USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > Spencer > Historical sketches relating to Spencer, Mass., Volume III > Part 17
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EDWARD R. WHEELER
275 WORTHINGTON, LIBERTY W. Was born the twentieth day of November, 1839 in Spencer, County of Wor- cester, State of Mass. He entered the service June 19, 1862 as a private in Co. E, 34th regiment, Mass. Vols., and was discharged at Richmond, Va., June 16, 1865 as sergeant. His first promo- tion, which was to corporal, was dated March 22, 1863. He was again promoted to 1st sergeant Dec. 27, 1864. His first battle
191
INDIVIDUAL WAR RECORDS.
was Newmarket, Va. Subsequently he participated in the battles of Piedmont, Lynchburg, Winchester, Fisher's Hill, Stickney's Farm, Cedar Creek, Hatch's Run, Fort Gregg and others around Richmond during the evacuation of General Lee. He was wounded at Newmarket May 15, 1864, again at Pied- mont June 5th, 1864 and again at Winchester Sept. 19, 1864. In the latter part of July 1864 he was confined in the hospital at Parkersburg, Va. His intimate associates in the service were: George P. Clark, Henry Bemis, Charles Hunter, Walton Liver- more, Henry Sibley, Henry Bowman. Living in Spencer.
276 YOUNG, RICHARD. Private Co. C, 21st Mass. Vols., shoemaker, thirty-six, married, Spencer. Enlisted July 23, 1861, mustered in Aug. 23, 1861. DESERTED. Re-enlisted in Co. E, 34th Mass. Vols. Lives in East Brookfield.
277 YOUNG, WILLIAM HENRY. Drafted. Was born in Wilmington, County of New Hanover, State of North Carolina in 1844. He entered the service Aug. 3, 1863, as a private in Co. F, 54th Mass. (colored) regiment and was discharged at Sullivan's Island, N. C. Aug. 20, 1865, the war having closed. He died Jan. 12, 1896, and was buried in Evergreen cemetery, East Brookfield.
Unidentified Recruits.
Unidentified recruits were secured by Luther Hill for the town of Spencer, and accepted by the United States. It would be very difficult to obtain records of these men, and even if the records could be secured they would be of no great value to the living, as the men were residents of other places and unknown to Spencer citizens at the time of their enlistment.
278 Bruso, Louis
293 Simpson, Charles H.
279 Bryan, John
294
Standard, Julien
280 Cholly, Henry H. 295 Smart, Thomas C.
281 Edwards, David
296 Smart, William
282
Foot, Abram
297
Smith, Owen
283
Ford, Franklin E.
298
Solomon, George T.
284
McLaury, Thomas J.
299 Springberg, Carl J.
285 Ray, Thomas
286 Richardson, Alvarez E.
301
Shields, Jolın
287
Riley, Peter
302
Swebe, Jolın
288
Rooney, John
303
Taylor, George C.
289
Severance, William H.
304 Thompson, Frederick
290 Seymour, James A.
305 Tangen, Michael
306
Walker, Felix
291 Scott, Charles C.
292 Schroeder, John
300 Stevens, Samuel W. C.
192
SKETCHES OF SPENCER HISTORY
Credited to Other Places.
The following names credited on Town Records of 1865-6 as Spencer Volunteers were found, on consulting the State records, to be credited to other places as follows : -
Leicester -- John A. Barr, Charles Sanderson, James She- han, Frederic S. Blodgett Ira E. Lackey.
Brookfield - Eugene H. Carpenter.
Worcester - Philip Duval, Joseph W. Webber.
Springfield - John W. Robinson.
New Braintree - William W. Ames, Charles O. Adams. Charles H. Parker.
Stow - George F Howe.
Ware - John Graham.
California - Calvin R. Prouty.
The following names having been accepted by the Town of Spencer as Spencer soldiers and placed on the tablets in the Town Hall. They have been kept on the Spencer list although they are credited to other places on the state records.
New Braintree -- John Corbet.
New Salem - Lyman C. Gibbs.
Amherst - Murray Lovett.
New York State - Thomas Heffron.
Two other Spencer men. Joseph Bird and George Charon, went to war on behalf of Ward 8, Worcester.
THE DRAFT
In 1863, voluntary enlistments not being sufficient to supply the government with the number of soldiers needed, a draft was ordered which took place July 14. From Spencer sixty-eight men were drafted, but from desertions, exemptions from disabilty and other causes, the government only obtained ten men, and $5,700 with which to procure substitutes for nineteen more, or a total of twenty-nine men. Their names are given below.
DESERTED.
Doyle, James Ritchie, Frank
Norton, Philip Prouty, Addison D.
FURNISHED SUBSTITUTES
Sampson, Freeman
Watson, William C.
WENT INTO THE SERVICE.
Boyd, James O.
Chaffin, Winslow
Dennis, L. H.
Lamb, Charles
Livermore, Lorenzo D.
Maxwell, John
Proctor, Josiah J.
Young, William (colored).
EXEMPTED FOR VARIOUS REASONS.
Abraham, Thomas
Adams, Daniel W.
Aldrich, Hosea P.
Bemis, Alvin
Brewer, Hiram H.
Canary, James
Carpenter, Eugene H.
Clapp, Otis
Comins, Thomas A.
Converse, Luman D.
Converse, Willard
Dewing, George
Doyle, James
Fisher, Judson H.
Hale, Amos H
Hiney, John
Hinds, Lewis H.
Howard, Cyrus D.
Ledott, Lewis
Livermore, John W.
Ludden, John W. McCormack, Edward
Prouty, Lucius M.
Prouty. Theodore C.
Singer, Joseph
Sheehy, William
Smith, Eleazer
Smith, Frank
Starr, Hezekiah P.
Tirrell, John S.
Walker, John A.
Watson, George H.
Wilson, Waldo
15
Foley, Patrick
Green, John M.
Lord, Daniel A.
194
SKETCHES OF SPENCER HISTORY
The following paid $300 each for exemption.
Bemis, Edwin J.
Bullard, Joel S.
Capen, William E.
Davis, George S.
Drury, Chandler
Green, Henry R.
Griffin, Michael
Guilford, Nathan
Harrington, Henry M.
Lamb, Austin E.
Lord, William
Nichols, Edwin
Prouty, Augustus C.
Prouty, Jonas R.
Prouty, Vernon
Putnam, Jonas T.
Sagendorph, Noah
Sibley, William H.
Wheeler, Edward R.
The name of John M. Green was drawn twice. This demonstrated an error in making up the list of men liable for military duty, and since one error was clearly shown, it could readily have been assumed there might be other errors, and the writer has always held the idea that had any one of the drafted men entered a legal protest, the drawing might and certainly ought to have been set aside. The opinion of a competent lawyer is herewith given : "As regards your question about the effect of double drawing of one name as in the case of John M. Green, which you mention, I do not know what ruling the War department would have made about it, if it had been raised. I think it ought to have vitiated the whole proceeding, but the Lord only knows whether the War department would have so ruled. Its decisions often were very surprising and arbitrary." Mr. Green now resides at Worcester. He writes that he obtained exemption not because of the double drawing of his name but because of his stature, which was below the government standard.
Drafting men for the army did not prove to be a popular measure and serious draft riots occurred in New York City. The policy of hiring men and paying bounties was then tried and gave general satisfaction. The sixty-eight men so hired by this town whose names are in the town records of 1865, received on an average $224.78, of which amount $138.84 was paid by the town and $85.94 by subscription. Some men were procured without the payment of any bounty, while others received the highest price paid $320.00.
It seems reasonably certain that the government should have credited Spencer for nineteen soldiers in lieu of the $5700 in money paid over to them and which would have purchased that many soldiers, but it does not appear that such credit was made only at that particular time. When another quota was called for, the town had to raise the nineteen soldiers just the same as though the money to procure them had not once been paid over.
THE HEROIC DEAD
List of forty-three soldiers from Spencer who suffered death either in action, by drowning, wounds or disease while engaged in an effort to preserve the Union during the great struggle of the Civil War from 1861 to 1865. Portraits of twenty-six of these men, all that could be obtained, with sketches of their service, may be found elsewhere in this volume. The Town Hall tablets lack five names to make a complete list of those entitled to such distinction.
Adams, Henry F.
Harrington, Dennis
Barr, Elbridge G.
Hawes, Leroy
Bemis, Frederick A.
Heffron, Thomas
Bemis, Oscar R.
Henry, George W.
Bird, Frank
Hunter, Otis M.
Boulett, Fortuna
Johnson, John
Carney, Thomas
Johnson, Sylvester D.
Chickering, Dwight
Chickering, Henry G.
Lackey, James
Corbet, John
Lamb, Edward A.
Crook, James
Luchay, Abraham
Crosby, Isaiah
Luther, Waldo H.
Dana, Louis
Mead. Joseph
Davis, Freeman
Midgeley, Alfred W.
Dickinson, Nathan S.
Nason, George W.
Farrell, George
Reno, Nelson
Fogg, Lucien
Sargent, Samuel D.
Frink, Willard A.
Sessions, Jairus
Gage, Gardiner M.
Toomey, Edmund
Green, David
Worthington, John M.
Green, Joel W.
Wilson, Horace
Gibbs, Lyman C.
Kelly, Daniel
Eliptical Springs for Carriages
Were once manufactured in a small mill on the Browning pond streanı near Amasa T. Bemis' place by Edward Keyes and Gilbert G. Belcher. The power was used to run a trip hammer. In those days Hillsville was quite a centre for wagon making.
VETERANS OF CIVIL WAR BURIED IN SPENCER
A complete list of soldiers and sailors of the Civil War buried in Spencer. Compiled from Post 37, G. A. R. Records.
ABBREVIATIONS: Old, Old Cemetery; P. G. Pine Grove Cemetery; St. M., St. Mary's Cemetery.
Abraham, Thomas, P. G. Co. K, 10th Mass. Died July 28, 1896 Adams, Emery G., Old. Co E, 34th Mass Adams, Henry F., P. G. Co. C, 21st Mass.
Died April 24, 1864 Died May 19, 1863 Allen, Andrew J., P. G. Co. D, 2d Mass. H. A. Died Nov. 30, 1897 Ayers, Charles S .. P. G. Co. A, 51st Mass. Died May 13, 1900 Died Sept. 11, 1866 Died Jan. 3, 1878 Died May 5, 1866 Ball, Charles E , P. G. Co C. 25th Mass Ball, Daniel A., P. G. Co F, 42d Mass. Barr, John H., P. G. Co. H. 34th Mass. Belcher, Gilbert G., P. G. Co. F, 42d Mass. Died Aug 28, 1897 Died June 25, 1868 Died July 31, 1863 Died 1887 Died April 20, 1900 Died June 23, 1866 Died April 7, 1869 Bemis, Edmund J., P. G. Co F. 42d Mass. Bemis, Oscar R., P. G. Co E, 34th Mass. Benjamin, Joseph, St. M. Co. E, 34th Mass. Bercume, Anthony, St. M. Co. F, 42d Mass. Bigelow, D. B., Old. Co. A, 25th Mass. Blodgett, Frederick A., Old. 2d N. H. Boyd, Cheney P., P. G. Co. K, 21st Mass. - Boynes, Levi D., P. G. Co. K, 10th Mass. Brady, James, P. G. 25th Mass.
Brown, George A., P. G. 37th Mass.
Died June, 1894 Died Dec 11, 1898 Brown, Judah L., P. G. Navy, Ship Dunbarton. Died July 6, 1896 Bullard, Amasa B., Old. Co. H, 10th Mass. Burns. Robert, St. M. Co. A, 5th U. S. Inf. Buss, Elon G., P. G. Co. K, 51st Mass. Carey, Patrick, St. M. Carr, John, St. M. Co. H, 9th Mass. Cate, Augustus, P. G. Co. D, 5th N. H. Cheever, Moses, P. G.
Died Feb. 2, 1891-
Died Oct. 6, 1901 Died Oct. 30, 1898 Died 1888 Died Jan. 21, 1903 Died Dec. 13, 1885 Died Dec. 9, 1902 Died Feb. 18, 1900 ---
Clark, George E., P. G. Co. H, 10th Mass. Clark, Hiram J., P. G. 51st Mass. Died Nov. 6, 1890 Crook, James M., P. G. Co. I, 2d Mass. H. A. Died Apr. 25, 1865 Corliss, Dennison F., P. G. Co. E, 15th Vt. Died Dec. 30, 1903
197
VETERANS OF CIVIL WAR BURIED IN SPENCER
Cummings, C. L., P. G. Heavy Artillery.
Died June 22, 1903
Davis, George H., Old. 33d N. J. Inf. Died Oct. 8. 1865
Dwyer Frank L., P. G. Co. K, 3d Maine. Died Jan. 24, 1898
Edwards, Charles W., Old. Co. C. 2d Mass. Fleming, Robert, P. G. Co. A, 25th Mass. Forky, Lewis, St. M. Forrest, Daniel, St. M. Co. I, 50th Mass. Died Oct. 31, 1881
Died Aug. 18, 1893 Died Nov. 25, 1891 Died 1885
Freeman, Elias H., P. G. Co. K, 36 Mass. Died Nov. 25, 1897 Frigon, Louis, St. M. Co. F, 4th Mass. H. A. Died Mar. 28, 1898 Green, Joel W., Old. Co. C, 1st Mass. Cav. Died Jan. 22, 1863 Hart, Joseph, P. G. Co. A, 14th Conn. Died April 26, 1896 Hawes, George, Old. Navy. Died 1896
Haywood, E. L., P. G. 3d Regt. V. R. C.
Hindley, Solomon K., P. G. Co. H, 10th Mass. D. Oct. 13, 1902 Holmes, John, P. G. Co. B, 51st Mass. Died June 15, 1902
Hovey, C. C., Old. Co. I, 15th Mass. Died 1872
Jerome, John, St. M. Co. D, 62d Mass. Kelley, Patrick, St. M. Co. K, 10th Mass. Died June 30, 1903 Kingsbury, Addison, Old. 3d Mass. Cav. Dec. 19, 1864
King, Oliver, St. M.
Co. E, 42d Mass. Died March 5, 1893
Labonty, Frank. St. M. Co. I, 11th Mass.
Died Oct. 13, 1895 Died Oct 17, 1896
Lamb, Asahel, Old. Co. F. 60th Mass. Lamb, Charles, Old. 11th Co. Unat. H A. Died Dec 21, 1880 Lamb. Edward A., Old. Co. F, 60th Mass. Died Oct. 31, 1864 Leland, E Francis, P. G. Co. F, 11th U. S. Inf Died June 25, 1879 Livermore, Lorenzo D., Old. Co. H, 10th Mass. Died Sept. 22, 1885 Lucier, Paul, St. M. Co. E, 19th Mass. Died October, 1903 Luther, Waldo H., P. G. Co. H. 10th Mass. Died Oct 23, 1864 Lyndes, John M., P. G. Co. E, 34th Mass. Died Mar. 24, 1884 Lyon, Charles F., Old. Co. F, 42d Mass. Died May 29, 1901 Maloney, Martin, St. M. Co. C, 4th Mass Cav. Died Dec. 2, 1870 Marble, Albert W., Old. Co. G, 61st Mass. Died July 14, 1901 Marsh, John H., P. G. Co. I, 24th Mass. Died March 2, 1865 Mason, William W., P. G. Co. K, 10th Mass. Died May 7, 1883 Maxwell, John, St. M. Co. A, 39th Mass. Died March 8, 1896 McDonald, J.
Monroe, George M., P. G. Co. F, 42d Mass. Died Dec. 6, 1882
Morse, Joseph P., Old. Co. E, 34th Mass. Died May 8, 1873 Morse, Norris, P. G. Co. E, 34th Mass. Died Sept 6, 1868 Norton, J.
Palmer, Charles S., Old. 40th Mass. Died July 4, 1901 Plant, Israel, St. M. Co. D, 61st Mass. Porter, Pierre. Died Jan. 13, 1902 Died March 1, 1865 Powers, Lawson S., P. G. Co. H, 10th Mass. Died May 12, 1872 Prouty, A. D., P. G. Co. I, 52d Illinois. Died 1865
198
SKETCHES OF SPENCER HISTORY
Prouty, Francis N., P. G. Co. F. 42d Mass. Died Jan. 5, 1883 Prouty, Captain George W., P. G. Co. D, 51st Mass. Died 1901 Prouty, Horace E., P. G. Co. K, 10th Mass. Died Nov. 19, 1884- Prouty, Joshua B., Old. Co. C, 25th Mass. Died Aug. 20, 1876 Prouty, Merrick F., Old. Co. C, 25th Mass. Died Aug. 15, 1898 Reno, John B., St. M. Co. C, 21st Mass.
Rice, Henry T., P. G. Co. I, 18th Mass. Rider, A. A., Old. 21st Mass. Died June 7, 1883 Riley, Charles, St. M. Co. F, 21st N. Y. Cav. Died July 4, 1898 Died Jan. 27, 1893 Died April 22, 1863
Died April 10, 1882
Died June 4, 1896
Scott, A. M , P. G. Co. E, 33d Mass.
Sherman, John, St. M. Co. F, 42d Mass. Sibley, Henry H., Old. Co. E, 34th Mass. Died Feb. 2, 1885
Sloane, W. A., P. G. Co. H, 10th Vermont. Squires, W .. P. G. Co. D. 25th Mass.
Died Jan. 6, 1903 Died August, 1902 Died Sept. 11, 1885
Starr John B., P. G. Navy.
Stone, David, St. M. 3d Mass. Cav. Died March 19, 1886
Townsend, Edward, P.G. Officer 36th U. S. C. I. Died June 9, 1873 Trask, Charles C., Old. Co. G, 34th Mass. Died July 10, 1890
Trott, Thomas G. P. G. Navy.
Died Dec. 18, 1889
Thurston, Benjamin F., Old 31st Maine. Died Oct. 5, 1888
Ward, T. C., P. G. 1st Vermont Cavalry. July 3, 1863
Webster, Matthew, P. G. Co. C, 21st Mass. Died April 26, 1904 Wilson, Maj. William, Old Co. K, 104th N. Y. Died Aug. 16, 1897 Wheeler, Edw. R., P. G. Asst. Surg. 24th Mass. D. Apr. 30. 1904 Worthington, Albert C., P. G. Co. F, 154th Ill. D. May 19, 1882
Postmasters of Spencer with Date of Appointment
Isaac Jenks, Jr.
July 1, 1810
Charles Bemis
December 15, 1825
Amasa Bemis, Jr.
August 12, 1828
Nathaniel Wilson
February 25, 1831
E. Bradshaw Draper
October 24, 1832
William Bush, Jr.
September 22, 1845
Dexter Bemis
April 3, 1849
George H. Livermore
June 13, 1851 May 3, 1853
Luther Hill Eli J. Whittemore
May 23. 1854 July 11, 1861 September 21, 1866 March 18, 1869
Emerson Stone
Edward M. Bliss
March 30, 1889
Emory E Harwood Harry S. Tripp
May 12, 1893 July 27, 1897
Willard Rice
Horace A. Grout
SOLDIERS OF THE REVOLUTION
At the annual Town Meeting in 1896 a committee consisting of Annie J. Ward and Dr. A. A. Bemis were appointed to locate and place an appropriate bronze marker at the grave of each Revolutionary soldier in town so far as possible. Their excellent and completed work was submitted in a report to the town at the annual meeting in 1898, and is as follows :
NAMES
BORN
DIED AGED
Allen, Israel
1743
July 17, 1833 90
Adams, Elias
1765
Feb. 23, 1842 77
Baldwin, Asa
Aug. 27. 1723
April 23. 1811 88
Baldwin, Levi
1755
1837 82
Bemis, Amasa
Oct. 10, 1757
Nov. 21, 1842 85
Bemis Jessie
June 3, 1751
Apr. 21 1836 85
Bemis, Jonas
June 29, 1760
March 25, 1846 86
Bigelow, John
1757
Capen, James
Aug. 3, 1762
April 3, 1833 71
Capen, Timothy
Aug. 8, 1752
Jan. 12, 1837
77
Cunningham, Nathaniel
March 16, 1746
Jan. 29, 1829 83 76
Draper, James
Sept. 22, 1720
March 2, 1781
61
Draper. John
Nov. 16, 1745
Dec. 20, 1822
77
Garfield, Joseph
Sept. 19, 1758
June 10, 1836 78 56
Green, Williamı
1742
March 21, 1800
Hall, Samuel
1742
Jan. 10, 1814
72
Harrington, Elisha
1761
Jan. 2, 1817
56
Hatheway, Levi
1762
May 28, 1841
55
Hill, Daniel
1743 Feb. 6, 1837
94
Howe, Joel
1760
Jan. 9, 1854
93
Jones, Phineas
1766 Apr. 27, 1850
84 60
Kingsbury, Josiah
June 30, 1759
July 2, 1819
59
Lamb, John Jr.
Mar. 22, 1755
Jan. 1796
41
Livermore, Moses
1726
Oct. 18, 1797
71
Livermore, Abijah
Jan. 18, 1817
Livermore, David
1745
Dec. 13, 1818 73
Loring, Nathaniel Lieut.
1749 Sept. 28, 1817 68
Sept. 4, 1780 1843 86
May 21, 1834 82
Converse, Luke
Oct. 6, 1734
June 10, 1810
Beers, Richard
Clark, John
1760
Lamb, David
Dec. 11, 1755 Apr. 26, 1814
200
SKETCHES OF SPENCER HISTORY
Mason, Ebenezer Capt.
Mar. 1, 1723
Mar. 26, 1798 66
Muzzy, Jonas
Jan. 2, 1748
Mar. 17, 1819 71
Prouty, Joshua
May 18, 1759 Mar. 24, 1838 78
Prouty, Eli
Sept. 8, 1757 June 27, 1818 68
Prouty, Elisha
Jan. 27, 1759 Aug. 26, 1819 60
Prouty, Isaac
Dec. 22, 1750 June 15, 1828 78
Prouty, David Capt.
Nov. 27, 1739
Aug. 25, 1814 75
Rice, Peter
June 25, 1755 Feb. 1, 1813 58
Snow, James
1757 Apr. 14, 1839
82
Sprague, Thomas
1742 May 12, 1828 86
Watson, Robert
May 28, 1746
Jan. 26, 1806 60
Watson, Samuel
Mar. 8, 1749
Oct. 8, 1818 69
Watson, James
July 20, 1754
Apr. 17, 1823 69
Wilson, Nathaniel
1747 Aug. 14, 1825 78
White, William Maj.
May 20, 1744 Feb. 16, 1826 72
.
All the above are buried in the Old cemetery so-called, ex- cepting Maj. White and Eli Prouty. Their bodies were ex- humed and transferred to Pine Grove cemetery. This list is far from complete. A great many of the old soldiers were buried with common field stones as markers and without lettering. In laying out anew this cemetery many years ago most if not all of these stones were removed and the land graded so that no trace is now left where many a Revolutionary patriot sleeps.
The writer suggests that this ancient burial ground be called the Cunningham cemetery in sim ple justice to the memory of Nathaniel Cunningham, the original donor. It is not fitting that a community should allow the names of its special benefac- tors to lapse into obscurity especially when the name can, as in this case, be so easily associated with the gift. When the Pine Grove cemetery was established it was a most natural thing to call the previous burial ground the old cemetery and it is so called but the town would now do a creditable act to adopt the name of Cunningham cemetery and so designate it in her pub- lic records.
Wall Street.
William Livermore, a Spencer citizen who had established himself in business on Wall Street, New York City, along in the early fifties, used to spend some of his summer vacations in his native tow11. He kept his horses and carriages at an old stone blacksmith shop on a little spur of a street leading off from Main street. Some one suggested the name of Wall street for this insignificant lane. The idea took and later the street grew until it has become one of the busy streets of the town.
THE WAR BOARD OF SELECTMEN
The Selectmen, who were in office when the war commenced, became known as the war board. Their names were: Luther Hill chairman, Dexter Bullard, Joshua Bemis, Josiah Green Jr., and Jeremiah W. Drake. It is thought that no more efficient board of selectmen existed in the state in their prompt attention to the calls of the government, their interest in everything per- taining to Spencer men in the field and they obtained deserved credit along these lines botli at home and abroad. The leading figure of the group was Luther Hill, sometimes called the father of the board. Biographical sketches of each now follow :
Hon. Luther Hill.
*Hon. Luther Hill, the most unique character in all of Spell- cer's history, and who controlled to a large extent the trend of Spencer political and municipal activities for fifty years, is dead. The end came on Monday afternoon at 2:40 o'clock, in the sev- enty-seventh year of his age. Mr. Hill would reach his seven- ty-seventh birthday Nov. 22 next, being born in the year 1825.
Until the past twelve months Mr. Hill appeared to be tlie best preserved man of his years in town ; erect in carriage, digni- fied and stern of manner, except when enjoying the company of congenial friends. For about four weeks he has been unable to leave the house but insisted for some time that his illness was only temporary and that he would shortly be at his office again. Sunday night he suffered a hemorrhage and Monday afternoon he was seized with a similar attack from which he died, thoughi cancer of the stomach is said to have been the cause of his fail- ure in health. The family physician, Dr. E. R. Wheeler and a few intimate friends were present at the bedside when he breathed his last.
The funeral took place Wednesday afternoon at four o'clock and was simple in arrangement and without any unusual display, except that a body of local business men marching from the Town Hall passed by the bier for a last look at the features of the dis- tinguished townsman.
* This article is from the pen of Win. J. Heffernan and taken from The Spencer Leader of August 9, 1902.
16
202
SKETCHES OF SPENCER HISTORY
HON. LUTHER HILL
The services were conducted by Rev. Frank L. Masseck of the Church of Our Father and a quartet consisting of F. E. Dun- ton, J. W. Temple, C. E. Dunton and H. S. Beath sang the "Home Land," "Beyond the Smiling and the Weeping," "Still, Still With Thee," by Gerrish. The arrangements of the funeral were in charge of Allston E. Grout.
203
THE WAR BOARD OF SELECTMEN
The bearers were F. W. Aubrey, Emory F. Sibley, David Girouard, all of Spencer, and Warren E. Tarbell of East Brook- field. The burial was in Pine Grove cemetery. Luther Hill Camp. Sons of Veterans, did escort duty.
Mr. Hill was a man of strong likes and strong dislikes. If he formed an attachment for one, that one could feel free to call upon him for assistance at any time. He always remembered his friends and tried to assist them. On the other hand a political antagonist, either in municipal or state affairs, found in him an adversary who would struggle for the victory of his opinions and principles with a determination and shrewdness that was of ex- traordinary calibre. Taking a stand in nearly every feature and phase of municipal life he naturally offended some who were not of his way of thinking. At every town meeting for many years he was the foremost figure and during most of this time and until the last decade he was usually able to control the policy of these meet- ings much as he desired. Never an orator or easy public speaker, vet he had a way of expressing himself in plain, sharp, short sentences which left little to be misunderstood and his ready wit and keen perception of opportunity to ridicule, made him the foremost debater and those with smoother and more ready tongues feared him as an opponent. These were some of the phases of Luther Hill, the public man in town meetings. He was very progressive in his ideas of municipal activity, nearly always ready to vote for liberal appropriations, for new school buildings, new sewers, new engine houses, sidewalks and the like, and never grumbled at the size of the taxes. While his power was at its highest he made the town take rapid strides, though his course was generally criticised by his opponents as extrava- gant and lavish.
His conduct in the court room and dealing with offenders of the law was unique, probably very much different from that of any other man sitting on a trial justice bench in the state. As one of his friends said at a hearing before the governor in Boston a few years ago: "He was a law unto himself." He was a terror to evil-doers and feared intensely by those who came be- fore him in the course of the administration of justice.
His was a bluff personality, yet solicitors for public chari- ties never had any hesitation about asking Mr. Hill for a dona- tion and seldom if ever were refused. He was generous to an ex- treme, though not ostentatious in his giving. His friends, and members of the G. A. R. particularly, always sought him for legal counsel in times of tribulation and his ears have probably listened to more tales of woe than any other man in the town. He never was much of a church-goer, though lie contributed lib-
204
SKETCHES OF SPENCER HISTORY
erally to all of the local churches. He disliked shammning Christians and they were sometimes the marks of sharp ridicule from him.
The little village of Hillsville, two miles north of Spencer center, and named in honor of the family, was the birthplace of Luther Hill. He was the second son of Washington and Al- mira (Kent) Hill. Like most New England boys of his time lie was taught to do all kinds of work incident to the farm and household. What advantages by way of securing knowledge the little village possessed were given him until he was fourteen years old, when he left home to work in a store at Worcester, where he remained one year. He then returned to Hillsville and engaged in the work of teaming between Spencer and Bos- ton. This was before the day of railroads and when the surplus products of New England farms were transported to Boston and other cities on either ox or horse teams. The farmers of south- ern Worcester county were wont to go to Providence to sell their butter, cheese, beef and pork, while the farmers of the central and northern sections of the county sold theirs in Boston. For three years he drove a four horse and six horse team from Spen- cer to Boston, making the round trip in three days. Though in his teens, he was at this time a manly fellow, strong, courage- ous and self reliant, and did a man's work every day in the year.
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