USA > Massachusetts > Gazetteer of the state of Massachusetts, pt 1 > Part 12
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The Indian and the plantation name of this place was Payquage, or Poquaig. The territory was granted by the General Court to sixty persons anterior to 1734. The first settlers were Richard Morton, Ephraim Smith, Samuel Morton, John Smeed and Joseph Lord ; who with their families first kindled their camp fires here September 17, 1735. Most of their provisions, for the first year, had to be brought through the unoccupied wilderness from Hatfield, thirty miles away. Their location was at the point now called "The Street." Being a frontier settlement, the planters lived in garrison houses, much of the time holding themselves in constant readiness to receive the savage enemy. In August, 1746, Mr. Ezekiel Walling- ford was killed by the Indians while running to the garrison; and in the earlier part of the ensuing year, Mr. Jason Babcock was taken captive. The town was probably named in honor of James Murray, the second Duke of Athol, Lord Privy Seal of Scotland. It was incorporated March 6, 1762. There have since been an un- usual number of changes in its territory. In 1783, parts of Athol, Royalston, Warwick, together with Erving's Grant, were established as the district of Orange. In 1786, parts of Athol and Templeton were established as Gerry. In 1799, parts of Athol and Gerry were annexed to Royalston. In 1806, part of Gerry was annexed to Athol. In 1816, part of Orange was annexed to Athol. In 1829, certain common lands were annexed to Athol. In 1830, and again in 1837, parts of New Salem were annexed to Athol. It is to be hoped that the boundaries of the town are now permanently settled.
Atlantic, a village in Quincy.
Attleborough is a town of many villages, devoted to a great variety of manufactures. It is sit- uated in the northwestern part of Bristol County, having North Attleborough on the north, Norton on the east, Rehoboth and See- konk on the south, and the town of Cumberland, in Rhode Island, on
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the west. Its assessed area is 14,809 acres, of which about one- third is woodland, consisting of oak, maple, chestnut and elm. The population by the last census (1885) of the undivided town was 13,175. The returns of the assessors, in 1888, give the present town of Attleborough 1,858 assessed polls, and 1,190 assessed dwel- ling-houses ; and, to the new town, North Attleborough, 1,691 assessed polls, and 1,111 assessed dwelling-houses. The census returns in 1885 gave the towns (undivided) 2,469 dwellings. The post-offiees are Attleborough, South Attleborough, Hebronville, Dodgeville and Brigg's Corner. Attleborough, Hebronville and Dodgeville are stations on the Old Colony Railroad system, the first being 32 miles from Boston on the line of the Boston and Provi- dence Railroad. A branch railroad connects with Nortli Attle- borough on the northwest and with Taunton on the east.
The underlying rock in this town is carboniferous. The surface is in parts quite level and in others undulating. In the southeast portions are several swamps, but the central and western parts have four or five pleasant ponds,-one containing about 100 acres, another 40, the others being still smaller. The streams are Ten Mile River -with the Bungay River as a branch,-Seven Mile River, Four Mile Brook, Thatcher Brook, Abbot's Run and Chartley Brook ; all except the last flowing in southerly courses, and affording water- power. Ten Mile River, rising in Wrentham, runs centrally through the town into Seekonk Cove, and is the most valuable stream. Attleborough has long been celebrated for its jewelry, and by the last State census (1885) had 282 manufactories of this and other kinds of goods. In addition to all articles of jewelry there were made clocks, watches, silver ware, braid, and cotton, woollen and worsted goods, buttons, hats, undertakers' trimmings, various ma- chines, carriages and small vessels. The articles produced in largest value were iron, and wood and metal goods, $38,325; clothing, $49,- 749 ; food preparations, $65,455; leather, $ 141,339; building materials and stone work, $321,824; textiles, $786,159; metallic goods (chiefly jewelry) $4,629,199; giving in the aggregate the sum of $6,241,757. At the same time the 254 farms (containing 16,808 acres, of which 7,604 were woodland) yielded $309,331. The dairies are credited with $107,751; wood products, $32,584; poultry, $24,606; and cereals, $7,257. There were 15,827 fruit trees. These statistics of production relate to the town just previous to its division, no com- plete returns having since been made.
The valuation of Attleborough (since the division) in 1888 was $3,779,212; the rate of taxation being $15 on $1,000. The First National Bank had, by the last report of the comptroller, assets to the value of $486,283,-of which $100,000 was paid-in capital. With so many kinds of manufactories, and all active, every one living in the town readily finds work, generally at a liberal rate; so that poverty to the degree of want is rarely known.
There is a graded system of public schools; having, in 1885, 23 school-houses, valued, with appurtenances, at $153,900. There were also two private schools. The ten libraries contained about
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ATTLEBORO
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10,000 volumes. The town public library (free) had nearly 3,000; an association about the same number ; a private circulating library about 1,000; and the Sunday schools the remainder. The weekly paper, "The Attleborough Chronicle Advocate," has a valuable pat- ronage.
There are several fine public association and church buildings. The churches in 1885 were the First Congregational, at West Attle- borough (organized in 1712), the Second Congregational, at Attle- borough (1748), the Methodist Episcopal, Attleborough (1866) and the same at Hebronville, where is also a Union church; the Univer- salist, at Attleborough (1874) ; the African Methodist, at the same place (1873); and the Roman Catholic, St. John's (1883), at East Attleborough.
The town (undivided) sent 469 men into the late war, of whom 37 were lost. In 1885, there were living in the town seventy-eight persons over SO years, and five persons over 90 years of age.
The settlement of this place was commenced by Mr. John Wood- cock and his sons in 1669; and the same persons built the public house on the Bay Road. His house was licensed, and also occupied by a garrison, in 1670. He was a bitter enemy to the Indians, and they reciprocated in kind, seven bullet holes being found in his body after his death. His garrison was one in the line of fortifi- cations from Boston to Newport. The old garrison, whose timbers bore the marks of many a bullet, was destroyed in 1806. This town formerly included Cumberland in Rhode Island. It was called "Nortli Purchase," and incorporated October 19, 1694. Its name is the same as that of a market-town in Norfolk County, England. Eminent names of this town are Naphtali Daggett, D.D. (1727- 1780), David Cobb (1748-1830), David Daggett, LL.D. (1764-1851), Jonathan Maxcy, D.D. (1768-1820), Ezekiel Gilman Robinson, D.D., LL.D. (1815).
Atwood's Corner, a village in Newburyport.
Auburn is a pleasant little town near the centre of the southern half of Worcester County, 50 miles southwest of Boston. It is connected with Worcester and towns south of it by the Norwich and Worcester Railroad, which runs through the whole length of the town. The Boston and Albany Railroad passes along its northwestern side, having a station (Roch- . dale) near the line in Leicester. Leicester and Worcester bound it on the north; the last and Millbury on the east; Oxford on the south and southwest; and Leicester on the west. The villages are Larnedville and Stoneville; the post-offices, Auburn and West Au- burn.
The largest of the six ponds lies in the northern part of the town, and contains about 175 acres. Eddy Pond, in the southern section, covers 40 acres. Dark Brook, Kettle Brook and Stone Brook run northerly through the town, furnishing valuable power, and with
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other tributaries forming Blackstone River. The rock formation of the town is Merrimack schist and gneiss, in which good specimens of masonite occur. The surface is pleasantly diversified by hill and valley; an eminence in the western section, bearing the name of "Crowl Hill " (from an early settler), being the highest point.
The assessed area of the town is 9,429 acres; and in 1888 there were 230 assessed dwelling-houses. There were 2,486 acres of wood- land, and about 8,000 fruit trees. The farms numbered 82; and their product in 1885 was valued at $132,032. The dairies gave $47,164, and vegetables, $19,391 of this aggregate. There were also reported six manufactories ; one, of woollen; one, worsted; one, leather ; one, building material ; and two of food preparations ; with an aggregate product valued at $115,965. The valuation, in 1888, was $482,919; and the rate of taxation, $14 on $1,000.
The six public school-houses were estimated to be worth, with ap- purtenances, $7,500. There were two libraries; of which one was the town public library, and contained about 1,700 volumes ; the other belonged to a Sunday school, and contained some 1,400 books. The Congregational church here was organized in 1776, and has a substantial house of worship. At Stoneville is the Roman Catholic church -St. Joseph's.
There were in 1885 twelve residents over 80 years of age. Au- burn furnished seventy men for the late war, of whom seven were lost ; and to whose memory a monument has been erected.
The territory of this town was taken from Leicester, Oxford, Sutton and Worcester, and incorporated, April 10, 1778, under the name of "Ward,"- in honor of the Revolutionary general, Artemas Ward. In 1837 the name was changed to Auburn.
Jacob Whitman Bailey, an eminent naturalist and inventor, was born in this town, April 29, 1811, and died at West Point in 1857.
Auburndale, a village in Newton,
Auburnville, a village in Whitman.
Avon is a young, enterprising town in the southeastern part of Norfolk County, 17 miles south of Boston on the Old Colony Railroad, Fall River Branch, - which forms a part of the line of the town on the northwest side. The main line to Cape Cod crosses the southeast corner of the town, - where there is also a station. Stoughton forms the west and northwest boundaries ; Holbrook the northeast and east, and Brockton the south.
The assessed area is 2,428 acres, - about one fourth being wood- land, - chiefly maple, with some pine. The highways are excellent, and throughout the town are much ornamented by elms and other trees, many of large size. The surface is pleasantly diversified by hill and valley, and drained by affluents of Taunton River. Mine Hill, about 250 feet high, on the boundary line between Avon and
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Stoughton, marks the water-shed between Boston and the South shore. The rock is sienite, in which beds of iron ore occur. The soil is a black loam, rocky and hard to work. .
The population is about 1,500, with some 300 dwellings. Farming is carried on to the usual extent and profit, but the chief business is manufactures, - mostly boots and shoes. There are two large factories and a small one of this kind. Avon's proportion of the aggregate value of manufactured goods in Stoughton (of which at the last census it formed a part) is about $375,000, - estimated on the basis of assessed persons and valuation on May 1, 18SS. The number of assessed persons was 404, while the valuation was $527,375.
Of the village of Avon (then East Stoughton), a writer in the " Boston Traveller " said several years ago: -
"This brisk and wide-awake village is making boots for the million; and, by the good old honest way of hard work and fair dealing, is accumulating greenbacks, and keeping pace with the general run of things in this Common- wealth. The people are too busy to trouble each other, and too well off to move away ; and so a peaceful, industrious, contented, and increasing popula- tion crowds the place. Wages are good ; living is low; and those willing to labor - and there are but few who are not - find enough to do, and come to plenty. This the snug and tasteful cottages, the pleasant gardens, the well- dressed and fine-looking children, amply manifest.
" What a change has well-directed industry effected in this village in the last three decades of years! Thirty summers ago, a dull, drinking, droning · corner,' a few old houses, and a country store retailing, on long credits, cod- tish, mackerel, molasses and New England rum; now a thriving town, with busy manufactories, noble private dwellings, churches, school-houses, hand- some streets adorned with shade-trees, and the elements of 'health, peace, and competence' (which Pope puts down as the grand trio of the graces which make up the happy life) distinctly visible on every hand. Every breeze that sweeps along brings ' health ; ' no meddlesome and story-telling neighbors mar the 'peace ;' and as to ' competence,' one has but to stay, and stick closely to the last, and he is sure of it." The region is undoubtedly salubrious ; and the census of ISS5 shows that there were then 56 residents of the two towns who were over So years of age.
The Indian name of Avon (formerly Stoughton) was Punkapoay, meaning "a spring that bubbles up from red soil ; " and here the Rev. John Eliot had a village of praying Indians." It is probably this same noted spring which the citizens of the village propose to make the fountain of supply for their water-works. On Salisbury Brook, which runs through the western part of the town, is a pond containing upwards of 100 acres, which has recently been purchased by Brockton to supply the water-works of that city. A street rail- road now connects Avon village with Brockton.
Avon has a good building which affords a hall, and shelters her steam fire-engine and other apparatus. The schools are graded, and occupy two large buildings, valued at $18,000. There are also two or more Sunday schools. The Baptists and the Roman Catholics. have each a church in the village, - fine edifices of wood.
Stoughton was formerly a part of Dorchester, and was incorpor- ated in 1726. Avon embraces the easterly section of the former, from which it was set off and incorporated February 21, 1888.
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Ayer is a progressive railroad town in the northwestern part of Middlesex County, 35 miles from Boston. Groton lies upon the north, Westford and Littleton on the east, and the latter also upon the southeast, Harvard on the south, and Shirley on the west. The land is uneven, and in the north quite hilly. Rocky Hill in the northeastern, and Brown Loaf Hill in the southwestern part, are the most notable eminences. Several beautiful ponds. together with Cold-Spring Brook, James Brook, and Nashua River, diversify the scenery. The population in 1885 was 2,190; the area of the town, as returned by the assessors, is 4,983 acres; of which 2,582 acres are woodland. There were 48 farms, yielding, in 1885, the aggregate sum of $46,664. The chief income, however, is from the railroad business, and its manufactures. In the year just men- tioned there were 106 steam-railroad employees residing here. Thirty-one manufactories were reported. The chief of these made " wooden goods " (furniture and agricultural implements) to the value of $122,778; iron and other metallie work (largely for agricul- tural implements), $45,240; clothing, 87,400; building material (wood and stone), $16,053 ; food preparations, $17,242. Some others are leather, straw goods, carriages, paper goods, candles and soap. The aggregate value of manufactures for that year was given at $244,617. The valuation in 1888 was $1,258,300; and the rate of taxation, $15.50 on $1,000. The First National Bank of this place at the last of the same year had assets to the value of $234,453; $75,000 of which was capital stock paid in. The deposits in the savings bank at the close of the same year amounted to $111,637. The town has a graded system of schools, with four school build- ings, valued, with their appurtenances, at $15,175. There are five public libraries ; the town public library having about 2,200 volumes, and the Sunday schools nearly as many. There are two lively news- papers published here,-the "Ayer Express," and "Turner's Public Spirit." The Baptist church in this place was organized in 1851; the Congregational in 1861; the First Unitarian in 1864; the Method- ist and the Roman Catholic (Saint Mary's) dates of establishment are not definitely ascertained.
This town was formed from parts of Groton and Shirley, its prin- cipal village - Ayer Junction - having formerly been Groton June- tion. It was incorporated February 14, 1871; being named in honor of James C. Ayer, a Lowell manufacturer. The growth of the town, though rapid, was very much checked by a fire on April 13, 1872, which swept away the Unitarian church and a long line of stores and shops. It has now long outgrown the blow, and filled the vacant spaces with better, and in some instances very handsome, edifices.
Ayer's Village, in Haverhill. Babbatasset Village, in Pepperell. , Back River Harbor, in Bourne.
BACK ROW- BARNSTABLE. 131
Back Row, a village in North Reading.
Baker's Island, off Beverly shore, bearing two lights.
Bakerville, a village in Dartmouth.
Bald Hill, in Douglass, 711 feet in height.
Bald Pate Hill, in Newton, in Newton, 312 feet in height.
Baldwinsville, a village in Templeton.
Ballardvale, a village in Andover.
Bancroft, a village in Middlefield.
Bardwell's Ferry, a village in Shelburne.
Bare Hill, in Stoneham, 320 feet in height.
Bare Hill Pond, in Harvard.
Barkersville, a village in Pittsfield.
Barleyneck, a village in Orleans.
Barnard'sville, a village in Worcester.
Barney's Joy Point, south of Dartmouth.
BARNSTABLE extends across the western por- tion of Cape Cod from shore to shore. It has Yarmouth on the east and Mashpee and Sandwich on the west, and contains about a dozen villages. It is 73 miles from Boston on the Old Colony Railroad, which has stations at West Barnstable, Barnstable and Hyannis. These are also post-offices, together with Hyannisport, Centreville, Marston's Mills, Cotuit, Osterville, Craigville and Wianno; other villages are East Barn- stable, Newtown and Old Cotuit. The harbors are Barnstable, Hyan- nis Harbor, New Harbor and Cotuit Harbor.
A narrow peninsula called Sandy Neck extends from the northwest corner of the town several miles easterly, forming Barnstable Harbor, which admits vessels drawing seven or eight feet of water. Border- ing on this harbor are great salt marshes, from which many tons of hay are annually cut. Hyannis Harbor, on the southern side of the ~ cape, is protected by a breakwater, and admits the largest coasting vessels. Cotuit Harbor is formed by Oyster Island and a peninsula projecting from the southwest corner of the town.
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Hyannis Hill, though but 81 feet high, is a marked feature for a long distance. A range of low hills, or knolls, somewhat rocky, ex- tends from Sandwich, parallel with or near the coast, as far as Yar- mouth, affording beautiful views from sea to sea. South of this line of hills the land is level, and covered to a great extent with a growth of oak and yellow pine. The scenery is, however, varied with a large number of fresh-water ponds, of which Great Pond, near the centre of the town, and containing 750 acres, is the most noted. Further west are a group of ponds whose outlets, uniting, flow southward and furnish a considerable power at Marston's Mills. In one of these ponds the pink water-lily is found. The area of the town is upwards of 27,650 acres ; and of this there are 4,233 acres of woodland. This
WHICHE
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COTOCHEESET HOUSE, OSTERVILLE.
town and Falmouth have, probably, a better soil than any others on the Cape. The number of farms is 217; and their aggregate product, in 1885, was $177,262. To this the dairies contributed §36,312; fruits and cranberries, $52,075; vegetables, $11,797. There were 2,899 neat cattle (of all ages), and 5,012 fruit trees. Neither is the manufacturing product a small item; for the last census gives 63 establishments, and an aggregate product of $103,305. The manu- factures consisted of brick, drain pipe, building materials, carriages and wagons, clothing, fertilizers, food preparations, leather, wooden goods, and others. The town has also a large income from its fish- eries ; in which numerous vessels and a large number of its citizens
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1 are engaged. The product from food fish, in 1885, reached the value of $27,893; from shell-fish, $9,246; which, with the various fish products, gives an aggregate of $38,289. The valuation of the town in 1888 was 82,927,345; with the low tax-rate of $9 on $1,000.
Barnstable is the shire town of the county of Barnstable, and has a handsome court-house and jail at the village, together with a town- hall. The schools are graded, and occupy 26 buildings; which with other school property are valued at upwards of $30,000. The inhabi- tants are well supplied with libraries, having fifteen of these, contain- ing nearly 20,000 volumes. The town public library has about 10,000 books; another public library about 1,200; and the Sunday schools add largely to the literary supply. The churches number thirteen. The Congregational church at West Barnstable was organized by the colonists while in England; re-established in Scituate in 1634; at Barnstable village, in 1639; and in West Barnstable in 1716. The Congregational church at Centreville was organized in 1840; that at Hyannis in 1854. The Baptist was organized in Hyannis in 1771, in Osterville in 1835, and in Barnstable village in 1842. The Unita- rian society at Hyannis was originally gathered in 1639 in England, by Rev. John Lothrop. The Universalist society at Hyannis was organized in 1880. The Methodists also have churches at Barnstable village, Centreville, Marston's Mills and Osterville. The Roman Catholics have a church at Hyannis.
'The " Barnstable County Journal " is a well-established and valu- able publication; and another weekly, "The Cape Cod Bee," is a characteristic and flourishing sheet.
'The Indian names of Barnstable (which anciently embraced Sand- wich) are Chequocket, Coa- tuit, Mattacheese and Cum- maquid. The Pilgrims. landed here November 11, 1620, and had an interview with the Indians. The first white settlers were the Rev. John Lothrop and a part of his church, who came here from Scituate, October 11, 1639. They worshipped at a great rock about two miles west of Barnstable court- house. (See J. G. Palfrey's " Address at the Second Cen- tennial Anniversary of the Settlement of Cape Cod," September 3, 1839). It is OSTERVILLE LIBRARY. said that this West Barnstable church, organized in England in 1616, is the " first independent Congregational church of that name in the world." The southern part of the territory of the town was purchased from the sachem Iyanough, or Wianno, in 1650, the year of the incorporation. In 1652 the bounds between this town
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and Sandwich were established; and in 1658 an agreement was made with Yarmouth in regard to bounds. In 1662, new lands were granted to Barnstable, and the line with Sandwich revised.
Hyannis; a variation of the name of the sachem just mentioned, has become a fashionable summering place for the dwellers in great cities ; and houses, fine or fantastic, are numerous and striking. Osterville, also, is undergoing a similar rehabitation ; and its natural pleasant- ness is constantly being increased. In May, 1885, the town had 80 residents who had passed the 80th year of their age.
Barnstable sent 233 men into the late war, and lost 32 of them. A monument has been erected in Centreville to their memory. Barn- stable has produced many eminent men, some of whose names follow : Jolin Walley (1644-1712), judge of the Supreme Court; Col. James Otis, a statesman; James Otis (1725-1783), a distinguished orator and patriot; Mrs. Mercy (Otis) Warren (1728-1814), a sister of the last, and an esteemed author; Samuel Alleyne Otis (1740-1814), a member of Congress; James Thacher, M.D. (1754-1844), author of a noted military journal; Daniel Davis (1762-1835), an able lawyer; John Allyn, D.D. (1762-1833), an eloquent divine; John Percival (1779-1862), a captain in the United States navy, and called by the sailors "Mad Jack ;" Samuel Shaw, LL.D. (1781-1861), an eminent jurist and writer: Benj. F. Hallett (1797-1862), a distinguished poli- tician ; Otho M. Coleman (1817), the inventor of the æolian attach- ment of the piano; Timothy Alden (1819-1858), inventor of a type-setting machine.
Barre is an old town near the geographical centre of the State, which had thrifty days in the stage-coach times ; and since the railroad (Massachusetts Central and Ware River rail- roads, Boston and Albany system) has entered and established sta- tions at Barre (central village) and Barre Plains, the place has taken a fresh start. Worcester lies at the southwest, about 21 miles away, and Boston is 60 miles eastward. The town lies in the western part of the middle belt of Worcester County ; having Hubbardston on the northeast, Rutland and Oakham on the southeast, New Braintree and Hardwick on the southwest, and Dana and Petersham on the northwest. Its form is nearly square, with angles at the cardinal points of the compass. The area is 26,442 acres; or, ad- ding the highways and water surfaces, upwards of 42 square miles. Prince River rises in the north, where there is a pretty pond, runs southward to Barre Plains, in the southern part of the town, where it joins Ware River; this being formed in the eastern part of the , town by the confluence of Canesto, Burnt-shirt and other brooks; and in the westerly part are Moose and Pine Hill brooks. All these streams have falls which afford serviceable powers. The land is elevated and hilly, with many forests of oak, pine, maple and chest- nut. Hawes Hill, in the northern part of the town, has an eleva- tion of 1,285 feet. Other eminences in the town are Mount Pleas- ant in the northeast, Stonehouse Hill in the southeast, Prospect, Allen, and Farrow hills in the central part, with Ridge and Bas-
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