A History of Westminster, Massachusetts, 1893-1958, Part 1

Author: Westminster Historical Society (Westminster, Mass.)
Publication date: 1961
Publisher: Peterborough, N.H., R.R. Smith
Number of Pages: 392


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WESTMINSTER 1893-1958


THE HISTORY COMMITTEE Appointed by The Westminster Historical Society


DORIS M. FENNO, Chairman ERNESTINE E. ADAMS JAMES A. ADAMS LOIS M. HOWARD IRENE F. RICE, Genealogist EDWIN M. RUUSKA


A History of


WESTMINSTER


MASSACHUSETTS


1893- 1958


Compiled by


THE WESTMINSTER HISTORICAL SOCIETY


Edited by Newton F. Tolman


RICHARD · R . SMITH Peterborough . New Hampshire


COPYRIGHT C 1961 BY WESTMINSTER HISTORICAL SOCIETY, INC.


LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOG CARD NO. 61-17914 PUBLISHED BY THE RICHARD R. SMITH CO., INC. PETERBOROUGH, NEW HAMPSHIRE


ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. NO PART OF THIS BOOK MAY BE REPRODUCED IN ANY FORM WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE PUBLISHER.


Color Map by Edwin M. Ruuska, assisted by Helen I. Davis. Road map copyrighted by Harry D. Lord, Newton, Mass. Photographs by Norman C. Flink Paper for this book was given by Crocker-Burbank and Company, Association of Fitchburg, Massachusetts


MANUFACTURED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA BY THE COLONIAL PRESS INC. OF CLINTON, MASSACHUSETTS


Southern 1 5,00


1195478


To NELSON SPRAGUE GREELY and his great-aunt SARAH JANE WYMAN


A Westminster man who in childhood lost his parents; and the devoted aunt who took their place. She made her home his own. In later life, when with his wife he was free to search out a place to reside permanently, his choice was unhesitating-the town he had always loved.


D. O. Stabily, 1951


NELSON SPRAGUE GREELY With Crown and Pot of Incense (Cambridge Council, Royal and Select Masters of Masons)


SARAH JANE WYMAN


FOREWORD


THIS BOOK was designed to be a record of the main events of Westminster, the character of the town, and the genealogy of its people, beginning in 1893-when the last previous history was pub- lished-to as near the present date as could practically be accom- plished. While it was not possible to complete the work in time for the gala celebration of the town's 200th Anniversary in the summer of 1959, the occasion did stimulate an earnest effort to- ward publication at an early date thereafter.


The editor is especially grateful to the town history committee of the Historical Society who provided material and helped to organize the book, and to many other Westminster people who contributed to the task. Mrs. Nelson S. Greely, whose generosity made publication a reality, assisted with research.


Meetings of the history committee were held periodically over a two-year period to confer with the editor and to plan and assemble the contents of the book. It was decided initially not to repeat the information already contained in William S. Heywood's thorough and excellent History of Westminster, Massachusetts, published in 1893, but to make this work a continuation of the earlier history. While the Historical Society has a vast amount of material in its files, it was not possible to use all of it, and the committee has tried to condense the history of the town (1893- 1958) into as readable a form as possible.


In addition to the Heywood history and the numerous papers and articles in the files of the Historical Society, other publications were helpful in the preparation of this volume. Especially valuable were the annual Town Reports and the Valuation and Taxes book- lets. Among other informative sources were the Personal Recollec- tions of General Nelson A. Miles; the account of Westminster's 150th Anniversary celebration, published in 1909; the earliest


vii


viii


FOREWORD


known history of the town by Charles Hudson (1832); the Fitch- burg Sentinel; the Gardner News; and various bulletins and pam- phlets issued by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. In addition to the present history, the Historical Society published an im- pressive pictorial record of the town (1759-1959) on the occasion of its 200th Anniversary.


The late Nelson S. Greely (named indirectly for his great-uncle, General Nelson A. Miles) was a keen student of town history and collected a wide variety of objects of historical interest and value. He built the handsome Greely home on Miles Hill in 1943, where he resided until his death in 1954. His great-aunt, Miss Sarah Jane Wyman, whose name shares in the dedication of this book, was a familiar figure in the affairs of Westminster until her death in 1935.


NEWTON F. TOLMAN Editor


July 1961


CONTENTS


PART I-NARRATIVE


I. "Thrift, Competence, Comfort and Happiness" 3


2. Town Government 7


3. Some Facts and Figures II


4. Public Buildings


15


5. Churches 20


6. Schools


28


7. The Library Story 34


8. The Water Question 42


9. Public Services 47


1. Industries, Business and Agriculture 55


II. Clubs and Associations 65


12. A Profile of General Nelson A. Miles 74


13. War Years and Military Records 81


14. Finnish People Discover Westminster


94


15. Events and Occasions 96


16. Memories of Westminster IOI


17. An Historical Sketch III


18. Important Dates II7


ix


X


CONTENTS


Appendix


Town Officers; 1894; 1930; 1958


125


List of Public Roads 132


Business Directory 136


Schools: Teachers and Staff, 1947-1957


141


PART II-THE GENEALOGIES


Introduction 147


The Genealogies 149


Index to Part I 340


ILLUSTRATIONS


MAPS facing page


Color Map of Westminster, 1959


IO


Road Map of Westminster 132


PHOTOGRAPHS


Nelson S. Greely VI


Sarah Jane Wyman


VII


Main Street, Westminster


20


Loughlin Elementary School


28


The Country Club


29


The Cracker Bakery


60


The "Old Mill"


61


General Nelson A. Miles


92


Rear Admiral Frank W. Fenno


93


Colonel Chester E. Sargent


93


The Town Hall


124


An Old Street Railway Car


156


The Oldest House in Town


156


The Spite Wall 157


xi


PART I


Narrative


Chapter One


"THRIFT, COMPETENCE, COMFORT AND HAPPINESS"


WHEN YOU HEAR somebody in Westminster say, "I do not know of a better place to live," it sounds convincing. For this is a small New England town with a certain distinction not found in many of its fellows. It is a town with not one outstanding fault.


Granted, every town has its minor faults. Yet in this case there is not the slum area, or the glue factory, or the bitter feuds between racial groups-or whatever it may be that plagues this town or that. Westminster is a pleasant town, a well-kept town, a place which seems always to have held civic pride ahead of personal gain.


Even as far back as 1893-over sixty-six years ago-an amaz- ingly complete town history was published. This contains a very accurate "biologic-genealogical register" and begins at the date of the original 1728 grant of the then-named "Narragansett No. 2." And so we are chiefly concerned here, with Westminster after 1893. Almost anything of importance or interest happening earlier can be found in the previous 963-page History of Westminster, Massachusetts by William Sweetzer Heywood, or in an earlier history by Charles Hudson, published in 1832.


Heywood wrote of the town as he knew it in the 1890's: "It has an estimated area of ... thirty-six square miles. Its population numbers not far from sixteen hundred persons, about three-fifths of whom are distributed at large over its territory, being connected with the agricultural interests of the place." Of the central part of the town known as "the Center," he said: "Every thing there is kept in excellent order and repair, and the whole presents a neat and attractive appearance. Few country villages are more indicative of thrift, competence, comfort, domestic and social content, and happiness."


3


4


HISTORY OF WESTMINSTER


If the historian could inspect the township today, he would see great changes, not in the size and character of the Center, but in its outlying sections. Agriculture is now confined to a few farms, largely specialized. Vast areas of pasture, plainly visible in the old photos, are now solid forest. And so the casual motorist, driving across the rolling hills from one town boundary to another, gets the impression of a countryside largely wooded and with widely scat- tered houses.


Even the newly built residential sections, with perhaps fifteen houses in more or less of a row along the side of a highway, face out across large expanses of undeveloped country. There is no feeling of crowding here.


There was little change in population from 1893 until the vast upheaval caused by World War II. Twenty-four babies were born in 1895; twenty-six babies were born in 1945. But a decade later, in 1955, sixty-one births were recorded; and by 1958 the figure had jumped to sixty-seven. One gets the impression that the costly and rapidly expanding program of school building is largely a result of the votes of young, new families. Time after time, new schools or school additions have been voted by the narrowest of margins. There is here, as elsewhere in the nation, a sharp struggle between the forces representing the town as it was, and those anticipating an accelerated growth.


Even the dog population reflects Westminster's recent residential expansion. The Town Report of 1905 shows an item of $381 re- ceived from licenses on 147 dogs. In 1945 there were some 278 dogs. And in 1955, canine population-if we have added correctly from several pages in the Report-had reached 326. Income to the town was $1231, minus fees to the Town Clerk of $99.60. And no less than fourteen kennel licenses were also issued. It may be guessed that in many cases the dog is a symbol of the kind of life the new- comer expects to find in Westminster: not "Suburbia" but country living.


All the natural features that combine to make such a life attrac- tive are set forth in great detail in the Heywood history, altitude, climate, lakes, hills, and the flora and fauna of the region. A delight- ful section on fish, reptiles and insects might well be compared with Thoreau.


5


"THRIFT, COMPETENCE, COMFORT AND HAPPINESS"


Mr. Heywood, it appears, had a very low opinion of the black bass. He recounted how Meetinghouse Pond was once stocked with bass, at an expense of "several hundred dollars." These fish, he claimed, not only harassed and chased the pickerel and perch, but ". . . are a poor substitute . . . being, except for a brief portion of the year, not simply unpalatable, as an article of food, but offensive to both smell and taste. .. . " He concluded with the admonition, "It is wise, sometimes, to 'let well enough alone,' and not be in too great haste to adopt the theories of half-fledged novices and blatherskites."


In recent years Westminster fishermen have had rather better luck with their re-stocking programs. And at present two fish-and- game clubs offer their members good sport every season.


Most Massachusetts towns have been variously affected and in- fluenced by the waves of immigrants pouring into the United States early in the century. Probably due more to the character of its land than to any other factor, Westminster has attracted chiefly northern Europeans. Many of these newer settlers had a long back- ground of association with the soil and with country living. The abandoned farmland of Westminster, together with the proximity of employment in nearby large towns, drew them in numbers far exceeding any other group.


It may be guessed that the highly democratic form of town government also appealed to these people. Their countries in Europe were early pioneers in self-government by democratic systems.


In the Town Report of 1895 almost all the names which appear are of English-sounding derivation-Hurd, Merriam, Waterhouse, Whitney, Smith, Giles, Towle, Fenno, Gilson, Bolton, Simonds, Miller, and so on. The Report of 1945 finds such names as Wal- tonen, Luoma, Poikonen, and Wintturi among town officers and jurors. On the check list, at first glance, about half the names sug- gest Scandinavian origin. There are also many names of French and Italian origin, with a scattering of other nationalities, and the English derivations make a small minority.


Of this minority, however, there are many still to be seen on the mailboxes of the large old residences, both in "the Center" and elsewhere. And a surprising number of these gracious houses are still occupied by descendants of their builders or early occupants.


6


HISTORY OF WESTMINSTER


Aside from the new school buildings, which are set a little aside from the hub of the town, the motels are the most prominent, strictly modern addition to the scene. The two old white frame buildings that were the hotels of long ago have both burned.


& Chapter Two


TOWN GOVERNMENT


THE STORY OF WESTMINSTER's government from 1893 to the pres- ent, in minute detail, is readily available. One has only to ask the town librarian for a set of the Town Report and an accompanying set of Valuations & Taxes. Therefore it seems unnecessary to bur- den this history with much of the material-year by year-already so well documented and preserved in these annual reports. It is not always that a small town is so fortunate, either in the clear and sys- tematic printing of its reports, or in the careful filing of them in duplicate.


It is interesting to compare town economics of 1894 with the present. The Town Report of 1894 shows $11,089 for the total amount raised; $2500 for highways and $4000 for schools are the largest items.


Under "Total taxes to be raised" in the 1958 Report was the figure $353,742.38. Total receipts for the year were $941,393-in other words, town officers now handle close to a million dollars an- nually. Small wonder it was voted in 1957 to appoint a new town officer to be called "Town Co-ordinator," or that the enlarged and well-equipped rooms for town business, in the Town Hall ground-floor, are kept open daily.


The complexity of modern government has increased the size of Town Reports from their former sixty or so pages to 165, but the basic structure of town management is unchanged. The annual town meeting is still a forum where all business is decided by the direct vote of the people. Three Selectmen are still the governing officials, though lately their function has been augmented by that of a five-member Planning Board, the Co-ordinator (first incumbent, Raymond Stockwell) and the Town Accountant.


The duties of the offices of Chief of Police and Constable have


7


8


HISTORY OF WESTMINSTER


become largely overlapping, and for several years one man has held both offices.


Salaries of most town officers are still somewhat nominal, totaling $10,125 in 1958. Of this the tax collector received $2000 and the selectmen $325 to $350 each. In that year, salaries and expenses brought the total cost of town government to $19,965.


As will be noted later in this history, a good many special town meetings have been held in recent years. There were three in 1958 alone. The pattern is much like that of many other small New Eng- land towns, adjusting to the rapidly changing conditions of the mid- twentieth century. These special meetings in Westminster-and elsewhere-have arisen over such issues as attempts to control new building by various regulations; enormously expensive new school expansion; demands for increased municipal services-a battle be- tween the old established landowners, who pay a disproportionate amount of taxes, and the newer small-home owners geared to a world of extended credit and free spending. The latter usually win out.


The Town Report of 1958 shows the most active balloting of the meeting to have taken place for the office of School Committee, with one of the candidates receiving 375 votes out of 792 cast. It had been voted in 1957 to enlarge the School Committee from three members to five.


Two items taken at random from the 1958 report give further indication of the increased complexity of town affairs. The section on financial recommendations for the ensuing year is signed not . only by the Selectmen, as in the past, but by a five-member Ad- visory Committee. Another indicative item is the appropriation for clerical work and accounting: in 1958 the town appropriated $4000 for this service. In the 1930's only $400 was required.


Town government had a hand in initiating the elaborate 200th Anniversary celebration of 1959. A committee report in the 1958 Report begins: "The 200th Anniversary Committee, upon their appointment by the Board of Selectmen (Daniel J. O'Hearn, Preston A. Baker and Lennard C. Salo) in April 1958, elected Frank Onischuk, Chairman; Mrs. Toivo Wilen, Treasurer; Mrs. Eino A. Haynes, Clerk. Other members include Walter Vieweg and Eino Salo . . . " The town voted $250 for committee expenses.


By the great majority of the voters, Westminster continues in


9


TOWN GOVERNMENT


its long tradition of keen and active interest in town affairs of all kinds. Its basic form of government-annual town meeting to elect all town officers save those with unexpired terms, and to act on all articles posted in the town warrant-remains unchanged. It is direct government by the people, as the New England town meet- ing system is so often described.


FIRE DEPARTMENT


Before the advent of modern motorized equipment and a new water system, there were disastrous fires in Westminster from time to time. This was not, however, due to any lack of zeal on the part of the town fire department. The Firemen were severely handicapped by several factors. While the town contained several lakes, the central village was at a high elevation and far removed from these water sources. Distances from larger towns were too great for help to arrive promptly enough to stop a fire which had got a good start.


The Fire Department has been a town-governed body in West- minster since 1825, under a Board of Engineers who are appointed by the selectmen. This board's number has varied from three to six members.


In 1893 there were two fire companies-the second being in South Westminster. But as this village had become much smaller after the burning of Merriam's chair factory in 1897, its fire equip- ment was removed to Whitmanville in 1905. In 1927 it was voted to present this equipment to the Whitmanville Firemen's Association "for as long as it is kept in repair."


In 1919 the horse-drawn equipment was superseded by a new Ford engine. Also in that year, the old pumper, the "General Miles," was sold to Quincy, Massachusetts. Later when townspeople be- came interested once again in firemen's musters and antique appara- tus, an attempt was made to buy it back, but when finally located it was not for sale.


In 1956 the one remaining ancient engine, the "Always Ready," was restored and placed permanently in the new firehouse, where it is on view as an interesting relic of the past.


Other heavier motorized equipment was added over the years


IO


HISTORY OF WESTMINSTER


as the town continued to grow. An electric alarm system was or- dered in 1922 to supplant the old custom of ringing the church bell. In 1940 this was replaced by a more modern one installed in the Legion Hall belfry on Main Street, then adjoining the fire sta- tion.


In 1936 J. J. MacConlogue became Chief, and except for leave of absence during World War II, he has continued to hold the office.


The new station was completed in 1956 at a cost of some fifty thousand dollars. It is well situated for access, just off the main street in the center of town. In 1958 the town raised thirty-five hundred dollars to finish the second floor for a meeting hall and for general purposes of the department.


It is interesting to compare the estimate of funds needed by the Fire Department for the year 1893 with the figures listed for run- ning expenses in the 1958 Town Report:


Estimate made in 1892


Firemen


$375


Engineers


35


Janitor


7


New tower built


75


Misc.


100


From Town Report, 1958


Salaries


$260


Wages


688


Ins. 298


Tel. & Elec.


379


Gas, oil, heat


736


Equipment 420


Apparatus


1,358


Repairs, labor, etc.


172


Police radio lab.


9


Water


35


Other


15


Present inventory includes four pieces of fire apparatus, and auxiliary equipment.


IO


HISTORY OF WESTMINSTER


as the town continued to grow. An electric alarm system was or- dered in 1922 to supplant the old custom of ringing the church bell. In 1940 this was replaced by a more modern one installed in the Legion Hall belfry on Main Street, then adjoining the fire sta- tion.


In 1936 J. J. MacConlogue became Chief, and except for leave of absence during World War II, he has continued to hold the office.


The new station was completed in 1956 at a cost of some fifty thousand dollars. It is well situated for access, just off the main street in the center of town. In 1958 the town raised thirty-five hundred dollars to finish the second floor for a meeting hall and for general purposes of the department.


It is interesting to compare the estimate of funds needed by the Fire Department for the year 1893 with the figures listed for run- ning expenses in the 1958 Town Report:


Estimate made in 1892


Firemen


$375


Engineers


35


Janitor


7


New tower built


75


Misc.


100


From Town Report, 1958


Salaries


$260


Wages


688


Ins. 298


Tel. & Elec.


379


Gas, oil, heat


736


Equipment


4.20


Apparatus


1,358


Repairs, labor, etc.


172


Police radio lab.


9


Water


35


Other


15


Present inventory includes four pieces of fire apparatus, and auxiliary equipment.


WESTMINSTER 1759 / 1959


First settled March 19,1737 by Fairbanks Moor Incorporated Oct.20,1759 by 32 inhabitants, present population 3550. Average elevation about 1000 ft. within an area of 37 square miles divided by 82 miles of


Legend


Lords Barn


Original Forts


· First Meetinghouse


District Schools


P


Oakmont


Regional School


· Mineral Spring Birthplaces of :


Gen. Nelson A. Miles


& Adm.Frank W. Fenno


crackers Res.


South


· Hessian Prisoners Assigned Here


+ Churches


· Powder House Site


and


Maine


AND0


roads.


First Post Office 1804.


State Colony


S


Brooks MILL


First Public School


approved Dec. 24,1759


Schoolhouse Destroyed


The


PIO


SpiTe


Depotin


Explosion


Bros. SawMILL


2A


Rt


C. L. Smith Bor Shop


Old MILL


Gardner


Costing


Gardner


Round


Find


BURNT


Chel


Mondo


Wrighte. Res.


MILL


Fire STATION


.


SiTe OF Wyman Paper Mill


Ellis


Rd


Railway


Last Wolf


ParTridge Pond


Cracker Shop


Upper nes


Killed


Wyman


here


st.


Foundry


Rd


South


0 Rt 1 40


Wyman


Crow


Hill


R


row HILL


Ra


Hubbardston


Knowen


Wachusett Park


SINPO


BLACKS


WachoseTT


Meadow


pond


Whitney


Res.


Res.


HomesTead


LOST Child Of Wachusett


Miles


per inch


1


-


2


Helen Davis Edwin Ruuska 1959


Organized 1825.


Ashburnliam


R. R.


Bean


Fire Department


Library Established 1868.


Fitchburg


2


Rt


Advance


Westminster


Fitchuur


Flaggs


Country


Street


Rt


Minot


Crackers Pond


Chair Factory ArTemas Merrion


East Rd


Pond


Leominster


Princeton


S


Ashburnham


Rt 12


Muddy Pond


H.11 Rd


Bridge


Boston


Mare


freetinghouse Res.


tto.


& Chapter Three


SOME FACTS AND FIGURES


THE HISTORICAL SOCIETY has in its files enough detailed material to fill several volumes, but space requires us to be quite selective here. From a monograph issued by the Massachusetts Department of Commerce in 1957 we take the following:


LOCATION: (Worcester County) Northcentral Massachusetts, bordered on the north by Ashburnham, east by Fitchburg and Leominster, south by Princeton and Hubbardston, west by Gard- ner . . . about 52 miles from Boston, 6 miles from Fitchburg, 24 miles from Worcester . . . .


GOVERNMENT: by Town Meeting.


ESTABLISHED: March 1737.


INCORPORATED: Oct. 20, 1759.


3rd Congressional District, 7th Councillor District, 3rd Worcester Senatorial District, 2nd Worcester Representative District. (Politics to date, predominantly Republican.)


POPULATION: (1955) 3,505.


AREA: 35.64 sq. miles.


ELEVATION at Town Hall: 1,064 ft.


TOPOGRAPHY: Hilly with well-defined valleys and sharp in- clines in northern, eastern and southern sectors . . . western sector much more even. Altitudes vary between 700 feet above sea level in the north and 800 to 1560 in the south. .


Population remained fairly static from 1893 to 1920, declining slightly at times. From 1920 to 1930 there was an increase-1343 to 1925, or a gain of 582 persons in one decade. A population jump began in earnest in 1945, and in the next decade the figure shot up from 2153 to 3505.


II


I2


HISTORY OF WESTMINSTER


Some four hundred and sixty new-building permits were issued in that decade, and it may be assumed most of them were used. As we write this, the trend continues unabated.


Before the consequences of World War II and the postwar boom could be foreseen, a group of public-spirited citizens were making a study of Westminster. In 1941 the group, called the Country Life Committee, and sponsored by the Worcester County Extension Service, published a twenty-five-page report setting forth in careful detail such data as might be helpful in promoting Westminster development. Its members were:


Mrs. Ernestine Adams


Mrs. Anna Klemetti


Mrs. E. J. Abar


Dugal Laughton, Chairman


Porter W. Dawley


Otto Leino


Judson R. Foster


Mrs. Linnea Poikonen


Mrs. John Friberg


Reverend Scott C. Siegle


Reverend Lucy Milton Giles William S. Johnson


Eino W. Winter


The study group reported on the town's physical, economic, social and ethnic potential. The crucial factor of an adequate municipal water system was stressed, and the need for more youth guidance and recreational facilities. The work of this committee was like the digging of a small canal, into which was suddenly poured the contents of a river in full flood. The postwar popula- tion boom made the water system inevitable, together with a tremendous increase in school building and all the other appur- tenances of sudden growth. The tax rate in 1958 went to $94 per $1000, from the 1945 rate of only $33.




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