USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > Bolton > History of Bolton, 1738-1938 > Part 4
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Both England and France continued their acts of aggres- sion, England plundering American merchantmen and im- pressing American sailors in the British navy.
With no army or navy worth mentioning, no military leaders, and very small financial resources, the United States declared war on England in June, 1812.
At a town meeting a few weeks after the declaration of war, a commission was appointed to prepare a "Memorial" to be sent to the President. It is easy to see what the people of Bolton and the New England states in general thought of the war. The memorial calls it a "ruinous and destructive War, entered into (as we believe) without a probability of terminating in honor or aggrandizement to the country. In fine, we consider the war oppressive, unjust, calamitous and destructive to ourselves more than any enemy there is to contend with."
A committee was appointed to send the memorial to the President ; Silas Holman and Nathaniel Longley, Jr., were
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HISTORY OF BOLTON
elected as delegates to the County Convention ; and a Com- mittee of Correspondence was chosen to confer with Com- mittees of other towns, as had been done in the Revolution. The members of this committee were Stephen P. Gardner, Silas Holman, Caleb Moore, Nathaniel Longley, Jr., and Oliver Barrett.
Not another word in regard to the war appears on the books of the town except this little item: "voted to pay each soldier $12 per month if called into actual service to fight and defend us from a foreign enemy " provided that the United States or the Commonwealth did not make them a compensation. The names of only two Bolton men have come down to us as having served in the war, those of Elbridge Sawyer and Asa Houghton.
VI THE CIVIL WAR AND THE WORLD WAR
There never was a good war or a bad peace. BENJAMIN FRANKLIN
WHEN Lincoln was inaugurated on the fourth of March, 1861, the Southern States were already in secession and committing acts of war. Their first act was to seize all Federal forts and stores within their boundaries. These forts were built on territory belonging to the states, and the seceding states claimed the right to "resume" their prop- erty. Fort Sumter resisted, and was fired upon on the twelfth of April, 1861. Three days later, President Lincoln called for 75,000 men to serve nine months.
The response of Bolton was quick and enthusiastic. The selectmen, Marcellus Houghton, Joel Sawyer, and John Wallis, posted along the streets and roads of the town the following "Call " :
CITIZENS OF BOLTON
All who are in favor of sustaining the Government of the U. S. are earnestly requested to meet at the Town Hall on Monday, Apr. 22, to hear and act upon the proposition received from Berlin and Harvard, to form a Volunteer Militia Co., and adopt such other measures as may be necessary.
In accordance with this call, at a town meeting held April 19th, 1861, three men, N. A. Newton, Jos. H. Sawyer,
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HISTORY OF BOLTON
and Silas Holman, were appointed to draft suitable resolu- tions, which were as follows :
Resolved : that the citizens of Bolton desire to be behind none of their fellow citizens, in feeling and forcibly manifesting a hearty and loyal attachment to our country, and the institu- tions under which we have heretofore so signally prospered, and that, pledging our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor, calling upon the God of our fathers to aid and bless us, we stand ready, through every hazard and sacrifice, to maintain these time-honored institutions for posterity, as they were handed down to us from a revered ancestry.
Resolved : that in the present trying crisis of public affairs, the unreserved fealty of every good citizen, without reference to party lines or issue, is due to the Supreme Executive of the land, in the first place, and to the Governor of our own state in the second; that, placing high confidence (irrespective of any particular line of policy) in their patriotism, honor, and efficiency, we respectfully tender to them our cordial sympathy in the toils and anxieties of the hour, and our faithful co-opera- tion in all measures deemed necessary for the public safety.
Resolved : further, that in no way, manner, or shape, will we have complicity with treason, or traitors, and that in no form, either by word or deed, will we give them aid or comfort.
Resolved : that we will cheerfully respond to the call of our Country in the hour of need, by furnishing aid and money, and that no considerations of family affection, or private expediency shall withhold us from assuming our proper quota of the public burden, or from our just share of the sinews of war.
A guarantee fund of $1200 was raised, and cooperation with Harvard and Berlin was planned, but was not effected. Thirty-five men enrolled at this time.
On May 6, 1861, a committee of ten was chosen to report suggestions relative to the pay, equipment, and drilling of volunteers. The members of this committee were Sherman W. Houghton, Amory Holman, Jonathan Forbush, C. C.
Iris all hues, roses, and gessamin, Reared high their flourished heads between, and wrought Mosaic; under foot the violet . . .
JOHN MILTON
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THE CIVIL WAR AND THE WORLD WAR
Moore, N. A. Newton, Lyman Moore, John Sawyer, Joel Sawyer, Henry Whitcomb, and Joel Barnard. In accord- ance with their recommendations, the town voted to pay volunteers one dollar a day for a term of thirty days, when organized and drilled by a competent drillmaster, and to pay them thirteen dollars a month in addition to what the Government paid them while in actual service, and to fur- , nish them with a uniform. The town also voted to make provision for the families of volunteers while they were in actual service. A sum not to exceed $3000 was to be raised for these expenses.
Another town meeting was held on July 17, 1862, and it was voted to appropriate $100 for each of the sixteen volun- teers from Bolton, in addition to their regular pay from the United States and from the State of Massachusetts. No bounty money was to be paid any volunteer until he was mustered into the service. A recruiting committee was appointed, consisting of Henry Jewett, Joshua E. Sawyer, Henry T. French, Francis T. Haynes, Samuel R. Haynes, John H. Sawyer, R. S. Edes, and James M. Sawyer.
At intervals throughout the war, the town renewed its instructions to the town treasurer to pay $100 to each volunteer. The money was raised by taxes on the polls and estates of the inhabitants of the town. Town records show that such votes were taken on August 16, 1862, September 21, 1863, March 7, 1864, April 18, 1864, August 3, 1864, and March 6, 1865.
Lincoln issued a call for 300,000 more men in October, 1863, to carry on the war between the states. Massachu- setts required 1526 men, and Bolton's share was 23. In order to recruit this quota, the town held a large public meeting on December second. An eloquent and powerful
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HISTORY OF BOLTON
speech was made by the Honorable John C. Park of Boston, who had been specially invited for the occasion. Ten young men joined as volunteers, and eight more names were received soon after the meeting. Several special war meet- ings were held, and the quota was finally raised.
From the beginning of the war in 1861 to its end in 1865, Bolton raised 155 men, out of a population of approximately 1500. Those who served during the war are listed below, the names under each heading being arranged in alphabetical order. The names of the 21 men who died in the war are starred.
2d Regiment : Henry Learned
13th Regiment (those who first went out) : Ezekiel W. Choate, Ledra A. Coolidge, Silas A. Coolidge, Samuel M. Haynes, Edward A. Houghton, Francis M. Kimmens, Charles McQuillan, William A. Newhall, Rolla Nicholas,* Enoch C. Pierce (sergeant), Henry Whitcomb (captain), John Thomas Whittier (orderly sergeant)
15th Regiment : John Fahee, Thomas Hastings,* Nelson Pratt, Thomas Sherwin, Jr. (captain, afterwards in 22d), John S. Williams (afterwards in 4th Cavalry), John Wood
16th Regiment : George A. Barnes, Albert C. Houghton,* Oliver L. Nourse (sergeant)
19th Regiment : William Stone (major)
20th Regiment : Thomas Whitman *
2Ist Regiment : William A. Bowers, George E. Burgess, Charles R. Haven, James Kennedy, Luke Ollis * (claimed by Lancaster, his name on Lancaster tablet)
22d Regiment : George B. Cook,* Charles A. Fry,* Joseph S. Hildreth, Rufus H. Williams * (claimed by Berlin, his name on Berlin tablet)
23d Regiment : Amos B. Jarvis
32d Regiment : Windsor H. Bigelow (assistant surgeon)
33d Regiment : Edward L. Edes * (corporal)
36th Regiment : Henry H. Bartlett, Theodore H. Bartlett, Edwin
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THE CIVIL WAR AND THE WORLD WAR
Barnes,* Hiram P. Beane, Reuben Clapp, Ezra Crocker,* Frank- lin Farnsworth,* John C. Haynes* (claimed by Lancaster, his name on Lancaster tablet), Andrew J. Houghton, Josiah Hough- ton,* Walter Kennedy, John Lake, George H. Patrick, George F. Sawyer, Joseph H. Sawyer (orderly sergeant), George H. Thomas, Asahel C. Wetherbee, Henry M. Wetherbee, Reuben L. Wetherbee, George S. Willis, Elijah H. Woodbury* (corporal) 38th Regiment : George H. Stone *
47th Regiment : Burgess Taylor
57th Regiment : James J. McVey, George Willis
5th Regiment, Company I (Nine Months' Men) : Edmund R. Babcock (later in 4th Cavalry), F. R. Bennett, George A. Corser * (later in 2d Artillery), James F. Despeau, Lyman Gibbs, William Gibbs, Amory S. Haynes (later in Hundred Days' Men), James D. Hurlbut, James Jillson, William H. Larrabee, Charles B. Newton (captain), Francis M. Newton (later in 4th Cavalry), Andrew L. Nourse, William D. Pierce, Andrew A. Powers (lieu- tenant, later in Hundred Days' Men), John Sawyer (sergeant, later in Hundred Days' Men), Isaac C. Stratton, Augustus H. Trowbridge, Charles H. White, Henry Wood, Henry A. Wood- bury
5th Regiment, Hundred Days' Men : Joseph A. Bryant, Lyman B. Gates, Christopher C. M. Newton, Amos P. Powers, Stephen F. Smith
Nim's Battery : Francis Murphy
Ist Heavy Artillery : Edwin J. Brown, Charles F. Getchell, Edwin Kilburn Holt,* Baldwin Houghton, Warren Houghton, Stephen H. Hunting,* Charles W. Nourse, George W. Pratt,* Eugene Smith, William W. Wheeler, Francis H. Whitcomb
2d Heavy Artillery : Abel J. Collins,* Edward E. Houghton, Charles B. Newton, George E. Sargent, Charles G. Wheeler *
3d Cavalry : Francis E. Howard
4th Cavalry : Waldo E. Kimmens, Joseph L. Marston, Abner M. Nutting, William L. Osgood 5th Cavalry : Thornton Hayden *
5th Cavalry, U. S. A .: John B. Stanley *
Signal Service : George Edwin Woodbury (previously in Ist Cav- alry for Leominster)
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HISTORY OF BOLTON
Provisional Guards : Ira A. Dutton
Regular United States Navy : Robert T. Edes (assistant surgeon), John Henry Hapgood (seaman)
Volunteer Navy : Henry Rockwood (assistant surgeon)
Other Bolton residents in various branches of the service were : Hall Davis, surgeon of the 38th U. S. Regiment, colored troops, afterwards a physician in Bolton; Ambrose Eames, surgeon in the 5Ist Regiment, physician in Bolton; Thomas Grassie, chaplain of 108th N. Y. Volunteers; Mary Elizabeth Haynes, a nurse in the hospitals; Reuben M. Whitcomb and Charles A. Wheelock, sutlers with the 36th Regiment.
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES
Edwin Barnes, son of Samuel and Caroline Haven Barnes, was born in Bolton on January 9, 1837. He joined the 36th, was wounded near Petersburg in December, 1864, and conveyed thence to Washington, where he died on January 10, 1865.
Abel J. Collins, son of Amos W. and Lucy Fry Collins, was born at Stonington, Connecticut, on April 12, 1846. Though by religious convictions a lover of peace, he enlisted in the 2d Heavy Artillery and disappeared from sight some- where near Morehead City, North Carolina. For months his fate was unknown, but finally, almost a year after the close of the war, his name was found on the list of the dead at Andersonville, where he perished on November 5, 1864.
George B. Cook, son of Captain Joshua and Abigail Cook, of Duxbury, was born about 1831, enlisted in the 22d Regiment, and died at White Oak Swamp in the summer of 1861. He left a widow and two children.
George Corser, son of Sam and Luthena Corser, was born about 1844 in Greenfield. He enlisted first in the 5th Regiment with the Nine Months' Men, and later in the 2d
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THE CIVIL WAR AND THE WORLD WAR
Heavy Artillery. He escaped all war bullets only to die of pestilence at Newbern in the fall of 1864.
Ezra Crocker, son of Ezra and Polly Crocker, of More- town, Vermont, was born on March 16, 1821, and enlisted in the 36th. Captain W. F. Brigham wrote of him, "He was cool and brave in battle, prompt and faithful in the performance of every duty." He died at Blain's Cross Roads, December 6, 1863.
Edward Louis Edes, son of Richard and Mary Cushing Edes, was born on Nobember 19, 1845, in Bolton. He joined the 33rd, which had much trying service, first in the Army of the Potomac and afterwards in the Army of Ten- nessee. He suffered greatly from fatigue and exposure on the famous March through Georgia, and was finally taken ill and died at Chattanooga, July 3, 1864. His body was interred in Section E in the National Cemetery. "When he enlisted, he was only sixteen years old but at the time of his illness he had already received the promotion of Corporal. His officers spoke of him in the highest terms as a soldier, and for the moral character he bore."
Franklin Farnsworth, son of Franklin and Lydia Toombs Farnsworth, was born in Bolton, March 2, 1838. The main support of a widowed mother, he might have escaped going to war, but enlisted with the 36th. In the fearful campaign of the Wilderness, he was twice severely wounded. Suffer- ing the pains of an amputated limb, he lingered in the hospital until his death occurred in May, 1864. He was buried at Mary's Heights in the rear of Fredericksburg.
Charles E. Fry, son of Obadiah and Mary Rich Fry, was born in Bolton on September 3, 1840. He enlisted in October 1861, in the 22d Regiment, and died of typhoid fever in 1862.
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HISTORY OF BOLTON
Thomas Hastings, son of Reuben and Hannah Hastings, was born in Berlin about 1818. He joined the 15th Regi- ment, and died in a hospital in Philadelphia on September 29, 1862.
Thornton Hayden, colored, a man of good intelligence, was brought away as contraband from near Fredericksburg by Captain Henry Whitcomb of the 13th Regiment. After living here in Bolton for some months, he felt it his duty to enlist and joined the 5th Massachusetts Cavalry, but, disease taking hold of him, he died at Readville on January 25, 1864.
Edwin K. Holt, son of the Reverend Kilburn and Nancy Stackpole Holt, was born at Thomaston, Maine, in Novem- ber, 1845. He enlisted in the Ist Heavy Artillery. His fate was a hard one, for, wounded and taken prisoner at Spottsylvania, Virginia, he was carried off to Andersonville. Here the most heroic fortitude and cheerfulness availed him little, for diphtheria attacked him, and without medical at- tendance he died four days later, September 13, 1864. He sent his Bible, which he had read through several times, as a parting gift to his parents, telling them that he had always kept the temperance pledge he had made them.
Albert C. Houghton, son of Captain and Mary Danforth Houghton, was born in Concord in 1844. He was among the youngest who enlisted from this town, joining first the 15th and when that was disbanded, the 16th; he did his share in the campaign of the Peninsular and the Seven Days' Retreat. By his good conduct he won the appreciation of those in command, and on the day before his death he was promoted to be Corporal. After his death, word came from his officers that he was attentive to all his duties and one who bravely fell on the field of honor.
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THE CIVIL WAR AND THE WORLD WAR
Josiah Houghton, son of Marcellus and Catherine Fogg Houghton, was born at Winthrop, Maine, on July 25, 1844. Enrolled with the 36th, he was recognized for his orderly, well-disciplined qualities. Hardly had the movement to- ward Richmond commenced in the spring of 1864, when he received a mortal wound from a bullet in his lungs and died in an ambulance on the way to Fredericksburg on the sixth of May, 1864. "Tenderly loved at home, he was not only a brave soldier, but a dutiful son."
Stephen H. Hunting, son of Martin R. and Mary Hough- ton Hunting, was born in Bolton on January 9, 1846. He was with the Ist Heavy Artillery at Petersburg and was killed by a fragment of a shell in the rebels' attack on Fort Stedman, March 28, 1865. "He died," wrote his captain, "in the valiant discharge of his duty."
Rolla Nicholas was the son of George S. and Lydia Nicholas of New Ipswich, New Hampshire. He joined the 13th and was fatally wounded in the battles of the Wilder- ness, lingering along till his death occurred at Armory Square Hospital, Washington, on June 2, 1864.
George W. Pratt, son of Calvin C. and Sarah Pratt, was born in Holden, and was a member of the Ist Heavy Artil- lery. A victim of the battle of the Wilderness, he died on June 16, 1864.
John B. Stanley, son of William and Caroline Stanley, was born in Dover, December 9, 1837. He joined the 15th Regiment and when that disbanded he joined the 5th U. S. Cavalry. His life came to an end through disease on December 27, 1863, at Brandy Station, Virginia.
George Herbert Stone, son of the Reverend T. T. and Laura Poor Stone, was born at East Machias, Maine, on August 2, 1840. He was a quiet, studious boy. His three
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HISTORY OF BOLTON
brothers were already in the field, but full of ardor and en- thusiasm he enlisted in the 38th in the summer of 1862. He was at New Orleans and on the way to Port Hudson, but sick and wounded was borne to the hospital at Baton Rouge, where he died on July 1, 1863. After his death a letter came from Captain Lathrop under whom he served, saying, “In camps and on the march, he always did his duty faithfully."
Charles G. Wheeler, son of Isaac and Martha Whitcomb Wheeler, was born in Bolton, July 25, 1845. He enlisted in the 2d Heavy Artillery and went to North Carolina where he was attacked by pneumonia and died at Morehead City, February 21, 1864.
Thomas Whitman, born in Stow in 1827, was a member of one of Massachusetts' most celebrated regiments, the 20th. He participated in the Seven Days' Retreat from Richmond, and died at Fair Oaks on July 19, 1862.
Elijah Woodbury, son of William and Susan Woodbury, was born in Bolton on January 24, 1824. He was known as a diligent, hard-working man. Enlisting in the 36th, he held the rank of Corporal. He was instantly killed at Cold Harbor on June 3, 1864, and was buried by his comrades on the battlefield where he died.
At the first town meeting after the war, held April 2, 1866, the voters discussed the best method of commemorating the war dead, and a committee was appointed, consisting of S. Henry Howe, Marcellus Houghton, Silas Holman, Caleb Wheeler, and Charles Cook. The committee suggested the erection of suitably inscribed marble tablets in the Town House, and $400 was appropriated for that purpose, Mr. S. Henry Howe generously adding $100 more, for which he received the voted thanks of the town.
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THE CIVIL WAR AND THE WORLD WAR
The Dedication Exercises were held on December 20, 1866. Following the prayer by the Reverend T. T. Stone and the introductory address by Mr. S. Henry Howe, the Reverend R. S. Edes read biographies of the twenty-one men of Bolton who gave their lives in the war, and Doctor George B. Loring of Salem delivered an oration. Mr. Addison Smith read an ode composed for the occasion by Mr. Amos Collins.
The memorial tablets are of white Italian marble, with gilt lettering. Fastened to the wall facing the entrance of the Town House, they stand on either side of the platform and desk, the one on the west side giving the names of the first eleven who fell, and that on the east recording the names of the last ten. The west tablet is inscribed, "They never fail who die in a good cause "; and above the east tablet are the words, "Our loss is our Country's gain." At the base is the inscription, "Erected in grateful remembrance of the brave and patriotic volunteers of Bolton, who gave their lives in defence of their Country, in the war of the Great Rebellion." At the bottom are these lines :
The blood-stained field or nation's dust their bones Receive, while we on memory's sacred tablets carve, In letters bright, their ever-treasured names.
The war between Spain and the United States began in April and ended in December, 1898, hostilities lasting only one hundred and thirteen days. Bolton was affected very little by the war, the only enlistment being that of Walter Currier, who was rejected, and the only other activity being that of the ladies' committee which met to make bandages for the hospitals. Nothing is to be found in the town records on this subject.
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HISTORY OF BOLTON
Thirty-eight citizens of Bolton served in the World War, and two were killed in action in France, Lieutenant David Oliver Nourse Edes and Amory Pollard Sawyer, Jr.
Lieutenant Edes, son of Frank C. and Catherine (Nourse) Edes, was born in Bolton, March 20, 1895, and was gradu- ated from Clinton High School and Massachusetts State College. His military training was first begun at Camp Upton, New York, where he became a sergeant. Later, training in France in the 306th Infantry, he obtained a second lieutenant's commission, in charge of Company E. 13Ist Infantry, and was killed in action on August 10, 1918. Of a sunny disposition, unblemished character, and sterling worth, he gave his life for his country, and his memory will long be enshrined in the hearts of Bolton citizens.
Amory Pollard Sawyer, Jr., the son of Amory P. Sawyer and Elizabeth (Yeoman Wood) Sawyer, was born at Gales- burg, Illinois, on September 2, 1891, and was graduated from the high schools of Worcester and North Brookfield. He enlisted in October, 1917, in Company K., 165th In- fantry, and died in action at Vanclaive, Dordogue, France, on August 13, 1918. Of upright New England stock, he early distinguished himself by his noble worth and character, and bore his name proudly through the trials of the war.
During the late summer of 1917, funds and books were called for to aid in establishing libraries in the various camps for the use of the soldiers. The amount required from Bolton was $40.00. With J. Wilkinson Clapp as director, $96.05 was raised, and some two hundred books and many magazines were collected and sent to headquarters. Under the direction of the Red Cross, the ladies organized into the Civic Federation, which met weekly at the Town House to
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THE CIVIL WAR AND THE WORLD WAR
make bandages. Layettes and children's clothes were made for refugees, and knitting was also done for the soldiers. This organization was continued after the war, and the ladies sewed for charitable purposes, such as the Clinton Hospital.
Below is a copy of the inscription on the World War memorial tablet on the Bolton Public Library grounds.
DEDICATED TO THE MEN OF BOLTON
1917 WHO SERVED IN THE WORLD WAR 1919
* Lieut. D. O. N. Edes
* Amory Pollard Sawyer, Jr.
Charles J. Babcock
Clarence E. Kimball
Leslie L. Babcock
Rene St. Maurice
Charles Barrett
Alphonse Normand
Alfred F. Bonazzoli
Onesine Normand
Pierino Bonazzoli
Albert I. Pardee
George M. Burnside
Stillman Rand
John Bernard Butler
Joseph Roy
Carl Albert Campbell
Chas. E. Sargent
John Francis Coke
Frank W. Sargent
Edward Devine
John Henry Sawyer
Osborne T. Everett
Harry A. Smith
Herbert W. Headle
Ernest Franklin Wheeler
Sydney R. Fletcher
Freeman H. Wheeler
Alfred Francis Gill
Richard M. Wheeler
Henry A. Hamill
William H. Woodbury
Chas. Francis Haynes
Roland N. White
Walter B. Hicks
Lieutenant Marshall Headle
George G. Jacobs
Capt. Edward A. Hackett, A. R. C.
VII EARLY RELIGIOUS HISTORY
Crowns and thrones may perish, Kingdoms rise and wane; But the church of Jesus Constant will remain.
SABINE BARING-GOULD
To understand the early church history of New England, it should be remembered that two separate bodies were con- cerned in the settlement of ministers. The legal body was the parish, usually coextensive with the town, to which all the inhabitants belonged. The business of the parish was usually done in town meeting. The church was a voluntary body of covenanted souls, having no rights under the law but certain privileges, such as worshiping in the meeting- house and cooperating with the parish in the selection of ministers. All 'power of contract' was vested in the parish.
When the town of Bolton was founded in 1738, the grant required the inhabitants to build a meetinghouse, assess and collect taxes, and pay the minister. Accordingly, a town meeting was called in January, 1739, "To know where and at what place to erect an House for the Public Worship of God so that we may in his Time be Preparing for said Building and more Especially to know whether it will not be Agreeable to the inhabitants To have the Gospel preached Amongest us This Winter or not, and who to invite to Dis- pence The Word." It was decided not to have preaching that winter.
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