USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > Worcester > History of Worcester, Massachusetts, from its earliest settlement to September, 1836 : with various notices relating to the history of Worcester County > Part 1
USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > Worcester > History of Worcester, Massachusetts, from its earliest settlement to September, 1836 : with various notices relating to the history of Worcester County > Part 1
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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
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HISTORY
OF
/7%
WORCESTER, +4.
MASSACHUSETTS,
FROM ITS EARLIEST SETTLEMENT TO SEPTEMBER, 1836:
WITH
VARIOUS NOTICES RELATING TO THE HISTORY OF WORCESTER COUNTY.
BY WILLIAM LINCOLN.
' These local annals are full of little things ; names, dates, and faets : and rumors of every sort, which seem, at first sight, almost too trifling to be noticed : and yet, not only is it true, that the general historian must essentially depend on the local, to a very con- siderable extent, for the mass of loose seeds from which the spirit of his narrative should be laboriously distilled: but it is also true, that there is almost always a good deal of that spirit already made in such materials at his hand. Many of these little things which we speak of, are little only in size and name. They are full of rich meaning. They are graphie and characteristic in a high degree. They suggest far more than they say. They illustrate classes of men, and ages of time. They are small but brilliant lights on the walls of the past, pouring floods of splendor from their little niches on the vast abysses around them.' AMERICAN QUARTERLY REVIEW, June, 1836.
WORCESTER : MOSES D. PHILLIPS AND COMPANY. 1837.
Entered according to the act of Congress, in the year 1836, by WILLIAM LINCOLN, In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of Massachusetts.
PRINTED BY HENRY J. HOWLAND, WORCESTER.
TO THE REV. AARON BANCROFT, D. D.
Except for your warm encouragement of the general design of this history, without knowledge of the manner of its execution, it would have perished. If there is any merit in the preservation of the facts it contains, it is yours: the errors and mistakes are those of the compiler. On the completion of the work, his highest gratification is derived, from the op- portunity of expressing veneration for the character of the beloved pastor, and gratitude for the communications, which, rightly used, would have given value to the volume now respectfully dedicated to You, who have contributed more than all others to perpetuate the memory of the events and men of Worcester in past times.
PREFACE.
There are few employments of industry more humble than in the com- pilation of local annals. It should be permitted to him who has finished his task, to explain why it was undertaken, and how it has been accom- plished.
In 1792, a memoir of four pages, by Timothy Paine, William Young, Edward Bangs, and Samuel Stearns, relating to Worcester, was commu- nicated to the Massachusetts Historical Society, and published in the volume of their collections for that year. The materials furnished by these gentlemen, were transferred by the Rev. Peter Whitney to his History of the County. The sermons of the Rev. Dr. Bancroft in 1811, 1825, and 1836, and the Address of Hon. John Davis, May 2, 1825, with their append- ed notes and documents, contain many facts illustrative of civil and eccle- siastical condition. These were the only printed narratives of the settle- ment and progress of Worcester. It seemed desirable, while it was yet possible, to gather the fast fading traditions and scattered records of the past, and preserve more full view of our local history, than was permitted by the limits of religious discourse and festival address, or accorded with the plan of former writers.
To accomplish this object, the files and records of the colonial and pro- vincial governments ; of the original proprietors ; of the town, and its par- ishes, churches, and societies ; of the county courts and registries ; and the series of newspapers from their commencement, have been examined : pri- vate journals and papers, the recollections of the aged inhabitants, the treasures of the garrets, and the knowledge of the race in active life, have been collected, with some labor. In the execution of the work the result of these examinations, there has been no effort for literary excellence, and none can be expected. The primary purpose has been accuracy. In the multitude of facts and dates there will doubtless be found many and great errors : it will be consolation when they are discovered, that they have not resulted from want of disposition or exertion to be correct. Reliance has seldom been placed on tradition, when it was not confirmed by better evidence, or corroborated by the concurrent testimony of records. Wher- ever it has been practicable, reference has been made to the authority for statements, that their truth might be tested.
vi
PREFACE.
The work has been extended diffusely, and probably tediously and unprofitably. The events of the history of the town were"closely inter- woven with those of the county, and seemed to demand detailed notice from this connection: and at every step, matters of curious interest, which it seemed impossible to reject, arose to seduce from the direct path of narrative : until the annals of the village have become as voluminous as the records of an empire.
The language of original papers has been constantly preferred, wherever it could be used, to the words of the compiler; lest by changing forms of expression, something of the fidelity of delineation and vividness of de- scription of the actors in the scenes of the past, should be lost. The modes of spelling, which were erroneous in the days when they were used, have not been retained: but the ancient documents transcribed, except those copied in the appendix, have been made to conform to modern orthography. Names of persons and places have been printed as they were found writ- ten in the manuscripts consulted, or books quoted : although by following this rule, the same word has been made to assume various and sometimes strange forms, on different pages.
The general plan of arrangement, affording convenience in tracing the course and connection of events, and facility of reference, has been imi- tated from Mr. Shattuck's History of Concord. It would have been greatly desirable that the excellence of this model could have been more fully copied.
The comparative length of the biographical memoirs will be found some- times to have been determined more by the means of information than the merits of the subjects of the sketches. In relation to living persons, the dates of birth have, with few exceptions, been intentionally omitted.
The pleasant duty of acknowledgment for kindness remains. Some, to whom heavy debt of gratitude was due for aid, have gone down to the grave while these sheets have been in preparation, with the rich mines of their recollections unexhausted.
There is scarcely an individual named in the succeeding pages, who has not contributed good wishes or useful information. The compiler has been under great obligations to Rev. Dr. Bancroft, Mr. Thomas Rice, Ed- ward D. Bangs, Esq. Hon. Nathaniel Paine, Samuel Jennison, Esq. Dr. John Green, Isaac Davis, Esq .; to the clerks of the town and parishes ; and to Joseph Willard, Esq. Mr. Samuel G. Drake, and Rev. Joseph B. Felt of Boston, for many courtesies, communications, and valuable papers.
A notice of the errors of the pen and press which have escaped correc- tion will be found at the end of the book. Some, which will be readily detected by the reader, not affecting the meaning of the text, have been omitted in the list.
CONTENTS.
-
GENERAL HISTORY. Page.
CHAPTER I. First Period, from 1664 to 1675: first settlement. Grants to In- crease Nowell and Thomas Noyes. Report of exploring Committee, 1668. Petition of Committee of settlement, 1669. Projeet for settlement. Difficulties with Ephraim Curtis, 1674. Indian deed. Grants of lands to settlers, 1675. View of the plantation, in 1675. Ilostilities with the Indians. Settlement abandoned.
1
CHAPTER II, King Philip's war, 1575, 1676. The Nipmuck country. Indian Settlements. Visit of Gookin and Elliot. Attack on Quaboag. Ephraim Curtis. Phinehas Upham. Henchman's expedition. Quinsigamond burnt. Henchman's second expedition. Sagamore John surrenders. Matoonus shot. Executions in Boston. Destruction of the Indians.
16
CHAPTER III. 1677 to 1713. Second settlement. Indian deed, 1677. Meeting of Planters, 1678. Henchman's agreement, 1684. Citadel. Survey. Mills built. Name of Worcester. Lots laid out. New Committees. Capt. Fitch's letter. Queen Anne's war. Town abandoned. Digory Serjent killed, Elisha Ward. Indian Hostilities. Petition for resettlement refused, 1709.
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CHAPTER IV. 1713 to 1722. Third settlement to incorporation. Petition, 1713. New Committee. Report, 1714. First Settlers. Jonas Rice. Gershom Rice. Nathaniel Moore. Garrisons. Mills. Roads. View of the town, 1718. Grants to proprietors. Scotch and Irish emigrants. Town incorporated, 1722.
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CHAPTER V. 1722 to 1765. Lovell's war and French wars. Selectmen's peti- tion, 1721. Gershom Rice's letter, 1724. Uriah Ward. Col. Chandler's orders. Selectmen's petition, 1725. Capt. Wright's letters, 1725. Benjamin Flagg's letter, 1725. County established, 1731. Gov. Belcher's visit, 1735. Soldiers. Excise, 1754. French neutrals, 1755. Military exertions, 1756. Col. Chan- dler's report, 1757. Men in service during French wars. Division of the Coun- ty and removal of the courts opposed.
CHAPTER VI. 1765 to 1775. American Revolution. Instructions, 1766, 1767. Resolutions, 1768. Covenant, 1768. Tea. Votes, 1773. Committee of Cor- respondence, 1773. Political Society. Peter Oliver. Address of Grand Jury, 1774. Report on grievances, 1774. Instructions. Protest of royalists. Town Meeting. Record expunged. Non-consumption covenant and oath. Manda- mus counsellors. Assembly of the people. Alarm. Minute men. Courts stopped. County Convention. Sheriff Chandler. William Campbell. Instruc . tions. Blacksmith's Convention. Depot of military stores.
CHAPTER VII. 1775 to 1783. American Revolution. Preparations for war. Instructions, 1775. Survey of British officers. Commencement of hostilities. Alarm of April 19. March of minute men. Tories disarmed. Memorial of officers. Royalist confessions. Clark Chandler. British prisoners. Poor of Boston. Military requisitions. Fourth of July, 1776. Regulation of prices. Detail of levies of troops, contributions, exertions, and proceedings, during thic war. County conventions. Constitution. Excise. Peace restored. Pro- ecedings as to refugees.
CHAPTER VIII. 1782 to 1787. Insurrection. Distresses of the people. County Conventions, 1782, 1781, 1786. Court stopped, Sept. 1786. Spirited conduct of Judge Ward. Proceedings of the insurgents. Convention, Sept. 1786. Town meeting, Oct. 1786. Court of Sessions interrupted. Sheriff Greenleaf. In-
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101
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CONTENTS.
surgents occupy the town, Dec. 1786. Militia of Worcester appear in arms for the government. Capt. Howe. Consultations of the insurgents. Distresses of their retreat. Gen. Lincoln's army. Affair at New Braintree. Dispersion of the insurgents.
130
CHAPTER IX. Reception of Washington, 1789. Memorial on the treaty with England, 1797. Volunteers, 1798. Funeral honors to Washington, 1800. Mi- litia volunteer, 1807. Boston memorial, 1808. War of 1812. British prison- ers. Troops called into service, 1814. Visit of Lafayette, 1824. Amendments of the Constitution. Benefactions of Isaiah Thomas. Incorporation of Holden and Ward. Proposed division of the county. 151
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY.
CHAPTER X. First Parish. First meeting houses. Rev. Andrew Gardner. Difficulties on his dismission. Mr. Bourne. Rev. Isaac Burr. Visit of White- field. Church Covenant, 1746. Rev. Thaddeus Maccarly. Controversy about church music. Seating the meeting house. Difficulties ending in the separation of the Second Parish. Mr. Story. Rev. Samuel Austin. Church Covenant. Rev. Charles A. Goodrich. Rev. Aretius B. Hull. Rev. Rodney A. Miller. Presbyterian Church, 1719. Rev. Edward Fitzgerald. Rev. William Jolinston. 163 CHAPTER XI. Second Congregational Society. Separation from the first Parish. Difficulties. Church formed. Covenant. Rev. Aaron Bancroft ordained, 1786. Society incorporated, 1787. Rev. Alonzo Hill ordained, 1827. Votes of Par- ish and Church. Memoir of Rev. Dr. Bancroft. 194
CHAPTER XII. First Baptist Society. Formation, 1812. Rev. William Bentley. Articles of Faith. Rev. Jonathan Going. Rev. Frederic A. Willard. Rev. Jonathan Aldrich. Elm Street Society, 1836. Calvinist Society. Separation from first church, 1820. Formation of Society, 1822. Rev. Loammi I. Hoadley. House and Fund bestowed by Hon. Daniel Waldo. Rev. John S. C. Abbott. Rev. David Peabody. Catholic Society, 1834. Rev. James Fitton. Methodist Episcopal Society, 1831. Protestant Episcopal Society, 1835. Rev. Thomas II. Vail. Union Society, 1836. 205
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES.
CHAPTER XIII. Professional Men. Biographical notices of the Practitioners, Counsellors and Attorneys at Law, and Physicians, before and since the Revo- lution. 294
CHAPTER XIV. Graduates of Colleges, and natives of the town who have re- ceived liberal education. Distinguished citizens. John Chandler. Capt. Jonas Hubbard. Col. Timothy Bigelow. Col. Ephraim Doolittle. David Thomas. Benjamin Heywood. Joseph Allen. Isaiah Thomas. 264
STATISTICS AND HISTORY.
CHAPTER XV. Education. Common Schools. Centre District Schools. Pri- vate Instruction. Manual Labor High School. Mount St. James Seminary. 296 CHAPTER XV. Population. Emigration. Mortality. Valuation. Taxation. Support of the Poor. Communication. Stages. Manufactures. Trade. 310
CHAPTER XVI. Societies and Institutions. Medical District Society. Antiqua- rian Society. Agricultural Society. Historical Society. Atheneum. Banks. Insurance Companies. Savings Institution. Various Associations. Military Companies. Newspapers and Periodicals. 323
TOPOGRAPHY AND HISTORY.
CHAPTER XVII. Situation. Boundaries. Extent. Divisions. Streets and Roads. Turnpikes. Blackstone Canal. Rail Roads. Public Buildings. Pub- lic Lands. Burial Places. Face of the Town. Ponds.
Streams. Hills. Mines and Minerals. 336
MISCELLANEOUS.
CHAPTER XVIII. Municipal Officers. Selectmen. Clerks. Treasurers. Rep- resentatives. Fire Department. Fires and accidents by lightning. 356
APPENDIX. 1. Petition for a Plantation, Oct. 8, 1665. 11. Order of the Gen- eral Court, Oct. 11, 1665. 111. Order of the General Court, May, 15, 1667. 1V. First Indian Deed, July 13, 1674. v. Order of Council to Capt. Edward Iluteli- inson, July 27, 1675. v1. Order of Council, Sept. 15, 1675. VII. Instructions for Capt. Joseph Sill, Nov. 2, 1675. VIII. Second Indian Deed, Feb. 12, 1677. IX Order of the General Court, 1679. x. Votes for Governor since 1780. XI. Notice of Daniel Shays. x11, Statements in relation to trade, manufac- tures, and business. X111. Executions. XIV. Festivals. Fourth of July. 363
HISTORY OF WORCESTER.
GENERAL HISTORY.
-
CHAPTER I.
First Period, from 1664 to 1675 : first settlement. Grants to Increase Nowell and Thomas Noyes. Report of exploring Committee, 1668. Petition of Committee of settlement, 1669. Project for settlement. Difficulties with Ephraim Curtis, 1674. Indian deed. Grants of lands to settlers, 1675. View of the plantation, in 1675. Hostilities with the Indians. Settlement abandoned.
Few years elapsed after the first settlement of Massachusetts be- fore the outposts of cultivation were advanced far and fast into the wilderness. The stream of emigration soon began to flow westward from its fountain. Eight years after the landing of the Pilgrims, in 1628, Salem was planted. The next year, Lynn was inhabited. In 1630, Boston was founded, and Cambridge and Wa- tertown occupied. Concord was purchased of the natives and com- menced in 1635. Sudbury, begun in 1638, sent out colonies to Marlborough, incorporated in 1660. The swelling population push- ed farther onward the frontier of improvement. The fertile region around Worcester early attracted attention. When the title of the vast region, acquired from the defeated savage, vested, by undis- puted right, in the whole people, the wise policy of government encouraged settlement, while it rewarded patriotic exertions in the public service, and aided objects and institutions of general utility, by gratuities of portions of the forest. In 1657, May 6, a grant of 3200 acres of land was made to Mr. Increase Nowell, of Charlestown.1 May 6, 1662,2 1000 acres were bestowed on the church in Malden, to be forever appropriated to the use of its minis-
1 Colony Records, iv. 240.
2 ib. iv. 397.
1
2
GRANTS. COMMITTEE.
[1664.
try : Oct. 19, 1664, 250 acres were given to Ensign Thomas Noyes, of Sudbury, who had served under Capt. Hugh Mason.1 These were all, subsequently, located in the vicinity of Quinsigamond.2 The favorable impression from the surveys, excited enterprize to un- dertake that plantation, which long retained the original name, bor- rowed from the beautiful sheet of water spreading in the neighbor- hood of the settlement.
John Haynes and Josiah Haynes, of Sudbury, and Nathaniel Treadaway, of Watertown, with Thomas Noyes, purchased the right of Increase Nowell, of his Executors, and, on the 18th of May, 1664, having procured the acceptance of a return, became proprietors of a wide tract, extending along the east side of Quinsigamond, inclu- ding two of its southern islands, near ' the going out of Nipnapp River." They petitioned the Great and General Court for the ap- pointment of a Committee, to view the country. In compliance with their request, Capt. Daniel Gookin, Capt. Edward Johnson, Lt. Joshua Fisher and Lt. Thomas Noyes, were commissioned, Oct. 11, 1665,4 to make survey, to determine if there be a 'meet place for a plantation, that it may be improved for that end, and not spoiled by granting of farms,' and directed to report the results of their examination to the next Court of Elections.
The death of Thomas Noyes, which occurred soon after, and the difficulties arising from the disturbed state of the country, har- ing prevented the execution of this order, the attention of the colo- nial legislature was again directed to the contemplated settlement, in 1667. On the 15th of May5 of that year, Capt. Daniel Gookin, Capt. Edward Johnson, Mr. Samuel Andrew, and Andrew Belchar senior, were empowered, as a Committee,6 ' to take an exact view, as soon as conveniently they can, to make true report whether the place be capable to make a village, and what number of families, they conceive, may be there accommodated. And if they find it fit for a plantation, then to offer some meet expedient how the same may be settled and improved for the public good.'
1 Colony Records, iv. 461.
2 The orthography of Indian names is quite uncertain. The same word is not only written in different manner by contemporary authors, but assumes various shapes in the same instrument. The ancient name of Woreester appears in these, among other forms : Quansiggemuek, Quinsigamug, Quansieamoag, Quansitamud, Quonsiquomon, Quan- sigamon, Quansiquomog, Quanciggugug, Quonsogogoag. Quinsigamond, has been es- iablished by most general use, and is therefore adopted. The true reading was proba- bly Quonsigamoag.
3 Nipmuck, now Blackstone's River. 4 Colony Ree. iv. 562. 5 ib. iv. 587.
6 Notices of the committees of settlement, and of some of the early planters, will be found in the succeeding pages.
3
COMMITTEE'S REPORT.
1668.]
Gookin, Johnson, and Belchar, discharged the duty assigned them, in the autumn of the following year, and presented a report on the 20th Oct. 1668,1 which exhibits an interesting outline of the views entertained in former times, and of the general principles adopted in the formation of towns.
' The Committee's return about a new plantation near Quandsig- amond Ponds. Boston, 20 Oct. 1668.
We have, according to the Court's order, bearing date 15th May, 1667,2 viewed the place therein mentioned, and find it to be about twelve miles westward from Marlborough, near the road to Spring- field, and that it contains a tract of very good chesnut tree land ; a large quantity : but the meadow we find not so much ; because a very considerable quantity of meadow and upland, about, five thou- sand acres, is laid out unto particular persons, and confirmed by this Court, as we are informed, which falls within this tract of land ; viz ; to Ensign Noyes deceased and his brethren, three thousand two hundred acres : unto the church of Malden, one thousand acres : unto others, five hundred acres, bought of Ensign Noyes ; but, all this notwithstanding, we conceive, there may be enough mead- ow for a small plantation, or town, of about thirty families : and if those farms be annexed to it, it may supply about sixty families. 'Therefore, we conceive it expedient, that the honored Court will be pleased to reserve it for a town, being conveniently situated, and well watered with ponds and brooks, and lying near midway between Bos- ton and Springfield, about one day's journey from either : and, for the settling thereof we do offer unto the Court that which follows : viz :
That there be a meet proportion of land granted and laid out for a town, in the best form the place will bear, about the contents of eight miles square :
That a prudent and able committee be appointed and empowered to lay it out : to admit inhabitants, and order the affairs of the place, in forming the town, granting lots, and directing and ordering all matters of a prudential nature, until the place be settled with a suf- ficient number of inhabitants and persons of discretion, able to or- der the affairs thereof, in the judgment of the Court :
That due care be taken by the said Committee, that a good Min- ister of God's word be placed there, as soon as may be : that such people as may be there planted may not live like lambs in a large place :
'That there be two or three hundred acres of land, with a propor- tion of meadow, in some convenient place, at the discretion of the
Col. Rec. iv. 621. 2 Col. Rec. iv. 587.
4
CLAIM OF CURTIS.
[1669.
Committee, reserved, and laid out for the Commonwealth ; and the Committee to have power and liberty to settle inhabitants thereupon, for lives or times, upon a small rent, to be paid after the first seven years.'
Daniel Gookin. Edward Johnson. Andrew Belchar.
This report was approved and accepted, its recommendations con- firmed, and Capt. Daniel Gookin, Capt. Thomas Prentice, Mr. Dan- iel Henchman, and Lt. Richard Beers, appointed a Committee to carry them into execution.
At the distance of more than a century and a half, when we see the hills and vallies of the 'very good chesnut tree land' explored by the committee, thickly dotted with the homes of the husband- man and the villages of the manufacturer, traversed by canal and railway, and supporting a dense population, their estimate of the ca- pacity of the tract, eight miles square, to maintain thirty or sixty families, furnishes strong contrast between their humble anticipa- tions and our overflowing prosperity.
At the period when the examination took place, meadow lands were esteemed of high value, and were, indeed, essential for the support of the new settlements. The low grounds, cleared of woods by the industry of the beaver, erecting dams to flood their surfaces ; by the waste of fires kindled by the hunter ; or the action of streams ; afforded the only pasturage that could be obtained, until the forest had been hewn away, and the herbage rose upon the cultivated fields.
Notwithstanding, the Great and General Court, by their order, May 15, 1667, had prohibited the laying out of lands within the new plantation, a location had been subsequently made, in right of Ensign Noyes. His heirs had sold to Ephraim Curtis, of Sudbury, after- ward distinguished for his gallantry and good conduct in the war with the Indians. The Committee, embarrassed by the selections made by the claimants under the old grants, on the 27th of May, 1669,1 presented the following petition for relief from the difficulties which had arisen, to retard the progress of settlement.
' We, the Committee of the General Court, whose names are sub- scribed, being appointed and empowered to lay out, settle and man- age a plantation, at or about Quansigamond Pond, twelve miles be- yond Marlborough, in the road way to Springfield and Hadley, which place is very commodious for the situation of a town, the better to
1 Col. Rec. iv. 426.
5
COMMITTEE'S PETITION.
1669.]
unite and strengthen the inland plantations, and, in all probability, will be advantageous for travellers, it falling near midway between Boston and Springfield, and about a day's journey from either ; we, having lately been upon the place, to make an exact discovery and survey thereof, accompanied with sundry honest and able persons that are willing forthwith to settle themselves there : but finding some obstructions in the work, which, unless this Court please to re- move, and, we conceive, they may justly do it, the proceeding will be utterly hindered ; and, therefore, we shall humbly offer them un- to the honored Court, desiring help therein :
1. We find, that, though the place contains a tract of good land, yet, it is much straitened for meadow. We cannot find above three hundred acres of meadow belonging to it, within several miles : but, there are swamps and other moist lands, that, in time, with labor and industry, may make meadow.
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