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 3
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There is a circumstance, related to me by a ven- erable clergyman a few weeks since, which may be interesting to you. General Washington called at
* The house now occupied by Mr. Warner Taft. The daughter Polly, men- tioned in the letter, married Joseph II. Perry, of Milford.
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the house of Col. Ammidown in Mendon, whom he had known in the Revolutionary Army, but not finding him at home, passed on his way to Uxbridge. Soon after he had retired, Col. Ammidown, accom- panied by his daughter, arrived, both being very anxious to see the President. To the surprise of his attendants, he arose and, attired in his dressing- gown, had a very pleasant interview with his old friend and the daughter. At the close of the inter- view, said the General to Miss Ammidown, "Allow me to ask you one question; you have come a good ways to see an old man, how far would you have gone to see a young one?"
Col. Samuel Cragin was a soldier in the old French war, was present at the capture of Quebec, and was a captain in the war of the Revolution. He once kept a hotel in the house now occupied by Mr. Charles E. Seagrave, and afterwards in the large gambrel-roofed house, known as the John Capron house. This house was built by Col. Seth Reed, who once owned the most of the real estate in this village. The oft-asserted claim of Reed Par- sons to a title in the common had its origin in some way connected with the ownership of Col. Seth Reed.
The first store in Uxbridge was kept by George Southwick in the south part of the town; and the second, by a Mr. Russell in a building opposite to what was formerly known as the John Seagrave 6
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place, and was afterwards owned and occupied by Daniel Seagrave. As an illustration of the change in the places, and modes of doing business in this town, permit me to refer you to one spot, about which but few young people know anything. On the old road to Slatersville, you may observe a cluster of wood-colored buildings of small dimensions that now bear the marks of neglect, and you may wonder what should have caused them to be erected. The truth is, this comparatively deserted spot was once among the most active and business-like localities of Uxbridge. Here Esek Fitts carried on the busi- ness of manufacturing hats, with numerous journey- men and apprentices; Royal Southwick, tanning and currying; Enoch Aldrich, coopering; Parley Brown and Mason Buffington, shoe-making; and here George Southwick did the most extensive business in the store-keeping line which in those days was carried on in this section of the county, and manufactured large quantities of potash which he exported to England, besides keeping a circulating library for the neighborhood. The change in the lines of travel and the use of rivers for manufac- turing purposes, changed the places of trade and of business, and grass now grows where once everything was alive with the bustle of trade and industry. Allow me in this connection to relate an incident somewhat characteristic of the times. A
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person known as " Old Croney," had paid a bill to George Southwick, and after he had arrived at his home, he found, or there was shown to him upon the bill, a large number of "dittoes." He told Dr. Samuel Willard, who was rather fond of fun, that he had had no dittoes, and the Doctor told him he had better go back and have the bill corrected. Croney called upon George Southwick and stated his grievance. Said George, " Who sent you here?" Said Croney, " Dr. Willard." " Well," said George, you tell Dr. Sam. Willard that he is a d-n fool and you are a ditto! "
The first distillery in town was established by Col. Daniel Tillinghast, upon what has recently been known as the Royal Thayer place. He manufac- tured malt in the building on the corner of the old road, which was afterwards converted into a resi- dence by Mr. John Seagrave. The second distillery was owned by Thaddeus Taft, and was located upon what is now the farm of Mr. John S. Taft. They manufactured gin and cider brandy. In the year 1826, the remains of the distillery of Col. Tillinghast were visible upon the Royal Thayer place, and the pipes showed a form of construction which gave the observer a very distinct idea of the worm of a still.
The first Postmaster in Uxbridge was Dr. Sam- del Willard. The first post-office was kept at
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North Uxbridge by Capt. Samuel Read, the Deputy - Postmaster. All the travel from Boston to Hayt- ford and back, passing through this town, passed through the northern part, at the time of the estab- lishment of the post-office.
Here it may be proper to say, that there is one peculiarity of this town that must be considered un- fortunate. It has always seemed to me to have - more south-west to it, than any other town of its size with which I am acquainted. This is probably owing to the fact that Northbridge was original y part of its territory. At any rate, the fact is a notable one to any person who is either acquainted with its geography, or has had occasion to look up a client who was reported to reside in the south-west part of the town. I well remember the remark of one of your citizens at the time of the dispute about the Rhode Island boundary line, which was, that he hoped the line would be removed because it ran so near his house that he thought it was des moralizing. I do not know that I should assent to this proposition, but I do think, that the nearer to the line of a border town you can bring its educa- tional, moral and religious institutions, the better it will be for the moral, educational and religious wel- fare of the immediate neighborhood.
The mail from Boston to Hartford, sixty years ago, was carried weekly to and from Boston in a
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one-horse gig, by a man of the name of Steele. At that time, there was no mail from Providence to Worcester. It is said that the first ride through the Blackstone valley was made by William Blackstone on the back of a bull. Professor Gammell has playfully remarked, that this was the origin of the term, " Bullgine." Sometime between fifty and sixty years ago, the first mail from Providence to Worcester was carried by Abner Cooper, who resided in Northbridge. He used to go to Provi- dence on one day, return to Northbridge on the second day, go to Worcester and return to his home in Northbridge on the third day. He traveled at first on horseback, next in a one-horse gig, and finally in a two-horse vehicle, and carried passen- gers, who used frequently to stop at his house over night. It is said that he carried his oats with him, and stopped by the roadside to feed his horses. It is to be feared that New England passengers of the present day might be somewhat impatient with this kind of locomotion.
The first stage upon this route was established by one Henry Richardson in 1812. He drove through from Providence to Worcester in one day, and back the next. Although he succeeded in depriving Mr. Cooper of his passengers, he failed in his enterprise. Mr. Cooper continued to carry the mail until another line of stages was established, when the
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stages proved too strong for him, and he retired from the field. It would be pleasant to recall the times when staging was at its full tide through Uxbridge, when such men as John Bradlee held the ribbons, before the time when the railroads had ruined the business; to tell of the social scenes of a long day's ride with the pleasantest people in the world, of the handsomest women and the jolliest men; to describe how Luther Spring used to wel- come the drivers, and mix the toddy, and get up a dinner which was a dinner; and how the drivers would blow their bugle blasts, and come dashing up to the door as though the whole rebel army was in hot pursuit; but there is no time on this occasion to indulge in any such luxury, and we must hasten to speak of other subjects.
I shall say nothing of the later members of the legal profession in this town; but I feel at liberty to say, that the town was fortunate in the character of the lawyers who early settled here. The members of the profession who have practiced here, so far as I can learn, have been Nathan Tyler, Benjamin Adams, Bezaleel Taft, Jr., George Wheaton; Joseph Thayer, Francis Deane, Henry Chapin, Lucius B. Boynton, George S. Taft, and George W. Hobbs .* A lawyer of average ability in a.
* We add to the above list, Frederic B. Deane and Judge A. A. Putnam. Francis Deane and his son, Frederic B. Deane, now reside in Worcester.
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country town, can do much for the good or evil, the credit or disgrace, of his home. He may do much toward producing a spirit of peace, or a spirit of strife in the community. I have sometimes thought he might do more evil than the preacher could do good, or he might be one of the most efficient aids to the spiritual teachers of society. His peculiar relations to the business interests of the people, give him an insight into the hearts and motives of men, which are often hidden from the view of other per- sons. To use a plain illustration, the preacher secs his people in a sort of Sunday, church-going garb, while the lawyer sees them in their every-day clothes, and reads the hearts when unveiled by any shadow of hypocrisy. Such being the case, the minister is not the only man whose settlement in a town is a matter of transcendent importance, because the lawyer may have full as much to do with its character and prosperity as the minister.
Nathan Tyler, the first lawyer in Uxbridge, was a colonel in the revolutionary army. Mr. Tyler lived in the house occupied by Mr. Wheeler and known as the Esq. Frederic Taft place. Of Mr. Tyler there is but little known. His name appears occasionally upon the records of the town. He was probably not only the first lawyer in Uxbridge, but the first lawyer in the south part of the county. Although from what can be learned of him, I have
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no doubt he was a man of good standing in the community, I infer he never came to be very prom- inent as a lawyer, from the fact, that the former Governor Lincoln once informed an elderly lawyer of my acquaintance, that at one time the whole section between himself at Worcester and Judge Wheaton at Norton, was filled by Seth Hastings.
Mr. Tyler was succeeded by Benjamin Adams. Mr. Adams was born in Mendon, December 16, 1764. He was graduated at Brown University, studied law in Uxbridge, in the office of Col. Nathan Tyler, practiced law one year in Hopkinton, Middlesex county, and upon the death of Mr. Tyler, succeeded to his office and his business in this town. Mr. Adams was too young to enter the army of the rev- olution, but his father and his brothers were all soldiers, and when he was but sixteen years old, he mowed six weeks, cutting all the grass upon his father's place, while the women of the family made the hay. He was a member of Congress from Worcester south from 1815 to 1823. He was defeated by Jonathan Russell by reason of a speech of Mr. Adams in favor of the protection of American manufactures, Daniel Webster and the commercial interests of Boston having taken the field against him on account of his sentiments and vote in favor of the protection of American industry. How strange, that forty years ago, a man should have
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been sacrificed politically on account of views and opinions, which time seems to have taken pleasure in demonstrating was the true policy for New England. It reminds one of the splendid old hymn upon the martyrs:
" Flung to the heedless winds, Or on the waters cast, Their ashes shall be watched And gathered at the last."
Mr. Adams was a man of peculiarly even tempera- ment, embodying in himself the idea of a pure mind- ed man, an honest lawyer and a christian gentleman. He seemed from principle, to endeavor to make him- self a useful man in the community. He never spoke unless he had something to say, and he al- ways left off when he had said it. He was perfectly contented with whatever disposition was made of him by his fellow-citizens, and he wished to pros- per, if at all, with them. Possessed of an ample fortune for the time in which he lived, at an unfortunate moment, he was induced to engage in manufacturing, and he shared the fate of many pro- fessional men who venture out of their sphere. The hurricane which swept over the manufacturing business of New England involved him in pecuniary ruin, but his integrity was left untarnished, and from the year 1828, to the time of his death, he passed a quiet life, going to his grave respected by
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all. His memory is yet green in the hearts of those who knew him, and his name is a household word of respect and reverence in the valley of the Black- stone. His simple epitaph is this, "Mark the per- fect man and behold the upright, for the end of that man is peace."
George Wheaton was originally from Bristol county. He married in Uxbridge, and after prac- ticing law here a few years, returned to Bristol county and died there. He was a man of fair abilities, and gentlemanly deportment. His health, after he entered his profession, was never very firm and he died early. His legal business was not ex- tensive. Those who knew him, speak of him with kindness and regard. My own impression is, that his tastes were more literary than legal, and that he lacked those masculine qualities which fit a man for the rough-and-tumble of the profession of the law.
An article in one of the Worcester newspapers contains certain views relating to Hon. Bezalcel Taft, senior, formerly, and for many years, a magis- trate of this town, to Hon. Bezaleel Taft, Jr. and to George S. Taft, Esq., the last two having been lawyers here, which express my views so nearly that I take the liberty to adopt them as my own.
" Hon. Bezaleel Taft, senior, was born in 1750 and died in 1839, in his 89th year. For many years he was one of the leading men in the south part of Worcester County, and
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the tokens of the confidence of his fellow-citizens, while they imposed upon him the burdens of life, strengthened him for their faithful fulfillment. He was for two years a member of the State Senate, and for some thirty years a member of the House of Representatives from Uxbridge. Ile was a strong and decided Federalist and never swerved from his political faith.
Firm, compact, honest, dignified and able, he went through life fulfilling its various duties with rare fidelity and conscientiousness ; and left to his family and to all who knew him, a character which is always referred to with reverent pride and pleasure. He became a large landholder in his native town, and the old homestead is yet in the hands of his descendants. The stately elms which shelter the home of the patriarch, built of timber hewn by his own Hands, and firm as the hills around, are emblematic of the man whose memory is embalmed in the hearts of his friends and kindred. The brief and appropriate inscription upon his tombstone reads thus : "His life was a bright example of private and public worth, and the hoary head was to him a crown of glory, being found in the way of righteousness."
" IIon. Bezaleel Taft, Jr., was born in 1780, and died in 1846, in his 66th year. He was a gentleman of polished manners, excellent culture and high standing in his profes- sion. He was graduated at Cambridge, in the year 1805, and after being admitted to the bar, established himself as a lawyer in his native town. He always resided in Uxbridge, and enjoyed largely the confidence of his fellow-citizens. Hle was twice elected a member of the State Senate, twice a member of the Executive Council, and for a number of years a representative to the Massachusetts Legislature. Hle was very active in the establishment of the State Lunatic Hospital at Worcester, and always referred with much pleasure to the part which he had taken in its origin and success. He was the second president of the Blackstone Bank, and held the office at the time of his death. He was a man of genial humor, rare hospitality, enlightened public spirit and unbending integrity. His name and character are held in grateful remembrance by those who knew him best, and his children and his children's children still cherish them as a priceless legacy.
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And now the third in the line has fallen at the age of thirty-three years, almost at the commencement of his business life. Graduating in 1848, he pursued his legal studies in the office of Henry Chapin, in Worcester, until June, 1851, when he was admitted to the bar of this county. Attracted by strong feelings of affection for his kindred and home, he could not bring his mind to think of settling in any other place than Uxbridge, and he accordingly opened an office in that town during the same year. His life has been a happy one. Surrounded by those whom he loved, doing a respectable business, the idol of his friends, and the : general favorite of every circle, he had become one for whom a whole community will mourn. Not subjected to the pressure which compels some young men to become able and acute lawyers, he had not risen to that height in his profession which his talents might have commanded ; but as the years rolled on the responsibilities of his position seemed to become more and more real to him, and high hopes were entertained of such a success as should do full justice to the powers which we all felt that he possessed? But such was not the order of Providence. Smitten by a fatal and insidious disease at a time when he seemed to be in the full glow of health and hope, he lingered a few months among us, happy, genial, loving and beloved, and then without a murmur or a pain went the way of his fathers, and the places that have known him will know him no more .* C."
Of those now living it would be inappropriate; however desirable, to make any remarks at this time. I leave it to later days and other tongues to 1 do them justice.t
The first physician in Uxbridge, to whom I have occasion to refer, was a Dr. Wood, who occupied & house standing formerly upon the old cellar situated.
* George Spring Taft was born December 26th, 1826, and died February 20, 1860.
t For a notice of Joseph Thayer, Esq., written by Mr. Chapin, see Appen- dix V.
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near the road, northerly from the spot where the boat house formerly stood. After he had been in Uxbridge a number of years, Dr. Samuel Willard came here from Mendon and began the practice of medicine. After Dr. Willard had practiced in Uxbridge awhile, on a dark and stormy night he was called upon to visit a patient in a remote part of the town, or in the edge of Burrillville. Dr. Willard started on horseback, with the caller behind him, and after proceeding a considerable distance he found he was riding alone, and soon crossed a stream which was swollen by a freshet. The next morning Dr. Willard found that the covering of a bridge had been taken or carried away, and that his horse had crossed upon one of the string-pieces of the bridge with the Doctor upon his back. Soon after this Dr. Wood suddenly disappeared from Uxbridge; and some persons were uncharitable enough to suppose that he was the means of the call which was made upon his young competitor.
Dr. Samuel Willard was born in 1748, and died September 11th, 1811, aged sixty-three years, in the house now occupied by Joseph Day. He was an eminent physician, a man of strong feelings and of much intellectual acumen. He did a very large and lucrative business in his profession, and accumulated considerable property and extensive possessions of real estate. He was a Tory in
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the days of the revolution, but escaped the penalties of that offence, and spent here his busy life, retaining to the last that quaintness of thought, that positiveness of statement, that keenness of satire, and that wit and humor, which marked him in the early days of his professional life. For twenty years, or more, he had in charge a large number of insane persons, and was supposed to possess peculiar skill in their management and medical treatment. In this way he was instrumen- tal in bringing much ready money into Uxbridge. The old school-house which stood upon the hill, he used as a sort of insane hospital, and the small building which formerly stood where the shuttle shop is situated, was a kind of water-cure estab- lishment, where some of the unruly ones used te suffer the wet pains and penalties of their miscon- duct. One of your citizens has described to me a novel bath which Dr. Willard used in managing his insane patients. IIe used to put them in a box made full of holes, the head of the patient pro- truding above the box. The box was then placed in the water. He said to one of his patients, "Come, be a good Democrat and all will come right." Said the patient, "I have done every- thing bad, almost even to murder, but I never did so bad a thing as to be a Democrat." Twvo of these patients, named Hancock and Ayers,
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whose forms and features are fresh in the memory of many of the present generation, belonged to families of wealth and standing in Boston. They met each other at dinner on their way to Uxbridge in charge of their friends respectively, and they both remained together in the care of different persons during a period of more than forty years. The famous Hancock house in Boston was the home of the patient of that name, whose courtly manners and stately form showed the wreck of one who should have been a worthy descendant of the patriot of revolutionary memory. If you will excuse one more epitaph, I will relieve you from any more graveyard literature after reading the following, copied from the tombstone of Dr. Samuel Willard :
" For worth departed, tears of sorrow flow ; Science and friendship mourn in silent woe : In each pursuit to honor's precept true, He claims this tribute as in justice due.
Genius and truth acknowledge him their own, Which in their sphere a constellation shone. Reader attend, and emulate his plan, Be what he was, a strictly honest man."
Let me now speak of two other physicians who here practiced their profession, though both of them subsequently removed from the town.
Dr. Augustus C. Taft was the son of Dea. Chandler Taft. He practiced successfully in his
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profession in Upton and afterwards moved to Uxbridge and practiced in this town for awhile. From Uxbridge he moved to Boston, and from there to Framingham, where he died early. After leaving Uxbridge, he devoted himself to other pursuits. Dr. Taft was a man of fair abilities, great kindness of heart, with a fund of bright, sparkling humor, which made him a general favorite. I am not aware that he ever injured the feelings of any one, or left an enemy behind him. He married a daughter of the Rev. E. T. Taylor, of the Seamen's Bethel at Boston, who still survives her husband. The tragic death of a beautiful daughter, by an accident at the railroad crossing near her father's residence in Framingham, is still fresh in the minds of those whose sympathies were so deeply moved for the grief-stricken parents.
Of Dr. Smith it is impossible to speak in too commendatory terms. He was in Uxbridge a few months only, and then settled in Sutton, where he remained during the most of his professional life, although he spent his last few years in Providence, where he died. He was a remarkable man. Belonging to a family eminent in the medical pro- fession, he achieved, in a quiet farming town in the County of Worcester, a reputation which any one might envy. Called in every direction for consul- tation and medical advice, he sustained a position
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in the confidence of the people rarely equalled in this vicinity. His splendid form, his magnificent head, his modesty of deportment and his clearness of intellect combined to make him a sort of idol among those who had the good fortune to secure his services. He loved his friends, but he did not love indiscriminately. As an instance of his local attachments, it is related of him that upon his return from Providence on his first visit to Sutton, he was met upon the common with tears coursing down his cheeks and in explanation of the circum- stance said, " Why, it looks like New Jerusalem." It used to be said of him that he was rather uncertain about answering calls, although he was quite attentive to the cases of his old friends. A lady, whose mother was sick sent for the doctor, and he did not appear under two or three days. The mother was one of his early friends. Upon his arrival, the daughter met him at the door with the exclamation, " Doctor, why didn't you come and see mother sooner ?" Said he, "I thought it was you who was sick; if I had known it was your mother, I should have been here before," blunting the edge of his remark with one of those conta- gious bursts of laughter, which were absolutely irresistible .*
*: See Appendix VI., for a notice of James Watson Robbins, M. D. The other physicians of the town are Alonzo W. Bennett, Chaumey A. Wilcox and J. M. Macomber. For a notice of Dr. Macomber, see Appendix VII.
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