USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts : containing carefully prepared histories of every city and town in the county, Vol. I > Part 81
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Looking towards the securing of a successor to Mr. Wheaton, the parishi voted June 20, 1825, " to chose a committee to hire some young candi- date to preach or supply pulpit."
Till 1825 the town-meetings were held in the meeting-house ; but that year a town-house was built, the upper story of which was the town-hall, while the lower story was occupied by the church as a vestry. This house was located on the Com- mon, forming a part of the boundary of the bury-
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ing-ground. It was used for town and parish meetings, etc., till 1855, when it was sold, moved off, and made into two dwelling-houses. It was replaced the same year by the present town-house. A lower room in this house was used for parish and church purposes, till the Congregational Meet- ing-house was extensively remodelled and a vestry built under it in 1859. The meeting-house was re-dedicated December 2d, and A. L. Stone, D. D., then of Boston, preached the sermon.
It was the custom for the ministers to receipt for their salaries in the book of the town records. These receipts over the signatures of the several ministers are scattered through the records, till the last one occurs dated April 1, 1829. At first the town-treasurer paid these salaries out of the money raised by the town for this use, then out of the parochial funds. During the last half century up to this time, the Congregational Church has had eight pastors ; namely, Revs. Charles Fitch, Elijah Demond, John Storrs, T. D. P. Stone, Joshua T. Tucker, William H. Savage, Henry S. Kelsey, and George M. Adams.
The earlier inhabitants were accustomed to attend public worship, even in the coldest weather, with no provision to keep them warm but their thick clothing and their robust health. The women, however, took to "the meeting" with them their foot-stoves, charged with burning coals, which they were accustomed to renew during the " noon-time" at the fires of the neighboring families. It was not till 1833 that it was voted " to warm the meeting-house," and a hundred and twenty-five dollars were appropriated to buy a stove.
The Methodist society built their meeting-house in 1833, and it was dedicated September 18th. Rev. Jonathan Cady was appointed the first min- ister. There had, however, been Methodist preach- ing in town for several years. The first sermon preached by a Methodist minister was delivered in the barn of Mr. Ebenezer Cutler in 1794, and the commencement of regular preaching was in the town-hall in 1831. Previous to this there had been for some years a Methodist society in Hop- kinton, near the borders of the town, in a place called Hayden Row, where a number of persons from Holliston were accustomed to attend meeting. The meeting-house, having been extensively re- paired, was re-dedicated February 3, 1875. De- cember 27, 1850, the Methodist Society was or- ganized as a corporate body, according to law.
This church has been supplied by thirty-one differ- ent ministers, whose pastorates varied from a few months to three years each.
In 1833 the town " Voted not to usc Ardent Spirits at the Poor Farm, also not to grant license for the sale of the same," and its authority has always been on the side of temperance in its public acts.
May 31, 1836, sixteen persons were legally or- ganized as the Universalist Society of Holliston. This society at first held its services in the town- hall. Two years after its organization a meeting- house was built, which was dedicated January 9, 1839. In 1854 it was raised up and stores were built under it. This society had seven ministers as follows : Revs. Josiah W. Talbot, Joseph O. Skinner, William Jackson, Lyman W. Dagget, Calvin Damon, John Nichols, and Albert C. Chase. These supplied the pulpit in the order in which their names are given. After the Universalist Society had discontinued its public services, the Baptist Society occupied their meeting-house until the vestry of their own house was completed. In 1867 the society voted to sell their meeting-house, and it came into the possession of the Catholic Society. They held it for a short time, and about 1870 it was again sold, moved off from the ground, and converted into two dwelling-houses.
In 1835 Rev. Gardner Rice opened an English and classical school, which was largely patronized by the people of Holliston and the adjoining towns. Mr. Rice used the town-hall as a school- room, and the following vote passed September 23, 1844, shows that the town was willing to help in this enterprise. It is as follows : " Voted that the Rev. Gardner Rice be exonerated from paying any claims which the town hold against him, incurred by his use of the Town-Hall for a High School." Several teachers succeeded Mr. Rice, and the school was kept in the town-hall till Mount Hollis Semi- nary was built on Jasper Hill, now more com- monly called Mount Hollis. This building was commenced in December, 1850, and was dedicated in June of the following year. The address on that occasion was delivered by J. P. Cleaveland, D. D., then of Providence, R. I. George F. Walker was the teacher at this time and proprietor of the building. The land on which it was located, nine acres, was donated by a number of individuals, who paid for it by subscription. This building was purchased by the town in 1863, and used for a public high school until it was destroyed by fire,
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October 25, 1871. Another high-school house was built on the same spot in 1874, which is now occupied by the school.
In 1856 a committee was appointed by the town to make arrangements with Dr. Nutting, who was then teaching a private school in the seminary building, to receive into his school the pupils of the town qualified to enter a high school. This arrangement was continued till the establishment of a town high school.
The cars made their first trip over the Milford Branch of the Boston and Worcester railroad, as far as Holliston Centre, July 4, 1847. Owing to the nature of the soil, the road-bed was dug with difficulty through Phipps's Hill, but in November of the following year the cars went through to Milford. This railroad has been of great advan- tage to the industrial interests of Holliston, and has had a profitable business in the transportation of passengers and freight.
The Holliston Bank was incorporated in 1854, with a capital of $ 100,000. William S. Batchel- der was its first president, and Rufus F. Brewer its first cashier. It was reorganized as a national bank January 23, 1865, and in April of the same year its capital was increased to $150,000. Mr. Batchelder died in: 1876, and Hon. Alden Leland was elected president. Thomas E. Andrews suc- ceeded Mr. Brewer as cashier. The bank has (1879) a surplus of $30,000.
" The city of the dead," Lake Grove Cemetery, is on the banks of Lake Winthrop. It was in- corporated in 1859. The location of this ceme- tery, in a grove on the banks of a lake, which with its islands furnishes a beautiful water view, is very pleasing and appropriate. It contains thirty acres of land, and has more than two hundred burial lots, many of which are tastefully adorned. Beauti- ful monuments stand over the graves of the dead, and the entire inclosure is an honor to the town.
The Baptist society was formed in 1860, and held its first public religious meeting on the 12th of February, in the lower hall of the town-house. Rev. J. D. E. Jones of Worcester was the first preacher, and Rev. B. A. Edwards the first " regu- lar supply." The church at its organization con- sisted of nineteen members, and was publicly recognized as a Baptist church by a council con- vened at Holliston on Tuesday, August 28. Mr. Edwards continued to preach for the church till May, 1865, and his successors are Rev. J. L. A. Fish from December, 1865, to June, 1868; Rev.
George W. Holman from December, 1868, to Sep- tember, 1870; Rev. Robert G. Johnson from September, 1871, to May, 1875 ; and Rev. Albert G. Bennett, who was ordained December 2, 1875.
The church held public worship in the lower hall of the town-house till 1864, when it hired and occupied the Universalist meeting-house. In 1866 this society commenced to take measures for the erection of a house for public worship, and Decem- ber 29, 1867, the first service was held in the vestry. The work was completed so that the dedi- cation of the meeting-house took place January 26, 1870. The church has increased in numbers, and has before it the prospect of much usefulness.
When on the morning of April 12, 1861, the first gun of the Civil War was fired against Fort Sumter, and its echoes stirred the patriotism of the entire North, the people of Holliston were ready, as worthy sons of Revolutionary sires, to take their full share of the burdens of war. On the 15th of April, President Lincoln by proclamation called for seventy-five thousand volunteers, and on the 29th the town took measures for the raising of a military company, and it was soon ready to march when ordered to join the Federal forces. To help those who were willing to enlist, and to relieve them of anxiety respecting the support of their families who were to be left at home, the town voted September 30 to pay one dollar a month to the wife of any soldier enlisted from this town, and fifty cents per month for each child, in addition to the aid received from the state. It was also pro- vided by vote the next year, that the families of nine months' men be paid the same as others.
In the spring of 1862, when the national capital was threatened by the approach of the Confederate troops, and the governors of the loyal states were issuing their proclamations for men to go to its aid, the anxiety of the inhabitants of Holliston was so great that a messenger was dispatched on horse- back to Boston to ascertain whether the capital was taken or not. The messenger returned, riding into town just as the public services in the churches were concluded, and when he announced that the capital was yet safe, cheer upon cheer rang out upon the still air of that quiet, beautiful Sunday afternoon, attesting the happiness with which the good news had filled the hearts of the people.
It was voted July 22, 1863, unanimously, "That the families of citizens of Holliston, whether alien or otherwise, who serve in the United States army, either as drafted men or substitutes for
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drafted men, shall receive the same aid from the town-treasury as has been paid to the families of volunteers ; " also " To continue the same aid to the families of those who have fallen in the service of their country, as they have heretofore received from the selectmen, until March 1st next, unless their pensions are sooner received." June 20, 1864, it was voted " that the Town Treasurer be hereby authorized to pay each volunteer or drafted man a sum not exceeding $125, whenever such volunteer or drafted man shall be called for to fill the quota of Holliston; " also " voted that the town appropriate the sum of $3,000 to pay sol- diers eulisted under the last call for troops dated March 14, 1864." Another vote was passed the same day, viz., " To choose a committee of five to make provision for a suitable reception of the re- turned soldiers belonging to Holliston." June 18, 1866, the selectmen were instructed by vote of the town, " to pay all volunteers who reënlisted in the field for the credit of Holliston, who have never received a bounty, one hundred and twenty-five dollars, and to those who have received only a partial bounty the balance sufficient to make that sumn."
The whole number of soldiers from Holliston, counting both enlistments and reënlistments, who served in the Federal army during the Civil War was three hundred and fifty-four. Of these sixty-six were natives of the town ; the names of fifty-three of these are upon the soldiers' monument as having lost their lives. Nine were captured and confined in Con- federate prisons, of which number five died. While the war was in progress, the people at home did uot forget those who were in the field, and after some of the great battles committees were sent to the front to care for the well-being aud comfort of the wounded.
Just before the war commenced, one who went as a soldier from Holliston, Sewell H. Fiske, was driven out of Savannah, Georgia, with indignity, because he was from the North. He went back with the army, and died in a United States hospi- tal. Another soldier, Simon C. Marston, being left alone on guard at Brandy Station, saved the books of Company B, the Holliston company, from the rebels who came up suddenly, by strapping them in haste upon his back, and leaving with them.
In 1866 the town appropriated $3,000 to erect a soldiers' monument. This monument is square and of granite. It is made up of base, ornamented pedestal, and shaft. On the front side of the pedes-
tal a flag is sculptured in relief, and on its back is a shield with the following inscription : -
ERECTED BY THE TOWN OF HOLLISTON IN MEMORY OF HER SOLDIERS WHO DIED IN THE WAR FOR THE UNION. 1874.
On each of the remaining sides is a sword encircled by a wreath, also in relief. On the base of the pedestal are the following words :-
HONOR TO THE BRAVE.
On the sides of its shaft are chiselled the names of the soldiers of Holliston who lost their lives in defence of their country. These names are as follows : M. Vose, F. Abbot, P. Harvey, C. C. Waite, S. II. Fisk, E. M. Perry, W. H. Clough, II. A. Harris, J. Speakman, E. B. Currier, A. G. Hunting, C. H. Wheeler, M. McCormic, A. Adams, C. H. Cole, E. Leland, J. E. Dean, A. Goodwin, M. Slatery, F. B. Joslyn, J. H. Cooper, J. Ham- lington, J. W. Slocum, W. G. Gaylord, G. E. Jen- kins, II. F. Chamberlain, T. Lacy, C. Drury, L. Dickey, J. Reeves, F. W. Clapp, B. F. Hawks, H. S. Bailey, N. Galvin, Jr., W. E. Louger, J. S. Bul- lard, J. Gallacher, E. S. Hutchinson, C. S. Watkins, F. Riley, P. Cary, E. Eames, B. L. Durfee, J. M. Mann, C. H. Allen, William Crowell, N. Brown, Jr., B. Feeheley, G. Holbrook, G. J. Walker, W. H. Goodwin, E. G. Whiting, and W. B. Jenneson. There is also the record of the battles in which the soldiers from Holliston were engaged, viz., Gettys- burg, Locust Grove, Wilderness, Spottsylvania, North Anna, Cold Harbor, Cedar Grove, Petersburg, Andersonville, Richmond, Bull Run, Fair Oaks, Glendale, Malvern Hill, Chantilly, Newbern, Ma- nassas, Fredericksburg, Antietam, and Chancellors- ville. The monument is located in the south-east corner of the central burying ground.
An Episcopal society was formed in Holliston on Easter Tuesday, 1864. When public services were commenced, there was but one member of the Episcopal Church in town; but the numbers in- creased, till at the time the services were discon- tinned there were about forty members. This society occupied the lower hall of the town-house for public worship. They purchased a lot of ground of the town on Mt. Hollis, on which to erect a church building, but have as yet (1879) only laid the foundations of their structure. In " the great fire" the records of this society, to- gether with a silver communion service, the gift of Rev. Bishop Huntington to the church, were i burned. Rev. Benjamin T. Cooley, of St. Paul's
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HISTORY OF MIDDLESEX COUNTY.
Church, Hopkinton, was rector of this church two | place as an instrumentality for good in the com- munity.
years ; the Rev. William II. Higby from New York, for about eight months; the Rev. Henry M'Clory of East Boston, about six months, and the Rev. Benjamin F. Ilartly, about two years. This account is not as definite as it would have been, had not the records of the society been destroyed.
The Mt. Ilollis Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons was chartered February 14, A. M. 5865, and continues to prosper, holding its regular meetings the first Monday of each month, at Masonic Ilall.
The following account of the G. A. R. Post in Holliston is by C. S. Wilder of Company B., 16th Massachusetts Regiment, and a member of the Post : " Among the institutions of Holliston, which are widely useful, Post No. 6, G. A. R. of Massachusetts, deserves a prominent place. Its charities have been extensive, and its composition being such as to remove it both from the field of politics and sectarianism, it has been able to reach in an unobtrusive way many a sufferer, and has brought comparative comfort to many a poor but deserving family. Its disbursements since its or- ganization have amounted to some seven thousand dollars. It was instituted March 10, 1867, and has had a varying history. It has been burned ont three times, but each time has arisen with its membership more firmly united, and with a stronger desire to fulfil the high purpose to which it is most sincerely consecrated.
" It occupies a building on Green Street, owned by itself, and well deserves the respect which it enjoys in the community.
" The relief committee of the Post has worked in entire sympathy with the town authorities, and has been an important auxiliary in the work of finding out the needy, and honestly paying the amounts voted year by year by the town.
" The Post takes its name from the lamented Powell T. Wyman, the first colonel of the 16th Massachusetts or Middlesex County Regiment, who was killed at the battle of Glendale, Va., in July, 1862. The original members of the Post were from Company B of this regiment, which company was organized in Holliston, and its first officers were James M. Mason, captain ; William A. Am- ory, first lieutenant ; and Cassander F. Flagg, sec- ond lieutenant."
In 1867 a Young Men's Christian Association was instituted. It has a building on Central Street, in which its meetings are held. It has taken its
A separate parish connected with the Catholic Church was formed in 1870, and Rev. R. J. Quin- lan was appointed pastor. This parish is connected with the archdiocese of Boston. Previous to this time Catholic services had been held in the town- hall, conducted by priests from neighboring par- ishes. In 1873 a house of worship was built for this society, and the first public service was held in its vestry on Christmas of that year. The lionse is yet (1879) unfinished.
The Holliston Savings Bank was organized in April, 1872. It has had two presidents, - Hon. Alden Leland and Seth Thayer, Esq. Orrin Thompson is its secretary and treasurer. Its de- posits amount to $277,874.12. The bank has been, and continues to be, a success.
""The great fire" was on May 26, 1875. Within three hours from the time the alarm was first given twenty-two buildings were burned, all but one of which were completely destroyed. Among these were the hotel, a large livery-stable, a block of stores, two other stores, and several dwelling-houses. A large space in the centre of the village was left bare of buildings; but the enterprise of the people has rebuilt where the ruins were, and the general appearance is greatly im- proved.
The town celebrated the Centennial of the nation by appropriate services on the 4th of July, 1876. An address was delivered before a full audience, in the Congregational Church, by Rev. Edmund Dowse of Sherborn. Addresses were also given after a col- lation at Mt. Hollis Grove, in response to appro- priate toasts, by R. R. Bishop, Esq., of Newton, Hon. Alden Leland, who was president of the day, Rev. Edmund Dowse of Sherborn, Abel Pond, Esq., Rev. F. A. Warfield of Boston, Rev. G. M. Adams, Rev. J. Gill, E. M. Battles, Professor G. Y. Wash- burn, P. R. Johnson, Esq., A. E. Chamberlain, Humphrey Sullivan, G. M. French, D. C. Mowry, and A. J. Stevens, M. D. C. S. Wilder was toast- master. The day was pleasant, and all the services interesting and appropriate.
During this year the street through the centre of the village was widened and straightened, and several old trees which were set out by Rev. Mr. Dickinson, and which stood in front of the Congre- gational meeting-house, were cut down.
June 5, 1877, a lodge of the Knights of Honor was organized in Holliston. It is numbered 647.
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HOLLISTON.
It is a secret, independent society, designed to work as a life insurance. Two thousand dollars are paid to the heirs of each member, on his de- cease. It has fifty members.
The boundaries of the town have been several times changed since its iucorporation. In 1824 a small portion of Medway was set off to Holliston. The town line between Holliston and Milford has been changed at different times, giving Milford a traet southwest of Rocky Woods. In 1846 Ash- land was incorporated as a town, taking quite a large tract of land from Holliston.
The first physician who located in town was Timothy Fisk, M. D. Ile was born in Holliston November 3, 1778, and graduated from Harvard University in 1801. IIe began the practice of medicine in his native town, and pursued it for sixty-two years, until December 17, 1863, when he died suddenly from congestion of the lungs, at the age of eighty-five. For forty years he was a member of the Congregational Church, and one of its most faithful supporters. He died in his chair, dressed as for his usual duties. His funeral was largely attended by the community, and " his name will live in grateful and endeared remembrance."
Sewall G. Burnap, M. D., was born in Temple, N. H., March 12, 1802. He studied medicine at Dartmouth College, and graduating in 1826 settled in Holliston. He was several times elected a mem- ber of the board of councillors of the Massachusetts Medical Society, which position he held at the time of his death, and he was once elected president of the Middlesex South District Medical Society. Ile was a practising physician forty-eight years, and died in October, 1874. He was a respected citizen, and for many years a member of the Con- gregational Church.
Dr. Hiram A. Lake has also practised in town for more than thirty years. A number of other physicians have been in practice in Holliston for a longer or shorter period, so that from the time Dr. Fisk located in the town up to the present, the sick have had professional care.
The first and only lawyer who has had a perma- ment residence in Holliston, was Elias Bullard. He was born in West Medway, December 30, 1799. " He received a common-school education, and was aided in preparing for college by the venerable Dr. Ide of West Medway, and graduated from Brown University, in the class of 1823. He stud- ied law with Elijah Morse, Esq., of Boston, three years; was admitted to the Bar, and came to Hol-
liston, October 7, 1826, commeneing the practice of his profession. In 1834 - 35 and 1870 he was elected to represent the town in the legislature, the last time having the honor of calling the house to order, as the senior member. In the practice of his profession he has an unusual record of justice, and his counsels have ever been those of pacification. He was willing to assist those in trouble at a loss of his own pecuniary advantage. Had his life been spared through the remainder of another year, to October 7, 1876, he would have completed half a century of the practice of his profession in Hol- liston." 1 He died November 2, 1875. His fun- eral was largely attended by the citizens of the town, and from the surrounding towns. He was for several years before his death a consistent member of the Congregational Church.
The first business, excepting the tilling of the soil, of the citizens of Holliston, was the manufac- ture of boots and shoes. "The first manufacturer was Colonel Ariel Bragg. He commenced business in 1793, with forty pounds of sole-leather, and fonr calf skins, from which he made twenty-two pairs of shoes, which he carried to Providence in saddle-bags, on horseback, with a bundle of hay behind him ; and, having disposed of his goods for $21.50, returned and invested his gains in new stoek. In 1800 and 1810 Hezekiah and Jonathan Bullard began business on a similar scale. In 1816 Deaeon Timothy Rockwood began to mann- facture goods, and transport them to Boston in a horse-cart. In 1821 the names of Batehelder, Currier, Littlefield, and others were added to the list of manufacturers, all doing business upon small capital, and transporting their goods and stock themselves in their one-horse wagons." 2
As the business increased, the shoe manufac- turers in the adjoining town of Milford joined together and sent their goods to Boston in a large team-wagon. The first time this new conveyance passed through Holliston on its way to the market as it went by the shop of Mr. William S. Batchel- der, he and his workmen went gut to see it, and Mr. Batchelder remarked : " Milford is getting pretty smart ; when I can't take my shoes to Bos- ton in my own team, I'll give up the business." He afterwards changed his mind; for he lived to carry on a business so extensive, that it required a one-horse team nearly all the time to take his manufactured goods to the dépôt, which was but
1 Boston Journal, Nov. 3, 1873.
2 Dowse's Centennial Address.
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HISTORY OF MIDDLESEX COUNTY.
a short distance from his shop. "Dating back as far as 1820 the business has had a rapid and healthy growth, until in 1874 it furnished employment for six hundred persons, and produced goods to the amount of $1,000,000." At this time (1879) this business in common with every other is affected by the hard times, and the shops are producing comparatively few boots and shoes. There are in the town teu quite large shoe-shops besides other smaller ones, but several of these shops are at present unused. With the revival of business the prospects for this branch of manufacture are good, and Holliston shoe-makers will be once more busy.
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