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Gc 974.402 St96c 1800607
REYNOLDS HISTORICAL GENEALOGY COLLECTION
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 01101 3015
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https://archive.org/details/historicalsketch00clar 0
AN
HISTORICAL SKETCHI
OF
STURBRIDGE, MASS.
FROM ITS SETTLEMENT TO THE PRESENT TIME,
BY JOSEPH S. CLARK,
Pastor of the Congregational Church in Sturbridge.
"I have considered the days of old, the years of ancient times."
PSALMS, Ixxvii. 3.
THE NEWBERRY LIBRARY CHICAGO
BROOKFIELD : E. AND L. MERRIAM, PRINTERS. 183S.
1800607
MR. CLARK'S
HISTORICAL SKETCH.
sturbridge, mass,
NCWEERRY LIBRARY Ch.4:0
F 844907 .17
Clark, Joseph Sylvester, 1800-1861.
An historical sketch of Sturbridge, Mass .. from its set- tlement to the present time. By Joseph S. Clark ... Brookfield, E. and I. Merriam, printers, 1838. 48 p. 23°m.
1. Sturbridge, Mass .- Hist.
1-11644
Library of Congress
1 F74.S93C5 .525~1,
-
NOTICE.
THE first part of the following sketch, embracing the eivil history of the town, is the substance of a centennial address delivered to the citizens of Sturbridge, July 4, 1838, ten days after the one hundredth anniversary of its incorporation as a town. The spirit of the day on which it was delivered, was thought, at the time, to be a sufficient apology for lingering so long on the period of the Revolutionary war. The remaining part, which is a simple narrative of Ecclesiastical affairs, was chiefly embodied in a sermon, and preached on the Sabbath follow- ing. The author received from his fellow citizens, by their committee, a polite request for its publication, immediately after its delivery. Feeble health and absence from home ren- dered it impossible for him at that time to give it such a revision as he desired. And although many important facts have since been added, he regrets that he has been unable to pursue his investigations to the extent which he intended. The history, such as it is, he affection- ately tenders to the inhabitants of Sturbridge and that part of Southbridge originally includ- ed within its limits,-fully aware that it can awaken but little interest amongst any others.
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The sources from which the facts have been drawn, are the Town and Church Records, the reminiscences of the aged, and such traditions as could be easily authenticated. The au- thor takes pleasure in acknowledging his obligations to the many friends who have assisted his enquiries, especially to Moses Plimpton, Esq. of Southbridge, for many important items respecting the first settlers, which, with a commendable zeal, he has saved from oblivion, and kindly furnished for this sketch.
3709
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HISTORICAL SKETCH.
STURBRIDGE was originally settled by a company of emigrants, chiefly from Medfield and a few other towns in that vicinity. In their petition to the General Court for a grant, the contemplated township is described as " a tract of land lying between Oxford, Brookfield, Brimfield, and the Province line," and was then called Dumer.
The settlement was undertaken in much the same spirit which actuated the Pilgrims of New England, and was attended with diffi- culties which bear some resemblance to theirs. The company very generally were in low circumstances of property, "many of whom," say they in their petition, " are destitute of settlements for themselves, and not well able to purchase necessary accommodations in towns already settled ; and the other of the petitioners being in want of lands for their descendants." Three times they petitioned the Ge- neral Court before their request was granted ;- first in Nov. 1727, then in April 1729, and finally in Sept. the same year.
We know not for what reason their prayer was so long refused, unless it was, as the petitioners themselves remark in their last appeal, " probably for that the Honourable Council might judge that the tract of land prayed for is not capable of making a township." Indecd, this will appear not far from the true reason, if it be considered that the Committee sent out by the General Court to view the land, re- ported its value at only £1000. Paternal kindness forbade the thought of permitting a colony of loyal subjects thus to throw them- selves away in a fruitless attempt to erect a town on such an unpropi- tious spot. The judgment of the company, however, on this subject, differed very materially from that of his Majesty's " Honourable Coun- cil." In reply to this supposed objection, they say, " Your petition- ers humbly beg leave to inform this honourable Court, that although there is indeed much poor land contained therein, yet there is also a
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considerable quantity of good land fit for settlement; and in our humble opinion a sufficiency to enable your petitioners, by the bless- ing of God, in concurrence with diligence and industry, to support the ordinary charges of a township."
At length, on the 3d of Sept. 1729, the grant was made, on con- ditions, however, which show that the Government was still doubting how the experiment would end. Nothing was required for the land, although the petitioners had expressed their willingness to pay its es- timated value. Instead of exacting this, the General Court put them under the following obligations :- " In seven years' time from this date to settle and have actually on the spot 50 families, each of which to build an house of 18 feet square at least .- To break up, and bring to, fit for ploughing and mowing (and what is not fit for ploughing to be well stocked with English grass) seven acres of land. -To settle an orthodox minister, and lay out to him an home lot, equal to the other home lots ; which lot shall draw the fiftieth part of the Province land now granted, and to be accounted as one of the 50 that are to be settled."
In addition to these terms it was also required that no one of the company should " sell, alienate, or dispose of his lot, or right, or any part thereof" during the seven years, unless to an actual settler, " in penalty of forfeiting the same to the Province." William Ward, Esq. one of the petitioners, was " empowered and directed to assem- ble the grantees and act as moderator" of that meeting. Their whole number was 42, and their names stand on the Proprietors' Records in the following order ;-
Melatiah Bourn Esq.
Timothy Hament
William Ward Esq.
William Plimpton
Ezra Bourn
Ephriam Partridge
Shuball Goram
Abraham Harding
Thomas Learned
Moses Harding
Nathan Fiske
Josiah Ellis
Henry Fiske
Peter Balch
Capt. Ebenezer Learned
Ezra Clark
Nahum Ward
Samuel Ellis
Gersham Keyes Zerobabel Eager John Sherman
Francis Moquet
Henry Adams
Ichabod Harding
John Plimpton
· Joseph Baker Jonas Ilaughton
David Ellis
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Thomas Gleason
Josiah Chency
Moses Gleason
Capt. John Dwight
· Jonas Gleason
Capt. Jonathan Boyden
. Joshua Morse
Capt. Joseph Clark
Joseph Plimpton
Nathaniel Morse
Nathaniel Smith
Solomon Clark
James Denison Joseph Marsh.
Some others were admitted into partnership with these soon after the grant was obtained, among whom were Nehemiah Allen, Moses Allen, Seth Wight, David Morse, Moses Marcy, David Shumway, and John Harding.
Their first meeting as Proprictors of this soil was held at the Inn of Joshua Morse in Medfield, and, with only two or three exceptions, all their subsequent meetings for public business during the first seven years were held at the same place. The settlement soon be- gan to be called New-Medfield, and Dumer became an obsolete name. Abraham Harding was appointed Clerk of the Company ; an office which he sustained without intermission till the town was incorporat- ed. The records which remain in his hand-writing, exhibit a neat- ness and accuracy seldom to be found among the archives of that age.
Their first business was to lay out 50 home lots, corresponding to the number of families that must be settled within seven years. Owing to the great inequalities of soil in the different parts of the township, it was no easy matter to make a perfectly equitable distri- bution. The method which they finally adopted, seems as free from difficulties as any that we can imagine, and certainly shows an ho- nest aim at impartial justice. A committee was appointed with the following instructions :- " To lay out 100 lots in the best of our land, adding to the poorest lots a quantity of acres (according to the best of their judgment) to make them as equal in value to the best as they can, none of the aforesaid 100 lots to be less than 50 acres; and when they have so done, then to couple two lots together, and make them as equal, each couple or pair, as they can, and fit for draught for the aforesaid associates, grantees." On the 9th of July 1730, the lots were drawn, and each proprietor was at liberty to enter upon the arduous task of clearing away the forest, building him a house, and improving his land.
It is not to be understood, however, that they all actually removed to this place. Some, as before observed, enlisted in the undertaking
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for the purpose of obtaining a settlement for their children. Others joined in the petition merely to aid those who were more directly in- terested, and shortly after sold their right in whole or in part, to such as were willing to settle here on the terms prescribed by the General Court. It nevertheless appears to be a fact, that the first settlers of this town, with but few exceptions, were either its original proprietors, or the children of those who were.
These hardy pioneers, if tradition tell the truth, came chiefly on foot and alone into an almost unbroken forest, with each a good axe on his shoulder, and a pack to his back containing whatever provi- sions and utensils would best enable him to grapple with rude nature in single combat. The wolf and the wild-cat had never yet been driven from this their ancient dominion, and the timid deer bounded across the footman's path and hid himself in the impenetrable thicket. At length the resounding axe began to be heard from one hill and answered from another. Openings appeared in the dense forest, and the curling smoke might be seen ascending from here and there a hut.
It is not easy, at this distant day, to form any adequate idea of the solitary, self-denying circumstances in which these first comers found themselves placed. The following facts may shed some light on this part of their history.
Henry Fiske, one of the original proprietors, and his brother Daniel, pitched their tent near the top of the hill which has ever since borne their name. They had been at work for some time with- out knowing which way they must look for their nearest neighbor, or whether indeed they had a neighbor nearer than one of the adja- cent towns. At length on a clear afternoon they heard the sound of an axe far off in a southerly direction, and went in pursuit of it. The individual whose solitary axe they heard, had also been attracted by the sound of their's, and was advancing towards them on the same errand. They came in sight of one another, on opposite sides of the Quinebaug river. By felling two trees into the stream, onc from cach bank, a bridge was constructed on which they were able to meet and exchange salutations. The unknown man of the axe was found to be James Denison, one of the proprietors, who in the absence of a better home had taken lodgings in a cave, which is still to be seen not far from Westvill. In that lonely den he continued his abode, it is said, till a neighboring wolf, who probably had a prior
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claim to the premises, signified a wish to take possession, when Mr. Denison peaceably withdrew and built him a house of his own .*
For some time after the work of clearing the forest had been un- dertaken, no one had ventured to spend the winter in a place so deso- late, and distant from the track of man. The proprietors, or whom- soever they employed, usually came in the spring, and returned to their respective towns in the autumn. Joseph Smith, with no other companion than his faithful dog, was the first who encountered the rigors of winter in Sturbridge. Alexander Selkirk was not more se- cluded from human society on the island of Juan Fernandez, than Mr. Smith was in this place during four months, having neither seen, nor heard from, a human being in all that time. The cellar which protected his frugal store from the frosts of that dreary winter, may still be seen on the farm of Jabez Harding Esq. not far from an aged Pear-tree, which Mr. Smith is said to have planted soon after he came.
On the 29th of Nov. 1733 the company made a second division of land, at which time it was voted that " Moses Marcy have a 50 acre lot granted him, if he will build a grist-mill on the Quinebaug river at the dam where the said Marcy hath built a saw-mill"-to be com- pleted before the last of Sept. 1736. I conclude, therefore, that whoever in this town had occasion to " go to mill" before the last of Sept. 1736, went either to Brimfield, Brookfield, Oxford or into Con- necticut. Perhaps, however, they had no occasion to go; for it is reported by some of the oldest of their descendants now living, that their principal dict at first was boiled beans. These they usually pre- pared on the evening of one day in sufficient quantities for the break- fast and dinner of the next. So that cookery, which with us has be-
* Mr. Denison was a native of Scotland. His parents both dying when he was young, he went to live with an aunt. When he was about 16 years of age, he was enticed from home, and embarked on board a vessel bound for New-England. On his arrival in this coun- try, having no other means of paying for his passage, he bound himself to the service of the Captain. His master disposed of him to a farmer living in Medfield, whom the youthful ad- venturer served for the space of four years and eight months. When he became of age, his only earthly estate, besides the clothes on his back, consisted of twenty-five cents, which he obtained for the skins of two Muskrats that he had trapped. Being a young man of indus- trious habits, he was admitted into partnership with the company which was then forming in that town and vicinity for the settlement of Sturbridge. Mr. Denison married his wife in Medfield, and removed her to this town in May 1732. She was probably the first woman that ever shared the toils, or enjoyed the bliss of domestic life in Sturbridge. On the 31st of August following, she became the mother of Experience Denison, the first child that was born in the town, and subsequently the wife of Capt. Ralph Wheelock, from whom a nume- merous and respectable family have descended.
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come such a difficult and engrossing part of household care, they de- spatched with great case and in little time .* On the whole it ap- pears, that the honoured fathers of this town were men of hardihood, resolution, self-denial ; and that they found sufficient scope for the exercise of these gifts during the first few years of their residence here.
The work of settlement went on with increasing rapidity in defi- ance of all obstacles, till at the end of seven years this little commu- nity of New-Medfield could number " 50 families" with cach " an house of 18 feet square at least," surrounded by " seven acres of land broke up and brought to, fit for ploughing and mowing," and had " settled an orthodox minister." Having thus fulfilled the conditions of the grant, on the 24th of June 1738, they were incorporated into a town, and the name of Sturbridge took the place of New-Medfield, as that had formerly supplanted Dumer.
By an order of General Court accompanying the Act of Incorpo- ration, Moses Marcy, who is therein styled "one of the principal inhabitants,"f was " authorized and empowered to assemble the frec-
* The office of cook, however, even in those days of simple fare, was not entirely free from perplexity. Their household conveniences were by no means the best. It is said that Mes- srs. Henry and Daniel Fiske on one occasion lost their supper, and with it the principal part of their culinary apparatus, by the unlucky fall of a stone from the top of their chimney, which daslied in pieces the iron pot while the beans were boiling.
1 Col. Marcy was born in Woodstock, Ct. where, in 1723 he married Miss Prudence Mor- ris. The humble rank which he held in society at that time may be inferred from the fact, that his first overtures to Miss Prudence were sternly disallowed by her parents. The more effectually to prevent what they deemed an unequal match, it is reported that they even con- fined their daughter to her chamber, and forbade her lover's visits to the house. Notwith- standing these precautions, he found means of bringing the young lady to a secret parley one night from her chamber window. During this stolen interview it was agreed between them, that he should secretly repair to a place at some distance called Pamlico, and that she should obtain her parents' leave to visit a relative of her's who lived in that place. The careful pa- rents could make no objection to their daughter's proposal, and as it would seem to place her beyond the reach of all annoyance from the unwelcome suitor, they sent her away. Here the acquaintance between Mr. Marcy and Miss Morris was renewed, and their mutual at- tachment strengthened till at length it resulted in matrimony .- They removed to this town in 1732 with a family of five children, which was afterwards increased to eleven. Col. Marcy soon became not only " one of the principal inhabitants," as he is here styled, but iu the opinion of his fellow townsmen, the principal one. He was the first citizen who received the appointment of Justice of the Peace, and was the first Representative which the town sent to the General Court. He held the office of Moderator in seventy town-meetings, having been called to the chair at every annual meeting, and at most of the intervening ones, for twenty-four successive years. He was on the Board of Select Men thirty-one years, Town Clerk eighteen, and Town Treasurer eight,-not unfrequently filling all these offices at once. During the old French War he repeatedly fitted out soldiers for the army on his own respon- sibility, and from his own private resources, for which he was afterwards remunerated by
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holders and other qualified voters," for the purpose of choosing town officers. That meeting was held Sept. 18, 1738, at which, Moses Marcy was chosen Moderator ; Daniel Fiske, Town-Clerk ; Daniel Fiske, Moses Marcy, Henry Fiske, Select Men; and Joseph Smith, Constable : to which were added the usual complement of Fence Viewers, Surveyors of the Highways, Hog-reeves, Deer-reeves, and a Clerk of the Market. It is rather difficult for us now to compre- hend the duties of this last named office, as there appears to have been nothing yet in the market, unless it were wood and wild land. These officers were to hold their appointment only "till the anniver- sary meeting in March," when the public business of the town com- menced in due form.
On the 13th of Feb. 1739 the Select Men of Sturbridge issued their first warrant for a town-meeting, which, as it gives an insight into the extent of their municipal affairs at that carly day, I will here insert. It is as follows :-
" Worcester, ss. To Joseph Smith, Constable of Sturbridge .- In his Majesty's name you are required forthwith to warn all the free- holders and other inhabitants of the said town, to convene at the Meetinghouse in Sturbridge aforesaid, on Monday the 5th day of March next, at 9 of the clock in the forenoon, then and there to elect and depute Select Men, Constable, and other town officers (as the law directs) to serve this town for the year ensuing :- to furnish Mr. Rice's Desk with a cushion :- and to agree upon the granting such sum or sums of money as shall be judged needful for the benefit of, and defraying all necessary charges arising within, the said town :- and to agree and conclude upon any other matter or things, which shall be thought needful to promote the benefit and welfare thereof."
So far from attending to "any other matter or things" at that meeting, it does not appear from the records that all the matters were despatched which are here specified. There is no account of any mo- ney granted, or " cushion" furnished. In their next meeting, however, which came a month later, they granted the minister's salary, hired a man to procure his wood, and " voted that £25 (about $11,10) bc put into the treasury for the town's use !" If this seems to us a mo- derate sum for " defraying all necessary charges arising within the town" throughout the year, it should be remembered that, as yet,
the town. He died Oct. 9, 1779, at the age of 72, leaving an honourable name, a large es- tate, and a numerous posterity. The present Gov. Marcy of New York is a great grandson of his.
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there were no schools to provide for, nor any paupers to support, while the Highway tax, which was by far the largest item of public expenditure, was paid in labor and teams. It may also be remarked in this place, that the price of labor, which is usually an index to the prices of other things, was 6 shillings Old Tenor, or about 14 cents, per day.
The subject of Education was brought into town meeting for the first time, Oct. 6, 1740. In the warrant for that meeting there was an article, " To see if the town [will] come into any measures to provide a school." It passed in the negative, and I can find no evi- dence of any farther action on this important subject for a year and six months !" At length in March, 1742, " the question was put, whether the town would grant £20 for schooling of the children in this town, and that the Select Men should dispose of the same for that purpose; and it passed in the affirmative." The Select Men divided this sum, giving £10 10s. for the support of two schools in the " South East part of the town," and &9 10s. for the support of two in the "North West part." So that the first step towards the advancement of Common Education in this place, was the establish- ment of four schools at the average expense of &5 per school. These were kept only in the summer season ; and the names of the four teachers who had the honor of laying the foundation of learning among us (peace to their venerated dust !) were Margaret Manning, Mary Hoar, the wife of Jeremiah Streeter, and the wife of John Stacy.
The next year the town voted £30 for the same object, which was divided in the same way, and the year following they increased it to £40, one half to be expended in the summer, and the rest in the win- ter " to instruct children to write." A question afterwards arose in town meeting, whether the money for this winter school should be
* Probably there is not a circuinstance in the early history of this town which the present and future generations will review with less satisfaction .- It had been a law of the Province for almost an hundred years, " that every township within this jurisdiction, after the Lord hath increased them to the number of fifty householders, shall then forthwith appoint one within their towns to teach all such children as shall resort to him, to write and read." This ancient law was substantially re-enacted with a penalty of £10 about fifty years before this town was settled, which penalty in 1702 was increased to £20. As the citizens of Sturbridge do not appear to have incurred this penalty, while they were thus neglecting to provide a pub- lic school, we are permitted to hope that there was some sufficient reason, which we cannot now discover, for that neglect. But to us, with ouly the facts which we have, it certainly ap- pears unaccountable, that while the swine, the cattle, and even the wild deer of the forest came into remembrance at every annual meeting, and secured public favor, the children were thus forgotten.
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laid out. It was finally left undecided by the town, but probably was not laid out, for in the next March mecting a grant of only &£20 was made, accompanied by a vote, " that the school should be kept in four places in the town, and to choose four men to provide the dames." The appointment of this School Committee, or " four men to provide the dames," was quite an advance upon any thing before known in the system of Common Education, and has has long since passed into a standing law.
As yet there was not a school-house in town. The children usu- 'ally assembled in some private dwelling, though occasionally in a barn til! the haying season came and the building was wanted for other purposes. At length, in 1753, the town voted to build three school-houses. One was located in the South Eastern section, within the present limits of Southbridge; another in the North Western ; and the remaining one in the centre. The next year a Committee was appointed to locate a school-house in the North Eastern part.
In the warrant for their annual meeting, 1754, I find the following article touching schools, viz. " To see if the town will grant a sum of money for schooling children, or employ Ichabod Sparrow Paine in that employment." Their action on this article is recorded `thus : " It was put to vote whether the town would proceed to hire Sparrow Paine to keep school in town ; and it passed in the affirmative." From the formal manner in which this gentleman is introduced to our notice, and the still more formal way in which his services are secured, I conclude that Ichabod Sparrow Paine was the first School- master that was ever employed in this town. Mr. Comfort Johnson, who has passed his ninetieth year, and is the oldest man now living among us, was one of his scholars. From him I learn that Mr. Paine was hired by the year to instruct all the youth in town; which he did by going in a circuit from one school-house to another, at stated periods, and receiving at each place all who could make it convenient to come, without regard to district or distance. The usual course of instruction at that time was something like the fol- lowing. The child was first taken through the New England Primer, and Dilworth's Spelling-Book, excepting such portions as the teach- er foresaw would be of no practical use. Then came the Psalter, which was the principal reading book ; but, in order to give the youthful powers of elocution their finishing touch, they were exercis- ed on the first book of Chronicles, or the tenth chapter of Nehemiah, or wherever else the teacher could find a page of pure Hebrew names.
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