USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > Worcester > Dictionary of Worcester (Massachusetts) and its vicinity, 1893 > Part 12
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lar army. The name of John Chandler, in the eyes of New England people. Pollard, borne by three generations, is prominent in a Southern authority, states that of 66,684 the military annals of the town during this men engaged, the South furnished 43,630. period, and the title of colonel descended Of the New England States only Massachu- from father to son and grandson. The above setts and New Hampshire contributed, the facts are from William Lincoln's History of former sending 1,047 and the latter I. The Worcester.
same writer claims that of the 155,364 soldiers
In the American Revolution Worcester was in the war of 1812, the South furnished foremost in contributing men and means to 96,812, and the North 58,552. New England the cause. Lincoln says: "Worcester fur- nished a large proportion of her male popula-
sent 5, 162 and South Carolina 5,696. In the Mexican war Capt. George Lincoln, a son of tion to the army. The exact number in Gov. Lincoln, was killed at Buena Vista Feb. service cannot be ascertained with certainty. 23, 1847; and Lieut. John Green Burbank, another Worcester man, fell at Molino del Rey Sept. 8, 1847. If we include with the troops of the regular line those called out for short periods of duty, the following may be considered as a correct When the first gun of the Rebellion was statement of the numbers of men from Wor- fired at Fort Sumter, Worcester was ready, and on the 17th of April, 1861, the Light Infantry departed for Washington. This company belonged to the ill-fated Sixth Regi- ment, but was with the detachment that passed safely through Baltimore at the time of the massacre, and passed directly to the Capi- cester in military service during seven years of war: I colonel, 2 lieut .- colonels, 2 majors, 7 captains, 10 lieutenants, 5 ensigns, 20 ser- geants and 389 privates." The name of Col. Timothy Bigelow will ever be illustrious in military annals. A history in detail of the revolutionary acts of the town will be found tal. The Light Infantry's term of service was in Albert A. Lovell's Worcester in the Revo- lution. In Shays's Rebellion Worcester men
mostly spent in Maryland, and the company arrived home on the Ist of August. On the
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20th of April the Third Battalion of Rifles, izations, proceeded to the scene of conflict. made up of the City Guards, the Emmet This regiment was in the battle of the Wilder- Guards, and the Holden Rifles, under com- ness and numerous minor encounters, and mand of Major Charles Devens, followed the spent the summer before Petersburg. It was Light Infantry. The battalion was on duty mustered out in August, 1865. In the list of about Baltimore most of the time until it re- Worcester's martyrs the names of John Wil- turned on the 2d of August. On the 28th of liam Grout, who was killed at Ball's Bluff, June, Camp Scott, at South Worcester, was Gen. George H. Ward, who fell at Gettys- post was named, Thomas J. Spurr, S. F. Haven, Jr., Dexter F. Parker, Rev. Samuel Souther, the Wellingtons, the Bacons, Thomas O'Neil and Henry McConville are prominent. Of those who gained distinction in the conflict, Charles Devens, Josiah Pickett, A. B. R. Sprague and William S. Lincoln are well- known names. Worcester sent 3,927 men to the war, at a total direct money cost of $586,054. Of this amount $245,653 was paid for bounties and expense of recruiting; $93,650 commutation and substitutes; and $246,751 state aid to families. occupied by the Fifteenth Regiment, the first burg, and for whom the local Grand Army Worcester County regiment, with Charles Devens as Colonel. This regiment participat- ed in the disastrous battle of Ball's Bluff, and also in the battles of Fair Oaks, Antietam, Gettysburg, the Wilderness and others. It arrived home July 21, 1864, with its numbers reduced to 150 men. The Twenty-first went into camp on the 19th of July. The Agricul- tural or Fair Grounds were occupied, and the name Camp Lincoln was given in honor of ex-Governor Levi Lincoln. The regiment departed for the seat of war August 23d, em- barked for North Carolina on the Burnside expedition, and took part in the battles of Rev. Abijah P. Marvin's Worcester in the War of the Rebellion is an interesting and valuable book, giving a very full account of Worcester's part in sustaining the Union. Some hasty and unjust criticism followed its publication in consequence of certain errors made at the Adjutant General's office, for which the author was not responsible. These errors are mostly corrected in the last edition. Histories of the Twenty-first, Twenty-fifth, Roanoke and New Berne. The next spring it was sent to Virginia, and was in the battles of second Bull Run, Chantilly, South Moun- tain, Antietam, Fredericksburg, the Wilder- ness and others. It was mustered out August 30, 1864. The Twenty-fifth Regiment left Worcester October 31. It formed a part of the forces of the Burnside expedition, was at Roanoke and New Berne, and remained in
North Carolina till the fall of 1863. The Thirty-fourth and Thirty-sixth Regiments have next spring and summer the regiment saw been printed. The Story of Company A, hard service, passed through Drewry's Bluff, Twenty-fifth Regiment, has been much com- Cold Harbor, and other battles, and spent the mended as a true picture of the daily life of a
last months before Petersburg. It arrived
soldier. The history of the fighting Fifteenth home (excepting a portion that had re-enlist- remains to be written, and it is a matter of ed the winter before ) October 13, 1864. The regret that Gen. Devens could not have per- Thirty-fourth departed on the 15th of August, formed that duty.
1862, and was in service till July 6, 1865. It
Of Worcester military companies, past and took part in the battles of New Market, Cedar present, the City Guards, Continentals, Em- Creek, Piedmont, Lynchburg, Winchester, met Guards, Light Infantry, and the State and others. The Thirty-Sixth Regiment fol- Guards are noticed under their titles in the lowed the last September 2d, 1862, and re- DICTIONARY. The Worcester Artillery Com- turned June 21, 1865. It passed through pany was an active organization here froin 1783 to 1838. The Independent Cadets, formed during the threatened war with France in 1798, disbanded soon after. The Worces- ter Cavalry was in existence for some twenty years, certainly from 1813 to 1826. The white silk flag of this company is now in the Fredericksburg, the Wilderness, Spottsylvania Court House, and other battles, performed much hard - service, and made many long marches. The Fifty-First Regiment, which enlisted for nine months, left November 25th, 1862, and returned July 21, 1863. Most of its service was in North Carolina. On the possession of Albert A. Lovell, and has the 18th of April, 1864, the Fifty-seventh Regi- ment, the last of the Worcester County organ-
State arms and the mottoes: "God armeth the Patriot," and "For God and Our Coun-
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try," on one side; and " Worcester Cavalry, found in Worcester as follows: Mispickel Ist Brigade, Sixth Division," on the other. The Worcester Rifle Corps, established in 1823, was disbanded in 1835. The Jackson Guards was an Irish company suppressed by Gov. Gardiner, in Know-Nothing times.
Militia Companies .- There are four mil- itia companies belonging to Worcester, three infantry and one artillery, namely: Co. A (Worcester City Guards), and Co. C (Wor- cester Light Infantry), of the Second Regi- ment; and Co. G (Emmet Guards), of the Ninth Regiment. Battery B, Light Artillery, is unattached. See in the DICTIONARY, under Emmet Guards; City Guards; Light Infantry.
(arsenical iron), idocrase, pyroxene, garnet, amianthus, bucholzite, spathic iron, galena. Mr. W. H. Lovell, who compiled a list of minerals in Worcester county for the Natural History Society, found the following : Calcite, graphite, vesuviante (idocrase). At the Coal Mine: Graphite, anthracite, pyrite, asbestos, fibrolite (bucholzite). Northville Silver Mine : Pyrite, arsenopyrite, siderite, galena. Tat- nuck Hill : Pyrite, pyrrhotite. Millstone Hill: Fluorite in granite. South Ledge (near Quin- sigamond Village): Feldspar, mica (biotite), talc (soapstone ). Also granite for building,. and peat.
Mill Brook .- This stream rises in Holden Ministers. - The ministry of Worcester and flows generally south until it unites at includes few distinguished names. Of the South Worcester with Middle river to form older churches, a list of the ministers of the the Blackstone. The first saw and grist mills First or Old South Church will be found under in the town were erected on this stream above Brook. the title in the DICTIONARY. The Second! Lincoln square, and gave it the name of Mill (Unitarian-Congregational) has had but four- pastors since its formation in 1785, namely :: Aaron Bancroft to 1839; Alonzo Hill, 1827 to Millbury .- So named from the numerous mills which it contains, was taken from the north part of Sutton and incorporated June IT, 1813. It is situated six miles south of Worcester, on the Providence & Worcester Railroad. A branch railroad also connects at Millbury Junction with the Boston & Albany Railroad. The Worcester and Millbury Elec- tric Railroad was opened in October, 1892. Population in 1885, 4,555. In 1890, 4,428. 1871; Edward H. Hall, 1869 to 1882; and Austin S. Garver, 1882 to the present time. The Calvinist Church (now the Central) was organized in 1820, and Loammi Ives Hoadley was the first pastor, ordained in 1823. His successors have been John S. C. Abbott, 1830 to 1835; David Peabody, 1835 to 1838; Seth Sweetser, 1838 to 1878; Henry E. Barnes (colleague ) 1874 to 1876; Daniel Merriman, 1878 to the present. The Union Church, formed in 1836, has had the following pastors : Jonathan E. Woodbridge to 1838; Elam Smalley (author of The Worcester Pulpit), 1838 to 1854; Ebenezer Cutler, 1855 to 1878; Henry A Stimson, 1880 to 1885; Wil- liam V. W. Davis, 1887. The Salem Street Church was formed in 1848. George Bush- nell was the first pastor to 1857, and his successors have been Merrill Richardson to 1871; Charles M. Lamson to 1886; and Isaac J. Lansing. The latter has the present year (1892) been succeeded by Rev. F. B. Vroo- man. Plymouth Church was formed in 1869. George W. Phillips was pastor to 1887, and was succeeded by Charles Wadsworth, Jr. Rev. Archibald McCullagh, D. D., is the present pastor, settled in 1890. Piedmont Church, organized in 1872, has had George H. Gould and David O. Mears as ministers, the latter since 1877. The second Unitarian Church, or Church of the Unity, was formed
Millstone Hill .- The eminence north of Belmont street and Bell pond, from which much of the foundation stone used in Worces- ter is obtained. Quarries have been worked here from early time, and of late years exten- sively. Aug. 27, 1733, the proprietors voted "that 100 acres of the poorest land on Mill- stone be left common for the use of the town for building stones." In 1763 it appears that the land in question had been sold through mistake to Daniel Heywood, and some time afterward it was recovered in course of law, and in 1770 he was given a sum of money to quit his claim. In later times, however, private parties assumed ownership and were sustained by the courts, for in 1824, in the case of William E. Green vs. town of Worces- ter, it was decided that the town had no right in the property other than to take building · stone. The top of the hill is 780 feet above the tide level.
Minerals .- Dana gives the list of minerals in 1845. Edward Everett Hale was pastor
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ten years, and his successors have been Rush R. Shippen, 1856 to 1871; Henry Blanchard, 1872 to 1881; Roland A. Wood, 1881 to 1884; and Calvin Stebbins. Rev. George Allen, a native and long a resident of Wor- cester, was noted as a scholar and an authori- ty in Congregational matters. He preached many years at the Hospital. His library is now in the possession of The Worcester Socie- ty of Antiquity. ( See Allen Library. ) The
BAPTIST MISSIONS .- Jamesville, at James- ville, organized in 1884. Quinsigamond, at Quinsigamond Village, organized in 1885. Greendale, organized in 1884.
METHODIST. - West Side, Abbott street, organized in 1891. Mission Des Vrais Cath- oliques, at Coral Street Church, 1889. Lake View, Wesley Hall, Coburn avenue, 1891.
ORTHODOX .- Summit, organized 1884.
NEW JERUSALEM, founded in 1888, and first regularly settled Baptist minister in Wor- meets in Burnside Building. cester was William Bentley, from 1812 to ROMAN CATHOLIC. - St. Anne's, Grand street, organized in 1886. 1815, and he was followed by Jonathan Go- ing, 1815 to 1831; Frederick A. Willard, 1832 VALLEY FALLS .- Leicester street, organ- to 1835; Jonathan Aldrich, 1835 to 1838; ized 1869. Samuel B. Swaim, 1839 to 1854; J. D. E. HIGHWAY .- 393 Shrewsbury street, organ- TATNUCK .- Pleasant street. Jones, 1855 to 1859; Rev. Lemuel Moss, H. ized in 1890. K. Pervear, B. D. Marshall and George G. Craft have succeeded the latter. The Second Baptist Church was organized in 1841, and Monuments. - See Bigelow Monument ; Soldiers' Monument. John Jennings was the first pastor. The Third Baptist Church was formed in 1853. H. L. Moral Effort Union. - See Union for Concerted Moral Effort. Wayland was first installed. The first Method- ist minister of Worcester was Joseph A. Mt. Vernon Social Club .- A prominent association of young men. Merrill in 1833. Other early ministers of this denomination were George Pickering, John T. Burrill, James Porter and Charles K. True. Museums. - See under American Anti- quarian Society; Natural History Society ; Worcester Society of Antiquity. The Second (Laurel street ) Methodist Church was organized in 1845, and Richard S. Rust was the first minister. The first pastor of Musical Association (Worcester Coun- Grace M. E. Church was J. O. Peck in 1867. ty) .- The DICTIONARY is indebted to the The First Universalist Church was organized Historical Sketch of the Worcester County in 1843. The ministers have been S. P. Musical Association, by Samuel E. Staples, Landers, Albert Case, O. H. Tillotson, John for many of the facts that follow relating to G. Adams, L. M. Burrington, Thomas E. St. that organization :
John, B. F. Bowles and Moses H. Harris. Almon Gunnison.
The first of the series of musical conven- The latter was succeeded in 1890 by Rev. tions, which preceded the formation of the Episcopal worship was Worcester County Musical Association, was established in Worcester in 1835 by Rev. held in September, 1858, under the manage- Thomas H. Vail. All Saints Church was ment of Edward Hamilton, assisted by B. F. formed in 1843. The rectors have been Baker of Boston. These conventions were Henry Blackaller, George T. Chapman, G. held annually, either by private enterprise or H. Clark, Justin Field, Nathaniel T. Bent, A. under the auspices of the Mozart Society until M. Morrison, William R. Huntington (now 1863. In consequence of some opposition to rector of Grace Church, New York), 1862- Mr. E. H. Frost as musical conductor in the 1883, and A. H. Vinton. Rev. James Fitton was the first Roman Catholic clergyman of Worcester, and worship was established here Mozart Society, his supporters took action which led to the formation of the Worcester County Musical Association. Mr. James D. in 1834. Matthew W. Gibson and John Boyce Moore is credited with having suggested the were other priests here in early days. At new organization, and he called a musical present John J. Power, Thomas J. Conaty convention to be held in Mechanics Hall in and Thomas Griffin are clergymen of more September, 1863, under direction of E. H. than local reputation.
Missions .- The following missions are es- nounced to be held the same week in the City tablished in Worcester :
Frost, while another convention was an- Hall under the direction of B. F. Baker.
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These rival conventions represented two fac- back of the Bay State House, was on the plan tions which had divided the musical people of of a huge refrigerator, in which the various Worcester for several years, those supporting kinds of fruit, foreign and domestic, as well as Mr. Baker being opposed to the Lowell eggs, vegetables, etc., were to be stored and Mason school. But Mr. Frost and his friends kept fresh indefinitely. The enterprise did were too strong for their opponents, and the not prove a success, and the following year assembly at Mechanics Hall adopted the name of the "Worcester County Musical Conven- tion." An organization was effected Oct. 2, 1863, with Samuel E. Staples as President, William S. Denny, Secretary and Treasurer, and James D. Moore, Librarian. This socie- ety became in 1871, by change of name, the Worcester County Musical Association, and the annual conventions have been known since that time as Musical or Music Festivals. latter had been incorporated April 14, 1868, Mr. Staples was president of the Association
the Music Hall Association was formed for the purpose of utilizing the property in the erec- tion of a theatre. The land on which the building stood had been deeded to the Fruit Preserving Co. by the Bay State House pro- prietors April 29, 1867, for $8,195, and this having fallen into the hands of Benj. W. Thayer of Boston, was deeded by him to the Music Hall Corporation May 7, 1868. The and was composed of the following gentle- for ten years, and was succeeded by Hon. men: Harrison Bliss, E. B. Stoddard, Francis William R. Hill of Wilkinsonville. Mr. Hill H. Kinnicutt, Edward L. Davis, Stephen died in 1887, and Hon. Edward L. Davis Salisbury, Jr., Samuel Woodward, David S. was elected President, and now holds the Messinger, Wm. H. Goulding, Benj. Walker, office. The other officers at present are Wil- Orlando Tompkins of Boston, and Chas. B. liam Sumner, Vice-President; B. D. Allen, C. Pratt. The fruit building, which was in the M. Bent, Daniel Downey, L. M. Lovell, B. rear of the lot, was extended by an addition L. M. Smith, C. I. Rice, C. C. Stearns, Ben. in front, the new part costing $18,950, and T. Hammond, Directors; A. C. Munroe, Sec- the whole transformed into a theatre, called as the Worcester Theatre. It was leased retary; J. E. Benchley, Treasurer; and G. W. at first Music Hall, but of late years known Elkins, Librarian. The annual festival is held the last week in September, and continues five March 1, 1869, for ten years to B. W. Thayer days. Carl Zerrahn has been conductor for and Orlando Tompkins, at $5,000 per year many years, and has trained the chorus of five for the whole building, which included two hundred voices to a good degree of excellence. stores on the ground floor. A mortgage of Eight grand concerts and seven public re- hearsals are given, and the programme gener- ally includes one of the great oratorios. Distinguished soloists are engaged each year. The Festival has become the great, and
$25,000 was placed on the property of the corporation, which organized with a capital stock of $26,800, divided into 268 shares. The theatre was opened on the evening of March 9, 1869, by the Boston Theatre Co., indeed the only, society event of the year in with the play of the Lady of Lyons. After Worcester; there is an eager demand for the first lease run out the proprietors and seats, and the prices paid for premiums aggre- others managed the theatre for three or four gate a large sum. The Festival draws visitors years, and in 1883 the late Charles D. C.
from all parts of the country, and largely from the county; it is therefore not entirely a Wor- cester city institution.
Wilkinson assumed control under a six years' lease at $3,750 yearly rent. His widow re- tained possession after his death till the destruction of .the building by fire in May,
Music Hall .- The Worcester Fruit Pre- 1889. Previous to the fire a lease had been serving Company was organized under a char- given to F. F. Proctor for five years from ter from the Legislature in 1867, with a Sept. 1, 1889. The New Worcester Theatre capital of $50,000, for the purpose of erecting was built on the site. (See Theatre.)
and carrying on an extensive fruit-keeping house under Prof. Nyce's patent. The officers were : President, Benj. Walker; Clerk, Elijah B. Stoddard; Treasurer, Harrison Bliss; Superintendent, John S. Ballard. The build- ing, which was erected on Exchange street
Music in Worcester. - In 1784 Isaiah Thomas advertised that he had procured "a beautiful set of musical types from England, by which he was enabled to print church and other musick." The "Worcester Collection
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of Sacred Harmony," published in 1788, was sale, "the church having procured an organ." probably printed from those types. In 1797 In 1837 Emory Perry and Alexander (Ed- ward) Hamilton announced their "Juvenile and Adult Singing School." In 1839 piano- forte instruction was given by Miss Frances E. Rice and Miss S. Collier. The same year there was a concert by the "Tyrolese Sing- ers; " and the "Worcester Mozart Society,"
Mr. B. Glaan announced himself as a teacher of the "piano-forte and keyed instruments," at Barker's Tavern in Worcester. Notices of singing schools and dancing schools appear early in the present century. In 1809 a Mr. Mallet gave "harmony concerts" at Healy's Hall, which was where the Burnside Building E. Sanger, secretary, is noticed. The latter now stands. A well-toned piano-forte was probably was not maintained long, for several offered for sale in a notice in the Spy, and on years later, as will be seen below, another the death of Hon. Francis Blake in 1817, the society of the same name was organized. A one belonging to his family was publicly sold. "Grand Musical Soiree by the St. Luke Fami- John W. Lincoln opened a "School for Mar- ly," Italian Fantoccini, and the Nicholson tial Music" in 1813, to instruct musicians for Flute and Glee Club were the attractions in 1839-40. In 1843 there was a "Grand Mu-
service in the war. A Mr. Lewis was a teacher of vocal music in Worcester in 1819. sical Jubilee" in Worcester, to which the About the year 1820 considerable interest was Worcester Brass Band invited all the bands in the vicinity. The same year the Hutchinson Family appeared here, and Ole Bull came for the first time July 1, 1844. His last appear- manifested in this locality and in different parts of the county in the subject of music, and several societies were formed which were active for a number of years; among these ance here was on the 27th of April, 1880, and may be mentioned the Lockhart Union Socie- his death occurred on the 18th of August of ty of Brookfield, the Templi Carmina Society that year. The following are some of the of Sutton, the Beethoven Society of Millbury, celebrities who have appeared in Worcester and the Worcester Harmonic Society; the latter formed about the year 1825. In Septem- ber, 1822, an oratorio was performed here by the Handel and Haydn Society of Boston; and at the dedication of the Calvinist (Central) during the last forty-five years: Leopold De- Meyer, Madame Anna Bishop, Brignoli, Herz and Sivori, Julien, Parodi, Stigelli, Jenny Lind, Thalberg, D'Angri, Gottschalk, Gill- more, Parepa, Arbuckle, Blind Tom, Adelina Church in 1823, the Lockhart Union Society and Carlotta Patti, Bulow, Carreno, Pappen- furnished the music, and gave an oratorio in heim, Thomas, Nilsson, Damrosch, Joseffy, the evening. A concert was given here Remenyi, Rubinstein, Wilhelmj, Paderewski March 5, 1823, by Miss Plimpton, the and De Pachmann.
"young Columbian vocalist," of Boston.
The Worcester Sacred Music Society was Philip Brown, in a room over George A. formed in 1846, and in 1852 the Worcester Trumbull's book-store, advertised in 1823 - Musical Association appeared, but did not imported music and musical instruments. He long continue. A. N. Johnson, George F. was probably the first music dealer in Worces- Root, William Sumner and Edward S. Nason ter. In 1831 Aaron Leland opened his were prominent in this society, which must "music and umbrella store," and in 1839 Samuel Reeves Leland came to Worcester, also dealing in musical instruments and um- brellas.
not be confounded with the Worcester County Musical Association, founded ten years later. The Mozart Society, formed in 1850, was a more permanent organization, and continued A novel musical entertainment was given here in 1828, with a combination of instru- ments, the siren, musical glasses, bagpipes, etc .; and in 1830 Mr. and Mrs. Papanti from with varying success and failure until it was united with the Beethoven Society. The lat- ter, instituted in 1864, joined the Mozart in 1866, to form the Worcester Mozart and Boston advertised a concert to take place Beethoven Choral Union, which later became June 17. In 1834 a concert of sacred music the Choral Union. (See title.) The Shumann was given in Mr. Abbott's (Central) Meeting Club was in existence some ten years ago, House by Messrs. N. Allen, Colburn, White and was similar in character to the present et al. of Boston. Ostinelli appeared here Gounod Club. The Orchestral Union is an with Mr. Mæder in 1835. In 1836 the Cal- active organization. (See the article on the vinist Society advertised their bass viol for Worcester County Musical Association.)
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