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GENEAUCGY COLLECTION
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRABV
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NORTH WORCESTER:
ITS KIRSTT SKTTLKRS
OIvD KARjVLS.
AN HISTORICAL ADDRESS,
DELIVERED BEFORE THE CHAMBERLAIN DISTRICT FARMERS'
CLUB, AT THE RESIDENCE OF A. S. LOWELL,
NORTH WORCESTER, DEC. 6, 1889.
By CALEB A. WALL,
Author of "Reminiscences of Worcester," "Puritans vs. The Quakers," Etc.
Worcester :
PUBLISHED BY THE AUTHOR.
1890.
This is the first of a series of similar publications which the author is about to issue,
containing his addresses at different historic points in the territory of Worcester, compris-
ing accounts of the first settlers and their families, historical and genealogical, the location
of their estates, etc. Those to follow will include the address at Lake Park, June 15,
1889, giving an account of the earliest settlers west of Lake Quinsigamond; the address on
Pakachoag Hill, July 13; and others to be given in different sections of this city, including
Sagatabscot Hill, Quinsigamond Village, Tatnuck, etc., relating to theu- respective localities
in the past. The whole, bound together, will constitute a sequel or second volume to my
" Reminiscences of Worcester," published in 1S77.
C. A. W.
January 1, 1890.
[Pbess of F. S. BLANCHARD & CO.]
Copyright, 1890.
NORTH WORCESTER
ITS FIRST SETTLERS AND OLD FARMS.
1140716
There was a gathering of unusual local historical
interest at the residence of A. S. Lowell, North Worcester,
Friday evening, December 6, 1889, held under the
auspices of the Chamberlain District Farmers' Club, by
invitation of Mr. Lowell, to hear an address by Caleb
A. Wall, on the history of the first settlers and old farms
in that locality.
Near the railroad station here are two ancient square
built mansions of similar construction, erected for two
brothers by their father, the history of which, and of the
farms to which they belong, dates back to the beginning
of the town.
One of these old estates, that on Brattle Street, north-
east of the depot, has been owned and occupied about
two years by Mr. Lowell, who has tastefully refitted
the old mansion, while preserving its ancient architectural
features ; the other of these two old estates is that
owned and occupied by the family of the late J. L. Libby,
just south of the depot, on the east side of Holden Street,
the ancient house on which, also, preserves very much
the same architectural appearance as it possessed long
anterior to the days of our revolutionary sires.
At Friday evening's meeting at Mr. Lowell's, besides
members of the Club, whose territory includes this sec-
tion, numerous others interested in such matters
were present, including many of our prominent citizens.
The evening was an unusually pleasant one, with a clear
sky overhead, and a full moon shining brightly, adding
greatly to the delightfulness of the occasion. A party
of nearly one hundred assembled at about seven o'clock,
4 AN HISTORICAL ADDRESS — NORTH WORCESTER:
and after a social half hour, were called to order in the
spacious parlors by P. F. Sears, Vice-President of the
Club, the President, Pliny Moore, coming later. At
7.30 p. m. Mr. Wall was introduced, and gave his address,
as follows :
CALEB A. WALL'S ADDRESS.
One of the earliest proprietors of Worcester, at the
beginning of its permanent settlement, after the close of
Queen Anne's War, so called, in 1713, was James Knapp,
or Knopp, as sometimes written on the old records. He
came here from Newton, where he was born February
4, 1691. He had a grant of 250 acres of land including
the spot where we now are. It took in, besides the fine
farm of our excellent host, the adjoining and surround-
ing estates of James E. Fuller, C. C. Foster, Mrs. Libby,
Mrs. Allen, John McTammany, Charles P. Geeser, and
others. This was a century and three-quarters ago, when
Worcester was resettled after the previous devastation by
the Indians,*" lots then beginning to be taken up as
granted by the Committee of the General Court to the
first settlers at different points within the original
territory of Worcester, which included, besides what
is now Worcester, the present territory of Holden^f
and the north east quarter of Auburn. f
Before speaking further of this land of Knapp, and its
subsequent conveyance to and division among other
parties, it is proper to say something about him. He
was the second son of John, Jr., and Sarah (Parks) Knapp
of Newton, his father being the eldest son of John, Sr.,
and Sarah (Young) Knapp of Watertown. John Knapp,
Sr., born in England in 1624, was a carpenter, son of
William Knapp, also a carpenter, a proprietor of Water-
town in 1636-7, who came over from England with his
sons, William, Jr., John and James, in 1630.
James Knapp, the original proprietor of the lands in
this vicinity, was thus great-grandson of the emigrant
ancestor, WilUam Knapp. He married, first, April 2,
* See "Reminiscences of Worcester," pages 12-17.
t Ibid, pages 128-30.
ITS FIRST SETTLERS AND OLD FARMS. 5
1714, Elizabeth Bond, daughter of Dea. WilHam, Jr. and
Hepsibah (Hastings) Bond of Watertown, by whom he had
a son Jonathan, born October 23, 1714, and after her death
January 12, 1716, he married, October 10, 1716, Mary
Fisk, sister of the wife of Benjamin Flagg,* an original
settler of Worcester, some of whose lands here were in
the vicinity of his own, and Knapp then came here,
where his next five children were born, as follows :
Abijah, October 2, 1717; Mary, December 16, 1719;
Benjamin, August 31, 1721 ; James, Jr., October 27, 1723 ;
and Elisha, December 6, 1725. James Knapp then sold
out all his estate in Worcester and moved away. Among
his subsequent children, born probably in Watertown,
were Elizabeth, born May 15, 1729, and John, born
October 31, 1731. Of those children, Abijah went to
Marlborough, where he married in 1744, Abigail Ward; he
was in Marlborough in 1762, and went thence to Petersham
and afterwards to Athol. James, Jr., went to Medway.
and thence, in 1773, to Sturbridge, where he was in 1797.
John went from Worcester in 1759 to Petersham, and
thence in 1785 to Spencer. Benjamin was in Sturbridge
in 1744.
James Knapp, the father, was chosen surveyor of high-
ways at the first annual March town meeting in Worces-
ter, and he had a seat granted him in the second of the
sixth section of seats at the first regular or official assign-
ment of seats in the first meeting house on the old Common
in 1724. Besides the 250 acres of land in this vicinity,
James Knapp had a grant of land November 22, 1718,
by order of the General Court's Committee, of " 75 acres
for a second division with three acres allowance for a
highway four rods wide running through it, this land
lying on the north side of his house lot, and on the east
side of Mill Brook." This would indicate that James
Knapp did not build or settle on any part of his 250
acres in this vicinity, but on the lot granted to him just
south of the above-mentioned 75 acres granted to him in
1718. The location of this was near to and included the
site of the present residence of Edwin P. Curtis on Burn-
* See " Reminiscences," pages 106-8.
6 AN HISTORICAL ADDRESS — NORTH WORCESTER:
coat* Street. This estate, then comprising 90 acres, and
including all the estate James Knapp then owned in
Worcester, Knapp sold, March 7, 1726, to Thomas
Gleason, from Shrewsbury, and previously of Sudbury,
ancestor of the race of Gleasons afterwards so numerous
in the northern section of the town, of whom I shall have
more to say at the proper time. This Thomas Gleason,
who filled at different times the positions of constable,
highway surveyor, and tythingman, lived on that spot till
his decease in 1756, leaving a large family of sons and
daughters, this estate, to which his son Isaac succeeded,
passing out of the family over 75 years ago, before Mrs.
Curtis' s grandfather, Walter Bigelow, senior, pur-
chased it.*
Richard Temple, born in Concord, in 1674, and a resi-
dent of Shrewsbury from 1724 to 1738, when he went
back to Concord, was the purchaser, before 1725, from
James Knapp, of the 250 acres above mentioned. He
made the purchase for his two sons, Joseph and William
Temple, and a son-in-law, William Harris, among whom
he divided it. Two of these being housewrights by trade
and the other a surveyor, they probably erected the
first houses upon it, two of which are still standing,
substantial as well as venerable specimens of ancient
architecture, in one of which we are now assembled.
September 1, 1730, Richard Temple, then a resident of
Shrewsbury, "for love and good will, and his advance-
ment in the world," etc., conveyed to his son Joseph
Temple, 65 acres of land, "part of the 250 acres which
the said Joseph Temple purchased of James Knapp, and
bounded on the south by that part of the 250 acres which
his son William Temple lived on, and on the west by that
part which the son-in-law lived on." At the same time
he deeded to his daughter Mary, wife of William Harris,
housewright, 50 acres, another part of the said 250 acres,
" for love and good will," etc.; and January 23, 1735, he
deeded to his son William Temple, housewright, 65 acres
of land, another part of said 250 acres, south of that
occupied by Joseph, for the same consideration of " love
* See " Reminiscences," page 45.
ITS FIRST SETTLERS AND OLD FARMS. 7
and good will," etc. This would show that these ancient
houses were then here. Joseph Temple's portion
included the spot where we now are, and this is the
house he built and lived in. The ancient house south of
this, on Holden Street, and similar to this in construction,
where the family of the late J. L. Libb}'^ now live, was
the residence of William Temple, which he built. The
estate of William Harris was westerly of Joseph Temple's,
and north-westerly of William Temple's, the ancient
house in which several generations of that family lived
having long since disappeared.
This Richard Temple was a son of Abraham and grand-
son of the original emigrants, Richard and Joanna
Temple, who were of Salem in 1648, and afterwards of
Concord. Neither of the Temple brothers remained
during their lifetime upon the estates thus given them
by their father.
Among the town offices filled by Joseph Temple was
that of field driver in 1740, hogreeve in '41, surveyor of
highways and juryman in '42, and constable in '52.
His brother, William Temple, was surveyor of highways
in 1736, and field driver in 1739, and in the assignment
of seats in the first meeting house on the old Common
in 1733, as described in my " Reminiscences of Worces-
ter," pages 113 and 114, he occupied a seat in " ye second
section in ye foremost gallery." William Harris was
surveyor of highways in 1737, '38 and '41 ; and hogreeve
in 1732, '33, '39, '42, '43, and '44 ; and he occupied a seat
in "ye second section in ye long gallery," in that old
meeting house. Robert Peables, whose estate the first
Elisha Smith purchased and resided upon, west of North
Pond, was assigned a seat in this first meeting house, " in
ye second section in ye body," as will be seen by the
description and plan referred to.
Joseph Temple sold out his 65 acres (including where
we now are) May 1, 1772, for £292, 6s. and 8d., to Levi
Houghton of Ashby, who lived here ten years. William
Temple sold out his estate, including the original portion
of the Libby estate south of us, March 22, 1740, for £510,
to Elisha Smith, from Waltham, the first one of four
8 AN HISTORICAL ADDRESS — NORTH WORCESTER:
generations of that name who have lived on different
portions of that estate or the immediate vicinity, of
whom more will be said later. William and Mary
(Temple) Harris's descendants also remained on their
ancestral estate, or on different portions of it, west of
us, for several generations, an account of whom now
would swell this address to too great a length.
Levi Houghton sold, November 15, 1782, for £650,
93 1-2 acres, including the above 65 acres bought of
Joseph Temple, to Josiah Lyon, yeoman, of Worcester,
and the latter sold March 18, 1791 for £475, 88 1-2 acres
of this, in two. tracts, including the 65 acres where we
are, to Simeon Fish, yeoman, from Mendon, and Mr.
Fish sold the same April 10, 1795, to Francis Thaxter of
Hingham, who conveyed it April 13, 1796, to Benjamin
Farrar of Abington, and the latter sold the same estate
April 12, 1799, to Nathan Patch, a celebrated real estate
owner and speculator of his time, who sold it September
22, 1800, to his son Joseph Patch. The next owner was
Joseph Daniels from Sherborn, who purchased it of the
Patches, November 18, 1807, for $4000. Joseph Daniels's
wife. Thankful, was daughter of James Penniman of
Medway, and sister of Abigail, wife of the first Samuel
Damon of Holden. Joseph Daniels died about 1820,
leaving his estate to his son Joseph Daniels, Jr., who
married Eliza Glazier, daughter of Calvin and Eliza
(Pierce) Glazier of Kutland. Joseph, Jr., and Eliza were
parents of Mrs. Lewis Thayer, now residing at No. 142
Lincoln Street ; of Mrs. John Mason, now residing at
No. 9 John Street; of the wife of the late Loison D.
Towne, formerly residing at No. 10 Harvard Street ; and
of the late Joseph D. Daniels, whose widow resides at
No. 18 Harvard Street. Joseph Daniels, Jr., carried on
the farm for several years, till the estate, under his
improvident management, passed through a heavy mort-
gage, about 1831, into the hands of his cousin, the late
Col. Samuel Damon of Holden, son of the first Samuel
Damon, the mortgage being subject to the right of
dower of Thankful Daniels, the widow of Joseph Daniels,
Sr. The farm was managed for two years, from 1831 to
ITS FIRST SETTLERS AND OLD FARMS. »
1833, by Robert S. Gleason, whose wife was a daughter
of Daniel Davis, the latter' s wife being a daughter of
Francis Daniels, brother of Joseph, Sr. October 1, 1833,
Col. Damon, for the sum of $3500, conveyed the estate,
then comprising 152 acres, to Robert S. Gleason and
Ezekiel Newton, the latter having for two years previous
worked for Mr. Gleason on the farm. They managed
the estate together for six years, till April 15, 1839,
when the widow. Thankful Gleason, sold out to them her
right of dower and interest in the estate, where she had
resided for thirty years, and went to reside with her
grand daughter, Mrs. Robert S. Gleason, on Ararat
Street ; Mr. Gleason, at the same time, disposing of his
half of the estate to Charles Newton, a brother of Ezekiel,
and these two brothers then managed the old farm
together for six years, both residing with their respective
families in this house, in which both held their honey-
moon receptions at their marriage, Ezekiel in 1835 and
Charles in 1842, after coming here. The elder of these
two brothers, our respected veteran friend, Ezekiel
Newton, at my right, hale and hearty in his 78th year,
we are all happy to greet with us to-night, from his
new home in Westborough; also a younger surviving
brother, at my left, Abraham H. Newton, who can
give many pleasant recollections of his boyhood here.
About 1846, the old farm was divided, Ezekiel Newton
taking the northern half, and Charles the southern half
extending to Ararat Street, on which latter half Charles
Newton built the house now occupied by architect James
E. Fuller ; the preceding owner of this half, which has
had many owners since Charles Newton sold it, about
1861, being our friend C. C. Foster. Ezekiel Newton
owned and occupied the northern half of this original
estate, including the house we are in, till 1870, when,
after residing here thirty-nine years, he sold it to the
late Charles H. Geeser, who owned and occupied it till
his decease, and after him his son, the present Charles P.
Geeser, who sold it in 1884 to Walter S. Bugbee, now of
Shrewsbury ; and the latter sold it in 1887 to the present
owner and occupant, our generous host. When Mr.
10 AN HISTORICAL ADDRESS — NORTH WORCESTER:
Geeser sold out here, he built his present residence just
across the road. When Joseph Daniels, Jr., lived here, he
kept a store in this house for many years, where he was
a licensed retailer of intoxicating drinks, in accordance
with an old custom, unfortunately, not yet extinct in too
many places, though long since extinguished from this
locality ; and it is ardently hoped, since the glorious
result of the recent vote on the question by our citizens,
that the whole city may be redeemed from the terrible
curse.
The widow, Thankful Daniels, after removing from
her old homestead here, in 1840, resided with her
grand daughter, Mrs. Robert S. Gleason, on Ararat Street,
where she died January 10, 1852, aged 93 years,
7 months and 4 days, and was buried in Rural Cemetery.
Eliza G. Daniels, widow of Joseph Daniels, Jr., died Jan-
uary 28, 1861, aged 71 years and 7 months, at the
residence of her son, the late Joseph D. Daniels, on Har-
vard Street.
Richard^ Newton, progenitor of the Newtons in New
England, came from England and was one of the first
settlers in Sudbury in 1640, and one of the petitioners
for Marlborough, where he settled in 1660, in the south-
ern part afterwards set oE for Southborough, where and
in Westborough and Shrewsbury, he has descendants.
He died at the old homestead in Southborough, August
24, 1701, aged 100 years. His son Moses,- born in 1646,
married in 1768 Joanna Larkin, and had in Southborough,
Moses,^ Jr., born in 1669, who married in 169o, Sarah
Howe, and their three sons, Aaron,^ Elisha,^ and Ezekiel,*
were among the first settlers in Shrewsbury, where they
had numerous descendants. Elisha* married in 1728,
Sarah Tomlin of Westborough, and had in Shrewsbury
tw^elve children, of whom the sixth son and eighth
child was Charles,^ born August 28, 1742, who married
in 1765, Tabitha Bowker of Westborough, and had in
Shrewsbury five children, of whom Ezra®, born November
22, 1774, married January 28, 1812, Lucy Howe of
Princeton, and settled there, they being parents of the
above mentioned Ezekiel, Charles, arid Abraham H. New-
ITS FIEST SETTLERS AND OLD FARMS. 11
ton. The father died with his oldest son Ezekiel, in this
house, April 10, 1863, while the youngest son Abraham
H. was a soldier in the Union Army, in company F, 51st
regiment, and not, as the minister said at his father's
funeral, " a wanderer up and down the earth." Charles
died about two years ago, in Millbury, and the other
surviving brother, Ezra, Jr., has been a resident of the
far west for some thirty years.
Elisha Smith, who bought in 1740 the estate of
William Temple, including the Libby house and the
original 60 acres of that estate, was son of Jonathan and
Jane (Peabody) Smith of Watertown, where he was born
January 11, 1692. Jonathan, born in 1659, was son of
Thomas Smith, who came to America in the summer of
1635, then aged 35, and settled in Watertown, where he
died, March 10, 1693, aged 93. He was admitted free-
man of the Massachusetts colony, May 17, 1637. He
married Mary, daughter of William Knapp, before refer-
red to, by whom he had nine children, born between
1637 and 1662, of whom Jonathan, born in 1659, was
father of Elisha. Elisha Smith thus bore the i)lood
relationship of second cousin to the original proprietor of
this land, James Knapp, both being grandsons of William
Knapp. This relationship may have led to the Smiths
coming here, Elisha Smith married, March 25, 1713,
Patience Brown, daughter of Captain Abraham and Mary
(Hyde) Brown, of that part of old Watertown, afterwards
Waltham, and they had there these six children : First,
Jonathan, born January 23, 1715, who married Novem-
ber 8, 1736, Susanna Stearns, daughter of Isaac and
Mary (Bemis) Stearns of Waltham, and sister of
Nathaniel Stearns of Holden. Jonathan and Susanna
settled in Lunenburg on 100 acres of land there, given
him by his father, where they had Reuben, Simon, Mary,
and Patience, of whom the latter married a Stiles, and
Jonathan died before his father.
Elisha Smith's second child. Patience, born February
23, 1717, married December 6, 1733, Abraham Sander-
son, who was born in Watertown, March 28, 1711, and
they also settled in Lunenberg, on seventy acres of land
12 AN HISTORICAL ADDRESS — NORTH WORCESTER:
given them by her father, on the northern border of the
town, adjoining Townsend, where Abraham and Patience
had thirteen children, of whom the fourth one was Jacob
Sanderson, a minute man of the revolution, at the battle
of Bennington, who married in Worcester in 1760,
Elizabeth Child, and settled in Lunenburg on 400 acres
of land he purchased east of his father. The homestead
farm of the first Abraham Sanderson in Lunenburg is
still in the family, being owned and occupied by his
great-grandson, Richard Gilchrist, in the original gable
roofed house, to which many pilgrimages are made by
descendants of the original settler. The grave of this
venerable ancestor is marked by a headstone of slate in
the old cemetery in Lunenburg, inscribed ''Abraham
Sanderson, died December 4, 1776, aged 86." His wife
Patience lies by his side. Abraham was the second of
five children of Samuel and Mercy (Gale) Sanderson of
Watertown, grandson of Dea. Jonathan and Abiah (Bart-
lett) Sanderson, and great-grandson of the original
settlers, Edward and Mary (Eggleston) Sanderson of
Watertown. The name of this family was frequently
written in the old records Sanders, and Saunders.
Among the numerous descendants of the Jacob San-
derson above mentioned, is his great-grandson, our
esteemed fellow citizen, present with us to-night. Rev.
Alonzo Sanderson, pastor of Laurel Street church, whose
father, Jesse Sanderson, is still living in Lunenburg, hale
and hearty at 86.
The third child of Elisha and Patience ( Brown) Smith
was Elisha Smith, Jr., born June 4, 1719, who married
Susanna Gleason, born in 1722, the oldest of eleven
children of Thomas Gleason of Worcester, before men-
tioned. Elisha, Jr., and Susanna, settled on the estate
which his father, Elisha Smith, Sr., bought in 1740 of
William Temple ; while the father settled on another
estate of 140 acres south of it and west of and adjoining
North Pond, which he purchased the year previous, Feb-
ruary 8, 1739, of Richard Peables, another extensive
original proprietor of land in this part of Worcester.
This purchase of 140 acres included the farms
now of R. J. Pierce, Eben and W. C. Jewett, and others.
ITS FIEST SETTLERS AND OLD FARMS. 13
Of the other children of Elisha, Sr., and Patience
(Brown) Smith, Isaac settled on 87 acres of land given
him by his father in the south east part of Holden, and
Eunice was wife of Isaac Gleason, who resided where
his father, Thomas Gleason, before spoken of, lived,
on Burncoat Street, where Edwin P. Curtis now lives.
By a second wife, Abigail, whom he married in 1730,
Elisha Smith, Sr., had five other children, of whom
Abraham settled on 120 acres of land given him by his
father in Lunenburg, and Robert, born in Waltham in
1737, two years before the father came to Worcester,
settled on the paternal homestead given him by the
father at his decease in 1765, west of the pond, including
the land where R. J. Pierce and E. and W. C. Jewett
now live. This old estate, then comprising 252 acres,
Robert Smith sold in 1776 to Asa Ward, father of the
former Register of Deeds, Artemas Ward. Robert
Smith then removed to his last residence on Ararat
Street, where his son-in-law, Jonathan Gleason, Jr., and
the latter's sons, Robert S.* and Benjamin F. Gleason
afterwards lived, the main part of that estate having
been for many years owned and occupied by C. B.
Sweetser, and a portion of it by the family of the late
Benjamin F. Gleason, who died February 16, 1869,
aged 53 ; his father Jonathan Gleason, Jr., died May 3,
1838, aged 66 ; and the latter's widow, Esther,
daughter of Robert Smith, died December 31, 1866,
* Robert S. Gleason sold out his interest on Ararat street to his brother
Benjamin F. in 1855, and removed his residence to Beach street, and after-
wards to Washington street, where he died in 1870, and his widow lived
there after him. Their grandfather, Jonathan Gleason, Sr., father of
Jonathan Jr., was the oldest of ten children of the above mentioned Isaac
Gleason, who died in 1777, several of whose children settled on different
portions of the extensive landed estates of their father, Isaac Gleason, on
both sides of Burncoat street. Jonathan Gleason, Sr., lived in the ancient
house still standing on the west side of West Boylston street in Xorthville,
now owned by Joseph Stone, and his son, Jonathan, Jr., was the oldest of
his eleven children. They are descendants of Thomas Gleason, from the
old country, admitted freeman of the Massachusetts Colony in 1652, who
settled first in Watertown, was of Cambridge early as 1657, of Charlestown
in 1662, and afterwards in Cambridge, where he died in 1684. He was
great-grandfather of the first Thomas Gleason of Worcester, above men-
tioned. A fuller genealogy of these and other old Worcester families will
form subjects of future essays or addresses of this series.
14 AN HISTORICAL ADDRESS — NORTH WORCESTER:
aged 95, at the residence of her daughter on Ararat
Street.
Robert Smith had two sons and seven daughters :
1, David, resided on 21 acres of land given him by the
father, in Holden ; 2, Amos, married a Winn and resided
on a farm in Holden, also given him by the father ;
3, Abigail, married in 1780, Benjamin Rice of Barre and
had six children there ; 4, Lydia, married Daniel Ball ;
5, Sarah, married in 1786 Samuel Bixby of Barre ;
6, Ruth, married Aaron Parker of Holden, grandfather of
Charles E. Parker, present here to-night ; 7, Esther, mar-
ried Jonathan Gleason, Jr., and succeeded to the paternal
estate on Ararat Street, as before mentioned ; 8, Hannah,
married Josiah Flagg, and had Jonathan, Joel, and others;
9, another daughter married a Ward. Seven of these
children were by Robert Smith's first wife Sarah, who died
February 21, 1766, aged 33, and the last two were by his
second wife, Elizabeth Goodale, sister of Paul Goodale,
Sr.. of West Boylston. Robert Smith died July 4, 1807,
aged 70, at his last residence on Ararat Street, and his
widow died there October 6, 1837, aged 96 years and 7
months. Robert and his brother, Elisha Smith, Jr., and
their father, Elisha, Sr., had seats assigned them in the
meeting house erected on the old Common in 1763,
according to the plan printed in my " Reminiscences of
Worcester," at page 113. Elisha, Sr., and his son Robert
occupied the same slip or pew at the right of the pulpit,
as will be noticed. Among other official positions, Rob-
ert Smith was selectman in 1778 and '79 ; his brother
Elisha, Jr., was one of the building committee of the
meeting house in 1763, one of the school committee in
1753, and surveyor of highways in 1744, with other town
duties ; and their father Elisha, Sr., was surveyor of
highways of the town in 1740, '43, '46, '47, and '49 ;
school committee in 1740, and '43 ; collector of taxes in
1747 and '49 ; and selectman and assessor in 1752.
Elisha Smith, Sr., married for his third and last wife, a
widow, Sarah Melvin of Concord, August 12, 1741, two
years after he came to Worcester. She survived him
three years, leaving at her decease in 1768 four sons,
ITS FIRST SETTLERS AND OLD FARMS. 15
John, Ebenezer, Josiah, and Nathan Melvin, by a former
husband, and also a daughter, Sarah, who married a
Barnes. This first Elisha Smith was one of the most
extensive landed proprietors of his time. Besides his
homestead which he left to his son Robert, and the 60
acres he bought of William Temple, which he gave to
his son Elisha, Jr., he owned by grant or purchase,
several hundred acres of land in Worcester, Holden, and
Lunenburg, on which he settled his different sons and
sons-in-law, as before alluded to. The original house on
the estate in which Elisha and his son Robert Smith
lived, stood where E. and W. C. Jewett's house now
stands, which latter was built about 1834, when the
original house was torn down, by the late Benjamin Reed.
Elisha Smith, Jr., who married Susanna Gleason, resid-
ed where Mrs. Libby now lives, and had there four sons
and nine daughters, born between 1741 and 1758, an
account of whom and of the families of those who mar-
ried would form an extensive chapter in itself, and must
be deferred to some other time or occasion. The second
son and third child, Elisha Smith, the third, born July 6,
1744, was a sea captain; he married, January 13, 1774,
Persis Child, daughter of John Child, a hotel keeper,
whose residence was a little over Worcester line, north-
erly of the Smiths and Harrises. Elisha Smith the third
and Persis, who had ten children, resided on the estate
given him by his father, where C. C. Foster now lives,
and where his son, Elisha Smith the fourth, who married
Betsy Howe of Holden, afterwards lived and died ; the
third Elisha Smith died there in 1806, aged 60, and his
son the fourth Elisha, September 22, 1850, aged 76 ; a
nephew of the latter, the late Walter H. Davis, who took
care of his uncle in his last days, afterwards owning and
occupying that estate, which has since had many different
owners and occupants.
Daniel Smith, who died in 1856, aged 81, was a
brother of the fourth Elisha, and resided in the brick
building in the rear on that portion of the parental estate
which he inherited from the father.
The homestead estate of the second Ehsha Smith,
1140716
16 AN HISTORICAL ADDRESS — NORTH WORCESTER :
where Mrs. Libby lives, passed out of the family after
his decease, to Benjamin Thaxter of Abington, whose
title to it, then comprising 105 acres, bears date Novem-
ber 27, 1792. Since then the estate has been best
known as the Thaxter Place, although the Thaxters owned
it only about 35 years. Benjamin Thaxter died there
April 21, 1821, aged 63, and his widow and son Fran-
cis lived there after him till the estate passed out of
the family about 1828.* The next owner and occupant
was Thomas A. Aldrich, from Rhode Island, who sold
it in 1849 to the late Dea. Alpheus Merrifield, the
latter purchasing it for his son, the late Francis N. Mer-
rifield, who lived there, and sold it about 1866 to the
late James L. Libby, and the latter's family still own and
occupy it.
Asa Ward, who purchased in 1776 of Robert Smith,
the homestead estate of his father, the first Elisha Smith,
west of North Pond, sold the same in 1781 to Dea.
Ebenezer Reed, from Uxbridge, who resided on that por-
tion of it where R. J. Pierce now lives, till his death
May, 11, 1823, aged 81 years, and his son Samuel T.
Reed lived there after him till his death, April 21, 1832,
aged 58, the latter's brother, the late Benjamin Reed,
taking that portion of the original estate afterwards
purchased by the late Ebenezer Jewett, father of the
present Eben Jewett, who now resides thereon with his
son, Warren C. Jewett. That portion of the original
estate where the late Samuel T. Reed lived and where R.
* Benjamin Thaxter was a native of Hingham, and brother, probably,
of the Francis Thaxter who owned the Daniels place awhile. Benjamin
Thaxter married, before he came to Worcester, Sarah Howe, of Abington,
and they had these six children : 1, Sarah, born in 1786, married, August
30, 1815, Joseph Avery of Plymouth, son of Eev. Joseph Avery, pastor of
the old church in Holden, from 1774 till his death in 1824, aged 72 years ;
2, Benjamin, Jr., born in 1788, died September 6, 1886, in Boston, aged 98 ;
3, Mary H., born in 1793, married, July 12, 1826, Henry Wheeler, son of
Theophilus Wheeler, Register of Probate from 1793 to 1836, and she died
November 19, 1874, aged 81, at the old Wheeler homestead on Main Street,
where her husband and his father and grandfather had lived, and where
also her sister, Mrs. Avery, died February 17, 1873, aged 87 ; 4, Francis,
succeeded his father on the old Thaxter estate at North Worcester, and
died unmarried, September 14, 1851, aged 54 years, at the residence of his
sister, Mrs. Henry Wheeler; 5, Martin H., died September 21, 1826, aged
43, in Florida; 6, Fanny L., died August 31, 1859, aged 68, unmarried, at
her sister's Mrs. Henry Wheeler. See " Reminiscences of Worcester,"
page 257.
ITS FIRST SETTLERS AND OLD FARMS 17
J. Pierce now lives, was purchased of the Reed heirs in
1836 by the late Nathan Rogers, from Holden, father
of ex-alderman Thomas M. Rogers. Nathan Rogers car-
ried on the farm alone for two years, till 1838, when his
son, the late Jeremiah Rogers, joined him, and they
carried on the farm together till the father's death in
1855, when Jeremiah's son, George P. Rogers, purchased
of the heirs his grandfather's half of the farm, and
George P. Rogers and his father owned and occupied the
farm together till 1865, when they sold out to Granger
and R. Judson Pierce, and they managed it together till
the death of Granger Pierce, since which time R. J.
Pierce has owned and managed it alone.
But, ladies and gentlemen, I will not weary you with a
further detail of facts or statistics at this time. Let me
close with a few moralising reflections pertinent to the
topic and occasion, on what has been said.
As we review the history of a century and tHree-quarters
in this locality, since the first proprietor of these lands,
James Knapp, came here, and his successor by purchase,
Richard Temple, settled his sons, Joseph and William,
and his son-in-law, WiUiam Harris, thereon ; as we look
back to their times, how deeply are we impressed with
the extent and significance of the changes which have
since transpired. The same rocks and hills are indeed
here ; the same heavens are above our heads, the same
earth is under our feet ; and the same purling brooks
meander through the valleys into that ancient landmark,
so often referred to in the old records, the old " North
Pond," just below us ; but in all things relating to
humanity and the progress of civilization, how extensive
are the changes ! Looking over the long list of past
proprietors and dwellers on the different farms into which
these lands have been divided, the Temples, Harrises,
Peables, Smiths, Houghton, Lyon, Fish, the Thaxters,
Patches, the Farrars, Daniels, Gleasons, Wards, Reeds,
Rogers, and others of the past, and their contemporaries
on the surrounding estates, the Flaggs, McKonkeys,
Whitneys, Barbers, Nichols, Childs, Gearys, Dwelleys,
Drurys, and others ; in our minds' eye we see them tug-
18 AN HISTORICAL ADDRESS — NORTH WORCESTER:
ging away at their work, with their old fashioned imple-
ments of husbandry, as they followed their humble
callings, for the maintenance of themselves and those
near and dear to them by the same family ties which
bind us to those now depending upon us for support.
We may well say of these veteran farmers of the olden
time on these hills and along these valleys : They now
rest from their labors in their long, last sleep :
" They have plowed their last furrow and reaped their last grain,
No morn shall awake them to labor again."
" Oft did the harvest to their sickle yield,
Their furrow, oft, the stubborn glebe has broke ;
How jocund did they drive their teams afield.
How bowed the woods beneath their sturdy stroke.
The breezy call of incense-breathing morn,
The swallow twittering from the straw built shed,
The cock's shrill clarion, or the echoing horn,
N"o more shall rouse them from their lowly bed.
For them no more the blazing hearth shall burn,
Or busy house-wife ply her evening care ;
No children run to lisp their sire's return,
Or climb his knees, the envied kiss to share."
As we contemplate in imagination these former tillers
of the soil, with their past time simple modes of husband-
ry, in striking contrast with our modern improved
methods of farming by the application of machinery and
multiplied means of fertilization, making so many blades
of grass and so many ears of corn and kernels of grain
grow where but one could formerly be produced ; as we
take into consideration our modern, vastly multiplied
facilities for farming, over the past, how forcibly are we
reminded of the obligation and responsibility of the
present cultivators of the soil to " make farming pay "
to a much greater extent than did our predecessors with
so much less favorable facilities at their command. If
our patriotic old forefathers, whom we are in the habit
of so justly commending for their stern virtues of indus-
try and perseverance, could secure for themselves and
their families a comfortable and substantial living,
educate their children, and hand down their names to us
as good examples for us to follow, how impressively
comes to us the sense of obligation and duty for the
ITS FIRST SETTLERS AND OLD FARMS. 19
intelligent farmers of this model old agricultural county
of Worcester, with their immensely increased facilities,
to set themselves in the foreground as successful prac-
titioners of the noble art of husbandry, making it pay
financially as well at least as any other honest busi-
ness calling in our midst.
Two hundred and sixty-nine years ago this very day,
the Mayflower, with its precious load of Pilgrims, had
arrived in Massachusetts Bay, and was seeking a «afe
landing place, which they found a few days later on
Plymouth Rock. For what did they come here, except
to enjoy the blessings of civil and religious liberty, and
maintain an honest subsistence for all by the cultivation
of the land which they were careful to secure a right to
by equitable purchase from the Indians, as well as grants
from the mother country ? They did not come here to
huddle together in a few large communities, where the
privileged few might enrich themselves at the expense
and sacrifice of the labors of the great multitude of
" hewers of wood and drawers of water;" where concen-
trated capital might lord it over the toiling millions in
compact and densely crowded cities. On the contrary,
they came here to spread out over the land. When one
little community of proprietors after another, which they
called towns, miles and miles apart, had become no
larger in population than your little village of North
Worcester, they gradually pushed out farther and farther
into the country for more room, founding Worcester in
due time in their westward progress from the sea shore.
Had there been a wider spread over the land, and less
extension up into the air, in the erection of the many-
storied structures in our large cities, and had the streets
upon which they were built been wider instead of so nar-
row as they are, in violation of the laws of nature, might
not some of the big fires we have been pained to read
the details of, been prevented ? " The mills of God," it
is said, " grind slowly," but they grind sure, and it is
hoped that wiser action in the future, on the part of those
most responsible for the present state of things in this
regard, may be induced from the sad lessons of the past.
20 AN HISTORICAL ADDRESS — NORTH WORCESTER:
I would not be understood, of course, as claiming that
there should be no cities or large towns, or that the size
of organized civil communities should be limited by any
arbitrary mathematical rule, — the regular laws of bus-
iness and trade, if left to operate legitimately, would
settle this matter properly, — but I do claim that inor-
dinate selfishness, a one-sided, misguided view of things,
has crept in and pushed matters in this line out of all due
proportion, between an honest demand and supply, as to
actual need and benefit, for the public interest, in the
extreme modern rush of the rural population into the
cities, leaving the old farms, with all their ancestral asso-
ciations, to go to ruin. Had the 95 per cent of those
who, within my own recollection, have became bankrupt
in their attempt to run mercantile business in Worcester,
remained upon the farm, and cultivated that as they
ought, they might have made a successful thing of it,
instead of running behind ; they might not have become
millionaires, but they certainly would not have been
so far behindhand, pecuniarily, as too many of such adven-
turous ones have become, and been obliged to resort to
the statutes of the commonwealth in order to get again
upon their feet, and become again legally (quite a differ-
ent thing from morally) square with the world.
All honor to those of our time who have set noble
examples in turning attention to the farm in the midst
of their other avocations. Among these is our estimable
and enterprising host, one of the five per cent who have
made a success in their mercantile business, as contradis-
tinguished from the unfortunate 95 per cent who have
made a wreck of it.
Let this rejuvenation of the old farms in New England
go forward, till, in our travels through the country towns,
we shall see, instead of dilapidated homesteads of former
successful tillers of the soil, from the windows of which
the owl may almost be said to look out at noonday upon
the decay of a former civilization, we may witness the
homes of prosperous farmers, with their " cattle upon a
thousand hills," the landscape interspersed with little mill
villages along the many streams and waterfalls, while at
ITS FIRST SETTLERS AND OLD FARMS. 21
a distance an enterprising city like our own Worcester,
reaching its proud proportions on the basis of a natural
growth, on the principles of equity and justice, as the
grand central mart of trade and business for this section
of the country, looms up grandly to view, with its 85,000
inhabitants and huge manufacturing establishments, its
innumerable churches and unexcelled institutions of
education and instruction, crowned with that latest and
most distinguished addition to our educational facilities,
the celebrated Clark University.
Mr. Wall's address occupied about an hour in the
delivery, was listened to with marked attention, and
warmly applauded at the close. Like the other addresses
of a similar character by the speaker, relating to other
localities, it was recognized as a valuable contribution to
our local history, and requested to be printed in full.
Remarks followed by Hon. Clark Jillson, B. W. Potter,
Esq., Ezekiel Newton of Westboro, Joseph Lovell, the
oldest person present, and Rev. Alonzo Sanderson of
Laurel Street Church, each giving some interesting rem-
iniscences relative to matters referred to in the
address. On motion of H. J. Allen, a vote of thanks was
extended to Mr. Wall for his address, and to Mr. Lowell
for his liberal hospitality. A very pleasant feature of
the occasion was the presence of Ezekiel Newton of
Westborough, an owner and occupant of the premises for
39 years — from 1831 to 1870 — who renewed many old
associations with his former neighbors and friends here.
Letters were read from Mayor Winslow, President
Hall of Clark University, and Hon. W. W. Rice, regret-
ting their inability to be present in response to
invitations.
At the close of the exercises a generous collation was
served by Mr. Lowell, who secured the services of
caterer Rebboli for the occasion, which will be long
remembered.
COMMENDATOEY LETTEES.
Several other letters, besides those previously alluded to, have
been received from prominent gentlemen interested in the enter-
prise in which Mr. "Wall is engaged, warmly encouraging him
in the same. Among them, Charles F. Washburn, Esq., a native
of Worcester, and representing the largest business enterprise
in the county, the Washburn & Moen Manufacturing Company,
writes :
" I want to thank you for your very kind invitation to listen to your
address at North Worcester. I should have been very glad to have availed
myself of the same, had not other imperative engagements stood in the
way."
Mayor Winslow's letter, dated Dec. 5, was in these words :
" Mr Wall— My Dear Sir. I extremely regret that my official duties
at the City Hall, Friday evening, will prevent my accepting your polite
invitation to be present at the farm house of A. S. Lowell, on that evening.
I have been very much interested in the historical sketches you have so
carefully made of so many places of note within our city, and I can but
hope they may be compiled and placed within the reach of all our citi-
zens. Accept my thanks.
Respectfully,
SAMUEL WINSLOW.
Ex-Mayor and Ex- Congressman W. W. Eice wrote Dec. 5 :
" My Dear Mr. Wall. — I was hoping to accept in person your very
kind invitation to hear your lecture at Mr. Lowell's. There is no subject 1
am more interested in than the history of those old farms. If, as I fear,
other engagements may prevent my attending, I hope to have the pleasure
of perusing it in print.
Very truly yours,
W. W. RICE.
Similar words of commendation have been received from Ex-
Mayor Edward L. Davis, a ''native and to the manner born" of
our noble city. Principal A. S. Eoe of the High School, and
others, encouraging Mr. Wall to persevere in the good work
he is doing.
President G. Stanley Hall, of Clark University, in his letter
of thanks for the invitation, " regretted exceedingly that another
engagement prevented him from attending the meeting."
Hon. George William Curtis, of New York, whose ancestors
for five generations were residents of Worcester, wrote express-
ing the great interest and pleasure with which he had read the
reports of several of Mr. Wall's addresses and papers on Worces-
ter, adding, ' ' I find that whatever concerns Worcester, seems
through my ancestors, down to my father, to concern me."
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