USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > Fitchburg > History of the town of Fitchburg, Massachusetts, comprising also a history of Lunenburg, from its first settlement to the year 1764 (1865) > Part 1
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Ge 974.402 ₣555₺
Gc 974.402 F555t 1145975
MIL.
GENEALOGY COLLECTION
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 01100 0509
Doncester En
Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2015
https://archive.org/details/historyoftownoff00torr 1
HISTORY
OF THE
TOWN OF FITCHBURG.
MASSACHUSETTS;
COMPRISING ALSO A
HISTORY OF LUNENBURG,
FROM ITS FIRST SETTLEMENT TO THE YEAR 1764.
"Few Town Histories will ever be written a second time; the pains are too great, and the praise is too little."-N. A. REVIEW.
BY RUFUS C. TORREY.
FITCHBURG: PUBLISHED BY THE FITCHBURG CENTENNIAL COMMITTEE, E. & J. GARFIELD, PRINTERS. 1865.
-
PREFACE.
1145975
THE writer has been induced to undertake the present work by a desire to save from the oblivion to which they were hastening, some of the events connected with the history of this town. Many of these are treasured up in the memories of a few aged people, and must, in the course of nature, soon be inevitably lost, if not preserved in a connected and tangible form." Though the number of these relics of other days is now small, much information has been derived from them, and much more might have been obtained, had inquiries been commenced a few years earlier.
The writer has had full access to the proprietors' books, and to the town records of Lunenburg and Fitchburg. Oral and written informa- tion has been furnished with the utmost cheerfulness, by all those in possession of facts worthy of note. The labors of another who has preceded me in this department, have made my path one of compara- tive ease.
In 1831, Nathaniel Wood, Esq., in a series of lectures read before the lyceum of this town, gave an interesting and discriminating sketch of the events connected with its history. Many circumstances were collected and preserved by him, which would have been lost to the present writer. Unrestricted use of Mr. Wood's papers has been gen-
PREFACE.
erously granted to me, who otherwise would not have been encouraged to undertake the work. While then its merits, if it possess any, are mainly to be ascribed to another; its faults and defects are chargeable to me.
To N. F. Cunningham, Esq., and J. A. Marshall, M. D., the res- pectivo town clerks of Lunenburg and Fitchburg, this public expression of my thanks is due for the readiness with which they have afforded me every facility in their power, in the compilation of this work. To other persons to whom I am more or less indebted for information, I tender my grateful acknowledgements.
If I have succeeded in impressing any with the importance of pro- serving the records and traditions of the early history of these towns, and if those who peruse this work, derive from it a pleasure equal to half of the labor I have spent in writing it, I shall not be without a reward.
HISTORY OF FITCHBURG.
THE Town of FITCHBURG is situated in the north-eastern part of the County of Worcester, about forty-seven miles in a north-westerly direction from Boston, and twenty-four miles nearly north from Wor- cester. It is thirty miles west from Lowell, and four hundred and nineteen north-east from the city of Washington.
The general boundaries of the town are as follows :- north by Ashby, in the County of Middlesex, east by Lunenburg, south-east by Leominster, south by Leominster and an unincorporated district called No-town, and west by Westminster and Ashburnham. The average length of the town, from north to south, is a little more than six and a half miles, and the average breadth somewhat less than four and a half miles. It contains seventeen thousand eight hundred and sev- enty-nine acres, according to a survey made by Levi Downe, in 1830.
The general surface of the township is extremely uneven. It con- sists almost entirely of hills, some of which are very abrupt, and are of considerable magnitude. Rollstone, a hill lying immediately south- west of the village, rises abruptly three hundred feet above the bed of the stream which flows at its base ; and there are other summits which
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HISTORY OF FITCHBURG.
rise still higher. Of meadow lands, there are scarcely any to be found in the limits of the town.
The soil is very broken, and much labor is required to subdue it thoroughly. When once put into a good state of cultivation, it has produced heavy crops of potatoes, and the various kinds of grain com- mon to this section of the country. Wheat has been, and is still cul- tivated with considerable success. The town abounds in good pastur- age lands, which, in consequence of the moist soil, seldom fail. Nearly the whole of the township was originally covered with a heavy growth of pine, which, being cut off, has given place to oak of dif- forent kinds, beech, chestnut, rock-maple, birch, ash, &c. Walnut was formerly abundant, but now it is not very common.
A strange neglect has prevailed in regard to the cultivation of trees for shade and ornament, and the beautiful and easily cultivated fruit trees of New England. Apples are common, and a few cherries may be seen : but peaches, rareripes, pears, grapes, plums, apricots, nec- tarines, strawberries, &c., which might be produced in abundance, and with but little care and expense, are almost wholly strangers among us. Not a little beauty would be added to the village, were its streets ornamented with the majestic chn ; and not a little would he added to the comfort of the citizens, were their grounds plentifully stocked with the wholesome and delicious fruits of summer and
Roy. Peter Whitney. in his valuable history of Worcester County, remarks thus of Fitchburg :- ". This is a very hilly and uneven, but fortile town. The hills are large, high and steep; however, on them there is not broken, poor and waste land. In general, the soil is excellent."
The sol of this town is a decomposition of mica slate and gneiss. The former prodnees a soil of a mediin quality, and is generally well fitted, for kriging. The soil of a greater part of Worcester County is based on andes, which difiers from granite only in having a slaty Brutture. The soil resulting from the decomposition of this rock Mynt dass sale of the most fertile and productive farms of the State.
HISTORY OF FITCHBURG.
The hills of the town (with the exception of Rollstone) are mostly formed of mica slate. Rollstone, which rises three hundred feet high, and is nearly a mile in circumference, is a mass of granite, and " might furnish enough to supply the whole state for centuries."* This granite has not been extensively quarried, on account of the little demand for stone. It has hitherto been principally used for door-steps, in building the "Stone Mill," and in constructing three excellent bridges over the Nashua. The six columns which support the front and projecting part of the " Nashua River Hotel," are of this granite. The hill is favorably situated for quarrying, and the stone is easily split into blocks of almost any size. This granite is of the same kind and color with that of Westford. Some of it is too coarse for architectural purposes ; but blocks can be obtained no wise inferior to the best of Chelmsford granite.
This granite is sold at the quarry, well dressed, at thirty-five and forty cents the superficial foot .;
The peculiar appearance of the rock composing Pearl Hill, in the north-eastern part of the town, formerly induced the belief that gold or silver ore might be found beneath the surface, and attempts were made to expose the supposed mines. But all search was fruitless. For the want either of funds or perseverance on the part of those engaged in this mining undertaking, the attempt was soon abandoned, and it has never since been resumed. Whitney, in his history of Worcester County, has the following pertinent remarks on this sub- ject :- " In the present state of our population, riches, in these north- ern parts, are with much greater facility, procured from the surface of the earth, by the various instruments of cultivation, than from deep and latent mines of the richest ore. When the country becomes over- stocked with inhabitants, and support from the soil shall not be so easily
*Hitchcock's Geology of Massachusetts, page 16.
t " The cost of hammering and fine dressing granite in Boston, in the style of the Tremont House, I have been credibly informed, is about thirty cents the superficial foot. Ordinary work is, however, from twenty-five to thirty cents. The cost of the blocks of the Quincy granite for the Bunker Hill monument, delivered at Charlestown in a rough state, was thirteen cents, three mills per foot, and the cost of the unhewn stone for the church built last year in Bowdoin street, Boston, was fifteen cents ; but six years before, the rough Quincy granite, for the United States' Branch Bank, cost two dollars per foot."-[ Hitchcock's Geol. of Mass,
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HISTORY OF FITCHBURG.
obtained. it is not improbable that from this mountain will be dug large quantities of those shining metals. as every thing at present favors the conjecture." The population of the place has not yet become so dense as to make it necessary to have recourse to the precious metals, that may be contained within the bowels of Pearl Hill. for their sup- port ; and it may be doubted whether the present day and generation will witness that period. The promising indications of the existence of such metals have not induced another search, though the desire for their possession, which so strongly incited our fathers, has not diminished in the breasts of their sons. The latter wisely regard the solid granite of Rollstone as a more valuable possession.
Upon the elevation formerly known as Appletree Hill, situated cast and northeast of the village, there are indications of the existence of mineral coal ; and the high and increasing price of fuel will soon, it is presumed, cause a thorough examination into the matter.
Till within a few years, the roads of this town were in a wretched condition. The first settlers, as is usual in such cases, located their habitations on the heights of the various hills ; and for the convenience of the inhabitants, the roads were laid out in a sinuous course from one hill to another. The principal roads thus passed over the loftiest hills in the town ; and it would seem that generally the most direct route between two places was avoided for the purpose of making the publie ways both crooked and uneven. Our fathers had as much ab- horrenee for a straight road, as nature once had for a vacuum. The " flat rock road," which leads over the hill immediately north of the village, and the road which passes over " Carter's hill," by the house of P. Williams, Esq., were once the great thoroughfares between Vermont and Boston. The former is now impassable to carriages of modern construction, and the latter is but little used.
Within a few years, a great reform in this respect has taken place ; and the town is now as distinguished for its excellent roads, as formerly it was for its bad ones. The reform was commeneed by straightening and otherwise improving the road leading to Leominster .* A new
. Measures have recently been taken for making still further improvements on this route.
HISTORY OF FITCHBURG.
road to Ashburnham was opened in 1830. It generally follows the course of the river, and is a level and well made road. About the same time a new road was opened to Lunenburg, and communication with that place is now easy and agreeable. A new and comparatively level road has recently been opened between this place and West- minster. The roads which afford communication between the people of Fitchburg and their northern neighbors at Ashby, are hilly and crooked. A few years only will be suffered to elapse before the evil will be remedied. A great amount of travel passes through this town on the Boston and Keene route. Two excellent stone bridges on this road were built over the Nashua river, a few rods west of the village, in 1829. They are both built with three arches, having a span of twenty-five feet, and, with the embankments, cost over twenty-one hundred dollars. They were somewhat injured by the freshet of Feb- ruary 1835. In consequence of the foundations of the piers not being laid sufficiently firm and deep, they were undermined by the force of the water, and settled several inches. The travel over them, however, has not been interrupted, and no farther damage is appre- hended from their slightly twisted condition. The beautiful stone bridge over the Nashua at the "Burbank Paper-Mill" was built in the Fall of 1834, at an expense of more than eleven hundred dollars. It has two arches, each with a span of thirty feet.
The town has daily communication, by means of mail stages, with Boston, Keene, and Lowell. Stages also depart three times a week for Springfield and Worcester, and return on alternate days. Accommodation stages also pass daily between this place and Boston.
There are no natural ponds in the limits of the town, though the neighboring towns of Westminster, Ashburnham, and Lunenburg are highly favored in this respect. The artificial ponds, formed by the dams on the Nashua at the various mill seats are all small, on account of the fall in this stream in the greater part of its course through the town. The only stream of much importance in the town, is the north
B
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HISTORY OF FITCHBURG.
branch of the Nashua,* the sources of which are in the towns of Westminster and Ashburnham. Westminster pond, lying about seventy rods southerly from the Congregational meeting-house in Westminster, contains more than one hundred and sixty acres ; and Wachusett pond, lying at the base of the mountain of the same name, about three miles south-easterly from the centre of the same town, is nearly as large. Two small streams issue from these ponds, and soon uniting, pass the " narrows" and enter Fitchburg, flowing in a north-casterly direction. A stream from Ashburnham and Gardner flows through the westerly part of Westminster, and, being augmented by two other streams, known as Tophet Swamp brook and Beech Hill brook, takes an east- erly direction, enters this town, and soon unites with the above men- tioned streams from the ponds in Westminster.
Phillip's brook which has its source in Watatich and East ponds, in the easterly part of Ashburnham, flows in a southerly and south-casterly direction through the northern part of Westminster, and receiving several minor streams, passes into Fitchburg, and unites with the main stream about a mile and a half west of the village. These several streams, united, form the north branch of the Nashua. This con- tinues in a north-easterly direction till it reaches the centre of the town, when it takes a south-easterly course and passes into Leomin- ster. It receives several contributary streams in addition to those already mentioned. A small stream rises in the southerly part of the town, and runs into the Nashua a little below Sheldon's dam. L. Pratt's chair shop and saw-mill are located on this stream. Another small brook runs into the Nashua near to Sheldon's & Pillsbury's grist- mill. A saw-mill is located upon it. Punch brook, of about the same size with the last named stream flows through the village and empties into the Stone mill pond. Four dams are built on it, two of these afford water power for a cabinet maker's shop, and a carriage maker's shop. The other two are at present unoccupied. Baker's brook
The river ent the plantation at Lancaster, were formerly called Nashaway. Nashun is a modern refsement but by no means an improvement. The ancient name is much the better of the two, and it should have been primervedl ; but as Nashua has been universally adopted I have thought it projeer to conform to the spirit of the times
11
HISTORY OF FITCHBURG.
enters this town from Ashby. It flows in a south-easterly direction, nearly the whole length of the town, and receiving Pearl Hill brook, passes into Lunenburg and Leominster, and unites with the Nashua. Two saw-mills are located on it. Wanoosnock brook, which rises in Notown, runs through the southerly part of the town, and unites with the Nashua near the centre of Leominster. There is one saw-mill on it within the limits of Fitchburg. There are several saw-mills and other shops on the tributaries to the Nashua, which have been already mentioned.
Osborn's mills, on the Turnpike, are on the principal stream which comes from Westminster. A large number of shingles are made here. A saw-mill and grist-mill are at the same place. The latter is, how- ever, but little used.
Perkins & Baldwin's Factory is on Phillips' brook, about one hun- dred and sixty rods above its junction with the Nashua, and not far from two miles west of the village. Shirtings of a good quality are manufactured here. The brook here, which is a constant stream, makes a fall of eighty feet in thirty rods. Sixteen looms are in operation at this place.
At the junction of Philips' brook with the Nashua is situated J. T. Farwell & Co's Scythe Manufactory. Dams are thrown across both streams, the waters' of which are thus secured.
A. Crocker & Co's Paper-mill is located on the Nashua, at the dis- tance of one and a half miles west of the village. A good head of water is secured here. At this establishment paper of various kinds, principally however printing and writing paper, is manufactured to a considerable extent. The same " privilege" furnishes water power to A. Kimball & Co's Scythe manufactory, situated a few rods below the paper-mill. The scythes manufactured by Messrs. Kimball & Farwell have had an extensive sale, and they are well known to be of a supe- rior quality. Great numbers of them are sold annually.
Sheldon & Pillsbury's dam is located about one hundred and eighty rods below the one last mentioned. From this pond a trench has been dug, nearly one hundred and fifty rods in length, by means of which
12
HISTORY OF FITCHBURG,
the water is conveyed to a saw-mill and grist-mill. A fall of twenty- two feet is obtained, and it may be considered perhaps as the best mill seat on the stream. The grist-mill is furnished with two runs of stones, & corn-cracker and a flour-bolter. A large quantity of grain is brought to this mill, some from a great distance. It is more partic- ularly noted for the superior maner in which flour is bolted.
In this respect it is not inferior to any mills in this region. The average quantity of four prepared here, during the past year, has been abont five barrels per day. In the course of the present year it will probably be doubled.
Town & Willis' Cotton Mill is situated a few rods west of the com- soon. Twenty looms are here in operation, in manufacturing +-4ths sheetings. It is at present leased to Levi Sherwin.
The Fitchburg Woolen Mill owned by the same company as the cotton-mill last mentioned, occupies an eligible situation in the very centre of the village. It is a commodious building of brick, and furnished with all the necessary out-buildings. Sixteen looms are in operation : eight of which are for broadcloths. and eight for cassimeres.
Newton's Cotton Factory, about one hundred rods below the one last named, was formerly a manufactory for sheetings. Negro cloths are now the principal article manufactured.
The Stone Mill, a large granite building, is situated in that part of the village known as the Old City. It is four stories high, and occu- pied by Percy Atherton, as a Cotton Factory. It has forty looms for wearing sheetings.
Crocker & Gardner's Papermill generally known as the Burbank Paper-mill. is eighty rods farther down stream. A good head of water is obtained here. This mill is altogether used for the manufacture of wrapping paper. Two engines are kept in almost constant motion, night and day, to furnish pulp sufficient to supply one machine. Both of the Paper-quills in this town have, in connexion with their machines, a late improved drying cylinder. The paper passes from the machine over a heated cylinder (generally from four to six feet in diameter,) which completely dries it. At the same time it is ent into pieces, of
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HISTORY OF FITCHBURG.
convenient size, ready to be folded into reams. Water is also furnished at this dam for a workshop not connected with the Paper-mill.
Next on the stream, situated about two hundred and forty rods be- low the Paper-mill, is Poor's (formerly Slater's) Woolen Factory. Sixteen looms are in operation here ; on six of which cassimeres, and on ten, broadcloths are woven.
A dam is again thrown over the Nashua about one hundred rods farther down stream. From this pond the water is conducted by a trench, about fifty rods in length, to the Woolen Factory occupied by Amos Hill. This is a brick building, erected within a few years. A part of the factory is occupied by A. Hill, who has twelve looms in operation in making broadcloths. In the part occupied by Alfred Messenger there are eleven looms employed in making negro cloths.
Commencing with Osborn's mills on the Turnpike, and including Perkins & Baldwin's Factory, which is not on the principal stream, there are twelve mill seats already occupied. Of these, four are sites for Cotton Factories, three for Woolen Factories, two for Paper-mills, two for saw and grist mills, and one for a Scythe Factory. This account does not include A. Kimball's Scythe Factory, which is sup- plied with water from A. Crocker & Co's pond. There are several saw-mills, turning lathes, work shops, &c., connected with most of the Factories above numerated. A dam has been built over the stream between A. Crocker's and Sheldon's dams, and a chair shop is about to be erected on the spot. It is calculated that there are five " privi- leges" yet unoccupied, between Osborn's mills and J. T. Farwell's Scythe Factory. There are also several other convenient places on the Nashua, where dams may be constructed. At the present time not one half of the water power which may be developed on this stream and its tributaries, is ".improved."
Other manufactories and trades must be noticed briefly. Another chair shop has been opened in the village. Here also are carriage and coach makers, wheelwrights, carpenters, shoemakers, blacksmiths, win- dow sash and blind makers, saddle and harness makers, trunk makers, two clock and watch makers and jewellers, book-binders and book-
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HISTORY OF FITCHBURG.
sellers, apothecaries, stone cutters, hatters, bellows makers, brick makers, coopers, painters, (house, sign, carriage and ornamental,) masons, tailors, glaziers, a bakery, a tannery, a printing office, &c., &c. The first printing office was opened in 1830; since which time a newspaper has been published here. For a short period in 1834 three papers (two political and one religious) were printed. The present paper (Wor- cester County Courier) and printing office are owned by J. Garfield.
There are eight public stores, containing the usual variety of English, American, and West India goods, and two bookstores.
The Fitchburg Bank was incorporated in the year 1832, with a capital of $100,000, and went into operation in July of the same year. It has usually declared semi-annual dividends of 3} per cent. and the stock is about ten per cent. advance. Francis Perkins has been President, and Ebenezer Torrey, Cashier, of this institution from the commencement.
The number of inhabitants previous to the census of 1791, is a matter of uncertainty. When the town was incorporated, February 3d. 1764, it contained about forty families ; and the population at this period may be estimated at two hundred and fifty. According to the census of 1791, it amounted to eleven hundred and fifty-one. The taxable polls in 1793 amounted to two hundred and sixty-eight,-at the same time eighteen towns of the County contained a greater num- ber, and thirty towns a less. The population in 1800 was one thousand three hundred and ninety; in 1810, one thousand five hun- dred and sixty-six ; in 1820, one thousand seven hundred and thirty- six ; in 1830, two thousand one hundred and seventy-nine. Within the last ten years the population has increased in a greater ratio than at any former period ; and at the present time the number of inhabi- tants may be estimated at twenty-six or twenty-seven hundred. The increase from 1791 to 1800 was two hundred and thirty-nine ; from 1800 to, 1810, one hundred and seventy-six ; from 1810 to 1820, one hun Irel and seventy ; from 1820 to 1830, four hundred and forty- three.
The principal circumstances which tende I to retard the population
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HISTORY OF FITCHBURG.
of the town in the earlier period of its history, was the expense of maintaining and keeping in repair the roads and bridges. The broken and uneven nature of the soil rendered the construction of roads labori- ous and costly. The item for building and keeping in repair the several bridges over the Nashua and its tributaries, was not small. The art of constructing durable bridges was not understood in those days. They were built of frail and unsuitable materials, and were constantly in need of repairs. When built in the most approved style of those days, they were liable to be swept away by the first freshet. The rivers, which have since been the source of the wealth and prosperty of the town, were, in the opinion of its earlier settlers, its greatest evils. In 1793, according to Whitney's History, there had been built on the Nashua a saw-mill, a corn mill, a fulling mill, a clothier's works, a trip-hammer, and works for grinding scythes. These occasioned a great resort of people to the place, and from a considerable distance. At this period there was much travel through the place, by people on their way between Vermont and Boston. With these exceptions, there was nothing to give to the growth of the place an impulse be- yond that of the neighboring towns. The people subsisted principally by husbandry ; and the soil upon which they toiled, was by no means peculiarly excellent. The unsettled condition of the country, during the period of the commercial restrictions, and the last war with Great Britain, tended still further to check the business of the place. Man- ufacturing establishments might have done a profitable business, but this was the period of their infancy in our country; and the experi- ment of introducing them was attended with that varied and uncertain success which usually marks the first efforts for finding new and untried channels for business and profit.
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