USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > Leicester > Brief history of Leicester, Massachusetts > Part 11
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
The Henshaw place, northeast of Henshaw Pond, at first called Judge's Pond, was owned, and the house first built, by Judge John Menzies, who came from Roxbury in 1720. Hle was from Scotland, a member of the Faculty of Advocates in Edinburgh, and was appointed judge of the Court of Admiralty of Massachusetts, Rhode Island and New Hampshire. lle was the first representative of the town to the General Conrt.
The place was afterward owned by Judge Thomas Steele, who has already been mentioned. After the Revolutionary War it came into the Henshaw fam- ily, where it has remained. Captain David Hen- shaw purchased it in 1782. Still later it was the home of Hon. David Henshaw. Ile was appointed collector of the port of Boston, by President Andrew Jackson, in 1829, and served with great credit to himself and advantage to the department. He was appointed Secretary of the Navy by President JJohn Tyler, served for a short time, but his appointment was not confirmed by the Senate, which was of the opposite political party.
The mansion-house on Mount Pleasant was built in 1772 by Joseph Henshaw, who also gave to the hill its name.' He was a graduate of Harvard, in 1748. Ilis connection with early Revolutionary events has already been referred to. He was a man of wealth, and loaned to the government, in its time of need, at least a hundred thousand dollars. At this honse he tock the mail from the courier, before the establishment of a post-office here. In 1795 the place came into the hands of James Swan, who fitted up the house and grounds in a style of magnificence far surpassing anything in this region. His wealth was supposed to be immense. After a few years, reverses came upon him, he retired to France, and in 1830 re- appears upon the opening of the Debtor's Prison, in Paris, as one who was set free, after occupying the same room thirty-two years and one day.
Daniel Denny, From whom descended all of that name in town, came from Combs, Suffolk County, England, to Boston in 1715, and removed to Leices- ter in 1717. The prominent position of the members of this family, in connection with town and national affairs, has already been indicated.
Deborah, the sister of Daniel Denny, was the wife of Rev. Thomas Prince, D. D., of the Old South
Church, Boston. Colonel Samuel Denny lived on Moose ITill; he was lieutenant-colonel of the minute- men and colonel of the First Worcester County Regi- ment, a member of the General Court, and of the convention to ratify the National Constitution.
St. John Honeywood, son of Dr. John Honeywood, gradnated with high honors at Yale in 1782, was a lawyer in Salem, N. Y., and one of the electors for John Adams. lle died at the age of thirty-four. Says Washburn: "He gave early evidence of having been endowed by nature with the eye of a painter and the sensibility of a poet." A posthumous volume of his poems was published in 1801.
Colonel Henry Sargent was one of the wealthy and prominent men of the town, honored with civil and military office. Two of his sons were physicians in Worcester. Dr. Henry Sargent died in 1857. Dr. Jos. Sargent died in 1888, after a long practice in the profession, in which he held high rank. The Sargent Family has been one of standing in the town, and other members are elsewhere noticed.
The Green family came from Malden, and were at one time the most numerons in town. Members of this family have been already noticed in connection with the early history of the town. The Southgate family were from England, and have also been prominently identified with the town's history,
The large residence east of the Common was built. by Joshua Clapp, the enterprising and generous Clappville manufacturer. Mr. Denny, in his " Rem- iniseenses," says of him that he was " a decided and active temperance man in the early days of the reform." In 1836 he bought the hotel in the Centre village, and converted it into a temperance honse. Mrs. Ellen E. Flint afterwards owned the Clapp place for many years. She was a woman of strong character, benevo- lent and public-spirited. She built the massive walls which have given to the place the name of " Stone- wall Farm." The place, some time after her death, came into the hands of Dr. Horace P. Wakefield, who resided there several years. It was then pur- chased by Hon. Samnel Winslow, mayor of Worcester, remodeled and much enlarged, and is now the resi- dence of his son, Samuel E. Winslow.
Phineas Bruce was elected to Congress in 1803, but never took his seat.
Ilon. William Upham was educated at the academy ; was district judge in Vermont, and United States Senator.
Hon. Joseph Allen was a member of the House of Representatives; also Hon. John E. Russell, elected in 1886.
Three persons at least, in Leieester have lived to a remarkable age. Elilm Emerson was born in West- field, Mass., July 21, 1771. He resided for many years in the home of his daughter, Mrs. Dr. Edward Flint, where he died, October 31, 1873, at the age of one hundred and two years. three months and ten days.
Ebenezer Dunbar was born March 29, 1777, in Lei- cester, where he always resided. Ile died November
* Not Lewis Allen, as Washburn states
.
46
LEICESTER.
4, 1877, and was thus one hundred years, seven months and six days old.
Mrs. Lydia Watson, the widow of Mr. Robert Wat- son, was born in Leicester, January 5, 1787. She died in Leicester, where her whole life was spent, April 11, 1889, at the age of one hundred and two years, three months and six days.
PHYSICIANS. - The first physician in Leicester was Dr. Thomas Green, already noticed as the first pastor of the Baptist Church in Greenville.
Dr. Pliny Lawton tanght school in 1748 and 1749 and was then called "Doctor." He died in 1761, of small-pox, which he contracted while in the con- ageous discharge of his duty, and was binied in his own field.
Dr. John Honeywood was in practice here in 1753. Ile was an Englishman and his interest in. the early Revolutionary movements, and his death while serving in the American army, have been already noticed. fle was a well-educated and skill- ful physician.
Dr. Solomon Parsons, son of Rev. David Parsons, school teacher in 1751, was born April 18, 1726, and and died March 20, 1807. Ilis wife died the same year as Dr. Lawton, of small-pox, and he was under the necessity of burying her alone, by night. He is supposed to have been a surgeon in the army in 1761.
Dr. Isaac Green, son of Dr. Thomas Green, was born in 1741, and died in 1812. He was surgeon in Col. Samuel Denny's regiment in 1777, and was at Saratoga at the taking of Burgoyne.
Dr. Edward Rawson was born in Mendon, in 1754, and died in 1786.
Dr. Absolom Russell practiced here a few years, and was a surgeon in the Revolutionary army.
Dr. Robert Craige, Dr. Jeremiah Larned and Dr. Thomas Hersey were in practice in town during the last half of the last century, and also Dr. Thaddens Brown.
The most eminent physician of the town, after Dr. Thomas Green, was Dr. Austin Flint. He was born in Shrewsbury, January, 1760; came to Leicester in 1783, and died Angust 29, 1850. He is characterized by Gov. Washburn as " an intelligent, well-informed man, of strong will and indomitable courage;" of "affable manners" and with a "rich fund of anee- dote and good sense." He entered the army at the age of seventeen, and his record in the Revolution and the "Shays' Rebellion" has already been given. He was for twenty successive years moderator of town-meeting, for fifteen years town clerk, for sixteen years trustee of the academy, for about thirty years a magistrate, and for five years a Representative in the Legislature. He not only practiced throughout the town, but also in other towns. He kept a record of the births at which he rendered professional aid. The number is 1750. His wife (Elizabeth) was the daughter of Col. William Henshaw.
Dr. Edward Flint, his son, elsewhere noticed, began practice here in 1811.
Dr. Ames Walbridge came to Greenville about the year 1830, and died there July 30, 1867, at the age of seventy-five.
Dr. JJacob Holmes was a physician in Leicester from 1834 to 1847. Rev. Isaac Worcester, M. D., who married the daughter of Colonel Henry Sargent, was for a short time in practice here, as were also Dr. C. D. Whitcomb, and Dr. James P. C. Cummings and Dr. E. A. Daggett, who was followed by Dr. John P. Scribner. Dr. George O. Warner came to Leicester in 1866, and remained until his death, November 12, 1885, at the age of forty-six. He gained a very exten sive practice throughout the entire town and region. He was for a short time an army surgeon. Ile was kind and sympathetic, and his death was universally lamented.
The present physicians of the centre are Fred H. Gifford, who was graduated from the Harvard Medi- cal School in 1874, and began practice in Leicester in 1879; Dr. Charles II. Warner, graduated from the Harvard Medical School in 1870, commencing prac. tice in Leicester in 1885; and Dr. Charles G. Stearns, graduated from Amherst College in 1874 and from the Harvard Medical School in 1881, and com. mencing practice here in the winter of 1885. Dr. Leonard W. Atkinson was graduated from Boston University Medical School in 1884, and began practice in Cherry Valley in 1885.
LAWYERS .- Christopher J. Lawton came to Lei cester in 1735, and practiced until 1751.
HIon. Nathaniel Paine Denny was graduated from Harvard, 1797, settled in Leicester in 1800, practiced for twenty years, and represented the town in the Legislature ten years.
Bradford Sumner was gradnated from Brown Uni- versity, 1808, came to Leicester 1813, and praetieed until 1820.
David Brigham was graduated from Harvard, 1810, came to Leicester in 1817, and practiced here a little more than two years.
Daniel Knight was graduated from Brown Univer- sity, in 1813, and came to Leicester, 1821.
Emory Washburn was graduated from Williams College in 1817, and practiced in Leicester from 1821 to 1828.
Waldo Flint was graduated from Harvard in 1814, and came to Leicester in 1828. Ile was after- ward for many years president of the Eagle Bank, Boston.
Silas Jones succeeded Mr. Flint, but only praetieed for a short time.
Henry Oliver Smith, a native of Leicester, was graduated from Amherst in 1863, and since 1866 has practiced in Leieester.
ITEMS OF INTEREST .- A few items of interest from Washburn's History, and other sources, are added here. The first publie conveyance for passen. gers was the line of "stage wagons " between Boston and Hartford, opened October 20, 1783, by Levy Pease, of Somers, Conn., and Reuben Sikes, of Hartford. Before this the mails were carried on horseback.
47
LEICESTER.
There are persons now living who remember to have seen sixteen stage-coaches at one time around the tavern on Leicester Hill. In the last century two huge horse-blocks near the meeting-house and the public stocks were conspienons objects on the Com- mon. The last " pillory " was built in 1763, for thir- teen shillings, by Benjamin Theker. George Wash- ington, on his journey to Boston in 1789, passed through Leicester October 224, and met a delegation of gentlemen from Worcester on the line between the two towns. Lafayettte, on the 3d of September, 1824, passed through the sonth part of the town " attended by a troop of horse and an escort of military officers, citizens, etc."
Colonel Thomas Denny introduced the first piano to the town about the year 1809. The second be- longed to the daughter of Captain John Southgate a few years later. The first carpet in town was woven by Mrs. David Bryant early in the present century.
In the first quarter of the present century there was in the Centre Village a literary association composed of the younger women, which met from house to house, and is represented to have had a brilliant suc- cess. Some of the productions of its members found a place in the Worcester Spy, among the " Blossoms of Parnassus." " Ilistory," says Washburn, " can only record the fact that it once existed, flourished many years and disappeared." It has had, however, many successors.
BURYING-GROUNDS .- The first burying-ground in town was the church-yard back of the early meeting- house, which was surrounded by a brush fence. It dates back to 1714. The Greenville Cemetery was opened about the year 1736 ; the Elliott Burying- yard, in the north part of the town, in 1756. The burying-ground of the Friends at Mannville was in existence as early as 1739. The Rawson Brook Cem- etery dates back to 1755, and the Cherry Valley Cemetery was opened in 1816, and the Pine Grove in 1842. In these several burying-places have been laid about 2800 bodies. The number of deaths in town since 1800, recorded on the town books and elsewhere, is 3469. In the first decade there are 98, in the sec- ond, 150; in the third, 193 ; in the fourth, 265; in the fifth, 324; in the sixth, 431; in the seventh, 474; in the eighth, 552; from 1880 to 1887, 451. These facts are from the record of C. C. Deuny, Esq., who has made a careful investigation and study of the subject.
POST-OFFICES .- A post-office was established in Leicester about 1798, and Ebenezer Adams, Esq., was the first commissioned postmaster. He was succeeded by Col. Thomas Denny, Col. Henry Sargent, John Sargent (appointed April, 1829), Henry D. Hatch, L. D. Thurston, the present incumbent appointed.
The post-office in Rochdale was established in 1824, and Rev. Joseph Muenscher was the first postmaster.
The post-office in Cherry Valley was established in 1859, with Harveylainter, postmaster.
FIRE DEPARTMENT .- The date of procuring the
little engine upon which the town depended many years for extinguishing fires is not known. . A fire- engine, called " Union No 2," was purchased in 1841, partly by the town and partly by individual subserip- tions. It came to town April 20th. A steam fire- engine was bought in 1869, and in 1886 it was re- placed by the present steam-engine. In 1885 a steamer was obtained for Cherry Valley, and chemi- cal extinguishers for Rochdale and Greenville.
TAVERNS .- The first tavern was on the corner of Main and Paxton Streets. It was occupied by Na- thaniel Richardson in 1721, John Tyler 1746, John Tyler, Jr., 1755, Seth Washburn 1756, then by John Tyler, by Benjamin Tucker 1761, Edward Bond 1767. It was then burnt and rebuilt, occupied by Elijah Lathrop 1776, Peter Taft 1778, Reuben Swan 1781, William Denny 1801, Aaron Morse 1810.
The second tavern was opposite the Catholic Church, built by Jonathan Sargent as early as 1727. He was succeeded by his son Phineas, and he in 1776 by Nathan Waite.
James Smith had a tavern in the last house in Lei- cester, on the road to Spencer, in 1740. He was fol- lowed by Samuel Lynde in 1755; the house was de- stroyed by the hurricane in 1759.
Phineas Newhall built in 1776 a tavern on the lat- nuek Road, where the last house in Leicester stands, which was open for many years.
The first tavern on the site of Leicester Hotel, oppo- site the Common, was built in 1776, by Nathan Waite. Jacob Reed Rivera, the Jew, bought it for his store in 1777. Here a hotel has been kept by successive land- lords to the present time. Among these was John Hobert, who had charge of it from 1799 to 1817, and gave to it a wide-spread reputation as an excellent hostelry. In later years, notwithstanding the growth of the temperance sentiment in town, this hotel con- tinned to defy the publie will. It at length became so intolerable a nuisance that it was purchased by a company of citizens and closed. In 1882 it was burnt. In 1885 this company built the present Leicester IIotel, which has since been kept by L. G. Joslin, and has become a favorite resort for "summer boarders." During the Revolution Abner Dunbar had a tavern on Mount Pleasant (Benjamin Earle place), and George Bruce about the beginning of this century kept publie-house on Mount Pleasant, in the residence before occupied by Major James Swan.
Samuel Green had a tavern in Greenville. The Rochdale Hotel was built by Samuel Stone about 1810, and was first kept by Hezekiah Stone.
LIBRARIES .- In 1793 provision was made for a "Social Library," the "Proprietors" first meeting December 10th. The fire-engine company established a library in 1812. A "Second Social Library " was commenced in 1829. These several libraries had fallen into disuse, but in 1858, by the efforts of the writer, they were united, and removed to one of the rooms of the Town House, and again opened for cir-
48
LEICESTER.
culation. This library, containing about eight hun- dred and fifty volumes, was, in 1861, offered to the town, and at the town-meeting held March 4, 1861 was unanimously accepted. The library has grad- ually increased, and in February, 1888, the number of volumes was six thousand two hundred and twenty- eiglit. There are branch libraries at Rochdale, Green- ville and Cherry Valley, aud the books are largely used in all parts of the town. The library has received donations of books from many individuals. Among these should be especially mentioned Waldo Flint, Esq., who gave to it nearly three hundred and fifty volumes. Over five hundred volumes from his own library came to it after his death. The library is also indebted to the interest and liberality of Abraham Firth, Esq. Mrs. E. H. Flint, Governor Washburn and many others have been its generous friends. But the library is most of all indebted to Rev. Sanmel May for his long-continued devotion and services. He has taken upon himself as a free-will service the arrangement and care of books, the preparation and publishing of catalogues, and the general supervision of the library. The management of the library is committed to a Board of Directors consisting of five members, one of whom is annually chosen to serve five years. On the 13th and 14th days of January, 1873, the library was placed in the new " Memorial Hall," an attractive room in the Town House. It has already nearly outgrown these accommodations, and waits the time when wealthy and generous friends shall make provision for a library building. D. E. Merriam, who died in 1888, left toward this object $5,000.
CHERRY VALLEY FLOOD .- On March 29th, 1876, the dam of Lynde Brook Reservoir, the water supply of Worcester, gave signs of weakness. The water sur- Shed face of the lake is 1870 acres and there were in it at the time 663,330,000 gallons of water. There had been heavy rains. Four days before one of the series of dams on the Kettle Brook, into which Lynde Brook empties, gave way, occasioning great damage to roads and bridges and flooding a part of Cherry Valley. The water of Lynde Reservoir was at the time run- ning over the flash-boards, twenty-seven inches higher than the dam. A leakage at the lower waste-gate house showed signs of increase, and this was the sig- nal of danger.
Strennous efforts were made through this and the next day to save the dam, or at least hold it in place till the waters could gradually escape. Loads of earth and stone and large trees were thrown in above the dam. Meanwhile the alarm was given to families along the stream. Dwelling-houses were deserted, mill property was removed to the hill-sides and crowds of people stood upon the banks awaiting the result. The dam stood through the day and night and through the next day, and it was hoped that the calamity might be averted. All through the night and the next day the anxious watch continued. At
about ten minutes before six, in the afternoon of Thursday, March 30th, a little stream of water Broke out above the lower gate-house. The alarm was given ; the dam was cleared of men and teams. The stream enlarged each second, earth and stones were thrown up, the bank of the dam caved in, the stone wall stood for a minute and then gave way, and the reservoir poured its contents into the channel below. The scene is described by many who witnessed it as grand beyond description. The water came rushing and roaring down the course of the brook, tearing out a gorge a hundred feet in width and carrying the solid masonry far down the stream. Those who were in Cherry Valley could hear the grating of the rocks ground together by the force of the waters. As it passed down the ravine its appearance was grandly beautiful. The water, nearly fifty feet in height, came surging, seething, rolling on, lashed into foam, a white feathery vapor rising above it. When it reached the street it tore away the bridge and road- way and then spread out over the meadow, converting the lower parts of the village into a sea, and then at Smith's dam was forced through the narrow passage. It passed through the centre of Mr. Olney's house, leaving the walls standing. The baru and carriage- house were separated and then floated out gracefully on the water, only to be wrecked when they reached the rocks below. Several tenement houses were de- stroyed. The flood tore away most of Smith's factory, annihilated Bottomly's mill and carried away the rear of the several factories along the stream and the dams ; it wrenched away the boiler of Ashworth & Jones' mill and deposited it half a mile below, and swept away the engine and boiler of Smith's mill so that they were never found. At the corner of the James- ville Road and Main Street it struck the bank, and be- came a whirlpool as it turned southerly to Jamesville, where it was divided. A part of the flood followed the stream, inflicting damage upon the dam and fac- tory. The other part followed the Boston & Albany Railroad for nearly two miles, gullying out the track and destroying the double arch bridge. The scene after the flood was one of wild desolation, the fields and meadows being covered with boulders and the debris. The spot was visited by thousands of people during the next few days, some of them coming from a distance. The estimated number on one day was thirty thousand.
HISTORIES .- Leicester is unusually rich in annal- ists and historians. First among these is Governor Emory Washburn, to whose " Topographical and His- torical Sketches of the Town of Leicester," published June, 1826, in the Worcester Magazine and Historical Journal, his " Brief Sketch of the History of Leices- ter Academy," published in 1855, his several addresses on anniversary occasions, and his " History of Leices- ter," published in 1860, the town is indebted for the collection and preservation of the facts of its early history. In the preparation of his history he was
-
---
-
49
LEICESTER.
more largely than is generally known indebted to Jos. A. Denny, Esq., who gathered much of this information, and whose " Reminiscences of Leices- ter," published about fourteen years ago in the Worcester Spy, whose history of the schools, published in the School Report of 1849, whose various compila- tions from the Town Records, whose identification of loeations, and whose personal journal, covering a period of eighteen years, inchiding that of the Civil War, entitle him to the distinction of the annalist of Leicester. Miss Harriet E. Henshaw in 1876 pub- lished " Reminiscences of Colonel William Henshaw," which are rich in interesting and curious information relating to the Revolutionary period. Not only local, but other historians are indebted to her rich stores of ancient manuscripts, including the Orderly Books of Colonel William Henshaw, Adjutant-General of the Provineial Army, containing the official records of the Revolutionary army during the first year of the war, letters of the Committee of Correspondence, and other documents of inestimable historical value. Draper's " History of Spencer" and Whitney's " His- tory of Worcester County" are also sources from which light is also thrown upon the early history of the town. The academy has also had its historians. A brief but valuable sketch was published in 1829 in connection with Principal Preceptor Luther Wright's address. Rev. S. May, in the " Proceedings of the Woreester Society of Antiquity," 1882, has a paper on the academy. Governor Washburn's history, and the address of Hon. W. W. Rice at the centennial anniversary of the institution, are both of them the result of mich careful rescareh. The historical ser- mon of Rev. B. F. Cooley, at the fiftieth anniversary of Christ Church, Rochdale, and "The Religious History of the First Congregational Church in Leicester," by Rev. A. H. Coolidge, have also been published. To these sourecs of information is to be added the historical sermon of Rev. Hiram Estes, D.D., at the one hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the Baptist Church in Greenville. The manuscript journal of Ruth Henshaw, reaching back into the last century, gives an insight into the life of the early times, and serves to verify some of the faets and dates of history. The letters of Grace Denny, of England, published in the " Genealogy of the Denny Family," prepared by C. C. Denny, Esq., are of special interest, referring as they do to the situation of the place soon after its settlement.
CELEBRATIONS .- In addition to eclebrations in town which have been noticed in other connections, arc others of an interesting character. The four towns, Leieester, Spencer, Paxton and Auburn, which wholly or in part were embraced in the original township, united in celebration on the 4th of July, 1849, in the grove, on Grove Street. Hon. James Draper, of Spencer, presided. More than two thousand persons were present. The citizens of Spencer, preceded by the fire company, were escorted into the village,
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.