Historical sketch of Groton, Massachusetts. 1655-1890, Part 12

Author: Green, Samuel A. (Samuel Abbott), 1830-1918
Publication date: 1894
Publisher: Groton
Number of Pages: 286


USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Groton > Historical sketch of Groton, Massachusetts. 1655-1890 > Part 12


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During the last war with England, Eliphalet Wheeler had a store where Miss Betsey Capell and her sisters, Sarah and Catherine, in more modern times, kept a haberdasher's shop. It is situated op- posite to the Common, and is now used as a dwell- ing-house. They were daughters of John Capell, who owned the saw-mill and grist-mill, which formerly stood on the present site of the Tileston and Hollingsworth paper-mills, on the Great Road, north- west of the village. Afterward Wheeler and his brother, Abner, took Major Thomas Gardner's store, where he was followed by William F. Brazer, Park & Woods, Park & Potter, Potter & Gerrish and lastly by Charles Gerrish, who kept it for more than thirty years. It was given up as a store in July, 1884, and has since been moved away and made into a tene- ment-house.


Near the beginning of the present century there were three military companies in town : the Artillery Company, commanded at one time by Captain James Lewis; the North Company, by Captain Jonas Gil- son, and the South Company, by Captain Abel Tar- bell. Two of these officers were soon promoted in the regimental service ; Captain Tarbell to a col- onelcy, and Captain Lewis to a majorate. Captain Gilson resigned and was succeeded by Captain Noah Shattuck. They had their spring and fall training- days, when they drilled as a battalion on the Com- mon,-there were no trees there then,-and marched through the village. They formed a very respectable command, and sometimes would be drawn up before Squire Brazer's store, and at other times before Major


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Gardner's, to be treated with toddy, which was then considered a harmless krink.


David Child had a store, about the beginning of the century, at the south corner of Main and Pleas- ant Streets, nearly opposite to the site of the Orthodox meeting-house, though Pleasant Street was not then laid out. It was subsequently occupied by Deacon Jonathan Stow Adams, then by Artemas Wood, and lastly by Milo Henry Shattuck. This was moved off nearly twenty years ago, and a spacious building put up a few rods north, on the old tavern site across the way, by Mr. Shattuck, who still carries on a large business.


Alpheus Richardson kept a book-store, about the year 1815, in his dwelling, at the south corner of Main and Elm Streets, besides having a book-bindery in the same building. Soon afterward an L was added to the house, and for a short time he carried on a country variety store in connection with his other business. The book-store and binder's shop were continued until about 1850. It is said that this house was built originally by Colonel James Prescott, for the use of his son, Abijah, as a store; but it never was so occupied by him.


Joseph and Phineas Hemenway, uncles of the late Augustus Hemenway, of Boston, built a store on the north corner of Main and Elm Streets, about the year 1815, where they carried on a trading business. They were succeeded by one Richardson, then by David Childs ; and finally by John Hamilton Spalter, who had for many years a book-store and binder's shop in the building, which is now used as a dwell-


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ing-house. At the present time Mr. Spalter is living in Keene, New Hampshire.


About the year 1826, General Thomas Adams Staples built and kept a store on Main Street, di- rectly north of the Orthodox meeting-house. He was followed successively by Benjamin Franklin Law- rence, Henry Hill and Walter Shattuck. At one time the style of the firm was Shattuck, Brown & Company. The building was burned down very early on Tuesday morning, November 17, 1874, and its site is now occupied by Dr. David Roscoe Steere's house.


In November, 1844, a large building was moved from Hollis Street to the corner of Main and Court Streets. It was put up originally as a meeting-house for the Second Adventists or Millerites, as they were called in this neighborhood, after William Miller, one of the founders of the sect; and during the fol- lowing winter and spring it was fitted up in a com- modious manner, with shops in the basement and a spacious hall in the second story. The building was known as Liberty Hall, and formed a conspicuous structure in the village. It was first occupied by tenants in July, 1845. The post-office was kept there while Mr. Lothrop and Mr. Andruss were the post- masters. It was used as a shoe-store, a grocery and a bakery, when, on Sunday, March 31, 1878, it was burned to the ground.


The brick store, owned by the Dix family, was built and kept by Aaron Brown, near the beginning of the century. He was followed by Moses Carleton, and after him came -- and Merriam, and then


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Benjamin P. Dix. It is situated at the corner of Main Street and Broad Meadow Road, and is now used as a dwelling-house. A very good engraving of this building is given in The Groton Herald, May 8, 1830, which is regarded by persons who remember it at that time as a faithful representation, though it has since undergone some changes.


Near the end of the last century Major William Swan traded in the house now occupied by Charles Woolley, Jr., north of the Common, near the old burying-ground. It was Major Swan who set out the elms in front of this house, which was the Rev. Dr. Chaplin's dwelling for many years.


At the beginning of this century two daughters of Isaac Bowers, a son of Landlord Bowers, had a dry- goods shop in the house owned and occupied by the late Samuel William Rowe, Esq. About the year 1825 Walter Shattuck opened a store in the building originally intended for the Presbyterian Church, op- posite to the present entrance of the Groton Ceme- tery. Before the Revolution there was a store kept by Jonathan Clark Lewis, near the site of Captain Asa Stillman Lawrence's bouse, north of the Town Hall. Mr. Lewis was an Englishman by birth, and died on April 7, 1781. See "Groton Epitaphs " for a cut of the family coat-of-arms, which appears on his grave-stone. There was a trader in town, Thomas Sackville Tufton by name, who died in the year 1778, though I do not know the site of his shop. Captain Samuel Ward, a native of Worcester, and an officer in the French and Indian War, was engaged in busi- ness at Groton some time before the Revolution. He


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removed to Lancaster, where at one time he was the town clerk, and died there on August 14, 1826.


The Groton Post-Office .- The Groton post-office was established at the very beginning of the present cen- tury, and before that time letters intended for this town were sent through private hands. Previous to the Revolution there were only a few post-offices in the Province, and often persons in distant parts of Massachusetts received their correspondence at Bos- ton. In The Boston Gazette, or County Journal, June 30, 1755, a letter is advertised for Samuel Bowers, of Groton, who at that time kept a tavern; and in the same newspaper of August 4, 1755, another is adver- tised for Captain Samuel Parker, and one for Dudley Woodbridge, who lived probably at Groton, Connec- ticut. It is also stated that " none of the above Let- ters came by the last mails." In the supplement to The Boston Gazette, February 9, 1756, letters are advertised as remaining uncalled for, at the Boston office, addressed to William Lakin and Abigail Par- ker, both of Groton, as well as to Samuel Manning, Townsend; William Gleany, Dunstable; and Jonathan Lawrence, Littleton. Nearly five months afterward letters-and perhaps these identical ones-are adver- tised for the same persons in The Boston Weekly News- Letter, July 1, 1756, as still uncalled for. The name of David Farnum, America, appears also in this list, and it is hoped that wherever he was he received the missive. The names of Oliver Lack (intended for Lakin) and Ebenezer Parker, both of this town, are given in another list printed in the Gazette of June 28, 1762; and in the same issue one is advertised for


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Samuel Starling, America. In the supplement to the Gazette, October 10, 1768, Ebenezer Farnsworth, Jr., and George Pierce, of Groton, had letters advertised ; and in the Gazette October 18, 1773, the names of Amos Farnsworth, Jonas Farnsworth and William Lawrence, all of this town, appear in the list. In the Columbian Centinel (Boston), January 29, 1794, a letter is advertised for Benjamin Tarbel, of Groton.


I find no record of a post-rider passing through Groton, during the period immediately preceding the establishment of the post-office ; but there was doubt- less such a person who used to ride on horseback, equipped with saddle-bags, and delivered at regular intervals the weekly newspapers and letters along the way. In the year 1794, according to the History of New Ipswich, New Hampshire (page 129), a post- rider, by the name of Balch, rode from Boston to Keene one week and back the next. Probably he passed through this town and served the inhabitants with his favors.


Several years ago I procured, through the kindness of General Charles Devens, at that time a member of President Hayes's Cabinet, some statistics of the Gro- ton post-office, which are contained in the following letter :


" POST.OFFICE DEPARTMENT, APPOINTMENT OFFICE, " WASHINGTON, D. C., September 3, 1877.


" HON. CHARLES DEVENS, Attorney-General, Department of Justice.


"SIR, -I have to acknowledge the receipt of a communication from Samuel A. Green, of Boston, Massachusetts, with your indorsement thereon, requesting to be furnished with a list of postmasters at the office of Groton, in that State, from the date of its establishment to the present time.


"In reply, I have the honor to inform you, that the fire which con-


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sumed the department building, on the night of the fifteenth of De- cember, 1836, destroyed three of the earliest record-books of this office ; but by the aid of the auditor's ledger-books, it is ascertained that the office began to render accounts on the first of January, 1801, but the exact day is not known. Samuel Dana was the first postmaster, and the following list furnishes the history of the office, as shown by the old records.


"Groton, Middlesex County, Massachusetts. Office probably estab- lished in November, 1800. Samuel Dana began rendering accounts January 1, 1801. Wm. M. Richardson, October 1, 1804.


"From this time the exact dates are known.


" Abraham Moore, appointed postmaster January 31, 1812.


Eliphalet Wheeler, August 20, 1815. James Lewis, September 9, 1815. Caleb Butler, July 1, 1826. Henry Woods, January 15, 1839.


George S. Boutwell, January 22, 1841.


Caleb Butler, April 15, 1841.


Welcome Lothrop, December 21, 1846. Artemas Wood, February 22, 1849. George H. Brown, May 4, 1849.


Theodore Andruss, April 11, 1853.


George W. Fiske, April 22, 1861.


Henry Woodcock, February 13, 1867. Miss Hattie E. Farnsworth, June 11, 1869, who is the present in- cumbent.


" Each postmaster held the office up to the appointment of his succes- sor, but it is probable that Mr. Boutwell and Mr. A. Wood, although regularly appointed, did not accept, judging by the dates of the next postmasters.


" As to the 'income' of the office, to which allusion is made, it is very difficult to obtain any of the amounts ; but the first year and the last year are herewith appended, as follows :-


1


(1801) FISCAL YEAR (1876)


" First quarter, $1.91 First quarter, $314.15


Second 2.13


Second 296.94


Third 2.93


Third 305.71


Fourth


5.29


Fourth 294.28


For the year, $12.26


For the year, $1,211.08


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"Trusting the foregoing, which is believed to be correct, will be ac- ceptable to you, I am, sir, respectfully,


" Your ob't serv't,


" JAMES H. MARR, " Acting First Ass't P. M. General."


It will be seen that the net income of the office, during the first seventy-five years of its existence, in- creased one hundred-fold.


This letter of the Acting First Assistant Postmas- ter-General supplements the account in Butler's " His- tory of Groton" (pages 249-251). According to Mr. Butler's statement, the post-office was established on September 29, 1800, and the Honorable Samuel Dana was appointed the first postmaster. No mail, how- ever, was delivered at the office until the last week in November. For a while it came to Groton by the way of Leominster, certainly a very indirect route. This fact appears from a letter written to Judge Dana, by the Postmaster-General, under the date of December 18, 1800, apparently in answer to a request to have the mail brought directly from Boston. In this communication the writer says :-


" It appears to me, that the arrangement which has been made for carrying the mail to Groton is sufficient for the accommodation of the inhabitants, as it gives them the opportunity of receiving their letters regularly, and with despatch, once a week. The route from Boston by Leominster, to Groton is only twenty miles farther than by the direct route, and the delay of half a day, which is occasioned thereby, is not of much consequence to the inhabitants of Groton. If it should prove that Groton produces as much postage as Lancaster and Leominster, the new contract for carrying the mail, which is to be in operation on the first of October next, will be made by Concord and Groton to Walpole, and a branch from Concord to Marlborough.


"I am, respectfully, sir, your obedient servant,


"Jos. HABERSHAM."


The amount of postage received from the office,


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after deducting the necessary expenses, including the postmaster's salary, was, for the first year after its es- tablishment, about twelve dollars, or three dollars for three months. In the year 1802 it was thirty-six dol- lars, or nine dollars for three months, a large propor- tional increase. At this time the mail came once a week only, and was brought by the stage-coach.


Samuel Dana, the first postmaster, was a prominent lawyer at the time of his appointment. He was the son of the Reverend Samuel Dana, of Groton, and born in this town June 26, 1767. He occupied a high position in the community, and exerted a wide influ- ence in the neighborhood. At a later period he was president of the Massachusetts Senate, a member of Congress, and finally chief justice of the Circuit Court of Common Pleas. He died at Charlestown, on November 20, 1835.


Judge Dana kept the post-office in his own office, which was in the same building as that of the Honor- able Timothy Bigelow, another noted lawyer. These eminent men were on opposite sides of the same en- try, and generally on opposite sides of all important cases in the northern part of Middlesex County. The building stood on the site of Governor Boutwell's house, and is still remembered as the medical office of the venerable Dr. Amos Bancroft. It was afterward moved away, and now stands near the railway-station, where it is occupied as a dwelling-house. Judge Dana held the position during four years, and he was suc- ceeded by William Merchant Richardson, Esq., after- ward the chief justice of the Superior Court of New Hampshire. Mr. Richardson was a graduate of Har-


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vard College in the class of 1797, and at the time of his appointment as postmaster had recently finished his professsional studies in Groton, under the guidance of Judge Dana. After his admission to the bar Mr. Richardson entered into partnership with his former instructor, succeeding him as postmaster in July, 1804; and the office was still kept in the same build- ing. During Judge Richardson's term the net reve- nue to the department rose from nine dollars to about twenty-eight dollars for three months. He held the position nearly eight years, and was followed by Ab- raham Moore, who was appointed on January 31, 1812.


Mr. Moore was a native of Bolton, Massachusetts, where he was born on January 5, 1785. He gradu- ated at Harvard College in the class of 1806, and studied law at Groton with the Honorable Timothy Bigelow, and after his admission to the bar settled here as a lawyer. His office was on the site of the north end of Gerrish's Block, and it was here that the post-office was kept. During his administration the average income from the office was about thirty-three dollars for the quarter. In the summer of 1815 Mr. Moore resigned the position and removed to Boston.


Eliphalet Wheeler, who kept the store lately occu- pied by Mr. Gerrish, was appointed in Mr. Moore's stead, and the post-office was transferred to his place of business. He, however, was not commissioned, owing, it is thought, to his political views ; and Major James Lewis, who was sound in his politics, received the appointment in his stead. Major Lewis retained Mr. Wheeler for a short time as his assistant, and


GROTON. 177


during this period the duties were performed by him in his own store. Shortly afterward Caleb Butler, Esq., was appointed the assistant, and he continued to hold the position for eight years. During this time the business was carried on in Mr. Butler's law-office, and the revenue to the government reached the sum of fifty dollars a quarter. His office was then in a small building,-just south of Mr. Hoar's tavern,- which was moved away about the year 1820, and taken to the lot where Colonel Needham's house now stands, at the fork of Main and Hollis Streets. It was fitted up as a dwelling, and subsequently moved away again. At this time the old store of Mr. Brazer, who had pre- viously died, was brought from over the way, and oc- cupied by Mr. Butler, on the site of his former office.


On July 1, 1826, Mr. Butler, who had been Major Lewis' assistant for many years and performed most of the duties of the office, was appointed postmaster.


Mr. Butler was a native of Pelham, New Hamp- shire, where he was born on September 13, 1776, and a graduate of Dartmouth College in the class of 1800. He had been the preceptor of Groton Academy for some years, and was widely known as a critical schol- ar. He had previously studied law with the Honorable Luther Lawrence, of Groton, though his subsequent practice was more in drawing up papers and settling estates than in attendance at courts. His name is now identified with the town as its historian. During his term of office as postmaster the revenue rose from fifty dollars to one hundred and ten dollars a quarter. He held the position nearly thirteen years, to the en- tire satisfaction of the public ; but for political her-


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esy he was removed on January 15, 1839, when Hen- ry Woods was appointed his successor.


Mr. Woods held the office until his death, which occurred on January 12, 1841 ; and he was followed by the Hon. George S. Boutwell, since the Governor of the Commonwealth and a member of the United States Senate. During the administration of Mr. Woods and Mr. Boutwell the office was kept in the brick store, opposite to the present High School.


Upon the change in the administration of the Na- ยท tional Government, Mr. Butler was reinstated in office on April 15, 1841. He continued to hold the position until December 21, 1846, when he was again removed for political reasons. Mr. Butler was a most obliging man, and his removal was received by the public with general regret. During his two terms he filled the office for more than eighteen years, a longer period than has fallen to the lot of any other postmaster of the town. Near the end of his service a material change was made in the rate of postage on letters ; and in his History (page 251) he thus comments on it :


" The experiment of a cheap rate was put upon trial. From May 14, 1841, to December 31, 1844, the net revenue averaged one hundred and twenty-four dollars and seventy-one cents per quarter. Under the new law, for the first year and a half, the revenue has been one hundred and four dollars and seventy-seven cents per quarter. Had the former rates remained, the natural increase of business should have raised it to one hundred and fifty dollars per quarter. The department, which for some years before had fallen short of supporting itself, now became a heavy charge upon the treasury. Whether the present rates will event- ually raise a sufficient revenue to meet the expenditures, remains to be seen. The greatest difficulty to be overcome is evasion of the post-office laws and fraud upon the department."


Like many other persons of that period, Mr. Butler


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did not appreciate the fact that the best way to pre- vent evasions of the law is to reduce the rates of post- age so low that it will not pay to run the risk of fraud.


Captain Welcome Lothrop succeeded Mr. Butler as postmaster, and during his administration the office was kept in Liberty Hall. Captain Lothrop was a native of Easton, Massachusetts, and a land surveyor of some repute in this neighborhood. Artemas Wood followed him by appointment on February 22, 1849; but he never entered upon the duties of his office. He was succeeded by George Henry Brown, who had published The Spirit of the Times, a political newspa- per, during the Presidential canvass of 1848, and in this way had become somewhat prominent as a local politician. Mr. Brown was appointed on May 4, 1849 ; and during his term the office was kept in an L of his dwelling, situated nearly opposite to the Orthodox meeting-house. He was afterward the postmaster of Ayer. Mr. Brown was followed by Theodore Andruss, a native of Orford, New Hamp- shire, who was appointed on April 11, 1853. Mr. Andruss brought the office back to Liberty Hall, and continued to be the incumbent until April 22, 1861, when he was succeeded by George Washington Fiske. On February 13, 1867, Henry Woodcock was ap- pointed to the position, and the office was then removed to the Town-House, where most excellent accommodations were given to the public. He was followed on June 11, 1869, by Miss Harriet Elizabeth Farnsworth, now Mrs. Marion Z. Putnam ; and she in turn was succeeded on July 2, 1880, by Mrs. Christina


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Dakin (Caryl) Fosdick, the widow of Samuel Wood- bury Fosdick, and the present incumbent.


The office is still kept in the Town-House, and there is no reason to think that it will be removed from the spacious and commodious quarters it now occupies, for a long time to come. This public build- ing was erected in 1859, and the first town-meeting was held within its walls, on Tuesday, November 8th, of that year. The High School was first opened in the lower hall on Monday, December 5th, and the ex- amination of classes for admission took place three days previously, on Friday, December 2d.


A semi-daily mail was established between Boston and Groton in the year 1849. during the early part of postmaster Brown's administration ; and a tri-daily mail on Monday, April 18, 1887. The post-office was made a postal-order office on Monday, August 16, 1886, and raised to the rank of a Presidential office on February 15, 1890.


Few towns in the Commonwealth can present such an array of distinguished men among their postmas- ters as that of Groton, including, as it does, the names of Judge Dana, Judge Richardson, Mr. Butler and Governor Boutwell. One of Judge Richardson's assistants was afterwards Postmaster-General of the United States. The Honorable Amos Kendall was studying law in his office at the time, and subse- quently became Postmaster-General under Presidents Jackson and Van Buren, 1835-1840. In Mr. Ken- dall's " Autobiography " (Boston, 1872), edited by his son-in-law, William Stickney, it is said :


" During the residue of the year 1813 Mr. Kendall's studies [at Groton]


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were much interrupted by the business of the office, which devolved on him as the oldest student. He had charge of the post-office ; received, made up and despatched the mails, delivered the letters and papers and made out the accounts. He was frequently sent on business to the neighboring towns, and employed in collecting office dues." (Page 78.)


West Groton is a small settlement that has sprung up in the western part of the town, dating back in its history to the last century. It is pleasantly situated on the banks of the Squannacook River, and in my boyhood was known as Squannacook, a much better name than the present one. It is to be regretted that so many of the old Indian words which have a local significance and smack of the region, should have been crowded out of the list of our geographical names. There is a small water-power here, and formerly a saw-mill, grist-mill and a paper-mill were in operation ; but these have now given way to a factory where leather-board is made. The Peter- borough and Shirley Branch of the Fitchburg Rail- road passes through the place, and some local busi- ness is transacted in the neighborhood. As a matter of course, a post-office was needed in the village, and one was established on March 19, 1850. The first person to fill the office was Adams Archibald, a native of Truro, Nova Scotia, who kept it in the railway station.


The following is a list of the postmasters, with the dates of their appointment :


Adams Archibald, March 19, 1850. Edmund Blood, May 25, 1868. Charles Henry Hill, July 31, 1871. George Henry Bixby, July 11, 1878.




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