USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > Bolton > History of Bolton, 1738-1938 > Part 8
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Beneath are a few lines regarding Elizabeth Field Grassie, his wife, who was born in London and died in Bolton. On the other side of the monument is this epitaph :
Born a true Briton, long before he died He claimed New England for his home with pride. From Aberdeen to Bolton hills he came A grazier - Grassie his ancestral name. A spice of Scotland in his veins he bore, For knowing men he lived with nature more ; Some years he toiled with them, but in the mart Pined for the brake, the heather had his heart. So here he settled, oft at sunset hour The west could win him with a magic power. In blue Wachusett and Monadnoc's crest He saw those hills where first he found his nest, And then remembering that his children dwelt Beyond the prairies, how his heart would melt To think how much of this round world had been Of his life's drama the contented scene. What better word to write above his sod Than his one thought of "Gratitude to God."
III
BURYING GROUNDS
THE FRIENDS' CEMETERY
In 1844, James N. and Ruth Fry deeded to the Society of Friends a plot of ground to be used as a burying ground. This cemetery was cared for by the Society until 1925, when, upon their request, it was taken over by the town.
The two earliest stones are the following :
Jonathan Wheeler died
Ruth F
3rd Mo 5th 1845
wife of William H WOOD
Æt 25 yrs. We have loved him on
died 12 month 30 I845
Æt 24 yrs.
earth may we meet him in heaven.
One marker, crudely cut from a common slab of rock, intrigues the imagination. On the headstone in three-inch letters are the initials A. W., nothing more. There is a small "footstone," but it is not marked. This is beside the graves of Elizabeth and Miriam Wheeler. There are many other Wheeler family lots here, as well as those of the South- wicks, the Holders, the Babcocks, the Evans, the Frys, the Jacobs, the Blisses, the Kimmenses, the Joseph and Stephen Randall families, and the Greeley Dow, George Dow and Alfred Dow families.
There are several verses on stones in this cemetery whose writer was doubtless "The Rustic Bard" (Amos Collins) although his nom-de-plume appears beneath only one verse, on the stone of his son Abel, who died in Andersonville Prison during the Civil War at the age of 17 :
No worldly pomp or mortal strife Shall wake thy peaceful slumber more But raised anew to endless life Thy feet now range a happier shore.
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HISTORY OF BOLTON
On the stone in memory of Mary W., wife of Otis H. Ken- dall, is the following, probably also from the pen of the "Rustic Bard" :
Her body slumbers in the tomb Her spirit dwells in heaven In that bright world for which so long Her weary soul has striven And a new harp with music sweet Is swept by unseen fingers Within whose joyous glorious strains No note of sorrow lingers.
XII ROADS
Old roads winding, as old roads will.
JOHN GREENLEAF WHITTIER
THE first roads in New England are named by the early court records "trodden paths." They were narrow trails, less than two feet wide, carpeted with pine needles and fallen leaves, over which the moccasin-shod Indians filed silently through the forest. But these trails were soon deepened and worn bare by the hobnailed shoes of the white settlers, while other paths were formed by the tread of domestic cattle. The trails gradually developed into bridle paths for horses, slowly grew into rugged lanes, and finally became roads for the purpose of ordinary traveling.
The oldest trail in this vicinity is undoubtedly the Bay Path which diverged at Wayland, passed through Nobscott settlement in Framingham, then on to Marlborough. It was, without doubt, a trail which led the traveler to the summit of Wataquadock Hill in Bolton, from which he had his first view across the wooded valley to the shapely dome of Wachusett in the west and northward to the sharp cone of Monadnock.
From numerous early deeds, it is quite certain that the Bay Path had two alternate routes through Bolton. One came up from Stow, following what is now the main road to the Mentzer farm, then along the back road to the foot of Long Hill and through the center of the town, joining the
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HISTORY OF BOLTON
other main branch of Bay Path beyond the Wilder Mansion ; the other route came from Marlborough, or what is now Hudson, through South Bolton over Spectacle Hill by the mills and leading over Wataquadock Hill by what is still known as Bay Path Road. This road is frequently referred to as the Old Marlborough Road, and seldom as Bay Path. It is without doubt the oldest road, and is probably the route over which the first settlers came to this vicinity.
The main roads in Bolton were laid out, for the most part, while the town was still part of Lancaster. Not many of the early Lancaster records are available and the description of the roads is such that it is almost impossible to place them, but a few can be located. The Old Marlborough Road was laid out in 1656, from the center of Lancaster, and was described as follows : "and so over the Penacook River, and so over the interval and through Swan's Swamp, where the town hath already marked out a highway for themselves, and so along to a little pine tree on the north side of Wata- quadock Hill and so along the path," meaning the Bay Path. At about the same time the old Groton Road, which approximately follows Route IIO, was laid out.
In 1720, roads were laid out from the Bay Path; one, probably the present Berlin Road, went over Wheeler Hill into what is now Berlin; and the other led through Hog Swamp. The next year a road was run from Sprague's corner in Still River over the "Green" by the old Houghton place, down the back side of the hill, and along the back way, coming out onto the Bay Road at the present corner below the lime kiln.
In 1724, Long Hill Road was laid out from the Bay Path, about one hundred rods up the hill. This is the last men- tion of highways laid out in the Bolton section of Lancaster
A BOLTON ROAD
POND PARK
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ROADS
until after Bolton was set off, but it must be remembered that many private roads and bridle paths were also in use, which are not mentioned in the records. Many of these bridle paths and private roads were in use for probably ten or fifteen years before they were laid out by the town, and petitions were often refused many times before the roads were taken over by the town.
Soon after the erection of the first meetinghouse, a road was laid out which followed closely the present Harvard road over the Green until it intersected the early road laid out in 1721 ; in 1749, this was extended via Bare Hill to the Harvard line. In this same year the road over Long Hill was extended about one hundred rods, and one year later it was continued to the Marlborough line, or what is now Hudson. Also at the other side of the town, where houses had recently been built, the road which leads from Groton Road over Vaughn's Hill and across to the "old Moor place" now owned by Mr. Clapp, was laid out by the town. The next year, in order that Nathaniel Wilson, who lived at Nourse's Corner on the Groton Road, might more easily come to meeting, the road was extended from his house to that of James Snow, who lived near the Bolton annex of the State School.
During the next ten years, few roads of any great length were laid out, most of the work being confined to the altera- tion of existing roads. In 1764 the town again laid out the Old Marlborough road. Whether this was an oversight on the part of the selectmen it is hard to say, because this road had already been laid out by the proprietors of Lan- caster. It is described in the town book as follows: "a Road or way Five Rods wide it Begins at the Great Road west of David Moors House (near Butler's cider mill) at a
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HISTORY OF BOLTON
pine tree and Runs easterly thru said Moors Land So Be- tween Thomas Balls House and Barn (near the Greenleaf place) and then by Daniel Greenleaf then by Joshua Moors and Abraham Moors So through Said Abrahams Land till it comes over the Dam at the lower end of John Pearse meadow and Still through said Abrahams Land till it crosses the Brook on the Old Dam above the Saw Mill then over a Ridge Hill So through Sundry mens Land till it comes over the Dam Below Specticle Meadow So called then thru Several parsons Land untill it comes to Marl- borough Line Northerly of Capt. Barnards Land all the way whare the Parth is now trod on Land Formerly Left for a highway."
For the convenience of those people living on the farther side of the Green, the so-called "Town House Road" was in use for many years, but it was not until 1764 that it was officially laid out by the town. Also in this same year the road from the corner at Taylor's blacksmith shop was laid out for about one hundred rods to "Israel Greenleaf's House," which road was eventually connected to the corner where the Town House Road joins the old road over the Green.
From this time on, the state and county figure largely in the construction of roads. Following is the clerk's copy of an order passed on the petition of the Selectmen of Bolton :
In the House of Representatives June ye 19th 1766, Resolved that the Prayer of the Petision be Granted and all those ways mentioned therein which have Been Laid Out by the Select men and accepted by the Town of Bolton Notwithstanding the ommi- sion of any Clark of Said Town in Making a Record of the acceptance thereof by said Town and also other ways which have been accepted by Said Town in making a Record of the
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ROADS
acceptance thereof by said Town and also the other ways which have been accepted by said Town on a General clause in the warrant without any particular Discription of the Same be and hereby are Established and Confirmed as Town ways to all Intents and Purposes the aforesaid defects Notwithstanding.
The county began its system of roads at this time, and there were three different routes which went through Bolton, as may be seen on the 1794 map of the town which was re- quired by the state. These were the Groton Road, which was the post road to Worcester ; the main road through the town from Lancaster, over the hill by the Wilder Mansion and down the main road to Stow, the post road from Lan- caster to Boston; and the road near West Pond which branched off the Boston Post Road and led over Long Hill to what was then Marlborough.
Considerable opposition was raised by the town to these county roads, probably because of the taxes for their up- keep. In 1786, the following articles were put before the town meeting :
To see If the Town will Chuse a Commity to apply to the Sesans [meetings of the County Commissioners in Worcester] for Som Releaf Respecting the County Roads Being Laid threw this Town, and also that no money be raised for the county roads which were laid through the Town over Long Hill and in the southern part of the Town.
This controversy over the county road on Long Hill and toward Stow lasted for many years and flamed up again in 1815, when a Memorial was sent to the Worcester Court contesting a petition by the inhabitants of Stow for having a highway in Bolton ---
from the Gravel Pit, so called, to the line of the County of Middlesex in the direction of Hale's Corner in said Stow .. .
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HISTORY OF BOLTON
in their sincere belief no public utility or advantage was to be obtained, as the road if laid out will pass over a hill of almost inaccessable ascent for teams and carriages, will be shunned by the traveller when he can now pass on a level route and well made road.
Their idea of a "well made road" differed greatly from our conception of one today. There were certain periods in the year when travel was impossible even on the county roads, as the History of Worcester County testifies: "the Great Road from Lancaster to Boston which leads over Wattoquodock Hill upon its declevity, where it is very moist consisting of clay and loam, sensibly felt by the trav- elers in the wet seasons of the year."
By this time most of the roads in Bolton had been laid out and few more are mentioned in the town records. In 1820, the main road through the center of the town was repaired and straightened, the greatest change being from Taylor's blacksmith shop to Mentzer's, where the road was made to follow the brook as it does today. Nearly twenty years later, the road past Dr. Clapp's house was changed to go around the foot of the hill instead of over the top. In 1835, the road from the Friends' Meetinghouse to the Moor Farm was built, and a few years later a road was built from Rufus Randall's to where the Schartners now live. Due to lack of travel this road was discontinued after having been in use only fifteen years.
When the road was built from the old Brigham place to the main road at Horseshoe Pond, the Town House Road was discontinued, and there was also a private road which started about opposite the road at Horseshoe Pond and led over to Little Pond and from there branched off and came out by Century Mills.
119
ROADS
From that time to the present, there is no mention of any new roads, and except for minor straightenings and altera- tions the roads are the same today. Thus we have a quiet rural community, not troubled by any serious amount of traffic, and still not far from the larger cities of the state.
XIII SCHOOLS
Wisdom is never dear, provided the article be genuine.
HORACE GREELEY
BOLTON, true to New England tradition, was ever mindful of her schools. From the beginning, the school was one of her first considerations, as the records show : "acting under Article I of the warrant of March 7, 1738/9, the question was put whether the Town would Raise Fifty Pounds for keeping a School for Reading and writing in said town. It past in the affirmative."
Although in October of the same year the town refused to build a schoolhouse, the appropriations for teaching con- tinued. In March, 1740, Bolton voted to have a school rate, and granted twenty pounds. The following year a committee was chosen to "provide a schoolmaster for the Town." Fifty pounds was granted.
The question of a building was still a vital one. In March, 1741, "It was put to vote whether the School should be a standing School as near the m.h. as can be conveniently kept and so all that Live within Two miles of the same to be at the charge of said School, And them without The Two Miles To Draw their part of the School Rate and appropriate the Same for their Children Giving Liberty To Send To Any School in Said Town. It pass't in the affirmative."
On May 21, 1744, it was "voted to build a schoolhouse near the Meeting house." Captain Benjamin Atherton,
120
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SCHOOLS
Lieutenant Jabez Beaman, and Deacon Jabez Fairbank were appointed as the building committee. The selectmen were "to provide a school master ye present year." In October of the same year "150 pounds old tenor" was granted for the schoolhouse. An old receipt reads, "Bol- ton, March : 15 : 1752 Then Receved of Mr. William Saw- yer Two pounds, Ten Shillings and Two Pence, it Being in Full with what I had Receved Before For all My Serves in Schooling In Said Town I Say Receved By Me Ephrm Whitney."
From 1751 until 1760, there was much controversy about dividing the town into school districts. It was voted on May 21, 1751, that "the Town be Divided into Five Parts in order for conveniant Schooling," in connection with which Deacon Josiah Whitcomb, Captain Benjamin Atherton, Samuel Nurse, Benjamin A. Baley, and Abraham Moore were appointed a committee "to find out the Respec- tive Centers of The Town." However, the vote was " Abolished made void and Done away" at the meeting of March 6, 1753, despite the fact that the town had pre- viously "excepted of the commitys Divisshun which they made Conserning School Houses."
Again, in 1756, the town meeting "voted to divide the town into five parts for the better accommoding the schul- ling," and in 1759, Article 8 in the warrant read as follows : "To see what Method the Town will come into for the Better Regulating the School."
In 1760, the question was settled, for on May 19, "The Town accepted the Committee's Report Relating to School houses and voted to Raise ninty three pounds, Six Shillings and eight pence for building the school houses; voted that said School houses Be Sixteen Feet Squair beSide the Chim-
I22
HISTORY OF BOLTON
ney Way." Samuel Baker and five others were chosen "to build or see that the School Houses Be built."
Later, the meeting "Choose Mr Silas Baley, Mr. Joshua Johnson, Capt. Samuel Nurs, Mr Samuel Bruce, Mr. Eleazor Whetcomb, Mr Gabril Preist, Mr Jeremiah Hol- man, Mr Jonas Houghton, Mr William Fiffe, Mr Abram Moore, Mr Josiah Sawyer, Mr Artemus How, a Committee to Joyn the Committee above Menchend In Building the School Houses." The town voted on September 10, 1760, that it would not pay "the Commity For their Servis in Dividing the Town for Schooling."
When the schoolhouse near Eliakim Atherton's burned, some wished to move the old schoolhouse near the meeting- house to this site, while others wished to build a new one. It was voted to "pass over the article until such time as the Inhabitants living in that quarter of the Town shall get agreed amongst themselves." The "old schoolhouse" seems to have been ever in demand, for a few months later an article was presented in regard to the "moving of the old schoolhouse to such a place as the Town shall prefix or Build a new one so as to accommodate that part of the Town." In September, a committee was appointed to "view and examine that part of the Town that was sup- posed to belong to the District where the schoolhouse was burnt." They reported on October third that "said schoolhouse should set on the Hill Between Mr. Newhall's and Mr. Atherton's on the South side of the way." It was then voted to move the old schoolhouse to that place.
After 1775, there are no recorded appropriations for many years. Apparently the "times which tried men's souls" demanded the full attention of the town, and school records were not kept.
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SCHOOLS
It is interesting to note that in 1782, the year after the war ended, three articles in the warrant concerned the School District - (I) "to apportion the several parts of the town," (2) "to see if it is necessary to move some schoolhouses," (3) "to Divide the Town into squadrons to accommodate the schooling and each squadron pitch upon the place for their schoolhouse." While these three articles were either passed over or rejected, the town must have been divided into "squadrons" or districts sometime during 1785, for it is recorded, on Nobember 28, "that each squad- ron draw their proportion of the grant for schooling and lay it out under the Direction of the Selectmen."
In a few years further building was discussed. In 1788, one reads, "Refused to build Sch. h's but chose Mr. Samuel Blood and 15 others a Com. to see what alterations (if any) ought to be made in the squadrons etc." Their report was accepted and each squadron was directed to meet "Monday next at two o'clock" to agree on sites for the schoolhouses. A committee was appointed to select places "in those squadrons that could not agree among themselves," as was the case in the northeast part of the town. The spot selected was on the north side of the road eighteen rods from Silas and Abraham Holman's barn. Then all these votes were reconsidered. "They voted to chose a large Com. (Micah Bush and 12 others) to see how many sch. hs. will be necessary to accomodate the whole town." The report of the large committee, which was accepted, was as follows : "That there be five sch. hs. . . . one to be set close by where the Blacksmith's shop stands to the west of where Mr. Samuel Blood now lives; another where the sch. h. now stands in the Northeast part of the Town; another to be set in South East part of the Town
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HISTORY OF BOLTON
nigh the s. w. corner of Lieut. Jona Nurss land" (now Hudson) ; "another in the southwest part of the town be- twixt Mr. Abijah Pollards House and Mr. Abraim Pollards Gate" (on Wataquadock Hill) ; "the fifth in Northwest part of the Town where the old schoolhouse now stands" (on the Still River Road) "and to draw 12 weeks schooling to the other sch. hs. 10 weeks each and to be built larger if necessary than the others."
In 1798 it was voted "to build schoolhouses in convenient time." The schoolhouse in the center of town was to be twenty feet square, while the others were only eighteen. Each was to have a porch and an eight-foot shed. Seventy- five pounds was allowed for furnishing these new buildings, but the town refused to appropriate money to clapboard and paint them.
A committee consisting of "Mr. Jona. Nurse, Capt. Jona. Moor, Deacon Daniel Nurse, Col. Robert Longley, and Silas Holman " was appointed to join with the Select- men "to Equal the schooling that has bin kept within the said town of Bolton for the past five years."
Their report was accepted and it was voted that the selectmen provide a good woman's school for eight weeks in each of the new schoolhouses except the Northeast.
In 1796, one finds the first use of "dollars" in the records, when eight hundred dollars was appropriated "for the sup- port of schools and other town charges." Until 1854, the school appropriation was included in "other town charges" or "for poor, schools, etc." A bill and receipt read as fol- lows :
Bolton, September 1I, 1797,
The town of Bolton Debt to me for boarding a school ma'am ten weeks, beginning at the 12th of June, 1797 ten dollars.
Robert Longley Jr.
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SCHOOLS
Received the contents of the within account
Robert Longley Jr.
In response to a petition from a number of the inhabitants it was voted in 1797, to encourage singing by having a school for one month, and forty dollars was granted for the same. Major James Houghton, Jr., Mr. Silas Whitcomb, and Mr. Enoch White were chosen "to provide the master, establish regulations, and provide fewel and other necessaries for said school." This singing school continued "off and on" for one hundred years, until 1897, when it became a part of the regular school system.
After many years, the school buildings again received attention. It was voted in 1798, "to clapboard, paint, underpin and point the walls of all schoolhouses not finished." Probably Bolton now had its "Little Red School Houses."
It was also in this year that there was "A Com. appointed to converse with The Friends on their request to be set off as a squadron and to draw their proportion of the money for schooling, reported not in favor, which was accepted. The Friends already had a sch. h. and maintained a school at their own charges." However, in 1802, "Upon request of John Fry and others, the Friends were to be allowed to draw back 75 per cent. of the school tax paid by them, to be ex- pended 'for the support of a school to be taught by a master of their denomination,' suitably qualified, 'said master and school to be subject to the same examination and inspection as the other masters and schools are , the same to be a free school for all denominations . . . to be indulged with the privilege of using their own decent language in said school.' Until 1845, a Committee was chosen at the annual March meeting to "everage Friends' school money."
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HISTORY OF BOLTON
The year 1802 brought a great change in the equip- ment of the schoolhouse, for brick stoves were built in several, under the direction of Mr. Stephen P. Gardner, chairman of the committee in charge of the work. It is said of the stoves, "They were sort of ovens taking four- foot wood and replaced the great fireplaces."
An old bill for the services of a teacher reads :
The Town of Bolton to Betsy Whitcomb Dr. to teaching school three weeks at 7/6 $3.75. Bolton Dec. 12, 1808 Received pay for Betsy Whitcomb.
Eleazer Houghton.
In 1825, the course of study was under consideration. "A Com. of Daniel Sawyer and 8 others appointed under Art. 8, 'To see if the Town will prohibit the Latin and French languages being taught in our schools,' reported April 4, ' that through the multiplicity of branches taught .
the shortness of time, the large number in our houses, the confusion that so many branches make; that these branches tend to draw the attention of the minor scholors from their studies, and must take considerable time in writing, etc. . .. would recommend that said languages be excluded' from our common schools." The same year four hundred dollars was granted to move and repair the Center Schoolhouse, and to build a new one where it would be deemed advisable. The district had been divided. A committee to inquire into the better equalization of school- ing reported, - "'We think there can be no measure more congenial to the excellent system than a distribution of money (for schools) without regard to taxation. As respects to the friends School the Com. thinks they are in justice entitled to a proportion of money which they pay,' and
Reward of Merit.
Sold by Lincoln & Edmands,
THIS CERTIFIES, THAT
allard
No. 53 Cornhill.
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