USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > Millbury > Centennial history of the town of Millbury, Massachusetts, including vital statistics, 1850-1899 > Part 26
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The Marble House now fronting the old common, once occupied by Dr. Braman and Ebenezer Chapman, was at one time used as a hotel.
The house now occupied by Mr. Calstrom, and situated on the short road running from the Old Common, was occupied some years ago by Capt. Nymphas Longley and Isaac Redding, and in early days was known as Buck's Tavern. Nahum W. Chamberlain once owned the property.
The Central House was located over Dunton and Winter's store.
The list of the old hotel keepers of Millbury includes the following: Dr. Amasa Braman, Dr. William M. Benedict, Landlor Longley, Elijah A. Johnson, Jesse Pierce (who ran the American Temperance House on the present location of the Sweetser house), Simon Farns- worth, Elias Lovell, Charles A. Tourtellotte, John M. White, McAleer Bros., Timothy Cotter, Charles T. Pratt, Edgar R. Bartlett.
PRESENT HOTELS
The St. Charles Hotel, Bramanville, said to have been built by Dr. Benedict, is kept by Wm. E. Bartlett, son
.
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of the former proprietor. The place was once the resi- dence of Dana A. Braman, and later came into the hands of Elias Lovell, who made some additions to the building and used it for a hotel. In front of this hotel is the ter- minus of the electric car line at Bramanville, so that it is easy of access from Worcester.
The Belfont House, formerly kept by Mrs. B. Branagan, is located at Millbury Center.
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CHAPTER XXVII PROFESSIONAL AND LITERARY
The first male child born within the present limits of the town of Millbury was a lawyer, for Amos Singletary, during the period which included the Revolutionary War, attended to legal matters and held the position of Justice of the Peace and Quorum, an office that was of consider- able importance and local dignity. Aaron Pierce, Esq., the first Town Clerk, was a justice of the peace, Josiah Prentice, Esq., Josiah Stiles, Esq., and Thomas Pope, Esq., who lived at the Old Common, practised law at the time when Millbury became a separate town.
At a later date Gen. William S. Lincoln, Alexander Hamilton, Esq., and Edward W. Lincoln, Esq., all of whom came from Worcester, practised law in Millbury. Abraham G. Randall, Esq., George W. Livermore, Esq., Clough R. Miles, Esq., and George A. Flagg, Esq., resided in Millbury for some time and practised law. Asa H. Waters, Esq., practised law a short time before devoting his time to manufacturing. John Hopkins, Esq., a jus- tice of the Superior Court, was a resident of Millbury. (See personal sketch.)
Formerly, criminal and civil cases were tried before the local justices of the peace and Millbury was the scene of many such trials, but with the decline of the power placed in the hands of these officials the number of local attorneys became less.
Henry W. Aiken, Esq., assistant clerk of courts in Worcester County, was for many years a member of the law firm of Potter and Aiken, with an office in Worcester. Mr. Aiken has also maintained an office in Millbury. Thomas H. Sullivan, Esq., a native and resident of Mill- bury, maintains a law office in Worcester. He has
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frequently been counsel for the town. Charles B. Perry, Esq., bail commissioner, is a resident of Millbury, but maintains a law office in Worcester in company with the Hon. John Alden Thayer, ex-Congressman, in the firm of Thayer and Perry. Mr. Perry has for some years served the town as moderator at its annual meetings and he is recognized as an authority on the laws and the rules of proceedure governing town meetings. Herbert S. Hopkins, Esq., son of Judge Hopkins, maintained a law office in Farnsworth Block. Thomas L. Brown, Esq., was once a lawyer in town, but he has lately maintained an office in Worcester. John W. Sheehan, Esq., who was born in Millbury and for some years lived here, has main- tained a law office in Worcester in the firm of Sheehan and Cutting. Archer R. Greeley, Esq., who was born at West Millbury and spent his boyhood and youth in this town, has been for a number of years a lawyer in Webster.
The medical profession was represented among the very first settlers within the present bounds of Millbury for in the Sutton Proprietors' Book we learn that Dr. Boylstone possessed land near Dorothy Pond and also near the Old Common. In 1740, Dr. Ebenezer Pierce, the progenitor of the West Millbury Pierce family, settled on Grass Hill, West Millbury. A friend de- scribed him as a man of "unexceptionable character." He was a deacon in the North Parish Church.
Among the physicians who were practicing during the early days after the establishment of Millbury as a sep- arate town was Dr. William M. Benedict, who was also prominent in business and public affairs. With him was associated in business Dr. Amasa Braman, after whom Bramanville was named. Dr. Azor Phelps at the time lived at the Old Common. Dr. Phineas Longley also lived at the Old Common in the house built by the Rev. James Wellman.
At a later period Dr. Leonard Spaulding was a success- ful practitioner. (See sketch.) Dr. Asa Andrews was
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a young and successful practitioner who in attending a patient contracted blood-poisoning which caused his death. Dr. Joseph E. Corlew was a successful physician and practiced here for a number of years.
Dr. William Bowen Moore, Dr. George C. Webber, Dr. William H. Lincoln and Dr. Robert Booth all are noticed in the individual sketches.
In 1853, Dr. Henry G. Davis, a specialist on curvatures and club feet, was located in town. Dr. B. F. Greene, who was also a local preacher, practiced for a few years. Mr. Maurice Welsh, who came from Ireland was a "bone-setter."
Dr. Jacob R. Lincoln, son of Dr. William H. Lincoln, succeeded to his father's practice. In 1888, he began the practice of medicine in Millbury and he has pursued this with success, for many years being the school physician. Dr. Albert G. Hurd began his career as a physician when he commenced practicing in Millbury in 1895. He has continued successfully as a general practitioner. In the same year Dr. Charles A. Church began the practice of medicine in town, coming from New York state, where he had practiced previously. His career has been a successful one. Dr. Gustave Desy, although having a large number of patients among the French-speaking people, yet has a considerable practice among people of other tongues. Dr. Arthur A. Brown, a Millbury boy, began the practice of medicine a few years ago in Fall River, but after six months he moved to this town where he has taken up an extensive practice. He has succeeded to an extent to the practice of the late Dr. Booth, espe- cially with some of the fraternal organizations.
Dr. David March, who was born in 1785, and Dr. Alden March, who was born in 1795 and later became president of the American Medical Association, were reared on the March farm that is situated on the road to North Grafton. (See Genealogy.)
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Dr. George A. Jordan, Dr. Cyrus F. Carter, Dr. Henry W. Cronin and Dr. Thomas H. Cronin were Millbury boys, but have practised elsewhere.
In the homeopathic school of medicine Dr. Southgate was an early practitioner. Later homeopathic physicians were Dr. Underwood and Dr. H. A. Clarke who lived in Millbury in 1871. He died young and was succeeded by Dr. C. C. Slocomb, who came to this town from Rut- land, but unfortunately he was stricken in his prime with paralysis from which he never fully recovered. He, in turn, was succeeded by his son, Dr. George A. Slocomb, who had the unique distinction of serving, in 1888, at the birth of quadruplets, all girls, children of Mr. and Mrs. Frank DeGroote. Although Dr. Slocomb has moved to Worcester he continues to practice in Millbury.
Notice has been made of the clergymen of Millbury in the accounts which have been given of the various churches: (See chapter on Churches; also individual sketches of the Rev. Joseph Goffe, Bishop Thomas J. Shahan, D. D., and the Rev. George A. Putnam).
Among the writers that have lived in Millbury may be mentioned some members of the March family whose ancestral home stood at the junction of Main, Miles and Canal streets, although a branch of the family later resided on the road to North Grafton.
Daniel March, D. D., a Congregational clergyman, was born in Millbury, July 21, 1816. He was a pupil at the old Millbury Academy, was graduated from Yale College in 1840 and from Yale Divinity School a few years later. He was given the degree of A. M. by Yale and the degree of D. D. by Western University of Pennsylvania. He held pastorates in Nashua, N. H., in Philadelphia, and in Woburn, Mass. Dr. March was author of the following works: "Night Scenes in the Bible," "Walks and Homes of Jesus," "Our Father's House," "Home Life in the Bible," "The First Khedive," "Morning Light in Many Lands," "From Dark to Dawn."
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Dr. Alden March, M. D., was born at the March place which stood on the road to North Grafton, in 1795. He was graduated from Brown College. He resided at Albany, N. Y. He derived literary distinction from numerous lectures and papers on medical and surgical science. He was president of the American Medical Association and was a founder of the Albany Medical College and of the Albany City Hospital. He died at Albany in 1869.
Prof. Francis A. March, who was born in Millbury, resided later at Easton, Penn. He was a member of the Pennsylvania Commission on Amended Orthography. (See Genealogy.)
It has been claimed that Mr. Manton Marble, the distinguished journalist of New York City and at one time the editor of "The New York World," was born in Millbury, but the town records do not bear this out. However, his grandfather, Deacon Solomon Marble, owned the Simeon Waters farm at West Millbury and here in his early days Manton Marble was well known. He also frequently visited his relatives in the town during his active career in journalism. His literary productions were numerous, among them being an article on "English and Scottish Ballads," which was published in the "Knickerbocker Magazine" in July, 1859.
Other Millbury men who have made contributions to literature are Col. Asa H. Waters, Bishop Willard F. Mallalieu, Bishop Thomas J. Shahan, The Rev. George A. Putnam, and Mr. John C. Crane, but for an account of the writings of these men we refer the reader to the Individual Sketches.
But one bound book has come to light bearing a Mill- bury imprint, the title page of which reads as follows:
"The Destruction of Jerusalem-an absolute and irresistible Proof of the Divine origin of Christianity- Including a narrative of the Calamities which befel the Jews so far as they tend to verify Our Lord's Predictions
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relative to that event-with a Brief description of the City and Temple-Millbury, Mass. Printed and pub- lished by B. T. Abbro, 1833."
Mr. Albro's printing office was located on Elmwood Street, in the house formerly owned by Tyler Waters, and also known as the "Penniman" house. The book has for a frontispiece a picture of the Temple. It was bound in colored boards, with leather back. In the year pre- vious to issuing the above, Mr. Albro printed the "confession of Faith of the Presbyterian Church in Millbury," which is a leaflet of eight pages.
In the same year that the history of Jerusalem was issued by Mr. Albro, a pamphlet of twenty-four pages appeared with the title: "Election to Life Eternal-A prize of inestimable worth, which everyone, by seasonable and proper attention may make his own-By Samuel Baker-Republished for Erastus Spaulding-Millbury (Mass.). Printed by Benjamin T. Albro, 1833." A pamphlet is also preserved with the following title: "The Laws of Millbury Academy, in Millbury, Massa- chusetts-Enacted by The Board of Trustees-Millbury. Printed by Benjamin T. Albro-1833-"
A leather-bound copy has been preserved entitled, "The Psalms of David, imitated in the language of The New Testament and applied to the Christian State and Worship-By Isaac Watts, D. D." This book was issued for a Millbury man as we read, -- "Dated-Sutton (Mass.) Printed by Sewall Goodridge For Caleb Burbank, sold by him at wholesale and retail-1808 -- "
A large board-covered book, illustrated, with directions for youth, was brought out, evidently for school use and, in place of the usual imprint, "Sold by Caleb Burbank, Millbury, (Mass.)" is printed.
In 1831, a newspaper was printed called "The Millbury Plebian," a small sheet, whose existence was of short duration. Later we find "The Millbury Chronicle."
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Under the title is found the following: "Vol. 1-No. 6- Published every Friday morning, by Fred W. Fletcher, Armory Block, Main Street, Millbury"-In this number (July 6, 1877) is found an account of the Studlefunk Parade of July 4th in that year.
"The Millbury Journal" was established, in 1894, by Frederick H. Greenwood who was editor and proprietor. It was continued by him until 1906, when he sold to Charles A. Kirtland, of Deep River, Conn. who owned it but a few months.
A small sheet was issued called "The Blackstone Valley Dispatch," for a brief period. The first number dated Nov. 2, 1906, contained a number of news items from towns outside of Millbury. The paper was published in Farnsworth Block and was edited by A. R. Evans.
In May, 1907, The Blackstone Valley Publishing Co. bought all the interest in these papers, and since Jan. 1, 1908, Mr. Charles F. Holman has been proprietor, pub- lisher and editor. Mr. Holman has had extensive experi- ence in newspaper work, having been long connected with "The Worcester Telegram" and the "Worcester Evening Gazette. " He was a former postmaster in Millbury, is an assessor of the town, a deacon in the Second Congregational Church, and has filled many important positions both in town affairs and in local societies. He is a descendant of Lieut. David Holman, a Revolutionary patriot; also the son of a veteran of the Civil War, Lieut. Rodney Holman (see Genealogy). In connection with publishing the Journal, Mr. Holman has a printing office, from which have been issued town documents and other printed matter of local interest. Mr. Holman first issued a design for stationery, to be used in calling attention to the Centennial of 1913.
PUBLIC LIBRARY
For some years previous to 1864, there was at Millbury Centre an organization called "The Society of Social
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Friends," composed of the teachers and pupils of Millbury Academy, which had a library consisting (with what had come to them from the Agricultural and Atheneum libra- ries) of about six hundred volumes. April 7, 1864, a meeting of this society was held at The Millbury Bank, at which it was voted: "That the library belonging to the Society be offered to the Town, for the purpose of founding a free public Library. (Signed) William H. Harrington, Silas Dunton, D. B. Chase, committee of Society of Social Friends." April 11th of the same year, the town "voted to accept the library from the society," and also chose a board of trustees, consisting of David Atwood, Osgood H. Waters, and Hosea Crane. The chair- man of the school committee and the principal of the High School were members ex-officio.
H. E. Rockwell, postmaster, was librarian. The library was later moved to the High School building and the principal was placed in charge. After a time it was established in the store of Henry A. Aiken, who was librarian until 1872, when the library was moved to Ma- sonic Block, Main Street, where Mrs. Abby S. Freeman was librarian.
After the building of the Town Hall the books were placed in the present room. Mr. Henry T. Maxwell followed Mrs. Freeman as librarian. The present libra- rian is Miss Carolyn C. Waters, daughter of an original trustee. Miss Almyra B. Longley is assistant librarian. The first catalogue was issued in 1872, and a card cata- logue was made in 1900.
The library room is pleasantly located on the lower floor of the Town House and is easy of access to its patrons. This is owing to the foresight of our late esteemed fellow-citizen, Judge John Hopkins, who, when the Town-House was building, recommended that the room now used as a library be set apart for that purpose. On the wall of the room are displayed the oil portraits of the godfather of Millbury, Gen. Caleb Burbank, and his
MILLBURY PUBLIC LIBRARY
THE RHODES CORNER IN 1870
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wife, gifts of the late Mrs. Gardner Burbank, of Fitchburg. Some years ago an offer was made by Mr. Carnegie, of a library building on certain conditions, which the town rejected. From the report of the Trustees for the year ending 1912, we learn that the library had been accessible for 231 days. The total circulation for the year was 23,551. One hundred and sixty new works were added during the year, making the total number in the library a little over 9,200 volumes. The library is one of the foremost in the state among towns with similar resources. A work with the children of the town, consisting of talks on various subjects by competent persons, has been undertaken by the Woman's Club under the direction of the librarian, with good success.
The largest donors to the library have been Mr. Calvin Barker, who left one thousand dollars; his sister, Lucy Barker, who bequeathed one hundred dollars; and Dea. Leonard Dwinell, who willed to the town, for library pur- poses, one hundred dollars. A recent gift of books was made by the Rev. J. F. Griffin.
In 1915, Mr. Andrew Carnegie gave the town twelve thousand and five hundred dollars for the erection of a new Public Library Building and Miss Delia C. Torrey donated the land on which the building was erected.
The trustees of the Public Library in 1915 were Mr. James W. Robertson, Mr. Edward F. Rice, and Dr. Albert G. Hurd.
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CHAPTER XXVIII
INDEPENDENT SKETCHES: BIOGRAPHICAL
HENRY W. CARTER
Henry W. Carter, descendant of the Rev. Thomas Carter on his father's side and of the Rev. J. W. Campbell on his mother's side, is a native of Millbury, having been born in one of the historic localities, the Old Common. In his early manhood he was a school teacher and in this capacity influenced the town through his former pupils. For a period he undertook the study of med- icine but his preference was for farming. He has worked exten- sively as a contractor, having been one of the builders of the Wor- cester and Southbridge Electric Railway. His advice is often sought in appraising the value of property.
Mr. Carter owns the farm formerly possessed by Elder Samuel Waters, one of the best in the town. He has improved the build- ings and equipment and brought the entire property to a high degree of productiveness and orderliness. The estate contains a variety of soil, and is adapted to a variety of products.
More than fifty years ago Elder Waters established an irrigating system on this farm by taking water from the brook and conduct- ing it over parts of the land successfully.
Mr. Carter has held the position of selectman for several years. He has been an overseer of the poor, superintendent of streets, assessor, and member of the finance committee, being for several years its chairman. He is a Republican in politics. His church affiliations are with the Second Congregational Church. He is a thirty-second degree Mason and a Past Grand in the Odd Fellows, Since April 1, 1892, he has been a trustee, since April 2, 1897, a member of the investment committee of the Millbury Savings Bank and, in 1914, he was chosen as one of its vice-presidents.
Mr. Carter has travelled extensively in this country as well as in Mexico and Cuba.
(See Genealogy.)
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INDEPENDENT SKETCHES: BIOGRAPHICAL
GEORGE F. CHASE
George F. Chase is a member of that ancient family whose immigrant ancestor was Aquila Chase, of Newbury, Mass. His descendants early appeared at Sutton and have occupied prom- inent places in the history of Sutton and Millbury, as well as of other towns. From the inscriptions found in the old cemeteries of Millbury, we learn that members of this family bore a part in the Revolutionary struggle. For years Mr. Chase was one of the strongest advocates for a water-supply in the town, even though at its beginning the project was unpopular, but he had the satis- faction, at last, of receiving the commendation of those who had opposed him. He first called the attention of the citizens to the need of a history of Millbury, and when, in 1905, the matter was brought up by him in town meeting, it received favorable atten- tion, so that steps were taken to make the history a reality. He was chairman of the committee in charge of this work, but because of ill health gave it up in 1914, retaining his place on the committee.
Mr. Chase is a contractor and builder of many years' experience, and secures a large share of the patronage of the citizens.
Mr. Chase has served on the board of selectmen several times. He was elected to the State Legislature of 1896, serving on the committee on drainage, and again elected to the legislature of 1897, serving as House chairman of the same committee. He is a Past Grand of Morning Star Lodge of Odd Fellows; a member of Olive Branch Lodge of Masons; and Past District Deputy of the Royal Arcanum. He is a member of the Second Congregational Church in which he has served on the Standing Committee and as Superintendent of the Sunday School, for many years. He has served as president of the Worcester South District of Sunday Schools.
(See Genealogy.)
JOHN C. CRANE
John Calvin Crane received his education in the common and high schools of Grafton, and in the Academy at Lancaster, Mass. At the age of sixteen he was a correspondent of the Boston Post. He was later employed as a shoemaker at Grafton and at West Millbury. In 1858 he made a tour of Canada and the Great Lakes, visiting the Macinac and Green Bay Indians. He visited Prarie du Chien, where he first had a view of the "Father of
25
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Waters." Proceeding to St. Paul in this early period, he found himself enrolled among the Pioneers of Minnesota. At Richfield, Minnesota, Mr. Crane established a depot for the sale of boots to the settlers who came from a distance of twenty and thirty miles with wheat to exchange for footwear made in Massachu- setts. At that time the state was swarming with Indians. For a time Mr. Crane lived near the scenes depicted in Longfellow's Hiawatha, around the Laughing Minnehaha. Leaving his business in charge of a trustworthy friend, Mr. Crane pushed into the Indian country, hunting, fishing, and studying the ways and customs of the nomads of the great Northwest. He was reported to have been killed by them, and his friends around the Fort gave up all hope of ever seeing him again, but one day he appeared, sound and healthy, wearing on his face the real Indian tan.
In 1859, Mr. Crane closed out his business in Minnesota. In Boston he learned the art of painting on glass, then much in vogue. He later returned to Millbury, and again entered the employ of A. Wood & Sons.
Soon after 1880, Mr. Crane engaged in literary work, making researches in family history, uniting his historical sketches, mag- azine articles (among them being an article on the "Ponds of Worcester County"), biography, and poems, which had appeared in various periodicals and newspapers, sometimes under his own name, and at others under a nom de plume. His patrons in gene- alogical work include many distinguished people. During 1883 and 1884, in various towns in the country, he lectured on tem- perance and other subjects. In 1885, he was licensed by the Millbury Baptist Church, of which he is a member, to preach the Gospel.
In 1891, Mr. Crane became a member of the second expedition of Capt. Willard Glazier to the sources of the Mississippi River. This expedition was composed of eighteen white men and one Indian, and the result of the explorations was favorable to the claim put forth, in 1881, by Captain Glazier, i. e. that he had found the source of the Mississippi in a lake beyond Itasca. Mr. Crane has been, for many years, a persistent searcher for relics of the Indians. Among his specimens are implements of the Nipmucks, the Micmacs, and Narragansetts.
Mr. Crane is the author of the following publications: "Colonel Thomas Gilbert, the leader of the New England Tories," "Jona-
THE DUCHARME BLOCK
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than Holman, a Revolutionary Colonel," "Asa Holman Waters, Memorial," "Peter Whitney, and His History of Worcester Coun- ty," "Major-General Burbank, an Early Paper Maker," "The Nipmucks and Their Country," "George Sumner Memorial," "What Guns in King Philip's War," "History of Millbury in County History of 1889," "Champions of Freedom."
(See Genealogy.)
DAMIEN DUCHARME
Damien Ducharme, one of the best-known citizens of French extraction, was born in Contrecour, Canada, in 1847. He was educated in the common schools of his native place and in an evening school of Millbury. He came to Millbury June 23, 1865, when seventeen years of age, and began work as a chore-boy in the Cordis Mills for which he received five dollars a week. He after- wards became a loom-fixer, working here and in a cotton mill at Providence, R. I. From that place he went to Woonsocket and followed the same trade. In 1873, he returned to Millbury and entered the employ of Joseph Faneuf in a meat market at Braman- ville with whom he remained four years. Upon leaving that place, in company with Thomas York, he opened a bake-shop at Fall River. In June, 1879, he again returned to Millbury and opened a meat and provision store in the basement of the old Cunningham Block, under the firm name of York & Ducharme, at the same time continuing the bake-shop at Fall River, both places being under his management. In 1881, he bought out the interest of Mr. York and conducted the business alone.
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