History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts : containing carefully prepared histories of every city and town in the county, Vol. II, Part 45

Author: Drake, Samuel Adams, 1833-1905
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: Boston : Estes and Lauriat
Number of Pages: 650

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Of the fifteen hundred provincial soldiers who fought at the memorable battle of Bunker Hill, Pepperell furnished the commander and about sixty men, of whom eight were killed and eight wounded, as follows : -

Killed, - Joseph Spaulding, aged thirty-seven ; Nathaniel Parker, Jr., aged thirty-tliree ; William Warren, aged twenty-eight; Ebenezer Laughton, aged twenty-seven ; Wainwright Fisk, aged twen- ty-four; Jeremiah Shattuck, aged twenty-one ; Edmund Pierce, aged forty-four; Benjamin Wood, aged twenty.

Wounded, - William Spaulding, John Adams, Abel Parker, Moses Blood, Simon Green, Jonathan Stevens, Thomas Lawrence, 3d, William Green.

Colonel Prescott remained in the service until the close of 1776. He was stationed at Govern- or's Island, New York, until the American troops were obliged to retreat from New York, when he withdrew his regiment in such good order as to call forth the public commendation of General Wash- ington. In the fall of 1777 he, with several of his former officers, went as a volunteer to oppose the onward march of Burgoyne, and was present at the surrender of the formidable but discomfited army, which, according to the British programme, was destined to insulate New England from the other

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colonies, and thus effectually crush the rebellion. This was Colonel Prescott's last military service. He retired to his farm in Pepperell, where he passed the remainder of his days, honored by his fellow-citizens, whom he served in the various municipal offices of town-clerk, selectman, magis- trate, and representative to the legislature. He died October 13, 1795, at the age of sixty-nine.

In person he was of tall and commanding stat- ure, and well-marked and intellectual features; in deportment he was plain and courteous; in dis- position, kind and benevolent, - liberal even to a fault, and always ready to assist others to the neg- lect of his own business.

The old homestead still remains in. possession of the Prescott family, having descended to the son, Hon. William Prescott; to the grandson, William H. Prescott, the historian; and to the great-grandson, William G. Prescott, Esq., the present proprietor; by each of whom it has been occupied during the summer and autumn months as a country residence.

By an act of the legislature passed in 1786, applying to all the districts incorporated previous to 1777, Pepperell became a town; although it appears that from 1776 it had made its records as a town, and chosen representatives, who were ac- knowledged and received as such by the legis- lature.

The military spirit of the town was kept up for many years. The 17th of June was a red-letter day, whose celebration quite overshadowed the 4th of July. About 1820 a volunteer militia company was organized under the name of the Prescott Guards. From this company were pro- moted the following officers of the old 6th Regi- ment : Colonel William Buttrick, General George Green, Major Joseph G. Heald, Major Luther S. Bancroft, Colonel Samuel Pepperell Shattuck, Major George T. Bancroft, Colonel Alden Law- rence, Major E. A. Parker, Colonel E. F. Jones.

On the 15th of April, 1861, Colonel Jones re- ceived an order from headquarters to muster his regiment on Boston Common forthwith. Although the regiment embraced over thirty towns, yet iu a few hours seven hundred men were in Boston, ready for duty, over twenty of whom were from Pepperell.

The record of the old 6th, its march through Baltimore on the twice memorable 19th of April, the service it rendered the government at a most critical period, the vote of thanks passed by Con- .

gress for its " alacrity, patriotism, and bravery," - have all become a part of the history of our country. The number of soldiers enlisted from Pepperell during the war was nearly one hundred and fifty, of whom fifteen were killed, or died from disease contracted in the army.

The Worcester and Nashua Railroad, which was opened for travel in 1848, was located along the eastern bank of the Nashua River, through Groton. A depot for Pepperell was established opposite Bab- bitasset Village. Around this station. a village grew up, in all its business and interests identified with Pepperell rather than with Groton. A new bridge was built across the river, thus connecting the two villages, and reducing the distance from the depot to Pepperell Centre to one mile. In 1857 this depot village, together with about two square miles of territory in the northeast corner of Groton, was, by act of the legislature, annexed to Pepperell.

Ecclesiastical Affairs. - Pepperell was called upon to offer up as a sacrifice to the cause of lib- erty not only the eight men who fell at Bunker Hill, but also her beloved minister. Upon the assembling of the army at Cambridge, Mr. Emer- son immediately repaired thither to visit his nu- merous parishioners in Colonel Prescott's regiment; and it is said that he offered the first prayer that was made in the American camp. While minis- tering to the physical as well as spiritual needs of the soldiers, he contracted a severe cold which induced a fever that resulted in his death Octo- ber 29, 1775, at the age of fifty-one years. Dur- ing the twenty-nine years of his ministry one hundred and ninety-six persons had been admitted into the church, and eight hundred and seven bap- tized.

In 1769 a larger and more suitable house of worship had been erected on the site of the old. Cornet Simon Gilson, the contractor to build the new house, took the old one in part payment, and, having removed it to his farm, now J. M. Bel- cher's, converted it into a barn. In 1830 it was burned by an incendiary.

Preparatory to the building of this new house a day of fasting and prayer was appointed by the church, wherein " particularly to humble ourselves before God, for our unprofitableness under the means of grace we have enjoyed in the old meet- ing-house, and to entreat his guidance in erecting a new one." The only question that appears to have caused any difference of opinion was whether

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the house should have a steeple, which was finally decided in the negative. Several years subsequently, however, the steeple was built.

On the occasion of the dedication of the new house, March 8, 1770, Mr. Emerson preached a sermon from the text, 1 Samuel, vii. 12, wherein he enumerated the various ways in which God had helped them: that the number of the inhabitants of Pepperell had increased, since his settlement, from seventy-two to one hundred and fifty-two families, and that their wealth had increased in equal ratio ; that they had been able to pay the charges of be- coming a parish, and then a district, and of build- ing a house for worship; and that peace, love, and harmony had prevailed in the gospel among them.

Mr. Emerson had indeed lived in peace and harmony with his people in all their relations of life, religious, social, and political. Upon the tab- let, which the town erected over his tomb, his virtues are thus enumerated : -

" Stedfast in the Faith once delivered to the Saints. Fixed and laborious in the cause of Christ and precious Sonls. Exemplary in visiting and sympathizing with his Flock. Diligent in improving his Talents. A kind Hns- band; a tender Parent; A Faithful reprover; a constant Friend ; and a true Patriot. Having ceased from his La- bours his works follow him."

Nearly four years passed after Mr. Emerson's death, when his successor, Rev. Jolin Bullard of Medway, a Harvard graduate, was ordained, Octo- ber 19, 1779. His ministry of forty-two years was prosperous and happy. He was eminently social in his habits, and is spoken of by a contemporary as "of that almost peculiar urbanity which led him to treat all men of learning and of fair moral char- acter as friends and companions." He died Sep- tember 18, 1821, at the age of sixty-four, truly lamented by his people, who long cherished his memory.

Rev. James Howe, of Jaffrey, New Hampshire, a graduate of Dartmouth and of Andover, was ordained October 16, 1822. For several years the relation between pastor and people was har- monious, but at length dissatisfaction began to be expressed by certain of the more liberally in- clined in regard to exchanges. In May, 1831, the following vote was passed at town-meeting : " To excuse Rev. James Howe from preaching six Sabbaths in the course of the ensuing year, and permit the pulpit to be supplied on those Sab- baths by ministers of other denominations." The enforcement of this vote Mr. Howe regarded as an expulsion from his pulpit. Accordingly he,

with nearly the entire church and a large major- ity of the congregation, peaceably withdrew, and formed a separate religious society under the title of the Evangelical Congregational Society of Pep- perell, to which the church allied itself, and of which Mr. Howe was recognized as pastor by a council called for that purpose February 1, 1832. Thus the town was divided into two parishes and two churches ; each church, however, claiming to be the original First Church of Pepperell.

The First Parish, which now included all the legal voters that had not " signed off," and the remnant of a church which adhered to it, being thus left without a minister, after having heard several candidates, decided in favor of Rev. Charles Babbidge of Salem, a Harvard graduate (class of 1828), and he was ordained February 13, 1833. A gentleman and a scholar in the fullest import of the phrase, courteous and affable to all without distinction of sect or party, he soon gained the esteem of his people. He married, January 1, 1837, Miss Eliza Ann Bancroft, daughter of one of his parishioners, - Luther Bancroft, Esq. ; he bought a farm, bnilt a house, and so fully identi- fied himself with the people of Pepperell and their interests, that he several times refused calls to much larger congregations and more eligible pul- pits. He is almost a permanent member of the school-board ; and in 1858 he represented the town in the legislature. At the commencement of the late war he was chaplain of the 6th regi- ment, and the first minister in the country to enlist ; thus giving to Pepperell the honor of fur- nishing the first chaplain for the War of the Re- bellion as well as for the Revolution. Having served through the three months' campaign of the 6th, he received, in November, 1861, a commis- sion as chaplain of the 26th Massachusetts Regi- ment, in which he served three years. Being discharged November 7, 1864, he returned to the peaceful pursuits of his professional life, and to his people, who gladly welcomed him. Although he has passed the allotted age of threescore and ten, and the golden wedding of his ministry is near at hand, yet "lis eye is not dim nor his natural force abated."

During the greater part of Mr. Babbidge's ab- sence Rev. John A. Buckingham, of Boston, sup- plied his pulpit as pastor in charge. The old meeting-house having been remodelled and mod- ernized, was dedicated anew October 27, 1836.

The Second Parish, immediately upon their or-

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ganization, commenced to build a commodious meeting-house, which was dedicated October 31, 1832. Previous to this time their public services had been held in an unfinished hall over the store, where the town-house now stands. Mr. Howe, having an hereditary tendency to consumption, found his health and strength gradually failing, until he was obliged to ask for a colleague to as- sist him in his labors. After a trial of several candidates, the choice fell on Rev. David Andrews of Dedham, a graduate of Amherst and of Andover, and he was ordained January 29, 1840. Mr. Howe died the following summer, July 19, 1840, aged forty-fonr. He was a man of unusual sagacity and foresight. With remarkable tact as well as judg- ment, his administrative abilities were of a high order. Very few ministers could have led off so successfully, and withal so peaceably as he, so large a majority of church and congregation. There was no legal controversy, no actual quarrel. A spirit of bitterness, however, was developed among the people, and the town was divided into two politico-theological parties, which existed for many years. But the ministers of the opposing sects, although they could not meet each other theologically, always met as gentlemen, on the cominon ground of Christian courtesy.

Mr. Andrews, who became sole pastor on Mr. Howe's decease, was, in many respects, quite differ- ent from his predecessor. Though a thorough scholar and forcible writer, he was no orator. Kind and sympathizing, he was externally cold and un- congenial. A perfect gentleman at heart, in his deportment he was awkward and constrained. He had no policy, no finesse, but in everything pursued an honest, straightforward, outspoken course. He preached the gospel, as he believed it, plainly, and with a directness that was often more pungent than agreeable to his hearers. More than ten years of the best portion of his life were literally devoted to his church and society, and he learned, by bitter experience, that republics are ungrateful. He asked a dismission, which was granted April 2, 1850. Hc afterwards preached several years at Tiverton, Rhode Island, and then went to the West. He settled in Winona, Minnesota, where he resided till his decease, in 1870.

Rev. Lyman Cutler of Dorchester, a graduate of Dartmouth and of Andover, was ordained Jan- uary 22, 1851. He was a superior scholar, with a ready command of language, and a nervous style of thought and delivery, which thrilled his hearers

to the fingers' ends. Open-hearted and free from guile, he won the regard of all. But he was am- bitious for literary distinction, and unsuited to the parochial duties of a country parish. His request for a dismissal was granted November, 1853. The following year he was settled in Newton, where, af- ter a brilliant but brief career, he died, May 2, 1855.

Rev. Thomas Morong, a graduate of Amherst and of Andover, was ordained April 12, 1854, and dismissed November 4, 1855.

June 11, 1856, Rev. Edward P. Smith, a grad- uate of Yale and of Andover, was ordained pastor of the church and society. He was endowed with remarkable executive ability. With him, to think was to act; so much so that he was liable to hastily follow his first impulse, rather than wait for the sober second thought. In his preaching and in his whole life - pastoral, civil, and political - this characteristic was prominent. At the begin- ning of the Rebellion he took an active part in arousing the people and procuring enlistments. Having obtained a month's leave of absence in January, 1863, he attached himself to the United States Christian Commission, and went to the front. The month's absence was extended in- definitely, and a dismissal was asked for. But the society were unwilling to grant it, vainly hoping that, after the war, he could content him- self with the quiet life and circumscribed sphere of Pepperell. At length, December 7, 1864, his repeated request for a dismissal was granted. At the close of the war he engaged with his natural ardor in the cause of the freedmen, and held a prominent position in the American Missionary Society. He was afterward Indian agent in Min- nesota ; then was appointed commissioner of Indian affairs. Having resigned this position and been elected president of Howard University, he went to Africa, to become more intimately acquainted with the needs of the Negro race, and the most feasible methods for missionary work among the native tribes. While on this mission he died of African fever, on board of the United States vessel Ambrig, in the Gulf of Guinea, June 15, 1876, aged forty-nine. One of his colaborers thus writes of him : " He was noted for his love of chil- dren, his mirthfulness, his generosity, his strong attachments, and his advocacy of the cause of the oppressed. Doing good in forgetfulness of self was his business, and he pursued it to the end."

In July, 1859, the meeting-house was en- tirely destroyed by fire, together with Mr. Luther

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Tarbell's tavern and store buildings, in which the fire originated. The house had just been repaired, and the basement finished into a convenient vestry, which the congregation were expecting to use for the first time on the ensuing Sabbath. Instead of which, they met, on that Sabbath, in the Unitarian house, whose use for the afternoons had been cor- dially tendered, and listened to an impressive dis- course by Mr. Smith, from the text (Isa. lxiv. 11), " Our holy and our beautiful house where our fathers praised Thee is burned up with fire." Af- ter considerable delay, occasioned by a want of unanimity on the question of location, the present commodious and well-arranged house was erected on the site of the old one, and dedicated Jan- uary 29, 1860.

The same council that concurred in the dismis- sal of Mr. Smith ordained Rev. S. L. Blake, a graduate of Middlebury and of Andover. Having preached acceptably to the people four years, he asked for a dismission December 28, 1868, in order to accept a call from the Old South Church, in Concord, N. H. His successor was Rev. Horace Parker, a graduate of Amherst, who had previously been settled in Ashby. He was installed March 17, 1870, and dismissed September 16, 1873, on account of poor health. During his pastorate, and through his active efforts, a debt of nearly $1,000, which had gradually accumulated, was wiped out, and some $200 additional raised for repairs of the meeting-house. A parsonage was also bought.

After a year and a half of unsatisfactory and unsuccessful trial of candidates, Rev. George F. Swain, the present incumbent, accepted a call, and was ordained May 12, 1875.

The first serious endeavor to introduce the ser- vices of Methodism in Pepperell appears to have been made in the winter of 1865-66, under the labors of Rev. A. D. Merrill and Rev. M. M. Park- hurst, at the North Village school-house. The following spring Parker's Hall, at the East Village, was hired, and Rev. G. Adams was sent from the New England Conference as the first pastor of a church which was organized May, 1866. The succession of ministers has been as follows : Rev. M. R. Barry, 1867; Rev. Asa Barnes, 1869; Rev. A. W. Baird, 1871; Rev. J. H. Emerson, 1874 ; Rev. J. R. Cushing, 1875 ; Rev. Alfred Noon, 1877.

In 1873, through the zealous and untiring la- bors of Mr. Baird, a fund was raised sufficient to build a commodious church edifice in Babbitasset

Village, where has been gathered a large and flour- ishing society.

About 1871 a Catholic chapel was built in the Depot Village. Services are held there twice a month by the priest from Ayer.

Educational History. - In 1741 the town of Groton voted to have a school, kept a part of the time at Nissitisset, which was probably the first school on the west side of the river. In 1749 a petition from the parish for means of supporting a school was granted by the town of Groton, on con- dition that a school-room be provided without ex- pense to the town. This condition being fulfilled, the town granted the sum of £13 .6s. Sd. In 1751 the parish voted to raise £7 10 s. for school- ing, and that the school be kept at the nearest con- venient place to the meeting-house; and that all who lived more than two miles distant might draw their proportion of the money, and use it for schooling as they might see fit. In 1754 the dis- trict voted that the school be kept in three places, but afterwards changed the number to two. A school-house in the Centre is first mentioned in 1764. It stood on the corner where the town- house now is. In 1770, it was voted to have the school successively in four different parts of the district, in dwelling-houses. The school-house is again mentioned in 1771, and a vote passed to have a grammar master; but the school-house appears to have belonged to individuals; for in 1772 the district voted to pay £ 10 13s. 4d. for it, and also to build four more. About this time the district was divided into six squadrons, as they were called, - middle, west, southwest, north, south, and east ; and a committee of three persons in each squadron was annually chosen to see that the money appropriated was properly expended. In 1809 the name of squadron was changed to district, and the districts designated by numbers.

In 1819, No. 7 was formed from the eastern part of No. 1, and the following year No. 8 was taken from the western part of No. 6. In 1849, No. 9 was formed from parts of No. 3 and No. 5. The territory east of Nashua River, on its annexa- tion to the town in 1857, became District No. 10.

In 1868 the town voted to abolish the district system, and since then the schools have been under the entire control of the school committee ; although, for convenience, the old numerical districts are still retained.

The appropriations for support of schools in various years have been as follows: 1758, £10;

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1768,£25; 1778, £400 (continental); 1788, £ 90; 1798, £150; 1808, $500; 1818, $600; 1828, $750;1838,$850;1848,$1,000;1858,$1,200; 1868, $1,500; 1878, $2,400.

In September, 1833, Mr. Erasmus D. Eldridge, a graduate of Amherst, who had previously taught in Pembroke, New Hampshire, opened a private school for the fall in school-house No. 1. The school was so successful that an interest in educa- tion, already awakened among the prominent citi- zens, was increased so much that iu February following an association was formed, with a capital of $1,000, in forty shares, for the establishment of an academy. An eligible lot was bought for $ 100, and Dr. Nehemiah Cutter, who was always ready to forward to the utmost any public improvement, con- tracted to build a suitable building for the remain- ing $ 900. So expeditiously was the work carried on, that in July, 1834, the school-house was dedi- cated with appropriate services ; and Mr. Eldridge, who had returned in the spring, and reopened his school, took possession of the same, with fifty-two pupils, under the name of the Pepperell Academy.

Mr. Eldridge, although a stern disciplinarian, was, when off duty, exceedingly social and lively. A shrewd observer of human nature, and endowed with a full share of executive ability, he possessed in an eminent degree the faculty of making a school popular. Excelling in the natural sciences, he in- clined more to practical methods of teaching than was usual at that day. He extemporized a chemi- cal apparatus, with which he gave experiments in frequent lectures to crowded and astonished audi- ences. With only a school-building, without a dollar in funds or a single volume of library, and with no apparatus, except of his own furnishing, lie succeeded in making Pepperell Academy the most flourishing institution in the vicinity. Stu- dents flocked to it from a distance of twenty miles or more. In the catalogue for 1836 we find the total number of scholars during the year to be : males 90, females 82, with an average attendance of 70. Of these 44 were classical scholars, and 90 were from other towns.

At the close of the fall term in 1837 Mr. El- dridge resigned, in order to enter the ministry. The teachers that have succeeded him are as fol- lows : Rev. George Cook till September, 1838; Hervey B. Wilbur till March, 1839 ; Willard Brig- ham till May, 1840; Horace Herrick till May, 1841; Josiah Pillsbury till September, 1842; Charles Cummings fall term of 1842; Moses Case

from March, 1843, till May, 1844; J. E. B. Jew- ett till November, 1844 ; Moses Case from March, 1845, till November, 1847; J. Stone till May, 1849; E. E. Boynton till May, 1850; Rev. Z. M. Smith till November, 1851 .; L. P. Blood from April, 1852, to November, 1853 ; Charles S. Far- rer the fall term of 1854.

An act of incorporation was granted by the legislature of 1841, and a board of fifteen trustees chosen in accordance therewith. But the real estate having been originally conveyed in such a manner that the corporation could have no valid title to the property, the trustees could only superintend the management of the school. The interest in the school gradually decreased, and there is 110 record of any meeting of the trustees after March, 1855. The building stood ready for the occu- pancy of any respectable and competent person who might be willing to take possession and open a school. It was thus successively occupied for a shorter or a longer time by H. T. Wheeler, S. C. Cotton, D. W. Richardson, Miss Caroline A. Shattuck, and A. J. Huntoon. In 1860, A. J. Saunders opened a school, which he successfully maintained for several years.

The building had been kept in repair by funds raised by fairs, tea-parties, and similar spasmodic efforts at sundry times. Occasionally the teach- ers had paid for necessary repairs, rather than at- tempt to collect from the public.

In 1864, the town having voted for a school of higher grade, and appropriated $700 for the pur- pose, the academy building was also appropriated, and Mr. Saunders, being in possession, was dis- posed of by being appointed principal. This high school was sustained for four years and then discon- tinued till 1873, when it was again established, and continued six years, and then again discontinued.

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History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts : containing carefully prepared histories of every city and town in the county, Vol. II, Part 45

Author: Drake, Samuel Adams, 1833-1905 Publication date: 1880 Publisher: Boston : Estes and Lauriat Number of Pages: 650

Author: Drake, Samuel Adams, 1833-1905
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: Boston : Estes and Lauriat
Number of Pages: 650