USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > Millbury > Centennial history of the town of Millbury, Massachusetts, including vital statistics, 1850-1899 > Part 1
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org.
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86
Gc 974.402 M611c 1146170
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 01114 8936
XN
Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2015
https://archive.org/details/centennialhistor00mill 0
10-
750
00
490-10
THE TOWN HALL
CENTENNIAL HISTORY
OF THE
Town of Millbury
MASSACHUSETTS
Including Vital Statistics, 1850-1899
Published Under the Direction of a Committee Appointed by the Town
MILLBURY
1915
COPYRIGHT, 1915 BY THE TOWN OF MILLBURY MASSACHUSETTS THE DAVIS PRESS WORCESTER, MASB.
1146170
PREFACE
At the Annual Town Meeting, held March 20, 1905, a committee was chosen, consisting of Mr. George F. Chase, chairman, Mr. John C. Crane, Mr. Ira N. Goddard, Mr. George W. Mallalieu, and the Rev. George A. Put- nam, to consider Millbury's past history, especially its industries, with a view to the publication of a history of the town. Accordingly, at intervals in the succeeding years this committee met and made plans for the compila- tion of such a work. One member of the committee, Mr. John C. Crane, had already for many years been privately gathering literary material pertaining to the industries, institutions, and individuals of the town, and this collection became the nucleus for the present volume. For a year Mr. Crane continued his labors of compilation and read his manuscript to the committee regularly at its meetings and, in recognition of his enthusiastic and patient work, the committee voted to express its appreciation of the "valuable, devoted and loving labors of Mr. John C. Crane in compiling the History of Millbury."
In 1910, two vacancies had been created on the com- mittee, one through the death of Mr. Mallalieu and the other through the removal from the town of the Rev. Mr. Putnam. Consequently, at the annual town meeting in that year Mr. Henry W. Carter and Mr. Henry A. Phillips were appointed to fill these vacancies and they have con- tinued in their service on the committee.
In the year preceding the celebration of the centen- nial anniversary of the incorporation of the town, Henry W. Aiken, Esq., was added to the committee, making the number composing its membership six. In 1913, Mr. Goddard died and as his place has not been filled the num- ber on the committee has continued to be the same as it was originally.
At the meeting of the committee, held March 28, 1912, Mr. Henry A. Phillips was chosen secretary of the
Brate
the
C
4
HISTORY OF MILLBURY
committee. Owing to the illness of the chairman of the committee Mr. Aiken presided at its meetings for several · months, and since the retirement of Mr. Chase from the chairmanship on account of ill health, two years ago, Mr. Aiken has served as chairman of the committee.
Supplementing the labors of compilation performed by Mr. Crane, the Rev. Robert W. Dunbar, after the Cen- tennial Celebration, was chosen by the committee to revise the material and prepare it for publication. In addition to the material collected, however, many old deeds (all the oldest so far as we have knowledge) as well as the Proprietors' Book of Sutton were consulted so as to ascer- tain, so far as possible, the facts concerning the earliest industries of the locality. The chapters concerning the Revolutionary War, the Civil War and the Blackstone Canal were very much enlarged and the entire book has been rewritten or freshly constructed. Thus this history is in a sense a composite production, for eight different men have served on the committee, but the whole compilation has been edited by Mr. Dunbar.
In the preparation of such a history the stopping- place is largely an arbitrary one, as there is always more description of places, people, or events, that might be included and more painstaking care may ever be exer- cised in revising the manuscript, but the committee pre- sents the history of the town believing that the book gives a true idea of Millbury happenings, together with such particular chronicles of people, societies, and institutions, as to leave little of importance that remains uncovered.
As the book is a growth, rather than the working out of a previously adopted scheme, the committee feels that, perhaps, the work is even more representative of the life of the town than it otherwise might have been.
The committee wishes to express its thanks to the many persons who have so freely offered what information they may have possessed in order that these chronicles might be complete.
CONTENTS
SECTION I Narrative
CHAPTER I
TOPOGRAPHY
11
CHAPTER II
INDIAN HISTORY
23
CHAPTER III
FROM THE FIRST SETTLEMENT TO THE INCORPORATION OF THE TOWN . 33 ·
CHAPTER IV
SOLDIERS OF THE COLONIAL STRUGGLE; OF THE REVOLU- TIONARY WAR; AND OF THE WAR OF 1812 54
CHAPTER V
CHARACTERISTICS AND SURVEY
73
CHAPTER VI
ANNALS 1813-1830
94
BLACKSTONE CANAL
CHAPTER VIII
ANNALS 1831-1850
119
CHAPTER IX
MILLBURY ACADEMY
138
CHAPTER X
ANNALS 1851-1870
147
CHAPTER XI
MILLBURY IN THE CIVIL WAR
·
161
CHAPTER XII
ANNALS 1871-1890
190
.
·
110
CHAPTER VII
.
6
HISTORY OF MILLBURY
CHAPTER XIII
FORMER SOCIETIES IN MILLBURY
.
.
200
CHAPTER XIV
ANNALS 1891-1913
.
209
CHAPTER XV
CENTENNIAL ANNIVERSARY
225
CHAPTER XVI
INDUSTRIES ON SINGLETARY STREAM
240
CHAPTER XVII
INDUSTRIES ON RAMSHORN STREAM
259
CHAPTER XVIII
INDUSTRIES ON THE BLACKSTONE RIVER .
265
CHAPTER XIX
INDUSTRIES ON DOROTHY STREAM .
. .
276
CHAPTER
INDUSTRIES NOT AT A WATER PRIVILEGE
279
CHAPTER XXI
BUSINESS: OLD STOREKEEPERS; PRESENT STOREKEEPERS;
ARTISANS
290
CHAPTER XXII
BANKS
296
CHURCHES
CHAPTER XXIV
SCHOOLS
329
SOCIETIES
CHAPTER XXV
341
OLD HOUSES
CHAPTER XXVI
359
CHAPTER XXIII
· 306
CONTENTS
7
CHAPTER XXVII
PROFESSIONAL AND LITERARY . 375 .
CHAPTER XXVIII
BIOGRAPHIES OF LIVING PEOPLE .
· 384
CHAPTER XXIX
INDEPENDENT SKETCHES, A-C
404
CHAPTER
XXX
INDEPENDENT SKETCHES, D-H
423
CHAPTER XXXI
INDEPENDENT SKETCHES, J-S
441
CHAPTER XXXII
INDEPENDENT SKETCHES, T-W
CHAPTER
XXIII
TOWN OFFICERS
485
CEMETERIES .
495
SECTION II-Genealogy
519
SECTION III-Vital Statistics 1850-1899
609
·
460
CHAPTER XXXIV
.
(Since 1900 the Vital Statistics have been printed in the Annual Town Reports.)
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
PAGE
frontispiece
1. THE TOWN HALL
2. THE BOSTON & ALBANY RAILROAD STATION 12
3. THE PROVIDENCE & WORCESTER RAILROAD STATION 12
4. SINGLETARY LAKE, FROM THE NORTH 16
5. INDIAN RELICS . 24
6. WEST MILLBURY, TOWARDS THE NORTHWEST 34
7. MILLBURY, FROM BURBANK HILL 48
8. THE COLONEL JONATHAN HOLMAN HOUSE 68
9. THE OLD BLANCHARD SHOP
10. THE HENRY W. GLOVER SHOP
80 80 102
11. THE CORDIS MILL DAM .
12. RUFUS STOCKWELL HOUSE 114
13. THE WAITE - HILL HOUSE . 114
14. THE CAPTAIN AMASA WOOD HOUSE 122
15. THE GENERAL CALEB BURBANK HOUSE 122
16. MILLBURY FROM THE EAST, IN 1839 128
17. MILLBURY ACADEMY, 1851 138
18. GROUT'S CORNER, NORTHEAST CORNER OF MAIN AND CHURCH STREETS, 1892 148
19. THE WALLING MILL, 1886 156
20. GRAND ARMY OF THE REPUBLIC, GEORGE A. CUSTER POST, No. 70, 1913 . 162
21. MAIN, MILES AND CANAL STREETS 190
22. ELM STREET, LOOKING EAST FROM THE HIGH SCHOOL 200
23. THE FINE ARTS BUILDING, COLUMBIAN EXPOSITION, 1893, CHICAGO, CHARLES BOWLER ATWOOD, ARCHITECT 210
24. RANDALL BLOCK, 1894 220
25. THE CUNNINGHAM BLOCK . 220
26. THE ORIGINAL BLANCHARD LATHE 230
27. THE SAMUEL D. TORREY MANSION 236
28. WEST END THREAD COMPANY 240
29. THE MAYO WOOLEN COMPANY, MILL NO. 2 246
30. THE MAYO WOOLEN COMPANY, MILL NO. 1 250
31. THE MAYO WOOLEN COMPANY, MILL NO. 3 254
32. THE MAYO WOOLEN COMPANY, MILL NO. 4 254
33. THE HOLBROOK MILLS, EDWARD F. RICE & Co. 258
34. THE W. W. WINDLE CO. MILL 258
35. THE HOYLE MILL 262
36. THE MANUFACTURERS WOOL STOCK COMPANY 262
9
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
37. C. D. MORSE & Co. SHOP, 1871 266
38. THE FELTERS COMPANY WORKS 266
39. THE NATIONAL CRASH MANUFACTURING COMPANY MILL 270
40. THE CORDIS MILLS 272
41. THE WORCESTER CONSOLIDATED RAILWAY CO. POWER PLANT 274
42. THE BUCK BROTHERS EDGE TOOL WORKS . 276
43. THE B. O. PAINE SHOP 278
44 THE MILLBURY STEEL FOUNDRY 278 45. THE CHAS. BUCK EDGE TOOL WORKS 284 284
46. THE UXBRIDGE WOOLEN MILLS
47. THE ST. CHARLES HOTEL 290 48. THE TOURTELOTTE HOUSE 290 49. HON. HOSEA CRANE 296 296
50. DAVID ATWOOD
51. THE BANK BUILDING
302
52. THE ANDREW P. GARFIELD HOUSE
308
53. THE OLD COMMON, SITE OF THE FIRST CHURCH 308
54. THE FIRST CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH
312
55. THE SECOND CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH
312
56. THE FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH 318
57. THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH 318
58. ST. BRIDGET'S CATHOLIC CHURCH
59. CHURCH OF THE ASSUMPTION, CATHOLIC, 1914
60. THE UNITARIAN CHURCH .
61. UNION CHAPEL .
62. MILLBURY HIGH SCHOOL, 1914 . 334
63. MOUNT SAINT JOSEPH'S INDUSTRIAL SCHOOL 340
64. THE ODD FELLOWS BUILDING
346
65. THE COMMON, LOOKING NORTH 352
66. THE CAPTAIN ANDREW ELLIOTT - GILSON HOUSE 360
67. THE BARTON - DAVIDSON HOUSE 360
68. THE FULLER - TRASK - DAVIDSON HOUSE 362
69. THE WALLING MANSION 368 70. THE WATERS - CARTER HOUSE 370 71. MILLBURY PUBLIC LIBRARY 382 382
72. THE RHODES CORNER IN 1870
73. THE DUCHARME BLOCK 386
74. THE MILLBURY MACHINE COMPANY 390
75. THE H. W. HAKES MANUFACTURING CO. SHOPS 390
76. MONSIGNOR THOMAS J. SHAHAN 396
322 322 326 326
10
HISTORY OF MILLBURY
77. THE HONORABLE WILLIAM HOWARD TAFT, THE 27TH PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES 398
78. CHARLES B. ATWOOD 406
79. DR. GEORGE C. WEBBER 406
80. THOMAS BLANCHARD 410
81. GENERAL CALEB BURBANK 418
82. MRS. CALEB BURBANK 418
83. IRA NATHANIEL GODDARD 426
84. BISHOP WILLARD FRANCIS MALLALIEU 428
85. REV. JOSEPH GOFFE
428 434
86. COL. JONATHAN HOLMAN
87. MRS. JONATHAN HOLMAN 434
88. JUDGE JOHN HOPKINS 438 89. CHARLES DIMINICK MORSE 450 450
90. JOHN RHODES .
91. JUDGE SAMUEL CHASE 456
92. DR. LEONARD SPAULDING 456 462
93. ASA WATERS, 1ST .
94. MRS. ASA WATERS, 1ST
462
95. ASA WATERS, 2D
466
96. MRS. ASA WATERS, 2D
97. THE ASA WATERS MANSION, ABOUT 1860
98. COLONEL ASA HOLMAN WATERS
474 478
100. SIMEON WATERS
101. SIMON FARNSWORTH . 478
102. THE HOUSE OF AARON PIERCE, THE FIRST TOWN CLERK 488
103. THE MILLER DANIEL CHASE HOUSE . 488
104. THE DWINNELL CEMETERY 494
105. THE COUNTY BRIDGE, PROVIDENCE ST., CEMETERY 498
106. THE WEST MILLBURY CEMETERY 504
107. THE ARMSBY BUILDING 522
108. THE GREENWOOD PLACE 528
109. THE BOND PLACE 528
110. THE WELLMAN - RUFUS CARTER HOUSE 556
111. THE THOMAS J. HARRINGTON HOUSE 556
112. THE PIERCE - JONES - STOCKWELL HOUSE 582 113. CAPTAIN AMASA WOOD 596
114. SAMUEL DAVENPORT TORREY 596
466 470 474
99. MRS. ASA HOLMAN WATERS
11
TOPOGRAPHY
CHAPTER I.
TOPOGRAPHY
Millbury was fashioned by nature to be a manufactur- ing center for it has several streams and rivers with an unusual fall of water within the limits of the town. No- where are the variations in level precipitous, though they are in places abrupt. Several hills are over or nearly seven hundred feet in height and the lowest point in the town is three hundred feet above the sea level. Of the streams of water which furnish power all come from ponds which lie wholly, or partly, within the limits of the town, although the Blackstone River is fed from other ponds besides Ramshorn. The surrounding country sheds its rainfall into the ponds of Millbury and in addition there are probably springs in the bottom of Singletary and Dorothy Ponds as the streams which flow out from these seem larger than the streams which flow in. Thus the town receives the full benefit of its water power for the surrounding country slopes toward the Blackstone and, except for evaporation, well nigh all the water that falls within the town or comes up from the ground within its limits may be utilized within the limits of the town.
The late Judge Hopkins, a resident of the town, in speaking before the joint committee on water and drain- age of the Massachusetts Legislature April 2, 1886, thus referred to the Blackstone river, its valley and our town.
"And where and what is the Blackstone Valley? Taking its name from the first settler of Boston, and extending from Wor- cester to Providence Bay, it has a history as an industrial center antedating the history of Worcester as an industrial city. It is a busy valley, and, as such, has a record. . . The river in its course to the sea operated the first cotton mill established in this country, and from that day to this, it has turned more spindles,
12
HISTORY OF MILLBURY
for spinning wool and cotton, than any other stream of like size in the world. . . Its industries are diversified. Not alone do the cotton and woolen industries of the country owe a debt of gratitude to the Blackstone River, and the mechanics within its valley, but every other mechanical industry has had its home there, from the latter part of the last century. The general gov- ernment was supplied largely with arms and ammunitions of war from the town of Millbury for the war of the Revolution, the war of 1812, the Mexican war and the war of the Rebellion. The first scythes and improved agricultural implements made in the country were made at Millbury. The first paper machinery in the county was set up there, and for years it was the only source of supply for Worcester. Today, from the Riverlin Works, Millbury sends out the best edge-tools made in the country. The world-renowned invention for turning irregular surfaces was conceived and per- fected at Millbury, and today the memory of the inventor and his invention is perpetuated in one of the beautiful halls in its town- house, and which is named 'Blanchard Hall.' Then, too, at Millbury, was conceived the principle of interchangeability of parts of machines and implements which revolutionized their manufacture, and now prevails elsewhere in the country, and made possible successful competition, by American mechanics, in the manufacture of watches, machinery of all kinds, guns, and every other mechanical device."
An advantage in the geographical situation of Millbury is its location at or near the main line of communication between the Western states and the Eastern sea-coast. The Boston and Albany Railroad runs through part of the town carrying people and freight both east and west. The New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad, operating the Providence and Worcester Railroad, trans- ports passengers and goods from Worcester and points lying north and west to the sea-coast at Providence. Fast express trains may be reached at almost all times of day and night that will take one to the great centers of population, so that there is ready communication with all parts of the world.
This location on the great lines of communication is characteristic of the situation of Millbury for it was in this town and nearby that Indian trails led, over which the Red men coursed in their longer marches, and it was probably through the town that many of the earlier white settlers found their way as they made their pioneer jour-
THE BOSTON & ALBANY RAILROAD STATION
-
-
n
THE PROVIDENCE & WORCESTER RAILROAD STATION
13
TOPOGRAPHY
neys to the lands about the Connecticut. Local evidence of this early use of our town as a passage-way is seen in the name of the Blackstone River at this point for in the early deeds of 1720 and later it was termed "the Half-way River," i. e., presumably half-way between the Connecti- cut and Massachusetts Bay. Below the town and es- pecially below Saundersville, the oldest name for the river is the Great river, many ancient deeds referring to land bordering on "ye Grate rever." Above Millbury center, and especially above Park Hill, the name "Pacachoag" was applied to the river, evidently because the stream was then near Pacachoag hill and Pacachoag village, the earlier Indian settlement in Worcester. This term "Half- way" applied to the river so restrictedly within the pres- ent limits of the town of Millbury leads one to think that here was the crossing place of the Blackstone in the great trails that ran from the Bay, as the region about Boston was then called, to the Connecticut River.
The earliest deeds (given in 1740), too, that determine the lands of Millbury's first industries on the Blackstone or, as it was then called at this point, the "Half-way River" refer to the' "old path" apparently located where Elm street now runs west from the Common. This "old path," we believe, is a part of the old "Bay Path".
As a third factor pointing to this place as the location through which the oldest path ran, we find that the earliest map made of the route traversed by Nathaniel Wood- ward and Solomon Saffery, April 14, 1642, shows that the Blackstone river, or as it was called in their map the "Nipnar" river, was crossed at a point at which it makes a turn to the South, as it does in Millbury. Another similar turn is made, it is true, at Saundersville, but the river is there called the Great River and no "old path" has been found mentioned in early deeds to indicate any unusual passage at that point.
Much attention has been given to locating the old "Bay Path" which ran from Springfield to Boston, or the "Road
14
HISTORY OF MILLBURY
to Connecticut" as it was called at the eastern end of the trail.
Concerning this " Bay Path" or "Road to Connecticut" we know that it ran through the town of Grafton for Major Gookin in referring to the Indian settlement at Hassan- amisco, the Indian name for Grafton, stated that "Has- sanamesitt ... is about two miles to the eastward of Nipmuck (Blackstone) river; and near unto the old road- way to Connecticut." Researches have been made which have traced the old roadway from the west as far as Ox- ford. Thus, as Millbury lies between these two towns, it seems probable that the first roadway traversed by the white man in his journeys to the west passed through Millbury. Just where this road ran cannot be deter- mined with precision but our fancy dictates that it crossed the Blackstone immediately above the Central Cemetery, ascended Woodchuck Hill, traversed the high level land through the old Common, thence by Ramshorn Pond to Oxford, the Indian Manchage. Over this route prob- ably Thomas Hooker went when he made his pioneer journey to the Connecticut where he founded the city of Hartford and became one of the men rightly included among the "makers of America."
A later roadway ran three miles north of "Pacachoag," or South Worcester, as we learn from Major Gookin's historical collection. The Bradford History reflects the migrations that were taking place early in the seventeenth century, for in chronicling the events of 1635 it says, "Some of their neighbors on ye Bay, hereing of ye fame of ye Conightecut River had a hankering mind after it, (as was before noted) and now understanding, that ye Indians were swept away with ye late great mortalitie, the fear of whom was an obstacle unto them before, which being now taken away they began now to prosecute it with egerness, &c."
In his History of Worcester County the Rev. Peter Whitney stated, concerning Millbury, that (Sutton)
15
TOPOGRAPHY
"This is a large and flourishing town, the second in wealth in the county. (Lancaster was first.) The census of 1791 gave the population as 2642."
In 1827, a geological and agricultural survey of Millbury was made and reported in the National Aegis of Worces- ter in which the following characteristics appear:
"The surface of the town is hilly and somewhat undulating, but as a southeastern exposure presents a deep rich loam to the full influence of the sun it seldom fails to afford a rich reward to the well-directed efforts of the farmer . .. It is a fine silicious loam, rather moist, from one to three feet deep. . . . The town generally is better fitted to grass, maze, barley, and oats, than to those vegetables which are required to withstand the severity of winter and particularly the heavings of frost under the sudden changes of spring; and more favorable, perhaps, to grazing than to tillage. . . . .
"The numerous ledges in the town dip to the northwest, and at various angles from 20 to 60 degrees. The prevailing rock both in ledges and boulders is gneiss, and of almost every variety from the oldest to the most recent formation. . . A few boulders and many fragments of soapstone have been found in different parts of the town. Its texture is compact and soft."
Singletary Lake is often called the largest body of water in Millbury but, in reality, it lies chiefly in Sutton, al- though Millbury derives the benefit from its waters in water power, as the outlet runs through this town. Roads running beside the lake leading to West Millbury, to West Sutton, and to Sutton Center afford beautiful drives on its shores, and its waters afford boating pleasures to those who are fond of the sail-boat, the skiff, and the canoe.
The early name for the pond was "Crooked Pond." The Sutton Proprietors' Book contains no other designa- tion and all the early grants and deed of land bordering on its shores contain the name "Crooked Pond." Ever since Millbury has been a separate town, however, it has been known by the name of Singletary Pond or Singletary Lake.
The area of the lake is about three hundred and sixty acres. There are but two islands in the lake, Loon Island
16
HISTORY OF MILLBURY
near the western end, and Fire Island on the eastern shore. On the western shore about midway on the pro- jection between the two indentations of the shore and about a hundred feet south of the present "Lacouture". camp, an old soapstone quarry is located about which Indian relics have been found.
The stream which flows from Singletary Lake was called "Mill Brook" in the earliest records and it con- tinued to be so designated for over a hundred years, but in later times it has taken its name from the pond from which it flows so that it has gone by the name of Single- tary Stream. In the '20's both the stream and pond were designated "Burbank" by many. Careful computa- tions have been made "as to the natural flow of the water into and out of Singletary Pond for each of the months of the year and the power which that natural flow would furnish at the several privileges," by Mr. Herbert Shedd, of Providence, R. I., a hydraulic expert. The average quantity of water flowing from the pond is 12.732 cubic feet per second. The water power furnished is one and seventy-eight one-thousandths (1.078) horse power to each foot of head and fall of water.
Ramshorn Pond lies partly in Sutton as well as partly in Millbury and it also pours out its waters into this town. This pond is on the highest level of any of the ponds of Millbury, being six hundred and twenty feet above sea level. Its waters after a detour to the north come back into the town again in the Blackstone River. Originally, the pond probably resembled a ram's horn in outline but its level has been raised, so that today its shore line has been greatly altered and its area doubled, covering as it does about one hundred and fifty acres.
In 1873, the dam at the outlet of the pond gave way, doing much damage and in rebuilding the new one ex- cavations were made unearthing skeletons, supposed to be those of Indians, but these were buried again. The new, or present, dam is higher than the former one.
SINGLETARY LAKE, FROM THE NORTH
17
TOPOGRAPHY
Ramshorn Stream flows to the north for about two miles and a half when it enters the town of Auburn. Like the other streams coursing through the town the drop of water is considerable, being about one hundred feet in the distance traversed.
Dorothy Pond lies in the northern portion of the town between the old road to Worcester and the tracks of the Boston and Albany Railroad Branch. This pond, as seen from the road, is one of quiet beauty. It lies four hundred feet above the sea level and it is the only pond of considerable size that is wholly within the limits of the town.
The earliest name by which this sheet of water was called was "South Pond." In the Proprietors' Book the name "Dorothy" early appears as its name, however. Just how this name was received has not been determined. As the spelling of names in the old documents was largely phonetic we find a variety of spellings for this pond such as Dorothy's, Dorathy's, Doriat's, Doritee's, Dorrity's, Dority's, Doriet's, Dorrety, Doraites. The spelling Dor- othy or Dorothy's is that most found when the hand- writing is the best. "Dorothy Pond" and "Dority Pond" are the designations that older families employ the most.
The stream flowing out from Dorothy Pond, like other streams in Millbury, is not large, but in coursing a mile and a quarter it has a drop of sixty feet before it enters the Blackstone near the County Bridge.
The sections of the town that are apart from the man- ufacturing sites and from the thickly settled sections con- tain many farms that have a larger proportion of arable land than would seem possible in a town that has so much fall of water on so many streams. The soil is generally rich and is unusually well-watered, much of the land being springy.
The earliest map of the town that is in existence is found in the state archives and it gives merely the out-
18
HISTORY OF MILLBURY
lines of the original town of Sutton. It was made in 1715 and includes territory to the east of Grafton, although that town is excluded as it was held by the Indians and was called "Hassanamisco." Worcester lay to the north as at present. To the southeast lay Mendon. Marlboro is given as lying off the northeast corner and to the east it is marked "supposed Framingham." There is no mention of Oxford, of Ward (Auburn), or of Douglas, farms being designated on those boundaries to the west and south. At the time that this map was made this region was included within the bounds of Suffolk county, for it was not until 1730 that Worcester county was formed. The total territory embraced within this first grant of land to the township of Sutton was 41,560 acres, 1076 acres more than the contents of eight square miles, allowance having been made for farms on the border.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.