USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Groton > Tercentenary, 1655-1955, Groton, Massachusetts > Part 1
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HECKMAN BINDERY, INC 033597 2 3 00
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ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 01811 0293
GENEALOGY 974.402 G916T
Tercentenary
1655 - 1955
Graton Massachusetts
$ 17.50
# 18613
300TH VERSARY
GROTON TOWN HALL
TERCENTENARY EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE Frank A. Torrey, Chairman Ruth T. Bennett, Clerk
Charles B. Ames Rudolph V. Bixby
Thomas S. Lawrence
Thomas L. M. Park
George E. Wheatley, Treasurer Virginia A. May Mary L. Sabine Roland W. Sawyer
Susie H. Shattuck
Daniel N. McCarthy
And the Board of Selectmen Harold T. Barber Joseph Madigan
EDITOR Virginia A. May
GREETINGS FROM GROTON, ENGLAND
CHURCH GROTON, ENGLAND
The occasion of the Ter- centenary of the founding of Groton, Massachusetts, must be one of great pride to this delightful New England town. It is also an occasion of pride to the cattered suffolk village of Groton in Old England, after which it was named. As Rector of Groton, Suf- folk, England, and a mem- ber of the Parish Council. I would like to take this opportunity of sending, on behalf of the Parochial Church Council and the Parish Council, our very best wishes for your Ter- centenary Celebration.
We are indeed proud that your town was named by one of its founders, Deane Winthrop, after Groton, Suffolk, where he was born on March 16th, 1623.
We are conscious of the bond that joins our two communities, so different in many ways, yet sharing the same name, and guided by the same traditions, which we owe to men such as the Winthrops, - men who were prepared to labour unceasingly for the common good, sustained by a faith in God and his purpose for them.
May there never be wanting men of such calibre to serve your town and our village. Your town crest, with its Holy Bible and plough, and the motto, - "Faith and Labour," would certainly indicate that you have followed in the worthy footsteps of your celebrated forebears.
Long may you continue to do so!
A. Brian Bird
Rector of Groton, Suffolk, England.
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CHRONOLOGICAL HISTORY OF GROTON
1655 - A petition for the Plantation of Groton was granted at a General Court held at Boston the 23rd of May, and the name of Groton was given to the town by Dean Winthrop, the first named petitioner and selectman, who came from Groton, England.
1656 - Due to the "remoteness of the place" and the difficulties attend- ing settlement, the town petitioned the General Court to be freed from rates for three years from the time of the grant. The petition was granted.
1659 - John Tinker. who conducted an Indian trading post on the banks of the Nashua River at Nod Road, petitioned the General Court for an investigation of conditions in town. The plantation "continueth unpeopled," and there were "entanglements." A committee was empowered to examine the town affairs.
1661 - The report of the committee sent to investigate affairs at Groton was accepted, and their suggestions put into effect.
Trading Post
1662 - The earliest town records extant and probably the first made were dated this year. The book of records from 1662 to 1707, kept during the Indian wars and preserved for a while rolled up, was called "The Indian Roll." All these records were copied by Dr. Samuel A. Green and printed in book form. The first entry in the records is a vote to build a meeting-house "sett upon the right hand of the path by a small white oak."
1665 - The travel from Groton to Boston at this time went through Chelmsford and Billerica, where there was a bridge over the Concord River, built by several towns, of which Groton was one, and supported jointly by them for many years. The first assessment paid by Groton occurred this year.
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1666 - The meeting-house was built probably on the rise of land over- looking the present Memorial Common at the junction of Hollis Street and Martin's Pond Road. Up to this time the inhabitants met for worship at the minister's house.
It was voted to build a town pound. "The place to be set up is near the meeting-house." It stood on the west side of Hollis Street, near the junction with School Street and remained there for nearly two centuries.
1667 - At a "general town meeting" it was voted to build a town mill. A contract was made with John Prescott of Lancaster, who with his son, Jonas, built the mill in the southerly part of Groton, now the northerly part of Harvard.
1676 - During King Philip's War the Indians assaulted the town. On March 2 came the first attack. On March 9 the enemy returned and on March 13 it came in full body. The Indians burned all the houses in town except four garrison houses. One of these stood on the site of the High School, the second on the land just north of the Town Hall, the third at the beginning of Court Street, and the fourth's location is uncertain. The discouraged inhabitants departed from the town and while travelling over the "ridges" were fired upon by the Indians but eventually found haven in Concord and nearby places.
1678 - King Philip's War being over, the inhabitants returned to Groton to rebuild their homes and till their land.
1679 - It was voted to build a second meeting-house. This stood on the corner of Legion Common where School Street and Hollis Street meet.
1681 - The first mention of schools in the town records was made. The Indians were warned out of the town, as they were undesir- able neighbors, even when not in a state of war.
1683 - The town purchased title to the township from the Indians. The price paid was about eight shillings and four pence for a ten acre right, or about twenty cents an acre.
1686 - Capt. James Parker was chosen moderator of town meeting, first on record.
1694 - The General Court passed an act prohibiting the desertion of frontier towns, of which Groton was one.
During King William's War the Indians again made attacks on the town.
Mr. Gershom Hobart, the minister, and his family, who lived where the Baptist Church now is, suffered at the hands of the Indians. Two of his children were taken, one of whom was
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killed and the other rescued from captivity. The story is told that one child was saved by hiding in a wash tub in the cellar. Another family attacked by the Indians was the William Long- ley family, who lived on the present East Pepperell Road near Mr. James Fitch's home. The Indians early in the morning of the fatal day turned Mr. Longley's cattle out of the barnyard into a cornfield, and lay in ambush. This trick drew out some of the family unarmed to drive the cattle from the corn. The Indians fell upon them, and either killed or took captive the whole family. John, one of the sons, was carried to Canada, where he remained five years, was ransomed and returned to Groton to live. Lydia, the daughter, was likewise taken to Canada, where she entered a convent and remained the rest of her life.
1699 - The town voted on August 22 to "build a cart bridge over Lancaster River," which was the name formerly given to the Nashua River.
1704 - During Queen Anne's War, the frontier towns were again ex- posed to Indian warfare. John Davis, who lived below the Groton School on the Shirley Road, was killed by the Indians, while he was in his yard at dusk taking in clothes from the line.
1707 - Three children of Thomas Tarbell, who lived on the location of the James Lawrence mansion, were made captives by the Indians. One evening the Indians attacked and all inhabitants of the neighborhood, except the three Tarbell children, found refuge in the garrison house, which stood where Mr. Barrett's home now is. The children were in a cherry tree near their house, and were captured before they had time to escape. John and Zachariah were taken to live with the Indians, and there remained, married Indian women and became chiefs of their tribes. Their descendants, some with the Tarbell name, may still be found among the Caughnawaga Indians in northern New York and Canada. Sarah, the sister, was placed in a con- vent in Montreal where she lived all her life.
1709 - John Shattuck, who lived near the "mill" at North Main Street and his son, John, twenty years of age, were killed by the In- dians when returning from their field on the west side of the river at Stony Fordway.
1713- The General Court passed an act separating the proprietors, who divided the common lands, and the inhabitants. Previously no distinction had been made.
1714 - The third meeting-house was built "at Green's," the site of the present First Parish Meeting-House.
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The first dismemberment of the town took place this year, when Nashoba was incorporated a town by the name of Little- ton, and a large portion of Groton at the south-east part was included within the bounds of the new town.
٢٢
War Party
1716 - The town voted to make a schoolhouse out of the second meet- ing-house.
1724 - John Ames, who lived on the west side of the Nashua River near Primus, was killed by an Indian as he entered his gate. His son, who was in the house at the time, shot and killed the Indian when he tried to force entrance through the doorway. This was the last man killed by an Indian within the bounds of Groton.
1725 - It is recorded that John Shepley had "drawn forth twenty men out of his company at Groton to be snowshoe men." Capt. Jonas Prescott also took twenty men from his company for the same purpose. Snow shoes were first used by soldiers in Dum- mer's or Lovell's War.
The Indians were again troublesome and bounties were offered for their scalps. Capt. John Lovell or Lovewell, of Dunstable, organized a company of volunteers from surrounding towns, six of whom were from Groton, and set out on an excursion into enemy territory. He and his men made several trips into the wilderness, and on May 8 encountered the enemy near what is now Fryeburg, Maine. There ensued, "Lovell's fight." Paugus, the Indian chieftain, was killed by John Chamberlain of Groton. Years later, legend says that Paugus' son came to Groton to avenge his father's death, but was himself killed by John Chamberlain at his mill off the Lowell Road ..
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1726 - Col. William Prescott was born, February 20, in a house, which stood where Mr. Kenney's house is on the Old Ayer Road.
1730 - Upon the incorporation of Harvard, Groton gave up a consider- able territory to that new town, comprising the "old mill" dis- trict. About the same time a portion on the east line of Groton was annexed to Westford.
1735 - Groton Gore, a triangular piece of land in the present towns of Milford, Wilton, Mason, Greenville and Brookline, New Hampshire, was granted Groton as compensation for loss of Nashobah in 1715. It was used for pasturing cattle.
1741 - Groton Gore was lost by the running of the provincial line be- tween New Hampshire and Massachusetts.
1753 - Shirley and Pepperell were set from Groton.
1755 - The fourth meeting-house, which is the present First Parish Church building, was built on the same location as the third meeting-house.
An expedition including many Groton men was sent to Nova Scotia to expel from their homes the French settlers called Acadians. Two families of ten persons were sent to Groton to live.
1760 - The last division of common lands was made by the proprietors.
1770 - The southern-most section of the Groton Inn was built this year as a dwelling-house, and was the home of Rev. Samuel Dana and his family. It became an inn when Jonathan Keep took it over sometime during the Revolution, and has been an inn ever since.
1771 - Land in the western part of the state, located in Berkshire County in the vicinity of Becket, was granted to the proprietors of Groton in compensation for the loss of Groton Gore.
1775 - Two companies of one hundred Minutemen gathered on the common in front of the meeting-house on April 19th to go to the Battle of Concord and Lexington.
Col. William Prescott commanded troops at the Battle of Bunker Hill.
Prudence Wright's Guards, a band of women dressed in men's clothes, guarded Jewett's bridge over the Nashua River between Pepperell and Groton, and captured a spy.
1776 - The Court of Common Pleas first met in Groton at the First Parish Meeting-House.
1778 - The Groton Artillery, a military company of the State Militia, was organized with William Swan, first captain.
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1780 - The land in the western part of the state granted to the proprie- tors of Groton was sold. The famous dark day occurred May 19.
1786 - Job Shattuck led Shays' Rebellion in this vicinity, was captured and imprisoned.
MARTINS POND ROAD
N
Champney House
W.
-E
Town Pound
Second Church
Capt. Childs?
3
Old
A
Cemeterys
NI
ANE
L
OT
G
A
F
S
T
\ Barn
JAMES
Timothy Bigelow
Quail' Bake Shop
M
A
Aaron Brown
Central House
Thomas Gardner's
Store and House
James Brazer's Store?
Lowrence Homestead
O RO
BROAD MEADOW
ROAD
Old Nutting House
Lawrence Academy
Eschool No.1
Powder Hous
IN 1797
Judge James Prescott
To South Groton
Dotted lines indicate streets added since 1797.
Demelim
.
To West Groton
Jonathan Loring
S T.
School No 35
& Aaron Brown's Potash Works
OWELL
ROAD
First Parish Church
FARMERS
GROTON, MASSACHUSETTS
Old Green House
Samuel Dana
Capt Farwell's Home
Richardson's Tavern
at Old Bradstreet Parsonage
BROOK
Abijah Prescott
Samuel Tarbell
N
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Aaron Brown's potash works located on Broadmeadow Road where the gates to the town field now are, were burnt by insur- gents of Shays' Rebellion. Aaron Brown was the constable who served the warrant for Job Shattuck's arrest.
1793 - The Groton Academy, later the Lawrence Academy, was in- corporated.
About twenty families in the north part of Groton with their farms were annexed to Dunstable.
1795 - First Parish Meeting-House was set on fire by lightning on July 26. The fire was quenched with milk, which was believed to be the only thing to put out such a fire.
1797 - Main Street, which originally went up Hollis Street, was built through from the present corner of Hollis Street to Elm Street. St. Paul's Lodge of Free Masons was instituted.
1800 - The first Post Office was established in town on September 29, with Hon. Samuel Dana as postmaster. Mr. Dana kept the post- office at his law office on the site of the Boutwell House.
1802 - The first Groton fire engine, the Torrent, was built in town by Loammi Baldwin.
1805 - On November 18, the town adopted a re- port, "By - Laws of Groton, Relative to Schools," which is the earliest public document of the town.
1815 - The Groton Fire Club was organized.
1819 - The bell in the First Parish Meeting-House was cast by Paul Revere and son this year.
1826 - The cornerstone of the Union Meeting-House was laid, July 4.
1827 - The Chapel, now a house, sometimes called "Chapel House," which is the second building above the store on Pepperell Road, West Groton, was built for Rev. John Todd.
1828 - The soapstone ledge, on the east side of Common Street near where the railroad crosses, was discovered by John Fitch on his farm and was first quarried.
1829 - The earliest newspaper, The Groton Herald, was printed in Groton by Stacy and Rogers, "next door to the Postoffice," which was then in the building known later as Gerrish's Block near the Inn.
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1840 - The First Parish Meeting-House was given a quarter turn to face the west, and was remodeled.
1842 - The Baptist Meeting-House was built.
1844 - This was the year that the Millerites expected the end of the world.
1845 - Groton Academy changed its name to Lawrence Academy to honor the Lawrence brothers who were benefactors of the school.
1846 - The Union Meeting-House was remodeled.
1847 - The new cemetery at the end of Hollis Street was consecrated.
1848 - The Worcester and Nashua railroad was opened.
1850 - The Post-office in West Groton was established on March 19. Adams Archibald was the postmaster and kept the office in the railway station.
The town voted to procure a new site for the pound. The loca- tion of the new pound was on Fagot Lane, the former name of West Street, near its western end at the railroad.
1851 - George S. Boutwell became governor of Massachusetts.
1854 - The free Public Library was established in town.
1855 - The Bi-centennial celebration was held.
The Groton Farmers' and Mechanics' Club was organized, and held its first Fair.
1856 - Groton Cornet Band was organized.
1857 - More land was given Pepperell. It comprised that part now known as East Pepperell, which sprang up and grew after the railroad went through that area.
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1859 - The Town Hall was built.
1861 - Groton Artillery became Co. B. of the Sixth Regiment of Massachusetts and took part in the Civil War. "The Old Sixth" was the first to volunteer, the first in the field and the first to see actual service. It fought on the streets of Baltimore, Md., on April 19th.
1867 - A public well was dug at the corner of Hollis and Main Streets, and a town pump was installed there.
1868- The old Lawrence Academy building was burnt on July 4th.
GŁOTÔN TOWN HALL - Huth F. Gar
LAWRENCE ACADEMY, 1860
1869 - The town voted to abolish school districts.
The Chaplin School, now Legion Hall, was built. President Ulysses S. Grant visited Groton, and a reception was held for him by Governor Boutwell at his home.
1871 - The new Lawrence Academy building and the Butler High School, on the same location as the present High School, were completed.
Ayer was set off from Groton, and incorporated February 14. The town was named after the late James Cook Ayer of Lowell.
1873 The town voted to establish street lamps in the village. Miss Clarissa Butler and Mrs. Mary T. Shumway were the first women elected to the school committee.
1874 - School houses were named instead of being designated by numbers.
Music Hall, on the top floor of the Butler High School, was dedicated. A free public singing school for children and adults was conducted there.
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1875 - The Baptist Church was remodeled.
The first Board of Fire Engineers was appointed by the select- men.
1876- The Centennial of the Declaration of Independence was cele- brated in town, July 4.
1880 - A telegraph office was opened on March 20 in the railway station. The first message was sent to Nashua.
The tax rate this year was $4.00 on a thousand.
1881 - A telephone office was first opened, April 29, in the building at the south corner of Main Street and Station Avenue.
1884 - Groton School was founded.
1885 - Christian Union Church in West Groton was built.
1893 - The Public Library Building was dedi- cated.
1894 - The Groton Historical Society was or- ganized.
1897 - Groton Water Company was organized.
1898 - Groton Engine and Hose Company was formed.
The town seal, designed by Dr. S. A. Green, was adopted by the town on April 4.
1900 - Lawrence Playground was given to the town by Amory Lawrence.
1901 - Mrs. E. G. Low established Lowthorpe School.
1902 and
1903 - Milestones were set on the right hand side of the main roads leading into town. There is only one five-mile stone, which is in East Groton.
1905 - First Groton School chapel was moved to town, and became the Catholic Church.
Groton celebrated its 250th anniversary, July 12.
1908 - Groton Lodge I. O. O. F. No. 95 was instituted.
1909 - Electric lights were introduced into town.
1910 - The first train ran over the straightened track near the depot. Previously there was a much deeper curve toward the village.
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V
1911 - The new railroad depot was built. First Chief of Police was appointed.
1913 - Groton Woman's Club was organized.
1915 - Tarbell and Boutwell Schools were built. Odd Fellows Hall on Station Avenue was built. West Groton Branch Library was started.
1919 - Lawrence W. Gay Post No. 55 American Legion was formed.
1922 - Groton Town Forest was established.
Auxiliary to Lawrence W. Gay Post was organized.
1923 - Garden Club was formed.
1924 - The development called Lost Lake began this year.
1928 - New High School on site of Butler High School was built.
1929 - West Groton Catholic Church was built.
1931 - Boston Consolidated Gas came into town.
1932 - The railroad depot was burned.
1936 - A flood inundated large areas in town.
1938 - Hurricane did great damage in town on September 21.
1939 - Governor Boutwell House was opened as a museum.
1940 - Fire Station was built from I. O. O. F. Hall
1941 - Bad forest fire raged east of the village on April 29 and 30. Groton Fire Tower was built on Gibbet Hill.
Rotary Club was organized.
Hazel Grove Park was given to the town by Mr. W. P. Wharton.
1943 - Groton dedicated Second World War Honor Roll near the Town Hall on August 15.
1946 - Two-way Radio system was installed in Fire Station for the use of Police and Fire Departments.
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1947 - The property, which formerly was Lowthorpe School, became the Convent of the Holy Union of the Sacred Hearts.
Town adopted a by-law establishing a Planning Board.
1949 - League of Women Voters was formed.
1951 - The new elementary school was first used.
1952 - First mercury vapor street-lights were installed.
1953- New Groton Community Hospital was completed.
1954 - World War II Memorial was set up, and all war memorials placed on common on Hollis Street.
An addition to the Fire Station was built.
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GROTON SOAPSTONE MILL
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OUR SPONSORS
They made possible this souvenir of Groton's Tercentenary.
Rev. and Mrs. Charles B. Ames Mr. and Mrs. Harris L. Badger H. L. Badger and Son Mrs. Oric Bates
Miss Ruth T. Bennett Mr. and Mrs. William Bentinck-Smith Miss Gail Emerson Bixby Boots and Saddle, Inc.
Dr. and Mrs. Edward B. Branigan
Bruce Pharmacy
Mrs. William L. Bruce
Mrs. Elizabeth Blood Chapman
Clover Hill Farms
Dr. and Mrs. Cyrus Cominos Craven's Package Store, Inc. Rev. and Mrs. John Crocker
Mr. and Mrs. Richard E. Danielson
Mr. and Mrs. John J. DeJongh
Mr. and Mrs. David F. Dickson
Mr. and Mrs. Walter H. Dodge Miss Betty Dumaine Elm Street Garage
Mr. Claude C. Farwell
First National Stores
Miss Helen F. Gay
Mr. and Mrs. Bravel Goulart
Gro-Lex, Inc.
Groton Country Club, Inc.
Groton Inn
Groton Leatherboard Co.
Groton School
Groton Super Market
Mr. and Mrs. Charles Harrison
Mr. and Mrs. Mark Hollingsworth Hollingsworth and Vose Co.
Mr. and Mrs. Harry J. Hosking
H. Huebner and Son Dr. James R. Joy
Mrs. Arthur G. Kilbourn
Mr. and Mrs. George Kilbourn Mrs. Vera Lawlor Lawrence Academy Mr. and Mrs. Carl A. P. Lawrence
Mrs. Richard Lawrence Drs. F. Woodward and Elizabeth Lewis Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Madigan
Mr. and Mrs. Edward F. Marshall Mr. and Mrs. Robert M. May May and Hally, Inc. Maynard Cleaners, Inc. George L. Moison Co., Inc. Mr. and Mrs. Douglas E. Nathan Gen. and Mrs. Daniel Needham Mr. and Mrs. Hugh A. Nisbet Mrs. Herbert Norris Mr. Dana T. Norris Mrs. Lawrence Park Miss Elizabeth R. Peabody
Miss Margery Peabody Rt. Rev. and Mrs. Malcolm E. Peabody Mr. and Mrs. Clifford Pinkham Mr. and Mrs. Walter Powers Mr. and Mrs. Donald L. Priest Mr. and Mrs. Henry H. Richards Mr. and Mrs. Stephen W. Sabine San-Vel Contracting Co. Mr. and Mrs. Alvin R. Sawyer Mr. and Mrs. Roland W. Sawyer
Mrs. Harry A. Schaupp
Mrs. Carleton A. Shaw
Mr. and Mrs. Winthrop L. Sheedy Sherwin's Store Stan's Auto Electric Service
Mr. Theophilus G. Smith Mrs. Winifred M. Stoffel Mr. and Mrs. Arthur P. Stone Mr. and Mrs. Lindley R. Sutton The Reading Club
Trimount Bituminous Products Co. Mr. and Mrs. Herbert W. Taylor Mr. and Mrs. George H. Timmins Mr. and Mrs. Frank A. Torrey Mr. Fred Torrey
Utility Oil Co. Harold H. Webber Laboratories Col. and Mrs. E. J. Wells Mr. and Mrs. William P. Wharton Mr. and Mrs. George E. Wheatley Mr. and Mrs. Harvey A. Wilder Mr. and Mrs. Elmer J. Wood Woodhaven Greenhouses Dr. and Mrs. John A. Wyant
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Roted Men in Groton history
1776 1854
CALEB BUTLER Groton Historian and Preceptor at Lawrence Academy
1855
1792
ABBOTT LAWRENCE Ambassador to Court of St. James
1818
1905
GEORGE S. BOUTWELL Governor of Massachusetts and Secretary of the Treasury
1822 1895
DANIEL NEEDHAM On Governor Boutwell's Staff and Representative and Senator in Massachusetts Legislature
1830 1918
SAMUEL A. GREEN Groton Historian and Mayor of Boston
1855 1922
WILLIAM A. BANCROFT President of Boston Elevated Railroad and Mayor of Cambridge
1857 1944
ENDICOTT PEABODY Founder of Groton School
FIRST PARISH CHURCH
In May of the year 1655, upon a petition presented to the General Court at Boston for a plantation, a tract of land eight miles square was granted. This began slowly to be settled and soon the inhabitants of Groton attended to the important matters of settling a minister among them and building a church. Rev. John Miller came in 1662, the first church was built in 1666; as the town grew, larger buildings became necessary, and by the year 1755 the fourth building, the present First Parish Church, was erected.
To realize that changes have been made in the building itself, one needs only to look closely and note irregularities in the outside boarding. The following description and diagram is taken from an unpublished account of the church as it looked about the year 1825:
"The building then fronted the west and the bell-porch was on the north and towards the road that runs down by Mr. Joseph Hall's. There were three doors opening into the inside, one at the middle of each end, and one in the middle of the front; and there were three small porches - those at the ends with two outer doors each and that in the front with three. There were galleries on three sides, with sloping floors. The situa- tion and ground plan of the house with the aisles, etc., was something like the following:"
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