USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > Worcester > Dictionary of Worcester (Massachusetts) and its vicinity, 1893 > Part 15
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PORTRAITS-Washington, Lincoln, John A. land, almshouse, small-pox hospital and other Andrew, W. L. Garrison, Ichabod Washburn, buildings and appurtenances, the whole val- Gen. Geo. H. Ward, Mayor James B. Blake, ued at $131,401. A ward for insane was William A. Wheeler, James A. Garfield, erected in 1890. During 1891, 210 persons Henry Wilson, Henry W. Miller. were provided for at the almshouse. Outside In Horticultural Hall : relief was given to 1815 persons. Amount of PORTRAITS -- John C. Ripley, Geo. Jaques, Alex. H. Bullock, D. Waldo Lincoln, F. H. dole at the clerk's office, $4,333. Amount appropriated for the maintenance of the pau- Dewey, Levi Lincoln, Daniel Waldo, Dr. per department (including the truant school, John Green, Isaac Davis, J. M. Earle, S. Salisbury, Dr. W. Workman, Clarendon Har- ris, F. W. Paine, J. Henry Hill.
scavenger department, etc. ) is $28,500. The poor department is in charge of a Board of Overseers composed of the mayor, super- In possession of The Worcester Society of Antiquity : intendent of schools, city marshal, clerk of the Board and six citizens at large. Freeman PORTRAITS - John G. Whittier, Elihu Bur- Brown is clerk of the Board. His office is in ritt, John Brown, Jeremiah Stiles, Peter Wil- the City Hall.
BUSTS - John Davis, Washington, Lafay- Population .- The population of Worcester ette, Isaac Davis.
at different periods is given below :
A. D .- 1765-1,478. A. D .- 1850-17,049. 1776-1,925.
1790-2,095. 1870-41,105.
1800-2,4II. 1875-49,317. 1810-2,577. 1880-58,291.
1820-2,962. 1885-68,380
1830-4,173. 1840-7,497.
1890-84,655.
In the Court Room, Stone Court House :
PORTRAITS - Levi Lincoln, Ist; Emory
1860-24,960. Washburn, F. H. Dewey.
In Probate Court Room :
PORTRAIT - Ira M. Barton.
In Law Library :
PORTRAITS - Pliny Merrick, Charles Allen, Benj. F. Thomas, Peter C. Bacon, Dwight Foster, George F. Hoar.
There is a portrait of Dr. John Green in
Portraits and Busts. - Mr. Nathaniel the Public Library building on Elm street, Paine gives in his monograph published in also a statue of him in plaster. The busts of 1876 a very complete list of the portraits and Charles Allen, Emory Washburn, Isaac Davis busts in public places in Worcester up to that and Ichabod Washburn are in the aldermen's date. To his pamphlet the DICTIONARY is chamber at the City Hall, which also has the indebted for the foundation of the following portraits of all the past mayors in crayon. list. Only portraits in oil are included :-
There are small photographs or engraved por-
lard, James Oglethorpe, Andrew Jackson.
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traits of most of the mayors in the mayor's In 1833 the office was removed to Central office. Exchange, where it remained until Jan. I, Post (The Evening) .- A one-cent Dem- ocratic paper, published week days, the first number of which appeared September 23, 1891. It is well established, and is published by a stock company. The business office is at 24 Pearl street. 1867, when the present quarters on Pearl street were occupied. The first "penny- posts" or letter carriers were E. W. Bartlett, 1847 and more than twenty years afterward; W. L. Aldrich, 1851-52; Julius L. Eldridge, 1852-53; and Charles L. Redding, from 1853 to about 1865. The force of carriers numbers 35, and the office force is 30. The govern- ment is now erecting a Post Office building on
Post Office .- The Post Office was estab- lished in Worcester Nov. 16, 1775. Isaiah Thomas was appointed postmaster by Ben- the lot between Main and Southbridge streets, jamin Franklin, postmaster-general of the north of Myrtle street. Colonies, and held the office until 1802. The Post Office was reestablished in the town Poultry Clubs .- The Central Massachu- setts Poultry Club was organized in 1882. under new regulations March 13, 1786. Pre- vious to this year the mail had been carried The Bay State Poultry Association was formed in 1888, and incorporated in 1889. generally by post-riders on horseback, and at times without regularity. But from January, Practical Mechanic (The) .- A monthly mechanical paper designed especially to in- terest practical men in the iron and wood- working trades. Established in July, 1887, and discontinued in 1892. It was the first and only trade journal ever established in Worcester, famous the world over as a rich field of invention and the home of many noted mechanics. It enjoyed a wide circulation and had many contributions from some of the foremost writers in the country on the sub- jects treated. Published by F. S. Blanchard & Co., 154 Front street. 1786, when a line of stages was established from Portsmouth, in New Hampshire, to Savannah, in Georgia, the mail was carried by stage coaches on the main line. The first mail on the new plan passed through Worces- ter on the 7th of January, from the general Post Office in New York to Boston. After twenty-seven years' service Isaiah Thomas was removed, and the Spy of Sept. 1, 1802, an- nounced that " James Wilson, a foreigner," had been appointed in his. place. Isaiah Thomas, Jr., then proprietor of the paper, complained bitterly of the change. James Wilson exceeded in time of service his pre- Precincts .- See Wards. decessor, retiring in 1833. Succeeding post- masters were Jubal Harrington, 1833 to 1839; Presbyterian Church .- In 1719 a num- ber of Scotch Presbyterian families from the north of Ireland came to Worcester, with the Rev. Edward Fitzgerald, and attempted to form a church. A meeting-house was par- tially erected on the road that is now Lincoln street; but the other settlers in the town assembled and demolished the half-built struc- ture. Some of these Scotch emigrants re- mained and amalgamated with the other residents of the place. In April, 1886, Pres- end of Mr. Wilson's administration. In 1844 byterian worship was resumed after an interval the American Letter Mail Co. opened an of 150 years, there having been some preach- office in Worcester and advertised to send ing here in 1736. The present Presbyterian Church was organized in September, 1886, Rev. J. H. Ralston as pastor. Meetings. were for some time held in Continental Hall, and later in the Y. M. C. A. building. The present place of worship is in their new build- ing on Kilby street. Rev. Thomas Atkinson. Maturin L. Fisher, 1839 to 1849; Edward W. Lincoln, 1849 to 1854; Emory Banister, 1854 to 1861; John Milton Earle, 1861 to 1867; Josiah Pickett, 1867 to 1886. James E. Estabrook, a life-long democrat, was appoint- ed in 1886 by President Cleveland, and was succeeded in 1891 by J. Evarts Greene, at present in office. The Post Office was open Sundays for half an hour after meeting in 1819, and this was probably continued to the letters to Boston, New York and Philadelphia at 64 cents. During the service of Isaiah Thomas the Post Office was located on Court Hill; Deacon Wilson removed it to the build- ing which stood where the City Hall is, and later to his residence, about where the dry goods store of Barnard, Sumner & Putnam Co. stands. is pastor.
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Princeton .- A town fourteen miles north floor, he wore through an ordinary deal board. of Worcester. It was named in honor of Mr. Howland is still in the printing business, Rev. Thomas Prince, and incorporated in though not for himself. Asa B. Adams suc- 1771. The Fitchburg Railroad passes through ceeded Mr. Howland, and was located many the town, which is much resorted to in the years at 392 Main street. Edward R. Fiske, summer season, on account of its pure air and other rural attractions, the principal of which is Wachusett Mountain, noticed under its title in the DICTIONARY. Population of Princeton in 1885, 1,038; in 1890, 982. another well-known Worcester printer, died in June, 1891. He began business in 1841 in the old Central Exchange, in company with Edwin C. Church, and was burned out at the time of the fire there. Mr. Fiske was located for many years in the building at the corner of Printers .- The following is an incomplete list of Worcester printers. Isaiah Thomas, the first, is well known; he was in active business twenty-five years or more from 1775, and resided in the town till his death in 1831. His son and successor carried on the work of his father during the first years of the present century, but finally went to Boston and died there. Leonard Worcester, one of the elder Thomas's apprentices, had a printing office here before 1800; he entered the ministry, and died in Peacham, Vt., after many years' service. Daniel Greenleaf, another apprentice, printed some books here about 1800. Samuel Cotting was the first printer of the Ægis in 1801, and was followed by Henry Rogers. Isaac Sturtevant printed the Spy for the Thomases from 1806 to 1814. Coming down later, we find the following names, some of them with approximate dates: Charles Foster and Waldo streets, and was afterwards in Crompton's block on Mechanic street. Charles Hamilton has been a master printer since 1849, located in the Central Exchange. Many historical and genealogical books have been printed at his office, and of late years he has printed the City Documents and the Directory. His manager, Benjamin J. Dodge, has been with him from the first. Tyler & Seagrave, who bought the Spy job office in 1861, were in business together over twenty years, most of the time at 442 Main street. They issued a large number and variety of books, besides executing much job work. After Mr. Tyler withdrew from the firm, he established the Mid-Weekly newspaper at Oxford, this county, which he still publishes. Mr. Seagrave has lately retired from business. Of later firms, among the largest offices were Snow Brothers and their successors for some twenty years at 47 Main street. This estab- lishment was recently broken up, and the machinery and materials sold to F. S. Blan- chard & Co. O. B. Wood, on Maple street, has good facilities for job and other work, and Maynard, Gough & Co., 187 Front street, print hotel registers and similar work. The publishers of this DICTIONARY, F. S. Blanchard & Co., succeeded to the business of Sargent & Wilson in 1880, and have probably the point of term of service. He first came to largest plant in the city and do an extensive
Griffin, Samuel Morrill, Moses W. Grout, Wm. Manning (1824), T. W. & J. Butterfield (1839), Spooner & Merriam, Edwin C. Church, Mirick & Bartlett, Lewis Metcalf (1842), R. B. Hancock, James M. Stone, Peter L. Cox, Church & Prentiss, Estey & Evans (1840 to '50. ) Many of these were newspaper printers, job printing not formerly having the importance it has to-day. Henry J. Howland is the oldest living printer, in Worcester in 1831, and permanently settled here in 1835. He printed both editions of Lincoln's History of Worcester, the catalogue of the Library of the American Antiquarian
publishing business in connection with book and job printing. Among their publications are the Practical Mechanic, Yankee Almanac, Worcester Commercial, and many special Society, and other books; and established publications of an historical nature for this and for many years printed and published the and other cities.
Worcester Directory. He was located for a
There are many other printers in Worcester long time in the old wooden building which who do business on a smaller scale than those stood where the Burnside building now is. above named, but a complete list cannot be expected here. One of his pressmen, James Carlisle by name, worked so long and pulled so many impres- Probate Court .- See Courts. sions on an old-fashioned hand press, that by the motion of his foot as he drew it over the
Probate Registry .- See Registry.
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Prospect Hill .- The higher elevation established grocery store, at No. 24 Front north of Newton Hill, the southern slope of street. This store, established by the N. E. which is known as Sunnyside. It has been proposed recently to change the name to Bancroft Hill.
Protective Union, was first opened at the cor- ner of Front and Carlton streets, Jan. 25, 1848. The undertaking was on the joint stock Protective Department (The Wor- cester), or Insurance Fire Patrol .- The needless destruction or injury of much valuable and fragile property in its hasty removal from Taylor's granite building at the time of the plan, and has continued under that system to the present time, with Samuel A. Pratt as agent, this being his 45th year of service. The rent of the store first occupied was $90 a year. In 1850, the association moved to the east great fire of May, 1875, as well as the loss store in Horticultural Hall building, the rent from theft, induced the formation of the of which was $500. Another "Union" store Mutual Fire Association, composed of busi- was started at the first location, but soon failed. Nov. 1, 1877, the present store was occupied. The business of the store amounts to $175,000 annually. Edward I. Comins is president of the Union, and Theo. H. Bartlett clerk. ness and insurance men and others, who or- ganized for the purpose of protecting and overseeing the removal of property at fires. Members of this association were provided with badges, and as special police had authority and were recognized by the chief Psychology (American Journal of) .- A quarterly magazine, devoted to the publica- tion of original papers on scientific psychology, both normal and abnormal, and to the re- viewing of current literature, especially foreign literature on these subjects. It was begun by its present editor, G. Stanley Hall, in 1887, while professor of psychology in Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, and was transferred to Worcester on his assumption of his duties as president of Clark University. engineer. James F. Meech was the first captain, and George H. Harlow, clerk and treasurer. The association was continued about three years, and disbanded, probably partly because there had been no large fires in the meantime, and consequently little need of their services; and partly on account of the existence of the Insurance Fire Patrol, whose efficient presence at fires rendered the interference of any other organization with similar duties unnecessary. The Patrol was Purgatory .- A remarkable cleft or chasm in the town of Sutton, some twelve miles from Worcester, which as a natural curiosity attracts many visitors. The geological formation here is a calcareous gneiss, and the rock is opened as if by an earthquake for the distance of nearly half a mile, sometimes to the depth of sixty or seventy feet. The huge masses of rock present a wild and picturesque appear- ance, and the gloomy recesses of the chasm were formerly the favorite haunt of the rattle- snake. At the lower end is a cool and clear spring. The most convenient way to reach the chasm from Worcester is by carriage over the highway. organized and incorporated in 1875, and was at first supported entirely by the insurance companies; but of late an annual grant to- wards its support has been made by the city, $1,200 being given the present year. The Patrol occupies a building in Barton place. The wagon, usually the first to reach a fire, is equipped with two Babcock extinguishers, 165 rubber covers, brooms, pails, sponges, etc. Many small fires are extinguished by the Patrol alone; and by the spreading of rubber covers and other precautions, many thousand dollars' worth of property is saved yearly, and the Patrol many times repays the cost of its maintenance. The corporation is composed of prominent insurance agents, Quakers .- See Friends. with Charles B. Pratt as president. The duty force of the Patrol numbers eight. Hiram R. Williamson is captain. The quarters of the Patrol in Barton place are handsomely fur- nished and equipped with many ingenious ap- pliances for quick hitches at times of fires, which are of much interest to strangers.
Quinsigamond .- The Indian name of Worcester and the region around, by which the place was first known. It was applied par- ticularly to the Lake, and the name is various- ly spelled in the old records, Quansicamug, Quansicamon, etc. Dr. J. Hammond Trum- bull gives, in a letter to Senator Hoar, the Protective Union (New England), meaning of the word as follows: "Qunnosu Division No. 42 .- A popular and long- or Quonnosé (plural Qunnosuog) was the
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Indian name for pickerel-literally 'long nose' this station. The Providence Railroad station and-amaug final, denotes a 'fishing place,' before the Union station was erected was on Qunnosuogamaug is ' pickerel fishing place,' Green street, a structure of brick still standing. or where they fish for pickerel."
Quinsigamond Boat Club .- See Boat Clubs.
Quinsigamond Lake .- See Lake Quin- sigamond.
Quinsigamond Park .- An island of 96 acres at the south end of Lake Quinsigamond, recently laid out in lots for building. Full Moon Park and driving course occupy the center of the island.
Quinsigamond Village .- A manufactur- ing village on the Blackstone river in the south part of the city. A branch of the Washburn & Moen Wire Works is located at the village, and many Swedes are employed. There is a post office here.
Raccoon Plain .- The level tract at South Worcester, in the vicinity of Southgate, Camp and Cambridge streets, on which was located Camp Scott in the war time. The name was given by the early proprietors of the township.
Railroads .- The railroads coming to Wor- cester are :
Boston & Albany; opened east, 1835; west, 1839.
Fitchburg, formerly Boston, Barre & Gard- ner; opened 1871.
New York & New England, Norwich & Worcester Division; opened 1840.
New York, Providence & Boston, formerly Providence & Worcester; opened 1847.
Boston & Maine, formerly Worcester, Nashua & Rochester; opened 1848.
Worcester & Shrewsbury ; opened 1873.
Worcester, Leicester & Spencer Electric ; opened in 1891.
Worcester & Millbury Electric; opened 1892.
See Street Railways.
The Union passenger station in Wash- ington square was erected by the Boston & Albany Railroad. It was completed in 1875, and opened for use August 15th of that year. Here center all the steam railroads which enter Worcester, the only one whose tracks are not in the building being the Worcester & Shrewsbury, but this road terminates on Shrewsbury street, within a stone's throw. The railroad stations in the limits of Worces- ter are given below, with the railroads using them :
Barber's Crossing, Boston & Maine; Fitch- burg.
Bloomingdale, Worcester & Shrewsbury.
Jamesville, Boston & Albany.
Lake Station, Worcester & Shrewsbury. Lake View, Worcester & Shrewsbury.
Lincoln Square, Boston & Maine; Fitch- burg.
North Worcester, Fitchburg.
Shrewsbury Street, Worcester & Shrews- bury.
South Worcester (Junction), Boston & Albany; Providence; Norwich.
Summit, Boston & Maine.
Ram Island .- The island at the causeway, Lake Quinsigamond, on which the Island House is built. The name is found in the old records.
Ramshorn Brook .- This stream flows from Ramshorn Pond in Sutton, and its course is generally north through Sutton and Auburn to Curtis Pond at New Worcester, where it joins other streams to form Middle river.
Rattlesnake Rocks .- The ledge of rocks on the elevated land some distance west of Mill street, owned by Solomon Parsons, who, many years ago, deeded the spot to the Almighty, and had the conveyance, or a part of it, recorded on the flat surface of rock near the summit. He also built a sort of a temple here. The Worcester Hermit lived in a stone hut at this place, in company with his cats and goats, ten or fifteen years ago. In early times these rocks abounded with rattlesnakes.
Railroad Stations .- The first railroad station in Worcester was located on Foster street in 1835, when the Boston & Worcester Railroad commenced running. This building (several times enlarged) was used until 1877, when it was demolished, and the site is now covered by Bigelow's Garden and the Rink Reading Rooms .- The reading room building. The Norwich and the Nashua and at the Free Public Library was opened in Boston, Barre & Gardner Railroads also used 1865, and now contains nearly 300 reviews,
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magazines and papers. The Mechanics' Association, the Young Men's Christian As- sociation, and several other societies maintain reading rooms for the use of their members. There was a Reading Room Association in Worcester about 1830.
Prominent operators in real estate years ago were Nathan Patch in the early part of the century; Benjamin Butman, David T. Brig- ham (1830 to '40), Levi Lincoln, Isaac Davis, John F. Pond (1840 and after), David S. Messinger, Col. James Estabrook, Eli Thayer, Francis H. Dewey, Joseph Mason and Samuel
Real Estate Values .- Many items of P. and Leonard Harrington.
interest connected with real estate transac- tions will be found scattered through the DICTIONARY. A few figures are given below, which may be useful for comparison with present values. In 1846 or 1847, Anson Braman gave a bond for a deed of the new Post Office lot, just south of Franklin square, a year, or five cents a copy. for $1,800. (See Franklin Square for an earlier value, and Government Building for price paid by the Post Office department. ) The Trinity Church lot, at the corner of Main and Chandler streets, was offered in 1848 or '49 for $400. The church paid $25,000 for Births, 1714-1893. it with the improvements in 1870.
Record (The). - An illustrated quarto humorous literary and society paper published weekly by W. E. W. Felt, 392 Main street, from July 31, 1891, to October 30 of the same year. The subscription price was two dollars
Records (Public) .- Following is a list of the volumes of public records in Worcester : Proprietors' Records, 1667-1788, I volume. Town Records, 1722-1848, 7 volumes.
Marriages from 1747.
The Barton estate, opposite the Common, Deaths, 1717-1893. where Taylor's granite building stands, was Marriage Intentions, 1796-1893. bought by Judge Barton in 1834 for $5,100. City Records, 1848-1893. Mr. Taylor paid $37,500 for a little less than The above are at the city clerk's office, The Pro- two-thirds of it in 1867. The estate of and generally in good condition. Nathaniel Maccarty, north of Maple street, prietors' Records, and the Town Records 165 feet on Main street by 375 feet deep, was from 1722 to 1816, have been printed by The sold by auction in 1835 to Benjamin Butman Worcester Society of Antiquity, and those from 1817 to 1832, and the Births, Marriages and Deaths to 1848, are in press, the city paying one-half the expense. and George Brinley for $12,000. The estate at the north corner of Walnut street on Main, opposite Mechanics Hall, recently sold for nearly $12 per foot. Mr. David S. Messinger bought the lot at the corner of Chestnut and Walnut streets, where he now lives, of Gov. Lincoln in 1844, for five cents a foot. This
was considered at the time an extravagant price. Mr. Messinger bought of Elisha Flagg the strip of land between William and Bow- doin streets running west from Chestnut street to the meadows, seven acres, for $4,000. He sold about half of this at the lower end to Gov. Lincoln for $100 per acre. A second purchase of Flagg comprised the square on the Stone Court House :
Court Records at the office of the clerk in
Supreme Judicial Court, 1797 to 1893.
Inferior Court of Common Pleas, 1731 to
Court of. General Sessions, 1731 to 1805. Court of Sessions, 1808 to 1827.
Court of Common Pleas, 1784 to 1859. Superior Court, 1859 to 1893.
Marriages in the County, 1746 to 1794. Many volumes Miscellaneous Records.
Harvard street from a point opposite Bowdoin street on the north to Sudbury street on the south, and east to Eden street, for $10,000. 1782. Two lots at the south end he sold for 12 cents per foot. All this took place forty or more years ago. This article could be extended indefinitely, but the examples above given will suffice, as they refer to some of the most valu- able and desirable estates in the city.
Of church records, those of the First or Old South are missing before April 5, 1745, and from September, 1790, to July 9, 1815. The records of the First Baptist Church, before 1831, were burned; and one volume of the Central Church records is missing. The Report on the Public Records of the state is incorrect in stating that the First Church records are complete from 1717, as there was no church before 1719, and two volumes are missing as above.
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The Records of the Court of General Ses- Tribe. Average dues per great sun (year ), sions, from 1731 to 1737, have been printed $6, and the total amount of benefits paid by The Worcester Society of Antiquity.
The Deeds and Probate Records in their respective Registries are preserved from 1731 to the present time.
The volume of " Records of the Board of Overseers of the Schools of the Center District in Worcester," from 1831 to 1847, was found known as the Degree of Pocahontas. This in Oxford in 1860, in the possession of a young woman, who was using it as a scrap book. The volume of Center District School Records, from 1824 to 1843, was found in some rubbish in the store formerly occupied by Warren Lazell. The records from 1799 to 1848 were returned from the vault of the Worcester Bank.
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