USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > Hardwick > History of Hardwick, Massachusetts, with a genealogical register > Part 26
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PHYSICIANS. No trace has been discovered of any physician in Hardwick earlier than 1749; since which time, however, the town has never been destitute of at least one medical adviser.
JEDEDIAH RICE was here as early as April 11, 1749. He had scarcely sufficient time to make full proof of his skill and use- fulness, as he died April 4, 1756, before he was thirty years old. He was one of the earliest members of the Separate Church.
JOEL CARPENTER commenced practice here as early as March 25, 1752. He remained certainly until March 1, 1764; but how much longer does not appear.
CHALLIS SAFFORD was here in 1755. He died in 1771, aged 38, and left the reputation of a skilful physician.
JONAS FAY commenced practice soon after 1760. He ranked high as a physician, and still higher as a politician and a patriot. He removed to Bennington about 1768, and closed his active life March 6, 1818, aged 82.
ISAAC ROBINSON was born here in 1747. After a short prac- tice here, he removed to Chesterfield about 1771, and later to Stamford, Vt.
241
LITERARY HISTORY.
JEDEDIAH FAY was born here in 1755. He is said by tradition to have practised in this town for many years ; but precisely how long, and whether he died here, is not ascertained.
JOHN PADDLEFORD, Y. C. 1768, commenced practice here. He was authorized to establish an " inoculating hospital " in 1776. About 1778 he entered the navy as a surgeon, was taken pris- oner, and died in 1779, aged about 31.
CHARLES DOOLITTLE was here as early as 1771. He was highly esteemed as a skilful physician and a useful citizen. He died June 12, 1785, aged 36.
LUCIUS DOOLITTLE was here in 1783, with his brother Charles, and succeeded him in practice. After a few years he removed to Lyndon, Vt., but afterwards returned, and died here December 1, 1831, aged 70.
ARTHUR RAWSON was here in 1785. Like several of his pred- ecessors, he was cut off in early life. He died December 25, 1796, aged 38.
CYRUS WASHBURN was born here in 1774. After practising medicine in Hardwick a few years, he removed in 1803 to Ver- non, Vt., where he died March 2, 1860, aged 85.
ELIAS PENNIMAN came here about 1793. He became insane, and died February 9, 1830, aged 81.
WILLIAM CUTLER came here in 1795. He was for many years the only apothecary in town, but refrained from medical practice. He died February 9, 1832, aged 78.
CONVERS CUTLER came here in 1796. He died November 1, 1831, aged 76.
JOSEPH WHITE bought the homestead of Martin Kinsley, January 7, 1796, and practised here for a few years. He was published, June 30, 1799, to Beersheba Jenney of New Bedford, to which place it is supposed he soon afterwards removed.
ELLIOTT BECKWITH probably commenced practice here in early life. When he died, March 6, 1814, aged 58, there was a general lamentation.
DAVID BILLINGS was born here in 1771. He practised through life, chiefly in the westerly section of the town and in Ware; he died October 15, 1833, aged 62.
JOSEPH STONE commenced practice here immediately after the death of Dr. Beckwith in 1814. He was skilful and success- ful as a physician, and rendered various important services to the town which are not yet forgotten. He died June 27, 1849, aged 59.
16
242
HISTORY OF HARDWICK.
STEPHEN K. WARDWELL also commenced practice here im- mediately after the death of Dr. Beckwith in 1814. He was specially distinguished as a surgeon, and had an extensive prac- tice in the neighboring towns. He died October 8, 1844, aged 55.
WILLIAM H. WILLIS was here in 1842, but removed to North Reading before November 14, 1843, when he was recommended to the church in that place.
LAFAYETTE RANNEY, D. C. 1842, and M. D. at the same Col- lege, 1845. He commenced practice here, but removed to New York city about 1852.
ISAAC G. CUTLER was here for a time after the death of Dr. Wardwell, but soon removed.
CHARLES FIELD also practised here for a short season after the death of Dr. Wardwell.
ALMON M. ORCUTT was the recognized successor of Dr. Stone, .. in 1849, and entered at once into a successful practice, which he still retains.
GEORGE CHAMBERLAIN was here about 1850, but soon re- moved to Brimfield.
JAMES P. LYNDE practised here a few years, but soon after 1855 removed to Athol, where he still resides.
JUBAL C. GLEASON was the first settled physician in Gilbert- ville. He came from Hubbardston to that village in 1867, and removed to Rockland in 1870.
WILLARD H. STOWE came from Vermont to Gilbertville about 1870, and removed to Palmer in 1876.
WILLARD C. HAVEN, son of Rev. John Haven of Charlton, commenced practice in Gilbertville in 1877, and removed to Brookfield in 1878.
WESLEY E. BROWN came from Paxton to Gilbertville about 1878, and is still a practising physician in that part of the town.
MRS. MARIA RUGGLES (wife of Moses Ruggles), though not a member of the Massachusetts Medical Society, has practised med- icine in Hardwick for several years, and generally secured the confidence and approbation of her patients.
POETS. Many sons of Hardwick, whether residing here or elsewhere, have been eminently useful to the community in the various learned professions, as well as in the ordinary affairs of life ; but very few have been publicly known as authors, either in prose or poetry. Of those few, in addition to brief no-
243
LITERARY HISTORY.
tices in the Genealogies, I may be pardoned for mentioning two, - the one a permanent resident, and the other native-born.
Deacon Joseph Allen, who spent almost the whole of his active life here, and died August 18, 1793, aged 84, together with an absorbing interest in the straightest theology of his day, had also a passion for rhyming. During his life, especially in old age, he was accustomed to commit to writing his opinions and arguments on theological subjects, with exhortations to his brethren to stand fast in the faith, evidently with the hope that what he had writ- ten might at some time be published. He also expressed many of his thoughts in homely verses. After his decease, some friend caused at least a portion of his manuscripts to be printed in a pamphlet entitled "The Last Advice and Farewell of Deacon Joseph Allen to the Church and Congregation of Hardwick," pp. 51, octavo, Brookfield, 1795. The prose articles I omit entirely, but give space to two specimens of history "done into rhyme." The first 1 is entitled -
"SOME OBSERVATIONS ON THE TOWN OF HARDWICK, IN THE EARLY STAGES OF IT.
" When I look back, and take a view Of that which now has been, There then was found but very few Which did this Town begin.
" In thirty-six I came into This then a wilderness ; Great hardships we did undergo ; Our wants did daily press.
" Near thirty miles, without a road, We were obliged to go, Through woods, and streams, and depth of snow, To fetch our daily food.
" The families were twenty-three That then did here belong ; They all did hardships bear with me, But now are dead and gone.
"My wife and I are left alone Of all that married were ;
1 Written apparently in 1789.
244
HISTORY OF HARDWICK.
And we remain their loss to mourn Of whom we loved so dear.
" Of single men, there are but two, And both advanced in age; And all the rest, though but a few, Are gone from off the stage.
1
" A Church was gathered the same year A Minister ordained ; His call it was perfectly clear ; Great blessings he obtained.
"For more than forty-seven years He did with us remain; His doctrines were both sound and clear, All of a gospel strain.
" Five years ago, he took his leave, And bid us all farewell ; The loss, so great, we can't conceive, 'Tis hard for us to tell.
" So long we have been destitute; How long we so must dwell ; For it is known without dispute That none of us can tell.
" Yet must not do as some here say, But constant use the means, And wait for the appointed day Till God shall change the scene.
" The greater part that here was born Have early took their flight Into a state that's most forlorn, Or to a world of light."
The next has reference to the extraordinarily cold winter of 1779-80,1 during which, I have heard my elders say, for many
1 The following article was republished in the Boston Evening Transcript, Jan- uary 1, 1873 : -
" COLD WEATHER IN OLD TIMES. "NEW YORK, December 28, 1872.
" To the Editors of the Evening Post : - The present winter, thus far, has proved
245
LITERARY HISTORY.
weeks the snow did not melt on the south side of the house-tops ; the public roads became so blocked that locomotion was accom- plished almost exclusively on snow-shoes, and burdens were moved on hand-sleds. It is entitled -
"ON THE SEVERE COLD WINTER IN 1779.
" Full seventy years I've seen, and more, Since I my breath did draw ; But never knew such cold before As lately here I saw.
" From twenty-sixth of November, Till ten weeks had an end, A time we all shall well remember How wood and hay did spend.
"The cold increased for seventy days, With multitude of storms, Till snow had clogged up all the ways, For few of them were worn.
" The snow came down like fleecy wool At times for forty days,
to be the most severe known for some years, and I thought the following ex- tracts from an old journal might be of in- terest to some of your readers.
" The winter of 1779-80 was, in Amer- ica, the severest that had been known since 1741. From November 25 to the middle of March the cold was severe and almost uninterrupted. The following was the state of the thermometer (Fahren- heit) at Hartford, Conn. :
January 1, 1780, 2 deg. above.
2,
3, 4,
5,
6
9 1 5 19 26 11
66
‹‹
8
9
.€
15 10
January 17, 1780, 17 deg. above.
18, 19, 20,
12
13
5
below. above.
6 below.
5 above.
9 below.
6 above. below.
28, 29, 30, 31,
20 15
66
66
February 1,
2, 3, 4, 5,
2 3
3
15
8
below.
" Mean temperature for January at sun- rise, 4 degrees ; almost 20 degrees below the temperature of the same month in or- dinary winters. . . .
" Very respectfully, " Your obedient servant, " COLEMAN BENEDICT."
7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16,
14
above.
66
below. above.
66
6, 10
"
21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 16 " 6 26, 27, 2
8
4
above.
7 " below.
16
246
HISTORY OF HARDWICK.
Both at the change and at the full, Which puts us to amaze.
" But little rain did then come down To mix among the snow, To wet the dry and thirsty ground, Till springs were very low.
" But at the last, for thirty days, No storm of any kind, But only squalls, the wind did rise And left keen cold behind.
"The freezing cold did waste the springs, Till they were almost dry ; We hardly could, by any means, Get ground our corn and rye.
" We could obtain but little meal, To make for us our bread, While we the keenest cold did feel, Both up, and in our bed.
" The cattle too could hardly get, From springs that used to burst, The watery element, to wet, To quench their daily thirst.
" This is thy hand, Oh mighty God, Who orders seasons all, And makes us feel thy smarting rod, To make us prostrate fall.
"It is most fit that we endure Thy sore chastising hand, For our bold crimes they did procure These judgments on our land.
" Have mercy, Lord, for mercy's sake, Give us thy sheltering wing ; And cause the winter soon to break, And hasten on the spring."
Timothy Paige, Jr., Esq., native born, left town when young,
247
LITERARY HISTORY.
and, after residing a few years in Georgia, settled in South- bridge, where he died November 14, 1822, aged 34. He pub- lished several poetical articles, generally with the signature of "JAQUES," in the " Massachusetts Spy " and other journals, which were well received, though most of them had a tinge of sadness, the result, perhaps, of a discouraging lack of health. I select the last verses which he prepared for publication (printed in the "Spy " December 25, 1822), together with editorial remarks : -
[With emotions which we cannot easily define, we publish, this week, the "Farewell to Summer," the " saddest and the latest lay " of one who (as is known to many of our readers),
" His finest chords by death unstrung, Has yielded life's expiring sigh."
The " Farewell " derives additional interest from the fact that, although it has just reached us, it is altogether, even its superscription, in the handwriting of JAQUES. It comes to us like the breathings of a disembodied spirit, like a strain from the chambers of the dead. JAQUES was no stranger to us ; in years long gone by we were inmates of the same dwelling. His spirit was too gentle, his chords too finely strung, to encounter the harsh realities of life; and he finally sunk under a sensibility too exquisite to endure the " ills which flesh is heir to." . Ed. Spy.]
"FAREWELL TO SUMMER.
" Farewell, glowing Summer, thy last sun is beaming His glow on thy cheek, and his light on thine eye ; To-morrow shall come, and his mellow beams, streaming, Shall chequer the clouds of an autumnal sky.
" The foliage and flowers thou so fondly hast cherished, The embryo hope and the wreck of the Spring,
Deprived of thy warm beams, ere long shall have perished In the chill blast and shadow of Autumn's dark wing.
" Yet, welcome the change. - He who fashion'd creation In wisdom such changes saw fit to ordain ;
By contrast, life's joys have their just graduation ; Spring owes half its charms to stern Winter's dark reign.
" The sun, o'er his rising when gloomy clouds lower, Like shadows that darken the light of the breast,
·
248
HISTORY OF HARDWICK.
More brightly his beams sheds o'er streamlet and flower, As in cloudless effulgence he sinks in the west.
" To the Spring let youth's jocund heart pay its devotion, Contentment still revel on bright Summer cheer ;
But misfortune's eye gazes, with deeper emotion, On Autumn's dark landscape and foliage sere.
" And Winter, to warm hearts so chilling and cheerless, - I remember the season when I too was gay ;
When my heart was as light, and mine eyes were as tearless ; - But the flowers of that Summer have withered away.
" The cold blasts of Winter that sweep o'er the mountain, His ice-fettered streams, and his wild waste of snow,
Add no chill to man's feelings, when pleasure's pure fountain Has ceased in his bosom forever to flow.
" Man's Winter is death. In the cold grave shall slumber The mortal ; in mercy Heaven fixed the decree ;
Pain, disease, disappointment, life's ills without number, Return to the earth ; yet his spirit is free.
" From that Winter of death, yet a bright Spring ensuing Shall flourish thenceforth in perennial bloom ;
Earth hath change, from the Spring-flower to Winter's dark ruin ; Existence unchangeable wakes from the tomb.
JAQUES." " August 31, 1822.
SCHOOLS. - For the first ten years after the settlement of the town I find no trace of public schools.1 But at a town-meeting, April 2, 1744, it was " voted to get a school-master for the town, to begin in the first of September, and to continue eight months, and to remove four times." The first school-master was William Thomas.2 At the close of his first engagement, under a warrant,
1 The education of the young, however, Marlborough in 1725, and was educated was not wholly neglected, as is manifest from the fact that a large proportion of those who were then children appear to have been able, in mature life, both to read and to write.
2 Father of Robert B. Thomas, the original "Author and Editor of the Farmers' Almanac," who, in a "Concise Memoir" of himself, published in the almanacs for 1833 and 1834, says his father, William Thomas, was born at
in the common schools of that town, and of Shrewsbury. "Being of a studious turn of mind and fond of reading, he purchased many books and soon became quite a scholar for those days. In the year 1744 he commenced school-keeping at Brookfield, at the age of nineteen years, which he followed, winters, more or less, for upwards of forty years. The same year commenced in Hardwick, being the first school-master in that town."
249
LITERARY HISTORY.
" to see if the town will agree with the school-master for a longer time," the town, May 13, 1745, " agreed and voted to have Mr. William Thomas to be our school-master for the space of nine months ; he is to begin to keep school the first of September, and keep nine months next ensuing ; and for his so doing, he is to have eight pounds, old tenor, for each month he finds his own board- ing." In the previous January, the town appointed a " Committee to divide the town into five parts for the school to be kept in"; and the teacher, probably, removed five times, instead of four times, as required by a former order. At a town-meeting, May 16, 1748, the town raised one hundred and fifty pounds, old tenor, for schools, to be divided equally between the five districts. This rule of division prevailed for several years ; but it was voted, December 28, 1761, " that the Quarter in the middle of the town shall have three pounds out of the money raised to defray the necessary charges, for the use of the school, more than their equal part of the money raised before for the use of the school, by reason of other Quarters sending so many children into it."
The town voted, September 22, 1746, "that the Selectmen shall provide a school-master to keep school thirteen months." Under this vote, it appears that Thomas Ruggles,1 of Rochester, was employed. Payments " for keeping the schoolmaster Thomas Ruggles " were made, October 19, 1747, to Captain Benjamin Ruggles (for "four weeks and a half"), £4 10s. 0d .; and to Constant Merrick (for four weeks), £4 0s. 0d .; also, March 6, 1748-9, to Matthew Barr (for four weeks), £4 0s. 0d. The names of several early school-masters are gleaned from the treas- urer's accounts ; but the materials for a perfect list have not been discovered. It may be observed that almost the whole number were inhabitants of the town, and that Lemuel Hedge, Thomas Wells White, John White, Reed Paige, and, probably, Alexander McDowell, were either students in college, or had already grad- uated.2
1 Son of Rev. Timothy Ruggles. He 1756-7; John Bradish, 1757; Lemuel subsequently returned to his native town, was a physician, and died before May 6, 1776.
2 The earliest teachers were : William Thomas, 1745-6 ; Thomas Ruggles, 1747 ; Deacon John Freeman, 1748-57; Hum- phrey Peirce, 1749-50; Deacon John Cooper, 1751-9, 1766; Deacon Joseph Allen, 1751; Joseph Safford, 1753; Dr. Joel Carpenter, 1753; Stephen Fisk,
Hedge, 1757; Thomas Wells White, 1759- 60, 1763, 1772, 1774; Dr. Jonas Fay, 1761-3; Alexander McDowell, 1765 ; Christopher Paige, Jr., 1766; William Oliver, 1766; Philip Jordan, 1766-7 ; John White, 1770, 1785 ; Ebenezer Wash- burn, 1771-2; Barnabas Sears, 1772; Nathan Wheeler, 1782; Reed Paige, 1785; Nathan Merrick, 1785, 1789 ; John Rice, 1787.
250
HISTORY OF HARDWICK.
.
The Court of Sessions exercised a strict supervision over the towns in regard to schools. In February, 1746-7, apparently before Thomas Ruggles commenced his term of service, this town narrowly escaped presentment, or indictment, for neglect, and voted to pay ten shillings to "Lieut. Eleazar Warner for prevent- ing the town from being presented for want of a school ; " prob- ably by showing that the town had already passed a vote to " provide a school-master, to keep school thirteen months." In August, 1758, Hardwick was presented for lack of a grammar school ; but the record states that "the said town, being now provided with a school, plead that they would not contend with the king, but put themselves upon his grace ; whereupon the said town was dismissed, paying costs."1 . In January, 1767, a fine of £8 6s. 8d. was actually imposed on Hardwick for delinquency in duty ; whereupon it was voted, March 2, 1767, " to provide a grammar school-master for the year ensuing." At a later period, March 7, 1785, it was " voted to raise £80 for schooling, and to have the grammar school kept in four parts of the town so long as will clear the town of a fine, an equal proportion in each part, viz., at Edward Ruggles',2 Colonel Timothy Paige's,8 David Allen's,4 and John Paige's,5 on condition of their finding a suit- able room and firewood for said school, free of cost from the town." If this vote seem to savor of parsimony, it should be re- membered that it was passed at a time when the people, not only of this town, but throughout the Commonwealth, were groaning under the pressure of obligations, both public and private, so intolerable that a year later they were driven to utter despera- tion, and took up arms to prevent the collection of debts by process of law ; so that the appropriation was as large as could be reasonably expected in such a state of financial distress. Generally, through the whole period of its corporate existence,
Among the more recent teachers were Colonel Samuel Mixter, of New Brain- tree, in the centre district, for five suc- cessive winters, before and after 1810, who was afterwards representative, sena- tor, and councillor. Another was Hon. Henry O. Houghton, now of Cambridge (of which city he has been mayor), who graduated at the University of Vermont, 1846, taught in the northeasterly district during the succeeding winter, and has since acquired an enviable reputation as a publisher, printer, and manager of the " Riverside Press."
1 Worcester County Records.
2 On Ruggles Hill, at the place marked " A. Ruggles," on the R. Map.
3 On the easterly road to Gilbertville, at the place marked " A. Warner," on the R. Map.
4 On the road to Petersham, at the place marked "D. Allen," on the R. Map.
5 On the old road to Greenwich, at the place marked "Wid. Paige," on the R. Map.
251
LITERARY HISTORY.
this town has made a generous provision for the education of the young ; but it has never been anxious to obtain notoriety by a competition with other towns in extravagant and unnecessary expenditures. Some of the early appropriations have been men- tioned. From 1798 to 1821, the amount annually raised by taxa- tion was five hundred dollars, each district receiving from the treasury the same sum which was assessed on its inhabitants. In 1821, it was ordered that seven of the districts should receive additional sums, amounting in all to eighty dollars; and thence- forth, until 1829, five hundred and eighty dollars was assessed. Since that time, in addition to voluntary subscriptions, and the amount received from the School Fund and from the Dog Tax, the sum annually raised by taxation is exhibited in the following table : -
1830, 1
$600.
1854,
$1,300.
1874,5, $3,000.
1832,
800.
1855-61, 1,500.
1876,
2,600.
1833, 700.
1862,
1,300.
1877, 2,000.
1834-6, 800. 1863, 4, 1,500.
1878, 2,500.
1837-44, 1,000.
1865, 6,
1,800.
1879,
2,000.
1845-50, 1,200.
1867, 8,
2,500.
1880,
2,300.
1851, 2, 1,300.
1869-71, 3,000.
1881,
2,500.
1853, 1,500.
1872, 3,
2,500.
1882,
3,500.
In 1745, the town was divided into five districts : the number was subsequently increased, from time to time, and has been as high as eleven ; there are now ten districts, embracing fourteen schools. For many years each district managed its own finan- cial affairs, and employed its own school-teachers, - subject, how- ever, to their approval by the School Committee as competent and duly qualified to teach. This system has been abandoned, and the whole power is now vested in the School Committee, one of whom acts as the general Superintendent of Schools.
The first notice which I find on record concerning public school-houses is under date of April 5, 1790, when it was " voted to raise £500, for the purpose of building school-houses." The several districts were required to keep these houses in repair, and to rebuild in case of loss. Three quarters of a century later, the town assumed the whole charge and expense, and in a code of by-laws, adopted April 1, 1867, provided that all the school- houses be under the charge of one officer, to be styled Superin- tendent of School-houses.
252
HISTORY OF HARDWICK.
Soon after his settlement as pastor of the Congregational Church, in 1832, Rev. John Goldsbury established a High School, which he conducted successfully until 1839, when he re- moved to Cambridge, to take charge of a similar institution. This school was attended chiefly by Hardwick students, and was maintained at private expense. After the erection of the Town House, the town voted, May 8, 1838, " that the use of the Hall be granted to Mr. Goldsbury for the purpose of keeping a High School."
LIBRARY. At the commencement of the present century two associations were organized in Hardwick, from both of which I derived so much personal benefit that I cannot forbear some notice of them. One of these was a Library Association. Under date of September 16, 1802, an agreement was made as follows : " That a Social Library may be purchased for our mutual benefit, we, the subscribers, do severally agree to the following articles, viz., 1. That as soon as a sufficient number of subscrib- ers shall be obtained, we will each pay a sum not exceeding two dollars and fifty cents, and pay annually a sum not exceeding fifty cents for the term of seven years from the first payment. 2. That no person shall dispose of his right in said Library to any individual until he shall first give the proprietors an opportunity to purchase it at such a price as the proprietors shall annually agree upon. 3. We do further agree that when a sufficient number of subscribers shall be obtained, we will form ourselves into a Society agreeably to the laws of the Commonwealth."
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