USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts : containing carefully prepared histories of every city and town in the county, Vol. II > Part 48
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The town had its " relic of barbarism," and it is said that previous to the Revolutionary War nearly every large landholder here had a slave. In 1723 Benjamin Pool advertises his negro man who had run away. In 1753 Thomas Nichols sold a negro
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woman and boy to Phineas Sprague, of Malden, for £33 6s. 8d. In 1754 Deacon Raham Bancroft, in his will, ordered his negroes sold. At this time there were twenty colored persons here, and in 1765, thirty-four. Several gained their freedom by en- listing in the armny. One of these, called "Sharper," and " Sharper Freeman," was brought from Africa, and was believed to be the son of a king. He lived till about ninety years old, and received a pension from the government.
The Reading Social Library was formed in 1786, and Hay Nichols was chosen librarian.
The Shays Rebellion, in 1786, necessitated the calling out of men to support the government, and a dozen or more went from the First Parish.
The church in the West Parish, after the death of Mr. Haven, found it a difficult matter to unite upon a successor. The Calvinistic and Arminian inembers did not harmonize, and it is said that more than thirty candidates were called before one was found to accept. Finally, Rev. Peter Sanborn, after considering the matter for nine months, ac- cepted, and was ordained June 9, 1790. He was a graduate of Dartmouth College in 1786. He was an impressive and earnest preacher, and there were several revivals during his pastorate. It is said that in the revival of 1810 there were but few houses in the parish that did not have family worship. He first married Miss Mary Stimpson, an adopted daughter of Daniel Chute, Esq., and for a second wife Miss Martha Wakefield. He had a family of fourteen children. He was dismissed June 7, 1820; died August 8, 1857. He has two sons in the ministry now living, Rev. Pliny F. and Rev. George E. Sanborn.
The town appropriated for schools, in 1791, £ 80, and voted not to hire any " school-dames." But a different spirit prevailed in the following year ; the vote of 1791 was ignored, and female teachers were employed. The public health was duly cared for, and no person coming from a town infected with the small-pox was allowed to pass the smoke- house without being smoked ; none bnt the inhabi- tants were allowed to have the small-pox in town, and those wishing to have it (by inoculation) must go to a house provided for the purpose, and pay the expense thereof.
The first library in the West Parish (now Read- ing), was established in 1791, and was known as the Federal Library. Rev. Peter Sanborn was librarian till 1814. It had sixty members, and existed about forty years.
Fires for warming the churches were for a long time not allowed, and the ladies carried foot-stoves for their comfort during the long services in the winter. In 1794 the West Parish voted that a stove might be put in their meeting-house, " if in- dividuals will pay the expense."
The Baptist Society in the First Parish was organized in 1797. Its first meeting-house was built in 1800. The society provided that the workmen erecting the frame should have good beef, well baked, potatoes, bread, cheese, cider, grog, and enough of each. Rev. Ebenezer Nelson began to preach here December, 1801, but was not installed till the organization of the church, January, 1804.
Rev. Caleb Prentiss, seventh pastor of the First Church, died February 7, 1803, aged fifty-seven, - " a good man and faithful minister of Christ."
A private school, or academy, as it was called, was opened liere in 1808, by the Misses Eaton, and for several years was well patronized. It was suc- ceeded in 1827 or 1828 by another academy, under the instruction of John Batchelder. Numbers of young men from this and the neighboring towns were liere fitted for college. Mr. Batchelder gave up the school in 1843, and it was soon after dis- continued.
A post-office was first opened in the present town of Reading in 1811. Colonel Nathan Parker 1 was the first postmaster. He was succeeded in 1815 by John Weston, Esq., who held the office till liis death in 1849. L. E. Gleason, the present incum- bent, is now in the eighteenth year of lis service.
In political matters the three parishes of Read- ing did not harmonize. The South Parish was largely Democratic; the North and West Par- ishes were nearly a unit as Federalists. The South Parish was the largest of the three, but less than the two others. Party spirit ruled in town as well as in national affairs, and it came about that the leading men of the South Parish were altogether excluded from public office unless they were of the few that belonged to the dominant Federal party. For thirty-three years this condition of things con- tinued, and naturally stirred up bad blood, and finally resulted in a movement on the part of the South Parish for incorporation as a separate town. Initial efforts in 1811 to this end were so far suc-
1 Colonel Parker was removed in consequence of having dis- pleased the President by presiding at a meeting which passed resolutions disapproving the dircet tax. Jobn Weston, Esq., his successor, served the notice, saying, " It becomes my painful duty to inform you, sir -" " No pain to me, sir," interrupted the Colonel, " glad to get rid of it."
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cessful, that the separation was completed by the incorporation of South Reading as a town early in 1812.
The declaration of war this year against Great Britain called the early attention of the town to national matters. A town-meeting was called, and the question, whether the town was in favor of the war, being put, the record with emphatic brevity says, " No man voted in favor of said war." But the town did not allow its political prejudices to overwhelm its patriotism, and it subsequently voted that the wages of such soldiers as were " de- tached " should be made up to $ 15 per month ; and if the whole militia were called out their wages should be made the same. The selectmen were also directed to provide baggage-wagons to be in readiness when wanted for the soldiers.
The War of 1812 in a rather singular manner gave to the town its first fire-engine. The war being unpalatable to many of the citizens, to avoid service in the army a fire-company was formed and an engine bought ; thirty-five men to eacli engine being exempt by law from service as sol- diers. The exempted positions were sometimes sold at exorbitant prices.
The fire department was created by an act of 1854, and B. M. Boyce served as chief engineer for seven years. The present chief is Charles H. Lang. The town owns four engines, and the an- nnal expenses of the department are about $1,700.
The Reading Agricultural and Mechanical Bank- ing Association was incorporated in 1831. Its officers were Edmund Parker, president; Warren Perkins, vice-president ; Jonathan Frost, secre- tary ; Cyrus Smith, treasurer ; Thomas Smith, Abiel Holden, Caleb Wakefield, and Eliab Parker, Jr., directors.
The bank did business in the way of discounts and deposits, and was very successful till the war of 1861 brought reverses to its customers, and compelled the closing up of its affairs.
The Reading Savings-Bank was established in 1869. E. Hunt served as its first president ; Thomas Sweetser, vice-president ; N. P. Pratt, clerk and treasurer, with a board of thirteen direc- tors. It was closed in March, 1879, when its affairs were put into the hands of receivers for final adjustment.
March 22, 1833, the ladies of this town formed the Reading Female Antislavery Society. Mrs. Sarah Reid was president, Mrs. Sarah Parker, vice- president. The first vote of the society, after
adopting its constitution, was for appropriating money to aid Hon. William Lloyd Garrison in luis mission to Great Britain. Mr. Garrison says: " The historical honor belongs to Reading, of giv- ing birth to the first female antislavery society ever formed in this country. It continued for several years to be an efficient instrumentality, and helped to give a strong impetus to the whole move- ment." To this town also belongs the lionor of having formed the first male society auxiliary to the New England Antislavery Society. Rev. Jared Reid was president, Horace P. Wakefield secretary, Ambrose Kingman treasurer. "This society was also active and efficient," says Mr. Garrison, and " for some time Reading continued to be the banner town in the antislavery conflict."]
On the 29th of May, 1844, Reading and South Reading celebrated the bi-centennial anniversary of their incorporation. . Deacon Caleb Wakefield was president of the day. The address was deliv- ered by Rev. James Flint, D. D., of Salem, a na- tive of Reading. Hon. Lilley Eaton followed with a historical poem. Toasts and responses were given, interspersed with vocal and instrumental music. Four thousand people, at least, were in attendance, and nearly half the number partook of the collation. The principal exercises were held near the spot where the Bethesda Church now stands. It was then an open field owned by Rev. Peter Sanborn, who offered its use gratuitously, on condition they should put up the bars when the celebration was over.
In 1845 the Boston and Maine Railroad was opened through this town. The first train passed over the road July 1. Mr. Calvin Temple was station agent twenty-one years. The railroad has greatly changed the business character of the town and people. Quite a large portion of the active citizens reside here, but do business in the city.
The originator of the express business, William F. Harnden, was a native of this town, and learned the trade of cabinet-making with his cousin, Syl- vester Harnden. He commenced carrying small packages of money and other valuables between Boston and New York in 1839. His brother, Adolphus H., while in his employ, perished in the steamer Lexington, burned on Long Island Sound, January 13, 1840.
1 The antislavery ladies of England sent an elegant china tea- set hy Mr. Garrison to the ladies' antislavery society of Reading, which is still preserved. Each piece bears a cnt representing a kneeling slave, with manacled hands raised in the attitude of prayer.
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An association of which Messrs. Stephen Foster and C. P. Judd were prominent members, in 1845 did a commendable work in setting out many of the shade-trees that now adorn the principal por- tion of the village. Nearly $200 were raised by subscription for purchasing the trees, and the work of setting them out was voluntarily performed. The work of improvement went forward, and in the next year the Old South Parish purchased thirteen aeres of land north of the old burying-ground, and laid it out in lots for cemetery use. Consecration services were held November 25, in the church, a severe storm preventing their observance on the grounds. In 1853 the cemetery was transferred to the town on payment of $2,527.41. Since 1870 the cemetery has been managed by a board of trustees, who have done mueh towards making it one of the most attractive rural cemeteries in the vicinity.
For several years efforts were made to establish a high school, but the North and South Parishes could not agree upon a location. The incorpora- tion of North Reading as a town in 1853 removed this difficulty, and the high school in Reading was established in 1856. A course of study was pre- scribed, and its first class gradnated in 1863. The standard has been repeatedly raised, and classes have graduated every year since. The whole num- ber of graduates to the present time has been one hundred and ninety-one. The high-school house was built in 1867. The present efficient teacher, Cyrus A. Cole, has been in charge of the school for ten years.
The town furnished four hundred and eleven men for the Civil War, a surplus of thirty-four beyond its quota. Thirteen were commissioned officers. Under the first call of the President, April 15, 1861, twenty-one men enlisted, and on the 19th started for Washington, and were in the first Bull Run battle. June 4, the town appropri- ated $5,000 for state aid, and voted to pay eael man who enlisted for the war $25 as an outfit. July 17, 1862, it voted a bounty of $100 to each volunteer who enlisted for three years, to the town's eredit. August 26, was voted a bounty of $150 to each recruit for nine months' service. The total expenditure by the town, on account of the war, excluding state aid, was $37,971.11. Total amount of state aid furnished by the town, $25,888.84. The ladies of Reading met two or three times a week during the war to prepare lint, bandages, and elothing for the soldiers; but as
they kept no record of the work they contributed, it cannot be given. One of their number, Miss Emily Ruggles, furnished a representative recruit for three years' service. In 1863 Abiel Hol- den, Esq., bequeathed $500 for the erection of a soldiers' monument, on condition that the town would furnish the same amount. The town, in March, 1865, added $1,000 to Mr. Holden's be- quest, and a monument was dedicated, with appro- priate ceremonies, October 5. Forty-six names of " the sons of Reading who died for their country" are inscribed upon it. The Reading Veteran As- sociation have since erected headstones over the graves of those deceased soldiers who had none.
The Franklin Library was formed in 1842, and continued in operation till 1869, when it trans- ferred its four linndred and sixty-two volumes to the Reading Public Library.
The Agricultural Library Association was organ- ized in 1860, with N. P. Pratt, Esq., as president. After existing nine years, it placed its books in the care of the town library, for the public benefit.
The Reading Public Library was established in 1868. Dr. Horace P. Wakefield donated $500 towards it, and the town appropriated the same amount. E. Appleton was the first, and is the present president of the board of trustees. The library is well patronized, and contains, at present, four thousand one hundred and ten volumes.
The manufacture of shoes, which has been and still is one of the leading industries in that part of the town now known as Reading, was begun as early as 1758. The business steadily increased, and early in the present century the goods found their way to the Southern States and to the West Indies. The shoes to be sent to market were thrown into barrels, and packed as solidly as the weight of a boy could make them by " treading." The prices for making children's and misses' shoes in 1804 was from seventeen to twenty eents per pair, and twenty-five to twenty-nine cents for larger sizes. The value of boots and shoes made in 1837 was $184,583; in 1845, $166,734; in 1855, $191,500; in 1865, $247,653; in 1875, $ 185,035. Hands employed in 1837, males 338, females 494; in 1845, males 35S, females 385 ; in 1855, males 267, females 156 ; in 1865, males 244, females 124 ; in 1875, males 93, females 107.
The manufacture of cabinet furniture, beginning probably in 1810, by Ambrose Kingman, contin- ued for many years to hold a prominent place. He sold out to his brother Henry, who greatly en-
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larged the business, and had a store, for sale of products, in New York. Sylvester Harnden, be- ginning in 1823, did a large business in this line for more than forty years. The number of estab- lishments in 1837 was 8; in 1845, 10; in 1855, 13; in 1865, 10; in 1875, 7. Value of goods in 1837, $ 91,360 ; in 1845, $103,100 ; in 1855, $205,000 ; in 1865, $77,900 ; in 1875, $133,478. Hands employed in 1837, 100; in 1845, 121; in 1855, 179; in 1865, 53; in 1875, 76.
The high price of hats during the War of 1812 prompted Nathan Weston to commence their manu- facture. He made a waterproof stove-pipe hat, covered with cotton plush ; but this soon fading, he began to use silk plush, and it is claimed that he thus became the inventor of the silk hat now in use. The business was removed in 1819 from Reading to Charlestown.
The manufacture of clocks was commenced in this town in 1832, by Jonathan Frost and Daniel Pratt, Esq. The brass movements were introduced about 1835. The business was continued here till 1858 or 1859.
Samuel Pierce began the manufacture of organ pipes in 1847, and supplies a demand that extends throughout the United States and Canada.
In 1857 Mr. Thomas Appleton commenced the making of church organs, and continued the busi- ness here for seventeen years. He was the builder of thirty-five organs for Boston churches, and three times as many to be used in nearly every principal city in the Union. His instruments were noted for purity and sweetness of tone, and for their perfect construction. One was used in the Baldwin Place Church for thirty years without re- pairs.
The manufacture of neckties began here by Damon, Temple & Co. in 1866. The business rapidly increased, and in 1869 about one hundred and twenty-five hands were employed. The firm are still doing an extensive business,
The total value of the manufactures of the town, given in the census returns of 1875, was $602,613. The total value of agricultural prod- ucts was $89,102.
The present town of Reading is bounded north by North Reading, east by Lynnfield and Wake- field, south by Stoneham, west by Woburn and Wilmington. It is located on the Boston and Maine Railroad, twelve miles north of Boston. It borders upon the Ipswich River, but has no im- portant waters within its boundaries.
The town has a good record for the health and longevity of its inhabitants. On the first of January, 1858, there were living in the town ninety-five persons who were seventy years old and upwards. Six were above ninety, twenty-eight between eighty and ninety, sixty-one between seventy and eighty.
College Graduates of Reading .- The following is a list of persons who have graduated from col- lege while belonging to this town : -
Rev. Samuel Bacheller, graduated at Harvard College in 1731, was settled as pastor in the West Parish, in Haverhill, in 1735. In 1769 and 1770 he was representative from that town. He died in March, 1796, in Royalston, Massachusetts. Chase, in the History of Haverhill, calls him a man of superior talents and attainments.
Daniel Emerson, graduated at Harvard in 1739; Joseph Swain, 1744; Aaron Putnam, 1752 ; Elias Smith, 1753; Jacob Emerson, 1756; Samuel Dix, 1758; and Amos Sawyer, 1765.
Samuel S. Pool, graduated at Harvard College, class of 1770. He took sides with the tories in the War of the Revolution, and like many others of that class when they " wanted more room," he reinoved to Nova Scotia, where he became a judge. He lived on the place formerly owned by Dea- con Wakefield, in the easterly part of the town.
Rev. Jacob Burnap, D. D., son of Isaac, Harvard College, class of 1770, was ordained first pastor of the First Church in Merrimac, New Hampshire, Oc- tober 14, 1772, " in which honorable position," says his historian, " he remained till his death, December 6, 1821, a period of more than forty-nine years."
Martin Herrick, graduated at Harvard in 1772; Jacob Herrick, 1777 ; and Brown Emerson, 1778.
Rev. Aaron Bancroft, D. D., son of Samuel, Esq., Harvard, class of 1778, settled in Worcester, in 1785, where he died in 1839, aged eighty-four. He was father of George Bancroft the historian, and published several works. He shouldered his musket as a volunteer at Lexington and Bunker Hill. The Bible was his standard. He was cheer- ful, active, and benevolent.
Rev. Edmund Foster, a graduate of Yale, 1778, was ordained third pastor of the church in Little- ton in 1781. He died in 1826. Early in the War of the Revolution he was very active in the cause of the people, and was one of the minute- men that enlisted under the command of Dr. (af- terwards Governor) John Brooks, who then resided here.
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Nathaniel Parker, Harvard, class of 1779, stud- ied medicine and settled at Salem.
Micah Stone, graduated at Harvard in 1790; Jacob Flint, 1794 ; Charles Prentiss, 1795 ; and Reuben Emerson, 1798.
Thomas Pratt, son of Isaac, graduated at Dart- mouth in 1798. Spent some time as teacher, and finally became a merchant at Mechanicsburg, Penn- sylvania.
Timothy Flint, graduated at Harvard in 1800, and James Flint, 1802.
Rev. Nathan Parker, Harvard, 1803. Received the degree of D. D., and settled in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, where he remained as pastor nearly thirty years. He is said to have been "successful almost without a parallel in the ministries of the growing denomination to which he belonged." Those who remember him say he was a man of talent, genial, and very unassuming. He was born and lived where Mr. James Davis now re- sides, and was brother of Hon. Edmund Parker.
Jonathan D. Weston, son of Captain Jonathan, Harvard, 1802. Became a prominent lawyer, and removed to Eastport, Maine. Said to have been " one of the smartest men ever raised in Read- ing." He served also as collector of the port.
Elias Upton, Harvard, 1802. Was a successful teacher. Went to Blue Hill, Maine.
Daniel Temple, Dartmouth, class of 1817 ; An- dover Theological Seminary in 1820; ordained in 1821; went as a missionary to Malta in 1822; removed to Smyrna in 1833; returned to the United States in 1844 ; died August 9, 1851, at the house of his brother, Deacon M. M. Temple, at the age of sixty-one, and was buried in this town. His funeral sermon was preached by Rev. Mr. Goodell, the missionary with whom he had long been associated, both as a classmate and in mission- ary interests. Mr. Goodell said: " Among the va- rious nations and tribes and sects of the East, his name is held in high estimation. . He evi- dently endeavored to be as upright, sincere, cor- dial, gentle, kind, benevolent, economical, true, and good, as he expected everybody would be in the millennium." His life and letters, forming an in- teresting volume of nearly five hundred pages, were published in 1855.
John Batchelder, Harvard, 1823. Hc taught school in Nantucket for some time, and in 1827 opened an academy here in a building erected for that purpose, and designed in part for a church by the Unitarian society that then existed in town.
The building stood on the present site of the resi- dence of Dr. F. F. Brown. The school prospered for many years, and numbers of young men from this and the surrounding towns were fitted here for college. Mr. Batehelder was succeeded in 1843 by a Mr. Wait, who soon gave up the school here and opened one in Greenwood, where the inebriate asylum of Dr. Day was formerly estab- lished. The academy was converted into a dwell- ing-house, and is now the residence of H. G. Richardson, Esq. Mr. Batchelder served the town for thirty years with distinguished ability as one of their school committee, commencing in 1828 and continuing nearly every year till 1862. He was also once chosen representative to the General Court, and served some years as selectman. He died in 1871, aged eighty.
Rev. Benjamin Wyman Parker, Amherst, 1829; Andover, 1832. Went as a missionary to the Sandwich Islands the same year. He returned on a visit to his native town in 1876, after an absence of forty-four years. He died in Honolulu, March 23, 1877, in the seventy-fourth year of his age. He had been for many years officially connected with the Theological Seminary at Honolulu, and was a faithful laborer in the mission-field.
Rev. George Nichols, son of James, graduated at Yale, and studied theology at New Haven, but never preached much. He was a successful teacher for a term of years at New Haven and Hadley, and for a long term at Springfield, Massachusetts, where he died at the age of forty-six.
Rev. Cyrus Nichols, brother of Rev. George, graduated at Williams, and studied theology at Auburn. He has long been in the service of the Home Missionary Society, first in Missouri, now in Wisconsin.
Rev. Warren Nichols, another brother, grad- uated at Williams and Andover, and labored also in Missouri for the Home Mission till his death.
Adams Nichols, M. D., practised at Rockport, Massachusetts, but removed to Quincy, Illinois, where he had an extensive field of labor, and was a popular physician. He was brother of the three last named. He died in 1871.
Rev. Stillman Pratt, son of Benjamin, graduate of Amherst, 1831, studied theology, and graduated at Andover. First settled at Orleans, where he remained four and a half years, and preached at Eastham six months. He then removed to South Adams, Massachusetts, and after doing missionary work several years, succeeded in establishing a
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church of which he became pastor. After nine years of labor at Adams, he removed to Melrose, laboring among the people, holding meetings in the depot, and formed a church there over which he was settled abont three years, and which, like that at Adams, still continues to flourish. He re- moved to Carver, and was pastor there three years. He published The Mother's Assistant two years, and The Middleborough Gazette from that time to his death, September 1, 1862, at the age of fifty-three years. He was the author of four volumes published by the Massachusetts Sabbath School Society, a life of General Fremont, two edi- tions of Sabbath School Questions, and a biograph- ical catalogue of the class of 1831, Amherst Col- lege, and a genealogy of the Pratt family. Under his ministrations seventy-one were added to the church in Orleans, fifty at South Adams, twenty- five at Melrose, fifteen at Carver. His son, Still- man B. Pratt, is the present editor and proprietor of The Randolph Massachusetts Register, and of The American Workman, 37 Cornhill, Boston ; and was the candidate of the Labor-Reform party for secretary of state in 1869. Another son, Ran- som D., has been connected with the Massachusetts Bureau of Statistics. A third son, Thomas S., was former editor of The Abington Standard.
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