USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > Westminster > A History of Westminster, Massachusetts, 1893-1958 > Part 9
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22
Beginning in 1901, the hospital from time to time acquired lands from the properties of Joseph Seaver, Hollis J. Leland, Hiram Ray, Albert Gates, George Sargent and others.
WACHUSETT MOUNTAIN RESERVATION
In 1926 an improved hard-top motor road was completed to the summit of Wachusett, the mountain which dominates Westminster from the west and which has always played a large part in the recreation of the town.
Older residents remember a prison camp, located on the Bolton road across from the Niemi farm. For a period of two or three years, beginning in 1915, some fifty prisoners worked on roads and other projects of the Wachusett Mountain State Reservation.
TELEPHONES
The first private telephone line in Westminster linked the homes of Dr. A. E. Mossman and Augustine Whitney and was installed about 1893-95 (exact date uncertain). Crank-type box phones were put in each house and wires strung on trees by Dr. Mossman and Leon Whitney, who was an electrical engineer.
107
MEMORIES OF WESTMINSTER
Others began to appear soon afterward in several parts of town, the first to the C. C. Dawley home, now owned by Chief of Police Toivo Tuominen. Each owner bought his own equipment and each family had its own signal for ringing. When the G. W. & F. Street Railway was built in 1899, a telephone system was installed along the route. This was not for public use, but was connected with the Gardner exchange of the New England Telephone and Telegraph Company.
OLDEST HOUSE
The oldest house in town still stands on the Old Worcester Road near Meetinghouse Pond. On one of its large foundation stones is carved the date 1737, the year in which Fairbanks Moor, West- minster's first settler, built the house. It is now owned by Mr. and Mrs. Jack Nikunen whose family bought it from the heirs of Hobart Raymond in 1934.
Now covered by asbestos shingles, in the old days the house had narrow clapboards on its walls and the roof was of wooden shingles. It is low-ceilinged and still has most of its original wide board flooring; window and door hardware is still as it was. The house had a central chimney, and in the original kitchen was a wall oven made of stones. (See illustration.)
CATTLE SHOW
One of the memorable highlights of the years from 1879 to 1927 was the annual Westminster Cattle Show and Fair every September. Sponsored by the Farmers' and Mechanics' Association, this colorful event was Old Home Day for residents and non-residents, young and old alike.
From the Cracker Bakery to the old Westminster Hotel, Main Street was lined on both sides by hawkers with all sorts of wares and amusements. Cattle, sheep and hogs were exhibited in pens on the grounds of the Congregational Church; poultry and pets in cages
108
HISTORY OF WESTMINSTER
along the north side. The upper floor of the Town Hall was filled with vegetables, flowers, preserves and craftwork, and on the lower floor a home-cooked dinner was served at noontime. There were plowing contests held in a field nearby and pulling matches for oxen and horses in front of the fire station.
The feature of the afternoon was a parade, led by the local band and mounted marshals. Following in procession were the colorful and gaily decked floats of Westminster clubs and merchants, drawn by horses and oxen. The gala day was climaxed in the evening by a dance at the Town Hall. Following World War I, with the arrival of the automobile and the simultaneous decline of farming in the area, the Cattle Show was discontinued after many successful years.
FALSE ARMISTICE DAY
Still vivid in the memories of many citizens was the night in early November, 1918, when Westminster awoke to hear the church bell ringing furiously and the Gardner and Fitchburg fire whistles blowing. It was the night of the "false armistice," which preceded the actual end of World War I by two days. Someone had jumped the gun, announcing peace had come, but on that night people were sure it was the real thing.
Lights went up in the houses, people hustled into warm clothes and rushed into the street banging cooking pans, blowing old-fash- ioned tin horns, shouting and ringing bells. "The War is over!" Some even took turns ringing the big bell in the Congregational Church: one of them, a tall, dignified woman, took her turn and pulled the bellrope with such enthusiasm that she was lifted from the floor and rose up almost to the ceiling before the bell turned and let her safely down again. Another prominent citizen outdid all the other noisemakers when he produced an old circular saw, attached to a pole, which the men took turns hitting with a sledge- hammer. Before long a parade formed and marched from the Public Library to Academy Hill, where a huge bonfire was kindled.
There was a rude awakening when the truth was learned-the Armistice had not yet been signed-but for many the planned cele-
109
MEMORIES OF WESTMINSTER
bration a few days later when it was official could never take the place of the spontaneous outburst that was the False Armistice.
MILLIONAIRE FOR A DAY
November 11, 1922 was an unforgettable day for Mrs. Abbie Ballou of Main Street, a long-time resident of Westminster. She was the winner of the Boston Post's "Millionaire for a Day" contest. To the question, "Would you care to have your child in the movies?" Mrs. Ballou had replied, "No, it develops too many falling stars."
As guests of the Post, Mrs. Ballou and her husband, John F. Ballou, had a chauffeured limousine at their disposal in Boston all day. They visited humorist Newton Newkirk, toured the Art Mu- seum, the Public Library and a radio station, spent some time with friends, and dined at the Copley-Plaza and the Touraine. They took in a matinee at Keith's, a symphony concert in the evening, and Mrs. Ballou had her first ride on a subway. Her last visit to Boston had been twenty-five years before, when transportation was by horse car. The Post gave the Ballous a handsome assortment of presents to complete a memorable occasion.
TRAMP HOUSE INCIDENT
In many towns at the turn of the century a lodging place was provided for itinerants, most of them ne'er-do-wells who wandered on foot from place to place. In Westminster it was the Tramp House, a small shed at the foot of the hill on the Marshall Farm.
One night there were two occupants, one of whom was ill and had a bad rash. In the morning, at the behest of Mrs. Marshall, he went to see Dr. A. E. Mossman in the village. The doctor diag- nosed his illness as smallpox! He was rushed back to the Tramp House and locked up; the other tramp, who had wandered off, was found and returned immediately to be quarantined with his com- panion. Dr. Mossman made daily visits to the men, changing his clothes and bathing at the farmhouse after each visit. No one else
IIO
HISTORY OF WESTMINSTER
was allowed near, and everyone who had been in contact with the smallpox patient was vaccinated, besides many others. When the time of quarantine had passed, the Tramp House was fumigated and its contents burned in a nearby field. And no one contracted the disease-surely one time when a little charity paid dividends.
4& Chapter Seventeen
AN HISTORICAL SKETCH
MISS SARAH J. WYMAN, who is mentioned in the dedication of this book, was a woman whose character and personality are still well remembered in Westminster. She grew up in a time when flowery, long-winded oratory was the order of the day on every occasion; a time when women seldom spoke in public, but when they did so usually copied the methods of male speakers. So it is all the more remarkable to find here a speech which is a model of direct, plain, unadorned narration. Miss Wyman was not given to the wandering, over-sentimental recollections which are even today so dear to the hearts of many speakers on historical occasions.
The following is written from typed notes of the speech she read at the Massachusetts Tercentenary exercises in 1930, and may be presumed to be substantially verbatim.
HISTORICAL SKETCH OF WESTMINSTER by Sarah J. Wyman
Professor Booker T. Washington once said there was nothing he disliked so much as a fourteen-course dinner just before making a speech; that he then wished himself back in a log cabin, a slave, with a bit of molasses that his mother used to bring up from the big house on a Sunday morning, his share being two spoonfuls.
I may not give you the "two spoonfuls of molasses" but will give you memories of the past.
It has been asked why Westminster, settled more than one hundred years after the Massachusetts Bay Colony was founded, should celebrate a Tercentenary. We answer: That the ancestors of the early settlers may not be forgotten.
. . One of the first divisions pledged to the soldiers of King
III
II2
HISTORY OF WESTMINSTER
Philip's war was drawn by lot by men from Cambridge, Weston, Medford and Reading, whose names indicated they were personally engaged in the Swamp Fight of December 19, 1675. Many meetings were called and a standing committee appointed to make the divi- sion, viz:
"A farm of 600 acres for his excellency, Jonathan Belcher, which was known as the Governor's farm.
"A site for a meetinghouse with sufficient land for training field and a burying-place.
"A lot of 60 acres for the first minister.
"A lot for the support of schools, and a lot for each of the pro- prietors of 60 acres."
In 1734 we find "Voted, to allow Mr. Edward Jackson (Newton) and Mrs. Zacariah Smith (of Watertown) 30 pounds in lieu of the 27 pounds agreed for, they having made it appear they were losers by building the house at Wachusett according to the bargain made with the aforesaid committee." This house, the first in Narragansett No. 2, was near the present home of Mrs. Shannon. It was probably the home of Mr. Joseph Holden, who with Mr. Fairbanks Moor and their families comprised fifteen persons.
Mr. Moor in a few years left for Deerfield. A meetinghouse was made ready for occupancy in June 1739, but probably not finished, for on September 10, 1740, it was voted to build a pulpit, deacon's seat and body of seats on the floor, leaving sufficient room for pews and stairs to go into the gallery. This meetinghouse, or the one built in 1787, was used for all town business. Consequently, when the new church was built in 1836, it became necessary for the town to provide other accommodations for the management of town affairs in the future. A meeting of the citizens was called "to see if the town will take any measure to purchase the old meetinghouse"; another article: "to see if the town will take measures to build a town house." The first article was passed. On the second, a committee was chosen to ascertain the necessity of a building or providing a place for holding town meetings in the future. The committee reported but no definite action was taken, the town using the meetinghouse until 1839, when a committee of twelve, with Dr. John White as chairman, was appointed to make a plan and estimate the expense of building a town house. They reported that "a building one story high, agreeable to the accom-
II3
AN HISTORICAL SKETCH
panying plan, may be built for $1300. ... Your committee have found three places." The one between Mr. Joseph N. Minott's and Mr. Jonas Cutting's was selected at a cost of $235. The town voted to accept the report and chose Captain Joseph Whitney, Leonard Minott, Simeon Sanderson, Esq., Dr. John White and Joseph Whit- man, Esq., as committee to build. The house was completed for the state election on November 11, 1839.
Dr. David Parker, who practiced medicine for fifty years, more or less, in Gardner, once told me that when through with his studies he walked from his home in Westford to Concord, to take the stage going from Boston to Brattleboro. When it reached Westminster, they changed horses and the men around the stable asked where he was going. When he told them, one said, "So you are going to the big city of Gardner," causing a laugh all around. When he told me that story he said, "Now Gardner has the laugh on Westminster folks."
Some years before 1800, a Mr. Perry of Leominster bought a small house lot where Mr. Handlin now lives, erected a shop, commenced cabinetmaking and continued for ten or more years. He sold to Mr. John Miller and Mr. Edward Kendall. Mr. Kendall purchased Mr. Miller's interest, continuing awhile there, but finally trans- ferred it to a building which stood where Mr. Stanbridge's garage now is. He was succeeded by his sons, Edward and George. Much of the mahogany furniture formerly in Westminster was of Ken- dall make.
Jonas Cutting was also a cabinetmaker in a shop now between Mr. Lynde's and the telephone office. Church pulpits were his specialty. The former pulpits in this town as well as those of sur- rounding towns were his work.
David Wyman of Pelham, New Hampshire, having learned the art of fulling cloth in Dracut, commenced his trade in Jaffrey. In 1792 he sold his business there and removed to this town, starting the same trade on a privilege on the Wachusett branch of the Nashua River. He had a family of seven sons and three daughters. The work of feeding and making clothes for the ten children was all done by the mother, with the assistance of the girls. The boys were kept at work helping their father or chopping wood, as he was constantly adding land to his possessions. The fifth in order, Franklin, was unwilling to wait until he was twenty-one years
114
HISTORY OF WESTMINSTER
before he had money of his own. At seventeen he decided to buy his time of his father. He went into the then wilderness, Gardner, bought a small wood lot, cut it off and made something by the trade and returned home much pleased by his success. His father smiled and he, too, seemed pleased, but when his son offered to buy a piece of land of him he replied, "I do not trade with boys." He kept on until 1845, when he came in possession of all the water power on the stream, with one or two exceptions. He then built and fitted up a mill for the manufacture of paper, commencing business with Willoughbee Wilder, a papermaker by trade. Two years later he erected a second mill and let it to Gibson and Rand- lett. Their resources were not sufficient to carry on business, and he assumed the responsibility of manufacturing paper alone. Success followed him and in less than twenty years the amount of paper produced yearly amounted to three hundred thousand dollars.
In 1892 the city of Fitchburg purchased the mill property, which included his water rights in Meetinghouse and Wachusett ponds. His youngest brother Alfred started the bakery the same year. He was successful and, after a few years, sold to Harrison G. Whitney, who successfully carried on the trade for many years. Much praise is due the present owners for keeping the business in Westminster.
The manufacture of chairs was early introduced by a number of persons doing the work by hand in small shops. One of the first shops operated by water power was by Mr. Charles Smith, on Whitman River, who was succeeded by Albert Forbush. Other chairmakers at Whitmanville have been John Whitney, Jr., Pear- son Cowee, Monroe Brothers, Franklin Lombard, and Pierce and Mather.
In 1926 a fire destroyed the Whitmanville chair business.
In the early 1840's Mr. Artemas Merriam began making chairs in a small shop near Hobart Raymond's house. In a few years he formed a partnership with his brother-in-law, Mr. George Holden, under the firm name of Holden and Merriam, South Westminster. They constantly enlarged their business, taking as a partner Joel Merriam. A fire destroyed the building in 1869, and they rebuilt on a much larger scale, D. C. Miles entering the partnership. He retired in a few years, and both Joel Merriam and George Holden dying left the entire establishment in the hands of Artemas, whose property gave employment to more than one hundred men. The
115
AN HISTORICAL SKETCH
death of Mr. Merriam and a fire ended the chair business, the property being sold to the City of Fitchburg.
After the meetinghouse on the hill was given up for religious purposes, it was purchased by Dr. White, Joseph Whitman and Stillman Brooks, moved to a privilege near Elliott Street and a part of it made ready for chairmaking. Brooks and Whitman carried on the business awhile, followed by Whitman Brothers, whose failure in 1839 was felt to be a great blow to the town, and real estate reached a low ebb.
Mr. Charles Coolidge began chairmaking in a small shop in the westerly part of the town. After a few years he moved to the village to the spot where Mr. Charles L. Smith is now in business. He enlarged his business, which was at one time an important factor of the town. He was succeeded by his son, Hon. F. S. Coolidge, who manufactured chairs until the late 1870's, when a fire destroyed the shop.
In 1857 Frederick and Francis Nichols, with James Clark and Porter Howard, bought the property of Edward and George Ken- dall, erected a steam mill and commenced the manufacture of chairs. The venture proving successful, they made improvements and enlargements. Later the plant passed into the possession of Charles and Marcus M. Nichols, with the firm name of Nichols Brothers and in 1891 or 1892 the business was moved to Gardner under the firm name of Nichols and Stone.
When the shop was first built in the latter part of the 1850's the Ladies' Literary Society was given the use of it two nights for a levee, which was held in November, 1857. I have heard that you could not go into a house on the street the preceding summer but you would see ladies doing needlepoint or some piece of delicate fancywork for the sale. One evening they had speaking and tab- leaux, the other a play. The money received was used for lectures the following winter by some of the best talent, including Hon. Charles Sumner, Rev. A. A. Miner, T. W. Higginson and the silver-tongued orator, Wendell Phillips. That was before women had taken the platform as orators, yet they were ever ready to respond when called upon to work.
Well do I remember seeing a small book in my mother's drawer, entitled "Martha Washington Temperance Society," with the name of Mrs. Sally Titus, President. When the Civil War called
II6
HISTORY OF WESTMINSTER
for women to do their part a branch of the sanitary commis- sion was started here with the same Mrs. Sally Titus president. The work of the World War is of too recent date to be mentioned here.
Twice has this district been represented at Washington in the Lower House by a native or resident of Westminster. She furnished a governor for one of the middle states in the West, six captains and two colonels in the Revolutionary War, and when the Civil War called for volunteers, one from here rose to Major General, the youngest officer connected with the army attaining that rank, and before retiring from the army was made Lieutenant General. In June 1896, Harvard College conferred upon him one of its honorary degrees, as it did the same day on Dr. Bell, the inventor of the tele- phone.
Westminster may well be proud of those who have honored her and may she continue to be as proud of her future sons and daugh- ters, who we hope may outshine those who have passed on.
S Chapter Eighteen IMPORTANT DATES
March
1736
March
1737
1738
First licensed Inn Holder (Fairbanks Moor)
June
6, 1739
First Meetinghouse dedicated
July
6, 1741
Gristmill built on Lot 22 (Meetinghouse Pond outlet)
August 4, 1742
First Minister settled
October
20, 1742
First Congregational Church organized
October
20, 1759
Town Incorporated
September 21, 1760
First Pound voted
May
27, 1761
Store on Academy Hill (Home of William B. MacAloney, Sr.)
June
1, 1761
Raymond Sawmill in use (now the Old Mill)
January
1, 1766
First School Building voted
August
14, 1776
Post Rider rode through Town en route Worcester to Fitchburg
April
19, 1778
Lord's Barn built on Dean Hill
May
17, 1785
Land ceded to Gardner
April
14, 1789
Second School Building voted
October
24, 1799
Westminster Hotel opened (opposite Adams Street)
January
7, 1803
Drugstore operating opposite the Hotel
September
9, 1803
Brick Store opened
May
10, 1804
First Post Office opened in Drugstore
March
1807
Town bell installed in First Congregational Church belfry
March
28, 1815 1817
Methodist Society organized
Methodist Society building dedicated (South Ashburnham Road)
II7
Sawmill built at Wachusett Reservoir First settler arrived (Fairbanks Moor)
118
HISTORY OF WESTMINSTER
February
7, 1820
Universalist Church organized
July 3, 1821
Universalist Church building dedicated (North Common)
August II, 1825
First Fire Engine Company appointed
March
19, 1827
Baptist Church organized
March
1, 1828 Cracker Bakery opened
October
19, 1830
Baptist Church building dedicated (Meet- inghouse Pond)
May
17, 1830
Westminster Academy opened (Academy Hill)
1832
Methodist Society disbanded
1832
Lyceum organized (Library)
November 11, 1839
Town Hall used for first time
1843
Merriam Brothers Chair Shop operating at South Westminster
1845
Lombard's Chair Shop operating in Whit- manville
1845
Wyman Paper Mill opened in Wachusett- ville (Narrows)
December 16, 1845
Westminster Depot opened
March
1, 1852
Town Safe voted
March
1852
First School Report printed
March
1853
Literary Society organized
1855
Center School erected
July
4, 1856
Nichols Brothers Chair Shop operating at Main and Eaton Streets
October
6, 1859
Centennial Observance of Incorporation of Town
1865
Library Association organized
July
4, 1868
Civil War Monument dedicated
November 28, 1868
Joseph P. Rice Post 69, Grand Army of the Republic organized
1873
Wachusett Park opened
July
10, 1875
Westminster National Bank chartered
1877
Public Library established
June
14, 1878
First "Old Folks" Picnic
November 13, 1878
Farmers' and Mechanics' Association or- ganized
119
IMPORTANT DATES
February
2, 1879
First Annual Farmers' Supper
October
1, 1879
First Annual Cattle Show and Fair
April 21, 1884
Village Improvement Society organized
August
6, 1884
First reunion of Academy graduates
August
17, 1886
Nichols Brothers Chair Shop destroyed by fire
July
22, 1887
Sesquicentennial Observance of Settlement of Town
January
24, 1888
April
1897
Westminster Academy destroyed by fire First insurance agency operating: C. E. Bar- ron (Barron-Adams)
May
28, 1889
Cyrus K. Miller Camp 101, Sons of Union Veterans of Civil War, organized
January
29, 1890
Joseph P. Rice Women's Relief Corps 115 organized
1892
Wyman Paper Mill discontinued
1892
1893
Fitchburg acquired water rights of Wa- chusett Lake and Meetinghouse Pond Nichols Brothers Chair Shop moved to Gardner
May
14, 1894
Westminster Grange, 203, Patrons of Hus- bandry, organized
September 20, 1894
Westminster National Bank moved to Gard- ner
October
8, 1897
Merriam Brothers Chair Shop destroyed by fire
September 28, 1899
Gardner, Westminster and Fitchburg Street Railway franchise granted
March
5, 1900
Town Seal voted
August 22, 1902
Forbush Memorial Library building dedi- cated
November 28, 1903
September 12, 1904
October
8, 1905
March 16, 1906
Westminster Hotel destroyed by fire Telephone Office opened on Leominster St. (Home of Albert Arcangeli) Revolutionary War monument dedicated Westminster Depot destroyed by fire
August 25, 1909 150th Observance of Incorporation of Town
120
HISTORY OF WESTMINSTER
April 6, 19II
Electric street lighting voted
October 12, 19II
Priscilla Alden Tent 51, Daughters of Union Veterans of Civil War, organized
March
6, 1912
March
1, 1915
Upton School building voted Abolishment of Real Estate tax discount voted
1915
High School accredited "A" by State Board of Education
March
5, 1917
Chemical Fire engine voted
August 21, 1918
Main Street becomes part of Massachusetts State Highway
November 9, 1918
False Armistice Day observed
November 11, 1918
Armistice Day celebration
1918
Last horse-drawn fire engine
1919
Goodridge Box Shop destroyed by fire
September 19, 1919
Welcome Home Day, World War I
September 1, 1920
William S. Miller Post 174, American Le- gion, organized
September 1, 1920
William S. Miller Unit 174, Auxiliary, or- ganized
March
7, 1921
Memorial Boulder voted (World War I)
March
1922
Fire siren voted
1922
Farmers Co-operative Assn. founded
March
5, 1923
Town Accountant voted
1923
December
31, 1923
First Town Garage built (Upper Main St.) Last run of Gardner, Westminster and Fitchburg Street Railway
January
I, 1924
Flanagan Bus Line in operation
May
19, 1925
Memorial Service in honor of General Nel- son A. Miles
1926
Mather Pierce Chair Shop destroyed by fire (Lombard's)
March
7, 1927
First Town Director, County Extension Service, voted Last Cattle Show and Fair
September 26, 1927
June 29, 1928
Westminster High School discontinued
March
3, 1930 Westminster Advisory Committee voted
1930
Westminster Depot closed
I2I
IMPORTANT DATES
September 6, 1930
March 2, 1931
1932
1933
Universalist Church services discontinued (Main St.) Loughlin School voted
December
8, 1933
April 17, 1934
Last Farmers and Mechanics Meeting and Supper
October
9, 1935
Loughlin School date stone laid
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.