USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > Northborough > The Centennial celebration of the town of Northborough, Mass., August 22, 1866 > Part 1
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Gc 974.402 N817n 1778998
M. L.
REYNOLDS HISTORICAL GENEALOGY COLLECTION
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ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 01145 8269
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THE
CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION
OF THIE
TOWN OF NORTHBOROUGH, MASS., 1
AUGUST 22, 1866.
PRINTED FOR THE COMMITTEE.
1866.
3
THE
Centennial Celebration
1778998 OF THE
TOWN OF NORTHBOROUGH, MASS.,
AUGUST 22, 1866.
PRINTED FOR THE COMMITTEE
THE
LIL CHICA_
1866.
1
84462 Northborough, Mass.
.63 The centennial celebration of the town of Northborough, Mass., August 22, 1866. [Northborough] Printed for the Committee, 1866. 47, [1] p. 23cm. Address by Joseph Allen.
1. Northborough, Mass .- Hist. I. Allen, Joseph, 1790-1873. II. Title.
Library of Congress
1-11548 F74.NON9 3002 -- Copy 2.
CART [a32c1]
Kim
ADDRESS.
An Mich. Joseph Allen, J. D., of Northborough.
IN the beautiful month of June, in the year of our Lord 1636, might have been seen from the hills in the southeast part of this town a strange phenomenon. It was a company of men, women and children-one hundred in all-driving before them a herd of cattle, one hundred and sixty in number, which supplied them with milk on their long and toilsome pilgrimage. "They hewed their difficult way," says the historian (J. S. PALFREY), "through thickets ; and their simple engineering bridged with felled trees the streams which could not be forded. Tents and wagons pro- tected them from the rain and sheltered their sleep. Early berries, which grew along the way, furnished an agreeable variety in their diet ; and the fragrance of Summer flowers and the songs of innumerable birds beguiled the weariness of the pilgrimage. It occupied a fortnight, though the distance was scarcely a hundred miles. Mrs. HOOKER, by reason of illness, was carried in a horse litter."
This Mrs. HOOKER was the minister's wife, and this goodly company was composed of members of his congregation in New- town, now Cambridge, and of the neighboring churches of Dor- chester and Watertown, and their destination was the fertile banks of the Connecticut, where they laid the foundations of three flourishing towns-Hartford, Wethersfield, and Windsor ; at first named from the towns they had left, Newtown, Water- town, and Dorchester.
An aged citizen of this town, forty years ago, pointed out to me what, in the old records, is spoken of as "the Nepmuch road, that formerly led toward Connecticoat." It passed through the southeast corner of this town, over Rock Hill, by the dwelling- house of SAMUEL SEAVER and the State Reform School, through
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Westborough and Hassanamesitt, now Grafton, and so on to the place of their destination.
A smaller company had preceded them in the autumn of 1635, and had probably taken the same route. These two companies of emigrants were the first of English descent who set foot on soil included within the boundaries of this town. From Rock Hill and the beautiful heights on which stands the State Institu- tion in our neighborhood, they looked down upon Great and Little Chauncey, and pathless forests, which have since been re- claimed and are now converted into cultivated farms. They may have had glimpses of the stream, dignified by the name of a river, the Indian name being still retained, that winds its way through our pleasant village, which, with its tributaries, now fur- mishes water-power to mills and factories of different kinds. They must have had a full view of what is justly regarded as one of the chief ornaments of the village-the hill, that rises so grace- fully and stands so majestically before us, worthy of the new name by which it is now known, and destined, we trust, as the village grows in size and wealth, to receive the embellishments of enterprise and taste.
The great landmarks remain. The hills and valleys and streams are the same, in their main features, as when looked upon for the first time by civilized men, two hundred and thirty years ago. All else how changed ! The tide of emigration ad- vanced steadily from the settlements on the borders of the sea. · From Watertown to Concord and Sudbury the way was not long or difficult, and the extensive meadows bordering the streams that then flowed unobstructed by mill-dams through those towns into the Merrimac, held out strong attractions to the new settler. Sudbury was incorporated in 1638, only two years after the emi- gration of the band of pilgrims to the banks of the Connecticut, of which I have spoken. The town increased and flourished for eighteen years, before another remove was undertaken. At length, in May, 1656, two hundred and ten years ago, the follow- ing petition was presented to the General Court, in more respectful terms than are used in these degenerate days :
"The humble petition of several of the Inhabitants of Sud- bury, whose names are hereunder written, humbly sheweth : that whereas your petitioners have lived divers years in Sud-
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bury and God has been pleased to increase our children, which are now divers of them grown to man's estate, and wee, many of us, grown into years, so as that wee should be glad to see them settled before the Lord take us away from hence, as also God having given us some considerable quantity of cattle, so that wee are so straitened that wee cannot so comfortably submit as could be desired ; and some of us having taken some pains to view the country, wee have found a place which lyeth Westward about eight miles from Sudbury, which weegconceive might be com- fortable for our subsistence.
"It is therefore the humble request of your petitioners to this kind Court, that you would bee pleased to grant unto us eight miles square, for to make a plantation.
" If it shall please this Hon'd Court to grant our petition, it is further than [then] the request of yourspetitioners to this Hon'd Court, that you will be pleased to appoint Mr. THOMAS DANFORTH or Lieut. FISHER to lay out the bounds of the planta- tion, and wee shall satisfy those whom the Hon'd Court shall please to employ in it. So apprehending this weighty occasion, wee shall no further trouble this Hon'd Court, but shall ever pray for your happyness."
Of the thirteen persons whose names are subscribed to this petition, one, at least, THOMAS GOODENOW, subsequently lived within the borders of this town, and several others have descend- ants still living among us.
The petition was granted; a Committee was appointed to fix the boundaries of a plantation "six miles or otherwise," the record states, which, however, was to be forfeited unless "there be a town settled with twenty or more families within three years, so as an able ministry may bee there maintained."
The plantation of six miles square included, besides Marl- borough proper, most of the territory comprising the towns of Westborough, Southborough, Northborough, and the new town of Hudson.
. Till its incorporation in 1660, the plantation was known by the name of Whipsuppenicke, as the Indian plantation of six thousand acres adjoining on the northeastern border was called Ockoocangansett. This plantation, with several other tracts of land on the northern and western borders, was afterwards an- nexed to the original grant of six miles square.
In the meantime, "severa! families," as stated in the history of Marlborough, had settled, ad an carly day, west of Assabet and
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near Chauncey pond, and had done so with an assurance, given as early as 1688, that they should be erected into a parish as soon as they were able to support a minister : and the people of Marlborough, in the spirit of liberality, had designated the line for division "at the cartway at Stirrup brook, where the Con- necticutt way now goeth, and to run a parallel line with the west line of the bounds of the town."
As early as 1660, Cold Harbor Meadow had received its name and had been laid out in thirty-four lots, which was prob- ably the number of the proprietors of Marlborough plantation ; and in 1672 grants of land were made to SAMUEL GOODENOW, JOHN and SAMUEL BRIGHAM, and JOHN REDIAT, all within the bounds of this town. SAMUEL GOODENOW's grant comprised the farms of the late Deacon JONAS BARTLETT and GILL BARTLETT on the Marlborough road. The tragical fate of his daughter MARY, and the almost miraculous escape of her companion, Mrs. MARY FAY, when overtaken by a band of ruthless savages, are too well known to require further notice. The grave of Miss GOODENOW still remains without a monument, and may soon become obliter- ated and unknown.
JOHN REDIAT's daughter, MEHITABEL, was married to NATHAN- IEL OAKES, who inherited his estate, and who lived on what is known as the Old Parsonage, having been in possession succes- sively of the first two ministers of this town, JOHN MARTYN and PETER WHITNEY.
HANNAH, a daughter of NATHANIEL OAKES, was married to GERSHOM FAY, Jr., and was the mother of the late THAD. FAY, whom some of us remember as a nonagenarian nearly half a cen- tury ago.
SAMUEL BRIGHAM lived on the farm east of the Great Chauncey, now belonging to the State Reform School, and was the ancestor of the late DR. SAMUEL BRIGHAM of Marlborough. His brother THOMAS lived in the westerly part of Marlborough.
Another brother, JOHN, received a grant of land in this same year, 1662, on what is called in the old records "Licor Meadow Plain," so called, I suppose, from its vicinity to the hill which was already known by the familiar name of Liquor Hill, now Mt. Assabet. Mr. BRIGHAM is understood to have been the first
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settler in that part of Marlborough which forms the two towns of Westborough and Northborough. He built a log cabin, and set up a saw-mill on Howard brook, which, from that time, has been used as a mill-site, and where can be seen, or could a few years since, the remains of the cellar where JOHN BRIGHAM's cabin once stood. Here he lived for many years a solitary life, until fear of the savages forced him to leave ; soon after which, the cabin was burnt to the ground. His daughter MARY was mar- ried to GERSHOM FAY, Sr., grandfather of the late NAHUM FAY, Esq., who lived on the "Coram Farm," as it was called, some fifty rods this side of the west school-house. A large elm tree, growing in the cellar, marks the spot where once stood the house of GERSHOM FAY, the father of a large family, many of whose descendants are still with us, and whose farm, with subse- quent additions, still remains in the possession of his descendants.
Among the first settlers of Northborough was SIMEON How- ARD, whose house stood a few rods west of this church, where the remains of the cellar are yet visible, and whose land extended on the north to the brook which is called by his name, and on the east to the road leading to the saw-mill. It formed the northern boundary of the meeting-house common, a triangular piece of land, consisting of two or three acres, given by JAMES EAGER, another of the first settlers, who lived on the spot now occupied by the dwelling-house of J. H. MCINTIRE.
Another of the early settlers was WILLIAM HOLLOWAY, who, with his father ADAM, lived on the spot where stands the dwell- ing-house of GEORGE H. WILLIAMS. One of the daughters, MARY, was married to JONATHAN BARTLETT, and was living at the time of my settlement in this place. She died in 1821, at the age of 95. I recall, with pleasure, a social party at my house, con- sisting of ten or twelve of the more aged persons of my parish, at which were present, among others, Madam BARTLETT and Madam WHITNEY, the widow of my respected predecessor in the ministry.
HEZEKIAH TOMLIN lived on Tomlin Hill ; his brother ISAAC, on the spot now occupied by the dwelling-house of GEORGE C. DAVIS, Esq.
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The first house on what was called "the new Connecticut road," now the stage road that leads from Marlborough to Wor- cester, west of SAMUEL GOODENOW's farm, was built by Capt. JAMES EAGER on the northwest side of Mt. Assabet, a part of which was standing a few years since.
In the early part of the last century, four or five farms were taken up by emigrants from Watertown, in the northwest corner of this town, the hill receiving its designation from two brothers, JAMES and NATHAN BALL. Their companions and neighbors were Deacon JONATHAN LIVERMORE, whose first wife was ABIGAIL, sister of the BALLS, and JOSEPH WHEELER, the former on the extreme borders of the town, the latter on the southern declivity of the hill, where an excavation in the earth marks the spot where the house stood.
Early in the eighteenth century EPHRAIM ALLEN came from Roxbury, purchased a farm and erected the first grist-mill in this town, on the Assabet road, near the old factory, and which remained in the possession of his descendants till within the last few years.
In 1717, the whole of the western part of Marlborough was incorporated under the name of Westborough, and in 1744, Octo- ber 20th, the northern part of the new town was set off as a sepa- rate Precinct, which, till its incorporation in 1766, bore the name of The Second Precinct of Westborough. Previous to the year . . 1717, the whole tract went by the name of Chauncey or Chaun- cey Village, so named from President CHAUNCEY, of Harvard College, who had lands assigned him by the General Court on the borders of Great Chauncey Pond, perhaps, in part, the same that is now owned by the State, on which the State Reform School stands.
In 1746, a church was organized in the North Precinct and Rev. JOHN MARTYN ordained; the church consisting of ten male members, besides the minister ; events commemorated by a pub- lic celebration twenty years ago.
Twenty years from this date brings us to 1766, when, on the 24th of January, the North Precinct was incorporated as a Dis- trict and received the name which it now bears. It did not
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attain to the dignity and title of a Town till the commencement of the Revolutionary War, in 1775.
The year 1866, is, then, the Centennial of its incorporation, and, as was meet, we, the present citizens of the town, with others from abroad, who have been drawn hither by their affec- tion for the place of their nativity or former residence, to whom we tender our friendly greetings and our hospitable wel- come, are gathered together on this time-hallowed spot to com- memorate with appropriate services the act which gave a cor- porate existence to this town.
A century of years! How long a period when contrasted with the brevity of human life ! And yet how brief, measured by the length of God's eternal year !
One hundred years! The last one hundred years! What changes have they wrought or witnessed in the fields and forests, and especially in those who have tilled these fields and subdued these forests, and built houses and inhabited them ; who have married and been given in marriage; who have come upon the stage, acted their several parts and passed off to make way for other actors. Time would fail me, and your patience would be exhausted, should I undertake to recount them. To some of them our attention may be invited by our friends, who, gifted with wit and wisdom, and a ready utterance, shall address us in measured verse or plain prose before we leave these seats.
A few of the more important facts and occurrences con- nected with our local history; for the last one hundred years. I must not pass over in silence. And first, in regard to the lon- gevity of the inhabitants of this town and the healthiness of this locality. From the year 1780, when the Parish Records were destroyed by fire, till the commencement of my ministry in 1816, thirty-six years ----
59 persons died between the ages of 70 and 80 38 66
66 80 and 90 14
66 90 and 100
One, Deacon LIVERMORE, having passed his hundredth year, (100 yrs. 7 m. ) During my ministry, between the years 1816 and 1866, fifty years --
150 persons have died between
70 and 80
84 ", 66 80 and 90
22
66 66
90 and 100
2
1
10
Total since 1780-
209 persons have died between 70 and 80
80 and 90 122 66 66 66 36
90 and 100
Or, 367 in all, who in the compass of eighty-six years completed the period of three score years and ten, and this in a population that has varied from 800 to 1650; and there are now living innongst us about fifty persons 70 years and upwards. I leave this statement without comment, for it needs none; it speaks for itself.
Northborough has, moreover, an honorable record in matters appertaining to Education. The beginnings were indeed small, and it was " the day of small things." The appropriation that was made the second year of the corporate existence of North- borough (1767) was £11, equal to $36.66.6, which was gradually increased, till in 1776 it amounted to £20=$66.66.6. The fol- lowing year, notwithstanding the war in which we were engaged with the mother country, the amount raised for the support of schools was doubled, equal to $133.33.3.
In 1770, the District was divided into four Squadrons, as they were called, and in 1780, the town granted €4000 in a greatly reduced currency, amounting in hard money to only $175.00, to build four school-houses, to which an additional grant of $367.00 was afterwards made, amounting in silver or gold to $542, or $135.50 for each. Now for the contrast : Last April the town granted $1500 to build a new school-house for a single district ; · $1000 to renovate and refurnish another, besides $600 to change the town hall into a school-room, while they increased the appro- priation for the support of schools from $1200 to $2100.
There are, moreover, but few towns in the Commonwealth which, according to the population, have furnished more or bet- ter teachers for our own and other schools than the small town of Northborough. One of our aged citizens, himself a teacher, has furnished me with a list of his schoolmates, who afterwards be- came teachers. It contains fifty-two names, most of whom-all but seventeen-obtained their school education, as I am informed, wholly in our district schools. Some of these became eminent in their profession, and are remembered with gratitude and affec- tion by those who were trained under their care.
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The same person has, moreover, the names of over one hun- dred and forty persons, male and female, natives or residents of this town, educated chiefly in our public schools, who, since the commencement of the present century, have found employment as teachers in this or in other places, of whom nearly fifty be- longed to a single district. The North District is entitled to that honor. The number who have graduated at our State Normal Schools exceeds thirty; seventeen of whom were con- nected with the school at Bridgewater.
Of this noble army of teachers, some continued long in the service; some did not retire from the field till reminded, by the infirmities of age, that it was time to put off their armor and to give place to new recruits. NAHUM FAY, Esq., taught school in this, his native town, forty years; his sons, DEXTER and JOHN FLAVEL, each more than half that term.
Of the VALENTINES, brothers, five in all, four made teaching their life employment and became eminent in their profession ; and the children of more than one of them follow in the steps of their fathers. The Grammar School in Quincy was supplied with a succession of teachers from Northborough nearly half a century, twenty-eight years of which it was under the care of a teacher (WILLIAM SEAVER, Esq.) whose term of service in that and in other towns extended through forty-eight years.
The distinguished educator and scholar, JOHN ALLEN, who died in Philadelphia three years since, passed his early years in this town and was educated in our schools.
GEORGE and HENRY SHERMAN, who taught school many years in Greenville, S. C., were natives of this town.
Other teachers, of both sexes, might be named, whose ser- vices in the profession are worthy of record, but I forbear.
I must not, however, forget, or pass over in silence, "The Seminary," as it is called. As early as 1779, a number of the citizens of this town formed an association for instituting a school of a higher order, which was known by the name of The Seminary ; of which GILLAM BASS was chosen first President and SAMUEL WOOD Clerk. The Committee consisting of HENRY GASCHETT, THADDEUS FAY and ABRAHAM MUNROE.
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They made choice of JAMES HART for the teacher, who, accord- ing to a receipt in his handwriting, now in my possession, dated October 9, 1779, was paid £55-163. for the month ending at that date. From another receipt, dated April 7, 1780, it appears that up to that time he had received in all £348-15s. for his services. This was of course in a depreciated currency, the amount of which in hard money I have not calculated. Mr. HART excelled in penmanship, as did many of those who enjoyed the benefit of his teaching. The Seminary, built by subscription in thirty-five shares, cost £96-16-3-3, of which ABRAHAM MUNROE paid the largest amount and THADDEUS FAY and HENRY GASCHETT the next highest.
Some here present attended school in the old Seminary, which stood on a part of the Meeting-house common, in front of the land owned by JOSEPH T. FAY.
Among the educational institutions of this town the North- borough Lyceum deserves a passing notice. It was among the earliest, if not the first, formed in this county, and continued in active operation for more than thirty years, beginning with the year 1828. It was, in fact, a Free High School, and by its lectures and debates did good service in the promotion of popu- lar education.
A Public Town Library is still a desideratum, but we are happy to announce to our friends from abroad, whom we meet here to-day, that the want is likely soon to be supplied.
The number of persons belonging to this town who have re- ceived a collegiate education exceeds twenty.
The patriotic record of Northborough is one of which her citizens may justly be proud. In the war of the Revolution, she nobly took her stand on the side of liberty and independence. As early as March, 1773, it was " voted, as the opinion of this district, that it is the indispensable duty of all men and all bodies of men, to unite and strenuously oppose, by all lawful ways and means, such unjust and unrighteous encroachments, made or attempted to be made, upon their just rights ; and that it is our duty earnestly to endeavor to hand those rights down inviolate to our posterity, as they were handed to us by our worthy ancestors."
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As an illustration of the patriotic spirit which animated the young men of that day, let me relate the following anecdote, which appeared in the Massachusetts Gazette for February 17th, 1773:
"We hear from Shrewsbury, that one day last week, a pedlar was observed to go into a tavern there with a bag containing about 50 pounds of tea. Information of which being had at Northboro', about five miles distance, a number of Indians went from the Great Swamp feedar swamp, I suppose, ] or thereabouts, seized upon it and committed it to the flames, in the road facing said tavern, where it was entirely consumed."
These "Indians" were no doubt young men of Northborough, disguised as Indians, who took this method to show their opposi- tion to the duty on tea imposed by the Parliament of Great Britain. It was the same year, Dec. 16, 1773, or ten months after this act of the Northborough young men, that three hun- dred chests of tea were thrown overboard in Boston harbor by a party of young men, also disguised as Indians, in violation indeed of the laws of the land, but justified and applauded by the spirit of the times, and that was the Spirit of Liberty. That spirit pervaded all ranks and all ages, and there were very few indeed of the inhabitants of this town who sided with tyranny and oppression, or who remained neutral in the great struggle for national independence.
And so it was in the recent contest between Freedom and Slavery, the results of which, if not all that could be desired, are more propitious than the most sanguine of us had dared to hope. No sooner had the walls of Sumpter been battered by rebel cannon, than our young men sprang to arms; and to every subsequent call for men, a response was given that was equally honorable to those who went and to those who furnished the supplies.
This small town of 1600 inhabitants sent into the field no fewer than 139 men, of whom twenty-one, or nearly one-sixth, returned no more to their beloved homes and kindred and friends. Oh, what a costly sacrifice ! But they fell in a just and holy cause, and their names shall be inscribed on monumen- tal marble as well as on grateful hearts.
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Friends, we are spared to see this day and to rejoice in the brightening prospects of our beloved country, and in the grow- ing prosperity of this home of our affections -- this our native or our adopted home. We look around us and witness the im- provements, the fruits of other men's labors, and in which we ourselves have shared. Thirty-eight years ago last April (April 18, 1828), these beautiful elms and maples were planted on our Common. We, the fathers and mothers, with our children, and the stranger who visits our pleasant village, rejoice in their beauty and revel in their shade.
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