USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > Historical collections, Vol. I > Part 33
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At the close of this clerkship, Mr. Lewis Tappan, a partner in the house, informed Mr. Bowen of the idea he had enter- tained of forming a new house in the same line of business, and proposed to him to join as a partner ; but the general principle which Mr. Tappan desired to incorporate into the new firm-that of giving away for benevolent and other
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objeets, annually, a stated per cent. of the profits, being re- garded as objectionable, and furthermore a preference for having a house exclusively under his own control, led him to decline this offer. This rejection of Mr. Lewis Tappan's friendly advance toward him did not cause that friendship to be withdrawn, as Mr. Tappan at once offered to befriend him in arranging for a new house, and introduced Mr. John Ran- kin, a wealthy silk merchant, who had proposed to furnish capital for Tappan and Bowen had that connection been formed. He at once extended the like offer to Mr. Bowen for such a house as he might deem best to form ; thus being pro vided with the means for business, he invited a fellow-clerk, Mr. Theodore McNamee, to join, with Mr. Rankin as special partner, under the name of Bowen & McNamee ; when Mr. Lewis Tappan decided to remain in the old house of Arthur Tappan & Co.
This connection was for five years, which proved very pro- fitable, when Mr. Rankin withdrew, receiving his share of the profits, with the money advanced, and Bowen & McNamee continued the business to the year 1857, when this firm was dissolved, and a new firm, styled Bowen, Holmes & Co., was formed, which continued until the beginning of the late Rebellion, when, in consequence of heavy losses, Mr. Bowen decided to withdraw from the dry goods trade. He settled the affairs of the firm, and embarked in the publishing of newspapers, to which a considerable amount of the late firm's funds had been previously engaged. This was in connection with the well-known paper, styled the Independent, which now came under Mr. Bowen's personal management, and, as a profitable enterprise, has been a great success. In 1869 he bought the entire establishment of the Brooklyn Daily Union.
Two sous of Mr. Bowen, then engaged in Wall street, New York, were admitted partners in this new enterprise. Mr. Bowen gives his morning labors to the Brooklyn paper,
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and the afternoon to the Independent, both exhibiting a high degree of prosperity, giving ample evidence of activity and skill in their management.
Mr. Bowen possesses, in a large degree, self-reliance and independence of thought and action, and these may be con- sidered his chief characteristics, united with great activity and industry.
It is not surprising that this independence of thought and action should occasionally cause unkind feeling with some who differ with him in their business, religious, and political sentiments. Previous to the late Rebellion, many of the business men of New York who were largely engaged in the Southern trade, were disposed to yield to pro-slavery ideas ; and, knowing that Mr. Bowen had a large trade in that section, though advocating and supporting the anti-slavery party, remonstrated with him, and endeavored to have him be less severe in his denunciations in that respect, when he made that well-known but characteristic reply, " My goods are for sale, but not my principles."
Mr. Bowen may be regarded as a prominent type of Puri- tanism in his religious sentiments, tempered with modern ideas, being an orthodox Congregationalist, and has done much to sustain that religious denomination. He has the honor of being the first to suggest the idea of church-building associations.
This suggestion was made at a convention of Congregation- alists held at Albany, many years since, when he was a dele- gate to that body, having been selected with a view to bring forward this object at that convention, from the fact of his advocating the church-building question.
At first, the idea was opposed by the committee for regula- ing the business to be acted upon by the convention, as im- practicable ; but, by his persistent and sanguine efforts in its favor, this question was entered among the list of business to be brought forward in this convention for discussion.
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When brought up in the regular course before this body it at first met with a cold reception, but the same unyielding effort was now made before the convention as before the com- mittee, whom he had induced to enter it upon their list of business.
As a test of his firmness of belief in the utility of this measure, and his boldness in sustaining his views, he proposed at once to contribute $10,000, provided $50,000 should be raised, to be known as the "Church-Building Fund." This step produced the desired effect : the vote was unanimous in its favor ; an amount exceeding the gross sum proposed was soon raised, and the church-building fund system established, which has since become a prominent measure with nearly all religious denominations.
Mr. Bowen's liberality and influence has extended to vari- ous objects. Several banks and insurance companies have been created by his efforts, besides his ardent support ot objects of a religious and educational character.
In his native town he has recently appropriated $5,000 for land for a park, and is expending his funds liberally in intro- ducing driveways and paths, besides doing many things for ornamentation.
Some of the other distinguished names here are those of May, Lyon, Child, Payne, Bacon, Corbin, and Mcclellan. Of the latter, John and James McClellan's families held a high position here many years, and some of their descendants have been persons of distinction in other parts of the country. Dr. George Mcclellan, son of James, of this town, became a very distinguished surgeon in Philadelphia, and his son, H. B. McClellan, now of Boston, is a doctor of medicine of considerable reputation; while his brother, General George B. McClellan, sustains a distinguished position in military science and civil engineering throughout the country.
General Nathaniel Lyon, born at Ashford, who lost his life
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in the battle of Wilson's Creek, in the south-west part of Mis- souri, August 11, 1861, in the beginning of the Rebellion, was a descendant from the Lyon family of Woodstock. His ability as a military officer was of a high order, and his management of military affairs in Missouri exhibited such promptness and sagacity that it was due to him more than any other person that Missouri was prevented from becoming a secession State, and retained on the side of the Union.
Among the name of Child there may be mentioned Colonel Chester Child, Peter Child, Deacon Luther Child, and his son, Rev. Willard Child, D. D., now of Norwich ; also, the late Rensalier Child, noted as surveyor and conveyancer, and his sons, Peleg, the Hon. Asa Child, and Hon. Linus Child. The latter will again be referred to in another place.
In referring again to the village of the south parish it may be added to what has been before remarked, that the sur- rounding landscape, as viewed from the hill, and particularly as seen from what is called "Sunset Hill," is one of great beauty, exhibiting ponds, rivulets, hills, and valleys, with an extensive range of highly-cultivated fields, interspersed with occasional forests, and many farm-houses, besides here and there the spire of a meeting-house, all giving evidence of quietness, good neighborhood, and prosperity. A view of greater or equal beauty it would be difficult to find.
The chief occupation of the inhabitants here is farming ; that of manufacturing and mechanical enterprise is only to a moderate extent ; but nowhere can be found a more equal distribution of property, less poverty, or fewer instances of large estates ; where the masses are good livers, prosperous and happy in the condition that has come down to them from past generations, preserving their social status more free from foreign admixture than is found in towns generally in New England.
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T R
LIB NY
RARY
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S.C. Bacon
DUDLEY.
SECTION IV.
CHAPTER I.
A N act for making a new town in the county of Worcester by the name of Dudley :
" Whereux, There are many inhabitants in a tract of land lying be- tween the towns of Woodstock and Oxford, in the county of Worcester, who, together with others lately settled in the south-west part of Oxford, and very remote from any place of public worship of God, are very conveniently situated for a town, and have petitioned this court to be erected into a separate township, accordingly,
" Be it enacted, By his excellency, the Governor, the Council, and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the au- thority of the same. that all the lands lying within the bounds follow- ing, viz., the colony or Patent Line and the town of Woodstock on the south; the grant lately made to Medfield on the west; the land of Mr. Papillon on the north, unto the farm belonging to Paul Dudley; Esq. ; and by the same partly on the east, until it comes to Stony Brook ; and by said brook till it comes to the brook coming out of Chabana- konkamon Pond; and by the pond to the said colony or Patent Line, - be and hereby is set off and constituted a distinct and separate town- ship by the name of Dudley. And that the inhabitants of the said township be vested with the powers. privileges, and immunities that the inhabitants of any of the towns of this province by law are or ought to be vested with."*
Included within the limits of this grant for Dudley was a part of the tract of land selected by the descendants of the ancient Nipmuck Indiaus, which they reserved in their deeds
* December, 1731. See State Library Acts, 1692 to 1740.
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to the agents of the province, dated, "February 10, 1681," as given in another part of this work. Having the right of se- lection from the lands thus deeded, a quantity equal to the contents of "five miles square," they located these lands ex- tending west from the borders of Chabanakongkamon pond.
These lands were surveyed ont to these Indians in October, 1684, and extended from said pond some distance west of what has since been known as Dudley Ihill, including all that part, now the center village ; and, as stated in the histor- ical sketch of the Congregational church, that church and society received from these Indians " four acres of this land for the location of their meeting-house, and other public purposes."
This tract of Indian land was known for many years after the grants for Oxford and Woodstock, as the .. Land of Black James and Company." Black James was a distinguished Indian among the people of this tribe. He is mentioned by General Gookin in his description of the several towns of these natives, called Praying Indians, which he, as the Indian agent of the province, refers to in describing his tour among them in the antumn of 1674, when accompanying the Rev. John Eliot on his missionary visits to them.
The greater part of these Indian lands were sold, before the town of Dudley was granted, to the Hon. Joseph Dudley, who was also the chief owner, by grants from the province, of most of the other lands included in the said grant ; all of which at the time of Mr. Dudley's decease, April 2, 1720, became the property of his sons.
These sons, Chief-Justice Paul Dudley and the Hon. William Dudley, soon after the decease of their father, opened these lands for sale. Their' location between two thriving towns made them desirable for new settlements. The deeds of these early sales, beginning in 1721, are found recorded upon the records of Suffolk county, at Boston.
This tract, also Woodstock, Oxford, and New Medfield,
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which subsequently became Sturbridge, was a part of Suffolk county, till set off to form a part of the county of Worcester, in 1731.
It does not appear that Governor Dudley sold any part of these lands during his life. He and his friend, the Hon. William Stoughton, were the principal owners of all this ter- ritory; and, as there has not been seen on record any deeds from Mr. Stoughton of these lands, it is presumed that, like Mr. Dudley, he never made any sales, but left them to his heirs or for educational purposes, as a part of the lands he left by his will for that object.
Governor Dudley, it has been shown by the historical sketch of Oxford, owned 6.000 acres in that grant, which, as appears by the deed of allotment, was at the south-west cor- ner of the same, adjoining this grant for the town of Dudley, and which, at the time this grant was made, is described as the land of Mr. Papillon, and, by the history of Southbridge, is shown to be a large portion of her territory, covering much of her center village
The earliest conveyance of land in this grant that has been noticed (which is found recorded in the county of Suffolk records), is a deed from William Dudley, of Roxbury, to John Healy, of the same town, described as lying south of Oxford, date 1721, book 38, page 96 ; and a deed from same party to Jonas Clark the same year. Also, among the names of purchasers about this time are Philip Newell, William Ward, Benjamin Newell, Nathaniel Ramsdell, Sanmel Newell, Joseph Putney, Clement Corbin, Benjamin Sabin, Joseph Sabin, Daniel Williams, Joseph and Ebenezer Edmonds, and some others, during the period from 1721 to 1729. After this period the settlers came in more numerously, when, in 1731, a petition was presented to the General Court for a grant for a township.
After the act of incorporation had been granted, an order
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was asked for giving the inhabitants, residents of the grant, authority for organizing the town, which was given as follows:
" HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, June 1, 1732.
" Ordered, That Joseph Edmonds, one of the principal inhabitants of the town of Dudley, be directed to improve, notify, and summon the inhabitants of the town of Dudley, qualified to vote, to assemble and meet together, some time in the present month of June, for the choice of town officers. to stand until the next annual election, according to law; any law, usage, or custom to the contrary notwithstanding.
"J. QUINCY, Speaker.
" Read and concurred, "J. WILLARD, Secretary.
" Consented to, "JONATHAN BELCHER, Governor."
The warrant by Joseph Edmonds, summoned the inhabitants qualified to vote, to meet at the house of William Carter, June 20, 1732, to vote for all the necessary officers for organ- izing the town, as by law is required, when officers were elected, and other business was transacted, as follows :
"NAMES OF OFFICERS ELECTED.
" For Moderator,
" Selectmen,
Joseph Edmonds. Joseph Edmonds, Ebenezer Edmonds, James Corbin, George Robinson, John Lilly. John Lilly. Joseph Putney.
" Town Clerk,
" Constable,
" Fence Viewers, 1 John Healy,
" Tything-Men,
/ Clement Corbin.
Jonathan Newell,
/ Benjamin Conant.
| David Southwick,
HIog Reeres,
Joseph Wakefield.
" Treasurer, Jonathan Newell."
The second meeting was held the 29th instant, following. " For Moderator, - James Corbin. "
It was then voted to have a minister, and to raise the
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money for his support by a tax upon improved lands and stock; and that William Carter's house be the place to meet to hear the Gospel preached.
The selectmen were authorized to procure a minister ; Jonathan Newell was appointed to set the Psalms in the public worship; and that Joseph Payson should be the man to read the Psalms.
In further pursuance of the business of this meeting, it was voted that William Carter's barn-yard be the pound ; and that William Carter be the pound-keeper, provided the selectmen procure him a lock.
It was then decided that the meeting-house be set on the west end of William Carter's land, near the Indians' land.
Then follows a vote, to give Rev. Isaac Richardson, the minister, £150, together with the lot of land of 100 acres, given for the minister, by the HIon. William Dudley. Be- sides this, it was voted that Mr. Richardson have eighty pounds salary the first year, and to increase this sum five pounds per year, until it be £100.
A vote was now passed, valuing all the land in town at twenty shillings per acre, and to remain at that value seven years; also, a committee was chosen to apply to the Legis- lature to permit a tax on all lands as here voted.
At this time none but improved lands could be taxed, un- less so authorized by the General Court.
The town records show that the selectmen were authorized, on the 26th of February, to agree on terms with the Rev. Isaac Richardson for a settlement, and a sum for his salary.
It was also agreed that the day for his ordination, should be the first Monday in June ensuing. Twenty-five dollars was voted for the expense of the ordination ; and that this service should be performed at the house of Joshua Healy. Mr. Joseph Edmonds was to provide the refreshments at his house.
The following gentlemen were the ministers selected to
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be present and to assist in the service of the ordination : Rev. Mr. Thayer, of Roxbury ; Rev. John Fiske, of Killingly, Connecticut ; Rev. Ebenezer Williams, of Pomfret, Connec- ticut; Rev. Mr. Jackson, of Woburn ; Rev. John Campbell, of Oxford ; Rev. Amos Thronp, of Woodstock ; Rev. Martin Cabot, of Thompson, and the Rev. Solomon Prentice, of Has- sanamisco (Grafton).
Notwithstanding all this preparation being made, and the council, as above called, there is no record of the ordination as appointed. It is presumed, for some canse deemed suffi- cient, it did not take place. On the 12th of June, 1735, Rev. Perley Howe was ordained, but was dismissed in 1743. Mr. Howe was probably their first settled minister. A vote appears on the records of the town, of May 17, 1744,
" Appointing Thursday, the 24th next, to be held as a day of solemn fasting and prayer to God for counsel and direction in the great and important affair before us. Voted unanimously to hold a day of fasting and prayer to God for direction in the great and mighty affair of calling and settling a minister. Also voted, that Rev. John Campbell, of Ox- ford, Rev. Abel Stiles, of Woodstock, and Rev. Caleb Rice, of Stur- bridge, be the gentlemen to carry on the work of our fast for us."
The result was that Mr. Charles Gleason, of Brookline, Massachusetts, was selected and ordained as their pastor, October 31, 1744. A settlement of £350 was voted, a salary of £180 the first year, and to add five pounds per year, until it comes to £200. This was stipulated to be "old tenor money," with the addition of twenty cords of wood. It was then voted that silver be the standard of value of the money.
Under the pastoral services of Rev. Charles Gleason (who appears to have been a man of character and good practical influence among his people), the town advanced in its number of inhabitants, and continued in the usual routine of its politi- cal affairs without any remarkable incident to notice, except the French wars and the excitement which culminated in the
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war of the Revolution, till the close of the colonial period. It appears that a Baptist church had been formed here at an early date in the history of this town.
The principal members were Joseph Wakefield, Benjamin Putney, Paul Robinson, Silas Robinson, Jonathan Putney, Francis Courtis, John Courtis, William Wakefield, Jonathan Marsh, and James Coats. Their certificate, in accordance with the law favoring and exempting Anabaptists from taxes for the support of the Standing Order, was presented to the assessors, under date of " May 21, 1744," and entered on the records under date of "September 16, 1746." This certificate was furnished, as provided in the exemption law of 1727, and renewed from time to time, until a new exemption law was enacted in 1757. Under this latter law, in the year 1772, it appears that the town voted to excuse the Baptists from bring ing in their certificates during the existence of said law, as follows : May 25. 1772,
Voted : "To excuse the persons that belong to the Baptist church from bringing their certificates to the assessors, yearly, so long as the law con- tinues in favor of the Baptists and Quakers."
The preliminary acts of the British government, which excited the English colonists and produced the war of the Revolution, did not have much effect upon the people of Dudley until the year 1774. It appears that the committee at Boston appointed by those opposed to the Tea act (and especially the sale of teas under the direction of revenue offi- cers appointed by the crown), in the year 1773, drafted eiren- lars, and sent them to every town in the province, setting forth the unconstitutional character of all acts of the English Par- liament in framing laws for taxing the colonies in America, on the ground of non-representation.
The town of Dudley, having received one of these circulars, was requested to bring the subject before its people at a public
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meeting, and to test the views of the town upon the question, the object being to unite all the towns in the province in op- position to the acts of the British Parliament tending directly or indirectly to tax the colonies.
At a town meeting, held on September 20, 1773, it was voted not to act upon the letter received from the Boston committee.
Besides the Tea act, then a decidedly objectionable law, and one that the leading men of Boston were determined not to submit to, there became public a series of letters, known as the "Hutchinson and Oliver Letters," which had been inter- cepted and returned to Massachusetts by Dr. Franklin, in June, 1773.
These were letters written by Governor Thomas Hutchin- son and Lieutenant-Governor Andrew Oliver, confidentially, to Thomas Whately, Esq., a member of Parliament, disclosing the movements of the patriot committee, and the members in the General Court who opposed every act of Parliament de- signed for taxing the colonies. Mr. Whately having deceased at this time, these letters, by some means, not diselosed by Dr. Franklin, fell into his hands, and were at once by him forwarded to the above committee at Boston. This becoming known, the Legislature returned copies of these letters with a petition to the English government for the removal of these officers ; but, on trial before a committee of the Privy Coun- cil, Dr. Franklin was severely dealt with by the attorney who acted in behalf of the acensed, and these parties, as might have reasonably been expected, were acquitted.
These letters of Hutchinson and Oliver, informing of all opposition in New England against these movements of Par- liament, were what that body most desired, and those parties who acted as their pimps would not be likely to receive cen- sure from those they were serving. .
Great efforts were now made to disgrace the character of
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Dr. Franklin for disclosing what they termed private letters ; his only vindication was, that these letters were written by one set of public officers to another, tonching public affairs, and thus they were not private property, but belonged to the public, who had a right to know their contents.
Notwithstanding the strong resolution and remonstrances to the British government against imposing the Tea act upon them, the tea, by several ship-loads, came forward into the port of Boston.
Finding that the design was to force these teas upon the the people against their urgent appeals to the contrary, par- ties in disguise boarded these ships, December 18, 1773, and discharged the whole cargoes into the harbor, no opposition being made. Similar acts were performed in several other ports in the English colonies.
This act destroying the tea, while it produced intense excite- ment in this country, was generally approved ; the excitement was none the less in England, but regarded in an opposite light. This news reached England on the 7th of March, 1774, and the result was the closing the port of Boston as a port of entry. The preliminary step in Parliament was the granting leave to bring in a bill,
"For the immediate removal of the officers concerned in the collec- tion of customs from the town of Boston, in the province of Massachu- setts Bay, in North America, and to discontinue the landing and ship- ping of goods, wares, and merchandise, at the said town of Boston, or within the harbor thereof."
This grant was given on the 7th of March; the bill was perfected, and passed Parliament on the 25th, and received the royal assent on the 31st of the same month.
This port bill was but a part of the stringent and humbling acts levied against the resolute actions of the leading spirits of Boston.
It did not take long to enlist the masses of the people in all
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sections of the country against these stringent and oppressive measures of Parliament against colonies.
The great mass of the leading men in England were strangely ignorant of the character and condition of the American col- onists, and as unwise in their measures as ignorant.
War was now inevitable; and when it began, every town and hamlet was eager to enter the contest.
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