USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > Uxbridge > Address delivered at the Unitarian church, in Uxbridge, Mass., in 1864, with further statements, not made a part of the address, but included in the notes > Part 10
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young, by a faithful service of forty-four years as teacher and superintendent in the Sunday school. In christian character, he was a tower of strength to the church. His piety was not impulsive, never developed in rash enthu- siasm. It was founded on a large acquaintance with the great doctrines of the Word of God, calm, thoughtful, unswerving, largely developed into a lively interest, not only in the best welfare of his own community, but it flowed forth in the most tender and active sympathy with all his race."
Mr. Capron was born in this town, August 11th, 1799. He married Miss Chloe Day, October 29th, 1821, and died February 6th, 1875, leaving a widow and two children.
WILLIAM BANFIELD CAPRON, son of Dea. William Cargill and Chloe Day Capron, was born April 10th, 1824. IIe joined the Evangelical Congregational Church in Uxbridge, when he was thirteen years old. He was fitted for college at Andover, and was graduated from Yale college in 1846. For six years he was principal of the Hopkins Grammar School, in Hartford, Connecticut, and while here he was very actively engaged in the Sabbath school and City mis- sion work. Under a strong sense of duty he devoted him- self to missionary work in foreign lands, in 1852 ; and having conditionally promised that he would enter that field of labor, he became a member of the Theological Seminary in Andover, and was graduated in 1856. He was ordained as an evangelist in Uxbridge, September 3, 1856, and was appointed to the Madura Mission. He married in Novem- ber a daughter of Rev. Dr. II. B. Ilooker, and sailed for Madras, and remained in India sixteen years. He visited America in 1872-'74, and returned to India in January,
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1875. He died of heart disease, October 6th, 1876, leav- ing a widow and three children.
After his death, an associate worker wrote of Mr. Capron's thorough-going habits and exactness. He also spoke of his habits of searching investigation, his minute forecasting of all details, his sound judgment, his generous ideas of missionary work, his fair-mindedness, his kindness in dealings with his brethren, his caution in forming his opinions, but not wedded to custom, nor afraid of innova- tion when changes were proposed. Mr. Capron was very modest in his estimate of himself, and uncomplaining. IIe did a solid work in his mission, which he repeatedly refused to leave, though other fields were offered him. His kindness was always practical, and to his mission he bequeathed the memory of a pure and saintly life.
SAMUEL MILLS CAPRON, brother of William Banfield, was born in Uxbridge, May 15th, 1832. The religious element prominent in him through life, was the marked character- istic of his early childhood. The time of his conversion and consecration to God, he ever referred to the period when he was a member of Phillips Academy at Andover,- in the last year of his preparation for college. He made a public profession of his faith by joining the Evangelical Congregational Church in Uxbridge, in September, 1849, and the same autumn he entered Yale college. During his junior year, he was occupied several evenings in the week in Mr. Russell's school ; and here he laid the foundation of his after eminent success as a teacher. He decided not to be a minister, but says of teaching : "I like that profes- sion very well so far, and think I could do tolerably well in
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it." In the autumn of 1853, he became master of the Hop- kins Grammar school in Hartford, Connecticut, immediately succeeding his brother William, and here he remained ten years. In November, 1854, he married Eunice M. Chapin. In September, 1863, he went to Europe, where he spent about fourteen months. He was now inclined to give up teaching and enter upon manufacturing, and so resigned his school. His resignation was not accepted, and he was waited upon by the Hartford committee and offered the place of Principal of the High School, at nearly double his former salary ; accepting it, he returned to Hartford in April, 1865. With three of his pupils, he spent the sum- mer of 1871 in Great Britain. About the first of Decem- ber, 1873, while out one evening with his class star-gazing, he took a severe cold, which proved fatal, his health at this time being somewhat delicate. When told that his disease was pneumonia, he said, with sure knowledge of himself, "I know I shall not live." He died in Hartford, January 4th, 1874, and his death was there regarded as a public calamity.
Mr. Capron was eminent as a teacher, a man and a christian. The qualities which pertain to the true idea of manhood, seem to have been united in him, and submis- sively we cannot but ask, when thinking of his early death, why could not one, who did bless, and would have been a blessing in the world, be longer spared to it? The public and private tributes paid to his memory were very tender and very honorable ; and the town where he was born and grew up may well be proud of him. His body lies in Prospect Hill Cemetery. EDITOR. 1879.
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APPENDIX XVI.
THE TAFT FAMILY.
The address of Judge Taft, at the gathering of the Taft family in 1874, leaves little for the writer of the present sketch to do, except to make extracts from it relating to the Uxbridge branches of the family.
The town records bear almost unbroken witness to the intimate and various relations of the family to the town from the beginning of its history. The patriarch, Robert Taft of Mendon, settled each of his five sons, Thomas, Robert, Jr., Daniel, Joseph and Benjamin, on a farm, saw them all married and surrounded by a fast increasing family, before his death in 1725. Three of the five sous became residents of Uxbridge,-Robert, Jr., Joseph and Benjamin. Soon after the father's death, Robert, no longer " junior," removed to Uxbridge, where he resided on the east side of the Blackstone, near the Uxbridge Woolen mill, " having land on both sides of the river." "Joseph and Benjamin, the two youngest sons, undoubtedly settled on the west side of the Blackstone, not far from the meeting- house, Joseph owning and residing upon the farm now owned and occupied by his great-grandson, Zadok A. Taft, Esq. ;- and Benjamin settled on the farm now owned and occupied by Mrs. Bezaleel Taft." We do not find that any
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of the numerous children of Thomas settled in Uxbridge, but Daniel conveyed to his son Josiah, "by deed of gift, the farm on the west side of the Blackstone, afterwards held by Esq. Bezalcel, Josiah's son, and more recently by Mrs. Joseph Thayer, and which is still owned by the family." Of the forty-five grandchildren of the old man Robert, forty-one bore scripture names, and not one of them had the modern middle name. The family historian tells us, that the descendants of Robert, Jr., are " strong in this region and numerous elsewhere," that in Uxbridge they are represented by " Orsmus, Moses, Robert and Jacob,"-and a host that he does not name. The founder of the family had a fancy for giving all his descendants a farm ; but by- and-by, when that could no longer be done, succeeding generations turned their attention to other enterprises, the natural facilities for which abound in Uxbridge, and became manufacturers. There is scarcely a mill within the limits of the town, that has not, at some time, been owned or occupied by a Taft. " When we consider," says Judge Taft, " the extent to which the name has become associated with the manufactures of the vicinity, and how much more widely the blood has extended than the name, we may con- clude that the great factories of this section of the Black- stone valley are almost a family concern."
If the descendants of Robert were distinguished as manu- facturers, from the household of Daniel there has already come three generations of lawyers : Bezaleel Taft -senior and junior-and George Spring Taft ; and no great gift of prophecy is needed to predict that ere many years the fourth generation may be admitted to the bar. So fond of
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the legal profession does this branch of the family appear to be, that more than one of the daughters has become a lawyer's wife. Among the " honorable women not a few," who have joined their names and fortunes to the Taft family, mention should be made of the wife of Josiah, the son of Daniel. The days of her widowhood were times of serious trouble for the colonies. Her husband died in 1756. The French and Indian war was at hand ; the Revo- lution not far distant. A requisition was made upon the town of Uxbridge for a certain sum of money for colonial purposes. A meeting of the legal voters was held to see if the money should be granted. The estate of Josiah Taft paid the largest tax in Uxbridge, and his son Bezaleel was a minor; but with a sturdy sense of justice that there should be " no taxation without representation," the citizens declared that the widow Josiah Taft should vote upon the question. She did so, and her vote was the one that decided in the affirmative that the money should be paid. Who wonders that her son was a man who had the unbounded confidence of his townsmen, and served them in various offices of honor and trust for forty years ! Uxbridge may yet be famous as the pioneer in the cause of woman's suffrage.
The descendants of Joseph are widely scattered, but the homestead, " which he was the first to clear and improve, where he spent his whole active life, and where he died, is held by his great-grandson." "Captain" Joseph gave to each of his sons, Moses, Peter, Joseph and Aaron, farms, and some of these have never passed from the family. We find this family occupying many stations in life. There are
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mentioned among them, lawyers, doctors, deacons, teachers and farmers ; and they appear to have had great popularity as law-makers. "Joseph," says his descendant, the histo- rian from whom we so often quote, "has been repre- sented in the legislature of Massachusetts, of Vermont, of Michigan, of Ohio, and of Iowa.
Like the patriarch of old, the patriarch Robert, of Men- don, named his youngest son Benjamin. Like his father and brothers, Benjamin loved to own broad acres, and his possessions in the south-western part of Uxbridge were so extensive, that after settling all his children on farms, he left twelve hundred goodly acres to be divided among them after his death. Benjamin, of the five brothers, had the smallest family- but his descendants have settled in several of the States of the Union, and have brought honor to the name. Like the children of Robert, Jr., they have given the name of Taftville to a town which their enterprise has done much towards building up.
The family tree, with Robert as its sturdy trunk, grew, sent forth branches, twigs and leaves, quite overshadowing the town of Uxbridge, spreading itself towards the northern hills, the western prairies, and the sunny south. When the invitation was given in 1874, for the family to gather in friendly meeting, a host responded. They came, according to the printed list before the writer, from twelve different States of the Union. They came from the pulpit, the bench, the bar, and the teacher's desk ; the doctor left his patients, the farmer his scythe, the tradesman his cus- tomers, the mechanic his workshop, and the manufacturer his mill, bringing with them mothers, sisters, wives and
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daughters, to the number of several hundred, and they were all children of Robert.
To speak of all the Taft family has been in Uxbridge is quite impossible in the limits of this note. The sons of Robert built the first bridge over the Blackstone river ; they helped to build the first meeting-house, and every succeed- ing one, in Uxbridge. Daniel Taft, in 1732, gave the land for the first burying-ground; Samuel Taft entertained the first President of the United States, and Orsmus was the first Yankee who learned to weave satinet. They have served their native State and Worcester county in many capacities, and Uxbridge in almost every one,-as lawyers, selectmen, town-clerks, representatives to general court, as teachers and doctors ; have cared for the old and unfortunate as overseers of the poor, and for the young as school com- mittees ; have wrought as mechanics of every kind, culti- vated the land, engaged largely in manufactures ; have been bank presidents and treasurers, and traders of many kinds. One position they never seem to have filled in this town. We do not know that any descendant of Robert Taft of Mendon has ever served as a minister of the gospel in Uxbridge, though we find them in many other places laboring in this vocation.
Strongly marked as the character of the family has been in generations past for enterprise, industry and integrity, it is not less so in the present generation ;- and may it be the goodly heritage of children's children !
S. G. B. 1879.
APPENDIX XVII.
THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS.
The Act of the General Court that made Uxbridge an incorporated town, dated June 27, 1727, and published July 12th, required, not only that there should be main- tained public worship, but also required to be maintained " a school-master to instruct their youth in writing and reading." The schools in Uxbridge to-day rest upon this foundation.
The first vote of the town with regard to schools is this : January 28th, 1729, voted, " that John Farnum, Robert Taft and Seth Aldrich, be a committee to treat with Men- don about our right in ye school lands which have been sold and what yet remains to be sold, in ye townships of Mendon and Uxbridge." January 22d, 1730, voted, " that John Farnum, Robert Taft and Seth Hastings, be a stand- ing committee, and should make a report to the town about it-that is to say, of the school lands,-and they were em- powered to treat with Mendon, and if the town of Mendon will let us enjoy the lands, sold and un-sold in Uxbridge, to agree with them about it." In 1730, November 20th, the towns chose two men, Joseph Taft and Seth Aldrich, to get advice about the right of Uxbridge to the lands set apart in Mendon, now Uxbridge, for schools and ministers. In 1731, May 14th, two more were added to this committee,
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Joseph White and Ebenezer Reed; and further, chose John Farnum, Robert Taft, Seth Aldrich, Ebenezer Reed and Joseph White, as a committee to petition the General Court to set off to the town of Uxbridge, its share of the minis- terial and school lands in Mendon, which were in Uxbridge before the separation of the towns. In 1732, January 25th, voted to set up and keep a school in Uxbridge -and voted to have a school dame, the first seven . or eight months proportionably ; and the selectmen were to appoint the place where the schools were to be kept and provide the school dame. In 1732, March 2d, the town voted, if Men- don will give Uxbridge two hundred pounds of the money the school lands sold for, for the schools of Uxbridge, with the interest of the bond now in the hands of Ebenezer Reed, which is a part of the two hundred pounds, we will accept of the same as our part of the school money. The town having reconsidered its vote, whereby a dame was to teach, now chose John Reed school-master, who was the first school-master. In 1732, April 4th, the town chose a committee to receive the money of the town of Mendon, which was voted the town of Uxbridge, and realized from the sale of the school lot some time since, and bring it in and keep it in profit for the use of the schools of Uxbridge. May 29th, voted to reconsider the vote whereby dames were chosen teachers, and voted also that the selectmen should keep up the schools the present year; and on November 29th, voted, to have a school-master for three months from the present time. In 1733, February 5th, the school money was placed in the hands of the treasurer. May 3d, voted George Woodward, school-teacher, and to
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board him, and to give him twenty pounds for his year's services. August 23d, voted to give James Emerson seven shillings a week for boarding teacher. January 7th, 1734, the town voted to pay twenty-five pounds for schooling, and Edmund Rawson was the teacher this year. The same year, we find mention made of school-districts, as "squad- rons," and each squadron had the liberty of choosing its teacher-a woman-and the selectmen were to approbate the teachers. In 1736, John Rawson was allowed forty- five pounds for teaching school.
In 1736, the town received of the General Court a grant of five hundred acres of land which, in 1738, was sold to John Harwood for two hundred and fifty pounds. Decem- ber 25th, Robert Taft was authorized to receive the money from Mr. Harwood, and the interest of the money was to be applied to the support of the schools. This grant, from some votes that afterwards appear in the records, must have been located in what is now the State of New Hampshire ; and it was not until 1741, that it was settled to whom this territory belonged, where this grant was located. In 1643, the County of Norfolk, of Massachusetts, included the towns of Salis- bury, Hampton, Haverhill, Exeter, Dover and Strawberry Bank-now Portsmouth. The Patent of the Governor and Company of Massachusetts Bay, gave them the right to the land three miles north of the most northern part of the Mer- rimack River, on a line running westward from the Atlantic Ocean,-which would include much of what is now the terri- tory of New Hampshire. This line was surveyed by Massa- chusetts in 1652. In 16-41, the settlements of Exeter, Dover and Strawberry Bank voluntarily sought the protection of
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Massachusetts, and remained under its protection until 1679, when Charles II. made New Hampshire a royal province. In 1689, New Hampshire again came under the protection of Massachusetts, and the claim of jurisdiction was not settled until 1741, when New Hampshire became a separate province.
This bit of history I insert here, that it may be seen why the grant of land for school purposes was located in what is now the State of New Hampshire ; and why, also, there was so much difficulty about the title to it. March 28th, 1753, the town voted to choose a committee to act upon the affair of the five-hundred-acre grant,-and voted, also, "to see if the land could not be got where it was laid out; and provided it could not be procured, to see what will satisfy the pur- chasers, and make them easy in that affair." In 1756, it was voted to see if the town will apply for a new grant of land, in place of that given in 1736, " and since taken by the Prov- ince of New Hampshire." In 1757, the town voted to raise eighty-five pounds nine shillings and ninepence to purchase the claim of Ebenezer Harwood, Solomon Wood and Josiah Chapin to this land; and in 1758, the town petitioned the General Court for a new grant of five hundred acres to make good the loss of the other.
For some twenty years previous to this time, the expenses of maintaining the schools seem to have been met from the income derived from this grant of land : because, I find no record of money raised for this purpose, for about this period ; in 1756, the town again began to raise money for the schools.
The first mention made of a school-house is in the month
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of December, 1738, when the town voted to build a school- house. Tradition says, the meeting-house was previously used for this purpose ; but though it may have been used for this purpose in the summer, or warm months, it does not seem possible it could have been so used in the winter ; as the churches of that time were not heated-we must remember also the frequent use of the meeting-house for town purposes. In all probability the schools of the other parts of the town were kept in private houses.
In 1740, October 17th, the town voted to allow forty-four pounds thirteen shillings and threepence, for what had been done, and for what was to be done, to the school- house. In August, 1741, the town voted not to raise any money for schools this year. In 1743, September 13th, widow Mary Aldrich was voted four pounds for teaching school eight weeks-teacher's wages were half a pound a week, about $1.67. The town chose a committee of three to sce about the school funds, and in May, 1744, the town added four more to this committee. In 1744, Septem- ber, the town chose a committee to receive the bonds of the school money, and should any one refuse to give up the bonds, to sue for them. January 20th, 1746, the school money was left in the hands of John Farnum and Joseph Taft for five years ; and they were to pay twenty pounds a year interest for it. March 2d, 1753, voted to squadron out the school in places convenient, and chose a committee to do it. The town, in 1756, raised twenty-five pounds for schools and town charges. The town, in 1760, voted to divide the town into districts, and each district was to enjoy the privileges of schooling in proportion to the
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money raised by them. A committee of five made their report upon this matter, and their report was adopted in 1761. The town by this report was divided into thirteen districts, and the children of specified families were to attend specified schools, and each district was to have a sum of money allotted it, in proportion to the number of scholars in that district. In 1762-63-'64-'65-'66-'67 and '68, sixty pounds a year were raised for schools. In August, 1762, it was voted that the selectmen shall assist Solomon Wood in looking up the papers to " qualify him to pursue after the five-hundred-acre grant." The town, in 1765, voted to apply to the General Court for a new grant of five hundred acres of land for school purposes-and the same year voted a new school squadron. In 1768, the town chose a committee of three, Ezekiel Wood, Samuel Reed, and Thomas Rist, to manage the affair of the town with Esquire Harwood, relating to the five-hundred-acre grant. The town, in 1769, voted to sell the old school-house, if it could get what it was worth. It seems, that about this time the General Court had given the town a new tract of land ; and this time of seven hundred and fifty acres ; for in 1770, the town voted to " pursue the laying out this land," and chose as a committee for the purpose, Capt. Ezekiel Wood and Samuel Aldrich, who were empowered "to make search and lay out the grant where they think the town will derive the greatest benefit from it;" and they were also authorized to sell the land, if they considered it for the benefit of the town to do so ;- and the town allowed their claim for laying out this grant. In 1770-'71, sixty pounds were raised for schools. The town, in 1773, voted to sell the
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old school-house after it was pulled down ;- and this year raised forty pounds ;- in 1776, forty ;- in 1777, sixty ;- in 1778, one hundred and twenty ;- in 1779, three hundred pounds ; - we now see the effect of the depreciated cur- rency. In 1779, at the October meeting, the town voted to sell its land in the western part of the State. This is proba- bly the land given about 1770, by the General Court for school purposes, and laid out by the committee chosen in 1770 ; forty pounds were voted for schools in 1780; this was in the new emission of money. The article about schools in 1781 was dismissed from the warrant; in 1783-'84, forty pounds were raised. In 1788, we find the first mention made of a grammar school ; the town voted, " that three pounds thirteen shillings and sixpence, raised at the other meeting, should be applied to a grammar school the present year." In 1789, the town voted sixty pounds for schools ; in 1791-'92, it raised fifty pounds. In 1791, such changes as were found necessary were made in the location of school districts. In 1793-'94, sixty pounds were raised for schools; and it was voted, that the Quakers should have their share of the school money; but in 1795, it was reconsidered. In 1796, eighty pounds were raised, and a committee of nine was chosen to change the districts for schooling and highway purposes. By this vote, the town was divided into eleven school districts, -and sub- stantially remained so divided up to 1825. In 1797, the town raised two thousand dollars for building school-houses in the several districts :- no district was to have more than its proportionate share of this money; and if the inhabitants of the district were not able to agree where
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their school-house should be placed, this committee was to fix upon a proper site ; and John Capron, Seth Aldrich, Jr., Joseph . Rist, Lieut. Benjamin Greene and Capt. Samuel Read were the members of this committee.
And now, let me substantially quote the language of Charles A. Wheelock : -
The old school-houses ! What queer buildings they were, when compared with the modern school-house ! The writing-desk was a plank running round three sides of the room-the seat was a slab, its flat side uppermost, with holes bored in it, in which were driven cart stakes for legs. The scholar had no back to his seat, unless he should turn round and face the centre of the room, when his back might rest against the edge of the plank writing-desk. The big stone fire-place was filled with blazing logs in winter, and the child must roast and freeze by turns. The dungeon, -that dreadful place,-to which the unruly ones were con- signed, sometimes to regale themselves upon the good things the prudent had brought to sustain themselves in their arduous labors, while delving among the mysteries of the three R's ; - and the heavy ruler was there, and that never-to-be-forgotten birch, which was so quickening to the mental faculties, when properly administered.
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