USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Groton > Groton historical series. A collection of papers relating to the history of the town of Groton, Massachusetts, Vol IV > Part 15
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OBITUARY NOTICE.
In Groton, Feb. 3d, WILLIAM OLIVER PRESCOTT, aged 17 [18], son of the Hon. JAMES PRESCOTT, and member of the Sophomore Class in Harvard University.
In announcing the death of this young gentleman, his classmates think it their duty to pay this small tribute to his memory, in order to satisfy their own feelings and to induce others, when they see how beautiful was his character, to do likewise.
Among those, with whom he was connected by the relations of Academic life, he was modest and unassuming; he ever treated them with civility and they all bear honorable testimony to his mem- ory. His attachment to intimates was warm and tender ; and they were bound to him by the ties of brotherly love. As a scholar he was studious ; for he knew that a strong mind might be strength- ened by study ; and the rank, which he maintained, was honorable. His desire of improvement united with uniform respect for his instructers gained him their esteem. As a son he was dutiful ; as a brother affectionate ; for these qualities he was beloved by those, who stood in the above relations toward him. As a friend he was constant ; if he had once found a friend in the wide world, where close connections are so often made and broken, he ever remained his firm supporter.
Hle paid due defference to those, whose opinions he disapproved and was lenient towards those, whose foibles, or vices his good judgment taught him to avoid, or his moral principles to condemn. Every point in his character will bear the closest scrutiny and imi- tations ; and, as his life was virtuous, so his death was peaceful.
Cambridge, Harvard University, Feb. 11.
Through the courtesy of the Reverend Samuel May, of Leicester, the Secretary of the Class of 1829, I am enabled to give the following extract from the Class Book : -
DEATHS.
William Oliver Prescott, of Groton.
He had been sick at home for some time during the winter of 1826-7. He died Feb! 34 of that year [1827]. When the event
2.06
MOCKING-BIRDS FOUND IN GROTON.
was communicated to the Class, they voted to wear the usual badge of mourning the remainder of the term, and to have an eulogy delivered. Benj. R. Curtis was chosen to deliver the Eulogy. An obituary notice also was written at the request of the Class by Albert Locke [son of Hon. John Locke, of Ashby, Middlesex Co.] and published in the "Columbian Centinel."
MOCKING-BIRDS FOUND IN GROTON.
THE following communication is taken from "The Auk: A Quarterly Journal of Ornithology " (XII. 308, 309) for July, 1895, and furnishes an interesting fact in connection with the fauna of Groton. For many years the editor of the His- torical Series has known that the mocking-bird was seen / occasionally in this neighborhood, but he was not aware that the fact had any special significance, or that the bird ever nested here.
Nesting of Mimus polyglottos in Eastern Massachusetts. - On June 3, 1895, while walking along a narrow country road in Groton, Massachusetts, my attention was suddenly attracted by the strange sight of a Mockingbird flying across an adjoining field. It alighted on a fence post near by, and, as I turned back to make sure that I had seen aright, my surprise was increased by the appearance of a second one. The two birds flew off together with such an evident air of being mates that I immediately began to look for a nest. The road was bordered on each side by a broad stretch of grassy fields, divided by rail fences ; an eighth of a mile away it crossed a much travelled highway, strung along which a dozen houses could be seen ; while at about the same distance in the opposite direction was the beginning of a large tract of decidu- ous woods. Besides these woods, there was hardly a tree anywhere near, save a few small apple-trees by one of the houses and one or two more - stunted, chance-sown seedlings - growing by the roadside. To one of the latter, a few steps away, I directed my search. In a moment I discovered a clumsily built nest a dozen feet from the ground, amid the thick foliage of a branch that over- hung the road. I climbed the tree and, though I found the nest empty, I was rewarded by a scolding visit from the birds. When I
207
PORCUPINES.
came again on June 13 they gave me a still more unfriendly greet- ing though they were so wary that I obtained only the male to accompany the nest and four half-incubated eggs which I secured.
This locality, which is in the northern part of Middlesex County, hardly six miles south of the New Hampshire boundary, is the most northern point in New England where the Mockingbird has yet been known to breed, and the only one in Massachusetts, east of Springfield, where its nest actually has been taken. The only other recorded evidence I can find of the breeding of the species in east- ern Massachusetts is based on two families of well-grown young, found, one at Arlington (Auk, I, 192), the other at Marshfield (O. & O. XIV, 144). In each of these cases the birds were not discovered until August 15, although it seems probable that they had been bred in the neighborhood. - CHARLES F. BATCHELDER, Cambridge, Mass.
SALMON IN THIE NASHUA RIVER.
A SALMON weighing 936 pounds was caught recently in the Nashua River, near the Hollingsworth paper mills, at Groton. It is many years since this species of fish has been found in the neighborhood, but the provision now made for their passage over the dams, in going up stream in the spring of the year, renders it probable that others may be taken.
" Boston Journal," Sunday, May 12, 1895.
From what I have since learned about this fish, I am in- clined to think that it was a carp, and not a salmon. It was caught by a young man named Nutting.
PORCUPINES.
IN the " Boston Evening Record," October 11, 1890, under the heading of " Seen and Heard," it is said : ---
That chosen haunt of the fierce and fretful hedgehog, Snake Hill, hard by Sandy Pond, in the town of Groton (Groton, Mass.), is reported to have turned out a large fall crop of the sharp-quilled beasts.
208
THE TOWN POUND.
A WILD DEER IN GROTON.
MOSELY GILSON, who lives on the Lowell Road, about half a mile from the First Parish Meeting-house, tells me that in the year 1894, late in the summer or early in the autumn, his wife saw a wild deer on the easterly side of Gibbet Hill, near his house ; and that a few days later his hired man saw one, presumably the same deer, in the meadow opposite to his house.
See Historical Series (III. 340, 341) for another instance of a deer in Groton. Within a few years deer have been seen at different times in the northern part of Middlesex County, and in the southern part of New Hampshire, showing the good effect of the game laws as applied to that beautiful creature.
THE TOWN POUND.
THE following extract from the town records, found in But- ler's History of Groton (page 41), is now of interest, inas- much as the leaf containing the original entry has been lost for a long period of time, even before the early records of the town were copied and printed : -
At a town meeting held 5 March, 1665-6, the town agreed with John Page, Joseph Gilson, and Daniel Pearce, to make a common pound for the town's use, and they are to have fifty shillings for their pains, to be paid out of the next town rate .. The said pound is to be made thirty feet square, six sufficient rails in height, not exceeding ten feet in length, the rails are two of them to be pinned at each end in every length ; they are to make the gate, and to find the irons, and to hang the said gate, with a lock and key for the said gate for the use of the town, for the aforesaid £2 10s. The place to be set up is near the meeting-house.
According to this agreement with the contractors, the pound was to stand near the present site of Isaiah Melvin Mansur's dwelling on Hollis Street, which was in the imme- diate neighborhood of the meeting-house, as then projected
209
TWO EPITAPHS.
but not yet built; and here it remained for nearly two cen- turies. About the year 1850 the ownership of the land, on which it stood, became the subject of dispute, and the case was carried into the courts, where for a long time it was closely contested. Perhaps the leaf, containing the extract just given, was used at the trial, and afterward lost, as for many years the leaves of the record-book have been loose and wholly detached from the volume.
At the town meeting held on April 1, 1850, it was
Voted, That the Selectmen procure a new site for a town pound, and place the old fence around it.
Five weeks later the same matter came up in town meeting, when it was voted, on May 6, that the whole subject be re- ferred to the selectmen, with full powers. Soon afterward a site was chosen at the corner on the north side of West Street, then known as Fagot Lane, and on the west side of the Worcester and Nashua Railroad, where the pound now stands. It is placed partly on the land of the railroad com- pany and partly on that of Charles Frank Hemenway. The enclosure is two rods square, surrounded by a fence six feet and four inches high.
TWO EPITAPHS.
THE following extracts from two notes to the editor of the Historical Series will explain themselves. The first note was written by Professor Franklin B. Dexter, of Yale University, and dated at Norfolk, Connecticut, on August 10, 1894; and the other was by Mr. Julius Herbert Tuttle, a native of Little- ton, and dated at Dedham, on September 4, 1895.
While spending a few days in vacation here I happened to stray into the old cemetery in the adjoining town of Canaan (village of North Canaan), and there copied a stone which may possibly have some slight interest for you. On the chance of your wanting it, I send the copy : -
210
A SICKLY SEASON.
ISAAC LAWRENCE, one of the first settlers of this town, Born in Groton, Mass. Feb. 25, 1704, Came here June 2, 1738, Died Dec. 2, 1793.
LYDIA HEWITT, his wife, Died Nov. 14, 1767, Æ. 60.
I send for your Historical Series the following copy of an epi- taph, which I recently made in the old burying ground at Littleton Common. The stone stands near the middle of the northerly part of the lot, close by a tree toward which it leans.
In memory of MRS. LYDIA SYMMES wife of Mr. Caleb Symmes of Groton who died Dec :. 5. 1812. Act. 50. The sweet remembrance of the just Shall flourish when they sleep in dust.
A SICKLY SEASON.
THE autumn of 1723 was probably a sickly season at Groton. Deacon Simon and Sarah Stone lost three chil- dren, - a son and two daughters, -during the last week in September of that year. According to their tombstones the son died on the 30th day of that month, and the two daugh- ters, respectively, on the 27th and 30th.
The following item is taken from " The Boston News-Let- ter," October 3, 1723 ; but no clew is given as to the name of the afflicted family mentioned in the first paragraph : -
We are informed from Groton, that a Man, his Wife and two Children died there of a Fever, in one Week.
And that a Woman of that Place, went to one of her Neighbors, for something in a Chest there, on which lay two Pistols loaded, the Woman of the House took them off and gave them to the other, while she opened the Chest ; and stooping down to take out what she wanted, one of the Pistols went off in the Woman's hand, and shot her Neighbour through the Head, of which she died in a few Days.
21I
VIEWS OF BUILDINGS ON PORCELAIN.
INSTANCES OF LONGEVITY.
OLIVER ELLIOT was the third child of Elias and Ruth (Lawrence) Elliot of Groton, where he was born on August 24, 1734. He was living at Mason, New Hampshire, as early as the year 1753, and was married at Groton West Parish (now Pepperell), on January 19, 1758, to Mary Fisk; and they were blessed with eight children. Mr. Elliot reached a remarkable age, and for that reason deserves a place among the " Instances of Longevity" already recorded in this Ilis- torical Series. The following account of him is taken from the address delivered by John Boynton Hill, Esq., at the Centennial Celebration of the Incorporation of Mason, on August 26, 1868 : -
Oliver was an active, industrious man, and in the early period of the settlement, both before and after the incorporation of the town, was frequently employed in the public business, and elected to offices in the affairs of the place and town. In the last years of his life he felt the hard hand of poverty, but never wore the gar- ments of a town pauper. He also was a soldier of the Revolution- ary army. He died in September, 1836, aged one hundred and two years. He left numerous descendants residing in the town, and many who have sought out homes in other places (pages 22, 23).
For two other Instances of Longevity, see Volume II. (pages 231-233) of this Series and Volume III. pages 108, 109, and 481.
VIEWS OF BUILDINGS ON PORCELAIN.
WITHIN a year or so specimens of china ware bearing views of Groton buildings have been made in Kaulfort, Germany. At some future day, when they have become rare curiosities, there will be a desire to know their history; and in order to serve this end, I put on record here that they were ordered by Messrs. John 11. Sheedy & Co., of Groton, in May, 1895, and were received on December 10 following. There are views of six buildings thoroughly identified with the town, on different
212
GROTON SHOPS.
pieces of crockery, namely : First Parish Meeting-house, Town House, Public Library, Lawrence Academy, High School, and the Groton Inn. In all there are 1,256 pieces of various sizes and kinds ; and to Mr. Michael Sheedy belongs the whole credit of the enterprise.
Other specimens of similar ware bearing views of the main building of Groton School, and of Brooks Hall connected with the same institution, have been made in England for W. A. Moore & Co., Groton. They were received at different times during the year 1895, and in all comprise 1,068 pieces of various sizes and kinds. According to the inscription on the pieces they are specimens of " The Foley China."
GROTON SHOPS.
THE two following advertisements are taken from the "Independent Chronicle and Boston Patriot," November 3, 1824 ; and the third advertisement is taken from the same newspaper of February 18, 1829. Mr. Whiton's shop is now occupied by W. A. Moore & Co., dealers in dry goods ; Mr. Kilburn's house and shop stood where the Public Library now stands ; and the Brazer estate was immediately south of this site, opposite to the Academy grounds.
STOP THIEF.
T HE following articles were stolen from the shop of the sub- scriber in Groton, on the night of the 6th inst. viz - One red box, containing a Gunter's 6 inch Scale, made of ivory, and a simi- circular Surveying Compass, diagonally graduated to } degrees, "E. Whitton maker," engraved thergon, with a spirit level annexed. An assortment of Silver Thimbles steel and gilt Watch Chains and Keys, watch Ribbons, gilt and gold Seals -a quantity of scrap Silver, one small steel framed Saw, and 12 damaged Silver Tea- spoons, five of them marked B. P. A generous reward is offered for the Thief, or property, and all charges paid by
ELIJAH WHITON.
Groton, roth month 8 day, 1824.
213
TOWN CISTERNS.
To Journeymen Hatters.
O NE or two JOURNEYMEN HATTERS, who are first rate workmen, and of steady habits, may find employment by applying im- mediately to the Hat Manufactory of JEREMIAH KILBURN, Groton, Mass.
SALE OF VALUABLE REAL ESTATE, IN GROTON, MASS.
T HE subscriber offers for sale, a certain tract of Land, lying on and near the main road, and nearly opposite to Groton Meet- ing-house, supposed to contain thirteen acres, more or less, being part of the estate formerly belonging to James Brazer, Esq. de- ceased. It is generally considered as valuable a lot of land as there is in Groton. On a part of it, is a Store, well situated for business, or which at a small expense, may be converted into a dwelling house. The whole will be sold together or in lots, as may best suit the purchasers. If not disposed of before, at private sale, it is intended to sell the same at public auction on WEDNESDAY, the twenty-fifth day of March next. Terms liberal. Apply to JOHN B. DAVIS, No. 27, State-street, Boston.
TOWN CISTERNS.
ON September 1I, 1893, workmen began to dig for a public cistern or reservoir of water under the sidewalk, near Mrs. Eliel Shumway's house, to be used as a supply in case of fire. On July 30, 1894, work was begun on the cistern in the centre of the Square, in front of the Union Congregational Meeting-house, near the band-stand. As soon as this one was completed, another was dug at the junction of Elm and Pleasant Streets.
For an account of six other reservoirs built some years ago, see the second volume of this Historical Series (pages 398, 399).
1
214
NEW ENGLAND PRISONERS IN CANADA.
S
GROTON DURING THE INDIAN WARS.
AMONG the Massachusetts Archives (LXXI. 438) at the State House is a paper containing some interesting items in regard to Henry Segur, Jr., of Newton, who was captured by the Indians, at Groton, in an assault on July 21, 1706, when his brother Ebenezer Segur and Nathaniel Healy were killed. See "Groton during the Indian Wars" (page 92), for an account of the affair. In the summer of 1707, through the intercession of the Provincial authorities, Henry Segur, Jr., and other prisoners held by the Indians, were released and brought back to their homes. John Sheldon, of Deerfield, had charge of the transaction; and in a paper drawn up by him and headed " An accompt of the Sums or Disburse- ments of John Shelden in his Journey to Canada in the Ser- vice of the Massachusetts bay from Aprill 17" to the 18 day of Sept' 1707. viz with 3 men Travelling with him -viz! ," the following items appear : ---
p! for Diet for Henry Segur Captive 41 : . 5 . . : 10
Livers. Sews
more paid for s"! Segur for stockins & shoes
9
p" To a man for fetching s: Segur from the Indian Town to Mont Roy" 3
pd for a Bottle & Brandy for o' voyage.
IO
2
p" for a Deer Skin for shoes & 3 pair Indian shoes
.
: . .
8 : 10
NEW ENGLAND PRISONERS IN CANADA.
THERE is printed in " The Boston Weekly Post-Boy," Au- gust 24, 1747, a long list of prisoners, who had arrived in a " Flag of Truce" ship from Quebec, on August 16, having been captured by the French and Indians, at different times and places, during the preceding two years. Among these prisoners were Isaac Parker, Stephen Farnsworth, and Oba- diah Sartwell, of Township No. 4, now known as Charlestown, New Hampshire, who were " taken by the Salvages, May 29, 1746." These three men were natives of Groton, and among the earliest settlers of Charlestown.
215
AARON BROWN.
EDMUND LONGLEY.
IN Hawley, 29th ult. Edmund Longley, Esq. 96 yrs and 18 days, a native of Groton. He erected the first framed house in HI (then called No 7) and removed his family into it in 1781. He was sent for many years to the General Court ; was the first Plantation and Town Clerk ; held the offices of Town Clerk, Selectman, and Treas- urer ; was a Justice of the Peace for nearly fifty years; and was both a soldier and an officer in the revolutionary war. He was a subscriber to the Hampshire Gazette for more than fifty six years ; and took and read the Panoplist and Missionary Herald, from their first publication, as long as he lived.
" Boston Daily Advertiser," December 23, 18.12.
AARON BROWN.
THE absconding debtor, mentioned in the following notice, was of no kinship to the family of Aaron Brown, the well- known merchant of Groton, who was the youngest child of Isaac and Mary (Balch ) Brown, of Waltham, where he was born on September 16, 1752. Mr. Brown, the merchant, mar- ried in the year 1774, first, Elizabeth, daughter of Thomas and Rebecca (Whitney) Stowell, of Waltham, who died on August 14, 1797 ; and, on February 5, 1799, secondly, Thesta, daughter of the Honorable Samuel and Anna (Kenrick) Dana, of Amherst, New Hampshire. He died at Groton, on Novem- ber 14, 1811.
Public Notice is hereby given, that the Trustees of Aaron Brown, an absconding Debtor, that the third and last Meet- ing of the Creditors as the Law requires is to be held at the House of George Pierce, Innholder in Groton, on the second Friday of October next, at i of the Clock in the Afternoon.
George Pierce, per Order.
Groton, Sept. 21. 1767.
" The Massachusetts Gazette. And Boston News-Letter," Thursday, Septem- ber 2.1, 1767.
216
AN ABSENTEE.
JACOB WOODS.
THE following item is found in the " Independent Chronicle " (Boston ), September 14, 1809, under the " Death " notices :
In N Orleans, Mr. Jacob Woods, Æ 27, a native of Groton, Mass late a member of the U S House of Representatives.
The decedent was the youngest son of Abel and Anna Woods, and born at Groton, on June 21, 1782, but he was never a member either of the National House of Representa- tives or of the General Court of Massachusetts. The simple announcement of his death appears in the " Columbian Cen- tinel " (Boston), September 13, 1809, and is reprinted in the second volume of the Historical Series (page 171), though it does not say there that he was a member of the House of Representatives. The State of Louisiana was admitted into the Union on April 8, 1812, so late that it precludes the pos- sibility of a reference to her Legislature.
AN ABSENTEE.
To be LEASED at Public Auction, by the Committee of Cor- respondence of the Town of Groton, for one Year from the ist Day of April next,
A FARM in Groton
aforesaid, late belonging to William Marstin, Esq ; an Absentee - The Vendue to be on the Premises on Monday 29th March next, at i o'Clock Afternoon.
" The Independent Chronicle. And the Universal Advertiser" (Boston), March 1, 1781.
See the first volume of this Historical Series (No. XIV. page 19) for a similar notice of the same farm during the pre- ceding year. The name of the absentee was Martin, and it is incorrectly given in the newspaper.
217
A CHAPEL AT WEST GROTON.
CORNER STONE LAID.
The Corner Stone of a new Orthodox Congregational Meeting- House, was laid in Groton on the 4th inst. It is to be built in the first order, simple Tuscan in its structure, 70 feet long and 56 wide. Few scenes, even to a stranger, could be more interesting than that of laying this Corner Stone. A heavy thunder shower had just passed over, - the thunder was still rolling in a black cloud at the south, - the roar of cannon at the north, - the sun breaking through the clouds by gleams, and throwing a bright arch of a rain- bow on the opposite clouds, - the breathless silence of a great concourse of people, - the reading of the Bible, - the singing of Old Hundred, -the Address and the prayer -all united to excite an interest of no ordinary kind. The following is the Address on the occasion, by Rev. J. Topp, late of the Theological Seminary, Andover [but omitted here ].
" Boston Recorder and Telegraph," July 14, 1826
A CHAPEL AT WEST GROTON.
THE following extract from a letter written by the Rev. Dr. John Todd is found in his Life (New York, 1876), and con- tains an allusion to a chapel built for his use nearly seventy years ago at West Groton. Through the courtesy of Mr. George 11. Bixby, I have been enabled to identify the struc- ture as still standing in that village, though now for a long time used as a dwelling-house. It is the third building on the west side of the road leading to Pepperell, Mr. Bixby's store being the first. For some years before 1888, on the asses- sors' books, it was called the " chapel house," though no one seems to have known the reason for the name, which is now made clear. At some future day the local antiquary of Squannacook Village - as I like to call the place -- may wish to learn the exact site of the building, and for that reason I place these facts on record.
On the Sunday after the ordination | January 3, 1827] I admin- istered the communion - an afternoon service. My great house
218
JONAS CUTLER'S REAL ESTATE.
was full: 1 was astonished at the multitude of people. I want you should become acquainted with my people during this revival. You can have no possible idea of the change that has taken place in society since I came here. Three miles west of me is a beautiful river, called the Squanecook - the Indian name. Here a part of my parishioners live, and here multitudes of heathen live. My friends are preparing me a pretty chapel over at this spot, and as soon as it is finished I am to open a battery there (page 181).
AN UNHAPPY MARRIAGE.
THE following advertisement is taken from " The Boston News-Letter, and the New-England Chronicle," March 10, 1763, where it appears on the fourth page of that newspaper. Nathaniel Woods, who signs the notice, was probably a son of Nathaniel, Jr., and Alice Woods ; and Ebenezer, who wit- nesses it, was probably an elder brother. (See Butler's Ilistory of Groton, page 446.) 1 do not think that Nathaniel is the same person as the one who signed a similar advertise- ment, reprinted in the first volume ( No. XVIII. page 17) of this Historical Series, though the resemblance between the two notices is very close.
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