USA > Massachusetts > Bristol County > North Attleborough > Short story of the Cushman Union Church of Adamsdale, Mass. : including a sketch of the early history of Adamsdale > Part 1
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Eventful Days at
Adamşdale, Mass.
GEN
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY
3 1833 02950 3932
.
Gc 974.402 Ad172L Lewis, George Henry. A short story of the Cushman Union Church of Adamsdale,
Mr. & Mrs. Adelbert E, Gay.
R.J
Compliments for . Jeny I Mightman. ,Jun- 29 -1914. althelmond
Nous .
1
"LET US FAIL IN TRYING TO DO SOMETHING RATHER THAN SIT STILL AND DO NOTHING." CYRUS HAMLIN.
GEORGE CUSHMAN Founder of the Cushman Union Sunday School
A Short Story of
The Cushman Union Church of
Adamsdale, Mass.
Including a Sketch of the
Early History of Adamsdale
By George Denry Lewis
PUBLISHED BY THE CUSHMAN UNION CHURCH
n County Public Library Webster Street 1 Box 2270 Wayne, IN 46801-2270
Introduction.
HIS sketch of Adamsdale is prepared from material supplied by the records of the Church and Sunday school; the historical ad- dress of the late Deacon Robert Cushman; the History of the Oldtown Church by Rev. John Whitehill and Mary A. Mathias; History of Bristol County by D. H. Hurd; History of Attleboro by John Daggett; Files of the Chronicle published by E L. Freeman & Sons, Central Falls; State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations by Edward Field; Attleboro Public Library; Rhode Island Historical Society; Superintendent of Schools office, North Attleboro; Town Clerk's office, Attleboro; Providence Public Library; Office of Superintendent of Schools, Attleboro; Register of Deeds office, Taunton; and the recollec- tions of personal friends. To all these I am much indebted as I am also to Messrs. Erskine & Morrison, electrotypers; and to Messrs. Whit- temore & Colburn, publishers. I would also add a word of gratitude to my life-long friend Rev. Henry Arthur Cornell and to my college friend, E. Sykes Goodwin, for valuable help rendered in compiling and arranging material.
The preparation of this little book has been a labor of love involving considerable research in public, church, and other records, and many personal inquiries.
Special effort has been put forth to make the record complete and give fair recognition to all, but there may be omissions; if so, pardon is asked.
The little volume is at last completed and is launched upon its career in the hope that work upon it has not been in vain.
March 3, 1914.
G. H. L.
Eventful Days at Adamsdale
In the summer of 1636 Rev. Samuel Newman, a native of England and a graduate of Cambridge University, came to America. Rich in scholarship and eloquent of speech, he was soon installed as pastor of the First Congregational Church of Weymouth, Mass.
CUSHMAN UNION CHURCH Built in 1883
Rehoboth Purchase
In 1643 a company was formed at Weymouth, consisting of Rev. Samuel Newman and a part of his congregation, for the purpose of establishing a new settlement. They purchased of the Sachem of Pokanoket a large tract of land which included what is now East Providence, Rehoboth, Seekonk, Pawtucket,
EVENTFUL DAYS AT ADAMSDALE
and a part of Swansea. In the spring of 1644 they removed to a place then called by the Indians Seaennke, but now called Rumford. They established their headquarters and commenced their habitations around the Great Plain, near the present site of the Newman Congregational Church of East Providence. Here was their place of worship, and the organization of the Newman Church dates from the making of this settlement. The tract of
LANESVIELE
OLD LANESVILLE MILL Erected in 1847, burned in 1881
land bought from the Indians was long known as the Rehoboth Purchase.
Rehoboth North Purchase
The ample territory acquired by Pastor Newman and his followers through the Rehoboth Purchase did not cure them of their restlessness or of their desire for pastures new. In 1661 Captain Thomas Willet, successor to Miles Standish as Captain
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EVENTFUL DAYS AT ADAMSDALE
of the famous Plymouth Military Company and afterwards first Mayor of New York City, known among the Indians as "our loving friend, Captain Willet," was employed by the Town of Rehoboth to make purchase of a new tract of land, having been first authorized and empowered by the General Court of the Colony. He accordingly purchased of Wamsitta, the Sachem of the Pokanoket, son of Massasoit and elder brother of the noted
PRESENT ADAMSDALE MILL Built in 1882
King Philip, a tract of land north of the Rehoboth Purchase, which came to be known as the Rehoboth North Purchase. It included what are now the towns of Attleboro, North Attleboro, Cumberland, and parts of Mansfield and Norton.
First Settlers of Attleboro
The first white inhabitant within the original limits of Attleboro was William Blackstone. He settled on the bank of
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EVENTFUL DAYS AT ADAMSDALE
the Pawtucket river, now called Blackstone, in what is now Cumberland, Rhode Island. He was also first settler and propri- etor of Shawmut, now the site of Boston. Mr. Blackstone was a graduate of Cambridge University, England, in the class of 1617, and became a clergyman of the English Church. He
FIRST
SCHOOLHOUSE
IN
ADAMSDALE
came to America in 1625 and settled in Boston. Ten years later he sold his interests there and removed to Cumberland where he died May 26, 1675. A monument recently erected to his mem- ory stands in the yard of Ann and Hope Mill, Lonsdale, Rhode Island.
First Settlers of North Attleboro
The first settlement within the bounds of the present town of North Attleboro was in the neighborhood of the Baptist Church,
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EVENTFUL DAYS AT ADAMSDALE
near the site of Hatch's Tavern. It was made by John Wood- cock and his sons about 1669. Woodcock senior was a shrewd, fearless and adventurous character who considered it his religious duty to exterminate the Indians. He lost a son in the Indian Wars, whose body was buried where it fell, and the spot may be seen in the center of the cemetery at the junction of Smith and
PRESENT
SCHOOLHOUSE
IN ADAMSDALE
IN WHICH
SUNDAY SCHOOL
WAS BEGUN
IN 1860
Washington Streets. The loss of his son made him more bitter than ever against the Red Men and he fought them relentlessly unto his death. He died in 1701 at an advanced age. After his death the scars of seven bullet holes made by the Indians were found on his body.
Attleboro Incorporated
In 1694, by an act of the General Court, the Rehoboth North Purchase was incorporated as the town of Attleboro. Previous to this the North Purchase had been within the jurisdic-
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EVENTFUL DAYS AT ADAMSDALE
tion, though not within the charter limits, of Rehoboth. The boundaries described and established in the act of incorporation included the present towns of Attleboro, North Attleboro, and Cumberland. The territory was inhabited in some localities by a few Indians, while the white inhabitants at the time of incorporation numbered about one hundred and eighty. The
ANSEL D. NICKERSON Superintendent 1861-1862
white population increased rapidly and penetrated into various parts of the town, while the Indian population faded away.
Name of the Town
Attleboro derived its name without a doubt from the town of Attleborough in Norfolk County, England. Old Attleborongh
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EVENTFUL DAYS AT ADAMSDALE
was formerly a city of considerable size and appears to have retained its privileges, powers, and prosperity through several centuries. It established numerous manufactories, engaged in
ROBERT CUSHMAN Superintendent 1866-1867
an extensive trade with the surrounding country, and erected great castles, among which was the once famous Bungay Castle. In a word, Old Attleborough was once a celebrated town in English
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EVENTFUL DAYS AT ADAMSDALE
history. The derivation of the name is "At-le-Burgh," meaning. at the borough, fort, or castle,-"Atleburgh."
First Town Meeting
The first town meeting on record appears to have been held on May 11, 1696, two years after the incorporation. There must
J. H. PHILLIPS Superintendent 1867-1868
have been, however, an earlier meeting and election of officers, of which no record is preserved.
Cumberland Set Off
In 1745 the Town of Cumberland was separated from Attle- boro by royal charter ; that is, by order of the "King in Council." Cumberland comprised nearly one-half of the original town, and
EVENTFUL DAYS AT ADAMSDALE
for the most part was considered a good and valuable tract of land. The new boundaries established by this charter took Cum- berland from Massachusetts and annexed it to Rhode Island.
Division of Attleboro
Attleboro had prospered and grown until it was, with the exception of Pittsfield, the largest town in the state, and many
REV. GEORGE E. LEESON Superintendent 1868-1870
good people thought that a division ought to be made. In the fall of 1886 a petition was presented to the General Court asking that body to provide for a division of the town. An act was passed by the General Court granting that the requested separation should become effective on Nov. 1, 1887, provided a majority
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EVENTFUL DAYS AT ADAMSDALE
of the voters of the town would accept it. On July 30, the question was submitted to the voters, with the following result : North Attleboro, yeas 234, nays 371; East Attleboro (now Attleboro), yeas 414, nays 180; South Attleboro, yeas 17, Days 91 ; total yeas 665, total nays 642. Thus by a majority vote of
HENRY A. GUILD Superintendent 1870-1873; 1875-1877; 1897-1899 Trustee 1883-1901
only 23 the great question was decided. Out of a single town, which had lived and prospered for nearly two centuries, two new towns were called into existence, and the splendid success which each has since achieved speaks volumes for the wisdom and patriotism of the citizens both of the old Attleboro and the new.
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EVENTFUL DAYS AT ADAMSDALE
Abbott's Run
The rivers of Attleboro and North Attleboro are worthy of notice, not so much for their size as for the valuable water priv- ileges which they afford. Among them is a small stream called Abbott's Run. This brook has its source in the northeasterly part of Cumberland, and after several times crossing the line between
ABNER ATWOOD Superintendent 1873-1875; 1877-1888
that town and North Attleboro it empties into the Blackstone River just below Valley Falls. Its total length is about eight miles. Abbott's Run is said to have derived its name from one Abbott, a boy who was drowned in its waters during the early history of the town. Another common statement is that the Indian name of the stream was Waweepoonseag, but the anthen-
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EVENTFUL DAYS AT ADAMSDALE
ticity of this is questioned. This little river, like its sister streams, has been utilized for manufacturing purposes since the earliest settlements were made.
Adamsdale
In the extreme southwest part of North Attleboro on Abbott's Run is located the attractive hamlet of Adamsdale.
S. FRED GAY Superintendent 1888-1893
formerly called Lanesville. The village consists of a factory, a post office and railroad station, a school house, a store, a church, and the happy homes and attractive acres of the villagers. The former name of Lanesville was derived from one Daniel Lane, a farmer, who in 1815 sold his farm of fifty-two acres to Abraham
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EVENTFUL DAYS AT ADAMSDALE
and Isaac Wilkinson. This property is now owned by Matthew Ferguson.
Two years later, in 1817, the estate of Richard Cushman sold to the same parties all rights, title, and interest in the grist mill, bolt shop, and log run on Abbott's Rnn. Up to this time there had been built no cotton mills in Lanesville. The village
JERRY L. WIGHTMAN Superintendent 1895-1897; 1902-date Deacon 19:4-date Trustee 1914-date
continued to be known by this name until 1875. when it was changed to Adamsdale, in honor of the Adams family of which John F. Adams, former Mayor of Pawtucket and one time owner of the factory at Adamsdale, is a worthy member.
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EVENTFUL DAYS AT ADAMSDALE
The Cotton Mill
The first cotton mill was erected about 1830, probably in 1826, by Palemon and Bennett Whipple. It was seventy feet long, thirty-six feet wide, and four stories high. It generally employed about seventy hands, consumed four bales of New Orleans cotton per week, and manufactured four hundred thous-
FRED ANGELL Superintendent 1899-1901
and yards of cloth per year. It ran two thousand spindles and fifty looms. This mill was destroyed by fire and a second one erected on its site by JJohn Kennedy about 1847. In 1848 the property was purchased by Gideon L. Speneer of Pawtucket, who held title and possession till the end of 1853, when it was bought by Jonathan Chase, Jr., of Smithfield. The property
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EVENTFUL DAYS AT ADAMSDALE
soon reverted to Gideon L. Spencer, who leased it as follows : 1856 to 1862, to Timothy Earle and James H. Chase; 1862 to 1864, to Timothy Earle and Rufus JJ. Stofford. This latter lease was bought in 1864 by John F. Adams of Pawtucket. In 1867 he bought the property of Gideon L. Spencer and held and operated it until 1904. In 1872 Mr. Adams enlarged the mill,
PETER DEAN Assistant Superintendent 1908-date Deacon 1914-date Trustee 1914-date
about doubling its former capacity. In October, 1881, it was destroyed by fire. In 1882 the present factory was erected. Mr. Adams had previously manufactured print-cloths, yarns, and some cloth, but with the opening of the new mill he confined himself exclusively to the making of cotton yarns. The new mill
EVENTFUL DAYS AT ADAMSDALE
contained five thousand and forty spindles. In 1904 the prop- erty passed into the hands of Stephen Jenks, who sold it to the Atlantic Mill Company, which, after running the factory for a time, turned it over to the Spencer Yarn Company, under whose management it now is. Our fellow-townsman, Adam Mae Whinnie is treasurer and general manager of this Company.
MRS. J. L. WIGHTMAN
Teacher for many years. A wise counsellor and safe leader
Other Industries
Aside from the cotton mill there are no other factories in the village. Raising fruit and vegetables and producing milk are the other chief occupations of the villagers. Among the leading tillers of the soil are the White Brothers, George Allen, Arthur Newell, Matthew Ferguson, Peter Dean, Frank E. Gay, Edwin Carpenter, Stephen Bagley, and George England. The post
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EVENTFUL DAYS AT ADAMSDALE
office is located in the railroad station, and Asa A. Newell acts as both station agent and postmaster. The village store is kept by Frank E. Gay.
Wars
While the historian has little to say in regard to the part played by the people of Adamsdale in the wars of our country,
MISS FLORICE A, GUILD A willing and devoted helper in many capacities
he gives us to understand that they responded to its call in every time of need, and did their duty well. During the Indian wars the contending forces passed through Adamsdale many times but it was not the scene of an important engagement. A short distance away, in what is now Cumberland, two bloody battles were fought. One is known as the "Pierce Fight" and the other
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EVENTFUL DAYS AT ADAMSDALE
as the "Nine Men's Misery." These conflicts took place during King Philip's War which began July 4, 1675. No less than four Superintendents of the Cushman Union Sunday School, George Cushman, Ansel D. Nickerson, J. Henry Phillips, George E. Leeson and one member of the building committee, J. B. Carpen- ter, were soldiers of the War for the Union. William Briggs is the only resident veteran.
MRS. BARTON I. CHACE Charter member of the Sunday School and teacher until her death in 1879
Schools
Diligent effort has failed to discover definite records of the establishment of the public school at Adamsdale or the erection of the first school building. The records of old Attleboro, how- ever, indicate that a school was established in the village at an
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EVENTFUL DAYS AT ADAMSDALE
early date. In 1771 the town was divided into thirteen districts and the homes in which the school was to be kept were named. Adamsdale appears to have been one of these districts. It is probable that there were no school houses in Attleboro, hence in Adamsdale, up to 1804, as the records make no mention of any previous to that time. In that year the town gave the districts
MRS. JULIA A. CLARK Charter member of the Sunday School and "one of its strong pillars"
authority to raise money and build school houses. Adamsdale appears to have acted upon this privilege soon after 1808, and a building was erected on the corner near the bridge that now spans Abbott's Run. This building on another site is now used by the Spencer Yarn Company for storage purposes. Early in the nineteenth century a lot of land was set off from the old Hunt
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EVENTFUL DAYS AT ADAMSDALE
homestead, donated no doubt by the proprietor, for a cemetery and the site of a new district school building. The school house was duly erected and continued in service until 1850 when it was destroyed by incendiary fire. On the same site a new building was placed and it was in this structure, still used by the district school, that the Cusliman Union Sunday School was started in
MRS. ASA A. NEWELL Valued worker, efficient teacher and safe leader
1860 and regularly held its services till the erection of the chapel in 1883.
Adamsdale has been fortunate in its choice of committee- inen. Among those who served the district wisely and well, in those old days that tried men's souls, might be mentioned N. B. Carpenter 1837, Arnold Jillson 1841, John Tucker 1842, Charles
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EVENTFUL DAYS AT ADAMSDALE
Clark 1847, James Newell 1860, and D. B. Tucker 1864. Most of these men held the office on several different occasions. The teachers who have taught the village school also are worthy of mention. Since 1862 seventeen individuals, one man and six- teen women, have filled the position. Without exception they have been clean in life and character, and have rendered faithful and efficient service to the community.
The list includes the following :-
MISS ANNIE M. ELLIS ·
1862-1864
MISS MARY A. HAMMOND
1864
MISS LIZZIE M. PAINE
.
1864-1865
MISS LYDIA J. PERRY
1865
MISS DELIA M. STANLEY, 1866-1869, 1871-1873, 1874-1877, 1879 1870
MISS JENNIE E. ELLIS
MISS MARY E. PIKE
1871-1873
MISS STELLA M. BARROWS
1873-1875
MISS M. A. GRIGGS .
1876-1878
MISS MARY A. MATHIAS
1878-1879
MISS AGNES PEIRCE
1879-1880
FRANK S. COOK
1880
MISS HATTIE E. COOK
1880
ARIADNE Y. BALLOU
1881
MISS THERESA L. PRATT
1881-1895
MRS. NETTIE PERRY
1896-1911
MISS MARY A. DUMPHY
1911-date
Railroads
Adamsdale is located on the old Rhode Island and Massa- chusetts Railroad. The Rhode Island and Massachusetts Company constructed a line seven miles long from Franklin, Mass., to Valley Falls, R. I., which formed a connecting line between the Providence and Worcester Railroad and the New
EVENTFUL DAYS AT ADAMSDALE
York and New England system. It was opened for travel in 1872, was leased to the New York and New England in 1877, and thereafter, in conjunction with the Providence and Worcester from Providence to Valley Falls and the main line of the New York and New England from Franklin to Boston, formed a through line between Providence and Boston. A second line connects Adamsdale with Boston via North Attleboro and Wrentham.
All these lines are now a part of the New York, New Haven and Hart- ford system. The first depot was erected in Adamsdale in 1877, and for the past fifteen years Asa A. Newell has been station agent.
Sunday School Established
In that far period to which no records run, in those days that tried men's souls, full twenty-three years before the erection of any church home for the good people of Adamsdale then called REV. ISAAC FLEMING Acting Pastor 1900-1902 Lanesville, they held religious services from house to honse or in the village school-room. An early scribe writes that "On April 15, 1860, a Sunday School was founded by George Cushman and others in the village then called Lanesville, now called Adamsdale, in the town of Attleboro, in the State of Massachusetts, which was carried on almost contin- nonsly until January 4, 1874, without any formal organization or name."
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EVENTFUL DAYS AT ADAMSDALE
It is strange yet true, that no records were kept of the early doings of the Sunday School, previous to the beginning of 1874. The best information we have of this early period, so rich in sacrifice and effort, is to be found in the Adamsdale historical address of Deacon Robert Cushman, brother of the founder, which was de- livered June 30, 1883, at the laying of the corner stone of the present church building. The address was as follows :
Deacon Cushman's His- torical Address
"In the attempt to com- pile a history of this Sunday School, which, at the age of twenty - three years, has ar- rived at the dignity of build- ing a chapel, with the help of friends, the writer has been embarrassed by the lack of REV. CLARENCE M. EDDY Acting Pastor 1902-1903 definite information as to its earlier years, several mem- bers who could have given it having died, and those now living being unable to recollect many of the events with much certainty.
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EVENTFUL DAYS AT ADAMSDALE
No record of the transactions of the school previous to January, 1874, nor after 1875, can be found, except as to the attendance, collections, and the disposition of collections and donations ; and the writer feels constrained to mention these facts (as well as the lack of time) in explanation of the meagreness of a history covering so many years of efforts that have not lacked the true spirit of heroism.
In the spring of 1860 George Cushman, then of Central Falls, afterwards of Pawtucket, felt moved to do something for the spiritual benefit of the residents of this village, near which he had spent his childhood and youth. Associating with himself his neighbor, Ansel D. Nickerson ( who has since become a prominent Sunday School man), they started the school in the district school-house, by the permission of the trustee, JJames Newell. Miss Cynthia Chace ( now Mrs. Hudson ) and Miss Ruth A. Lee are the only other teachers of that day that are now re- membered. Among the few pupils were some who afterwards became pillars in the school by their constant attendance and faithful labors. The names of Mrs. Miriam Chace, James Newell, Henry A. Guild, Miss Julia A. Guild (now Mrs. Clark), and Miss Emma L. Lewis are held in grateful remembrance.
In the fall of 1862 Mr. Cushman and Mr. Nickerson both enlisted in the army, and left the school in the care of Mr. Cush- man's brother Robert of Pawtucket and Samnel T. Mallery of Central Falls, the latter acting as superintendent. These filled their places for about a year, until they returned from the war. Other duties drew so heavily upon Mr. Nickerson that the care fell
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EVENTFUL DAYS AT ADAMSDALE
almost wholly upon Mr. Cushman, who acted as superintendent until his death in 1886. Doubtless the joy of seeing ten members of the school come into the spiritual kingdom of God seemed an all-sufficient reward for his labor and self-sacrifice.
Robert Cushman again helped for a brief period. Then J. Henry Phillips of Pawtucket, George Cushman's tent-mate in the
REV. WILLARD L. PRATT Acting Pestor 1903-1905
army, warm friend and successor in business, was persuaded to assume the care of the school. His faithful and self-denying labor, continued about three years, almost to the day of his death, attested his love of the work.
After Mr. Phillips' death, George E. Leeson (afterwards an honored minister of the Gospel) performed the service for a while.
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EVENTFUL DAYS AT ADAMSDALE
After his removal to a distance Henry A. Guild and Abner Atwood served.
In January 1874 the school was more formally organized by the adoption of the name Cushman Sunday School ( in honor of its founder ) and the election of Abner Atwood and Henry A. Guild as joint superintendents, James Newell as secretary and treas- urer, Jesse Carpenter and Herbert Lewis as librarians, and Joshua Coons as director of music. Substantially this arrangement continued in effeet for several years. In April 1883, when it was decided to build a chapel, the school reorganized in a more formal manner, by the adoption of a constitution and by-laws under the name of the "Cushman Union Sunday School" of Adamsdale, the constitution being signed by the members to qualify themselves for the ownership of the chapel.
It is doubtful if the most considerate resident members fully appreciate the self-denial practiced by those who have come from a distance, often suffering from summer's heat and winter's cold and storms through these many years, to help on this good work. Some came for long periods to assist as teachers and one, Charles Phillips of Pawtucket, to assist in the music by playing the organ and leading the singing. Of the resident members who have shown their deep interest by constant attendance it is per- haps best not to remark in detail, but the Newells, Gnilds, C'haces, Lewises, Carpenters and Clarks have been conspicuous in devotion.
And these laborers have not limited themselves to the regular school work and its attendant entertainments, but have held
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EVENTFUL DAYS AT ADAMSDALE
REV. ALBERT F. BASSFORD Acting Pastor 1905-1906
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EVENTFUL DAYS AT ADAMSDALE
hundreds of meetings, both preaching services and prayer meet- ings, which have been blessed to the enlightenment of many and the saving of some."
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