USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > Petersham > An address delivered in Petersham, Massachusetts, July 4, 1854, in commemoration of the one hundredth anniversary of the incorporation of that town > Part 5
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ing; and that said singers be not disturbed in the peaceful possession of said scats." Certainly not a very presuming proposition this, which came from " a number of people " willing to sing! It does not appear that the scats petitioned for were regarded as particularly eligible. They were at the back side, of the house, and the front was generally deemed prefer- able. But then they would have doors (if the occu- pants would pay for them), and so far there would be a certain honorable exclusiveness in their position. However all this might be, the town was not disposed to be exacting; and therefore voted, with a gracious liberality, that " whenever a sufficient number of per- sons shall associate together, to fill the two hind seats on the lower floor, on the men's side, for the melodious purpose of improving their voices, and carrying on such part of publick worship on the sabbath and other divine service as is done by singing, that such persons shall then have full liberty to crect a pew, at their own expenses, on the ground where said seats are; and may enjoy the same, during their performance as singers to the satisfaction of the town.". This unparal- leled generosity on the part of the town, we may conclude, was duly appreciated, and thankfully ac- cepted, by the party interested. The habit of choosing choristers had begun a dozen years earlier than this. The first choristers chosen in this town, three in number, were Joseph Gleason, James Gleason, and James Wheeler.
The town began to agitate the question of building a new meeting-house about the time of Mr. Reed's set-
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tlement, in 1780. Two or three years passed in preparatory discussions and canvassings. It was not till near the end of 1783, that any definite action in favor of building was set on foot by the town; and, even then, many steps and countersteps, actions and counteractions, had to be taken, before the design was carried out .* In 1785, it was determined that it should have a belfry ; and a special Committee of five was chosen, in addition to the regular Building Committee, " to manage the matter of building the belfry." Then it was voted, a few months later, to " disannull " altogether this vote to build a belfry ; and, two thirds of a year after that, the town disan- nulled its disannulment, and renewed its vote to build. The house was probably in such a state of forward- ness as to be used as early as 1788, though there appear to have been further works upon it during some four or five years succeeding. The edifice was finally made complete in its appointments by a gift of a bell. from Eleazer Bradshaw, Esq., of Brookfield. Most of us remember this house, as having stood about in the centre of the Common, nearly in front of the pre- sent meeting-house of the First Parish, bearing a little to the north perhaps. Those who remember it, as it was thirty years ago, will remember that it had ori- ginally a simple balcony and turret above the belfry ; a far less imposing structure than the tall and orna-
* The late Mr. Wing Spooner told me, that the very large and heavy timbers of which the frame of this house was constructed were drawn to the building-place on a snow-crust, on the 22d of April; and that two months from that day, June 22, the farmers had commenced their haying.
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mented spire, which, for the last fifteen or eighteen years that it stood, graced its tower. About seven years ago, this house, having been deprived of its tower and spire, and removed to the east side of the Com- mon, and fitted up for secular uses, was consumed in one of those two desolating fires * which were the most calamitous blows that the prosperity of this com- munity ever suffered.
There was no permanent church or parochial orga- nization in this town, distinct from the town and the first Congregational Church, during the last century. A Baptist Church was in existence, in the south- westerly part of the town, during the time of the Revolutionary War, and at least ten years later: it had for its ministers a Mr. Dennis and a Mr. Sellon, and probably others. There are no records, known to be preserved, of the date of its organization, or of its history. Its house of worship stood on the declivity of the hill descending to the Factory Village, so called, near the spot for some time occupied by the store of the late Mr. John L. Gallond. The meeting-house was subsequently removed to Dana, where it was for some time occupied by the same Baptist Church, and afterwards, it is believed, by the Universalist denomi- nation : it has now ceased to be put to church pur- poses.
About the year 1783, the singular sect called Shakers made their appearance here. Some persons of substance joined them, and large numbers attended
* See Appendix M. Casualties, &o.
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their meetings, - some from curiosity, some from bet- ter motives than that, others from worse. One of their principal gathering-places was the house now occupied by Mr. Daniel Ward, then the residence of Mr. Tho- mas Hammond. If we may credit the affidavits, and various testimony, of several who were then with them, but who afterwards left them, their proceedings were scarcely better than the orgies of Pandemonium. So excited was the opposition at length aroused against them, in the popular feeling, that a mob collected about. their place of resort, and they were violently assaulted. Mother Ann Lee is said to have fought valiantly against the assailants in person. The Shakers, though at one time considerably numerous in the vicinity, obtained no permanent foothold in Peters- ham, nor had they at any time a Society established herc .* One of your aged citizens + tells me he remembers " when there was more Shaker travel by his house, than all the present travel."
After the dismission of Rev. Mr. Reed, which took place June 25, 1800, the town was without a minister a little more than a year, when Mr. Festus Foster was settled as the third minister of the town; in which office he continued till near the end of the year 1817.
* "Summary View of the Millennial Church," &c., published by order of its ministers, pp. 20-22, 41, 68, 69; " Portraiture of Shakerism," by Mary M. Dyer; traditions. The character known as " Hermit Allen," whose eccentric life is a matter of familiar tradition, sometime belonged to them. Hle lived by himself, after the dis- persion of the Shakers, in a hut in the fields south of the Clapp Spooner Place; and, as he sat among the boughs of his butternut-tree, in the calm summer nights, and gave voice to the wildest chants of a becrazed fanaticism, his vociferations are said to have been heard miles away, through the still air.
t Mr. George Bosworth.
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Mr. Foster's ministry covered a period of the most intense political excitement; an excitement in which the people of this town took an earnest part. The questions and measures then in controversy were looked on by many wise and good men as fraught with the most vital consequences to the nation. I will attempt no elaborate explanations of the position of parties at this period, or try to follow the various courses of dispute which convulsed many a parochial community, as they did rock the very foundations of the government, and threaten the peace and welfare of the country. Such as have the disposition can read that chapter of history elsewhere.
In those controversies, the pastor of this church became involved. We will not revive them to-day ; nay, we will question the right of any one to be called a true son of the town, who shall ever revive them as our local controversies. We will, as we have a mind, recall them in genial and pleasant mood, to hang green ivy over their unsightly rents and deformities ; but, such as they were, let these places know them no more for ever.
Rev. Mr. Foster was the son of Standish Foster, and was born in Canterbury, Conn., September 30, 1776. He remained on his father's farm till the age of eighteen. His family, about that time, removing to Rowe, Mass., he was there prepared for College, under the tuition of Rev. Preserved Smith, the minis- ter of that town, and was graduated at Williams Col- lege in the year 1800.
After leaving College, he took charge of a Grammar
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School in Pittsfield, meanwhile entering on studies preparatory for the ministry, under the direction of Rev. Dr. Lathrop, of West Springfield. He was ordained in this place, Jan. 13, 1802, and was dis- missed Nov. 26, 1817.
Mr. Foster removed to Brimfield in the spring of 1818, and engaged there in mercantile pursuits for a . time; afterward settled upon a farm in the same town, on which he spent the remainder of his days. He died on the 30th of April, 1846.
Mr. Foster always took an interest in public affairs, and filled several principal town-offices in Brimfield, besides representing that town two years in the State Legislature. He was a man of vigorous intellect, and knew how to put his thoughts in forcible words. As a reasoner, he was able, acute, and ingenious ; and he wielded a dangerous weapon - as well dangerous to him who carries it, as to him whom it wounds - in a talent for keenest sarcasm. Under the irritating pro- vocations of sharp personal controversy, he did not find it easy to hold such a faculty always in check. But, in the calmer conferences and discussions of the delibe- rative assembly in which he participated later in life, that gift of stings would appear to have been sparingly used, if used at all. It is the uniform testimony of his contemporaries in the General Court, that, as a debater, he commanded attention on all occasions, and proved himself an influential and useful member of that body. He did not speak often; but, waiting till he had studied his subject carefully from different aspects, and seen it by the light which other mind."
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could shed upon it, he seldom failed to sum up the whole matter with a judicial clearness, comprehensive- ness, and justness of view, which satisfied and con- vinced.
Mr. Foster's social qualities were, however, quite as distinguishing traits of his character as any that he possessed. There was a quickness of wit, and a gene- ral freshness and raciness in his conversation, which made his talk peculiarly spirited and attractive.
He left various published writings, chiefly Sermons and occasional Addresses.
Of the successors of Rev. Mr. Foster in the pas- toral office, I need not speak: they all survive .*
In 1823, a church was gathered here, and a society formed, of Calvinistic faith ; the church consisting originally of sixteen members. The house of worship which they now occupy was built about twenty-five years ago. The ministers of that Society have been
* Their names, with a few other facts and dates, we give. They are -
Luther Willson, born in New Braintree in 1783; a graduate of Williams College in 1807; for some years, preceptor of Leicester Academy; pastor of the First Church in Brooklyn, Conn., from 1813 to 1817; installed at Petershamn, June 23, 1819; dis- missed, Oet. 18, 1834; and still living in this town.
George R. Noyes, a native of Newburyport; graduate of Harvard College, 1818; S.T.D., 1839; settled in Brookfield, 1827; installed in Petersham, October, 1834; elected to a professorship in the Theological School of Harvard University in 1840, which office he continues to hold.
Nathaniel Gage, graduated at Harvard College in 1822; previously pastor at Nashua and at Haverhill; installed in Petersham, Oct. 6, 1841; dismissed 1845; since of Lancaster and Westborough.
Ephraim Nute, jun., ordained Oct. 15, 1845; dismissed in early part of 1848; sinee settled in Seituate and Chicopee.
Martin W. Willis, ordained at Walpole, N.II., in autumn of 1843; installed at Petersham, May, 1848; dismissed 1851; since pastor at Bath, Me., and at Nashua, N.II.
John J. Putnam, present pastor; previously settled in Bolton, Mass .; installed in Petersham, 1852.
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the Rev. Messrs. Wolcott,* Tracy,; Shumway, Clark, and Foster, the present pastor. The Society has a pleasant and convenient house of worship, and is in a prosperous condition.
In November, 1824, a branch of the Baptist Church in Athol was organized in this town. Their minister, Rev. Thomas Marshall, residing in the westerly part of the town, for some years held regular weekly sabbath services ; after his removal, they had preaching only a part of the time. In May, 1849, this branch church assumed an independent organization, and Rev. John Shephardson became their first and is their present pastor. The meeting-house built, and occupied for a time, by the Universalist Society, was purchased by this (Baptist) Society in 1849, and is now their house of worship.
A Society of Universalists was organized here in 1836 or 1837. They built the meeting-house now owned and occupied by the Baptist Society, about the year 1838. The Society had two clergymen succes- sively settled over it, - Rev. Messrs. Willis and Coolidge. Since the year 1848 or '49, they have been without preaching.
A Methodist Society was formed here, some years ago, having preaching from the year 1843 to '48 or '49. They built a small chapel, now no longer used as a place of worship. Their ministers were Rev. Messrs. Dutton, Clarke, and Goodwin. A second church of
* Ordained in October, 1830; dismissed in 1833.
t Had been installed in North Adams, in 1832; installed in Petersham, June, 1834.
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Calvinistic faith was gathered in town, - the south- west part, on the borders of Dana and Hardwick, about the year 1836 or 1837; and a meeting-house was built.
It is a ground of honest pride, that we can say of our old mother to-day, that her fame has always been fair, and that she gives none of her children occasion to be ashamed at the mention of her name. We can celebrate her birthday, without wishing to conceal or to falsify any part of her history. There is as little in her story, which filial affection could wish unremembered or blotted, as in that of almost any town of the Commonwealth.
From the beginning, this town has sustained more than a respectable reputation for intelligence, for patriotism, and for public virtue. Her schools have not been neglected. The annual appropriations for church and school stand uniformly side by side, from the first, till the time when the support of religion was separated from civil affairs altogether, and became wholly voluntary. At first the Selectmen, afterwards . a Committee chosen by the town for the purpose, were entrusted with the expenditure of this money.
Among the earliest schoolmasters here were Joel Mathews, Jedediah Parker, Dr. Eleazar Hartshorn, Nathan Stone, Alexander McDowell, Abraham Wood, Ensign Man, Manasseh Smith, and Dr. Bennet Wait. Several of these names are found upon the Catalogues of Harvard and other Colleges: some of those who
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bore them became useful pastors of churches, and members of the other professions.
I suppose it would be rather more difficult to trace the names of the school-dames of that period (as they were termed); not solely because they are not recorded on college catalogues, but partly because women's names resist the changes of time less sternly than do those of the other sex.
The earlier schoolhouses were mostly small and inconvenient, as they were nearly everywhere. It will show the progress which has been made in the provi- sion of school accommodations, to state here a fact given me by Rev. Dr. Willard, viz., that the Bell Schoolhouse (as it has always been called), when erected in 1794, surpassed almost every structure of its kind in the interior of the country. John Chand- ler, Esq., at whose instance chiefly it was erected, gave the district a bell, whose vibrations were so · powerful as to be heard through a compass of several miles.
Quite a respectable number from the natives of the town have been educated at college; and they have been not only respectable in their aggregate number, but generally of respectable, or more than respectable, scholarship, character, and influence .*
This town occupied, relatively, a more prominent position in the last century than it has held of late years. In 1764, when the population of Worcester was 1,450, the population of Petersham was half as
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large as that, - 700; there were then in Petersham, 100 houses, and 115 families.
In 1776, the town had a white population of 1,235; an increase, in twelve years, of about 77 per cent. In 1790, the population was 1,560; and, in 1800, 1,794. Thus we see, that, at the beginning of the present cen- tury, the population was nearly 1,800 ; about as large, I suppose, as it has ever been. In the assessment of a State tax, levied in 1796, there were only four towns in Worcester County that paid a higher tax than Peters- ham .* I find that one who has preceded me in sketch- ing the town's history, t in remarking that the town claimed, in 1787, to have enough ratable polls to entitle them to two Representatives in the General Court, expresses doubts whether they were not mistaken in their estimate. Not to lay stress on the fact, that the right of the two Representatives to their seats was not contested in the General Court, a fact which he argues is not conclusive, I think the town must have grown to a greater size than he supposed. The num- ber of ratable polls required by the Constitution to allow two Representatives was 375. In 1781, Peters- ham had 313 ratable polls, and, in 1784, 345 or 349 (there is some obscurity in the record). Taking the lower number only, the increase would be more than ten per cent in three years ; and ien per cent increase, from 1784 to '87, would give four or five more than : the requisite 375.
* Worcester, Sutton, Brookfield, and Barre. Book of Statistics, by Rey. J. B. Felt.
t Jared Weed, Esq.
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The prominent position which this town held in the latter part of the last century is farther attested by the fact, that strenuous and persevering efforts were made, during the years along from 1785 to '98, to form a new county, with this for the shire-town. There was an agreement among the towns petitioning, as to where the seat of the county should be fixed, if their petition should succeed ; which would probably. not have been the case, had this been a second-rate town among them. The petitions of 1785 were from Hardwick, Barre, Hubbardston, Petersham, Tem- pleton, Winchendon, Athol, Royalston, Warwick, Wendell, New Salem, Shutesbury, Orange, and Green- wich. The latter six towns were not then, as now, of Franklin County; but of the old, undivided Hamp- shire. In subsequent petitions, citizens of Oakham, Gardner, and Gerry, joined. This town held out no other inducement for the establishment of the county- seat here, than to offer its old meeting-house for a court-house, " provided Petersham be made a shire- town within two years." *
Before the tendency to a centralization of wealth, population, and talent in a few localities, had begun to show itself, the town held, in all respects, not only a high rank among the country towns, but it was one of the highest in social refinement and gene- ral intelligence in this section. I had hoped to be able to sketch some of the characters of leading influ- ence in the town in times past. I have time to name.
* Town Records.
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but a few of them, and' those few scarcely more than name. Of the professional men, there were, for lawyers, - JOSHUA ATHERTON. He staid here only about three years, however, from 1763 to '68. He became distinguished after he left here, and filled honorable and important offices in New Hampshire. He was the ancestor of those of the name who have more recently attained to eminence in the same State and in the nation. - NATHANIEL CHANDLER (uncle of the late Nathaniel Chandler) established himself here, in the same profession, about 1772, and continued here till the breaking-out of the Revolution. In the war, he joined the English, and commanded a corps of volunteers in the British service in New York. He went to England afterward, returned in 1784, engaged in trade and in agricultural pursuits in this town, but finally removed to Worcester (from which place he had come to Petersham), and died there. His talents were of a high order. In early life, he had been a pupil of John Adams. " His personal appearance was pleasing; and his address, and great flow of spi- rits, with a fertile imagination, rendered him a great favorite in society." * He lived, I think, in the house. where the late Hutchins Hapgood lived and died. -- Next was DANIEL BIGELOW. He was a native of
Worcester, educated at Harvard University. For a time, he taught in Worcester, and then studied law: there. He opened an office in this place in 1780, and remained here till his death, in 1806. He represented
* Willard's Address before the Bar of the County. Diary of President John Adams.
this town in the General Court from 1791 to 1794; was Senator for the county for the four years succeed- ing, and a member of the Executive Council in 1801; he also filled the office of County Attorney. "He shared largely," says Willard,* " in the esteem of his constituents, for his sound sense and for his integrity. Though not a facile speaker, he was well grounded in his profession, and was respected as a prudent and safe counsellor. And, more than all, he had that moral health, that fair and honorable mind, that shed a bright lustre upon the character." - LEWIS BIGE- LOW was a son of Daniel Bigelow, succeeded him in his profession here, and inherited his abilities. He was a native of this town, and a graduate of Wil- liams College in 1803. He represented this district in the Seventeenth Congress of the United States. In his profession, he was well read, able, and successful. He left this town, for the Western country, in the year . 1831 ; settled in Peoria, Ill., where he died, I think, about 1838.
A lawyer, named JOHN TAYLOR, was in practice here forty-five years ago. He came from Hampshire County, and had been in the office of Governor Strong, while he (Gov. Strong) was in Congress.t
Of the living, and of those well remembered even by the young, I do not speak.
Of the earliest physicians, I can say little. There were two teachers here, between 1762 and 1768, to whose names the title of Dr. was usually prefixed. - -
* Address before the Bar of Worcester County.
+ Mrs. Sarah How's MS.
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ELEAZER HARTSHORN and BENNET WAIT, though I know not whether they were ever in the practice of medicine: the former went to Athol, but I am un- able to say how long lie remained there, or whether he was professionally engaged in that place. - Dr. EPHRAIM WHITNEY, probably a nephew of Rev. Aaron Whitney, and a native of Lunenburgh or Fitchburgh,* was a physician here many years ; died in 1801, at the age of seventy-two years. He was a Tory, and an eccentric man ; wore his beard the latter part of his life, and left directions that he should be buried with it unshaven. - Dr. RICHARD P. BRIDGE, a native .of Framingham, and son of the minister of that town; superseded Dr. Whitney in practice ; was regarded as a very skilful physician, and had almost the entire practice of the town till the time of his death. He died in 1797, at the age of forty. Dr. Bridge, lived first at the " tan-yard house," so called, and afterwards bought and occupied the place now owned by Jonas How, Esq. - A physician, by the name of BECKWITH, practised medicine in the south-west part of the town, I am told, between the years 1790 and 1800. - Dr. JOIIN FLINT, a son of Dr. Edward Flint, of Shrews- bury, and a native of that town, came to Petersham. about 1801, and took a high rank in his profession. He died, greatly lamented, in February, 1810, at the early age of thirty-two, falling a victim to the fright- ful " spotted fever " which appeared here in that year. That appalling disease was generally a fatal sickness
* Fitchburgh was set off from Lunenburgh.
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of but a few hours' duration : the best physicians confessed themselves at fault. Dr. Flint attended most of the cases, writing at the same time to skilful. and experienced men of his profession abroad, desiring their attendance. Consternation and gloom pervaded the town; a fast-day was appointed and observed ; and every thing betokened the presence of some dire calamity. Dr. Flint, when seized, was at some dis- tance from his home, and immediately administered to himself the remedy then most relied on, but without the desired effect: he reached home with difficulty; and died in a few hours. - Dr. JOSEPH HENSHAW FLINT, son of Dr. Austin Flint, of Leicester, and nephew of the foregoing, succeeded him in his profes- sion here. He had previously practised for a few. years in Shrewsbury. IIe removed to Petersham about 1811, whence he removed, after a year or two, to Northampton, and thence to Springfield. He died in Leicester, in 1846 .*
Besides those filling professional offices, were other persons prominent for their intelligence and for influ- ence, both within and without the town. JONATHAN GROUT, who was from Lunenburgh, was for seven years the Representative of the town in the General Court ; one year Representative of the County in the Senate ; and a member of the first Congress under the Constitution. He was also chosen a delegate to the Provincial Congress, held at Cambridge, in Febru- ary, 1775. He was active on Committees and in
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