USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > Spencer > Historical sketches relating to Spencer, Mass., Volume IV > Part 14
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had set his heart on this mill. His off-repeated expression that he would "build up mills as fast as the Almighty blew them down" was not carried out in this case, for no attempt to build anew was ever made.
At the time the five men were killed, a large bay horse stood hitched to a wagon backed up to the mill ready to take the road. The wagon could not have burned, but no trace of
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it, not a splinter was ever found, though diligent search was made. The horse had every hair on his body, including mane and tail, burned off to the hide. When found he lay on a gravel bank nearby, aparently dead, but finally revived enough so with help got onto his feet. Elias Hall wanted to knock him in the head, but an Irishman finally prevailed on Mr. Bemis to give the horse to him. This he did, and by careful treatment in a year's time, became as valuable a work-horse as ever.
Lewis Bemis was an energetic man and besides his owner-
POWDER MILL BRIDGE OVER SEVEN MILE RIVER.
ship of both the lower and upper powder mills in Spencer and one-fourth interest in the Barre powder mills he also caused to be built mills at Savannah, Winconsin, which he put in charge of his son, Lewis. These mills were built under the supervision of Mr. Orin S. Worthington, who was gone a year from his home here, attending to their construction.
In the early days and well along into the fifties, all the kegs used for packing the powder were made in the Podunk district, Brookfield. by Elijah Liberty, Jefferson Moses and Charles Adams and a man- by-the-name of -Richardson in the
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south part of Brookfield, all coopers by trade. Kegs all were of chestnut, with hoops of alder. The price paid for the kegs was fourteen cents apiece, and Mr. Elijah Adams with the help of two sons could make twenty per day. These were sent for from Spencer and obtained as needed from a barn in which they were kept in stock. Moses Adams also made at his es- tablishment, gallon bottles of wood, butter tubs, meat barrels, cider barrels and hogsheads. The kegs used here, in the last years of powder making, were obtained from Austin Page of Oakham, who also made for Barre. The late Joshua Bemis of Pleasant street, when a boy, lived with his uncle, Lewis Bemis, and to keep him out of mischief evenings, he was kept at work pegging on powder keg hoops to keep them securely in posi- tion and also plugging up with pegs the small worm holes found quite often in old chestnut. When powder was sent away all possible empty powder kegs were obtained along the route and returned to be refilled. Many of these were damaged and were repaired by Samuel Adams, also a cooper, who then owned what has lately been known as the Thomas Leonard place.
Where was the powder used ? Most everywhere in New England and the provinces. It was used for blasting purposes all along what is now the Boston & Albany R. R., as far as Chester, and was delivered at points along the road as needed. It was used in the building of the Providence & Worcester and Worcester & Nashua railroads. In the saltpetre mines of Nova Scotia and Newfoundland, by the Boers in South Africa. Green & Green of Providence, R. I., had four ships engaged in the South African trade. They sent out N. E. rum, powder, old muskets, bandana handkerchiefs and fancy articles for per- sonal use. When powder was to be part of the cargo, three four-horse loads were sent from here at one time containing 240 kegs each and each keg holding twenty-five pourds of powder. Powder was also sold for local use at Providence, R. I., Ded- ham, Rockport and Quincy, Mass., and at Norwich, Conn., on Cape Cod, Boston and Roxbury. It is also said sporting pow- der was shipped to France during a time of war in which that nation was then engaged. In order to provide against bad roads, weather and accidents, a quantity of powder was stored in a building in Roxbury, built on piles out in the ocean. The usual time on the road of the four and six teams was from four to six days.
One of the teamsters for Lewis Bemis was J. Edwin Bemis, known better as "Powder Ed," and now living in Spencer. He was then a mere lad and many thought too young to be en-
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trusted with so great responsibility. At one time, after he had been away ten days on a projected three days' trip to Dedham, and no tidings, his Uncle Lewis became nervous over the situa- tion and was on the point of sending a team as a tracer. This was on Sunday morning and Mr. Bemis was seen walking ner- vously back and forth in the yard to his house, where Mrs. Abram Capen now lives. This yard commands a view of up- per Main street to its summit, and in this direction his eyes frequently turned, looking hopefully for his long delaye I team. At last he saw it coming over the brow of the hill and with quick step went to the barn and provided a man to care for the team as soon as in, for he wanted young Ed. in the house at once to hear the story of his long trip. The com- mencement of the story was the unloading from his pockets of roll after roll of money.
It was evident that prosperity and not adversity had attended him and this was reflected in Mr. Bemis' countenance. The facts were that when the load for Dedham had been delivered, word came that powder was wanted at Quincy. He went to the magazine in Roxbury for it and on account of a high sea, was delayed two days in get- ting it. Then the quarrymen called for another load, which was supplied, and then he started for home with money in his pockets for three loads, thus making the trip & profitable, as well as an eventful one.
Testing the strength of the powder was a matter of prime importance and each lot was thoroughly tested. A mortar was kept in the shed at the old powder mill dwelling house and iron balls for the purpose. This mortar was called "Old Hoit"-for what reason is unknown, but it is supposed the name was so bestowed upon it by Englishmen, Hoit being an obsolete English word, meaning to "romp noisily." There was a knoll of land across the road to the north on land now owned by Walter C. Bemis, and on this knoll stood a maple tree. now gone. When powder was the standard strength, it would carry a ball from the house to the tree, but whatever the strength indicated by the average distance the balls went, it was so marked on each keg of the lot tested.
The usual powder mill explosion was of so tragic a nature, there was little opportunity for mirth in connection with it, but on one occasion, when no person was injured, a laughable incident occurred. Mr. Bemis was a merchant and always a niecly dressed man, wearing a silk hat on all occasions. In such a suit his hostler had driven him to the scene of an explo- sion. On arrival Mr. Bemis found one mill standing, but a timber had been-blown up against it, the lower end of which
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was on fire, and it was clearly only a question of time when this mill would explode also if no steps were taken to prevent it. Mr. Bemis made a quick decision, the fire must be put out, and he would do it. His tile hat was all the article at hand in which to carry water. Off it came and dipped full from the canal. Mr. Bemis started, but when the Irishman discovered his intention he caught hold of his employer's coat +ails and tried to hold him back, crying with a loud voice "Mr. Bemis don't go, Mr. Bemis don't go." And the spectators at a good distance away on the hill beheld the novel spectacle of Mr. Bemis striding ahead, with the Irishman at his heels trying to hold him back. Mr. Bemis being the stronger of the two, won out, and succeeded in putting out the fire. The powder industry was carried on untill the breaking out of the Civil war, when the manager for the heirs, Fred A. Bemis, enlisted and went to the war. At this time powder making was car- ried on with little profit, but it is the opinion of good judges that if the mills had been judiciously run during the war a for- tune could have been made. Since then the use of dynamite has superseded the black blasting powder, so that its manu- facture in now chiefly a matter of history.
THE HOWLAND OAK
John Howland Jr. was born in Freetown in 1742. In company with his brother-in-law, Job Simmonds, who had married Elizabeth Howland, they came to Spencer in 1769 and camped under the oak shown in cut until they were able to erect dwellings, Howland one where John M. Newton now lives and Simmonds one where Eb. Howe's new house stands. Sim- monds did not stay in town but a few years, when the farm became the property of Reuben Bemis. Mrs. Simmonds died in North Brookfield. John Howland was ensign in the Revolution.
Otis Howland, grandson of John Jr., to whom the Howland farm descended through his father, Abner, requested when he sold the place to Joel Howe, that this tree always be preserved as a memorial of his ancestor.
THE HOWLAND OAK ON FARM OF JOHN M. NEWTON
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SKETCHES OF SPENCER HISTORY.
JAMES HOWLAND Grandson of the original settler, John Howland.
IMPOUNDING CATTLE
The time was within the memory of the living, when a pound in the centre village was deemed essential to good order and the general welfare of the people. Up to twenty-five years ago the town's pound was located near the house of the late Frank B. Watson, upper Main street, and consisted of a space about forty feet square surrounded by a stone wall seven to eight feet high, with a strongly built wooden gateway. Into this enclosure all stray cattle against which complaint had been entered were driven by field drivers, then, as now, annually chosen by the town for that purpose They were here fed and watered by a keeper, also an officer of the town, and were only released to the owner on the payment of certain fees established by law, or in absence of a claimant, in time sold at auction, the fees paid and balance deposited in the the town's treasury for the benefit of the owner, should he later appear. The time, however, came when public sentiment became so strong that most owners of cattle provided secure fences around their pastures and those who did not became tired of paying the penalty for letting their cattle run at large. So the pound ceasing to be needed. except on rare occasions, the property was sold and the place for impounding trans- ferred to the almshouse grounds. The last large lot of cattle impounded at one time occurred about thirty-seven years ago. They belonged to an old citizen living in the lower village, a man of considerable ability and in his day a colonel in the state militia. He had an abundance of this world's goods both for present necessities and probable future needs, and yet having been born in 1783 at a time when extreme frugality was imperative it is no wonder he inherited if not a get-all then a save-all spirit, and that this feeling dominated his whole career. Like many others he failed to see that feeling or im- pulse should not become a rule for action unless indorsed by the best judgment of the intellect, and so letting his feelings rule, thereby he got himself into trouble. He was a farmer, or had been in his earlier life. owned quite a tract of mowing in the village, a pasture in the rear of Barr's oil works and kept from twelve to fifteen head of cattle. He seldom ex-
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pended any money or labor in repairing his pasture fences, which were poor at best and had been from way back. As a consequence his cattle were as often found feeding by the way- side as in the pasture, and seemed to prefer liberty to roam about, rather than restraint where they belonged. They es- pecially liked to feed in such gardens of the village as they could by any means enter, and to these places their visits were generally in the night time. This procedure was not an agree- able one to contemplate from the garden owners' standpoint, but the old gentleman when advised of the destruction caused by his cattle, regarded the information with equanimity. No offer to pay damages was ever considered favorably by him. Nothing but a half-hearted attempt to repair fences was ever undertaken. The slipshod, happy-go-lucky, not-spend-a-cent method, prevailed. His paradise of masterly inactivity he had so fondly and for so long a time indulged himself in, was one day dismantled. He was notified that all his cattle were impounded. The inevitable had at last come. Bending with the weight of years, he sought the field driver, Mr. Joseph C. Grout, then living near the pound and tried to obtain a rebate from the regular fee. His haggling proved of no avail. reluctantly he paid over some thirteen dollars for his want of attention to the demands of justice and the rights of his neighbors. The lesson was a salutary one. His fences were put in order and ever thereafter, or as long as he lived, his cattle fed in his own pasture.
Another case illustrating the penurious habit and from this, leading to a disregard of a neighbor's rights, happened south of the village some forty or more years ago. A well-to- do farmer living there never or hardly ever repaired his fences, and as a sequel his cattle roamed much of the time in the pasture of a son-in-law, Mr. X., whose farm adjoined. Finding fault with the lax methods of his father-in-law, Mr. Z., proving of no avail, Mr. X. hired a man and with him spent a whole day in repairing the fences of Mr. Z. He then called at the house of the latter, and with much profanity interjected, thus ad- dressed him, "I have put your fences in order at my own ex- pense, and now keep your cattle at home. You are so tight you never spend a cent if you can help it. You sell everything off your farm you can, and what you can't sell you feed to your cattle ; what they won't eat, you give to your hogs, and what they won't eat, you eat yourself. You're a hog of the lowest grade." This was said with shrill voice and a constant- ly rising inflection. Mr. Z. was a very soft, low spoken man whose habitual habit in reply to assertions was to say, "Yes, yes ; jus' so, jus' so" and that is what he said on this occasion.
SPENCER INDUSTRIES
Manufactures in 1845.
Cotton mills 3 ; spindles 1200 ; cotton consumed 116,000 pounds ; cotton cloth manufactured, sheetings, 15,000 yards ; value $1.050 ; cotton yarn made and not made into cloth (satinet warps) 44,000 lbs. value $9,200 ; pellisse wadding made 1250 bales of 360 pieces each, value $12,000 ; capital $14,500. Men employed 19, women 12.
Woolen mills 1 ; sets of machinery 1 ; wool consumed 9000 lbs. ; satinet made 8000 vards, value $4,000 ; capital $2,000. Men employed 4, women 3.
Scythe manufactories 2 ; scythes made 2040 ; value $1,530 ; capital $2,000. Employed 3.
Powder mills 1 ; powder made 132,500 pounds, value $15,000 ; capital $3,500 ; employed 4.
Chair and cabinet ware manufactories 1 ; chairs made 1000, value of chairs and other furniture made $2,700.
Tanneries 1 ; hides tanned 2000, value of leather tanned and curried $4,500 ; capital $3,500 ; employed 5.
Boots made 64,850 pairs, value $93,100. Men employed 126, women 41.
Palm leaf hats made 7007, value $1,752. Women em- ployed 68.
Bricks made 60,000, value $300. Employed 2.
Lumber prepared 287,000 ft., value $3,135. Employed 31 ; fire wood prepared 2140 cords, value $5,700. Employed 24.
Sheep 468, value $1.872 ; wool produced 1872 lbs. ; value $700.
Horses 237, value $9,480 ; neat cattle 1577, value $31,858 ; swine 240, value $1,440.
Indian corn or maize raised 9100 bu., value $6,725 ; rye 658 bu., value $526 ; barley 1823 bu., value $1,050; oats 9715 bu., value $3,571 ; potatoes 15.460 bu .. value $5,411 ; other esculent vegetables 2450 bu., value $250; hay 2662 tons, value $22,314.
Fruit raised 13,700 bu. ; value $1,370 ; butter 34,160 lbs. ; value $4,783 ; cheese 58,500 lbs. ; value $2,925 ; honey 335 lbs. ; value $67.
Value of whip handles made $118. Value of garments made $16,000. Employed 39. Wire mills 2 ; wire drawn 32,000 lbs. ; value $8.000, capital $3,000. Employed 6.
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SKETCHES OF SPENCER HISTORY.
Manufactures in 1855.
Cotton mills 1, not running.
Woolen mills 3 ; sets of machinery 312 ; satinet made 112,000 yards ; value of satinet $336,000 ; capital $15,000. Men employed 20, women 12.
Powder mills 1 ; powder made 100,000 lbs. ; value $12,500 ; capital $3,000. Employed 4.
Chair and cabinet manufactories 2 ; value of chairs and cabinet ware $4,000 .; capital $1,500. Employed 4.
Currying establishments 2 ; value of leather curried $58,- 800 ; capital $5,000. Employed 10.
Boots of all kinds made 205,102 pairs ; value of boots $410,204. Men employed 300 ; women 20.
Lumber prepared for market 604,000 ft. ; value $8,068. Employed 20.
Indian corn 264 acres, 3112 bu. per acre ; value $3,245 ; rye 37 acres, 1314 bu. per acre ; value $611 ; barley 50 acres, 19 bu. per acre, value $959.
Manufactures in 1865.
Woolen mills 3 ; sets machinery 4 ; pounds of scoured wool consumed 110,000 ; value of the stock used $150,000. Yards of cassimere made 250,000, value $215,000. Yards of satinet made 172,000, value $292,000 ; capital $58.000. Men employed 38, women 26.
Wire manufactories 2, value of stock used $106,000 ; tons of wire made 382, value $182,700 ; capital $61,000. Employed 59
Currying establishments 2, value of stock used $17,000 ; hides curried 3200 ; value of leather curried $19,000 ; capital $4,500. Employed 5.
Boots of all kinds made 324,943 ; value of stock used $575,000 ; value of boots made 835,000 ; capital $276,000. Men employed 589, women 41.
Ox muzzles made 1700, value $675 ; capital $100. Men employed 1.
Coffins and burial cases of all kinds one manufactory ; value of stock used $100 ; coffins made 45, value $200 ; capital $100. Men employed 1.
Box making establishments 2 ; value of stock used $11,250 ; value of wooden boxes made $20,000 ; capital $3,500. Men employed 8.
Saw mills 5 ; feet of lumber prepared for market 1,150,000; value $17,900 ; shingles prepared for market 200,000 ; value $600 ; capital $4,000. Men employed 5.
Indian corn 219 acres, 5432 bu., value $8,149.
Rye 3 acres, 24 bu., value $48.
Barley 22 acres, 380 bu., value $570.
INDIANS AND NEGROES
Neither of the above races have to any appreciable extent become identified with Spencer since the advent of the white man. James Draper, under the head of slavery, says there were several negroes here in the early days that were held in a state of peonage, three by Rev. Mr. Eaton, two by John Sumner and one each by John Elliot, John White. Isaac Jenks, Robert Luther and Rev. Mr. Pope. There were enough at this time so that two pews were provided for them at the Congre- gational church, both in the gallery-one pew on a side, so as to divide the sexes. The town records of this period con- tain a letter from Rev. Joseph Pope which illustrates one of the usages of the time.
To the Selectmen of Spencer.
Gentlemen : I hereby acquaint you in a formal manner that a certain mulatto girl called Naomi Cady whom I have had in my family in the state and capacity of a minor for a number of years has arrived at the age of twenty-one years on the second day of this instant and is capable of acquiring a legal right of habitation in this town if measures be not taken to prevent it.
From your humble servant, JOSEPH POPE.
Spencer, July 5, 1793.
In more modern times there were two families of negroes who established themselves in the south part of Spencer, where they raised families, were industrious after their fashion, and became a part of the body politic. The heads of the families in these cases were Manly Ransom and Thomas Humphrey. Ransom came to town from Brookfield when a young man and secured work farming. He was a reliable hand and showed at that time a disposition to save money and get ahead in the world. He married Nancy Henry of Ashford, Conn., and after a time Ransom obtained permission to clear half an acre of land near Cranberry Meadow pond dam or rather about one- fourth of a mile to the northeast of the dam. It was all woods and sprout land then as now in this section, but Ransom got
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his half acre under cultivation, dug a cellar, still to be seen, and built thereon a rude cabin as shown in cut. Here quite a number of children were born, no one knows how many, for the town in those days did not pay much attention to recording births, marriages or deaths of negroes. but there was quite a family-too many for the little cabin they occupied. As age crept on the Ransoms became lovers of strong drink and this in the end was the cause of their downfall and breaking up of the Ransom family. The railroad through Spencer ran along within a few minutes walk of the Ransom cabin and those in control of the local freight trains found it convenient to
V
2 . Thelip hay ford?
HUT OF MANLY RANSOM, A NEGRO, NEAR CRANBERRY MEADOW. The only man ever convicted of murder in Spencer to date, 1903.
stop off for a few minutes, occasionally, and visit the Ransom cabin, always taking along a bottle of whiskey. This made trouble, for Ransom was not in favor of the plan and remon- strated against it to no avail. He however, seemed powerless in the matter and at the close of a day in 1850 came home drunk and found her in the same condition. Under the in- fluence of liquor both were ugly, though at other times of quite a peaceful disposition. But now words came to blows, then the use of a knife and then and there Manly Ransom murdered his wife, it being the only actually known murder in the town of Spencer since its settlement in 1721 up to that time, and up to the present time also. It is thought but few towns of the
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size of Spencer can show such a record. Mrs. Ransom was buried in a private cemetery near Cranberry Meadow pond, just over the line in Charlton, now owned by Mrs. Maria L. Sibley of Charlton Depot. Owing to a morbid desire on the part of the public, it is said the funeral was one of the most largely attended of any in the history of the town. The town offered a reward of $50 for the apprehension of Ransom and Luther Hill, who was deputy sheriff at the time, traced his man and secured him while at work in a field at Northampton. On trial he pleaded guilty of manslaughter and was sentenced to state prison. Here he was such an obedient prisoner and with the general feeling that his wife was the real cause of the trouble, the Governor pardoned Ransom at the end of three years. He returned to Spencer, built him a small cabin near South Spencer, where he lived by himself, until his death, work- ing out as a farm hand as opportunity offered. Coming home from Worcester on foot by way of the railroad track a passing train struck and killed him. He always called himself "Manly Ransom, black and handsome" and this was sort of a nursery rhyme for children in that section of the town. And so with the Ransom children, all scattered, the history of the family in Spencer ends.
The other negro family to attain recognition in town was the Humphreys and these were so mixed up with the Dudley Indians, a vanishing contingent of the ancient Nipmucs who once occupied this territory, that it was hard telling who was who, but it was easy enough to tell the nativity of Thomas Humphrey, the pioneer and progenitor of all the Humphreys in the black line that ever inhabited Spencer. Thomas Hum- phrey was a full blooded African, black as the ace of spades, or even more so, according to tradition, who somehow had first made his way from his native land to England and then to this country. He was a soldier in the revolution but for some unknown reason was not pensioned. Thomas Humphrey found a good looking squaw in Dudley, by the name of Esther Peginy and she had as a special endowment two sets of double teeth all around. They married and settled in Spencer, where, no one knows ; but the father was here long enough to beget quite a number of children, William, Joseph, Aaron, Luke, Cyrus and Annie, possibly others, and then probably died, as his name is mentioned no further along in the history. His wife, or "Old Aunt Easter" as she used to call herself and was so called by others, was a woman of some dominant traits of character. Her surname is met with in early records, show- ing that she belonged to one of the first families of the realm,
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SKETCHES OF SPENCER HISTORY.
MRS. MARY E. WHITE AND WILLIAM WHITE, HER HUSBAND. He was a soldier during the Civil War.
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INDIANS AND NEGROES.
but it appears that every scribe wrote the name differently. The Dudley records contain the following :
"January 30, 1734. The Congregational church society of Dudley voted to build a meeting house on Joshua Pegan's old field if the land could be obtained." On the 27 'Mcr' same year the Indians of Dudley hill offered four acres of this farm to the society for their church provided convenient seats for the Indians are allowed. These were the "praying Indians," doubtless converted under the labors of John Elliott.
The grandparents of Esther Humphrey were Samuel Pa- gon, Jr., and Sarah Pagon, Indians, and were married in Dud- ley July 21, 1768. How many children were born to Thomas Humphrey is not known but there were William, Joseph, Aaron, Luke, Cyrus and Annie. They lived wherever they could find a hut large enough to cover them. Huts left by the work- men, who built the railroad ; woodchoppers' abandoned cabins and so they moved around. The last cabin to be occupied and which served as a house for a good many years was a board building built for lumbermen by Jonas and Alpha Bemis when cutting off a woodlot near Howe's mills. By this time Aunt Esther had got to be quite an old woman ; husband dead, children grown up and mostly gone away from home, so she spent day after day visiting her white friends, and the whites were all friendly, for Aunt Esther was of a sunny disposition, a versatile talker, knew everybody, had an excellent memory and was an entertaining visitor. One of the places where she was always welcome was at the house of James Howland on the Brookfield road. Here she always was regaled with a
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