanus N. Aldrich, and whose son, Hon. S. N. A.ldrich,
is at present United States sub-treasurer at Boston;
Lois Nelson (1817), who married Joseph S. Farnum,
at one time partner in business with William Knowl-
ton; Electa (1819), who died young; Electa Julania
(1824), who married David Atwood; Elijah Brigham
(1826), of whom also later mention will be made; and
Janette (1829).
Colonel Stoddard, soon after bis marriage, became
connected with business operations in Savannah,
Georgia, but returned home at the outbreak of the
War of 1812, and bought the Farmer farm, in the
south part of the town, which he occupied and man-
aged about six years. About the year 1820 he re-
sumed his business connections at the South, locating
'Sec Chapter II.
himself in Charleston, where he remained four years.
Not long after bis return he opened a store, in which
he began the business of buying and selling straw
braid, which soon developed into the liat and bonnet
manufacturing industry. In those days the farmers
about Upton brought their various products to the
town stored for sale and e.Kchange, and among these
were straw plaits, which their wives and daughters
braided from rye straw. These plaits were at first
used for trimming purposes, but became, finally, the
seed from which the large straw hat and bonnet busi-
ness of Worcester County has grown. Colonel Stod-
dard and the firm of Fisk & Bradish were among the
pioneers in this branch of industry. For a time
Colonel Stoddard was a partner with William Knowl-
ton, under the name of Stoddard & Knowlton, but
after the removal of Mr. Knowlton to West Upton,
he carried on the business alone for some years, and
finally retired to his new farm on the Mendou Road,
nut far from the Common, where he died in 1865.
He was a man of indomitable energy, of uncompro-
mising integity, and at his death was a considerable
owner of real estate, the management of which
divided his time with the usual ruutiue occupations
of the farm.
Isaac Nelson Stoddard, the oldest son of Colonel
Stoddard, was brought up in the schools of his native
town, and at the early age of fifteen years taught a
school in Medford. He was born, as above slated,
October 29, 1812, and graduated at Amherst in 1832,
having during his college career taught school in
Mendon, Upton and Holliston. Alter leaving college
he taught a classical .school in Jledway, and in 1833
became teacher of the High School in Plymouth. In
1835 he went to New Bedford to teach, remaining
there until 1837, when he returned to Plymouth and
resumed his old situation, which he continued to oc-
cupy with success until 1841. The writer of this
sketch was fitted by him for Harvard in 1838, and
among his scholars at various times were Judge
Charles G. Davis, William G. Russell, Esq., of Bos-
ton, and the late Thomas Drew, at one lime a resident
in Worcester.
In 1841 Mr. Stoddard was appointed by Harrison
collector of the port of Plymouth, and held oflice
until 1845, in which year he was appointed cashier of
the Plymouth Bank as the successor of Nathaniel
Goodwin, and succeeded to the presidency of the Ply-
mouth National Bank in 1879. He married, in 1836,
Martha Le Baron, daughter of the late Hon. John B.
Thomas, for many years clerk of the courts for Plym-
outh County, and has a large family of children
and grandchildren, one of his sons, Charles B. Stod-
dard, being the cashier of the bank of which he
(Isaac N. Stoddard) is president, and William S.
Morrissey, the husband of one of his daughters, being
the cashier of the Old Colony National Bank in the
same town. Mr. Stoddard has been successful as a
business man, and in the various trusts confided to
91C
HISTORY OF WORCESTER COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.
■ him he has always held the confidence and esteem of
the community in which he has passed more than
iil'ty years of his life.
Of his brother, Elijah Brigham Stoddard, it will be
perhaps superfluous to speak, as the chapter on the
Bench and Bar of Worcester County contains a sketch
of his career. The writer will content himself with
stating that he was born in Upton in June, 1826, and
graduated at Brown University in 1847. He was ad-
mitted to the bar in 1849, and settled in Worcester,
where he married Mary, daughter of Hon. Isaac
Davis. Mr. Stoddard has held many offices, having
been a member of the House and Senate in the
General Court, a member of the Executive Council,
a member of the staff of the Governor, and mayor of
his adopted city. He has been a director in the
Providence and Worcester Railroad Company, and
now holds the offices of secretary of the Mechanics'
and Farmers' Mutual Fire Insurance Company, and
of president of the Quinsigamond National Bank,
both in Worcester.
In closing this history of the town of Upton there
is little to add. The schools of the town are in a
satisfactory condition and in the hands of a committee
devoted to their interests. During the year 1887-88
the sum of $4840.62 was expended for their support.
The other expenditures of the town for the same
year were : For principal and interest of the town
"debt, §5803.75 ; for roads and bridges, $1993.59 ; sup-
port of poor, $2256.79 ; Fire Department, consisting of
an engine and a hook-aud-ladder company, with their
apparatus, $352.59 ; town library, $250 ; town officers,
$750.54; State tax, $1102.50 ; county tax, $655 ; State
aid, $270; military aid, $288 ; and sundries, $1243.88.
The town has no water works, but William Knowl-
ton & Sons, of West Upton, are liberally supplied
with water and apparatus, aflbrding abundant means
of protection to their own and surrounding property
in that village.
The business of the town, aside from the straw in-
dustry and the farming industry, includes a machine-
shop, conducted by A. H. Chapman ; a jewelry store,
kept by J. M. N. Barrett ; general and retail stores,
conducted by C. H. Bull, C. S. Temple, T. B. Hawes,
H. L. Patrick, C. A. Wood, E. A. Willard, H. C.
Child and Mrs. A. A. Wood ; and a drug-store man-
aged by Stephen B. Fisk.
According to the census of 1885 the following
schedule shows the agricultural product of the town :
Dairy products §32,314
Poultry • 8,619
Wood products 20,074
Cereals 3>*59
Truits 6."^20
Hay, straw and fodder 29,607
Meats and game '. 5,075
Vegetables 10,133
Domestic animals (value) 40,109
Animal products 8,811
Food products 1,852
Green-bouse products 585
Hot-house products » 270
Liquors and beverages 1,302
Other products 200
$167,628
The population of the town in 1885 was 2265,
showing an increase from 1880 of 242, and at the
same date its valuation was $880,247. Though the
increase in population and wealth has been small, and
the general business of the town has somewhat de-
clined, there is reason to hope and believe that with
the advent of a railroad, and the consequent facilities
for reaching a market for products, the prosperity of
the town will be secured.
BIOGRAPHICAL.
HON. WILLIAM KNOWLTON.
In the lives of active and prominent citizens of our
New England towns may be found much that is very
instructive and inspiring to the present generation,
inasmuch as they generally achieve their positions
and fairly win their honors. Hon. William Knowlton,
long identified with the business interests of Upton
and one of the most active business men of southern
Worcester County, was born June 29, a.d. 1809, at
Boston. As a boy he was susceptible of deep and last-
ing impressions. For, although so young, he had a
deep reverence for the late Dr. Lowell, of the West
Church at Boston, where his parents worshipped.
Perhaps that impression might have come in part from
the deep reverence in which the doctor was held by
his parents, but he retained it to the last. His parents
for some reason moved to Hopkinton, Mass. There
were then three sons and one daughter, William being
the youngest. Somehow the family were in reduced
circumstances. The father died, leaving these chil-
dren to the care of the devoted mother. Each one was
called to help keep the wolf from the door of this
fatherless household, and William, though small and
not more than ten or eleven years old, was put into
the family of Mr. John Holmes, ol' Hopkinton, who
died a half-century ago. While here as a boy he
made a deep impression upon the whole family ; his
intelligence and fidelity won their hearts. While
living here", his two older brothers, then quite young
men, were drowned together in what is now called
Echo Lake, Hopkinton. His mother was so lonely
alter the death of his brothers she took her youngest
son, William, home. She lived then in Hayden row,
Hopkinton. But his energy and his mother's needs
and wisdom soon apprenticed him to the late James
Bowker as a farmer and cooper. He carried on a
small farm, bought the staves and hoop-poles stand-
ing, and went himself with his help or apprentices
into the woods to cut and split them for the casks he
made. Here he remained until he was twenty years
of age; then, honorably, he bought the remaining
"55*
-^^^^^^'-^
UPTON.
917
year's time of his apprenticeship and went to Adams'
Corner, in Northbridge, where he learned to bottom
shoes. HU sojourn here lasted about one year, when
we find him in Upton, in the employ of the late Asa
Wood. His energy and faithfulness made a most
favorable impression upon all with whom he had to
do, but tlie work was too confining and hard. His
health failed, and he went to recruit at the home of
his sister, who had married the late Daniel J. Coburn,
then of Hopkinton, afterward of Boston, and at one
time sheriff of Suffolk County, and who died at his
home in Maiden a few years ago. It became evident
to his physician that he must have a more active, out-
door life, and after recruiting at his sister's some time,
he entered the employ of Lyman Stoddard,. in Upton
Centre, in the year 1832. Mr. Stoddard kept a coun-
try store, and in connection therewith bought and
sold domestic straw braids. Here he was in the open
air a large part of the time, as he traveled to purchase
the braids, though in the intervals of such employ-
ment took his place in the store. He apparently re-
gained his health completely. While thus employed
he impressed the late Col. Elijah Stoddard as the man
he wanted. He proposed a copartnership. There
was no building open in which the new firm could
operate. They at once set about building a store, Mr.
Knowlton going into the woods with Col. Stoddard to
cut and hew the timber for it. In 1833 the firm of
Stoddard & Knowlton was in it. It was a country
store in Upton Centre, and in connection with it they
bought domestic straw braids and also manufactured
these into straw bonnets. This year, on the 1st of
January, Mr. Knowlton married Miss Caroline Taft,
and they began housekeeping over the store occupied
by the new firm. This partnership lasted until 1836,
when Mr. Knowlton moved to West Upton and formed
a copartnership with Capt. William Legg, doing a
general manufacturing business of ladies' goods in
foreign and domestic braids. Mr. Legg before many
years withdrew from the firm, and the late Joseph
Farnum, of Worcester, took hi^ place. Mr. Farnum
withdrew after one year and Mr. Knowlton continued
the business alone. Under his talents and energy it
grew into a large business. In the mean time his own
sons had grown up, and were from time to time ad-
mitted to the firm, and under the name of William
Knowlton & Sons the business has been most pros-
perous and successful. Mr. Knowlton leaves four
sons and one daughter. Some years ago the family
were saddened by the sudden death of a beautiful
daughter in the bloom of womanhood and usefulness,
and his wife has only preceded him a few months into
the invisible land.
As a man of great public spirit he has held the
town office of selectman, but found himself earlier in
life too absorbed in business to yield to the desire of
his townsmen to give him office. But, as a Republi-
can, he hiis been a liberal member of that party, and
represented later in his life his district in the State
Legislature, as a member of the House in 1868 and
1872, and in the Senate in 1878 and 1879. In 1880 he
was a delegate to the Republican National Convention
at Chicago, where he became a strong supporter of
James A. Garfield. His interest in education was
most marked. He early saw a need of higher educa-
tion in agriculture, and as a member of the State
Board he did what he could to promote it. When the
Agricultural College started he was deeply interested
in its success, and became a patron and trustee of it,
giving to it most liberally of his means; and as a
member of its executive board, rendered it in its time
of need most valuable services. He also has been a
liberal donor to the Worcester County Free Institute
of Industrial Science at Worcester, and gave some
five hundred dollars to the town library of Upton. As
a charter member of the First National Bank at Mil-
ford, he was from its start made a director, and at his
death was the last original survivor of that board. As
a townsman he was always interested in the welfare of
the town, and his liberality has been felt in all its de-
partments. His most marked traits of character were
untiring energy and perseverance. It built up and
firmly established a business that has become immense,
even against the obstacles of want of capital at first,
and frequent and severe losses, but when defeat came
that would have crushed one with less power and
energy his faith never faltered. His word was as
good as his bond in business transactions. In the year
1857 he lost largely but paid his debts at maturity.
Soon after this, at the breaking out of the war in 1861,
came another commercial panic. But amid his great
losses he met all his obligations except those of four
of his largest New York creditors, who, seeing his
burdens, advised him to make a small compromise,
but in a few years he paid them in full, dollar for dol-
lar. Thus, honest and true, he has reared a noble
monument of sterling character and a successful busi-
ness enterprise. His own opportunity for an educa-
tion was exceedingly limited, but his mind was quick
to learn in the school of life. His business ability
was somewhat remarkable. He would often decide
almost instantly in great transactions involving thou-
sands of dollars, and seldom make a mistake. Such
a man, of course, was a man of vast executive power.
He could, in his best days, conduct his manufactory,
run his farm and keep his many workmen feeling the
ubiquitous power of his master-mind. As he pros-
pered in business he grew in benevolence. He never
forgot his early poverty, and hence was most generous
to the poor. In later years he has not sought to in-
crease his estate so much as to distribute to the poor
and to help the indigent, but in all so modest and re-
ticent in his gifts as to hardly let his left hand know
what his right gave. His patriotism through the war
and since has pi-ompted him to help the disabled
soldiers and the families of such whenever he felt
they could be aided by his gifts. Rarely are riches
given to one more broad and generous. In his aflec-
918
HISTORY OF WOllCESTER COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.
tions he was very strong. He never forsook or forgot
a friend. The simplicity of his character grew in
beauty and attraction as he grew old. He loved little
children and they loved him. He rarely passed one
without a smile and such a gentle, winning recogni-
tion that the little one was drawn to him. And this
simplicity expressed itself in a reverence that made
him a constant attendant at church, and in earlier
days a worker in the Sunday-school. Never a secta-
rian, he worshipped with those with whom he hap-
pened to be. He, however, loved the Unitarian faith,
and gave freely to promote its interests. Identified
from the first with the Unitarian Society here, a few
years ago he built a church at West Upton and gave
its use to the society for purposes of worship, and fol-
lowed it with interest as long as he lived. In his
family, as a tender husband, father and grandfather,
his character shone out with all its ripe beauty.
When terrible suffering and pain came he bore it most
patiently and with humble submission to God's will,
and tenderly and gratefully, even when he could not
speak, by his eye and smile recognized the blessed
ministry of his own loved.
He passed to his rest Sunday, July 18, 1886, at the
age of seventy-seven. Then his active life closed, —
dust to dust, ashes to ashes, — nature claims her own
ahvay, yet he lives in what he accomplished, in his
acts of beneficence, in the hearts of the poor who
bless his name, in the affections of his family, in the
memory of little children who loved him and of his
fellow-townsmen and friends, and in the mansions of
the Father's house on high.
BEV. BENJAMIN WOOD.'
Benjamin Wood was born in Lebanon, N. H.,
September 15, 1772. He was the youngest but one
of twelve children, seven of whom were sons; of these,
three became ministers of the Gospel,— Samuel, the
eldest, known as Dr. Wood, of Boscawen, N. H. ;
Benjamin, and Luther, the youngest of the family.
Benjamin fitted for college with his brother Samuel,
and entered Dartmouth at the age of sixteen. He
graduated in 1793, commenced the study of theology
with Samuel, completing his preparation for the
ministry with Dr Nathaniel Emmons, a noted divine
of Franklin, Mass.
He preached as a candidate for the first time in
Upton the second Sunday in June, 1795, and received
a call from the church to be their pastor the following
December. The town assembled on the 31st of the
same month to see if they would concur with the
church in giving him a call to settle with them, and
the result is seen on the records of the town as
follows : " Voted, unanimously, to unite with the
church in calling Mr. Benjamin Wood to the work of
the ministry in this place, and to give him two hun-
1 By Mrs. M. A. Stoddald.
dred pounds for a settlement, and eighty pounds
annually for encouragement and support to settle
with us."
His reply was given in the aflirmative the follow-
ing March, and he was ordained and installed on the
1st day of June, 1796. Rev. Samuel Wood, D.D., of
Boscawen, N. H., delivered the ordination sermon;
Rev. Isaiah Potter, of Lebanon, N. H., gave the charge
to the pastor ; and Rev. John Crane, of Northbridge,
the right hand of fellowship. He succeeded Rev.
Elisha Fish, who had been settled with this church
forty-three years. After Mr. Wood had preached fif-
teen years, finding his salary inadequate for his sup-
port, an additional settlement was made upon him and
he was paid $400 annually.
During the following year he married Betsey Dustan ,
a descendant of the famous Hannah Dustan , of Haver-
hill, Macs. Their union was blest by a family of
eight children— six daughters and two sons— whose
names were as follows: Betsey, Palmer, Fanny,
Philena, Samuel AVillard, Judith Maria, Lue Ann
and Hannah F., who is the widow of Colonel David
C. Wood, of Upton, and is the only one now alive.
Five of Mr. Wood's children made for themselves
homes in Upton. Betsey married and went to Holden
to lii-e, Judith Maria to Westboro", and Lue Ann to
Boston. Several of them became members of the
church, .and all were highly respected citizens of the
town. Samuel Willard settled in Upton ; died
February 10, 1838, twenty-seven years of age.
leaving a widow and one daughter. Lue Ann,
wife of Clark B. Wood, of Boston, died about
forty-five years of age, leaving a husband
and three daughters. The other members of the
family lived to an advanced age, and left children
and children's children after them. Early in life
Mr. Wood was interested in Free Masonry and was
a member of Solomon's Temple Lodge of Uxbridge.
He was deeply interested in everything that con-
cerned the welfare of the town. He served one term
Representative to the. General Court, and several
years one of the Superintending School Committee.
His great province, which acquired him his fame,
was preaching. He had all the qualifications of a
fine pulpit orator. He was an able theologian, with
a commanding presence, easy and graceful in manner,
possessing a voice of rare excellence that charmed his
hearers, and made him one of the most popular
preachers in all the region round about. In the
Harmony Association, of which he was a member, he
commanded the highest respect, and was greatly be-
loved, being affectionately and reverently called
by them " Father Wood."
He was not only a pleasant speaker, but a power-
ful sermonizer. During his ministry he witnessed
eight seasons of special outpouring of the Spirit, and
admitted four hundred members to the church.
He was apt and brief on all occasions, and was
specially sought to officiate at weddings and funerals.
^- "■#
'-/'^.>...
J^.
^*^5^ ~ '^^^'^^^
i
^i^
O:^-'^-
UPTON.
919
Junu 25, 1835, whea the town was a hundred years
old, he delivered the centennial address, — the rec-
ords say, " in a strain of lofty and touching
eloquence." This address, his ordination sermon
anil the fir.st one he preached alter his ordination,
his farewell to the old meeting-house and the dedica-
tion of the new, with numerous other sermons, which
were printed soon after they were written, are
now preserved in a bound volume in the Upton Town
Library.
He lived with the beloved wife of his youth and
the mother of his children nearly fifty years. After
her decease, September 16, 1845, he married Miss
Almira Howe, who was a devoted wife to him during
the remainder of his life, a space of about three years.
He was well preserved physically and mentally, and
able to preach till within a short time of his death.
He had preached in the old meeting-house more
than half a century when the society began to discuss
the need of a new one. He was very anxious to keep
the church and society united and to see them
located in a new edifice while he lived, and was
gratified in the consummation of his hopes early in
January, 1849, by the dedication of a large and com-
modious house of worship by a church and society
in thriving condition. At the sale of pews soon after
its com|iletion theye was a call for more pews than
there were pews for sale. He did not preach long in
the new church. His health began to fail. He
preached his last sermon the last Suuday in March.
He was very fond of singing, and took great
interest in that part of divine worship. During his
last sickness he sent for the choir to come to his
room that he might once more listen to their voices
in a hymn of praise.
They assembled at his bedside and sung, at his
request, in his favorite tune, "Concord" —
" The hill of Zion yields
A thousand sacred sweets," etc.
The love of his people was manifested in his last days,
when they formed a procession and marched by the
open door of his sick-room to take a last fond look of
their much-loved pastor. The strong attachment be-
tween him and his people was mutual.
He died April 24, 1849, in the seventy-sixth year
of his age, and fifty-third of his ministry. His funeral
sermon was preached by Rev. H. A. Tracy, of
Sutton. The inscription on his monument in the
village cemetery sums up his life in the following
touching tribute : —
" His worlis are his monument,
The aflection of his people his epitaph,
His life of duty and devotion his obituary."
L. L. WARREN.
L. L. Warren was born near Upton, August 2,
1808. His ftither. Major Eli Warren, a man of ster-
ling worth and generous spirit, had been for many
years identified with the interests of Upton, and had
given himself, with untiring energy, to everything
that pertained to the public weal.
Partaking of this nature, the son, after completing
his education at Amherst Academy, entered into
business relations with his father, and prosecuted
this vocation industriou.sly for ten years.
In 1835 Mr. Warren married Mary A. Wood, of
Upton, and soon afterward moved to Kentucky to
secure the advantages held out by the rapid immi-
gration pressing down the Ohio "Valley. Before
starting West, he had resolved to locate at St. Louis,
but during his journey met a gentleman who gave
him a glowing description of Louisville's future
prospects, and urged him to alter his plan. Follow-
ing this suggestion, he stopped at Louisville, which
was then but little more than a village, and, after
investigating the advantages ofi'ered, began the shoe
business with a small capital. This business he con-
tinued uninterruptedly and prosperously for tbrty-
eight years. His energy and prudence in business
affairs soon established for him an enviable reputa-
tion as a safe financier, and marked him as a success-
ful merchant.
During the existence of State banks Mr. Warren
was, for several years, a director in the Northern
Bunk of Kentucky. In 1864 he organized the Falls
City Bank, and, as president for twenty years, man-
aged its affairs with his usual ability and success.
In the midst of absorbing business engagements,
he took a deep interest in religious and educational
afl^airs, and an earnest con^iecration of time, labor
and means to their advancement characterized his
entire life. His early taste for the advancement of
educational interests clung to him through his long
career. He represented his ward in the School Board
of Louisville a number of terms, and for ten years,
as chairman of the Finance Committee, his keen
foresight and unerring judgment saved to the Board
many thousand of dollars. He gave much thought
to improvement in the methods of teaching in the
schools, and was one of the first to advocate the
introduction in Louisville of the training-school sys-
tem. To familiarize himself with the subject, he vis-
ited the New England States, and made a thorough
investigation of the systems at his own expense, and
by continued effort succeeded in establishing train-
ing-schools in his adopted city.
As a friend and patron of religious schools, he was
no less prominent. He was one of the founders of
the large and flourishing Presbyterian School in
Louisville, a director in Centre College and the The-
ological Seminary at Danville, Ky., and for many
years attended to the finances of these institutions.
With various other movements of both a business
and charitable nature he was prominently identi-
fied ; but it was in his church affairs that his greatest
efforts were enlisted. As an elder in the Presbyte-
rian Church for over forty years, in the city, Presby-
tery and Synod, he was an unfaltering worker. He
920
HISTOKY OF WORCESTER COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.
was one of the founders of the old Chestnut Street
Church in 1847, and in the erection of the magnifi-
cent Tabernacle at Fourth and Broadway, which was
destroyed by fire soon after its completion, his zeal
and liberality knew no bounds. It was his cher-
ished desire to see the congregation with which he
had been so long connected worship in as thoroughly
an appointed church as could be built, and he advo-
cated the step with untiring persistence. In the
erection of so costly an edifice, the collection of the
necessary funds to carry out the design was no in-
considerable barrier to the consummation of the
task, and to many success seemed impossible. But
Mr. Warren had enlisted all of his religious zeal in
the enterpjise, and his purse was placed at the com-
mand of the Building Committee. His subscription
of twenty thousand dollars had gone into the general
fund, and the church was erected; and when the
committee appeared before the congregation to make
their finul statement, a debt of forty-three thousand
dollars was reported. It was then that Mr. Warren
reached a higher plane of disinterested devotion to
his church, and proved his faith by his works, and
wiped out the debt with a check for the needed
forty-three thousand dollars. As a manifestation of
its appreciation of his noble liberality, the congrega-
tion dropped the name of "Tabernacle," under which
the church had been dedicated, and in honor of him
called it " The Warren Memorial Church."
In public and business affairs he enjoyed the un-
wavering confidence of his associates, and his private
charities were as freely distributed as tho^e of any
one in the history of Louisville.
Mr. Warren died, after a short illness, March 19,
1884, in his seventy-sixth year. A handsome monu-
ment marks his resting-place in Louisville's beauti-
ful cemetery. It bears as his epitaph the memorable
words ihat fell from his lips : " What I have done, I
have done fjr Christ's sake." A wife and nine chil-
dren survive him.
REV. GEORGE S. BALL.
Rev. George S. Ball, pastor of the Unitarian So-
ciety in Upton, was born in Leominster, Mass., May
22, A.D. 1822, and is the son of Micah R. and Rachel
(Lincoln) Ball.
He is a fairly well-preserved man of sixty-six years
of age. He received a meagre education in the com-
mon schools until the age of sixteen, when, obtaining
from his father a release of his time, he devoted
himself to the further study in the higher schools
of his native State. He found it hard work to earn
his bread and pay for his education ; but he perse-
vered, working, as it were, with a book in one hand
and some instrument of manual labor in the other.
This required energy and self-denial, but by faithful,
continued efforts he graduated at the Meadville Theo-
logical School in the first regular das'!, that of 1847.
In the autumn of the same year the society at Ware
invited him to settle with them, and he was ordained
October 13th as their pastor. He remained there two
yejrs, when his health failed, and he asked for dis-
mission. After a rest, he was much better, and began
preaching in Upton, and at the end of some months
of labor here, be was, at their request, installed as
minister in February of 1850. The connection thus
formed has continued ever since.
Under this long pastorate, for modern times, he
has become thoroughly identified with the town and
all its interests. He represented it in the Constitu-
tional Convention of 1853. In 1861 he was elected
Representative, for the district composed of North-
bridge and Upton, to the Legislature of 1862; but
about the same time he was called to be chaplain
of one of the Worcester County regiments, already in
the field, the gallant Twenty-first Regiment of Mass-
achusetts Volunteers. He was exercised to know
which position to take. His love of his country and
its pressing needs in the hour of peril persuaded him
to forego the honor of the former, that he might do
something to mitigate the sufferings of camp and
battle-field, and thus do a little to sustain and main-
tain inviolate the government under which liberty
and prosperity had come to this peuple. He accepted
the post of chaplain, and went at once to the regi-
ment, then stationed at Annapolis, Md.
In the first battle of that regiment, at Roanoke
Island, he won the hearts of" the boys" by his brave
and efficient aid to the wounded, and in the report
of the commanding colonel to the general, a copy
of which was transmitted by the colonel to Governor
Andrew, he received warm approval.
The following paragraph is taken from the " His-
tory of the Twenty-first Regiment,"' which was writ-
ten by General Charles F. Walcott:
In the tbirteen months that he had been with ua, he had shared with
the regiment every peril and hardahip which it had been called to face
and endure, and had won the lasting respect and love of every man in
it of whatever creed. Never losing eight of bis duty as a Chj-istiao
clergyman, he had been far more than a mere chaplain to us. Ardently
patriotic, always hopeful, manly and courageous, he exerted a strong
and lasting influence in keeping up the tone of the regiment in its
soldierly as well as its moral duties. As our postmasier, no matter at
what inconvenience to himself, the mail was never left to take care
of itself, wiien by his energy it could be forced to come or go. To our
sick and wounded he had been, with unfailing devotion, a brave, tender
and a eUillfnl nurse. An honor and grace to his calling and the
service, it was a sad day in the regiment when he left «s.
So we may say Mr. Ball has been far more, in
Upton, than a mere clergyman, a good man, a good
citizen, never a strong partisan, but friend and min-
ister to all who needed or would receive his help. For
thirty-nine years he has labored in this field, save two
years, when he was colleague with the venerable Dr.
Kendall, at Plymouth, and the time of his ."ervice in
the army. He served also as chaplain to the Massa-
chusetts House of Representatives in 1863, and as a
member from his district in 1864, and as a member
of the State Senate in the years 1866 and 1867.
t Page 235.
■^'^
GRAFTON.
021
On the 18th of June, 1848, while settled at Ware,
he was married to Hannah B. Nourse, daughter of
Caleb and Orissa (Holman) Nourse, of Bolton, Masa.
They had eight children born to them, seven of whom
are now living.
Mr. Ball's life has been very active in anti-slavery
and moral reform of all kinds. But most marked is
his influence on his own townsmen and the people
of the vicinity, where his name is a tower
of strength.
CHAPTER CXXIII.
GRAFTON.
BY WILLI.4M T. DAVIS AND A HISTORICAL ADDRESS
BY HON. FRANK P. GOUI.DING.
On either side of Quinsigamond River, which flows
from the lake bearing tliat name into Blackstone
River, are various ridges of land more or leas ex-
tended, rising by easy ascent from the valley, and
most of them cleared and cultivated to the summits.
On the slopes of some of these hills, and on the
higher table lands of others, and on the banks of the
stream, are located the different villages of which the
town of Grafton is composed. The territory included
within ihe bounds of the town extends about five
miles from north to south, and four miles from east
to west, and is bounded on the north by Shrewsbury,
on the east by Westborough and Upton, on the south
by Upton and Sutton, and on the west by Sutton and
Millbury. Few towns can boast of situations more
beautiful or landscapes more attractive than those,
which one after another greet the eye of a stranger as
he enters its domain and wanders along its hillsides
and through its valleys. Sianding on the central
village and looking towards the north, Brigham Hill,
on whose eastern slope the hamlet of North Grafton
seems to be hiding itself from the setting sun, bounds
the horizon on the north and west, while along its
base the river Quinsigamond is seeking its uncon-
scious way to the sea, and in the distance Wachusett
stands guard against the unwelcome blasts of a colder
clime.
This was the territory known in early times as
Hassanamisco, and inhabited by the Hassanamesits,
a family of the Nipmuck tribe. It is memorable as
having been one of the earliest fields in which John
Eliot labored for the Cbristianizaiion of the abo-
rigines. Here the second Indian church was estab-
lished, and here the Indian James the Printer lived,
who aided Eliot in his work on the Indian Bible.
Of the Hassanamesits there is only one survivor
within the town, Sarah Maria Cisco. She occupies
about two acres ami a half of the old Indian reserva-
tion, which she has inherited from lier ancestors and
which has never been owned by a white man. In
1887 the Legislature passed a resolve providing for
the payment of an annuity of two hundred dollars to
this last representative of the old Hassanamisco tribe,
to be paid by the selectmen of Grafton quarterly after
January 1, 1887, during her life. It would be a fit-
ting and interesting memorial if, after the death of
the beneficiary, her land could remain ungranted and
unoccupied and suitably enclosed to be preserved for
all coming time as a memorial of the aborigines of our
State.
Within the territory of Grafton is to be found also
an interesting landmark, reminding us of one of the
first, if not actually the first, schoolmaster in the
Massachusetts Colony. Elijah Corlet, born in Lon-
don in 1611, graduated at Lincoln College, Oxford,
and came to New England while a young man. He
was the first schoolmaster in Cambridge, and taught
in that town from 1641 until his death, which occur-
red February 24, 1687. Owing to his efforts in behalf
of education, the General Court granted him two
hundred acres of land November 12, 1659, and Octo-
ber 23, 1668, five hundred acres. But these grants
have no connection with Grafton. On the '22d of
May, 1661, however, the Colony records state that
" in answer to the petition of Mr. Elijah Corlet the
Court judgeth it meet to grant the petitioner liberty
to purchase of Netus, the Indian, so much land as the
said Netus, said Indian, is possessed of according to
law, for the satisfaction of the debt due to the peti-
tioner from said Negus." Mr. Corlet had Indian
scholars in his school, and it is thought by some that
a son of Netus was one, and that the debt was owed
for his tuition. On the 11th of October, 1665, Ed-
mond Rice, of Marlboro', and Thomas Noyes, of
Sudbury, reported to the court that the debt due from
Netus to Mr. Corlet was seven pounds ten shillings,
and that, as authorized by the court, they had laid
out three hundred and twenty acres at the north end
of Nepnop Hill for the benefit of Mr. Corlet. In
1685, Mr. Corlet sold the land to Alice Thomas, of
Dedham, and on the 17th of October, 1716, the grand-
children of Mrs. Thomas sold it for two hundred
pounds to Benjamin Willard, housewright; Joseph
Willard, webster; Thomas Pratt, Jr., husbandman,
all of Framingham, and Nehemiah How, of Sudbury.
A description of the land may be found in the deed
from these grandchildren in the Suffolk Registry of
Deeds, Book 37, Folio 250. The land has been vari-
ously called Corlet's Grant, Willard's Farm and the
Farms District.
But it is not proposed to include in this narrative any
details concerning Hassanamisco before its settlement
by the white man. They belong rather to a history
of the Indian tribes than to that of a town whose
birth dates only back to its incorporation and earlier
occupation. When the territory forming the town of
Sutton was sold to the English by John Wampus, the
Sachem, he reserved four miles square for the use of
the Indians, and these sixteen square miles constituted
the town of Grafton at the time of its incorporation.
922
HISTOEY OF WORCESTER COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.
They were exclusively used by the Indians until
1718, when, with the approval of the General Court,
Elisha Johnson, of Sutton, bought of the natives a
tract wiihin their limits. Other purchases soon after
followed, and in 1728, no less than nine white families
were living on the land. In 1726, in accordance with
the petition of Samuel Chandler and John Sherman,
in behalf of themselves and other persons living in
Concord, Sudbury, Marlborough and Stow, for per-
mii-sion to purchase the territory of the Indians, a
committee of the General Court, consisting of Na-
thaniel Byfield and Samuel Thaxter, of the Council,
and John Chandler, Major Tilesston and Captain
Goddard, visited the territory and reported Septem-
ber 27, 1727, "that they had carefully viewed the
lands proposed to be sold by the natives there, con-
taining about seven thousand five hundred acres,
about one-half whereof being good soil but very
stony, the other half pitch-pine and shrub-plain;
are of opinion, and have accordingly valued and es-
timated the land at the sum of twenty-five hundred
pounds," jmd recommended that the purchase be ap-
proved on certian sfiecified conditions. The result of
the negotiation which followed was the execution of
the following deed :
To all people to whom these presents shall come:
Ami Printer, Andrew Abruliani, Moses Printer anj Ami Printer, Jr.,
Indians of Hassimamisco, in the county of Sutfolk, witliin his majesty's
Province of the Massacluisetts Bay, in New England, being owners and
proprietors of oue-seveuth part each of and in the Indian native right
of land in Hassanamisco aforesaid, Peter Bluckamaug and Sarah, his
wife, of Hassanamisco aforesaid (owners and proprietors in the right of
the Bidd Sarah), of oiie-seventli part of the said nativeright, and Christian
Misco, relict widow of <!eorge Misco, late of Hassanamisco aforesaid,
deceased, and Josliua Jlisco, of Hassanamisco aforesaid, son of the said
deceased, being owners and pruprietoi-s of two-sevenths parts ol the said
native right —
Sendetb Greeting.
Whereas^ Tlie Great and General Court or Assembly of the aforesaid
Province having been thereunto petitiimed, as well by the Indian natives
and proprietors before named, as by a number of English petitioners,
did in their late session, viz.: in tlie mouth of December last past, in
answer to the petition of Samuel Chandler, John Sherman and others,
gave liberty to tlie petitioners therein referred to to purcbHse the lands
at Hassanamisco by them petitioned for, containing about seven thousmd
five hundred acres, nioi'e or less, of the Indian natives and proprietors
thereof for the settlement of forty English families of the petitiouei-s or
their posterity and no others, exclusive of the English and Indians upon
the spots already, reserving for and unto the said Indian proprietors,
each of them, an equal dividend in said land with each of the purchasers,
to be laid out so as to comprehend and take in their present improve-
ments. And also one hundred acres more of laud there to be the pre.^ent
Indian proprietors', their lieirs and assigns forever. And also tlie sum of
twenty-five hundred pounds, to be deposited in the hands of trustees
appointed, authorized and impowered by the said Great and General
Court or Assembly, to receive and set out the same at interest, on good
and sufficient security, and said interest to be paid to the said Indian
proprietors, and the said Court shall from time to time order and direct,
together with sundry immunities, privileges and enfranchisemouta,
respecting the settlements and support of the ministry and school, as in
and by the records of said Court (relation thereunto being had) doth and
may appear.
Now Know Ye, That the said Ami Printer, Andrew Abraham, Moses
Printer, Ami Printer, Jr., Peter and Sarah Muckamaug, Christian Misco
and Joshua Misco, being the only surviving proprietors of the Indian
right of land in Hassjiuamisco aforesaid, for the consideration before
mentioned, have given, granted, bargained, sold, alienated, enfeoffed,
conveyed and confirmed, and by these p.esents do fully, clearly and
absolutely give, grant, bargain, sell, convey and confirm unto each of
the persons hereinafter named, being of the proprietore to whom such
liberty of purchasing was granted as aforesaid, or otherwise admitted by
and wiih the approbation or allowance of the said Great and General
Court, oue-fortieth part in common and undivided right of and in all
that tract or parcel of land called or known by the name of Hassana-
misco, situated and bounded by and wiili the township of Sutton, in the
aforesaid county of Suffolk, and surrounded by said Sutton, excepting
always, and reserving out of this present grant and sale, such parta and
dividends thereof aad therein unto them, the said Indian proprietors,
and to their heirs and assigns forever, as is expressed and mentioned in
a vote of the House of Representatives on the 9th of June, 1725, and
accordingly reserved by the Great and General Court as is above expressed,
excepting also and reserving out of this present grant and sale, all such
otlier parts and parcels of said tracts of land as hath been formerly (with
the allowance of said Court) grunted urito sundry English people, to be
holden of them, the said purchasers, their respective heirs and assigns
forever, conformable to the votes, acts and orders of the said Great and
General Court passed thereon in their aforesaid session— that is to eay,
to James Watson, of Boston, in the County of Suffolk, in the Province
aforesaid, mariner, Benjamin Willard, gent, and Joseph Willard, hus-
bandman, being both of or in the County of Suffolk, in the Province
aforesaid, each one-fortieth part thereof to them, their respective heirs
and assigns forever.
To Joseph Rice, Jonathan Morse, David Harrington, Samuel Biglo,
Samuel Stow, Zerubbabel Eager, Samuel Brigham, John Sherman, John
Warren, Nathan Brigham, Sen., Charles Brigham, husbandmen, Jeremiah
Barstow, trader, and Elizabeth Harrington, widow, all of Marlborough,
in the County of Middlesex, in the Province aloresaid, each one-fortieth
part thereof to them, and their respective heirs and assigns, forever.
To Samupl Chandler, John Hunt, Joseph Merriani, Eleazer Flagg,
Jacob Taylor, Ebenezer Wheeler, Josei)h Barrett and Benjamin Barrett,
husbandmen, all of Concord, in the aforesaid County of Middlesex,
each one-fortieth part thereof to them, their respective heirs and assigns,
forever.
To Samuel Hall, Simon Gates. Jr., John Collar, liusbandmen, all of
Stow, in the aforesaid County of Middlesex, each one-fortieth part
thereof to them, their respective heirs and assigns, forever.
To William Rogers, gent., and William Rogers, Jr., bricklayer, both
of Wenham, in the County of Essex, in the Province aforesaid, each
one-fortieth part thereof to them, their respective heire and assigns
forever.
To Jonathan Rice and Richard Taylor, both of Sudbury, in the County
of Middlesex, aforesaid, husbandmen, each one-fortieth part thereof
to them and their respective heirs and assigns forever.
To John Jones, of Hopkinton, in the aforesaid County of Middlesex,
husbandman, one-fortieth part thereof to him, his heirs and assigns
forever.
To Jonas Houghton, of Laucaster, in the aforesaid County of Middle-
sex, husbandman, John Davis, of Ipswich, in the Covuity of Essex, in
the Province aforesaid, husbandman, and Thomas ^^■oek^, of Shi'ewa-
bury, in the aforesaid County of Middlesex, husbandman, each one-
fortieth part to them and their heirs and assigns forever.
To Thomas Pratt, of Hassanamisco, in the aforesaid County of Suffolk,
husbandman, and Nathaniel Wilder, of Lancaster, in the aforesaid
County of Middlesex, husbandmen, each one-fortieth part to them and
their heirs and assigns forever. Together with all the rights, members,
profits, privileges, emoluments, hereditanjents and appurtenances to
the said granted premises belonging or ,in any were appertaining, ex-
ceptingonly as before excepted. To have and to hold the said granted,
bargained premises, with the appurtenances and every part thereof, ex-
cept as before excepted, to them, the said James Watson, Benjanin Wil-
lard, Joseph Willard, Joseph Rice, Jonathan Morne, David Harrington,
Samuel Biglo, Samuel Stow, Zernbbabel Eager, Samuel Brigham, John
Sherman, .John Warren, Nathan Brigham, Charles Brigham. Jeremiah
Barstow, Eliza Harrington, Samuel Chandler, John Hunt, Joseph Mer-
riam, Eleazer Flagg, Jacob Taylor, Ebenezer Wheeler, Joseph Barrett,
Samuel Hall, Simon Gates, Nathaniel Hapgood, Phineas Rice, Simon
Gates, Jr., John Collar, William Rogers, William Rogers, Jr., Jonathan
Rice, Richard Taylor, John Jones, Jonas Houghton, John Davis, Thomas
Weeks, Benjamin Barrett, Thomas Pratt and Nathaniel Wilder, and
to their respective heirs and assigns forever, to their and each of their
own proper use and benefit and behoof in manner as aforesaid.
And they, the said Ami Prirfter, Andrew Abraham. Moses Printer,
Ami Printer, Jr., Peter and Sarah (Printer) ^luckamaug. Christian
Misco and Joshua Misco, for themselves, heirs, etc., respectively do, by
GRAFTON.
923
these presents, coveDant, promise and grant to and with tbe said grantees
or purchasers before named, and each and every one of them, their re-
spective heira and assigns in manner following, that is to say, that they,
the eald Ami Printer, Andrew Abraham, Moses Printer, Peter and
Sanih Muckamaiig, Christian Miaco, Joshua Miaco and Ami Printer,
Jr., are the true, sole and hiwful owners of all and singular the lands at
Hassiinamisco aforesaid, not otherwise heretofore disposed of in manner
aforesaid, and they, the said Indian proprietors, and their heirs respec-
tively, shall and will, from time to time, and at all times forever here-
after, warrant and defend in said granted and bargained premises, with
the appurtenances and every part thereof, excepting only as before ex-
cepted, unto the grantees or purchasei-s before named, severally and re-
spectively, and their respective heirs and assigns, against themselves and
their heirs, and against the lawful claims or demands of any other per-
son whomsoever, claiming, or to claim, the Indian or native right on
property thereof, or of any part thereof.
In witness whereof the said Indiao proprietors have hereunto set
their hauda and seals the nineteenth day of March, Anno Domini
1727.
Ami Printkr (with mark).
MosKS Printer (with mark).
Andrew Auraham (wiih mark).
Peter Muckamaug (with mark).
Sarah Mickamaug (with mark).
Christian Misco (with mark).
Joshua Misco (with mark).
Ami Printer, Je. (with mark).
Signed and sealed and delivered in presence of,
Nehemiah How.
JoNATHAM Adams.
Isaac Whitnev.
Moees Printer signed in presence of ns,
John CiiANnLEB, Jit.
John Mackintire (with mark).
Suffolk, 9s.
IIashanamisco, March 20, 1727-28.
Ami Printer, Andrew Abraham, Peter Muckamaug, Sarah Mucka-
maug, Christian Misco, Joshua Jlisco and Ami Printer, Jr., then sever-
ally acknowledged this instrument to be their respective act and deed, be-
fore me,
John Chandler, Jr.; Jitsl Pucis.
Suffolk 83.
Moses Printer then acknowledged this instrument to be liis act and
deed before me, John Chasi>ler.
July 2, 1728, received and accordingly entered and examined pr.
John BAL^A^T1NE, Eegr.
Before the deed of purchase was made the commit-
tee of the General Court, in a report made to that
body December 18, 1727, recommended the imposi-
tion of certain conditions, which they expressed as
follows:
The committee having concurred the several articles and conditions on
which the p>-litioners for Hassjiuamisco have liberty to purchase a tract
of land comnmnly known by the- name of the Indian proprietors thereof
are humbly of the o|iinion that the petitioners, before the execution of
their deeds, shall, each oue for himself, respectively be bound to the
trustees appointed for said Indians and their successors, witli sureties
for paying a - with part of the coat of building a meeting-house con-
venient for the public worship for themselves and nine English families
already settled within the said Hassanamisco, and the Indian inhabit-
ants of said Hassanamisco, as also for paying the same i)roportion to-
wards building a school-house convenient for the teaching to read and
write the children of tlie same inhabitants, as well Indian as Etiglish,
and that they will set apart twenty acres of said land for the use of said
school, to remain for said service forever, and also for paying the same
proportion for and towards the settling a learned orthodox minister, and
for sett'ing for the said minister a lot of land, equal to other allowances,
to be his own as soon as he takes office among them, and likewise the
building for bin. self (Petitioners accounts read) a dwelling-house and
breaking up four acres of laud in the lot on dividend that shall be appi>r-
tioned and set off to him, all to be within the time and according to the
limitation in the act of the Ureat and General Court relating hereunto
in their present session.
And for its much there are nine English families already settled on
lands withiu Ilassanamisco that will be accommodated by the meeting-
house, scl.ool-house, minister and schoolmaster in said Hassanamisco, as
above, the committee hunjbly propose that the said nine families be by
special act of the Great and General Court required to pay each a fortieth
part to and for erecting and finishing said meeting-house and school-
house, and (o and for the support of said minister and schoolmaster.
And inasmuch as the maintaining a minister and a scboohuaster are to be
from generation to generation, and consequently not so projier for con-
dition in a bond, — The committee humbly conceive that in the aforesaid
act of the Great and General Court the said forty petitioners, with the
other nine English families, inhabitants shall be obliged, from time to
time, forever hereafter to maintain a minister and schoolmaster for the
Indiaus and their children without cost or charge to said Indians or their
posterity.
The General Court subsequently passed the follow-
ing act, entitled : *'An act to oblige and require the
forty petitioners for a tract of land at Hassanamisco,
together with the English proprietors of the other
lands there, to pay the charge of erecting a meeting-
house and school -hou-^e, and of supporting an ortho-
dox minister and schoolmaster in the place :''
Whereas the court, at their present session, in answer to the petition
of Samuel Chandler and others to the number of forty, whose names are
subscribed to the said petition, did give them liberty to purchase the
lands at Hassanamisco by them petitioned for, containing about seven
thousand five hundred acres, more or less, of the Indian natives and pro-
prietors of Hassanamisco, upon condition that forty Englieh familiee
shall be settled upon the land, which families are to be of the pelitionere
or their posterity, and no others, and yet within tbe space of three
years they build and finish a meetinghouse for the public worship of
God ; and build a school honwe fur the instruction as well of the Indians
as English children, and settle a learned orthodox minister to preach the
gospel to them and constantly maintain and duly support a minister and
schoolmaster among them. And ytrt all the above articles shall be with-
out charge to the Indian natives :
And whereas there are sundry English jiroprietors of other lands in
Hassanamisco who will be accommodated by the said meeting-house,
schooMiouse, niiuister and schoolmaster, as well as the forty petitioners,
Be it therefore enacted by the Lieutenant-Governor, Council and Kep-
resentatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the
samo, that the said forty petitioners be and are hereby required and
obliticd to pay each of them an equal part of four-fifths parts of the
charge of building the said meeting-house and school hoiise, and that
the said English proprietors of the other lands at Hassanamisco be and
are hereby required and obligei! to pay the other fifth part of the above-
said charge to be ap|>ortioned and assessed by the trustees of the Hassa-
namisco Indians already appointed by this court upon the said English
proprietors, according to their best judgment and discretion, they ha\'-
ing regard unto the quantity of land and other estate in Hassiina misco
belonging unto them, and to be collected by such meet person as they
the said trnstees shall appoint lor that end. The abovesjiid proportion
of charges, together with the method of assei^sing and collecting the
same, to be obseived and pursued until the said petitionersaud the other
proprietors be invested with the powers and privileges of a township.
On the 22d of March, 1727-2S, a warrant was
issued by John Chantller, justice of the peace, on the
petition of seven proprieturs,— to wit, Benjamin Wil-
lard, Jonas Houghton, Samuel Chandler, Phinehas
Kice, John Sherman, John Warren and Benjamin
Barrett, — and directed to Benjamin Willard, of
Hassanamisco, directing him to call a meeting of the
proprietors of the purchased lands on Tuesday, the
9th of the following April. The meeting was held at
the house of Jonathan How, in Marlboro', and
Edward Goddard, Jonathan Rico and Joseph Rice
were chosen moderator, clerk and treasurer, respec-
tively. It was voted that a committee consisting of
one from Marlboro', one from Sudbury and one from
Stowe or Sudbury should be appointed to take a sur-
vey of the plantation of Hassanamisco and ascertain
924
HISTOKY OF WORCESTEE COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.
the centre of the same, and Capt. Brigham, of Marl-
boro', John Hunt, of Concord, and Richard Taylor
constituted the committee. It was also voted that
the meeting-house should be located in the middle of
the plantation " in case it be accomodable" and
otherwise at the nearest " accomodable" point, the
same to be decided by a majority of the proprie-
tors.
It was further voted that four acres be set apart for
the meeting-house and burial-place and training-
field, and by a subsequent vote that the school-house
also should be built on the same lot. A vote was
alto passed that a committee be appointed to confer
with the trustees of the Hassanamisco Indians and
to determine on some plan for " the setting out" of
the lands reserved for them and to lay out the same.
It was further voted that the committee lay out lots
for the minister and school-master. The committee
was also empowered to lay out and equalize the lots
of land aud meadow for the first division in eighty
lots of upland, each lot containing forty acres with
necessary allowance for quality, and also to equalize
the lots of meadow after the same manner, so prepar-
ing the several allotments in two parcels of upland
and two pieces of meadow to each proprietor for a
lot on draught. Capt. Nathan Brigham, John Hunt
and Richard Taylor were s^elected as members of the
committee. Other votes were passed relating to as-
sessments to defray the expenses of the proprietor, to
the method of calling meetings and other less impor-
tant matters and the meeting adjourned to the 19th
of April. On that day the adjourned meeting was
held at the house of Nehemiah How and went in a
body to visit the centre of the plantation as fixed by
the committee. It was not found to be convenient
for a mee.ing-house and a spot was selected lying
westerly on the northerly end of a hill called by the
natives Assawos=achasuck. Afterwards another spot
was viewed and finally chosen, and it was voted to set
the meeting-house by a white oak tree, about which
a heap of stones was placed. The proprietors
returned to the house of Mr. How and all questions
concerning the dimensions of the meeting-house and
school-house and the time when it would be expedient
to begin to build them were postponed for future con-
sideration. Capt. Willard, Samuel Biglow, Jonathan
Rice and Eleazer Flagg were added to the equalization
committee, and that committee was authorized to
" se-quester" lands for highways. The four acres thus
set apart now include the Common and the street'
round it in the central village of Grafton.
The plantation of Hassanamisco, managed by its
proprietors, possessed many of the attributes and func-
tions of a town. It had no formal act of incorpora-
tion and no town officers. The proprietors, however,
had their clerk and treasurer and assessors, laid
out highways, built bridges, erected saw-mills, settled
a minister, established schools, divided the lands,
raised money by taxation, set out a burial-place, and
at their meetings did all that was needful in the
administration of their affairs.
In 1730 the meeting-house was built on the lot
now constituting the Common, and in September,
1731, it was voted to invite Rev. Solomon Prentice to
settle as the minister of the plantation with a salary
of one hundred pounds per annum. Mr. Prentice
was ordained on the 29th of December, 1731, and on
the day previous the church was formed. The his-
tory of this church will be more particularly referred
to later on in this narrative. The management of
affairs by the proprietors continued until 1735, when
the town of Grafton was incorporated. The records
of the proprietors containing a full statement of their
doings, with a dencription of the lands allotted to its
members in various divisions, form a part of the
archives of the town and are full of matter of interest
and value to the historian and antiquary.
On the ISth of April, 173-5, the following act of
incorporation was passed by the General Court, in
response to the petition of a committee of the pro-
prietors chosen to present it to the court in January,
1733-34 :
An Act forcreatinga town in the County of Worcester at a plantation
called Hassanamisco by the name of Grafton.
Whereas, the plantation commonly called Hassanamisco in theCoUDty
of Worcester is competently filled with iuhabitajita who have built and
finished a convenient meeting-huuso for the piihlick worship of God,
and have settled a learned orthodox minister amongst them and have
addressed this court to be erected into a separate aud distinct township
tu hold and enjoy equal powers and privileges with the other towns in
the province;
Be it enacted by His Excellency, the Governor, Council and Repre-
sentatives in the General Courc assembled and by the authority of the
ekime :
Sect. 1. That the plantation at Hassanamisco in the county of Wor-
cester, as the saniR is hereafter bounded and described, be and hereby is
set off and constituted a separate and distinct township by the name of
Grafton.
Sect. 2. The bounds of said township being as follows : viz., begin-
ning at a pine tree on a rocky hill at the southeast corner and from
thence extending north four miles with thirty six perch allowance for
loss of measure bounding easterly on Sutton to a heap of stones on a
rock ; from thence west by the needle four miles with thirty rods al-
lowance to a heap of stones ; from thence south four miles to a heap of
stones ninety rods south of the river and a little southward of a small
pine swamp northward of a little brook; and from thence to the corner
first mentioned.
Sect. :i. And that the inhabitants thereof bo and hereby are vested
and endowed with equal powers, privileges and immunities that the in-
habitants uf any of the other towns within this province are or ought by
law to he vested or endowed with.
And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid,
Sect. 4. That such of the grantees as have not fully complied with the
conditions of settlement be and hereby are subjected each one to pay a
fiftieth part of all rates and taxes that shall hereafter be laid on the in-
habitants of tlie said town as well as for the support of the ministry
among them and other town charges until they have fully complied
with the conditions of settlement. Passed and published April 18,
1735.
On the day of the passage of the act of incorpora-
tion the following order was passed by the court :
In the House of Representatives, April 17, 1735, ordered that Mr.
Thomas Pratt, one of the prisable inhabitants of the new town lately
made at the plantation called Hassanamisco, in the County of Worces-
ter, be and hereby is fully authorized and empowered to assemble the
GRAFTON.
925
freeholders and other qualified voters to make choice of town officers to
stand until the iinuiverearj' meeting in March next.
Sent up fur concTirrence,
J. QuiNCEY, Speal-er.
In Council April the 18th, 1735.
Read and concurred,
T. Maso.v, Dept. Secl'y.
A true copy. Converted to
J. Belchbr.
Examined,
Th.\d. Mason, Dep. SecVy.
The name of Grafton was probably suggested by
Governor Belcher in honor of Charles Fitz Roy,
Duke of Grafton, a member of the Privy Council and
a grandson of Charles the Second.
At the first meeting of the town Thomas Pratt was
chosen moderator and Nehemiah How, clerk. The
names of succeeding moderators and clerks up to
1879, as well as those of selectmen and treasurers,
may be found in the history of Gralton, prepared by
Frederick Clifton Pierce, and need not be repeated in
this narrative. The names of Representatives to the
General Courts, both from the town and from the
various Representative districts of which Grafton has
formed a part, are here given as perhaps more clearly
illustrating the prominent men in the various genera-
tions of the town. From the years 1735 to 1755, in-
clusive, none were chosen. The following persons
were Representatives in the years placed against their
names :
Ephraim Sherman 1757
None 1758
None 1759
None 1760
None 1761
None 17U2
None 1763
None 17G4
None 1765
None 1766
Epbraim Sherman 1767
Ephraim Sherman 17G8
None 1769
Ephraim Slierman 1770
Ephraim Sherman 1771
None 1772
None 1773
None 1774
John Sherman 1773
Joseph Batchellcr 1770
Joseph Batcheller 1777
Joseph Batcheller 1778
Nathaniel Sherman 1779
Joseph Batcheller 1780
None 1781
Ephraim Lyon 1782
None 1783
Joseph Wood 1784
Nathaniel Sherman 1785
Nathaniel Sherman 1786
Joseph Wood 1787
Luke Dniry 1788
Luke Drury 1789
Luke Dniry 1790
Joseph Wood 1791
Luke Dniry 1792
Luke Drury 1793
Luke Drury 1794
Joseph Wood 1795
William Brigham _ 1796
None 1797
Joseph Wood 1798
Nathaniel Adams 1799
Nathaniel Adams 180O
Nathaniel Adams 1801
Nathaniel Adams 18112
None 18U3
Joseph Wood 1804
Joseph Wood 1805
Joseph Wood 1806
Joseph Wood 18u7
Eleazer Leland 18u8
Joseph Wood 1809
William Lamb 1810
William Lamb 1811
Joshua Harrington 1812
Joshua Harrington 1813
None 1814
Jonathan Wheeler 181^
None J8i6
None 1817
None 1818
None 1819
None 1820
None 1821
None 1822
None 1823
Cyrus Leland 1824
None 1825
Cyrus Leland 1826
None 1827
Harry Wood 1828
Jonathan Wheeler 1829
Harry Wood 1830
Samuel Wood 1830
Same 1S3I
Same 1832
Samuel Wood 1833
Joshua Harrington 1833
Joshua W. Leland 1833
Samuel Wood 1834
Samuel Wood 1835
Thaddeus Read 1835
Luke Leland, 1835
Koyal Keith 1836
Oliver M. Brigham 1837
Oliver M. Bngham 1838
Samuel Wood 1838
Joseph Bruce 1839
Noah Kimball 1839
None 1840
Albert Stone 1841
Albert Stone 1842
Otis Con verse 1843
Otis Converse 1844
Jonathau Warren 1845
Esek SanndeiB 1846
Esek Sauuders 1847
Joseph Bruce 1848
None 1849
John Whitney 1850
Levi Kawson 1851
Abraham M. Bigelow 18^.2
Charles Goddard 1853
Benjamin Kingsbury 1854
Samuel C. Flagg 1855
Chandler M. Pratt 185B
Luke F.Allen 18.57
Under the operation of the twenty-first article of
amendments of ihe Coiistituiion Grafton became in
1857 the Seventeenth Representative District of
Worcester, and was represented until the next appor-
tionment as follows:
Wm. G Scandlin 1863
Joseph M. Rockwood 1864
Stephen E. White 1865
8. Davis Hall 1866
BufusE. Warren 1868
Gilbert C. Talt 1859
Charles Brigham 1860
Wm. F. Sloconib 1861
Seth J. Axtell 1862
Under the apportionment based on the census of
1865, Grafton and Shrewsbury constituted the Twelfth
Worcester Representative District, and were repre-
sented as follows :
John McClellan, of Grafton 1867
J. H. Wood, of Grafton 1868
George K. Nichols, of Grafton 1869
Tliomas Rice, of Shrewsbury 1870
J. S. Nelson, of Grafton 1871
George F. Sloconib, of Grafton 1872
George H. Harlow, of Shrewsbury 1873
Charles L. Pratt, of Grafton 1874
Thomas T. Greggs, of Grafton 1875
JohnF. Searle, of Grafton 1876
Under the apportionment based on the census of
1875, Grafton and Northbridge constituted the Third
Worcester Representative District, and were repre-
sented as follows:
Henry B. Osgood, of Northbridge 1877 .
Lucius M. Sargent, of Grafton 1878
Francis K. Fowler, of Northbridge 1879
Henry F. Wing, of Grafton 1880
George F. Searles, of Northbridge 1881
Ashley W. Rice, of Grafton 1882
Arthur F. Whitin, of Northbridge 1883
Joseph A, Dodge, of Grafton 1884
Benjamin L. M. Smith, of Northbridge 1885
Luther K. Leland, of Grafton 1880
Under the apportionment based on the census of
1885, Grafton, Westborough, Norihborough, South-
borough, Berlin and Shrewsbury constitute the
Twelfth Worcester Representative District, and have
been represented as follows :
George B. Brigham, of Westborough 1887
Samuel L. Howe, of Shrewsbury 1887
J. Henry Robioson, of Suuthborough 1888
Albert L. Fisher, of Grafton 1888
Aldon M. Bigelow, of Grafton 1889
Samuel Wood, of Northborough 1889
On the 15th of January, 1742, the following act_
was passed by the court, which should have a place
in this record:
Whereas, the proprietors of Hassanamisco lands in the township of
Grafton, by an Act of this Government passed in the firet year of his
926
HISTORY OF WORCESTER COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.
preeeut Majesty's reign, are obliged to erect a meeting-house and school
house and to support a minister and schoolmaster there; and four-fiftJis
of the charge thereby arising was by said act ordered to be defrayed by
forty persons, to whom liberty was granted to purchase said lands ; the
other one-fifth part by nine families before that time settled there, and
that the aforesaid proportion of charges, together with the method there
assigned for raising and collecting monies to defray the same, should con-
tinue to be observed until these lands should be made a townsliip ; and
whereas said lands have since been erected into a township and that be-
fore the whole of the charges so incurred were collected in pursuance of
Baid act ; therefore, to enable said proprietors to collect the same.
Be it enacted by the Governor, Council and House of Reitresentjitivea,
That the assessors of the propriety of Grafton, alios Hassanamisco, be,
and hereby are, enabled to assess the several proprie'ors of the said ti'act
of laud purchased by said forty persons and settled or possessed by said
nine families for all charges which may still be behinil and unpaid and
wbifh arose or were occasioned by the compliance of said proprietor
with the duties required of them by the aforesaid act ; four-fifths thereof
to be apportioned upon the present proprietors of the lands petitioned
for and purchaseil by the aforesaid forty persons ; the other one-fifth on
the present proprietors of the lands which were possessed by said nine
English persons or families before the said act. And the Collector on
Collectoi's of the said proprietor of Grafton, aUas Hassanamisco, are
hereby enabled and impowered to gather and collect such taxes as shall
he committed to him or them by the assessors as aforesaid, and upon the
refusal of any of the proprietors who shall be assessed as aforesaid to pay
such sum or sums as shall be set upon or required of them, the collector
or collectors, to whom the said tax is committed, are hereby imi)owered
and directed to make sale to the liighest bidder of so much of the said
proprietor's land w ho shall so refuse to pay as shall satisfy his part of said
assessment, the overplus, i( any there be, to he set to the said proprietor ;
and the said collector or collectors shall put up a notification in some
public place in said Hassanamisco and also give notice of the intended
sale in one or more of the public newspapers at least thirty days before
the time appointed for said sale.
It has been stated that Rev. Solomon Prentice was
invited by the proprietors of Hassanamisco to settle
as the pal- tor of the plantation, and was ordained on
the 29th of December, 1731. At the ordination the
sermon was preached by Rev. Nathaniel Appleton, of
Cambridge, and the church was organized the day
preceding. The first meinbeis of the church were:
Rev. Solomon Prentice, Samuel Cooper, Benjamin
Goddard, Benjamin Willard, James Whipple, James
Whipple, Jr., Thomas Pratt, Thomas Drury, James
Leland, Joseph Willard, Simeon Willard, Nehemiah
Howe, John Collar, Jonathan Hall, Jason Whitney,
Abner Stow, Ephraim Brigham, Jamirs Cutler, Elea-
zer Flagg and Samuel Warren. The ministry of Mr.
Prentice was disturbed by a controver.«y, having its
rise in the excitement attending the prtaching of
Whitefield, and he was dismissed July 10, 1747. Mr.
Prentice was born in Cambridge May 11, 1705, and
graduated at Harvard in 1727. After his dismissal
he was settled in Easton, but finally returned to
Grafton, where he died May 22, 1773.
The second pastor of the church was Rev. Aaron
Hutchinson, a native of Hebron, Conn., and a gradu-
ate of Yale, in the class of 1747. At his ordination,
which occurred June 6, 1750, Rev. Mr. Pomroy, of
Hebron, preached the sermon. His ministry con-
tinued until November 18, 1772, after which he re-
tired to a farm in Pomfret, Vt., where he lived until
his death in September, 1800.
After au interval of four years. Rev. Daniel Gros-
venor wai ordained October 19, 1774, and the Rev.
Ebenezer Gro venor, of Scituate, preached the ser-
mon. Mr. Grosvenor continued in the ministry until
1787, when lie was dismissed. He died at Shrews-
bury March 20, 1849. Mr. Grosvenor was followed
by Rev. John Miles, a native of Westminster, and a
graduate of Brown University in the class of 1794.
He was ordained October 12, 1796, and continued in
the pastorate until October 12, 1826. He was born
in Westminster November 3, 1765, and studied for
the ministry with Rev. Dr. Sanger, of Bridgewater.
He died in Shrewsbury March 20, 1849. His ordina-
tion sermon was preached by Rev. Asaph Rice, of
Westminster.
Rev. Mr. Searle succeeded Mr. Miles, and was dis-
missed December 3, 1831. At his ordination Rev.
Samuel Green, of Boston, preached the sermon. In
consequence of the dismissal of Mr. Searle, the church
in a body, with a large minority of the parish, " with-
drew and made provision for the preaching of the
gospel in its purity, finding that theie was no proba-
bility of their continuing to enjoy the labors of an
Evangelical pastor while connected with the parish."
The church having withdrawn from the parish, the
latter having adopted the Unitarian creed, a new
church was formed out of the parish August 5, 1832,
and a meeting was held April 2, 1832, at which
Pardon Aldrich was chosen moderator ; Harry Wood
was chosen clerk ; Isaac Wood, Charles M. Pratt and
Charles Brigham, Jr., were chosen assessors; and
Henry Wood, Joseph Bruce, Royal Keith, Charles
Brigham, Henry Parker, Samuel Wood and Leonard
Wheelock were chosen a committee to report what
disposition should be made of the old meeting-house.
At a subsequent meeting the committee on the meet-
ing-house reported that, " it is expedient to dispose
of the old meeting-house, and cause the same to be
removed from ofi' the Common, and for the purpose
to choose a committee to cause the pews in the old
meeting-house to be appraised by three disinterested
and discreet men and freeholders within the county
of Worcester, afterwards to sell the same at jjublic
auction, giving suitable notice of the intended sale,
to the highest bidder, on condition that the purchaser
cause the said old meeting-house to be removed irom
the Common within such reasonable time as said
committee shall direct, and to apportion the proceeds
of the sale among the owners of the pews in said
house according to the appraisement."
A new meeting-house was built, and a new church,
now the Unitarian, called the First Congregational,
was formed. The old meeting-house was sold and re-
moved to the westerly side of the street, on the west
side of the Common, where, in a remodeled state, it
still stands, one of the oldest relics of religious edi-
fices to be found in the State, and the present Uni-
tarian meeting-house was built. The new church,
organized in the Unitarian Society, consisted of
Joseph C. Luther, Isaac W. Wood, Joseph Bruce,
Harriet Bruce, Charles Brigham, Jr., Hannah R
Batchelier, Charles L. Heywood, Asahel Fairbanks
GRAFTON.
927
Susannah Wood, Azabah S. Heywood, Annah E.
Brigham, Leonard Wheelock, Persis Wheelock, Cath-
erine L. Heywood, Betsey Jackson, Rul'us P. Chase,
Deborah Knith, Tabatha Prentice, Sarah Lesure,
Martha G. Holbrook, James Shepard, Elizabeth
Shepard, Elizabeth Adams, Polly Knowlton, Au-
gustus S. Heywood and Hepsebah Clisbee.
This church and society were formed under the
care and direction of Rev. Edward Brooks Hall, who
after a i'eve months received a call from the First Con-
gregational Society of Providence, and was there in-
stalled November 14, 1832. Mr. Hall was born in
Medford.on the 2d of September, 1800, and {sraduated
at Harvard in 1829. In 1826 he was .-ettled in North-
hampton and afterward in Cincinnati. Mr. Hall wa.s
the father of Rev. Edward H. Hall, now settled over
the Unitarian Society in Old Cambridge.
Rev. Rufus A. Johnson followed Mr. Hall, and was
installed October 16, 1833. His pastorate continued
until March 12, 1838, and he died in Upton in 1860.
Rev. Cazneau Palfrey succeeded Mr. Johnson, and was
installed April 2-5, 1838. His pastorate continued until
April 2.5, 1843. Mr. Palfrey was born in Boston August
11, 180.5, and graduated at Harvard in 1826. Previous
to his ministry at Grafton he was settled over the
Unitarian Society in Washington, where he remained
six years.
Rev. Edward B. Willson followed Mr. Palfrey, and
was ordained January 3, 1844. His pastorate con-
tinued until July 1, 1852, when, at his own request,
he was dismissed. Mr. Willson was a native of
Petersham, and born August 15, 1820. During "his
pastorate the question was raised, and probably not
for tlie first time, as to who were the rightful owners
of the records of the First Church. As has been
already stated, in 1832, at the time of the settlement
of Mr. Hall, the parish became Unitarian, and the
church seceded in a body, carrying the records with
them. The seceding church, being unanimous in its
action, claimed still to be the First Church, while the
old parish claimed that the church emanating from
and attached to the First Parish was the First
Church, and owned the records. Soon after the
secession of the church an application for the records
was made by the Unitarian Society, but refused.
Now a new application was made in the form of a
compromise, which was granted in the same friendly
and Christian spirit in which it was made. The con-
troversy was settled by the loan of the first two
volumes of the records for the purpose of having
copies made by the Unitarian Parish, and by the gift
of a copy of that part of the third volume which
contained the records of the old church previous to
the secession. In the present resting-place of the
controversy, the seceding church holds the original
records and the First Parish holds the co|)ies. It is
of little consequence which is called the First Church
and which the Second, provided each adheres to the
spirit in which the old church was founded, and per-
forms faithfully the Cnristian work for which it was
originally established.
Alter the resignation of Mr. Willson the church
was without a pastor until 1858, and during a large
part of the interval its pulpit was supplied by Rev.
Farrington Mclntire, a native of Fitchburg, and a
graduate of Harvard in 1843. In 1858 Rev. William
G. Scandlin, a native of Portsmouth, England, and a
graduate of the Meadville School in 1854, was called.
He was installed June 23, J 858, and his pastorate
continued until his death, March 17, 1871. In the
early days of the War of the Rebellion, in response to
his offer of service, he was appointed chaplain of the
Fifteenth Regiment of Massachusetts Volunteers,
and received a leave of absence from his people.
During a subsequent service as a member of the
Sanitary Commission he was taken prisoner and con-
fined for a time in Libby prison. His services, both
as chaplain and dispenser of the bounties of the Com-
mission, were widely known and gratefully acknowl-
edged. During his pastorate his meeting-house was
burned, in 1862, and immediately rebuilt. His death
was universally lamented both by his own society
and his fellow-citizens of all denominations, and the
day of his funeral was observed in Grafton as a day
of mourning.
Rev. Charles H. Tindall, a native of New Bruns-
wick, N. J., where he was born October 17, 1841, suc-
ceeded Mr. Scandlin. At first a Methodist, he finally
entered the Harvard Divinity School, from wh'ch
institution he graduated in 1872. He was ordained
at Grafton on the 5th of the following September, on
which occasion the sermon was preached by Rev.
Charles Carroll Everett, of Cambridge. After three
years of service Mr. Tindall resigned, and in August,
1875, was settled over the Unitarian Society in Fall
River.
Rev. William Smith Burton, a native of Norwich,
Vt., succeeded Mr. Tindall. He was born Septem-
ber 29, 1832, and graduated at the Norwich Univer-
sity. He had seen service in the war as a cavalry
major, had engaged in the business of farming, and
had been settled over the Unitarian Societies of
Athol and Clinton. He was installed at Grafton in
January, 1876. The present pastor of the society,
settled in 1887, is Rev. Edmund Quincy Sewall Os-
good, a native of Cohasset and a graduate of Har-
vard, who had previously been settled for several
years over the old First Parish in Plymouth.
After the dismissal of Rev. Mr. Searle in 1831, to
which reference has already been made, the seceding
church and some of the members of the Old Parish
formed a new parish, and built the meeting-house
now .standing on the west side of the Common. The
first pastor of this society was Rev. John Wilde, a
native of Dorchester and a graduate of Jliddlebury
College in 1827. He was installed over "The Evan-
gelical Congregational Society," as the new society is
called, June 20, 1832. His pastorate continued until
928
HISTORY OF WORCESTER COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.
1839, after which time he resided in Conway, N. H.,
West Falmouth and Topshain, Me., Stamford, Conn.,
and Alexandria, Va., in which latter place he died,
February 10, 1868.
Mr. Wilde was followed by Rev. Thomas Curtis
Biscoe, born in Cambridge, July, 1810, and a gradu-
ate of Amherst in 1831. He was ordained July 18,
1838, and dismissed July 26, 1868. Rev. John H.
Windsor succeeded Mr. Biscoe, and was in.stalled
September 29, 1868. The present pastor of the so-
ciety, whose pastorate has now been extended four
years, is the Rev. B. A. Robie, and under his as well
as jjreceding pastorates the condition of the society
is one of union and prosperity.
The next religious society to be mentioned in the
order of its birth, assuming that the Unitarian So-
ciety and the Evangelical Congregational have a
common date of origin, is the First Baptist Society,
which, with the two societies already mentioned, is
planted at the central village. It was formed in
1767, and in 1773 had for the first time a minister of
its own. From that year until 1775 Rev. Mr. Win-
chester served, and in 1779 Rev. Mr. Eustick began
a three years' ministry. In 1784 Rev. Mr. Ingalls
became connected with the society ; but at the end
of three years his ministry terminated, and the so-
ciety gradually faded away. After the dissolution of
the society, those holding to the Baptist faith held
meetings at private houses until the year 1800, when,
on the 20th of June, the present church was organ-
ized with the names of sixty persons signed to the
Articles of Faith and Covenant. Early in the next
year a meeting-house was built which gave place in
1830 to the edifice now used by the society. After
various temporary supplies. Rev. Thomas Barrett
was ordained June 12, 1816, and remained until
1821, and, after an interval of two years. Rev. Otis
Converse was ordained June 25, 1823, and resigned
March 31, 1836.
Rev. John Jennings was installed August 10, 1836,
and resigned in 1842 to take charge of a church in
Worcester. In the year of the resignation of Mr.
Jennings, Rev. Calvin Newton assumed the pastor-
ate, and in the next year he also resigned. Mr.
Newton was followed by Rev. Benjamin A. Edwards,
who was ordained March 19, 1845. After a pastorate
of four years, he was succeeded by Rev. Mr. McCiear,
who remained only a short time, and was followed
by Rev. Joseph Smith in May, 1851. In 1857 the
pastorate of Mr. Smith terminated, and in the same
year Rev. J. M. Chick began a three years' ministry.
In 1861 Rev. Gilbert Robbins became pastor, and
remained until 1868. In the following year Rev. De
Forest Safford was installed, but remained only a few
months. In August, 1872, Rev. A. C. Huzzey was
ordained, and was followed by Rev. Frank J. Bart-
lett, the present pastor.
The Second Baptist Church, located at North
Grafton, was formed in 1836, by members from the
churches of the central village and of Shrewsbury
and Boylston. In 1838 Rev. Minor G. Clarke was
settled over the church, and in the next year a
meeting-house was built. Mr. Clarke was followed
by Rev. William C. Richards in 1841, Rev. Alfred
Pinuey in 1844, Rev. William C. Richards in 1846,
Rev. William Leverett in 1849, and at later dates by
Rev. Joseph M. Rockwood, Rev. J. D. E. Jones and
Rev. L. M. Sargent.
The Free-Will Baptist Church, in that part
of Grafton called Farnumsville, began to hold meet-
ings in Saundersville in 1838. In 1839 the church
was organized with thirteen members, and in 1840
Rev. Benjamin D. Peck was installed as pastor. He
was dismissed in 1846, and followed by Rev. George
T. Day, who was installed in December, 1846. Rev.
Joseph Whittemore was installed April 1, 1851, and
dismissed April 5, 1852. During his pastorate the
church changed its location to Farnumsville, where
it now holds its services. Rev. Joseph Thayer was
installed in 1852, and, after a season of languishment,
followed by a reorganization, the society settled Rev.
B. F. Pritchard in 1862, who remained until 1864.
Rev. M. W. Burlingame was installed March 21, 1865,
and dismissed the next year. Rev. G. W. Wallace
followed in 1867, Rev. Daniel C. Wheeler in 1870,
Rev. A. M. Freeman in 1871, Rev. Francis Read in
1876, and Rev. Andrew J. Eastman in 1878. The
present pastor is Rev. Mr. Sherw^ood, who succeeded
Rev. W. H. Ward.
St. Philip's Church was established in 1848, in
which year a small chapel was built in the central
village. Until 1858 it was a mission church, and
attended by Father Sheridan and other pastors from
Blackstone. In 1858 it was annexed to St. Ann's
Church of Worcester, and attended by Father Powers
of that church until 1869. In July, 1869, it was joined
with the Millbury Mission, and made a parish, under
the pastorate of Rev. M. J. Doherty. In October,
1869, the (irafton Mission was made a parish, to
which that of Upton was joined. Rev. A. M. Barrett
was appointed, in 1869, resident pastor, and was suc-
ceeded by the present pastor. Rev. James Boyle.
There are also Catholic societies, more recently
formed, at North Grafton and Fishersville.
The Saundersville Congregational Church was
formed in 1860, with sixteen members. Its first
pastor was Rev. William Miller, who continued his
service from that ye!^r until April 6, 1862. He was
succeeded by Rev. Simeon Waters in 1863, who
remained about three years. Rev. James E. Hall
followed in 1867, and remained one year. His suc-
cessor was Rev. Alvan J. Bates, who was installed
June 22, 1869, and who was followed by Rev. Harvey
M. Stone, whose installation took place December 18,
1878. The present pastor is Rev. B. F. Perkins.
A Methodist Episcopal Church was organized at
North Grafton in 1842 and reorganized in 1866. Its
present pastor is Rev. E. H. Tunnicliff.
GRAFTON.
929
The town of Grafton was not destined to a career
of peace when its act of incorporation was secured.
After a few 3'ears the French and Indian War broke
out, and in Grafton and vicinity a company was
formed to aid in the relief of Fort William Henry.
Of this company thirty-six belonged to Grafton, and
the commander of the company was Captain James
Whipple, and its march began August 16,1757. In
1758 twenty-three more enlisted for the service, and
in 1759 nineteen additional. A list of the soldiers
engaged in this war belonging to Grafton may be
found in " Pierce's History," already referred to.
In the War of the Revolution Grafton was not behind
her sister towns in patriotic efforts to establish the
American Union. At a town-meeting held February
1. 1773, in answer to a letter from the Committee of
Correspondence in Boston, the town voted, " that they
would defend their rights at all hazards ; that they
would not suffer their property to be taken from them
in an unconstitutional manner, and that they were
ready to co-operate with their brethren in Boston and
other places in any measures to obtain a redress of
grievances." With regard to the importation of tea,
the town resolved, "as the people of this town, that
any one individual, or any body of men, that shall
encourage, aid or as^iist in importing or receiving any
such tea, or any other article, while subject to a duty,
the sole purpose whereof is to raise money to appro-
priate to any sordid measure, or any use whatever,
contrary to our just rights of distributing our own
property, wherewith God and nature hath made us
free, can but be viewed as criminal to our country, as
well as to the mother-State, and must be so viewed by
us." On the occurrence of the battle of Lexington,
on the 19th of April, 1775, messengers were sent
throughout the State of Massachusetts, and on the
same day two companies marched for Boston. These
companies were followed by continued enlistments
during the war, and the names of those engaged in
the war may be found in the history of Mr. Pierce,
who has made an exhaustive search of the archives
at the State-House, in order to make the lists com-
plete. It is not necessary to repeat these lists in this
narrative. It is sufficient to say that Grafton bore
her full share of the burdens of the war, and furnished
her full quota of the soldiers necessary to bring it to
a favorable conclusion.
Neither the French War with England at the close
of the last century, in which the maritime towns
severely suffered, nor the War of 1812, materially
affected the interests and welfare of Grafton. Her
interests were at that time chiefly agricultural, and
the annoyances of war failed to reach her borders.
Her people were at that time also initiating manufac-
turing enterprises, and the home market they sought
was the more thoroughly secured by the distracting
influences of the war on foreign trade. It is by no
means certain that the foreign complications, which
began with the French Revolution and closed with
oil
the peace of 1815, did not serve to establish on a
firmer foundation the manufacturing enterprises of
our country, than could have been secured with the
channels of trade clear and unobstructed.
Between the War of 1812 and the War of the
Rebellion little occurred to demand the services of
the pen of the historian. The town enjoyed a peaceful
country life, gradually enlarging its population, stead-
ily increasing and perfecting the means of educating
its people, constantly extending its manufactures, and
the better sustaining its people by honest labor in
their search for a more thorough enjoyment of life,
by the cultivation of their social and intellectual
powers. While in a condition of prosperity never
before experienced, the War of 181)1 came on. Though
the premonitions had been unfavorable, yet on the
whole the war was a surprise, and consequently the
news of the attack on Massachusetts troops in Balti-
more on the 19th of April, 1861, took the people by
surprise. On the 20th of April, the day of the
reception of the news, the selectmen called an informal
meeting of the town to be held on the afternoon of
that day. The selectmen at that time were, Jonathan
D. Wheeler, H. S. Warren, George W. Estabrook and
John McClellan. Charles Brigham was chosen moder-
ator, and James W. White, secretary. Prayer was
offered by Rev. Wm. G. Scandlin, and a committee,
consisting of Esek Saunders, Wra. F. Slocum, W. D.
Wheeler, J. S. Nelson and Thomas C. Briscoe, was
chosen to prepare business for the meeting. Benjamin
Smith, an old Revolutionary soldier, ninety-eight
years of age, was seated on the platform. At this
meeting it was resolved that " we, citizens of the
United States residing in Grafton, do pledge to our
country in this hour of trial and need, our property,
our lives and our unconditional support, and that we
will do all in our power to defend our country against
the dangers which threaten its existence." It was
also resolved that " we will encourage the organization
of a company of volunteer militia in the town of
Grafton, to be equipped, drilled and ready for service
at their country's call, and that it is incumbent on us
to see that the families of those who may be called
into service are supplied during their absence." It
was further resolved that "we recommend the holding
of a legal town-meeting as soon as may be, and that
it is the sense of this meeting that the town should
appropriate the sum of four thnusand dollars, or so
much as may be needed to defray the expenses of
organizing such company of volunteer militia, and to
render such aid to the families of those who enlist as
may be needed." A committee of seven was appointed,
consisting of Rufus E. Warren, Esek Saunders, Alfred
Morse, C. M. Pratt, W. D. Wheeler, L. M. Sargent
and Wra. F. Slocum, to procure the enlistment and
charter of a volunteer company. At the close of the
meeting the selectmen at once issued their warrant
for a town-meeting to be held on the 29th of April,
and on that occasion S. D. Hall was chosen moderator.
fl30
HISTORY OF WORCESTER COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.
Rev. J. M. Rockwood offered a prayer, and a com-
mittee of fourteen was chosen to have a general over-
sight of military affiiirs. The committee consisted of
A. M. Bigelow, Winthrop Faulkner, Rufus E. Warren,
Chandler M. Pratt, .Tas])er S. Nelson, Alfred Morse,
Levi Rawsou, Esek Saunders, S. P. Champney, J. B.
Adams, Charles Brigham, Lawson ]\runyan, S. J.
Axtell and A. M. Bigelow. At this meeting it was
voted to appropriate four thousand dollars for the
purpose of organizing a company, and to pay one
dollar per day to each volunteer who engaged in
drilling. It is not necessary, however, to repeat here
the different votes of the town passed at various times.
The town furnished three hundred and ninety-three
men for the war, ten of whom were commissioned
officers. The whole amount of money expended during
the war was .'?(38,001.09, of which the sum of
$28,650.86, expended in State aid, was repaid by the
Commonwealth.
The following list of persons who enlisted or were
drafted into the service during the war is taken from
the "Report of the Selectmen of Grafton" for the
year ending March 5, 1S(J6 :
Thomas D. Allen, three yeui-s loth Kegimeut, bund
Thomas D. Alleu. three years 20th Regiment, bantl
Beojiimin F. Allen, three veare 3f>th Regiment
Bradford E. Aldrich, three years 15th Regiment, Co. G
Albert D. Amsden, three years Cavalry, Capt. Reed's Co.
Joseph K. Axtoll, nine uionths 5lBt Regiment, Co. E
Seth J. Axtell, Jr., nine months 51st Regiment, Co. E
Ira C. Aldrich, nine months 5lst Regiment, Co. E
Cyrus R. Axtell, one year Heavy Artillery
Charles Apel, three years.
Charles M. Batchelder, three yeui-s 15th Regiment, Co. G
Henry S. Ball, threi* years loth Regiment, Co. G
Adelbert L. Brown, three years loth Regiment, C!o. G
A. T. Bryant, three years 15th Regiment, Co. G
Joseph Bonner, three yeai"s I5th Regiment, Co. G
Charles W. Berry, three yeais 15th Regiment, Co. G
Thomas M. Bigelow, three years 15th Regiment, Co. G
George M. Bigelow, thi'ee years 3ith Regiment, Co. A
Harvey Bassutt, throe years loth Regiment, Co, G
Gilbert E. Balcom, tiirce years 15th Regiment, Co. G
Lucius Boydou, three years 15th Regiment, Co. G
George R. Brown, three yeare 25tb Regiment, Co. A
John S. Burns, three years Slth Regimant, Co. A
Joseph Bardsley, three years loth Regiment, Co. G
Thomas C. Bryant, three yeare 34th Regiment, Co. A
George E. Burns, three years loth Regiment, Co. G
Abel H. Balcom, three years 36th Regiment
Peter Barras, three years Butler's Brigade
Joseph Buxtv.n, throe years 3Gth Regiment, Co. ('
John \V. Bigelow, nine months 51st Regiment, Co. E
Arthur G. Biscoe, nine mouths 6l8t Regiment, Co. E
Willard Balcom, nine months 51st Regiment, Co. E
Daniel C. Brown, nine months 51pt Regiment, Co. E
George A. Bartlett, nine months olst Regiment, Co. E
George A. Bartlett, one year Heavy Artillery
Edward Bonner, three years Heavy Artillery
B. F. Barney (drafted), three years 1st Provost Guard
Joshua Brewer, three years Heavy Artillery, Co. A
Thomas H. Brewer, three years Heavy Artillery, Co. A
Me.rcu8 M. Bryan, three years 58tli Regiment, Co. F
Edward E. Bigelow, three years 4th Cav.
Herbert Bond, three years 15th Regiment, Co. D
Wm. Blodgett, three years 15th Regiment
H. C. Brown, three years 15th Regiment
Marcus M, Bruce, one year 1st Heavy Artillery
John Brophy, one year lat Heavy Artillery
JobD. Ballou, one year .Ist Heavy ArtiUery
Alauson E. Burns, one year Heavy Artillery
^larciis D. Balcom, one year Heavy Artillery
Ambrose Boynton, one year Heavy Artillery
Alden M. Bigelow, one year Heavy Artillery
John Chappel, three years 15th Regiment, Co. G
Charles Claflin, three years 15th Regiment, Co. G
Charles Claflin, three years..: 4th I'av., Co. G
Vk'm. Collins, three years 15th Regiment, Co. G
Cliarles L. Caswell, three years 15th Regiment, Co. G
AVillard G. Claflin, three yeara 15th Rc'giment,Co. G
Curtis Cady, three years l.'>tli Regiment, Co. G
Andrew J. Copp, three years Ifit Bat., M. V. M.
Harrison J. Clisbee, three years loth Regiment, Co. G
Julius A. Clisbee, three years 16th Regiment, Co. G
Preston A. Champney, three years 2oth Regiment, Co.
Samuel G. Champney, three years 'J5th Regiment, Co. D
Leroy S. Currier, three yeare SSth Regiment, C^). K
Leroy S. Currier, throe yeai-s Uoth Regiment, Co. K
Lorin S. Clark, three years 34th Regiment, Co. A
Villard Clapp, three jears 34th Regiment, Co. A
Donald A. Campbell, three yeare 15th Regiment
Franklin T. Coburn, three years 15th Regiment
A. M. Cole, three years. 39th Regiment
Edward F. Chambeilin, nine months 51st Regiment, Co. E
Edward F. Chamberlin, one year Heavy Artillery
MuscB Caswell, nine months 5l6t Regiment, Co. E
Win. A. Copp, nine months 51st Regiment, Co. E
Henry K. ('ady, three years 4lh Cavalry
Wm. A. Clapp, three years '^d Cav., bugler
Joel F. Cobb, three years Band
Andrew S. Cobb, three j-ears 15th Regiment, Co. D
S. L. Cnmmings, three years 15th Regiment, Co, D
George G. Childe, three years 15th Regiment, Co. D
J. W. Cryan, three years Signal Corps
Jonas H. Chickering, one year Heavy Artillery
Barney Cain, three years.
Daniel Callahan, three years 17th Regiment, Co. A
John W. Davis, three years 15th Regiment, Co. G
James T. Dennis, three years 15th Regiment, Co. G
Wm. B. Dean, three years 15th Regiment, Co. G
Horace Day, three years 15th Regiment, Co. G
,Iuhn C. Desmond, three years loth Regiment, Co. G
Augustus E. Davis, three years 25th Regiment, Co. K
Augustus E. Davis, three yeare 25th Regiment, Co. K
Orin L. Davie, three years 15th Regiment, Co. G
Marcus M. Daniels, nine mouths 5Ut Regiment, Co. E
James Davis, nine months 51st Regiment, (Jo. E
John H. Drury, nine months 5l6t Regiment, Co. E
John H. Drury, one year Heavy Artillery
Mariner 0. Davis, three years Heavy Artillery
George Davis, three years Heavy Artillery
Everett Davis, three years let Cav.
James Daniels, three years 15th Regiment, C^j. D
Marcus M. Daniels, three years 15th Regiment, Co. G
Watts E. Davis, three years 26th Regiment, Co. D
John Doran, three years Ist U. S. A., Co. H
Reuben A. Ellis, three years 15th Regiment, (!o. G
George F. Estabook, one year Heavy Artillery
W. Forehard (capt.), three years 15th Regiment, Co. G
Levi J. Ford, three years 15th Regiment, Co. G
Walter J. Flags, three years loth Regiment, Co. G
Alton W. Fairbanks, three years 15th Regiment, Co. G
Francis P. Fairbanks, three years 15th Regiment, Co. G
Henry A. Frissell, three years 15th Regiment, Co. G
George H. French, nine months olst Regiment, Co. E
George H. French, one year Heavy Artillery
Charles N. Frenfh, nine months 5lBt Regiment, Co. E
Wm. C. Fletcher, nine months 5l8t Regiment, Co. E
Wm. C. Fletcher, one year.
George W. Ferris, nine months 51st Regiment, Co. E
George W. Ferris, 1 year Heavy Artillery
M'm. H. Fisher, nine months 5l8t Regiment, Co. E
Wm. S. Fullerton, three yeare 4th Cav.
Patrick Furfey, three years 11th Regiment, Co. A
John Fasell, three years 2Uth Regiment
George E. Fressell, one year Heavy Artillery
GRAFTON.
931
George A. Farren.
Henry H. Gilson, three yeai-s 26th Regiment, Co.B
Joseph Griniin, three years 2oth Regiment, Co. K
Joseph H. Grant, three years 34th Regiment, Co. A
James S. Gee, three years 21st Rey;iment, Co. F
Welcome F. Gifford, nine months 51st Regiment, Co. E
James Gleason, nine months 51st Regiment, Co. E
James Gleason, one year Heavy Artillery
Perley Goddard, nine months 5l8t Regiment, Co. E
Ora S. Gibhs, three years 4th Cav.
Alex. Grovling, three years lotli Regiment, Co. G
L. F. C. Garvin, nine months olst Regiment, Co. E
Wm. H. Gilaon, three years 26th Regiment
John H. Goddard, one year Heavy Artillery
Charles Gay, three years.
Newell K. Holden, three years 16th Regiment, Co. G
Francis E. Huchens, three years 15tli Regiment, Co. G
Jamea Howarth, three years Iftth Regiment, Co. K
James Howarth, three yeare oVth Keginient, Co A
John Holland, three years loth Regiment, Co. G
Cromwell L. Hill, three years l.'ith Regiment, Co. G
Eduin W. Hammond, three years 15fli Regiment, Co. G
John Flowiit, three years 15th Regiment, Co. G
James Hughes, three years 15th Regiment, Co.G
Alfred A. Howe, three years 15th Regiment, Co. G
Edward A, Howe, three years. 21st Regiment. Co. D
Dexter B. Hathaway, three years 2lBt Regiment, baud
Dexter B, Hathaway, three years Corps D'Afrique
George W*. Hitstings, three yeai*s 25th Regiment, Co. D
Theodore E. Holt, three years 15th Regiment
Adolphus Howe, three years 15th Regiment, Co. K
Wiii. H. Hammond, nine months 51st Regiment, Co. E
Wm. H. Hammond, one year Heavy Artillery
Charles J. Holden. nine months 51st Regiment, Co. E
Edwin A. Howe, three years. Heavy Artillery
Martin T. Hildreth, three years 4th Cav.
Archibald B. Hudson, three years 15th Regiment, Co. E
Michael Hennessey, three years Heavy Artillery
Charles E. Howe, three years 4th Cav.
C. M. Hanson, three years Signal Corps
Samuel D. Hall, one year Heavy Artillery
Daniel Harris, three years 15th Regiment, Co. G
Charles A. Johnson, three years I5th Regiment, Cv. G
Charles A. Johnson, three years.
R chard Johnson, three yeai"8 15th Regiment, Co. G
Richard Johnson, three years.
Edward S. Johnson, thi'ee years 15th Regiment, Co. G
Hugh Jamison, three years 25th Regiment, Co. E
Hugh Jamison, three j-ears 25th Regiment
George F. Jourdan, nine months 51st Regiment, C'O. E
Asa H. Jourdan, nine months 5l8t Regiment, Co. E
Jerome Johnson, three years 25th Regiment, Co. K
John H. Kimball, three years 15tli Regiment, Co. G
James C. Kelly, three years loth Itegiment, Co. G
.lames C. Kelly, three years Invalid Corps
James L. Keating, three years 15th Regiment, Co. G
John Keyes, three years 38th Regiment. Co. E
Patrick Kelley, three years 34th Regiment, Co. A
James S. Kirkup, three years loth Regiment, Co. G
Russell Kempton, nine months 51st Regiment, Co. E
Benjamin W. Knight, three years 34th Regiment, Co. A
Cliarles E. Kimball, three years Signal Corps
Darwin N, Kelsea, one year Heavy Artillery
E. Walter Keith, one year Heavy Artillery
Royal A. Leland, three years 2oth Regiment, Co. D
Royal A. Leland, three years 25th Regiment, Co. D
Cheney Lathe, Jr., nine months 51st Regiment, Co. E
Cheney Lathe, Jr., three years. Signal Corps
John J. Leland, nine months 51st Regiment, Co, E
Thomas 0. Lucas, three years. Corps D'Afrique, band
Stephen N. Lougee, Jr., three years Corps D'Afrique, band
Augustus J. Leland, three years 25th Regiment
Isaac Laduke, three yeara.
John Lagassey, three years 15th Regiment, Co. G
John Laduke, three years 5Rth Regiment, Co. K
Mack Lynch, three years 58th Regiment, Co. F
Smith J. Lee, three years 67th Regiment
Wm. Mathews, three years
...15th Regiment, Co. G
Frank H. Marble, three years
...15th Regiment, Co. G
George A. Macken, three yeare
..I5th Regiment, Go. G
Frederick C. Margerum, three yeare
..15th Regiment, Co. G
Willie E, Moore, three years
...15th Regiment, Co. G
John fliai-tin, three years
..15th Regiment, Co. G
John Martin, three years.
George A. Monroe, three years
....15th Regiment, Co. G
67th Ref'iment
Joseph Myott, three years
15th Regiment
Charles L. Mitchell, three years
15th Regiment
.Tolin McKenzie, three years
...1.3th Regiment, Co. G
James E. McClellan, nine months
...5lst Regiment, Co. E
51st Regiment Co E
.James W. McKenzie, nine months.
....51st Regiment, Co. E
2d Cav
John McLaughlin, nine months
Heavy Artillery
James McHenry, nine months.
Heavy Artillery
A. J. Miller, three years
....22d Regiment, Co. D
Charles W. Melney, three years
Heavy Artillery
James W. Magrath, one year
Heavy Artillery
James Msllor, one year
Heavy Artillery
John E. McClellan, one year
Heavy Artillery
Bernard Melone, three years
3d U. S. Artillery
Charles Myott, three years
20th Regiment
James Moore three years.
Wm. Morton, three years.
Palrick Mulguerry.
Elmer 31. Newton, three years
...15th Regiment, Co.G
Leroy A. Nelson, three years
....Ifith Regiment, Co. A
George M. Newton, one year
Heavy Artillery
Jonathan E. Nichols, one year
Heavy Artillery
Albert S. Newton, three years
Heavy Artillery
Charles H. Oaks, three years
...15th Regiment, Co. G
Francis A. Plympton, three years
..15th Regiment, Co. G
....21st Regiment Co D
Henry W. Pratt, three years
42d Regiment
Wm. H. Putnam, three years
...25th Regiment, Co. A
Wm. H. Putnam, three years.
..25th Regiment, Co. A
Joshua R. Parmenter, three years
...i'5th Regiment, Co. K
Austen Putnam, three years
...34tii Regiment, Co. A
Richard K. Pratt, three j'eare
..34th Regiment, Co. A
Otis B. Pratt, nine months
....51st Regiment, Co. E
George B. Pratt, nine months
...51st Regiment, Co. E
Samuel H.Pratt, nine months
...51st Regiment, Co. E
John Pogue (2d), nine mouths
...5l8t Regiment, Co. E
M. V. Powers (drafted) three years
Ist Provost Guard
Charles Putnam (dmfted), three years.
Ist Provost Guard
Henry A. Peckham, three yeai-s
4lh Cav.
. . . ''5th Regiment
Henry H. Pratt, three years
25th Regiment
Webster D. Plympton, three years
...15th Regiment, Co. G
Roliert Preston, three j'ears
Uith Regiment
Simon M. Plaisted, one year
Heavy Artillery
Luke G. Pratt, one year
Heavy Artillery
John E. Prentice, one year
Heavy Artillery
Wm. H. Putnam (2d), one year
Heavy Artillery
Frederick B. Robinson, three years
..15th Regiment, Co. G
Jatnes E. Richards, three years
...15th Regiment, Co. G
..15th Regiment, Co. G
Marvin A. Roods, three years
...15th Regiment, Co. G
Rufus A. Roods, three years
..15th Regiment, Co. K
Wm. E. Robbins, three years
...15th Regiment, Co. G
Alpheus Remick, three years
...15th Regiment, Co. I
Moses Rivod. three years
57th Regiment
John Roherson, Jr., three years
58th Regiment
Stephen Roberson, three years
58th Regiment
932
HISTORY OF WORCESTER COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS
Augustus Semick, three years 58th Regiment
Ira J. Rigge, one year Heavy Artillery
Nathaniel P. Reinick, one year Heavy Artillery
Henry F. Robinson, one year ..Heavy Artillery
Jonathan P. Stowe, three years loth Regiment Co. G
Albert A. Smith, three years loth Regiment Co. G
John D. Sherman, three years 15th Regiment Co. Q
Charles Snow, three years Iftth Regiment Co. G
Alfred Snow, three years 15th Ke;;inient Co. G
Peter Shurhurt, three years loth Regiment, Go. G
Charles F. Spring, three years 31th Regiment, Co. A
John Savage, three years 34th Regiment, Co. A
Wm. Sherry, three years 34th Regiment, Co. A
Orin T.Stacy, three years 34th Regiment, Co. A
Timothy Sullivan, three yeare .34th Regiment, Co. A
John M. Sargent, three years 15th Regiment, Co. G
Silas W. Smith, three years 3Cth Regiment
John R. Smith, three years lolh Regiment
Matliew Smith, thr^^e years 0th Regiment, Co. B
Lucius M. Sargent, three years 15th Regiment, Co. G
J. Frank Sweeney, three years 15th Regiment, Co. G
J. Frank Searle, nine months Slst Regiment, Co. E
J. Frank Searle, one year Heavy Artillery
Charles Snow {2d) (drafted), three years 1st I'rovust Guard
Edwjird R. Smith, three years 4th Cav.
Augustus Sibly, three yeara 15th Regiment, Co. D
Wm. Sibley, three yeare 15th Regiment Co. G
Edward Shambo. three yeare 57th Regiment, Co. H
Charles Skinner, three years Heavy Artillery
George K. Stratton, one year Heavy Artillei-y
James B. Stratton, one year Heavy Artillery
Ithamer F. Stow, one year Heavy Artillery
Levi Simson, one year.
Henry Stampley, one year.
John Shaw, one year, 5oth Regiment, Co. K
John G. Thornton, one year 15th Regiment, Co. K
George E. Tiffany, one year 15th Rejfiment, Co. G
Peter Tuliey, one year 21st Regiment, Co. E
Emory A. Taft, nine months olst Regiment, Co. A
Edward Terrell, three years 57th Regiment
Richard Truax, one year Heavy Artillery
Vail.
Abiam Viincuren, throe years .Slst Rej^iment, Co. E
James X>. Whitney, three yeare 21st Regiment, Co. D
James D. Whitney, three years .21st lUgiment, Co. D
George N. Wheelock, three years 16th Regiment, Co. G
Albert Wait, three years X5th Regiment, Co. G
Luther W. Whitney, three years 22d Regiment, Co. D
James White, three years 22d Regiment, Co. D
Calvin A. Wesson, three years 25th Regiment, Co. A
Hale Wesson, three years 25th Regiment, Co. A
James Wesson, three years 25th Regiment, Co. A
Frederick Whitney, three years 15th Regiment, Co. Q
Caleb W. Wlieeler, three years .34tli Regiment, Co.A
Franklin Wiiitny, three years 34th Regiment, Co. A
Frederick Whitney (2d), three years 15th Regiment, Co. G
W. F. Wheeler (capt.), nine months 51st Regiment, Co. E
John Wheeler, nine months 51st Regiment, Co. E
Henry A. Wessun, nine months 51st Regiment, Co. E
George C. N. Webster, nine mouths 51st Regiirient. Co. E
<;eorge C. N. Webster, one year Heavy Artillery
James S. Walker, nine months Slst Regiment, Co. E
Lyman A. Walcott, nine months 51st Regiment, Co. E
George W. AValcott, three years 4th Cav.
Joseph C. Webb, three yeare 57th Regiment, Co. H
Wm. R.Walker, three years 5Tth Regiment, Co. A
Sidney H. Whitney, three years 4th Cav.
Joseph Wilson, three years 58th Regiment, Co. F
Albert White, three years 57th Regiment, Co. G
Azor B. Wood, une year Heavy Artillery
Fred. F. Walcott, one year Heavy Artillery
Charles A. White, one year Heavy Artillery
Wm. S. Wood, one year Heavy Artillery
George T. Whitney, three years 22d Regiment
Harry Wigfall, three years.
John Wilson, three years.
George M. Newton, three years Navy
Edward Jennings, three yeare Navy
Sam\iel H. Wood, three years Navy
Arba T. Turner three years ' Navy
The following soldiers were killed or died in the
service :
Albert D. Amsden died at New Orleans^ May 13, 1K62
Henry S. Ball died December 6, 1862
Adelbert L. Brown died Jrine 19, 1862, of wounds
A. T. Bryant killed at A nti.-tam September 17, 1862
Joseph Benner died May 13, 1864, of wounds
Gilbert E. Balcom died December 12, 1862
Lucius E. Boydeu died August 26, 1862
Joseph Bardsley killed at Gettysburg in July, 1863
George E. Burns died November 6, 1862, of wounds
Peter Barris died December l;i, 1862, at New Orleans
Charles L. Caswell died December 15,1862, of wotinds
Curtis Cady killed June 4, 1864, at Cold Harbor
Harrison J. Clisbee killed September 17, 1862, at Antietam
Preston A.Cbampney died in Andereonville Prison
Sanmel G. Champney died October 10, 1864
Leroy S. Currier killed July 10, isiU
Donald A. Campbell. died in prison February lt'\ 1866
Horace Day killed at Ball's Bluff
Orin L. Davie killed at Antietam September 17, 1862
George Davis died in 1864
Reuben A. Ellis died in 1862
Francis P. Fairbanks died December 15, 1862
Henry A. Fressell died March 7, 1863, in prison
Charles N. French died February 28, 1863
John Howith died May 7, 1864, of wounds
Jauies* Hughes died September 27, 1862, of woundn
Alfred A. Howe died December 23, 1H64, in prison
Martin T. Hildreth killed October 28, 1864
Edward S. Johnson killed
Jerome Johnson died February 23, 186,"i, in prison
John H. Kimball died in prison May S, 1864
Royal A. Leland died in October, 1^64, at Newbern
Augustus J. Leland killed June 3, 1864
Wm. Mathews kille<l December 13, 1862, at Fredericksburg
Frank H Marble died November 26, 1862
George A. JIackiu , died in prison June 22, 1864
Willie E. Storse died December 30, 1862, of wounds
Charles L. Mitchell died October 19, 1862, of wounds
James E. McClellan drowned July 8, 1863
Charles E. Monroe died January 28, 1^63
Charles Myott died May 20, 1864, of wounds
Elmer M. Newton killed at Ball's Bluff August 21, 1861
Leroy A. Nelsuu killed December 13, 1862, at Fredericksburg
.Sylvester Oaks. killed December 13, 1862, at Fredericksburg
Samuel H. Pratt died February 2, 1863
Frederick B. Robinson killed at Ball's Blutl, Augui^t 21, 1861
Abner 11. Rice killed in the Wilderness
Alpheus Remick died February 27, 1H64
Jonathan P, Stowe died October 1, 1862, of wounds
John I). Sherman killed at Ball's Bluff August 21, 1861
Alfred Snow died October Is, 1862, of wounds
Peter Shurbart lulled at Ball's Bluff August 21, 1861
John M. Sargent killed at Antietam
Matliew Smith killed June 27, 1862, at Gaines' Mills
William Sibley died in 1866
Edward Torrell died in prison
George N. Wheelock killed at Gettysburg July 1, 1863
Lyman A, Walcott died June 17, 1863
Joseph C. Webb died July 30, 1864
It has been stated in the early part of this narrative
that the original Indian reservation of Hassanamisco
; was four miles square. This territory of four miles
square was what was purchased of the Indians by the
Hassanamisco proprietors, and the town of Grafton
when incorporated was limited to the same. At
some time after the incorporation of the town, and
before 1793, a strip of land a half-mile in width was
set off from Shiew&bury on the north and the same
GRAFTON.
933
amouut of laud set otl' from Suttou on the south and
both were annexed to Grafton, making that town five
miles long instead of four, as it originally was. The
dates of these annexations the writer has not been
able to learn and he only knows that they were before
1793, because they are mentioned in the "History of
Worcester County," written by Peter Whitney, and
published in that year. The original boundaries of
the town have experienced three other changes besides
those referred to. By an .ict of the General Court
passed .Tune 14, 1823, it was provided —
That Abel Willard and Juhu Willarti, witli tlie fuUowiug described
gore of land, be annexed to the town of Graftun, to wit; beginning at
the northwest corner of the town of Gmfton on Mitlbury line; thence
on Baid Millbnry line to the northeast corner of said town; thence on
the .same course north two degrees west to Flint's pond {so called); thence
bounding down said pond to the outlet thereof; thence down the thread
of said outlet until it meets little Blackstone river; thence down the
centre of said river until it intersects the line of said Grafton; thence on
said Grafton line to the first bounds; and that in future the said Abel
and John shall be entitled to all the privileges and sut'ject to all the
duties incident to the inhabitants of said town of Graftou,
By an act passed March 3, 1826, it was provided :
That Tarrant Merriaui and his family, together with a certain tract
of land situated in the town of Slirewsbury, containing about oue hun-
dred and eighty-six acres more or less, chiefly owned by said Merriaru,
and bounded as follows, to wit ; On three sides by the town of Grafton,
and on the fourth side by a line beginning at a point on the boundary
line of said Gmfton, where the corners of one Jasper Rand's land and
of the said Merriam's land meet, and on the east side of one Elijah
Brooks' land, and thence running east ten degrees south thirty-seven
rods to the road leading from said Grafton to said Shrewsbury, thence
easterly on said road until it conies to said Alerriam's land on the norfli
Bide, thence east twenty-seven degrees north one hundred and twenty-
five rods, thence east eight degrees north to a corner of the north
boundary line of said Grafton, be and the same are hereby set off from
said Shrewsbury and annexed to said Grafton, and they shall forever
hereafter be subject to all the duties and entitled to all the privileges of
inhabitants of said Graftou ; provided, however, that said Ulerriam and
the other owners of said tract of land shall be holden to l)ay all taxes
that have been lawfully assessed upon them by said Shrewsbury previous
to the passing of this act.
By still another act, passed March 3, 1S42, it was
provided that :
So iiiHch of Sutton aa lies northerly and easterly of the following
boundary lines, to wit: Beginning at the northwest corner of North-
bridge, thence south eighty-two degrees west two hundred and twelve
and one-half rods to the northeast corner of the school-house number
ten in Sutton, thence north four degrees and nine minutes west to Graf-
ton line, two hundred and eighty-seven and one-half rods to tJraffon
line, is hereby annexed to Graftou ; provided, however, that all persons
so annexed shall be holden to pay all taxes now due in the same manner
as if this act had not passed.
It has been stated that four acres of land were set
apart in 1828 for a meeting-house, a school-house
and a training-field. A school-house was built in
1731 on what is now the Common, and there remained
until 1832, when it was removed. It was twenty-one
feet long and sixteen feet wide. Up to 1737 it con-
tinued the only school in the town, Imt in a very few
years after that date the schotil became, a-s it was
called, a " moving school," and was taught in five
different districts in different parts of the year. It is
not necessary, however, to follow the development of
the school system along its devious way to its present
useful condition. A high school was established in
the town by means* of the incorporation i>f a Hisfh
School Association in 1850, by whom a building was
erected and leased to the town under an arrangement
which continued until 1867, when the town bought
the building for three thousand five hundred dollars
and the association was dissolved. In 1869 the old
school district system was abolished, and under a
central management the schools have become more
vigorous and useful. According to the report of the
School Committee for the year ending January 31,
1888, there were at that time in the town a high
school and twenty-one schools of higher grades. Of
the twenty-one schools, five were located at the
central village, four at North Grafton, two at Saun-
dersville, four at Farnumsville and Fisherville, and
the remaining six were the Waterville, Brigham Hill,
Farms Precinct, George Hill, Keith Hill and Mer-
riam Precinct. The High School enrollment num-
bered 69, and that of the common schools 994. The
school appropriations for the year covered by the
report were: For the High School, $1600 ; common
schools, $7000 ; fuel and janitors. $1350 ; books and
stationery, $800 ; School Committee, $1350 ; and re-
pairs and fixtures, $300 — making a total of $12,400.
The other appropriations, which it may be well to
mention here, were : For town debt, .$6600 ; Fire De-
partment, $850 ; highways, .$3000 ; support of poor,
$5000; Town-House Sinking Fund, $1360; Memorial
Day, $100 ; Common, $50 ; library at the Centre, in
addition to the dog fund, $250 ; library at North
Grafton, $50; library at Farnumsville, $25; library
at Saundersville, $25 ; water works, $2500 ; street
lights, $300 ; town officers, $1740 ; town-house ex-
penses, $750; State aid, $150; miscellaneous, $450;
road damages, $100 ; and liquor cases, $300 — making
a total, including school appropriations, of $36,000.
The Free Library mentioned in the above list was
established in 1866, when' Joseph Leiaiid, a native
and citizen of the town, gave the sum of one thou-
sand dollars for the purpose, on the condition that the
town would appropriate an equal amount. The gift
was accepted with its condition and the library is
kept in the town-house and receives the benefit of
the Dog Fund and an annual appropriation of money.
At the date of the last report of the trustees the li-
brary contained five thousand seven hundred and
fifty-three volumes, of which two hundred and sixty-
seven, including nineteen bound magazines, had been
added during the previous year.
The industries of Grafton arc distributed among
the various villages of which the town is composed.
A mill at the Central Village ; another at Saunders-
ville, on the Blackstone River; another at Farnums-
ville, also on the Blackstone River ; a mill at North
Grafton, formerly called the Grafton Mills; the
Fisher Mills, at the junction of theQuinsigamondand
Blackstone Rivers, and the lower mill at North Graf-
ton, are eng.aged in the manufacture of cotton and
fancy cloths and emery, and furnish nccupation for
a numoious and busy po|iulation. Hesiihs thcsf in-
934
HISTORY OP WORCESTER COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.
dustries the manufacture of shoes is carried on at the
North Village by J. S. Nelson & Co., and gives em-
ployment to nearly two hundred hands. The busi-
ness of currying is also largel}' carried on and is an
important feature in the industry of the town. A
full description of all these industries is given in
Pierce's " History of Grafton," and to that valuable
work the reader is referred.
Among the institutions in the town are the Grafton
National Bank, incorporated in 1865, as the succes
sor of the Grafton Bank, established in 1854, with a
capital of one hundred thousand dollars ; the FirsI
National Bank, incorporated in 1864, also with a
capital of one hundred thousand dollars; the Grafton
Savings Bank, incorporated in 1869; the Franklin
Lodge of Masons, established in 1852 ; the Sprague
Post of the Grand Army, organized in 1866 ; and the
Good Templars, established also in 1866. The town
has a Fire Department, established by law in 1853,
and an abundance of good water supplied by the
Grafton Water Company. The population of the
town does not largely increase. In 1875 it was 4442
and in 1885 had only increased to 4498. Such a
sluggishness of increase cannot long continue. Its
proximity to Worcester, which is fast becoming a
populous city, in connection with its own admirable
situation and desirable locations for residence easily
accessible from that city and yet away from many o(
the annoyances which necessarilv attend a bustling
and noisy place of business, must in time attract to
it a wave of immigration and give to it a healthy and
prosperous growth.
Among the men who have been prominent in Graf-
ton at various periods since its incorporation may be
mentioned : Thomas Pratt, tb.e moderator of the first
town-meeting and of nine other town-meetings be-
fore 1750, and a selectman several years ; Joseph
Willard, a selectman eight years before 1748 ; Joseph
Merriam, a selectman fourteen years before 1764;
Nathaniel Sherman, a selectman nine years before
1752; Samuel Warren, John Goulding, Joseph Wood,
Royal Keith, Joseph Bruce, Jonathan Wheeler,
Charles Brigham, Phillip Wing, Edward Bigelow, A.
M. Bigelow, James W. White, Jonathan D. Wheeler,
John W. Slocomb, Jonathan Warren, and others,
both dead and living, too numerous to mention. 01
those natives of Grafton who have distinguished them-
selves outside of its borders in wider fields of labor may
be mentioned William Brigham, Frank P. Goulding,
Henry A. Miles, Samuel D. Warren, Sherman Le-
land, Phineas W. Leland and John Leland.
William Brigham was the son of Captain Charles
Brigham, and was born in Grafton, September 26, 1806.
He graduated at Harvard in the class of 1829, which
was probably the most distinguished class of
which the alumni of the college can boast. A list of
its eminent men is almost a catalogue of the class.
Among them were Rev. Joseph Angler, Chief Jus-
tice George Tyler Bigelow, Hon. William Brigham,
Rev. William Henry Channing, Rev. James Free-
man Clarke, Hon. Francis B. Crowninshield, Hon.
Benjamin R. Curtis, justice of the United States
Supreme Court ; Hon. George T. Davis, member of
Congress; General George H. Devereux, Hon. Wil-
liam Gray, Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes, Rev. Samuel
May, Professor Benjamin Peirce, Rev. Chandler
Rubbins, Hon. Edward D. Sohier and Judge Joshua
H. Ward. In such a class as this Mr. Brigham
found no difficulty in taking a good rank. After ad-
mission to the bar he opened an office in Boston,
which he retained until his death, which occurred
July 9, 1869. His occupation as a sound and suc-
cessful lawyer was diversified by antiquarian study,
and the various historical works of which he was
either the author or editor attest the accuracy of his
mind and the diligence of his research.
A sketch of Mr. Goulding will be found in an ap-
propriate place at the end of this narrative.
Rev. Henry Adolphus Miles is a descendant from
John Miles, an early settler of Concord, where he was
living as early as 1637. He was born in Grafton, May
30, 1809, and graduated at Brown University in 1829,
receiving an honorary degree of Doctor of Divinity
from his alma mater in 1850. After graduating at the
Harvard Divinity School in 1832 he was was settled
for a time in Hallowell, Me., and from there went to
Boston to assume the duties of secretary of the Ameri-
can Unitarian Association. At later dates he was
settled in Lowell and Hingham, at which latter place
he is now living, though not in the service of his pro-
fession. Dr. Miles is a man of large intellectual
capacity, of original thought and deep and earnest
convictions. As a public speaker he has always com-
manded the earnest attention of his hearers, and in
social intercourse his genial disposition and warm
heart and rare conversational powers win to his side
all who come within their influence. If the writer
may be permitted to introduce personal feeling into
an historical narrative, he cannot refrain from saying
that there are few men whom he holds in such affec-
tion and respect as the subject of this imperfect
sketch.
John Leland, the son of James and Lucy (Warren)
Leland, was born in Grafton, May 4, 1754. From
1775 to 1791 he was a Baptist preacher in Virginia of
considerable note. From 1792 until his death, which
occurred at North Adams, January 14, 1841, he was
settled in Cheshire, Mass. His autobiography was
published in 1845.
Phineas W. Leland was the son of David W.
Leland, and with all the Lelands of Grafton was
descended from Henry Leland, who died in Sher-
burne in 1680. He was born in Grafton, October 4,
1798, and after leaving Brown University without
graduating, studied medicine in Boston and settled at
Medfield. In 1834 he removed to Fall River, where
he held the office of collector of the port for nearly
twenty years. He was a prominent and active mem-
GRAFTON.
935
ber of the Democratic party, and when that party
came into power in the State in 184S he was that
year a member of the Senate and chosen its presi-
dent.
Sherman Leland was the son of Eleazer and Eliza-
beth (Sherman) Leland, and born in Grafton, March
29, 1783. He was admitted to the Worcester County
bar in 1809 and settled in Eastport, Me. In 1814 he
took up his residence in Roxbury and opened an
office in Boston. From 1817 to 1822 he represented
Roxbury in the House of Representatives and was a
member of the Senate four years, two of which he
was its president. He was also for many years judge
of probate for Norfolk County, and in this position,
as in all others, he won and retained the confidence
and respect of the community.
With these few sketches and with an acknowledg-
ment of the aid which the writer has received from
tlie " History of Grafton " by Mr. Pierce, to which
reference has several limes been made, this narrative
must close.
CHAPTER CXXIV.
GRAFTON— (Co// //«//(■-/. )
.\N HISTORICAI, .ADDRESS.'
The love of kindred is a sentiment large enough to
include and account for that reverence and affection
which we feel for those of our ancestors whose forms
vanished from earth long before our own time. That
sentiment is not altogether dependent upon personal
presence, nor upon the mutual exchange of kindly
offices, but abides with us as a permanent and ele-
mentary principle of our nature. We find it impos-
sible, therefore, to repress a feeling of deep and inti-
mate concern in the history of a community of which
our ancestors formed a part ; and if, perchance, the
character.s with whom we are dealing were cast in a
heroic mould, or were great and happy in their for-
tunes and achievements, they become in a peculiar
sense, —
Tiie (li;ad, Imt sceptereil suvereigns, wliu still rule
Our spirits froiu tbeir urns.
One hundred and fifty years have now passed since
the incorporation of this town. You select this as a
fitting occasion to recall the memory of the father.-;
who laid the foundation of these institutions into
which you were born. You would revert once more
to the early scenes in which they played their part ;
would remember their virtues ; would sympathize
with their patient toils, and admire the courage and
fortitude with which they encountered the perils and
endured the hardships of frontier life ; would applaud
1 The following interesting historical address was delivered by Hon.
Frank P. Gouldiug at Grafton, upon the one hundred and tiftieth anni-
versivry of the incorporation of the town.
the clearness with which they saw, and the dauntless
resolution with which they maintained their rights;
would recognize, with gratitude, their steady and
unswerving devotion to the principles of civil liberty,
and the constancy with which they persevered,
against every discouragement, in establishing those
principles upon the secure basis of public education
and public morality. But, upon this occasion, the
historical theme which irresistibly attracts, at the
same time, from obvious considerations, strongly re-
pels me. The field has been so recently traversed
and so amply covei'ed, that, in attem])ting to recite
anew any part of the familiar story, I shall appear to
repeat a thrice-told tale. In 183r>, at the centennial
celebration of this event, an eminent native of the
town skillfully gathered the scattered and scanty ma-
terials which constitute its original early history, and
presented them in an address, which is at once the
best authority upon the subject it treats of, and an
able and statesmanlike survey, not only of the his-
torical facts of the period covered, but also of the
underlying forces and principles which made possible
the great progress it recorded.
And, at the centennial celebration of the nation's
birth, in 1876, another son of the town reviewed the
same ground, and, in fluent narrative and eloquent
speech, brought down the history to the present time,
and rendered superfluous any further treatment of
the subject. And, later still, in his excellent history,
composed for the county history, in 1879, Rev. Mr.
Windsor told again the simple but interesting story
and placed in permanelit and easily acce.ssible form
all that can be known of the events which marked
the dawn and early progress of civilization within
the territory of Grafton. Besides these treatises
there remain the fine historical discourse of Rev. Mr.
Wilson, preached in 1846, covering the ecclesiastical
history of the town — no unimportant part of the early
history of any Massachusetts town which can boast a
hundred years of life — as well as the town history of
Mr. Pierce. From these various essays in the annals
of this venerable municipality you must have derived
such familiarity with the initial steps and later ad-
vance of this community that I shall feel at liberty
to select such parts of our history, without regard to
consecutive narrative as shall seem best to subserve
the general purpose I have in view, to wit : to attempt
some estimate of the character and environment of
the early fathers of the town, and to assign some of
the causes which made them what they were. But it
may be of interest to repeat some portion of the his-
tory of the region prior to the settlement by the
English.
At what time the first white man's eye ever gazed
upon, or the first white man's foot ever pressed this
territory, abounding in "rich land and plenty of
meadows," it is wholly impossible to tell. It certainly
requires some exercise of the imagination to conceive
that Governor Winthrop and bis party, who, i>n
03C
HISTORY OF WORCESTER COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.
January 27, 1631, ascended a high rock only eight
miles westerly of Watertown, " where they might see
all of Neipnett and a very high hill due west about
forty miles," could see from that point any part of
the present territory of Grafton ; and as for the sup-
position that the company of English who, in 1635,
emigrated from Massachusetts Bay to Connecticut,
traversed this territory, the probabilities are strongly
against it. For the road to Connecticut, soon after
existing, certainly lay to the north, though near the
territory of Hassanamesitt, and passed north of Lake
Quinsigamond, and there is little reason to suppose
that, when that road was established, a new trail was
struck out, instead of following the route of the first
explorers.
But, however that may be, the territory emerges out
of the darkness of barbarism into the view of history
many years before its corporate name was conferred
upon it, in honor of the second Duke of Grafton. In
the middle of the preceding century, when the royal
grandfather of that nobleman was skulking, crown-
less, on the continent of Europe, and before he had
formed his scandalous alliance with the beautiful but
profligate Barbara Villiers, Duchess of Cleveland,
who was our namesake's grandmother, and while the
imperial sceptre of England was held in the firm
grasp of Oliver Cromwell, the General Court of the
province, on the petition of Eliot, set apart the terri-
tory of Hassanamesitt for the use of the Indians.
Here was formed the third of the towns of the praying
or Christian Indians, Natick and Pakemitt or Punka-
poag (a part of Stoughton) being the first two ; and
here, in 1671, was organized the second Indian church.
Upon the organization of the church, a meeting-house
was erected, the site of which, near the old Indian
burying-ground, in the vicinity of Mr. Frederick
Jourdan's place, is still pointed out. A school was
also established, where youth were educated to
preach the go.spel to the Indians in the neighboring
towns. Of course, the services of the church were
conducted in the Indian language, and there is
ample proof in the writings of Eliot, as well as in
those of Major Gookin, the Indian commissioner of
those days, that, under the dusky skin of those prim-
itive congregations, lurked traits of human nature
common to all complexions. I cannot stop to give
more than a single example of the numerous shrewd
and diflicult questions which his Indian disciples put
to the pious Mr. Eliot. In his letters to the corpora-
tion established in London for the propagation of
the gospel among the Indians, he gives, in great
abundance, examples of these queries; but he does
not give his answer to the following, among others :
" If God made bell in one of the six days, why did
God make hell before Adam sinned?"
Gookin says of these Indians, whom he saw at-
tending upon the preaching in the churches : " And
for my part, I have no doubt, but am fully satisfied,
according to the judgment of charity, that divers of
them do fear God and are believers ; but yet I will
not deny but that there may be some hypocrites that
profess religion and yet are not sound-hearted. But
things that are secret belong to Goil, and things that
are revealed unto us and our children."
Wattascompanum, the chief ruler of the whole
Nipmuck country, resided here. He was said to be
"a grave and pious man." It is probably no im-
peachment of his gravity or piety that he was executed
in Boston in .Tune, 1677. For his crime was that he
had been induced or forced to join the party of his
countrymen in a desperate and futile attempt to
drive from their ancient domain the ever-encroach-
ing pale-faces, in whose insidious advance the pro-
phetic souls of the natives read the doom of their
own race. And popular feeling ran so high against
the Indians at the close of that sanguinary war, that
small measure of justice was likely to be meted out
to a native who had yielded to the blandishments or
threats of the foe.
In proof that these obscure natives who once
occupied this vicinity were not destitute of all the
amenities of civilized life, I must not omit to men-
tion that here, two hundred and fifteen years ago,
occurred the first seizure of liquor in this county,
under process of law, of which I have discovered any
record. It appears that Petavit, otherwise called
Robin, was one of the magistrates or rulers here at
Hassanamesitt, and he was, evidently, a magistrate
not easily deterred from the performance of his offi-
cial duty. Major Gookin gives an account of the
seizure of the liquor, as follows: "I remember sun-
dry years since, a Sagamore that lived up in the
inland country came to Hassanamesitt, and brought
with him a rundlett of strong liquor [it was more
than three per cent, alcohol, and could not be palmed
off for Schenk beer], and, lodging in his house,
Petavit, In the morn, sent for the constable, and or-
dered him, and, according to law, seized the rundlett
of liquors. At which act the Sagamore drew a long
knife, and stood with his foot on the rundlett, daring
any to seize it. But Petavit thereuiion rose up and
drew his knife, and set his foot also to the rundlett,
and commanded the constable to do his office. And
the Sagamore" —
Here the ancient manuscript breaks oft', like a se-
rial novel, in the very crisis of a thrilling scene.
We see a sudden flash of long knives in the morning
sun, and the curtain falls. We shall never know
with certainty what the issue was. But, considering
the divinity that doth hedge a magistrate, and the
dauntle-ss and resolute temper of Mr. Justice Petavit
a/ias Robin, I hasten to assure you that, in my opin-
ion, the Sagamore from the inland country, after
growling out sundry phrases in the Indian dialect,
not strictly in accordance with the discipline of the
church then established at Hassanamesitt, restored
his long knife to his belt, removed his moccasin from
the rundlett, and yielded to the inevitable.
GRAFTON.
937
The war with King Philip was disastrous to the
promising enterprise of bringing the Nipmucks un-
der English and Christian influeucea, and upon no
part of the extended and undefined domain of that
people did it fall more fatally than upon Hassana-
mesitt. Two engagements were fought in this terri-
tory, — one not certainly located, and the other on
Keith Hill. The first engagement resulted in a re-
pulse of the company of English under Captain
Henchman, with a loss of two of his men. Mr.
Brigham says, on the authority of the Gookin manu-
script, published by the American Antiquarian So-
ciety, "that upon the return of the English the next
morning to the scene of the conflict, they discovered
the heads of their two men who had fallen in the at-
tack placed on crotched poles before the wigwam,
and facing each other." But, as given in a note to
Drake's edition of Hubbard's narrative, Gookin's ac-
count of it is as follows : " Capt. Henchman told me
he judged several of the Enemy were slain in the
wigwam, but the certainty is not known ; but it was
certain he lost two of his men, whereof his Lieuten-
ant was one, Philip Curtice, of Roxbury, a stout
man. His Hands they cut off and placed upon a
crotched Pole at the Wigwam Door, faced each other,
which was seen a few days after." It may not be of
much importance, but if the note in Drake's Hub-
bard is authentic in its citation of General Gookin's
manuscript, it would appear certain it was the hands
of the stout (/. e., valiant) Lieutenant Curtice, and
not the heads of the slain, which were the subject of
the ghastly humor of the s.avages. There is some
confusion and contradiction in the original authori-
ties respecting the battle on Keith Hill. According
to Hubbard, it occurred on May (ith, and according
to Drake, on May 5, 1676. The English were accom-
panied by some Natick Indian allies, and these allies
came upon the hostiles, who were pursuing a bear.
They did not perceive at first that the Natick Indians
were not of their own party, which gave the English
some advantage. From eleven to sixteen Indians
were slain. Dr. Mather says " our Forces had proba-
bly destroyed many more of them had not an Eng-
lishman unhappily sounded a Trumpet, whereby the
enemy had notice to escape.'''
But while the devastation of battle cannot be said
to have swept the place with special violence, in
other ways the desolate track of war was left deeply
imprinted on its soil. For, through the intrigue and
force of the hostile savages, the little Indian town
whose bright promise had filled the inspired Eliot,
and the resolute, but humane Gookin, with such high
hopes, was completely broken up and dispersed. The
church and school were never rehal)ilitated, and only
a few of the surviving natives, after an interval of
many years, straggled back to the desolate scenes of
1 Mather, Brief Biit., 143. This was the first time tile Naticl£ In-
dians were employed in any such unmber by the Government. — Dral-e,
257.
the old settlement, and took up again their abode on
the land of their fathers.
In 1718 a single white man had acquired title to
some lands in the town, and in 1727-28 the title to
the whole original territory of Hassanamesitt resided
in seven individual^', who were des-cendanls of the
original native proprietors under the reservation of
1654, and in nine English families, who, under per-
mission of the General Court, had purchased lands
and settled here. In that year was granted by the
General Court the petition of forty English families,
preferred some time before, to purchase the entire
reservation of 7500 acres from the Indians, with cer-
tain restrictions. And thereupon a deed was given,
dated March 10, 1727, old style, and it is executed by
the seven proprietors and the husband of one of them.
It reserves the previous grants to the earlier white
proprietors, and to the Indian grantors an equal divi-
dend of land with each of the grantees, and one hun-
dred acres besides for the use of the Indians. It is in
the nature of a strict entailment, for it is, by its
terms, a grant for the settlement of forty English
families of the petitioners or their posterity, and no
others. By an act of the General Court, passed at
the same time, certain conditions were coupled with
the grant, the most important of which were, —
That within the space of three years they build and
furnish a meeting-house for the instruction as well of
the Indians as English children ; that they settle a
learned orthodox minister to preach the gospel to
them, and constantly maintain and duly support a
minister and schoolmaster among them, and all this
without charge to the Indians.
The expense of building the meeting-house and
school-house was imposed, by the same act, four-fifths
upon the purchasers and one-fifth on the prior Eng-
lish settlers, who were likewise required to contribute
to the maintenance of the minister and schoolmaster.
The English purchasers under this deed immediately
proceeded to execute its conditions, and, almost be-
fore the ink was dry upon the parchment, and months
before it was recorded the proprietors made provision
for the location of the meeting-house and school-
house, and only a little later began the allotment of
lands, and as early as 1730 the meeting-house was
completed, and a large portion of the forty families
had removed here, and in the following year the
church was regularly organized and a minister duly
installed.
Although the day we celebrate— April 18-29, 173.5
— is the date of the legal incorporation of the inhab-
itants with the powers and privileges of a town, the
true era of the permanent settlement of the place by
the English must be referred to the years 1730 or 1731.
We have now reached the period when first came
upon this scene the men and women by whose charac-
ters and deeds the first bias and direction was given
to the history of this community. There is a certain
unity and individuality of type lielonging to every
938
HISTORY OF WORCESTER COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.
community, if we only had the art to discover it.
And it will be found to be a reproduction of the type
of character which predominated in the leading
founders of the community. Of course there will be
no community without concurrence of sentiment, and
the masses will finally concur with the minds of the
strongest and most positive cast of character. Tlie
first settlers of a town, surviving for a generation, will
generally set the current of popular thought and feel-
ing and establish the polity of that town for genera-
tions to come.
In that view, and in all views, it will be of interest
to inquire who these emigrants were; what they did
and what they aimed to do; what they thought;
what they hoped ; what they believed ; and, in short,
what manner of men and women they were. It will
be of interest to inquire what were some of the causes
which enabled them to establish so goodly a heritagt-
for their children, and to instil principles into the
minds and hearts of their successors, which made ol
them heroes in their turn, and enabled them, in com-
mon with the inhabitants of other towns and States,
to set examples of wisdom in counsel and courage in
action, not surpassed by anything in the annals of
man.
They were forty English families, who, with the
nine who had but a short time preceded them, made
up about fifty families. Most of them, perhaps nearly
all, were liorn in the province, and were, therefore.
Englishmen in the sense that they were born of
English parentage in the English provinces of Mas-
sachusetts Bay and Plymouth. If I should repeat
their names many of you would hear your own
names, and I should probably name few, if any, who
have not some lineal descendant \i'ithin sound of mj
voice. They came unheralded by any noise of
trumpets, blazon of fireworks, or other demonstration
of human interest. When their creaking carts,
loaded with the scanty supply of furniture which was
all-suflicient for the simple wants of their lives, rolled
slowly up these hills and into these valleys, guided
by marked trees through the primeval forests, with-
out doubt the wolves and bears regarded the inva-
sion as very important and revolutionary, and the
owls peered down at night upon the fires of the set-
tlers which looks of ominous conjecture.
But the human owls, seated in the high places of
England, could not see so far, and had no idea of
what was taking place here, and in some hundred
other places where the like things were transpiring.
Outside the few towns whence they came (Sudbury,
Concord, Wenhani, Stow, Marlboro'), the event had
absolutely no significance. When three or four years
later the town was incorporated and christened with
an English name. Governor Belcher may have men-
tioned, in a letter to the Duke of Grafton, that he
had named a little township after him up in the
woods of central Massachusetts Bay, and his grace
may have jocosely told it to his friend, Sir Robert
Walpole, the prime minister, of whose son Horace,
the great letter-writer, the Duke of Grafton was the
godfather. There is a remote possibility that the
King himself, the "snufly old drone from the German
hive," may have mentioned it to the Duchess of
Kendall as an item of news from the distant prov-
ince. But the advent of our fathers to these fields
had about as much significance to the people of Eng-
land, who supposed they themselves were making
the history of the time, as the movements of a nomad
tribe in Central Asia for a change of pasturage would
have to us to-da}'. Nor have the circumstances of
their coming attracted the attention of mankind
since. The poet and the orator have not found in
their special history a theme worthy their eflbrts.
They did not flee from religious or political persecu-
tion, nor traverse wide and stormy seas to find, on a
desolate coast, an asylum in which to worship God
according to the dictates of their own conscience.
At the end of the first third of the eighteenth cen-
tury, religious persecution of Protestants had ceased
in England, and the first settlers in this town were in
full sympathy and entire accord with the people of
the communities they left, both in politics and relig-
ion. If they endured hardships, they endured them
in common with the early settlers of one hundred
and twenty-five other towns in the province, settled
and incorporated before ours. I shall not, therefore,
claim that these early settlers of Hassanamesitt are
to be selected and set on any pedestal over the heads
of the primitive inhabitants of other towns. The
greatness I claim for them they shared in common
with many other similar communities of the same
race and time, and it is sufficient glory that they are
eminent among equals. But it detracts nothing from
the intrinsic interest of their characters that the chief
features they present are repeated in a hun<lred other
communities. It detracts nothing from the import-
ance of the experience they went through that it is
not dissimilar to that of other neighboring peoples
who settled other towns. The fact is, representative
constitutional government was first invented and put
into practical operation in this province, and it first
manifested itself in the little autonomies of the towns.
It is the people of one of these towns to which I
would call your attention, and one where I believe
will be found a remarkably pure and perfect type of
the kind of communities which were then taking root
everywhere in Xew England. They were representa-
tive New Euglanders of the first half of the eigh-
teenth century, and as such were enacting the most
important history which was then transpiring on this
round earth. Indeed, what human interest attaches
to the quarrels of Walpole and Bulingbroke, or to the
corrupt sway of the former after his full accession to
power; to the history of the South-sea Bubble ; to
the intrigues and uprisings of the exileil Stuarts to
regain their ancient throne; to the petty wars of the
first Georges, or to the endless plots and counlerjilots
GRAFTON.
939
of Whigs and Tories, as compared with the scenes
which were unfoliling on this continent, and mainly
within these old provinces, now Massachusetts, from
1720 to 1789? The men and women who came to
Grafton to settle were, like their neighbors, the heirs
and successors of those heroic men and women who,
in the preceding century, had encountered the first
perils attendant on establishing;- a foothold for civili-
zation on this continent.
They had drunk deep of the spirit of the great con-
flict with the Stuarts, which ended with the revolution
of 1688, whereby the liberties of Protestant English-
men everywhere, as they believed, were forever estab-
lished. In the first place, they were men of eminently
sound, practical common sense. You cannot open a
page of their records, or trace the faded leaves of the
church proceedings without receiving the impression
at the outset and carrying it with you to the end, that
first of all here was a race of men perfectly sound-
minded, level-headed, and intent upon the practical
aflairs of life. This Saxon good sense and business
capacity is the chief feature of their character, subor-
dinating all others. I know it is common to ascribe
to colonial settlers of pre-revolutionary days, and to
these our fathers, as the predominant trait of their
characters, devotion to religion. I do not dissent
from the estimate which gives that element a promi-
nent and controlling place. But in religious zeal
they have been surpassed by many races. I believe
our good friends the Catholics of the Irish race have,
on a thousand fields, shown a devotion to the faith of
their fathers as great as any the early settlers of this
country ever di.-played. And Spaniards and French-
men and Netherlanders and Germans and Turks and
Africans have, in all times, displayed a zeal which
would rival and eclipse that of our fathers who settled
here. When Mr. Wilson, in the excellent discourse I
before referred to says, that these "grave pioneers,
cherishing the same religious zeal which characterized
the primitive colonists of New England, made it their
first care to provide for the worship of God ; that their
first vote at their first meeting relates to the selection
of a proper situation for the house of prayer," he tells
but half the story, and the impression conveyed is
misleading. They do first attend to the building of a
meeting-house. The fact is so. But it is also a fact
that precisely that was the first condition in their
deed, to wit : that they complete a meeting-house in
three years. Their whole title depended upon that
strict condition. Like business men, therefore, they
set about doing the thing necessary to be done at once
to prevent a forfeiture. It was an act most character-
istic. But it was characteristic of sensible men of
affairs, who exactly understood the nature of their
grant, and went about complying with its conditions.
It was a practical business transaction, and the record
of the second meeting of the proprietors at the house
of Nehemiah How, here in Hassanamesitt, on April
19-30, 172S, one hundred and fifty-seven years ago to-
morrow, when they adjourned once and again, and
examined and re-examined the proposed sites and
shifted from one to the other until, after mature con-
sideration, they were satisfied that the location would
be "accommodable," furnishes a strong illustration
of the very trait of character I am now insisting on, a
sturdy practical sense, the faculty to adapt means to
ends. I should be sorry to be misunderstood. These
pioneers, as a general thing, were professors of, and
profound believers in, religion. The conditions on
which their grant was made undoubtedly received
their hearty concurrence. But none of them were re-
ligious zealots, and they were not all of them saints,
and they knew their own hearts too well to pretend
to be, and neither they nor the General Court felt it
to be safe to trust the institution and maintenance of
religious worship to anything less secure than the
express and rigid condition of the deed itself The
policy of maintaining the ordinances of religion, as
well as public education, was the settled policy of the
provinces, and these emigrants believed in it. There
was nothing impulsive or sensational in their conduct,
but all was well considered, deliberate and eminently
worldly wise.
They were, moreover, an industrious people. They
came here as a chief end to better their material
wealth ; to get on in life.' Mr. Brigham has noted at
how extravagant an estimate they held their lands,
and how they gloried in the idea that they should
leave so valuable an inheritance to their children.
He reckons ill who leaves out of the account of the
early New England settlers the fact that they were
intent upon honest gain. They desired and expected
to increase their stores, and to acquire moderate inde-
pendence. Love of money is said to be the root of all
evil, but the hope of acquiring it has sustained many
brave hearts in the midst of trials. The early settlers
in this town, like most of their contemporaries, had a
dim consciousness of the coming greatness of this
country. Of course, they knew nothing of the vast
resources that lay slumbering in the heart of the con-
tinent, and had no correct notion of the real wealth
in store for the succeeding generations. But they
believed in the boundless productiveness of the soil,
and indulged visions of remuneration for their toil of
a kind and degree destined never to be realized.
They were, indeed, a deeply religious people. They
were Puritans without being fanatics. They were
Congregationalists and Calvinists. It is evident,
however, as well from their church covenant as from
the dissensions and differences of opinion which arose
within a few years, that they held the tenets of their
creed with liberality and a tolerant spirit, and with
some conception of the rights of others, as well iis
their own, to private judgment in matters spiritual.
They were, for the age in which they lived, progres-
iSee curious pamphlet on New EnglBnd, by Rev. Higginsou ; 1
Muss, Hist, roll.. First Series, 117.
940
HISTORY OF WORCESTER COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.
sive. I am strongly inclined to think that there was
a greater degree of liberality of views among the
original settlers in respect to religious matters at first
than later. After the divisions which arose in 1745
and 1746 in regard to Mr. Prentice, the first pastor,
that happened which usually happens is case of reli-
gious schism. Each sect draws the lines of ils pecu-
liar belief more rigidly than before, and the minor
differences which occasioned the division become the
principal and sacred essentials of doctrine.
At any rate, we know that the church creed was
revised and made more definitely Calvinistic under
the second minister, Mr. Hutchinson, in accordance
with the views of that very able and most logical and
uncompromising sectarian. That these people were
of a courageous disposition, worthy of their ancestors
and of their posterity, needs no evidence to verify.
They inherited from their fathers the courage of war-
riors, and it is not unlikely that some of the first
fdundere of tlie town had faced the enemy in battle.
The war of the Spanish succession, or Queen Anne'.s
War, which broke out in 1702, and continued a num-
ber of years, so far as this country is concerned, fell
with especial fury upon the colony of Massachusetts
Bay. The neutrality of the Five Nations protected
New York and the central colonies. The province
of Massachusetts Bay was desolated, and for her (says
Bancroft) " the history of the war is but a catalogue
of miseries."
All along the boi'ders of Maine, then a part of
Massachusetts, the cloud of war hung black as death.
And, nearer home, Deerfieldwas burnt and its inhab-
itants massacred in 1704, and Haverhill shared the
same fate in 1708. For eleven years the war raged
till the treaty of Utrecht in 1713. The troubles re-
specting the eastern boundaries of the province,
which arose about 1720, with the tribe of Abenaki
Indians, lasted about four years, and the Indians, who
had embraced the Catholic faith under the teachings
of the Jesuit Rasles, waged a war with Mas-achusetts,
animated on both sides with much religious zeal (a
circumstance which does not often mitigate the sever-
ities of war), which resulted in the success of our
colony. These conflicts may have engaged the per-
sonal participation of some of our settlers, and at any
rate had made them familiar with the wrinkled front
of grim-visaged war from their youth.
We can know but little of the persona! appearance
and daily life of these ancient pioneers, who first bore
into your fair territory the seeds of civilized life. No
photographer's art has preserved the lineaments of a
single face. For the most part they were too poor to
employ the brush of a painter to fix on the canvas
the Heeting lines of their features, even if an artist
had ever visited the region. I am bound to believe,
however, that the men were of well-knit and vigorous
frames, and possessed of no small share of manly
beauty, and the women well endowed with the
comely graces and endearing charms of their sex. If
asked the grounds of this belief, standing among the
descendants who bear their features by inheritance, I
should answer, "(S'i monunientum quaeris, dircumspice."
If you want the proof look about you. It would be
instructive and curious, if time permitted, to go into
an examination of their daily lives, as aflfected by the
implements, appliances and facilities they could com-
mand in the performance of their labor, and in pro-
viding the necessities of existence.
We, who live in this age of curious inventions and
elegant devices of convenience, designed and adapted
to facilitate labor and render delightful domestic life,
can with difliculty realize the rude and scanty tools
and implements and barren facilities with which they
prosecuted the labors of the house and farm. In the
article of dress, if we had the power to recall and
materialize the ancient worthies who assembled in
yonder old meeting-house one hundred and fifty years
ago; if we could look in upon them as through a
window, what a source of infinite amusement and in-
terest their quaint figures would excite !
A brilliant writer, describing a period fifty years
later, gives a lively picture of the dress of the New
England farmer : " If the food of such a man was
plain, so were his clothes. Indeed, his wardrobe
would by his descendants be thought scanty in the
extreme. For meeting on a iSabbath and on state
occasions during the week, he had a suit of broad-
cloth or corduroy, which lasted him a lifetime, and
was at length bequeathed, little the worse for wear,
with his cattle and his farm, to his son. The suit in
which his neighbors commonly saw him, the suit in
which he followed the plough, tended the cattle and
dozed in the chimney corner, while Abigail or Com-
fort read to him from ' Edwards's Sermons,' was of
homespun or linsey-woolsey."' I am inclined to
think this picture would be applicable to the farmers
who settled (irafton, after deducting the broadcloth,
corduroy and " Edwards's Sermons." And yet they
were by no means destitute of all ideas of refine-
ment, and most of them had seen glimpses of some of
the elegancies of life.
It is quite likely that after a few years, at least, on
the Sabbath and important occasions, .some of the
more well-to-do among them may have displayed gar-
ments more attractive than the ordinary sheepskin
deerskin, or coarse knee-breeches and frock. Some
of the ladies may even have possessed a gown of
silk. At any rate we shall ])resently see that there
was one such garment in town. The periwig, which
so scandalized the clergy of the preceding century
had established itself in fashion, and doubtless might
have been seen here early, if not at the very first.
Their education was not contemptible, as the records,
of their proceedings amply show. They had had the
benefit of the long-established policy of the colon}%
iMcMaster's " History of the People uf the I'liiteil .States," vol. L
pagea 18, 19.
GRAFTOX.
'M\
which made public education the corner-stone of the
State. They were familiar with Scripture and fa.
miliar with learned preaching. One of the condi-
tions of their grant was that they should maintain a
learned Orthodox minister. They coni])lied with the
con'lition by calling and settling in December, 1731,
the Rev. Solomon Prentice, a young graduate of
Harvard in the class of 1727, a classmate of Gover-
nor Hutchinson, of Massachusetts Bay, and Trum-
bull, of Connecticut.
In the following year the young minister married
Sarah Sartell, of Groton, and his wife, sixteen year.*
of age, is said to have been well i|ualified by her
learning and ability to assume the important posi-
tion of a pastor's wife. I have unmistakable evi-
dence that even in those rude and primitive days, in
the infancy of the settlement, the minister's wife was
not wholly unacquainted with, nor indifferent to, the
elegancies of refined life. For, among my heir-
looms, I possess an ample fragment of an elegant
dress which was the property of that lady. One tra-
' dition in the family describes it as her own wedding
dress, but the better authenticated account is that
it came from an aunt of her.'*, and was worn by
its former owner at the Court of George II.
However that may be, it was undoubtedly worn by
the fair lady herself, who was, I imagine, as well by
her position as by her accomplishments, the leader of
society here in those primitive days. As I look upon
its beautiful texture, as perfectly preserved as when,
one hundred and fifty years ago, it graced the person
of the youthful lady, when I see its unfaded and
lovely hues, — a bright canary-colored satin, elegantly
brocaded with flowers, — I am struck with the transi-
tory nature of the things we here pursue. By the
aid of this talisman I am enabled to look into the
Dark backward and abysm of tiint^,
and behold one of the figures that moved over these
scenes when the curtain of history first rolled up and
disclosed this section of the world's stage. For nearly
a hundred years, after a long life, the mother and
grandmother of a nunjerous posterity, she has slept
in yonder ancient cemetery. There remain of her
memory only a few fleeting and uncertain traditions,
scarcely more in extent than the nearly obliterated
inscription upon her tombstone. All the rest has
fallen silent and is swallowed up in oblivion, but the
frail and beautiful adornment which set off the charms
of the stately young minister's wife remains. No
shade of the cunningly-wrought design has become
in the least dimmed with age. Every line of the
delicate tracery, and every lovely variation of color,
lives as clear as on the day it left the loom. Venera-
ble ancestress ! I salute you across the gulf of years !
Is it possible to believe that this delicate fabric, this
tegument which became so intimately connected with
her destiny, is all that survives of her, that all the
rest is exhaled like the perfume of the flowers which
bloomed a hundred years ago? No ! at least she and
her contemporaries, whose lives we are now trying to
recall, live in the beneficent influence they exerted.
It is not alone by hereditary transmission that the
qualities and pecularities of one generation reappear
in another. We are creatures of imitation. The
manners and individual peculiarities of a strong per-
sonality are reproduced by force of the instinct to
imitate; and as some individuals of every generation
ire contemporaries of the next succeeding, the traits
and habits of a vigorous and original character are
continued and transmitted from .age to age. The
frail memorial, the curiously-wrought fabric, is but a
symbol of the graces of personal character which do
not perish even from this life, when the tenement of
clay dissolves, but survive
To the liist syllable of recorded tlnie.l
The pastoral relation of Mr. Prentice was dissolved
in 1747 by reason of troubles which had been brew-
ing for two or three years. I do not propose to enter
upon the subject of those troubles. It is enough to
say that no impeachment of the integrity of Mr.
Prentice was attempted, but it was his orthodoxy
alone which was brought in ijuestion. It is essential
for me to say that the records of this controversy,
faithfully set down in the beautiful handwriting of
Mr. Prentice himself, discloses a people of great inde-
pendence of thought and character, desirous to do
fight, but by no mcins to be deterred by authority
from asserting their just privileges and opinions. Mr.
Prentice was succeeded by Rev. Aaron Hutchinson, a
man of great power and great eccentricities, who re-
mained till 1772, and in 1774 Rev. Daniel Grosvenor
succeeded him. A lady friend of mine has given me
a brace of anecdotes told to her by Mr. Grosvenor
himself, one of which well illustrates his sense of the
humorous and his dislike of insincerity.
Mr. Grosvenor was dining with a lady of his par-
ish, who was a cook of exquisite skill, and she placed
before the pastor a delicious pie, of some kind, and
as she helped him to a piece of it, she remarked that
ihe hoped he would accept a piece of her poor pie.
The minister tasted it with great gravity, and said,
"Poor pie! why, I call it a very paxsab/e pie."
Whereupon the good lady was in high dudgeon.
She declared she never took more pains with a pie
in the whole course of her life, aud she did not be-
lieve there was ever a better pie made. Fishing
for a compliment, she got caught with her own
hook.
On another occasion the reverend gentleman
> I regret that a story so destitute of probability as that relating to the
domestic discord between Mr. and Mrs. Prentice, which Mr. Howe
deemed worthy of a place in his excellent address, should have received
an indorsement so respectable. The frequency with which the story has
been applied to ancient couples, who were divided in opinion upon the
special tenet of the Baptists, renders it quite too stale for adaptation (o
the cultivated and refined first pastor of Grafton and his intelligent and
spirited wife.
942
nrSTORY OF WORCESTER COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.
called upon one of his parishioners, who, it being
upon a washing day, and her dinner not being just
what she would desire to invite so august a personage
as the minister to partake of, did not mean to extend
to him the courtesy of an invitation. But the lady's
mother, who was of the family, nevertheless asked
Mr. Grosvenor to stay. He accepted, and when his
young hostess apologized for the quality of the re-
past, her mother made the following observation,
which Mr. Grosvenor thought quite notable. She
said there was no occasion for any apology ; for,
if Mr. Grosvenor was a good man, he would be
content and thankful even with a poor dinner,
and, if he was a bad man, it was good enough for
him.
I have read a sermon preached by Mr. Hutchinson
at Newbury in 1767, and the reply by him to certain
strictures thereon, by the Rev. John Tucker, pastor
of the first church in Newbury. This famous eccle-
siastical controversy related to the necessity of infant
baptism in order to insure salvation. It is hardly
necessary to say that Mr. Hutchinson maintained the
affirmative of that proposition. His discourses are
marked by great familiarity with Scriptural texts,
much classical learning, fine controversial skill, and
by a logic which may fairly be described as of deadly
precision. Admit his premises, and you cannot es-
cape his conclusions.
Mr. Hutchinson, like his great contemporary. Dr.
Samuel Johnson, coupled with great learning and
ability, the manners of a bear. The president ol
the day,' who is the repository of all the history and
anecdotes connected with the antiquities of the town
relates a story of Mr. Hutchinson, illustrating his
manners: He was dining at a conference of minis
ters, and helped himself to so large a portion of the
pudding that there was little left on the platter.
Thereupon one of his neighbors at the table helped
himself from Mr. Hutchinson's plate, and, when re-
monstrated with, remarked that he always helped
himself from the largest pile.
I do not find in the ancient records of the town,
anything to show whether the young settlen.ent con-
tributed men to the expedition which resulted in the
brilliant conquest of Louisbourg in 1745. To this
enterprise, which owed its conception and execution
to the energy of Governor Shirley, this province con-
tributed more than three thousand men, and it i.'-
probable that in the ranks were found some residents
of this town.
The treaty of Aix-la-Cha])elle restored to the French
the fortress which New England valor had placed in
English hands, and left the colonists to the long
struggle which was in store for them, with their wily
and cruel neighbors of the north ; and the first war,
after the settlement of the town, which arose to try
the mettle of the inhabitants, was the French War,
I Henry F. Wing, Esq.
in which hostilities broke out in 1754. I have already
referred to Queen Anne's War of fifty years before.
It is undoubtedly true that the protracted .struggle of
the English colonists with the French and Indians
along our extended northern frontier, from the mouth
of the Saint Lawrence to the forks of the Ohio, fur-
nished the training-school in which was raised the
generation of soldiers who fought the battles of the
Revolution. In the French War Washington won his
spurs, and many of the officers and privates who met
the British regulars on Bunker Hill, or penetrated the
thick forests of Canada and crossed the Saint Law-
rence in canoes under the lead of Arnold and Mont-
gomery, to attack Quebec, or joined in the attack on
the Hessians at Trenton, or endured the pangs of
famine and frost at Valley Forge, had also, twenty
years before, rushed upon the defences at Louisbourg,
or, under the command of Wolfe, struggled up the
cliffs to the Heights of Abraham, or marched with
Washington through the dense forests of Western
Pennsylvania to the field of Braddock's defeat. To
say that the record of this town in that long struggle
was distinguished and honorable, is but to faintly
praise where words of enthusiastic eulogy are appro-
priate. In a period of nine years its population was
more than decimated by the fatalities of that war.
Such a record is of great and unparalleled significance,
and imports that here resided a race of heroic men,
whose martial virtues were not inferior to any that
ever inspired the strains of the lyric muse. In 1757,
the fortunes of England in America reached their
lowest ebb. For more than two years, disasters had
huddled thick upon her arms. At Fort Du Quesne,
at Oswego, at Fort William Henry and throughout
the whole of the Saint Lawrence valley, an almost
unbroken succession of defeats had reduced her pros-
pects here to the verge of despair. And, at home,
the gloom which settled on the face of affairs was
scarcely less deep and rayless than that of one hun-
dred years before, when the guns of the Dutch fleet
were heard in the Thames. It was at this moment
that the elder Pitt, the great commoner, seized the
reins of power which fell from the nerveless gras]> of
the " Whig aristocracy." In less than four years he
restored the military glory of his country to the pitch
it had attained by the genius of Marlborough, and
gave to England an influence in the politics of the
world which she had not enjoyed since the days of
Oliver Cromwell. The most brilliant of the series of
victories by which these results were accomplished
was the conquest of Canada. To the conquest of
Canada no portion of the British people contributed
so much as the province of Massachusetts B.ay, and
no portion of the people of this province contributed
more of men and money, according to their numbers,
than the people of the town of Grafton.
When we read the astounding fact that eighty of
her sons out of a population of seven hundred and
fifty died in this war, we feel the intense meaning of
GRAFTON.
941!
Colonel Barry's immortal speech in the House of
Commons: "They i^rotected by your arms? They
have nobly taken up arms in your defence ; have ex-
erted a valor amid their constant and laborious indus-
try, for the defence of a country whose frontier lom
drenched in blood, while its interior yielded all its lit-
tle savings to your emoluments."
When we turn the leaf which embalms the deeds of
this town in the War of the Revolution, we find equal
cause for pride and exultation. Grafton sent forth no
conspicuous leader to the councils, and furnished no
battle-field in that great debate. She contributed no
Washington, no Adams, no Warren, no Ward, and it
was not here that —
The embattled farmers stood
And fired the shot heard round the world.
But no people in the colonies caught the echo of
that shot with more quick and responsive ear. Before
the sun had set on the 10th day of April, 177o, a full
company of nearly one hundred men, with Rev. Mr.
Grosvenor, their pastor, in the ranks, were in raj^id
march to the front. On every bloody field, from
Bunker Hill to Yorktown, the sons of this town dared
or tasted death in the cause of independence. But
the contest of the American colonies of Great Britain
with the mother country was not specially distin-
guished by the valor of the Continental troops. There
was no deficiency in that respect, but there have been
more remarkable instances of human courage and en-
durance than any displayed in that war. The long
contest of the Netherlands with the mighty arma-
ments of Spain, forty-three years in duration, recorded
in the glowing and eloquent jtages of Motley, pre-
sents an instance far more striking and wonderful of
a brave people, in the sacred cause of liberty, main-
taining an unequal contest through more than a gene-
ration, and carrying it to a triumphant issue against
intrenched power and vast resources. It was not very
wonderful that three million peiiple, situated in a
country of such resources as this, and remote from
Europe, especially in alliance with one of the great
powers of the earth, should be able to wrest their
independence from the mother country, whose peo-
ple were not completely united in policy. But
what is unexampled in this great contest, what the
file affords absolutely no precedent for, was the
calm and conservative wisdom which marked all
the councils of the revolt. The colonists were not
revolutionists, indeed, but rather conservatives. They
were not fighting to establish new reforms, but to
preserve ancient liberties. They had no constitu-
tions, in the sense in which we use the term, and
yet in all their public utterances and state papers
they perpetually refer to their constitutions, and ap-
])eal to the principles of those constitutions.
By their constitutions the people of this province
meant the Magna Charta, the declaration of rights of
1088, and the bill of rights of 1689, and all that body
of law found in the preambles of ancient statutes
and in the decisions of courts, whereby the liberties
of Englishmen were declared and secured every-
where. They believed those principles were em-
bodied by necessary implication in the charter of
li329, and in the new charter of 1691. I cannot de-
velop, and must not stop to dwell on this topic.
They were a race of constitutional lawyers. Burke
said of them : " In this character of the Americans,
a love of freedom is the predominating feature which
marks and distinguishes the whole. This fierce spirit
of liberty is stronger in the English colonies, proba-
bly, than in any other people of the earth." And
Chatham, in 177.5, thus characterized their public
papers : " When your lordships look at the papers
transmitted to us from America, when you consider
their decency, firmness and wisdom, you cannot but
respect their cause and wish to make it your own.
For myself I must declare and avow that in all my
reading and observation — and it has been my favorite
study — I have read Thucydides and have admired
the master states of the world— that for solidity of
reasoning, force of sagacity and wisdom of conclu-
sion, under such a complication of difficult circum-
stances, no nation or body of men can stand in pref-
erence to the General Congress at Philadelphia."
Now, the same characteristics which marked the
emanations of the greater bodies, and so much chal-
lenged the admiration of the great statesman, will be
found in less degree in the humble records of the
proceedings of the New England towns. I have ad-
verted to this subject to say that right here, in the
volumes containing the proceedings of this town in
1774 and '75, will be found undying evidence of the
existence here of that "fierce spirit ot liberty"
which Burke discovered, coupled with the temperate
wisdom and practical sagacity which commanded the
applause of Chatham. A single illustration is all I
can allow myself. I refer to the report of a commit-
tee adopted by the town January 4, 1774, and having
reference to a communication from Boston, sent out
upon the occasion of the destruction of tea in Boston
harbor. It is in these words : " The town of Grafton,
taking into consideration the unhappy circumstances
that this country are involved in at the present crisis,
attempts being repeatedly made infringing upon our
rights and privileges, which we consider justly alarm-
ing to all the true friends of our happy constitution,
which hath been so dearly purchased, and which we
esteem to be our most invaluable interest and rights as
Englishmen, which we have ever gloried in, more par-
ticularly at the glaring injustice of the East India
Company being allowed to send tea to America, while
subject to a duty payable in America, which we view
as subversive of our rights as Christians ; as subjects,
and as loyal subjects of our most 'gracious King
George, whose name and person we ever desire to
view as sacred. Therefore, Resolved, as the people
of this town, that any one individual, or any body of
men, that shall encourage, aid or assist in importing
944
HISTORY OF WORCESTER COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.
or receiving any such tea or any other article while
subject to a duty, the sole purpose whereof is to raise
money to appropriate to any sordid measure, or any
use whatever contrary to our just rights of distrib-
uting our own property wherewith God and Nature
hath made us free, can but be viewed as criminal to
our country, as well as to the mother state, and must
be so viewed by us. Resolved, that this town are in
duty bound to join with and assist our sister towns
and colonies in this our common cause, so as we may
be instrumental under God of handing down that
liberty to our posterity which hath been kept so long
inviolate and preserved by our worthy ancestors.
Resolved, that the substance of the proceedings of
the town of Boston and other towns in their respect-
ive town-meetings (relative to said affair), which
have been published and come to our knowledge, are
in our apprehension consistent with truth and our
happy constitution, and we can but wish prosperity
may attend all laudable stands, so that our glorious
constitution may yet be handed down to posterity in-
violate. But to adopt any measures where private
advantage or sinister ends are apparently at the bot-
tom, and who make this though ever so glorious a
foundation for their avarice and emolument we cannot
but must detest and abhor.''
The syntax of this document will not bear exami-
nation, but the record presents an interesting type ol
the class of the counsels that prevailed everywhere.
It exhibits in the sons the same characteristics which
predominated in the fathers who settled the town —
clear, practical common sense, a people who knew
their rights and the exact extent and limits and
grounds of them ; a people who believed that liberty
was not an abstraction, but inhered in a sensible ob-
ject — a people who could not be surprised nor driven
into vain excesses, and who proposed as their ances
tors had done, to govern themselves, but by no means
to commit society to any untried and dangerous the-
ories of abstract rights, that rested not uptm the solid
basis of precedent. But our ancestors were not always
right. What Emerson said of Concord is true of
Grafton, " If the good counsel prevailed, the sneak-
ing counsel did not fail to be suggested." You will
find if you search the musty records, that while most
of the men whose blood flows in your veins were
stanch in the just cause, others of your ancestors,
perhaps, were obstinate, obstructive and wrong-
headed. If the question came up on paying the
minute-men for the time they spent in learning the
military art and for their accoutrements, you may find
some of your kindred, whoso names you would prefer
not to see in that conspicuous eminence, sullenly pro-
testing against the scheme, perhaps suspicious that it
savored too much of " measures where private advan-
tage and sinister ends were at the bottom." But
Tories were exceeding scarce, and although I find an
honored name of one who was cashiered as agent to
procure recruits for the town, "because he was not
firm and friendly to the State," yet I believe he was
restored within a few months. And you know that
when the question of the adoption of the United
States Constitution came up, the people of this town
and vicinity, concurring with the mistaken views of
many veteran patriots of the Revolution, rejected by
a very large majority that Union which, in the next
age, their posterity were destined so gloriously to de-
fend. I have left myself no time, nor was it a part of
my design, to enter upon any consideration of Graf-
ton's relation to the War for the Union. If the record
of fatalities did not reach the unparalleled extent of
the old French War, the roll of your volunteers was
swelled far beyond every requirement of the govern-
ment. For nearly every eight men your quota called
for, you furnished, out of the abundance of your
patriotism, an additional man.
Y'our eminence in this particular received ample
recognition from the Commonwealth, when its chief
magistrate .said, in measured words : " I feel bound in
truth and justice to say that no other town appears to
have contributed to the late war a larger proportion
than yours of its treasures and its men." I am speak-
ing to those who helped to make the record. I know
how appropriate the theme is ; but I could not ade-
quately treat it. To what examples of ancient or
modern valor could I refer to set in more striking
light your own ? The mind reverts to Marathon ; to
Platea ; and to the pass in the Locrian Mountains,
where the three hundred Spartans with their few
allies, held at bay a million barbarians.
The literature and art of twenty-five centuries has
invested these examples of heroism with imperish-
able glory. No immortal literature has yet wrought
its spell upon your deeds. The long arts of sculpture
and painting have notfamiliarized theeyes of seventy
generations with your achievements. Perhaps the
conditions under which you and your comrades
wrought and endured are not favorable to the repre-
sentations of art, and the Achilles of the Civil War
may never find his Homer. But 1 know of nothing
in the quality of your valor, in the circumstances
under which it was displayed, in the motives which
actuated it, or in the re-sulls it achieved, to belittle it
in comparison with the classic models of antiquity.
The Greeks, trained in war from their infancy, on
those renowned fields, confronted a foe formidable
only in numbers, to preserve for a few precious
decades a small tract of mountainous country, until
their genius might create and transmit to other ages
and other races a body of wonderful literature, monu-
ments of unequaled art, and examples of politics and
governments, of the highest interest to mankind.
You fought without previous military training,
against an equal foe, in the cause of human lib-
erty, inspired with a lofty sentiment of national in-
tegrity, and to the end, in the immortal language of
Lincoln, "that government of the people, by the
people, for the people, might not perish from the
GRAFTON.
945
earth." To quote the language of your great mili-
tary chieftain, addressed to you at the close, " Your
marches, sieges and battles, in distance, duration, res-
olution and brilliancy of results, dim the lustre of
the world's past military achievements, and will be
the patriot's precedent in defence of liberty and the
right in all time to come."
I have said the first settlers of the town were re-
markable for their sturdy sen.se and practical busi-
ness capacity, and for these their descendants have
continued to be distinguished. It would be invidious
to name the living, and difficult to select, for special
mention, from the long roll of Grafton's sons who
have united with a lofty spirit of patriotism the
practical wisdom of men of afl'airs. They are found,
in no insignificant numbers, in the ranks of those by
whom the great business interests of the country are
managed. Of profound and brlUiaut scholars, of
eminent statesmen and orators, the t<nvn has no list
to present. In the main, heretofore, the genius her
children have displayed is the genius of honest in-
dustry, perseverance, courage, Yankee sense, the ca-
pacity to gain solid acquirements, and to use them
about the practical business of life, the genius of the
true artisans who have wrought out the great material
progress and prosperity of the age. And if the past
of the town is secure, the present and future are also
luminous with hope and promise. It is true that
causes, which need not be enumerated, tend to mass
l)opulation about great industrial centres, and the
country town sufl'ers an apparent diminution of im-
portance. If it is a question of valuation for the
purposes of ta.\ation ; if it is a ((uestion of com|)ara-
tive gain of population ; if it is a question of rela-
tive municipal importance, your town has lost the
race. But the true worth of a town is not measured
by its valuation list, any oiore than the true wealth
of a man is measured by his weight avoirdupois.
When the Neto Yor/c Sun wanted to say the most dis-
paraging thing it could think of about General Han-
cock, it .said he was a good man, and weighed two
hundred and fifty pounds. If it is a question what
opportunities are here afforded to lead a rational ex-
istence ; to appreciate intelligently the great pageant
of human life as it moves before the eye ; to culti-
vate and expand your own powers ; to furnish the
minds of your children with correct opinions, and fill
their hearts with noble sentiments ; in short, to en-
joy all the blessings of civil liberty, at what period
of Grafton's history were her prospects more attrac-
tive? In 1735 Grafton was what it had been in the
days of Hubbard, " a place up into the woods beyond
Medfield and Mendon."
The Grafton of 1885 is near the centre of a repub-
lic of fifty-five millions of people. The distance of
your fathers of the year 1800 from their rural county-
seat was greater than yours, at present, from the
great city, then a straggling town, now a vast mart
of trade and the " mother of arts and eloquence."
60
Taking into account the conveniences and comforts
of modern methods of travel, as well as the element
of time, you are nearer to New York, Philadelphia
and Washington, than your fathers were to their pro-
vincial capital. " No pent up Utica contracts your
powers, but the whole boundless continent is yours.''
And it is yours in other senses than that it is acces-
sible. The old charters of Charles, and of William
and Mary, granted to the province of Massachusetts
Bay all the land lying between a north line three
miles north of the Merrimack and a south line three
miles south of the Charles, and extending westward
to the South Sea. There was an unconscious prophecy
in the vague terms of the ancient grants. The royal
grantors could deliver but a small part of the vast
region they covered by the premises of their parch-
ment. But what the royal .signet could not give title
to, the grantees and their children have, nevertheless,
possessed. The great West is but a larger New Eng-
land and a more distinguished Massachusetts. Even
the great South, so long shut up against the influence
of your free institutions, beholds the coming day.
Even there —
Night's candles are burnt out, and jocund day
Stands tiptoe on tlie misty mountain tops.
The new South means a South which shall yield
to the genial influences of New England, such as our
fathers planted here, and which have created the
greatness of the North and the West. Meanwhile,
over your noble hills and through your lovely val-
leys, "Heaven's breath smells wooin.gly," your ample
fields have not sensibly abated their fertility, and
your thriving villages are vigorous as of old. Your
model free-schools and your noble library open wide
their portals and extend their inestimable benefits to
the rich and poor alike. No child is born within
your borders in circumstances so abject and miser-
able that the beneficent institutions you have estab-
lished and maintain will not unlock at the bidding of
his diligence and ability, every door that leads to
wealth and honorable fame. Standing at the apex (if
the second century, reverting to the past and peering
into the future, we can discover only reasons for pro-
found gratitude to the founders of the ancient town,
and to their heroic successors in every generation,
who have preserved for us so noble a heritage.
BIOGRAPHICAL.
ESEK SAUNDERS.
The subject of this sketch is nearly as old as the
century, having been born in Scituate, R. I., May 21,
1800, and is still (January, 1889) living with physical
and mental powers remarkably preserved.
His father, Ebenezer, the son of Kobert and Alice
Stephens Saunders, was born in Gloucester, R. 1..
946
HISTORY OF WORCESTER COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.
April 17, 1774, engaged in agriculture and later in
manufacturing interests, and died in Providence, R. I.,
February 12, 1835.
The ancestor of the family in this country was
Christopher Saunders, who settled at Bristol, R. I.>
and attended the first town-meeting there in 1680.
He was descended from Sir Robert Saunders, who
was knighted by Oliver Cromwell during the civil
wars of England. The family name is favorably
known in letters, being represented in London by
Mr. John Saunders, a writer of marked ability in
historical matters, and in this country by Mr. Fred-
erick Saunders, the accomplished librarian of the
Astor Library in New York.
Deborah Foster Saunders, the mother of Esek, the
daughter of Josiah and Patience Williams Foster,
was born December 20, 1776, and died at the great
age of ninety-six years, ten months and twenty days,
at Saundersville, Mass. She was an estimable woman
and retained her mental faculties to a remarkable de-
gree. The town of Foster, R. I., was named for her
family. She was a descendant of Roger Williams,
the founder of Rhode Island, and of William and
Mary Dyer, who came from England with Roger
Williams, and settled with him in Rhode Island in
1636. William Dyer was the first secretary of the
colony of Rhode Island, and Mary, his wife, was the
Quakeress who was executed in Boston during Win-
throp's administration.
Esek Saunders was one of six children, having
three brothers and two sisters. He was in the seventh
generation from Roger Williams, and was most em-
phatically the architect of his own success, having
left home at the early age of eight years, though still
for some time under the oversight of loving parents.
At sixteen we find him in the employ of Aldricb,
Macomber & Fisk, who ran the stage line from
Providence to Norwich in connection with the New
York Steamship Line, carrying the United States
mail. Here he began his connection with what was
then one of the great enterprises of the day — stage-
coaching, in which he was to have many interesting
experiences and a large degree of success. Ten years
later he was for eighteen mouths with Thomas Harts-
horn, proprietor of a large livery stable, who fur-
nished carriages to people going to all parts of the
country. In his employ young Saunders had an
opportunity to visit all the principal cities and to meet
many of the noted people whose names have become
historic. The year 1819 found him with his uncle,
John Howard, at Burlington, Vt. Here he was
placed on the line between Burlington and Boston, re-
maining until the spring of 1821, when he became
the Boston agent of the line. In 1822 he was con-
nected with the Plymouth line, and in 1823 went on
the Eastern line, driving most of the time between
Newburyport and Boston, doing an important express
business, carrying large sums of money for the
bankers, and at the same time maintaining an inter-
est in most of the other lines. Mr. Saunders became
one of the best known, most trusted and most popular
drivers of the day. His honesty, fidelity, good judg-
ment and urbanity brought him prosperity. His
strict temperance principles were remarkable for that
day, and the more so for one in his position. Favored
parties frequently oflered him cigars, wine, tickets to
theatres, etc., all of which he politely but firmly re-
fused. He now loves to tell to appreciative friends
most interesting stories of his staging experiences,
and of those who have been his passengers. John
Quincy Adams, then Secretary of State under Monroe,
afterward President of the United States, rode with
him, in 1819, from Providence to Quincy. In 1820
he had Gen. Winfield Scott with his staff on their
way to Boston, as passengers from Burlington to
Royalston. This was the beginning of an intimate
acquaintance and friendship. In 1821 he accom-
panied Gen. Lafayette from Boston to Portsmouth
and return. Almost all the men most prominent in
the history of the country, in the early part of this
century, have been his passengers, including Daniel
Webster, Judge Story, Edward Everett, Lyman
Beecher and Nathaniel Hawthorne.
In 1835 Mr. Saunders removed to the village which
came to bear his name, and |iurchased the small con-
ton-mill built by David Wilkinson. Two of his
brothers, George and Benjamin, were associated with
him, the former remaining for three years, and the
latter for five and continuing to retain afterward an
interest in the firm. The mill as purchased had a
capacity of 1000 spindles and 24 looms. It was soon
replaced by the present substantial structure, — a stone
building 175 by 51 feet, three stories in height, with
an ell 78 by 38 feet, with a capacity of 12,000 spindles
and 210 looms. Under the enterprise of the Saunders
Cotton Co., of which Mr. Saunders was the principal
stockholder, Saundersville. one of the most beautiful
villages on the Blackstone, has grown up. It was
laid out with intelligence and taste in the beginning,
and trees of the most ornamental varieties were
planted at once, and now the shaded houses with
their little lawns and gardens are in marked contrast
with those of the average mill village. Mr. Saunders
looked well to the sanitary, the educational and the
moral interests of his little kingdom. He had a care
that the children of the village might grow up to be
intelligent and worthy citizens; showed adeej) interest
in the schools, and once gave one thousand dollars
for the library of the village. He endeavored in
every way to elevate his employes. In 1838 he
erected a convenient building for a church, which,
though replaced later by a more commodious structure
of brick, is still used as a vestry and for the social needs
of the Congregational Church. Mr. Saunders has
been the principal financial supporter of the church,
always devising liberal things for its welfare. He be-
came identified with it as a member in 1867, and has
served it as deacon since 1870. He has ever been the
GRAFTON.
947
iiiinister's friend and active supporter in all good
things.
It is also true of him that he has ever been a kind
and generous friend to the poor, and has by his help-
ing hand and wise and sympathetic counsels bright-
ened many a life. It used to be said of him that " he
would never have an unworthy man in the village."
Xo saloon has ever found a roof to cover it in Saun-
dersville, and no corrupter of the people, a home.
While giving his time to the exacting demands of
a large business, and caring like a father for the wel-
fare of the place, Mr. Saunders always manifested an
intelligent interest in public aflairs. He has voted at
every Presidential election since that of John Quincy
Adams in 1824. In the palmy days of the old Whig
party he acted with them, and his counsel was fre-
quently sought. Later he became identified with the
Republican party. All local enterprises of moment
sought his advice and support. He was an advocate
of public improvements in the town of Grafton, where
he lived, and active in all movements to benefit it-
He had a large influence in getting the Providence
and Worcester Railroad through, taking a large
amount of stock, giving land for a station and set-
tling land damages for the company. He twice rep-
resented the town with acceptance in the State Legis-
lature, and served several terms as selectman, over-
seer of the poor, trustee of the cemetery, etc. ; was
director of the Grafton Bank and Savings Bank; also
of llillbury Bank and Savings Bank ; was director
also of Worcester Safety Deposit Co., and is now the
ol<lest director in the Woi'cester Manufacturers' Mutual
Insurance Co., being one of its organizers in 1855.
The fact that he was frequently called upon to act as
arbitrator shows that he was widely recognized as a
nuin of intelligence and discrimination in all busi-
ness ailiiirs.
Mr. Saunders was married at South Deerfield, Mass.,
in 1825, to Miss Minerva Boyden, and three daughters
were born to them. One, Emily B., married William
H. Jourdan, now of Worcester ; another, Harriet M.,
became the wife of John D. Chollar, Esq., of the same
city; the third, Minerva, married Robert W. Taylor
afterward of Providence. Jlr. Saunders has three
grandsons, viz. : William Saunders Jourdan, John
Howard Chollar, Bradford Newcomb Taylor; one
great-grandson, Harry Putnam Jourdan.
In 1867 Mr. Saunders married for his second wife
Miss Margaret Read White, daughter of the late
Deacon Washington White, of Grafton, who still, the
most devoted of wives, imparts the charm of her
presence to his beautiful home.
Changes have come to the village. The business
is in other bands. New proprietors are running the
mill. But though not enjoying the prosperity ihat
once was his, Mr. Saunders can look out from the
windows of his residence upon the surrounding ac-
tivities, upon the mill he erected, upon the church
he built, the trees he planted, and the beautiful vil-
lage he created, and believe that the place that bears
his name will retain, long after he has gone, the
marks of his formative hand. His influence will
live on in what be has done for village improvement,
and education and temperance and religion.
JASPER S. NELSON.
Jasper Stone Nelson, son of Josiah and Sophia
(Goddard) Nelson, was born June 2, 1822, in the town
of Shrewsbury, Mass, upon a farm still owned by the
Nelson heirs, it having been in the possession of
the family for the greater part of the last one hun-
dred and twenty years.
The experiences of Mr. Nelson's early life were
those of the farm and the district school, he attend-
ing the latter more or less until he was eighteen
years of age. This, with three months at Worcester
Academy, was all that fell to his lot in the way of
educational advantages. After leaving school he
learned the trade of shoe-making from an elder
brother, and until about twenty-three years of age
divided his time between the farm and the bench.
Mr. Nelson's career as a manufacturer of boots
and shoes began in Shrewsbury in the year 1845 and
was marked by a steady, uninterrupted growth and
successful issue. The shop in which he began busi-
ness was a plain building, ten by thirteen feet in
dimensions, situated only a few rods from the place
of his birth. This building was subsequently
enlarged to about twice its original size. To this
place he took the stock of his own selection, and
with the help of an elder brother prepared it for
market, being his own salesman. Such was the
beginning of a now large and flourishing industry,
with its agents and branch houses all through the
West and South.
In 1848 Mr. Nelson moved to what is now North
Grafton and became associated with Mr. James S.
Stone, of Boston, a native and former resident of
Grafton. In 1850 Messrs. Stone & Nelson pur-
chased a tract of land near the Boston and Albany
station, and with it a building which forms part of
the present establishment. November 1, 1857, Mr.
Nelson b<iught out Mr. Stone's interest, continuing
the business in his own name until .January 1, 18(i9,
when Mr. Geo. H. Rugg, a tbrmer emiiloy(5, became
a partner to the business. In 1873, Mr. Nelson's son,
Charles H., was admitted to the firm, and January 1,
1877, Mr. Rugg disposed of his interest to the other
meml>ers, since which time the business has been
conducted under the firm-name of J. S. Nelson
& Son.
The factory, which was originally thirty by forty
feet, two stories high, has been enlarged from time to
time to meet the requirements of a steadily increas-
ing trade, until the present buildings have a capacity
of two hundred and sixty-four by thirty feet, four
stories high in which two hundred people find steady
employment.
948
HISTORY OF WORCESTER COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.
For nearly forty years Mr. Nelson was in close con-
tact and conapetition with business men all over the
country, yet no dishonorable act or suspicion of
unfairness was ever charged against hira ; his charac-
ter for strict integrity stood unchallenged to the end.
" His word was as good as his bond." As a citizen,
Mr. Nelson was public-spirited and patriotic, con-
cerned for the welfare of both his home and his
country. He was not, however, ambitious for polit-
ical honors, though he shrank from the performance
of no known duty.
During the War of the Rebellion he was one of a
special committee who, with the Board of Selectmen
of the town, were entrusted with the management of
its military operations, in which capacity he rendered
valuable service and was among the foremost to
assist, by word and deed, those who gave themselves
to fight the country's battles, and many a soldier
and soldier's family became the recipients of his
practical sympathy and generosity.
Mr. Nelson was twice elected and served the town
as a selectman, .and in 1870-71 represented his
district i d the State Legislature.
October 31, 1844, Mr. Nelson married Mary E.,
daughter of Gardner Wheelock, who bore him three
children — two daughters, Emma Elizabeth and Carrie
Oilman, both of whom died before reaching their
majority, and a son, Charles Horatio, who, upon the
death of the father, succeeded to the business, which,
under his wise and vigorous management is still
(1889) growing and prosperous. Brought up to labor,
Mr. Nelson's sympathies were with the laborer, and
the men in his employ both loved and respected him,
for they felt that in him they had a friend and bene-
factor, so that in the establishment of which he was
the head, serious differences between employer and
employe were practically unknown.
For whatever was false and degrading Mr. Nelson
entertained a wholesome contempt and his sympathies
were strongly on the side of temperance and moral
reform. In him the Baptist Church of the village
found a firm friend and generous supporter, and was
greatly encouraged and helped by his regular attend-
ance upon public worship— from which he seldom
absented himself when in health — as also by his
liberal contributions of money.
To know Mr. Nelson at his best was to know him
as a friend, and those thus favored — and they were
many, for he was a man to attract others — found in
him at all times, and under all circumstances, the
courteous gentleman, the genial companion and sym-
pathetic helper. He was a man of strong attach-
ments, loyal to his friends and eminently domestic
in his habits ; he loved his home and was not easily
enticed away from its luxury and comforts.
In person Mr. Nelson was a man of fine physique
and commanding presence, blessed with a vigorous
constitution, and until the closing year of his life he
enjoyed excellent health. He died October 22, 1884,
while yet upon the rising tide of a prosperous busi-
ness career, beloved and mourned by all who knew
him.
ERASTUS FISHEE.
The little town of Killingly, Conn., was the birth-
place of the subject of this sketch, as it had been the
home of his ancestors for several generations. To
this place his great-grandfather, who bore the scrip-
tural name of Barzillai (born January 6, 1730; died
January, 1813), came in 1769 with his wife, Lydia
Dexter (whom he married October 3, 1754). They
were blessed with nine children, the four oldest of
whom rendered valuable service in the War of the
Revolution. One of the sons, Nathan, was taken
prisoner, and died on the "Jersey" prison-ship.
John, the eldest (born December 29, 1755; died June
9, 1843), the grandfather of Erastus, served during
the entire war. On the farm now owned by John
Williams he bi'ought up his seven children, the
second of whom, Laban (born January 1, 1783; died
July 3, 1.860), was the father of four childien, of whom
Erastus was one. If it be true, as Oliver Wendell
Holmes has said, that " the education of a child
should begin an hundred years before he is born," the
present descendants of Erastus have much to he
grateful for in their inheritance from his mother.
Abigail Dexter (born April 2, 1789; died July 26,
1862) was a direct descendant of Rev. Gregory Dex-
ter, who came from England in 1644, who was an in-
timate friend of Roger Williams, and came to this
country at his solicitation, and who became pastor of
the Fir.st Baptist Church in Providence, R. I. On the
old homestead farm these parents reared their chil-
dren. Both father and mother were earnest, devoted
Chris'ians, not only professors but possessors of true
religion. Erastus (born November 21, 1810; died
April 20, 1880) was sent to the public school, and in
his good home he early formed those habits of indus-
try, and acquired those moral characteristics, by
which he was afterward so well known.
After his marriage, April 7, 1835, to Mary Fletcher
Dresser (born September 19, 1813; died December 6,
1880), who became a worthy helpmeet in all his
undertakings, they lived for a year on a leased farm
on Allen Hill, near fhe old homestead, where their
first son was born. Then, with assistance from his
father, he purchased the farm in Grafton, Mass., now
owned by George W. Fisher, and by hard work and
rigid economy the soil was made to yield a profitable
increase. In 1845 he bought a part interest, with his
brother Waterman A., in the cotton-mill in wha't is
now Fisherville. He took the superintendency, later
bought the whole interest, and eventually associated
with him his three sons as E. Fisher & Sons, which
firm continued until his death. On January 27, 1881,
the mills were burned, and a corporation was formed
in the following spring, composed largely of his old
business friends, and assumed in his honor the name
/^-T-gj^ ^ / ^^y
^^^ ^(^-^y
-if/ .
lipi'
.^^
GRAFTON.
949
of Fisher Manufacturing Company. By direction of
the company, as a testimonial of their high esteem,
an excellent crayon portrait of Erastus Fisher has
been placed in their office.
In 1861 he removed his residence to Worcester,
while his business interests continued in the town
of Grafton. He died at his home in Worcester, April
20, 1880, leaving behind him the example of a man
who prospeied in the good old-fashioned way, by his
own productive industry and by honest methods.
In business life Erastus Fisher was characterized
by invincible integrity, industry and perseverance.
He was always a man of his word, abhorring deceit,
and honorable in all his dealings and methods.
Though quiet and unassuming, he was yet outspoken
and resolute for the right. He was a good counselor,
was possessed of a large fund of that uncommon
thing called common sense, was wise in all his plans
and energetic in their prosecution.
In his family-life he was a kind husband and a faith-
ful and indulgent lather. He endeavored to bring up
his children in the way they should go, trained them
to habits of industry and honesty and efficiency, and
left them a priceless legacy in his counsels and example.
Politically he was a Whig, and cast his first vote
for Henry Clay. Later he acted with the Republican
party, and held strong anti-slavery sentiments. He
cast his vote always and conscientiously at elections!
was interested in the welfare of the town and ready
to assist in public improvements. He had no desire
for public office, but preferred to see others enjoying
its honors and rewards.
He loved to spend his time apart from business
hours in his home, yet consented to serve the town as
selectman, and while a resident was a director of the
Grafton Bank. He was also a member of the "Old
City Guards " of Worcester.
He was interested in moral reforms, was an earnest
and pronounced temperance advocate, and a total
abstainer in practice.
He was a constant attendant on public worship and
a professed Christian, he, with his wife, having joined
the Evangelical Congregational Church in Grafton in
1842. He was benevolent toward his church, and
interested in whatever tended to promote the kingdom
of God. A handsome window, memorial to him and
his wife, the gift of their sons, now adorns their
church in Grafton and commemorates their virtues.
After his removal to Worcester he was a useful and
valued member of the First Church (Old South) in
that city, and served the parish as assessor and treas-
urer. After his death highly eulogistic resolutions
were inscribed upon the parish records, from which
the following is an extract: "In the death of our
highly esteemed brother the Old South Church and
Parish have lost a wise counselor, liberal supporter,
and an earnest and devoted friend,- — one whose heart
was as full of love as was his life of noble and generous
deeds."
His children were Henry Dresser, born at Killingly,
Conn., January 18, 1836, died in Worcester March 14,
1886 ; George William (born November 18, 1843), at
present the agent of the Fisher Manufacturing Com-
pany ; and Albert Laban (born March 10, 1846), also
a resident of Fisherville, and lately a member of the
State Legislature.
SAMUEL D. WAREEJ).
Grafton, a beautiful hill-town of the county, was
the birth-place of one of the eminent business men
of this country, born there September 17, 1817. His
father, a typical New England farmer, had at one
time been in business at the South. The early school-
days of the subject of our sketch were passed in his
native town. At the tender age of thirteen, his father
being dead, he entered Amherst Academy, remaining
there two years. Like many a country youth before
him, young Warren was filled with the idea that
Boston held for him fame and fortune, which in fact
was true in his case.
To the tri-mountain city he wended his way, seek-
ing the prize before him. Disappointment was the
result, and he returned to his native town. But he
was made of the material that would not sutler him
to remain in that limited field of action. Mr. Otis
Daniell, a relative, saw the young man had a fixed
purpose to rise in the world, and offered to him a
position in Boston at small pay. The young man saw
in this a beginning — a stepping-stone to greater
things. He accepted the place with Grant & Daniell,
paper dealers. His wages being low, he was com-
pelled to be very frugal in his expenditures. His
employers soon saw in him the qualities that go to
make the successful man of business. Slowly but
surely he was mastering all the details. His success
was such, they decided, a few years after, to admit
him a member of the firm, which then became
Grant, Daniell & Co. Previous to 1853 the concern
was engaged only in selling paper. At that time
only a small portion of the paper used here was made
in this country. P'ive miles from Mr. Warren's birth-
place the first paper-mill in Worcester County had
been established, in 1776, by Abijah Burbank. As a
boy at school, young Warren had used paper bearing
the Bui'bank water-mark. No doubt he had seen the
vats of blue pulp and noted the process of paper-
making in Millbury, crude though it was.
Perhaps memories of this mill were in his mind
when, in 18.33, he determined upon manufacturing
paper himself He accordingly leased a small mill
at Pepperell, Mass., as an experiment. But, it proving
too small a field, he abandoned it and bought mills at
Cumberland Falls, Me. The mills were old and much
in need of repair, and a fortune for those days was
expended on them before he was satisfied. The best
machinery known was introduced and every appli-
ance to facilitate the business. It was a rule with
him that to successfully do a job, good tools must be
950
HISTORY OF WORCESTER COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.
used. At that time, it is said, he was deeply engaged
in the manufacturing part of his business, leaving the
other arrangements mostly with his partners.
The business at Cumberland Falls was successful
in all its details. An enterprising community sprang
up about there, in consequence of good management.
An idea of the magnitude of the business of this firm
in paper-making can be gathered when it is known
that the daily production of the firm's mills in 1888
was forty-five tons of paper, and tlie same number
of tons of wood-pulp. A small mill was bought in
1874 at Yarmouth, Me., where a series of experiments
were begun in making pulp of wood-fibre by a chem-
ical process. With a tenacity characteristic of Mr.
Warren, he held on to his purpose until his fondest
dreams were realized. The business successfully
started grew until twenty-five tons daily were made,
all of which was put on the market.
Another pulp-mill was set up at Cumberland Falls
in 1879, to make the pulp for their own paper-mills.
Not having reached the height of his ambition as a
business man, Mr. Warren decided to add to their
other business the importation of rags. Several
journeys to Europe were made by him before his
plans were all perfected. In this, too, he was also
successful, his firm at one time becoming the largest
importers of rags in the country. About 1S75 the
firm decided to abandon this part of the business.
Mr. Daniell having withdrawn from the firm in
1855, the name of Grant, Warren & Co. was used in
the business until 1867, although Mr. Grant had died
in 1863. S. D. Warren was now alone in this im-
mense business, and continued so until 1871, when
the firm became S. D. Warren & Co. Thus, by steady
application to business, he had made for himself the
place he sought. He had scaled the heights his am-
bition had reared before him. His name was a power
in the financial and business world. He had gone
through the many paths of business for long years,
and had come out with an unspotted reputation.
Respected by his fellow-citizens, he had been hon-
ored by them with many important trusts, — a trustee
of the McLean Asylum and of the Adams Nervine
Asylum, a director in the First National Bank and
of the Provident Savings Institution; also of the
Fireman's Relief Fund.
His wife was Miss Susan, daughter of Rev. Dorus
Clarke, D.D., by whom he liad six children, of whom
four sons and one daughter are now living.
Mr. Warren died May 11, 1888. His funeral was
held at Mount Vernon Church the 14th, Rev. Samuel
E. Herrick officiating. Memorial services were also
held at the same hour at Cumberland Falls, where
his large mills were situated. The burial was at
Mount Auburn. He was a member of Mount Vernon
Church, on Ashburton Place, and his Christian deeds
are well known. Liberal in all useful ways, his
heart was ever ojjen to the needy poor. Broad in his
charity, sweet memories cluster around his name.
His was a genial nature, ever looking on the bright
side of life. For the young he ever had a kind word
of encouragement an<l advice. Numerous instances
might be given where he has a'sisted such to place
and fortune.
As a business man he had few equals. His sterling
integrity soon became known in the business world,
and " his word was as good as his bond." His name
sheds lustre upon the place of his birth. Fitting il is
that his features should be preserved in the history
of the county he loved so well.
GEORGE W. HAMMOND.
George Warren Hammond, eldest son of Josiah
Hovey Hammond and Anna Grout (Warren) Ham-
mond, was born in Grafton, Mass., April 4, 183.3. His
father was descended from Thomas Hammond, of
Lavrenham, England, who came to this country in
1636, with his wife Elizabeth (Cason) Hammond.
This family of Hammonds settled in Hingham and
Newton, and for six generations the Hammond family
lived at Chestnut Hill, where Josiah Hovey Hammond
was born in 1806. The Warren family came from
Wayland, England. Capt. Samuel Warren bought
his land in Grafton of his brother, in 1731, who bought
it of the Indians in 1728. A part of the old Warren
homestead has remained in possession of the Warren
family until recently, when it passed by will into the
hands of the subject of this sketch.
George Warren Hammond's business career began
at Cumberland Mills, Maine, April 12, 1854, under
the care of his uncle, the late Samuel D. Warren, of
S. D. Warren & Co., Boston. Mr. Hammond became
agent at Cumberland Mills iu 1863. These mills
manufacture paper of the finest quality and are among
the largest in the world. In 1874 they began the de-
velopment of the new industry of chemically-pre-
pared wood-fibre, to be used in superior pa|)er ; this
industry has been carried on at Yannouthville, Maine,
under the name of the Forest Paper Co., the sole
owners being Messrs. S. D. Warren and G. W. Ham-
mond.
Mr. Hammond married Ellen I. S. Clarke (October
15, 1874), daughter of Rev. Dorus Clarke, D.D., of
Boston. Since that time Mr. Hammond has been a
resident of Boston, although continuing the direction
of his business in Maine.
As this history of Worcester County contains rec-
ords of many of its pioneers and representative men,
there seems a peculiar appropriateness in preserving
here this mention of the four nephews of S. D. War-
ren, which appeared in the Portland Advertiser. Mon-
day, July 9, 1888, after the commemorative service to
the late S. I). Warren had been held at Cumberland
Mills and Yarmouth Mills, Maine. The Advertiser
says •—
In this oonnectiou it is not inuppnipiiutf to refer to the four nephews
uf Mr. Wiirieii, wliu wt-le Li^ upeciul buUy-guarU ut llie tunural iu Boa-
'/^,
y
,i^
GRAFTON.
951
ton, May 11th. They were George W. Hammond, long associated with
the Cumberland Mills as agent and later joint owner with Mr. Warren
in the Fore^it Paper Co.'s mills, for the nuiHufacture of wood-fibre, at
Yarmouthville ; John E. Warren, present agent at Cumberland Mills,
son uf Joseph A. Warren, who was born in Grafton, Mass. ; Ueury E
Merriam, agent of the Copseecook Mills, Gardiner, Maine, and M. B-
Mason, a partner in the Boston house of S. D. Warren & Co.
These nephews have faitlifiilly sought to develop,
not only the business, but the social and religious in-
terests in their respective places. These men repre-
sent the devotion, loyalty, integrity and ability essen-
tial to success. Those who rightly appreciate the
training of the home and the church, and who mark
the influence of birth and family, will note with in-
terest Mr. Warren's fortunate position in being sup-
ported and succeeded by such men.
Three of the nephews mentioned are sons of sisters
of S. D. Warren.
JAMES S. STONE.
There were two early settlers of the name of Stone,
from whom most of the very numerous families of
that name in New England are de.scended, viz., Simon
and his younger brother Gregory. The latter moved
from Watertown to Cambridge, probably about 1636.
Gregory was the ancestor of the families in this town.
Nahum Stone, born 17.53, married Hannah Haven,
died August 30, 1803; he died September 7, 1821.
Children: Gregory, born July 11, 1776, married Pru-
dence Leland ; David, born January 18, 1778, died
September 22, 1778; Albert, born August 5, 1779,
married Sally B. Kimball; Daniel, born December 4,
1781, married Sally Williams ; Josiah H., born June
28, 1783, married Betsey Bent.
Gregory Stone (Nahum), born July 11, 1776, mar-
ried Prudence Leland, born 1778. He died 1810.
Albert Stone (Nahum), born August -5, 1779, mar-
ried Sally B. Kimball.
He was a man of sound judgment and stern integ-
rity, with a liberal turn of mind. He was much
interested in town affairs, and always looked for the
welfare and prosperity of the town. He held many
town oflices, such as selectman, overseer of the poor,
assessor, and collector of ta.Kes, and was Representa-
tive for two years; he also served on various town
committees of importance.
In early life he was a clothier by trade. He had a
fulling-mill. About 1812 he built a two-story build-
ing for machinery for carding wool for farmers who
made their own cloths, as everything was high dur-
ing the war.
In about 1825 he, with his neighbors, sold out his
farm in New England Village, and later bought on
Brigham Hill, his honored wife being unwilling to
move out of town and away from their numerous
acquaintances.
Children : Hannah, born May 23, 1804, married
Benjamin Kingsbury ; Mary, born September 3, 1806,
married Lincoln Wood ; Lorana, born August 19,
1808, married Elijah L. Case ; Sally, born August 27,
1810, married William E. Tidd ; Martha, born Octo-
ber 21, 1812, married Leander S. Pratt ; Albert G.,
born November 17, 1814, died March 7, 1818; James
S., born July 4, 1816, married Mary L. Phinney June
13, 1838 ; Elbridge K., born August 23, 1818, married
Jane E. Brown; Lucy E., born June 26, 1821, mar-
ried William J. Eaton.
James S. Stone, born July 4, 1816, married JIary
L. Phinney, June l.-i, 1838.
In addition to a very limited common-school edu-
cation, he attended the Teachers' Seminary and
Phillips Academy at Andover for about two years,
teaching school during the winter seasons.
At the age of twenty-one years he engaged in the
boot and shoe business for himself in Alton, Illinois.
Selling out there in 1845, he came to Boston, resum-
ing the same business in his own name, and after-
wards was a partner in the firms of Fay, Jones &
Stone and Fay & Stone. Giving up active business
in 1875, he was later interested in real estate, and
employed his leisure time for about ten years in
building stores.
Children : Albert, born in Alton, Illinois, May
20, 1843, married Anna H. Putnam; Ellen Augusta
born in Boston August 9, 1846, died September 26,
1850 ; Edwin Palmer, born in Medford, Mass., Sep-
tember 3, 1853, married Clara O. Leland.
Elbridge K. Stone, born August 23, 1818, married
Jane E. Brown. '
In 1840 he established himself in the jobbing and
retail boot and shoe business at Quincy, Illinois,
building himself a store in 1857, continuing in the
same line of business for twenty-five years ; and later
on for eighteen years was superintendent and man-
ager of the Horse Eailroad Co. in Quincy, his son, E.
K. Stone, Jr., succeeding him in that office. Once
duriug his business life, owing to the general depres-
sion that prevailed in that section of the country, he
found himself obliged to compromise with his cred-
itors, but as soon after as he was able to do so, it
afforded him the greatest pleasure to pay them all in
full, with interest. He still resides in Quincy, Illinois,
a much honored and respected citizen.
Children: Sarah E., born July 13, 1843, died May
27, 1848; Emily H., born February 12, 1846, died
May 15. 1848; Mary J., born November 30, 1848,
married H. Newhall; Elbridge K., born in the year
1850, married Cora Edison ; Charles E., born Septem-
ber 19. 1854, died November 3, 1856.
JONATHAN CHESTER FOEBUSII.
Silas Forbush, the father of the subject of this
sketch, was a descendant of one of the old families
of Worcester County, the family of Forbush being
traced back as far as 1680, when they were settled in
Marlboro'.
Silas Forbush was born in Grafton in 1795, and
always lived there, dying at the age of uinely-two.
952
HISTORY OF WORCESTER COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.
His life was one of great industry, integrity and use-
fulness. At an early age be began the business
of manufacturing shoes, at which he continued suc-
cessful for some years. Later he returned to his
farm, in which he always took delight. During his
entire long life he was a man of influence in the
town, being called to many important trusts.
He was certainly the very model of the old-time,
cheerful, contented and successful New England
man.
Jonathan Chester Forbush was born in Grafton,
July 14, 1825. His boyhood was spent on his father's
farm, and his education was that of the common
schools. Later he worked in his father's shoe-shop,
where he continued till early manhood, when he be-
gan the business of manufacturing shoes with Na-
thaniel Brown, also a native of Worcester County.
The firm remained in Grafion for about one year,
when they removed to the then young city of Buf-
falo, New York, where they have ever since contin-
ued the business.
Mr. J. C. Forbush's life, both in a business and
social way, has always been pleasant and very suc-
cessful. Inheriting the sturdy traits of both his
father and mother, he has always commanded the
confidence and respect of the community in which
he lived.
' WALTER P. PHILLIPS.
Walter Polk Phillips was born June 14, 1846.
Prior to his parents' removal to Providence, in 1859,
the family lived on a farm near Saundersville. Mr.
Phillips' father is Andrew Smith Phillips, now of
Providence, and his mother, before marriage, was
Roxana Minerva Drake, of Northboro'. In 1861,
Walter secured employment in the telegraph office at
Providence, with a view to becoming an operator.
He was well advanced in his studies for a boy of
fifteen, and so assiduously did he apply hiaiself to
the business which he had undertaken, that in 1867
he was formally recognized by Professor Morse, the
inventor of the telegraph, as the most expert operator
in the United States. The record made by Mr.
Phillips, in that year, in a tournament in which many
stars of the profession participated, has never been
equaled.
Mr. Phillips was now of age; he had recently
married Francena Adelaide Capron, of Attleboro', and
having made his mark as a telegrapher, he decided to
take a step forward and enter journalism. With this
object in mind, be began a special course of study,
which, he being a natural and persistent student,
rapidly fitted iiim for newspaper work. During the
next five years he combined with his telegraphic
duties a great deal of newspaper writing of various
grades, ranging from ordinary reporting to editorial
writing and book reviewing.
In 1872 Mr. Phillips established the Attleboro'
Chronicle and, pushing it quickly to phenomenal
success, disposed of it advantageously and went to
New York. Here, in due course, he found his way
into the service of the Associated Press, with which
important organization he met with marked success.
His value was recognized in 1878, in his selection for
the head of the Associated Press at Washington.
Remaining at the capital until 1883, when his reputa-
tion as a journalist and litterateur was largely
augmented, Mr. Phillips returned to New York in
that year, and assumed charge of the United Press, of
which he was made and continues to be the secretary
and general manager, as well as one of its principal
owners.
This organization, although the product of fifteen
years of experiment and unflagging endeavor, was a
weak and ineftective competitor of the Associated
Press when its affairs passed to Mr. Phillips' hands.
Under his charge the United Press has become a power
in the land, and a most prosperous business under-
taking. It was long since recognized by its rival, the
Associated Press, as a legitimate competitor, and in
the place of hostility, formerly existing between the
two organizations, there have come, under Mr.
Phillips' administration, most radically changed con-
ditions, which contemplate self-respecting co-operation
and a greater degree of usefulness for both, than was
possible in the past or dreamed of for the future.
Mr. Phillips' management of the United Press has
served to permanently fix his status as a man of
aflairs, and it is as a business man that he is now best
known after having successively won a reputation in
telegraphy, in journalism and in the wider field of
Eteneral literature.
JONATHAX D. WHEELER.
Hon. Jonathan D. Wheeler was born August
14, 1806. At the early age of seven he came to
Grafton, and resided with his paternal uncle, Jona-
than Wheeler, Esq., and while here entered Leicester
Academy, from which place he graduated. After
graduating he studied languages with Dr. Dodgett,
and in 1823 he entered the firm of Earle & Chase
(J. Milton Earle and Anthony Chase), in Worcester,
as clerk. After remaining here a few years he went
to Weston and engaged in mercantile business, where
he remained for three years, subsequently entering
the employ of the Bottomly Manufacturing Co., in
Leicester, as chief clerk in their oflSce. In 1829 he
came to Grafton and purchased the store of Samuel
Harrington, and, with Ebenezer Aldricb as partner,
conducted the business. While in this business he
married Elizabeth Davenport, of Mendnn, daughter
of Benjamin Davenport; she died May 15, 1832.
In 1832 he sold out his interest in the concern
to Jonathan Warren, and removed to Boston, where
he conducted for five years a domestic goods commis-
sion business at No. 75 Kilby Street, under the firm-
name of Farnum, Mills & Wheeler. During the
'^ ^ jy^yyliuM^^
SUTTON.
953
last two years the firm-name was Pierce, Mills &
Wheeler.
October 13, 1834, he married for his second wife,
Caroline A. Norcross, of Boston, daughter of Otis
Norcross, Esq., and sister of Hon. Otis Norcross,
ex-mayor of Boston. In 1837 he formed a co-part-
nership with Benj. Poor and conducted an extensive
commission business for nearly two years. In 1839,
with Peter Farnum, he purchased of the Wadsworth
Manufacturing Co. at Danville (Barre), Mass., the
large woolen-mills, and for a short time conducted
an esteubive manufacturing business.
He subsequently sold out to his partner and
returned to Boston. Moving again to Grafton in
1843, he entered into business with Samuel Harring-
ton (firm-name Harrington & Wheeler), and after a
short time purchased what is now known as the
Wheeler Cotton-Mills, West Millbury,
In 1863-64 he was a member of Gov. Andrew's
Council from the Sixth Councilor District. In 1868
he represented the Second Worcester Senatorial Dis-
trict and was chairman of the committee on the
Troy and Greenfield Railroad ; he declined a re-elec-
tion. Since the organization of the Grafton National
Bank he has been a director, and was president from
1864 to 1882.
He was selectman for three years, and one of the
trustees of the Grafton Savings Bank from its organi-
zation.
CHAPTER CXXV.
SUTTON. 1
BY J. W. STOCKWELL.
The township of Sutton was purchased by certain
persons residing in Boston, of John Wampus and
others. Nipmug Indians, and is described as a tract
of waste land eight miles square, lying between the
towns of Mendon, Worcester, New (Jxford, Sher-
burne and Marlborough, embracing within its limits
an Indian reservation four miles square, called
" Hassanimisco."
The origin of the name is unknown. Deacon
Leland gives an old tradition, which he regards well-
established; It is this John Wampus visited Eng-
land ; while on his return voyage to New England
he received medical aid and other kindnesses from a
fellow-passenger, Dr. Sutton, and from gratitude to
him for his kindness, suggested his name for the town-
1 In preparing this History of Sutton, the writer has selected largely
trom the " History of Sutton" printed for the town in 1878, edited by
Rev. W. A. Benedict and others, instead of culhng over again the origi-
nal material from which that work was compiled, as collected and pre-
serred by Deacon .Jonathan Lehiud and Christopher C. Baldwin. There-
fore, while I have not followed the form or arrangement of the book,
I have tiiken from that history any material facts and used tliem with-
out other acknowU'iIgment of anthotship.— J. W. S.
ship, when he gave the deed conveying it to the pro-
prietors.
The original deed from John Wampus & Co. seems
to have been lost, from the fact that the " Proprietors
of Sutton," at a meeting held February 22, 1731-32,
ordered "Tliat the Clerk shall provide a new book
and transfer this regularly, and that on the first pages
of it, the original deed of John Wampus, alias White,
together with the Grant of the General Court, be first
placed " — and though a new book was procured and
the transfer made, no deed appears. The grant re-
ferred to was recorded on the first pages, and is as
follows :
Joseph Dudley, Esqr., Captain General and Oovernor In Chief In and
over her JIajesties Province of tlie Massachusetts Bay in Xew England
in America — To all to whom these presents shall come Greeting.
Whereas John Conner, Pewterer, James Smith, Shop-keeper, Willijim
>Iumford, Stone cutter, and Joshua Hewes, Innkeeper, all of Boston In
the County of Suffolk, within the Province aforesaid by their petition
presented to the said Joseph Dudley, Esqi'., Govenor, and the Genera!
Assembly of the aforesaid Province, at their last Session begun the Eighth
day of March last passt before the sale hereof. Have humbly prayed iu
behalf of themselves and company, a confirmatiuu by a grant of this
L'ourt of their right and title to a certain tract of land purchased of
John Wampus, alias White, and (.'onipany, Indians situate in the Nip-
fnug Country between the towns of Mendon, Worcester, New Oxford,
Sherburne and Slarlborougli, of eight miles square, iu which is included
a tract of land four miles square called Hassananiisco, and possessed by
the Indians. And Wherejis the said Govenor and General As^mbly
liave ordered that the prayer of said petition be granted, saving the lands
purchased by the Haynes's, and reserving the Indian property of
Hassananiisco — Provided also that they intrench upon no former grant
of the General Court, and they be obliged to settle a town of thirty fam-
ilies, and a minister upon said lands, within seven yeares after the end
of the present war with the Indians. And that they reserve three hun-
dred acres of the said lands for the firot settled minister, four hundred
acres for the ministry, and two hundred acres for the use of a school, all
to be laid out conveniently. The said tract to begin upon the line of
Marlborough next Hassananiisco, a platt thereof to be returned and ap-
proved by tliis Court, as in and by the record of said General Aesembly,
relation being thereunto liad, doth and may appear.
Know ye therefore that I, the said Joseph Dudley, Esqr., Governor,
agreeable to the above recieved order passed by the Council and Assein -
bly respectively, and pursuant to the power and authority contained
and granted in and by her Majesties Royal Charter the Governor and
General Assembly of the aforesaid Province of Slassachusetts Bay, have
granted, ratified and confirmed and by these presents do freely, fully
und absolutely grant, ratify and confirm unto the above named John
'""onner, James Smith, William Mnmford, Joshua Hewes, and others,
iheir Partners, viz.: Paul Dudley of Boston aforesaid Esqr., John Jack-
son of said Boston, honsewright, Mary Conner and Elizabeth Pittoni,
daughters and co-heirs of John Pittom Plunimer, deceased, Edward
Pratt of Newtown within the County of Middlesex, Physician, and
Elizabeth Wilson of Hartford in the Covinty of Connecticut, Widows,
their heires and assignes forever, all the aforesaid certain tract of waste
land purchased of the Indians, Native Proprietoi-s, as above mentioned,
scituate and described as aforesaid, and to be surveyed, platted and ap-
proved as above directed, with and under the severall savings, reserva-
tions. Provisos and conditions above expn-ssed, and all the estate, right,
'I'itle, Inheritance, use, property, and Interest of the said several pei-
j^ons therein and thereto— Together with all ar-d singular the fields,
feeding, herbage, pastures, soils, swamps. Meadows, Rivers, Rivulets,
Ponds, Pools, Woods, underwoods, trees, timber, stones, fishing, fowl-
ing and linnting Rights, Members, Heraiiitanients, Einolunients, Profits,
Privileges and Appurtenances thereto belonging or in any way apper-
taining. The said tract of land being hereby granted fur a township,
the same to be called Sutton. And to have, use, exercise, ami enjoy the
same powers, immunities, and privileges by Law granted to towns. To
have and to hold all the said tract of land by the name of the town of
Sutton, with all the aforesaid premises. Emoluments, Profits, Privileges
and appurtenances therefu belonging, with and under the sevenill sav-
ings, reservations, Provisos and conditions hei-ein before expressed.
.And lube surveyed, plotted, returneil and uppruv^d us ubuvu tfaid unto
954
HISTORY OF WORCESTER COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.
the said John Conner, James Smith, William MumforJ, Joshua Hewes,
Paul Dudley, John Jackson, Mary Conner, Elizabeth Pittoni, Edward
Pratt, and Elizahetli Wilson, their lieirtfs and aspignes to their proper
use and behoofe forever. Yielding, Rendering and Paying therefore
unto our Sovereign Lady Queen Anne her kings and Successors one
fifth part of all the Gold and Silver Oar and Precious stones, which from
time to time and at all times forever hereafter shall happen to be found,
gotten bad or obtained in any of the said lands and Premises, or within
any part or parcel thereof — In lieu and stead of all Rents, Services,
Dues, Dutys, and liemaiids whatsoever from the said lands and premises,
and for every part and parcel thereof. In Testimony Whereof I the
said Joseph Dudley, Esqr., Governor have signed these presents and
caused the Publick seal of the Province of Massachusetts Bay aforesaid
to be hereunto affixed.
Dated at Boston aforesaid the fifteenth day of May in the thin! year
of her Majesties Reign Anno Domini 17"4.
( The publick seal j •>■ BUDLEY.
j on a label appending C
Copy of Records Examined.
H. Adpingtov, Sec.
The tract of land included in the above grant was,
with the exception of here and there a cleared space,
on which the Indians raised their corn, and a few
marshes, called meadows, an unbroken forest, heavily
wooded with pine, oak, hickory, chestnut, birch and
maple. In its physical aspect it presented many at-
tractive features, and was a favorite resort of its na-
tive owners, who reserved a home within its limits.
Its surface is uneven and hilly, and, though none of
its hills rise to a great height, yet many of tliem are
of sufficient elevation to reveal from their summits
scenes of quiet beauty unsurpassed in any other por-
tion of New England.
The soil is varied, in the southern and eastern part
being of a samly and gravelly nature, while in the
northern and western parts much of it is a clayey
loam. In the main it is well adapted to agriculture,
though some portions, particularly in tlie southern
part, are too rocky to be brought under cultivation,
and none of it was subdued and made productive
without much p.atient toil.
The fine farms of to-day, which embellish hill-side,,
hill-top and valley, are the result of the muscle and
money the several generations that have occupied
them have contributed. This township furnishes
great facilities for manufacturing purposes, as well as
for agriculture. There are within its limits several
natural ponds, fed largely by hidden springs, who.se
outlets afford fine water privileges. The principal of
these are Dorothy Pond in the north part of the
town,' Ramshorn in the northwest. Crooked Pond
(Singletary Lake) near the centre and Manchaug
Pond in the southwest. Blackstone River — called by
the Indians Kittatuck — has its rise in Ramshorn
Pond, and passes through the town from northwest
to southeast. This river furnishes valuable water-
power. So also does Mumford River, the outlet of
Manchaug Pond. Mill Brook, the outlet of Crooked
Pond (Singletary Lake), has in the distance of a
mile a fall of one hundred and seventy- five feet,
and afibrds seven water privileges. There are several
1 Xow MiUburr.
other streams in town which the early settlers utilized
by the erection of saw-mills, grist-mills and fulling-
mills, and which in later da3's have been employed in
manufacturing of various kinds.
In its geological features the town presents nothing
of a peculiar nature. Like many other towns in
Eastern Massacliusetts, the rocky formation is chiefly
granite, quartz rock and gneiss. Gneiss predominates,
and the quarries which have been opened furnish
most excellent stone for building purposes. This rock
often contains iron pyrites, mica, lead, tin and some
other mineral substances in small quantities. The
glitter of the little, particles has led to the belief that
gold and silver might be found in this town, and, in
common with many others in the State, it has had its
excitements over wild and fruitless searches for the
precious metals.
There are natural curiosities in the town, some of
which are thus referred to in Whitney's " History of
Worcester County :" As first. In the west part of
Sutton, within sixty rods of the rise of the inlet of
Ramshorn Pond, which is the head of Blackstone
River running to Providence and falling into the sea at
Bristol, is a brook sufficiently large to carry a saw-mill
in Sutton, then bears away into Oxford, joins French
River, which unites witli the river Quinebaug, and
enters the sea at New London.
Secondly. A few rods west of the Second Parish
Meeting-house there is a swamp having tvro outlets,
one at the southwest, the other at the southeast. Both
these outlets enter Blackstone River above described,
at about one mile's distance from each other. But
the river is estimated to run ten or twelve miles after
the entrance of that one on the westerly side before
it returns and takes in that on the east.
Thirdly. In the southeastern part of the town is a
cavern in the earth or rocks, commonly called Purga-
tory. The rocks on each side of the chasm evidently
appear to have been rent asunder. People may enter
some rods under tlie ground or rocks, and there are
cracks down which the)' drop pebbles, and after these
strike the sides alternately several times they are
heard to fall into the water; and a brook issues out
at tlie bottom of the hill.
It may be acceptable to give a more particular de-
scription of this place called Purgatorj'.
It is the side of a hill which consi-sts of vast ledges
of rocks. Where the natural descent begins, a chasm
has been formed of perhaps thirty, and in some places
forty feet in width, in these ledges by some violent
concussion which left this body of stones of all shapes
and sizes to fall in. Above, it is open to the heavens,
and the ledges, on either side, are from five to ten
and so on to twenty and even forty feet in height.
This chasm is, perhaps, near eighty rods in length,
and the descent is gradual and not very difficult.
Where the greatest depth is, water issues from crev-
ices in the rocks and liangs in icicles and even in
solid bodies of ice, not only in May, as I have seen,
SUTTON.
955
but in June, although the descent is to the south.
Some small caverns were formed by the fulling of
these rocks, through which persons have descended
and come out several rods below. This is a most
stupendous place, and fills the mind of the beholder
with exalted ideas of the infinite power of the great
Creator of all things, " who removeth the mountains
and they know it not; who shaketh the earth out of
its place, and the pillars thereof tremble.''
After all, no description given of this place by
another will enable persons to form just and adequate
conceptions of it.
The ledges which Mr. AVhitney says are *'from five
to ten and so on to twenty, and even forty feet in
height," are found by actual measurement to be
in some places between fifty and sixty feet in
height. Dr. Hitchcock, in speaking of Purgatory, puts
the extreme height of the sides of the fissure at sev-
enty feet.
The settlement of the town was delayed by the war
known as " Queen Anne's War,'' which began in
1702 and was not ended until 1713.
November 17, 1714, the proprietors held the first
meeting of which there is any record. At this meet-
ing (held in Boston) it was voted, ** That three men
should be chosen for a committee to order the affairs
of that place" — Sutton. Nathaniel Brewer, Jonathan
Draper and Eliezer Daniels were chosen such coni-
niitteej and '* were to stand until others were chosen/*
It was the same day voted tliat all the charges that baa beeu and shall
ari(5f, till the next meeting should he jiajed by the rroprietors equally
accoidiiig to their several proportidiis at twenty shillings for every '>0(i
acre right.
The next meeting was held in Boston, March 2,
171^15.'
At this meeting it was voted
That Jonathan Praper, Eliezer Daniels and Nathaniel Brewer should
be a conmuttee to go and lay out sixty lots at Sutton, for the Proprietors,
of thirty acres a lot, thirty roils wide and one hundred and sixty long.
Voted the same day that all such as had one five hundred acre right
sliould have a thirty acre lott, and they who had more according to their
juxijiortion.
It was also
Voted that there should be a rate of sixty pounds, one pound on every
five hundred acre right.
It appears from these votes that the first division of
the township was into sixty live-hundred acre rights.
Each proprietor owned at least one right, some more.
Actual surveys, as will appear, were afterwards made
of lots, corresponding in number to the number of
rights, and varying in area from thirty to one hun-
dred acres. These lots were drawn by the proprietors
— each right being entitled to one — and di^iposed of
by them individually.
1 Before the adoption of the "New Stylo" in England, 1752, the year
was considered as beginning March 26th, Any date between the Ist of
January and the 24th of March would be a year too little; so to avoid
mistakes, it had become customary to give both yeai-s as 'above. March
'2d would occur in the year 1714, should the year begin tiie 25th of
March; in 171.''», should it begin llie 1st of January.
At the meeting held March 2, 1714-15, it was like-
wise
Voted, that all such as should appear to go first and live at the town
of Sutton, for their encouragement should have one hundred acres of land
given them for their own, provided they settle two years from the dato
hereof; and they to hear their proportion of town charges, tlie Proprie-
tora to bear half the charges of building a Meeting-house and settling a
nnnister the first four years.
March 18-19, 1714-15. Meetings of the proprietors
were held at which it was
Voted that every man shall have a convenient way to his lott
through his neighbor's lott, where it shall be most convenient for him
and least damage to his neighbor ; also in all after divisions in the town
every person shall have a convenient way to their lotts, which lott is to
be understood to be a proper whole lutt.
Also
Voted the same day that for encouragement of thirty families to
go and settle first, they should have four thousand acres laid out to ihem
on the northwest side of the road from Marlborough to Oxford providetl,
and it is to be understood that such as appearand are allowed by the
Committy do go and work upon their lotts within six weeks, and make
a return to the Conimitty. And upon their default the Committy shall
have liberty to putt in others as shall appear.
Voted the same day tliat the Committy shall go and survey the four
thousand acres of laud, and lay out thirty home lots in it, containing
forty acres per lott, !it the settlers' charge.
Voted the sjime day that Jonathan Draper, Edward Summer and Na-
thaniel Brewer should be a Committy to allow of the settlers.
It seems that the survey of the land granted to the
thirty families who should be approved by the com-
mittee and settle upon it within the time prescribed
was made and the thirty lots of forty acres each were
in due form laid out. But no settlement was effected
during the year. It appears that no formal " Act of
Incorporation " was ever secured, or asked for by the
proprietors or settlers of the town. The following en-
dorsement is on the back of a plan of the township on
file in the land ofiice.
In the House of Representatives,
June 18, 1715.
Ordered that the Land described and Platted, on the other side, be al-
lowed and confirmed to the Proprietor of the Township of Sutton. I'ro-
vided it Intrench on no former grant. Sent up for concurrence.
John Burrell, ^ieakev.
In Council, June 21, 171.7,
Rec'd and Concurred,
A true Copy, Examined,
Joseph Uii.lee, Clerk Cvun.
Jos. Maeion, D. Secy.
The next meeting of the proprietors of which there
is a record was held in Boston, IMarch 13, 1715-1(),
at which the following votes were passed :
Voted that every five hundred acre right should draw a second right
of one hundred acres.
The same day it was voted that wheresoever any clay wan found in
any num's lott, it should be foi' the use of the whole town till a pnhlicL
place Was found for that use.
Voted the same day that the Mill lot- and stream in the settlors'
side shall be at the Proprietors' disposal.
Voted the same day that the proprietors will be at half the charge of
building a meetitig-honse and settling a minister for the first four
years from the date hereof.
Voted the same day that the settlers shall have liberty to cutt grasse
and timber in the Proprietor's laiicl till they come to improve and to ho
laid out.
2 This lot embraced a tract of one hundred and nixteeu acres at the
foot of Crooked Pond, and included the privilege of the stream tu the
lower falls.
95G
HISTORY OF WORCESTER COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.
During this year (1716) three families were found
of sufficient nerve and enterprise to pioneer the set-
tlement of the town. These families were those of
Benjamin Marsh, Elisha .Johnson and Natlianiel
Johnson.
They built their cabins near the centre of the
town, and spent there the winter of 1716-17. It
proved a trying winter to them. It was the winter
made memorable by the deep suow which fell the
last of February, and wholly covered the cabins.
Elisha Johnson, whose cabin was located near the
place cow occupied by Mr. Samuel Prescott, had left
his family the morning of the day the great snow com-
menced falling, for the purpose of obtaining some
supplies in Marlborough.
He was seen on his way by a friendly Indian, who,
when the storm had subsided, started on snow-shoes
for the little settlement, and found the cabin of
Mr. Johnson by the hole which the smoke from the
fire-place had made through the snow. His family
would doubtless have perished had it not been for the
kind forethought of this friendly Indian, Mrs. Johnson
said " no human voice ever sounded half so sweet as
did that." Other families were attrac'ed during the
year 1717 by the offer of a farm for the taking, so that,
at its close, the thirty fiimilies to whom a grant of four
thousand acres had been made, and for whom home-
lots of forty acres each had been laid out, were on
the ground.
The tract of land which the four thousand acres
embraced was so located on the north side of the
Oxford Road, that a north and south line dividing it
into equal parts would pass directly through Single-
tary I^ake.
The home-lots fronted some of them on the Oxford
Road, extending as far west as the place now occu-
pied by Deacon John Marble, and east as far as the
place now occupied by H. S. Stockwell. Five of
them were north of and joining those most easterly
and eight of them in what is now the " Eight Lots
District " — the most easterly of these being the place
now occupied by Mr. Solomon Severy.
The entry in the proprietors' records with reference
to the thirty families to whom four thousand aere.i
of land were given is as follows :
These are tiie names of such ai are entered settlers in the four thou-
sand acres that was given to them upon the conditions that they would
go and settle first there and bear charge with the proprietors according
to their agreement.
WiUiam Stockwell.
Freegrace Marble.
Ebenezer Cutler.
William Heywood.i
William King.
Oliver Gosse.
Joseph Sibley.
William Stockwell.
Benjamin Marsh.
Thomas Gleson.
Samuel Gowing.
John Waite.
BeDJamio Smith.
John Stockwell.
Jonathan King.
Samuel Bixbee.
Samuel Barton.
Thomas Gowiug.
Samuel Parker.
Samuel Stearns.
John Bates.
Jonathan Sibley.
William Rutter.
Timothy Manning.
John Sibley.
Samuel Uagget.
Nathaniel Johnson.
William Larned.
Klisha Johnson.
KithuiJ Gibson.
The plat of " Settlers' Land " contains four thou-
sand nine hundred and sixty acres. The south line
on the Oxford read was 1,240 rods, the west line 640,
the north line 1,240, the ea,st 700 rods. Six hun-
dred acres were allowed foi- " Crooked Pond " (Sin-
gletary Lake), and three hundred and sixty acres
for fiirm. This farm was at the southwest corner of
the plat, and fronted on the north side of the Oxford
road, the east line being near Deacon Marble's
house. For what purpose this farm was laid out
cannot now be learned. There is no record with
reference to the use to which it was put, and no al-
lusion is made to it, only as bounding the land adja-
cent as this was apportioned among the settlers.
The thirty persons above named style themselves
" Proprietors of the four thousand acres," and kept
a record of their meetings. This record contains lit-
tle of interest, as it is mainly filled up with proceed-
ings pertaining to the division of what remained of
the four thousand acres among the occupants of the
home-lots, and the boundaries of each man's portion.
The aim seems to have been so to divide the land
that no one should have reason to complain that he
had been wronged ; and that no dissatisfaction was
expressed when the allotments were made is pleasing
evidence of the good feeling which existed, and the
disposition of all to see that exact justice was done.
The mill-lot to which reference has been made was
assigned to Ebenezer Dagget, as appears from the
following entry in the proprietors' records :
Ebenezer Dagget hath the mill-Iot with tlie privilege of the stream
to the lower falls, upon condition that the said Dagget, or his Ileires,
keep a Grist-mill for the use of the town ; and if the said Dagget de-
nies or refuse to keep a mill for the use of the town he shall return the
stream to the town again.
The return of the mill-lot, with boundaries care-
fully defined, is noted in the proprietors' records of
November 23, 1717.
The first town-meeting was held at the house of
Captain John Stockwell, December 3, 1718.-' This
house was a small one, about titteeu feet by ten, and
stood near the present dwelling of Mr. Simeon Stock-
well. Elisha .Tohnson was elected moderator; and
selectmen, a town clerk and a constable were chosen
"to continue in office until the next March meeting."
Action was also taken on a proposition of the pro-
prietors, that a committee be appointed to act with a
committee whom they had chosen, to aid in the mat-
ter of building a meeting-house, and establishing the
preaching of the Gospel.
1 A few of these names will be recognized as stilt coDimon. Nu-
merous descendants of some of these families are now residents of
the town.
- Not within the house, but at the house. The moderator, Elisha John-
son, stood upon a rock, nearly flat on one side, and this rock is the
foundation-stone in the southeast corner of the cellar wall of the
house now owned by Simeon Stockwell, and illustrated on page 235
of the ''History of Sutton."
SUTTON.
057
Referring to the proprietors' records, we find that
at a meeting held in Boston, March 5, 1717-18, the
following votes were passed :
Voted the same day that the four years charges for carrying on
(he worship of Ood, and building a meeting-house should begin from
this day above mentioued.
Voted the same day that there shall be twenty pounds raised by
the Proprietors and settlers towards the carrying on of the woi-ship of
God amongst them, which money is to be paid into the Clerk's hands
to be improved for that use.
Voted the same day that Joiiatltan Diaper, Nathaniel Brigham,
John Haye, and Nathaniel Brewer are a connnittee to agree with work-
men to build and furnish a lueeting-house ; and the Proprietors obliged
themselves and heires to bear their equal proportion of said charges.
The record in reference to the action of the town
in response to the proposal of the proprietors' com-
mittee is as follows ;
'i'lie committee of the proprietors wlio wa.s chosen to nuinage the af-
fairs relating to tlie settlement of the worship of God in this Town,
having made application to the Town at this meeting, that a committee
may be appointed by this Town to joyn with them to move forward and
carry on proper managemeuts and agreements for said service —
Voted unanimously that the Town do now choose five persons to be a
committee to joyn with the Proprietor's committee aforesaid, who siiall
from time to time represent the Town in order to building and furnishing
a Meeting-house in said Town, and it is Resolved, that William King,
Samuel Stearns, Benjamin Marsli, John Stockwell and Freegrace "Marble
or the Major part of them, be a comittee for said service.
At a town-meeting held March 17, 1710, it was
voted,
That tliere siiould be a rate levied on the settlers of the four thousand
acres, according to every man's right, of one hundred pountis to defray
the charges of building the Meeting-house.
Voted the same day that "William King, Samuel Stearns and John
Stockwell shall be a committy to get a minister, by the second Sabbath
iu May, and so on for three months.
Another town-meeting was held December 25th, at
which it was voted that Mr. Macinstree should have
fifteen pounds for three months' preaching.
The meeting-house was built during this year. Its
location was on the west side of the Common, and
near by that of the Central School-house. It fronted
toward the east, was about forty teet by thirty-six, had
folding-doors in front and single ones at each end. It
was lighted by two small windows of diamond glass
set in leaden sashes, at each side and end for the lower
floor, and one window of the same fashion and size in
each side and end for the gallery.
The pulpit was on the west side of the house oppo-
site the front door, which opened into the broad aisle.
The seats first used seem to have been nothing more
than ordinary benches with backs. The gallery ex-
tended across the front side and each eud, and had two
rows of seats through its whole extent. Behind these
seats there was a narrow platform which the children
who could find no other place occupied. " A very con-
venient place," Deacon Leland quaintly remarks, " for
idlers; not much chance, however, to escape detection,
as the tything-man, in his official capacity, was ready
to notice every delinquent."
From this point we leave the " Annals of Sutton,"
and shall give the further history under its appro-
priate "Topic," illustrating the character of the town
by its public acts in support of churches, schools and
libraries ; by its enterprise and thrift on the farm and
in the manufactory ; by its prompt patriotism and
self-sacrifice in both the earlier and the later war; by
the personal history and public renown of many who
have gone out from the town and others more potent
in their influence on its history who have remained
to mould its character ; only giving the following
data as essential to its history and not included
therein :
March 13, 1823, " voted to petition the General
Court, at the next sessions, for the Inhabitance of
Hassanamisco that dwell on the southwestward side
of the Blackstone River to be laid to this Town."
The northeastern part of the town, embracing the
Indian reservation of Ha.ssanamisco and a small por-
tion of territory in addition, was incorporated as the
town of Grafton in 1735.
April 10, 1778, the town of " Ward," comprised of
parts of Sutton, Worcester, Leicester, and Oxford, was
incorporated. The name was afterward changed to
" Auburn."
June 11, 1813, the North Parish of the town was
set ofl' as a separate town by the name of "Mill-
bury."
November 3, 1828, the church erected 1751 was
burned.
November 24th measures were taken for erecting
a new house, and the Building Committee was as
follows : Amos Armsby, Jonas L. Sibley, Daniel
Tenney, Elisha Hale and Nathaniel Woodbury.
June 15, 1829, the corner-stone was laid, and the
new church was dedicated February 24, 1830.
CHAPTER C X XVI.
SUTTON— ( Continued. )
CHURCH HISTORY.
The religious history of this town is coeval with its
civil. When the Governor, Council and Assembly of
the province confirmed the purchase and made a
grant of the land to the proprietors in J704, it was
upon the condition " that they settle a town of thirty
families and a minister upon said lands within .seven
years after the end of the present war with the In-
dians."
At the first town-meeting, held at a private dwell-
ing, December 2, 1718, a prominent object of the
meeting was to provide for the establishment of the
Gospel ministry. Measures were taken in March fol-
lowing to erect a house of worship, which was com-
pleted in the course of the year.
In the fall of the year 1720, a number of the christian inhabitants of
the township of Sutton, embodied into a church state, under the directioTi
of Rev. Mr. Swift, of Vramingham, and the Rev. Mr. Breck. of Marlboro ;
at which time (after the Publick services of a Day of Fasting and prayer,
in which the Reverend minipters mentioned assisted), the following per-
058
HISTORY OF WORCESTBB COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.
eons, whose names are as followeth, signed a solemn covenant to walk
together in church relation :
Timothy Manning. John Whipple.
Samuel Stearns. John Stockwell.
John Page. Ebene/.er Stearnn.
Elisha Johnson, William Lamed.
Samuel Sibley. Samuel Parker.
The pei-3ons entering into covenant.
At the same time Timothy Manning was chosen Monitor.
The above is the only record of the organization of
the First Congregational Church in this town, and it
is found in the handwritinoj of the Rev. David Hall,
the second pastor. The records of the church for the
first eight years of its existence are lost, having been
carried away by the first pastor.
The church was organized upon the Congregational
platform of the simplest and most rigid character, and
has ever maintained the principles of such organiza-
tion. Tradition says it was owing to a difference
upon the matter of church government with the
first pjiator that led to his dismission. Subsequently
an effort was made to introduce the eldership into
the church, according to the Cambridge platform,
but the proposition was unanimously rejected.
On the 0th day of November, 1720, the Rev. John
McKinstry was ordained pastor over them as a Con-
gregational Church, they calling him thereto, and
calling in the help of sister churches.-
The ministry of Mr. McKinstry continued about
eight years, when, from difficulties arising as stated
above, he was dismissed, and was subsequently set-
tled in Ellington, Connecticut, where he died.
Mr. McKinstry was dismissed September 2, 1728,
and on the 30th day of the same month the church
solemnly renewed their covenant and subscribed
their names to the same. The following is a record
of the transaction :
Sept. 30th, 172S. The Biethreu of the Church here renewed their
solemn covenant with God and one with another and subscribed thereto
as following :
T. W'e, whose names are hereunto subscribed, Promise this day to re-
new our Solemn Covenant engagements to serve the Lord God Almighty
with his grace assisting us ; apprehending ourselves called of God intu
the church state ol the gospel, do first of all confess ourselves to be un-
worthy to be so highly favored of the Lord, and admire that free and
rich grace of his which triumphed over so great nnwurthiness, and with
a Humble reliance on the aids of liis grace therein i)romiseil for the ni.
that, in a sense of their inability to do a'l^' good thing, do humbly wail
on him for all — we now thankfully lay hold on his covenant and would
choose the things that plejise him.
2ndly. We declare our serious belief of the christian Religion as con-
tained in (he sacred Scriptures, and with such a view thereof as the con-
fession of faith in our churches has exhibited. Heartily resolving to
conform our lives unto the Kales of that Holy Religion as long as we
live in the world.
;jrdly. We give up ourselves unte the Lord Jehovah, who is the Fathei
(he Son, and the Holy Spirit, and avouch him this Day to be our God,
our Father, our Saviour, and our Leader, and receive him as our Portion
forever.
4thly. We give up ourselves \into the Blessed Jesus, who is the Lord
Jehovah, and adhere to him as the Head of his People in the Covenant
of Grace, and rely upon him as our Priest, and our Prophet, and oui-
King to bring us unto Eternal Blessedness.
iithly. We acknowledge our Everlasting and Indispensible obligations
to glorify our God in all the Duties of a Godly, and a Sober, and a Right-
eous life ; and very particularly in the Uutieeof achurch State and a body
of People associated for an obedience to Him in all the ordinances of the
Gospel ; and we hereupon depend upon his gracious assistance for our
faithful discharge of the duties thus incumbent on ns.
Cthly. "We desire and intend, and (with Dependence on his pi-omit-ed
and powerful grace) we engage to walk together as a Church of the
Lord Jesus Christ iu the faith and order of the Gospel, as far as we shall
have the same revealed unto us— conscienciously attending the Pnblick
worship of God, the Sacraments of his New Testament, the Discipline of
his Kingdom, and all Ills Holy institutions in Coiiuuunion with one
auoth,er, and watchfully avoiding sinful stumbling-blocks and conten-
tion as becomes a people whom the Lord has bound up together in the
bundle of Life — at the same time we do also present our offspring with
us unt<» the Lord, proposing with his Help to do our parts in the methods
of a Reh'gious Education that they may be the Lord's. And all this we
do, flying to the blood of the Everlasting Covenant, and praying that
the glorious Lord, who is the Great Shepherd, would prepare and
strengthen vis for every good work to do his will, working in ns that
which is well pleasing in his eight, to whom be glory for ever and over.
Amen."
The men subscribing were by name as followeth :
Snttou, September :iOth, 1T-2.S.
Pevcival Hall. Nathaniel Dike. John Singletary.
iSamnel Rich, Klisha Johnson. Jolm Whipple.
FJislia PutTiam. John Sibley. Obadiah Walker.
Ebenezer Stearns. Simon Dakin. John Stockwell.
Samuel Bigsby. Israel Putnam, Ebenezer Stockwell.
Gersliom Wait. Solomon Ilohuan. James Leland.
Samuel Dudley. John Page.
After this transaction, which took place the same
mouth, Mr. McKinstry was dismissed ; we have the
following interesting record, showing with what zeal
the infant church, after a severe trial, put itself in
readiness for the work of maintaining the covenant
which they had so solemnly renewed:
At a meeting October 4th it was "agreed upon
and voted to observe the 23d of the Instant October jis
a day of Humiliation — and the Rev. Mr, Parknian
and the Rev. Mr. Troop to preach on said day if the
Town acquiest therein," and then the meeting was
dissolved.
Early in November following Mr. David Hall was
invited to i)reach to the people in this town. He
supplied the pulpit several months, to the great
acceptance of the people, and in March, 1720, received
a unanimous call to settle with them in the ministry
and become their pastor, the church and town con-
curring in the call.
This invitation was laid before Mr. Hall, and on
July 24, 1729, his acceptance of the same was laid
before the church, at a meeting called to consider the
same.
The following is Mr. Hall's answer to the invitation :
To the Chh. A Christian Inhabitants of the Town of Sutton. The In_
vitation which you gave me to settle with you in the work of ye ministry^
March ye 26th, has been with me as a matter of serious advice and Re,
ligious Consideration and I have also thought upon the Inconragment
which you coujoyned therewith and would manifest a sense of gratitude
to you for your Respect and good will discovered in both. The value of
a liundred pounds which you offer me iti work and materials for my In-
conragment in settling with you, I Return you my heafty Thanks and
shall be willing to manifest a cordial acceptance of it provided I am or-
dained among you. As for the hundred acres of Land you Proposed to
Lay out to the ministry and as such promised to give me a Lease or deed
of it to be ye Sole Propriety of me and my heires after me : T
would with respect Thereto take notice of your good will therein mani-
fest towards me, but must be excused from accepting of it under such a
proposal. But if I may have a cleare and secure Title to it from ye Pro-
prietors of ye undevided lands in Sutton and not as included in ye four
hundred acres of miniBterial Land (as there is a fair Prospect that I may)
SUTTON.
050
it not being as yet laid out to tlie ministry, upon this prOTieo I will
thanltfully accept it. and the Same shall discharge you from your obliga-
ti<ius in Reference thereto. Lastly as to the Sallery you have offered me
I observe with a suitable Resentment yt you have made provision yt it
shall be honourable & as you have made a honourable Pursuance there-
of for the present Considering your abilities and niy present necescities
in voting a hundred pounds sallery in money, equivalent to silver at six-
teen shillings an ounce, which is the standing value of money, wherein
yon have agreed that I shall receive my yearly sallery according to which
standard I do accept of an Hundred pounds a year at present, and doubt
not and e.xpect that as my necessities sliall require, you will continue to
make Good your obligation as God shall bless yon, that my necessities
and charges if they should increase may nevertheless be honourably
supplied, and with these provisos, I do now accept of your call, which,
if you will pleiu^e to receive and record in confirmation of and compli-
ance with what amendments I have made, and prineyouiselves a willing
and Honourable People unto me, I shall acctuint that necessity is laid
upon me as at this day, and, according to help from Christ, will endea-
vour to labor with and for you in the gospel.
D.wiD Hall.
July loth, 1729.
After this answer was read to the church, " it was
put to vote to see whether the church would accept
of the said answer, provided Mr. David Hall would be
ordained according to the church platform, i.e., in the
Congregational way ; and the vole passed in the
affirmative."
A committee was then appointed to wait upon Mr.
David Hall to see whether he would take office
according to the fore-mentioned vote.
The following is the answer of the candidate:
In compliance with the Terms of the church with respect to Governing
the same I shall as far as I am concerned therein endeavour to conform
to the platform drawn up by the Synod of ovir churches of New England
in every article so far as it may he tliought in reason to be consistent
with the interest and peace of the church provided it be agreeable to the
great rule of the gospel. David Hall.
This was acceptable to the church, which then pro-
ceeded to take measures for Mr. Hall's ordination.
This extreme jealousy for their liberty and rights
as a Congregational Church arose in part, if not
wholly, from the controversy with Rev. Mr. Mc-
Kinslry, their first minister. The answer of the can-
didate exhibits a degree of caution, even while
assenting really to the proposition of the church,
worthy of all praise. He would consult their interest,
while maintaining the integrity of the Gospel in all
matters of church government and discipline.
October 1.5th, 172il. The Rev. Mr. David Hall was ordained to the
Pastoral office in Sutton. The Rev. IMr. Troop, of Woodstock, began
with prayer. The Rev. Mr. Williams preached the sermon from 1st
1'hess. .") : 12-13, The Rev. Mr. Swift, of Frainingliani, gave the solemn
charge. The Rev. Mr. (Auiiiibell, of O.'if.ird, gave tlie Righl-liand of
fellowship.
The young pastor thus ordained to the work of the
ministry in this town commenced his labors with con-
siderable zeal, and prosecuted them faithfully for a
period of nearly sixty years.
The records of the church during his administration
furnish little more than a few hints concerning its
history except as to its discipline, which seems to
have been faithfully and kindly administered, con-
tributing largely to its almost uniform prosperity.
At times the pastor and people passed through great
trials, and at others great peace and prosperity
attended the preaching of the Word and administra-
tion of the ordinances. One fruitful source of trouble
was the admission of persons to the ordinance of bap-
tism, but not to full communion in the church. This
is called in the records of the church the covenant of
baptism, but is known in history as the "half-way
covenant."
There is no record of any form of covenant used in
the admission of such members.
The list of the names of those who were thus ad-
mitted is preceded by the following introduction :
The following have owned the covenant of Baptism, and some of them
were hajitized.
The first entry is made May 10, 1730, when "Joseph,
John, James and Elizabeth, children of Joseph Sibley,
owned the covenant and were ba])tized." It would
seem from this and other entries that .some took this
step for themselves, while others owned the covenant
and had their children baptized. The last entry is
made October 28, 1781, when Nathaniel Cheney and
Mary Cheney, his wife, owned the covenant and had
their children baptized.
Out of this unscriptural measure grew up many
things to trouble the church. It led, in large part, to
the separation of a portion of the members, both
from the public worship and ordinances of the church.
With these separating brethren and sisters the pastor
and church had long labor and severe trials, in all
which they seem to have been actuated by the gentle-
ness and Ibrbearance of Christ.
All those who occasioned the trouble finally returned
to the church and were restored to its fellowship.
Another subject that at times was a source of trouble
was sacred music. At first, and probably for a long
time, the singing was congregational, led by one who
was called the precentor or chorister. The hymn or
psalm was lined by one appointed for that purpose.
The tunes were few and simple, and were not sung by
rule, as it was called, for this gave great oftence to
some. It seemed to them less devotional if there were
any rule or order about it. The objection to singing
by rule seems to have led to the resignation of the
choristers at a certain time.
Under date of April 8, 1779, is the Ibllowing record :
The church was stayed on .account of some uneasiness about singing
hy rule, but the church adjoiirneti the matter to April HIth.
April 10th. The Church and Pastor being notified assembled upon th;it
occasion — a letter was read from the Choristers befcU'O dejiuteil — .lohn
Woodbury and John Hall giving up that service. After some discoui-so
the church voted :
Ist. To encourage singing by rule.
2nd. That some of the old tunes be studied and learnt, as Ion Old and
Now, and Canterbury.
3dly. That Amherst and the six line metre be sung.
Ithly. They desire new tunes he not multiplied, though tlidy mean
not wholly to exclude them.
othly. Chose .lohn Woodbury and John Hall to he Choristel-s.
In all these votes the People of the Parish voted concurrouce and no
vote in opposition when put to the Parish.
Subsequently, in November following, in conse-
quence of the refusal of the above-named to act as
flfiO
HISTORY OF WORCESTER COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.
choristers, the church and parish in meeting assembled
requested by vote David Town and John Harbacli
" to be helpful in that service, and that they don't
set the tune called the 34th Psalm tune which so
many have been ofTended at."
But the trouble was not yet at an end, for in May
following, 17S0, at a church meeting, "after a long
discourse on the affair of singing, voted to choose a
committee of three brethren to consider what tunes
were proper to be sung and coniine the Choristers not
to exceed, and see if they could get one to set the
tune, and the church by vote chose Deacon Putnam,
Bartholomew Town and Caleb Chase, and afterwards-
Nehemiah Putnam, to act in the affair and make re-
port to the church at their next meeting — and then
the church meeting was adjourned to the first Mon-
day in June ne.xt at 4 o'clock, by vote of the church-
June 5th, 17S0. The church met on adjournment and
after long reasoning the church voted the followiiiii
tunes be sung in our Publick assembly — Buckland
tune, Bangor, Barley, Canterbury, Funeral Thought,
London New, Little Marlborough, New York, Plym-
outh, Portsmouth, fiOth Psalm, Rentham, lOOtb
Psalm Tune old, Quincy, Amherst, St. Martyns
Standish, Southwell, Windsor, Brookfield, Colchester
new, 113th or Proper Tune, Trinity,. Aurora. No
objection being made against them."
This measureof the church did not, however, satisfy
all the members, for in Januai'y, 1781, after two
meetings of the church called to treat with two of tht
brethren who had ab-sented themselves from publii
worship and ordinances, it is recorded that the " mat-
ter of great uneasiness expressed by both was respect-
ing the singing of new tunes at which they were offend-
ed. " It is also stated that this expression of their un-
easiness was accompanied by some " unbecomini;
reflections."
At what time the change was made from congrega-
tional singing to singing solely by a choir no mention
is made, but it must have been about this time, and
this increased the trouble. Tradition states that on
the Sabbath when this took place, Dea. Tarrant Put-
nam, whose office it was to line the hymn, began a^
usual to discharge his duty, but after reading the first
two lines, the singers took the matter into their own
hands, and proceeded without pausing for the re
mainder; the good deacon, however, kept on, and
lined the hymn as usual, both reader and singers
reaching the end of the hymn about the same time,
though not in exact harmony. The congregation
were in great commotion, and the pastor rising to ex-
plain that he had no hand in the matter, was saluted
by one of the offended brethren with the declaration:
"David Hall, you lie!" then turning to his wife,
seizing her hand, he said, " Sally, it is time to go."
They left the house of worship and never entered it
again. This trial in relation to sacred music, involved
both church and parish.
The ministry of Dr. Hall was long continued and
unusually blessed among the people. At his settle-
tlement the church consisted of forty-nine members —
twenty males and twenty-nine females.
Religion was in a low and languishing condition,
and wicked men abounded. There were about eighty
families in the town and not far from four hundred
inhabitants. The profaneness and other vicious
practices of the people seemed to have greatly dis-
tressed the pastor, both before and after his ordina-
tion. He says in his half-century sermon : " I can
never forget my vehement struggles at the throne of
grace just before I was here ordained a pastor, lest I
should fail of success among this people." Immedi-
ately after his settlement religion was greatly revived.
In a communication published in " Prince's Christian
History," giving an account of the work of God
among his people in 1741-42, he says: "There was,
soon after my settling here by the favor of God, some
considerable abatement of that too common profane-
ness and other vicious practices visible among us, and
within the space of two years we had a very large ad-
dition to the church, more than doubling the number
of communicants." In five years' time eighty-one
persons were added to the church, the most of them
on profession of faith.
In the years 1741-42 there was enjoyed a season of
great religious prosperity. The labors of the pastor
were abundant and successful. It was a season of
great religious excitement throughout New England.
This powerful and wonderful work of God in this
town continued for some months, with various de-
grees of power. It seemed to be free in a great mea-
sure from those excesses that were witnessed in some
other places. Dr. Hall set himself resolutely against
these, and discountenanced all extravagances; though
some over-zealous brethren (as he calls them) gave
him considerable trouble.
By this religious interest the whole face of the com-
munity was changed. The additions to the church
during this period were ninety -eight by profession and
forty by letter.
During the first fifteen years of Dr. Hall's ministry,
two hundred and sixty-one persons were added to the
church — one hundred and eighty-one by profession
and eighty by letter. These additions, considering the
small number of inhabitants, show that the people
had been greatly prospered in spiritual things. There
were at times, during the ministry of this faithful pas-
tor, seasons of revived religious interest, and others of
great trial from laxness and indifference. Dr. Hall
continued to labor and feed the tiocK over which the
Holy Ghost had made him overseer, until the time of
his departure drew near. He closed his labors in the
pulpit but a short time before he was called to a
higher and purer service in the sanctuary above. He
died May 8, 1789, aged eighty-four years, having
preached the Gospel to this town more than sixty
years. He came to his grave " in a full age like as a
shock of corn cometh in his season."
SUTTON.
rtfii
The successor of Dr. Hall in the ministry of the
first church in Sutton was Rev. Edmund Mills, who
was a native ofKent, Conn. He preached his first ser-
mon on Sabbath, October 25, 1789, about six months
from the date of Dr. Hall's decease. " The next spring
he received an invitation from the church and people
to settle with them in the evangelical ministry, which
invitation he accepted and was ordained pastor of the
First Congregational church and congregation in
Sutton on the 22d day of June 1790," a little more
than a year after the decease of Dr. Hall. In May,
1790, immediately preceding the ordination of Mr.
^lills, the following important articles or by-laws
were adopted :
Ist. Wp iue fully of thf> opinion that the Sacrament of t!ie Lord's
Supper is designed particularly for the real friends of Christ or those
savingly converted, and that of cnnsequeuce we ought to proceed in ad-
mitting members on the ground that they are such.
1. For the satisfaction of the church in regard to the qnalitications of
persons to he admitted, we think it most wise fur the church and person
nr persons to he admitted, to meet in some convenient place for mutual
conference.
X We are fully of the opiniun that the half-way practice, as it is
called, is not supported by scripture and ought not to be favored,
■I. That a strict regard to discipline is an indispensable duty and
necessary for the happiness and prosperity of the church, and that
the outlines of it are contained in the eighteenth chapter of Mat-
thew.
In "April, 1811, the church being regularly con-
vened, proceeded to the consideration and adoption
of the following confession of faith, unanimously : "
1 . W'p believi; there is one tiod sulwisting in three persons, whose aji-
pellatioDR in Scripttire are Father, Son and Holy Ghost, who are the
panif in essence and equal in every divine perfection.
2. We believe the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments were
written by men divinely inspired, and contain all the truths necessary
to he known in order to salvation.
A. We believe that God liath a perfect knowledge of all his works, of
the final issue of every event and of the endless condition of every in-
telligent creature, consequently a concerted plan relative to creation,
providence and redeiuption from eternity.
4. We believe that God created man in his own image, holy or up-
right, and constituted him in regard to the moral state of his posterity
their public head and representative.
5. We believe that, consequent upon man's fall and apostacy from
God, human creatures come into existence with hearts deceitful above
all things and in a state of entire moral depravity.
fi. We believe that for the purpose of carrying forward the great
wurk of man's redemption, the Ijord Jesus Christ hath suffered and died
in their room and stead, and iu this way wrought out a complete atone-
ment, tasted death for every man, magnified the divine law and became
its end to every one who believeth iu him.
T. We believe that divine and saving grace correspondent to the im-
mutable and eterual design of God, and in a sovereign way and manner,
will be so far displayed in the recovery and salvation of the hell deserv-
ing, and particularly in the millennial state of the world, as shall be
on the whole most promotive of his glory and the happiness of the in-
telligent universe.
8. We believe that in order for the impenitent to become the subjects
of right affections of heart, and interested by faith in the atonement of
Christ, they must be renewed in the temper of their minds by the ir-
resistible and gracious influences of the Holy Spirit.
9. We believe that a dutiful celebration of the Lord's supper requires
a sincere and cordialfriendship to Christ, and that a profession of this
friendship ought to be required of all those who are received to com-
munion.
III. We believe that sprinkling is the proper mode, and infants and
children of believing parents proper subjects of Christian baptism.
11. We believe that God hath mercifully engaged to keep all who are
61
renewed by the Divine Spirit from final apostacy, and enable them to
persevere in holiness until they shall be made perfect in glory.
12. We believe that God hath appointed a day in the which he will
judge the world in righteousness by Jesus Christ, when he will admit the
godly to everlasting happiness and doom the wickeil to everlasting sor-
row.
Though there was some increase of religious inter-
est in the year 1800, and a few were added to the
church, yet the number of members in the church
was reduced by death and dismis.sion nearly one-half
in twenty years. In 1810 there were but fifty-five
members. During this year and the following re-
ligion was greatly revived, aud the interest prevailed
generally through the town. A universal seriousness
pervaded the face of society. All minds were more
or less affected by religious truth. Si.xty-seven were
added to the church as fruits of this revival, the ma-
jority of whom were heads of families. The num-
ber of members in the church was increased from
fifty-five to one hundred and twenty-five. Again, in
1820, there was another season of special religious
interest that greatly strengthened the church. Be-
tween forty and fifty were added to its membership.
The venerable pastor continued to preach with his
usual ability and acceptance till seized with disease
a short time before his death. A few weeks before
the close of his earthly pilgrimage he preached his
last sermon with unusual animation and solemnity.
He calmly anticipated his approaching dissolution,
and cheerfully committed his spirit into the hands of
his Redeemer November 7, 1825, aged seventy-three
years, having sustained the pastoral ofiice thirty-
five years and five months. Dr. Hall and Mr. Mills
served this people in the ministry ninety-six years.
Mr. Mills was an uncommon man. His erect and
commanding person, the dignity and urbanity of his
manner, and his great sensibility and kindness of
heart fitted him in an admirable degree to gain the
respect and good will of all who knew him. These
traits of character, as much as his original and inter-
esting manner of unfolding and presenting truth,
deeply seated him in the affections of his people.
He was a man universally respected and admired.
The successor of Mr. ]\Ii!ls was the Rev. .John
Maltby. He was born in Northford, Conn., gradu-
ated at Yale College in 1822, received his theological
education at Andover, and was ordained "June 28,
1826 — a little more than seven months from the de-
cease of Mr. Mills.
The year 1828 was characterized by a serious ca-
lamity to the church and society — their house of
worship, erected in 1751, and endeared to them by
many precious associations, was consumed by fire in
November. Measures were immediately adopted for
the erection of another ; and in fourteen montlis the
beautiful and commodious house of worship that now
adorns the centre of the town was completed and
dedicated to the worship of the one only living
and true God, the Father, the Son and the Holy
Ghost.
962
HISTORY OF WORCESTER' COUNTY, MASSACHTTSETTS.
Soon after this there seemed an evident increase of
piety in the church ; and the way was evidently pre-
paring for the rich shower of divine grace which
watered this part of llie Lord's vineyard not long after.
In 1830 there was a season of considerable interest,
which continued for a short time, and about twenty
were added to the church on profession of faith. The
summer following. Christians were more than usually
awake, and many began to feel that the set time to
favor Zion had indeed come.
There were added to the church as fruits of the re-
vival more than one hundred individuals, increasing
the church to two hundred and thirty-one members;
of the number added, thirty-six were heads of fami-
lies — twenty of these were husbands and wives
jointly. The voice of prayer was henceforth heard
in many habitations where before God had not been
called upon.
The church continued to enjoy an unusual degree
of prosperity during the remainder of Rev. Mr.
Maltby's ministry. Mr. Maltby closed his short but
successful ministry with the church in June, 1S34,
for the purpose of taking the oversight of the Ham-
mond Street Church, in Bangor, Me., where he was
permitted to reap the fruits of his labor. His dis-
mission was caused by no dissatisfaction on the part
of the people, or their pastor ; but by the pro.spect of
greater usefulness in the field to which he was in-
vited. Mr. Maltby continued in the minii-try in Sut-
ton eight years.
The next pastor was Rev. Hiram A. Tracy, a native
of Lisbon, Conn., who obtained his classical educa
tion at Plainfield Academy, while engaged as a
teacher in the same. His theological education was
olitained at Andover. He was invited to supply the
pulpit while yet a student at Andover, and came
directly from the seminary to Sutton, preaching
here for the first time on the second Sabbath in Sep-
tember, 1834. In October following, he received a
call to become the pastor of the church. Having
accepted this invitation, he was ordained pastor
January 1, 1835, — a little more than five months
from the dismission of his predecessor.
During the first five years of Mr. Tracy's ministry
only eighteen persons united with the church on
profession of faith. In the autumn of 1839 this
church, in view of the low state of piety in the com-
munity, was impressed with the importance of earn-
estly seeking the Lord by repentance and prayer.
As fruits of the revival which followed, forty-eight
individuals were added to the church, increasing its
membership to two hundred and sixty-one, the
largest number that has been connected with it at
any one time.
The church continued to enjoy prosperity and
peace during the remaining ten years of Mr. Tracy's
ministry. There were occasional additions to the
church during this period, but no seasons of general
interest like that in 1840.
In August, 1842, the church, upon the recommend-
ation of a committee, voted unanimously to dispense
with the use of alcoholic wine in the administration
of the ordinance of the Lord's Supper. This vote
has been adhered to from that time to this.
November 24, 1850, Mr. Tracy resigned the pas-
t(jral office to accept the appointment of district sec-
retary of the American Board of Commissioners for
Foreign Missions in the district of Cincinnati, which
embraced Southern Ohio, Indiana and Southern and
Central Illinois. A council convened December 11,
1850, dissolved the relation which had continued
with great harmony for sixteen years. The number
of members in the church at the close of his ministry
was two hundred and five.
After several attemjits to unite in calling a pastor,
the church and society agreed upon Rev. George
Lyman, of Easthampton, and to him an invitation
was extended to become their pastor and teacher.
This invitation was given to Mr. Lyman September
26, 1851, and accepted October 18, 1851. He was
ordained November 12th following, Rev. R. S. Stone,
of Easthampton, preaching the sermon ; Rev. J. H.
Bisbee, of Worthington, giving the charge, and Rev.
L. F. Clark, of Whilinsville, the right-hand of fel-
lowship. The number of members in the church at
the ordination of Mr. Lyman was one hundred
and ninety-three.
There were occasional conversions and additions to
the church. In October, 1858, nine persons were
admitted to membership, indicating a previous state
of revived religious feeling in the church and congre-
gation. Again, in 1863, the church was enlarged by
the addition in May of nineteen on profession of faith,
and in November following thirteen were added.
The ministry of Rev. Mr. Lyman was characterized
by continuous interest and frequent conversions and
additions to the church of those who were its strength,
so that this ministry was a fruitful one, and the church
was strengthened. The average of conversions was
greater than any preceding pastorate, excepting the
ministry of Rev. John Maltby.
Mr. Lyman resigned June 30, 1867, to take effect
the 12th of November following, the anniversary of
his ordination and settlement as pastor of the church.
A council was called which met October 15th, and
sanctioned the action of pastor and church, and Mr.
Lyman retired from his labors here November 12,
1867.
After considerable delay and several attempts to
unite upon a pastor, the church and society gave a
call to the Rev. F. E. Fellows, who had been pre-
viously pastor of the Congregational Church in Bridge-
ton, Maine. This invitation was accepted July 4,
1800, and Mr. Fellows was installed by council (October
26th following. Mr. Fellows' ministry was a short one.
He labored among this people a little more than
eighteen months, but during this period there was a
■■reason of religious interest, bringing into the church,
SUTTON.
963
upon profession of their faith, forty-three persons;
nevertheless his ministry was not wholly happy in its
results.
In December, 1870, Mr. Fellows resigned, and closed
his labors as pastor of the church on the second iSab-
bath of January, 1871. The following Sabbath the '
l)ulpit was supplied by Rev. Mr. Tracy, who had
returned from Ohio on account of the health of his
family.
( )n Monday, at the annual meeting of the society,
he was invited to be the acting pastor tor one year,
which invitation he accepted, thus renewing his labors
in the field of his tirst settlement, after a lapse of
twenty years. From this time on, during a period of
four years and nine months, the church, under the
labors of Mr. Tracy, performed for the greater part of
the time through severe infirmities, enjoyed an uiuisual
degree of prosperity.
Pearly in September, 1875, Jlr. Tracy gave notice
that he must close his labors after the second Sab-
bath in October. In the mean time, upon his recom-
mendation, Rev. William A. Benedict, of Plainfield,
Conn., was engaged to supply the pulpit for six
months, and commenced his labors on Sabbath, Octo-
ber 16th, following Mr. Tracy's retirement. There
was almost immediately a revived state of religious
feeling, and during the winter many souls were con-
verted. In January Mr. Benedict received an invita-
tion from the church and society to become their pas-
tor, which invitation he accepted, and was installed
by council February 1(3, 1876.
Rev. Mr. Benedict closed his pastorate, and Rev.
Philander Thurston was invited to supply as pas-
tor and teacher, and is at the present time accept-
ably laboring in this ancient church, whose history
we have followed from the date of the earliest settle-
ment of the town of Sutton.
First Baptist Church (West Sutton). — The first
Baptist Church in this town was organized September
16, 1735. It was the fourth oldest church of the de-
nomination in Massachusetts. Backus, the Baptist
historian, says, in regard to the founding of this first
Baptist Church at Sutton, that a Mr. James Bound, a
sensible Baptist, who had immigrated from I'jiigland
and located in Salem Village, and had, with others
become imbued with Baptist principles, removed and
began a Baptist Society in Sutton.
In 1737 Benjamin Marsh and Thomas Green were
ordained its joint pastors the same year. Thomas
Green became pastor of a Baptist Cluirch in Leices-
ter. Eider Marsh was the jjastor till his death. He
died in 1775, and the church was disbanded l)eeause
"rent with dissensions." In 1785 another church was
organized, which continues its existence to the pres-
ent day.
The several pastors have been: Ebenezer Samson,
1788-94; William Batcheller, 171)4-99; Samuel
Waters, 1799-1825. Next Rev. Moses Harrington,
three years ; Rev. John Walker, six years; Rev.
Charles H. Peabody, three years ; Rev. Otis Con-
verse, two years ; Rev. Samuel Richards, one year ;
Rev. George Deland, three years ; Rev. Job Boomer,
three years ; Rev. G. W. Benton, one year ; Rev. J.
Thayer, two years; Rev. S. O. Lovell, four years.
From 1856 to 1863 the church was, for most of the
time, without a pastor. 1863, Rev. C. S. Baker, one
year ; 1864, Rev. J. Barber, one year ; 1865, Rev. G.
Stone, one year; 1869, Rev. A. E. Batelle, one year;
1870-71, church supplied, two years; 1873, Rev. C.
F. Myers, three years; 1876, Rev. E. J. Stevens, one
and one-half years ; 1877, Rev. Joel P. Chapin, three
years; 1880, Rev. Charles Xewhall, four years; 1885,
Rev. Albert Green, three years. Rev. Benj. Tuck,
the present pastor, began his labors Sept. 2, 1888.
It is satisfactory to know that since 1735 the town
of Sutton has had a Baptist Church, the oldest and
for two years the only one in all this part of the
State, and that its days are yet full of life, and vigor,
and good works.
Second Baptist Church (South Sutton). — The
Second Baptist Church was organized Oct. 9, 1792.
In 1804 the society began the building of a meeting-
house, which was tinished and dedicated July 2, 1805.
In 1809 Rev. Nathan Leonard became pastor for one
year. From that time Elder Wm. Batcheller was its
pastor until Nov., 1816. Following was the ministry
of Rev. Job C. Boomer, from 1819 to 1841. The
church was repaired and rededicated Oct. 9, 1845.
The pastors of the church have been as follows: El-
der William Batcheller, 1792 ; Brother Nathan Leon-
ard, 18(t9, ordained; Elder William Batcheller, 1810;
Brother Job B. Boomer, 1819, ordained ; Brother
Austin Bobbins, 1841; Elder U. Underwood, 1842;
Elder Nelson B. Jones, 1845 ; Brother Joseph Thayer,
Oct., 1847, ordained; Brother J. B. Boomer, 1849;
Brother R. G. Lamb, 1852; Brother Charles A. Snow,
1853 ; Rev. Abial Fisher, D.D., 1855 ; Brother Justus
Aldrich, 1858; Rev. J. B. Boomer, 1859 ; Rev. Joseph
P. Burbank, 1862 ; Rev. N. J. Pinkham, 1869 ; Rev.
J. P. Burbank, 1870 ; Rev. Philip Berry, 1873 ; Rev.
J. P. Burbank, 1875, to the present time.
The Free- Will Baptist Church. —This church
was organized November 1, 1834, under the labors of
Rev. Willard Fuller, with a membership of eleven —
five brethren and six sisters.
The meeting-house was largely built, and the ex-
penses of the church were for the most part borne
by, the pastor.
Services continued to be held until 1858 or 1859,
and perhaps occasionally later than that date.
The church had but one minister, Rev. Mr. Fuller.
It was his request that after his death the meeting-
house should be sold, and the proceeds given to the
Free- Will Baptist Home Missionary Society, which
was done. He died December 8, 1875.
It is fitting in this connection to say of him, that
in the public and private relations of life, he emi-
nently illustrated the graces of the Christian.
964
HISTOKY OF WOKCESTER COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.
Univeesalist Society. — This society was formed
during the summer of 1840. In March, 1841, Rev.
Alvin Abbott was engaged to preach one-half the time
and the meetings were held in the hall at West Sut-
ton. Mr. Abbott continued to preach for two years.
After he left the society weakened and the last meet-
ing of which there is any record is April 5, 1847.
Baptist Church in Manchaug. — This church
was organized May 18, 1842, with thirty members,
and was named "The Manchaug Baptist Church."
A few of the original members still survive and bear
an honorable record.
Its house of worship is situated in the manufactur-
ing village of the same name, and as most of its resi-
dent membership and of the congregation are em-
ployes and operatives in the mills, the Manchaug
company have ever borne a noble and principal part
in supporting the pastors. The following is a list of
pastors, with their terms of service, as nearly as can
be readily attained by the records: Rev. W. H. Dal-
rymple, one year and two months; Rev. N. B. Jones,
one year and four months; Rev. George Daland, one
year and six months; Rev. Abial Fisher, four years;
Rev. N. Chapman, two years; Rev. J. S. Harradon,
six years and nine months; Rev. N. J. Piukham, one
year and seven months; Rev. Addison Browne, seven
months; Rev. D. A. Dearborn, four years; Rev. C. L.
Thompson, four years and five months.
Rev. J. C. Boomer is the present incumbent, a
worthy man and a good pastor; holding the love and
respect of the church, the parish and the community.
The Third Baptist Church.— This church seeoas
to have had its origin in an association of a few per-
sons who had been connected with the Baptist Church
in Thompson, Connecticut. Difficulties arose in this
church, which led, in 1797, to a separation, the one
part adhering to the elder John Martin, and the other
to Deacon Parsons Crosby, who was ordained their
elder.
This church seems not to have entirely separated
from dilBcuIties, and, after a troublous life, the records
are lost, and it is supposed that at about this time it
ceased to exist.
St. John's Church (Wilkinsonville). — This society
was incorporated March 10, 1827, under the name and
title of St. John's Protestant Episcopal Church. The
present house was built in the year 1828. The corner-
stone was laid June 24, 1828.
The first rector was the Rev. Daniel Le Baron
Goodwin, who commenced his services July 17, 1825,
and closed in April, 1854 ; length of service, nearly
twenty-nine years.
His successor was Rev. Benjamin H. Chase, whose
service commenced in April, 1854, and closed in April,
1858. He was succeeded by the Rev. A. Decatur
Spalter, whose term of service commenced in June,
1858, and closed in December, 1859. He was suc-
ceeded by the Rev. William George Hawkins, who
commenced his services in April, 1860, and closed in
April, 1862. He was succeeded by Rev. George
Sturges Paine, whose term of service commenced in
September, 1862, and closed in September, 1863; who
was succeeded by the Rev. Samuel S. Spear, whose
term of service commenced in January, 1864, and
closed in January, 1867 ; who was succeeded by the
Rev. Thomas L. Randolph, whose term of service
commenced in January, 1867, and closed in December,
1870. He was succeeded by the Rev. Henry A. Met-
calf, who commenced his services in June, 1871, and
closed in June, 1874. He was succeeded by the Rev.
James S. Ellis, who commenced his services July 5,
1874, and remained in charge until 1882, when he re-
signed, and the Rev. John Gregson became his suc-
cessor, and is the present rector. Mr. Gregson adds
to his energy and zeal in church work an active in-
terest in the advancement of every educational and
moral interest, and his true, earnest work as chairman
of the School Board is appreciated by all his towns-
men.
United Presbyterian Church (Wilkinsonville).
— The Associate Church, to which the Sutton United
Presbyterian congregation first belonged, was origin-
ally a secesfion from the church or kirk of Scotland
in the year 1733, ancl was known as the Seceders'
Church. The original founders of the Sutton United
Presbyterian congregation were families from the
province of Ulster, Londonderry County, Ireland ; and
were from their earliest associations trained up in the
Pre.sbyterian faith, and when here, longed for the
church of their choice, in which their children could
be taught the Shorter Catechism, and otherwise in-
structed in the distinctive principles of that faith
which they had carried with them from their home-
land beyond the seas.
The first settled minister was the Rev. James Wil-
liamson, who was installed February, 1856, and con-
tinued in his pastorate nearly eight years. Mr.
William.son was a native of Ayrshire, Scotland, and
was educated in the Glasgow College, and also studied
theology under the celebrated Doctors McCrie and
Paxton, of Edinburgh, in connection with the original
Seceder Church.
The second pastor, the Rev. P. Y. Smith, was or-
dained and installed February 28, 1866. Mr. Smith
was educated in the University of Glasgow, Scotland,
and studied Hebrew and theology in the city of New
York, and was licensed to preach the Gospel by the
Second Presbytery of the United Presbyterian Church,
New York City, September 15, 1863. He died July
21, 1885. Mr. Smith was a man of large views, a
constant student and deeply interested in education.
Rev. William Calbraith was installed October 8,
1886, and i.s the present pastor of this church.
Methohlst Epi.scopal Church.— During the au-
tumn and winterof 1852, Rev. Mr. Jones, of East Doug-
las, was invited by some resident members of Method-
ist churches residing in the centre of the town to hold
occasional meetings in Washington Hall, and the
SUTTON.
965
next spring they felt justified in petitioning the New
England Conference, at its annual meeting in April,
1853, to send them a preacher. The petition was
favorably entertained, and the Rev. John W. Lee
stationed here. Washington Hall was procured, and
he entered at once upon his labors, with a congrega-
tion not large, but constantly increasing.
In 1854 Mr. Lee was returned to this charge ; the
church prospered. A house was built, the corner-
stone laid July 4, 1854, completed March, 1855, dedi-
cated 2'2d day of same month. Mr. Lee's labors closed
April 8th. He was followed by Rev. J. H. Taylor,
for one year. In 1856 Rev. Rodney Gage was sta-
tioned for two years; 1858, by Rev. N. S. Spaulding;
1859, Rev. William A. Clapp; 1860, Rev. J. J. Wood-
bury; 1861, Rev. C. W. Mackreading, Jr. ; 1862-63, by
Rev. S. O. Brown, and in 1864 the church property
was given into the hands of its creditors, and the
church became extinct.
CHAPTER CXXVII.
SUTTON— ( Continued. )
EDrCATION.\L.
The first settlers of this State were the founders of
the free-school system. They had received some in-
spiration from the schools of learning in Europe,
established for the favored classes, and more from
revelation. They did not believe that knowledge,
power and wealth were intended for the few, but that
the avenues to their attainment should be open to all.
It was because they saw no hope of securing to
themselves and their posterity their God-given rights,
that they crossed a stormy ocean, seeking a home as
remote as possible from opposing influences made
strong by long-conlinued growth and prejudice ; and
here in this western wilderness, amid the toils, anxie-
ties and perils attending a new settlement so remote
from sources whence supply of almost every want,
aside from food, must come, they inaugurated a sys-
tem of education for the masses, which, improved
from time to time, gradually extended through the
New England States and over a large portion of the
country.
In 1642 a law was passed requiring that those
chosen to manage " the prudentials of every town in
the several precincts and quarters where they dwelt,
shall have a vigilant eye over their neighbors, to see,
first that none of them shall suff'er so much barbarism
in any of their families as not to endeavor to teach by
themselves or others, their children and apprentices
so much learning as may enable them to read per-
fectly the English tongue, and a knowledge of the
capital laws, upon penalty of twenty shillings for each
neglect therein."
It was not, however, until 1647 that a law was
enacted ordering the establishment in every town of
fifty householders of a public school, in which the
children should be taught to read and write, and,
when the families shall have increased to an hundred,
of a grammar school in which the young men might
be fitted for the university.
In this town there is no mention of a school until
1725, and then only in connection with a proposed
sale of the school land— two hundred acres — which
had been given by the proprietors in accordance with
the conditions of the grant of the General Court con-
firming the purchase of the township from the
Indians.
The children may have had instruction in private
schools, but no action seems to have been taken by
the town in the matter of the establishment of a pub-
lic school previously to 1730, when it was voted that
a school should be kept for four months in four places,
at the discretion of the selectmen, one month in a
place.
In 1731 it was voted that there should be school-
dames.
No record can be found of an appropriation for the
support of a school until 1732. The name ot John
Smith appears upon the treasurer's book as the
schoolmaster for this year. The school was kept at
the house of Mr. John Gibbs, who was paid fifteen
shillings for its use.
From this time onward the records of the town
show that schools were provided and enlarged as the
needs of the town demanded. In these schools only
the rudiments were taught.
Each district employed its own teacher, and had the
general supervision of its schools. The only official
visits made the schools at this time were those of the
minister of the parish for the purpose of catechising
the children.
Persons might have been, and probably were, dele-
gated to give instruction to any who might wish to
pursue the studies which were then considered as be-
longing to a grammar-school. There were very few
of this class of pupils before the time above
mentioned. Joseph Hall, son of Rev. Dr. David, is
the first and only one who seems to have been
appointed grammar schoolma.ster, and authorized to
present hi 
