History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. I, Part 129

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton), ed
Publication date: 1890
Publisher: Philadelphia, J. W. Lewis & co
Number of Pages: 1034

USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. I > Part 129

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Mr. Johnson has always evinced an interest in local historical and antiquarian matters and by research among probate papers and early deeds has established the fact that the homestead of his ancestor, Capt. Edward Johnson, is identical with that of the pres- ent J. R. Kendall farm, situate on Cambridge and

Russell Streets. Capt. Edward Johnson gave it to his grandson William (son of his son John), who sold it to Thomas Kendall by deed dated Dec. 11, 1688, and recorded with Middlesex Registry of Deeds, book 10, page 112. The property has ever since remained in the Kendall family.

Mr. Johnson has been twice married. His first wife was Rosella Malvina Waldo, daughter of Shubael and Rebecca (Crosby) Waldo, of Chesterfield, N. H. She died June 8, 1845, leaving one child, Rosella Annette (born May 11, 1845, died Feb. 22, 1846). His second wife was Julia Ann Bulfinch, daughter of Amos and Hannah (Coombs) Bulfinch, of Woburn. By her he has had three children, all living-Rosella Maria, John Warren and Edward F. Johnson.

HON. JOHN CUMMINGS.1

Hon. John Cummings was born in Woburn, Octo- ber 19, 1812. He came of a Scotch family found in Watertown in the early days of the Massachusetts Colony. His great-grandfather moved from Andover to Woburn in 1756, and bought the estate on which Mr. Cummings now lives.

Mr .- Cummings was largely self-taught, but had for a brief time the advantages of the Warren Academy and of the school at South Reading. Entering busi- ness, Mr. Cummings engaged in the tanning and cur- rying industry, associating with himself, sooner or later, John B. Alley, Charles Choate, Leonard B. Harrington and Leonard Harrington. In 1868 he became president of the Shawmut National Bank of Boston, which office he now holds. He has served in both Houses of the Massachusetts Legislature ; was a member of the Centennial Board of Finance, which redeemed from failure and conducted to a triumphant success the Philadelphia Exhibition of 1876, and was also one of the judges of the Exhibition. He has served as a director in the Perkins Institution for the Blind, and in the Massachusetts Institution for Fee- ble-Minded Children.

Mr. Cummings early developed decided scientific tastes, especially in the department of natural history, and made acquirements which, considering the occu- pation of his time by business cares and duties, are remarkable. He has always been an enthusiastic agriculturist, with an ardent interest in the appli- cation of scientific principles to the cultivation of the soil.

His most intimate public relations, in his later life, have been with the Boston Society of Natural His- tory, the Agricultural College at Amherst and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, to all of which he has rendered inestimable services. Of the last- named institution he was for seventeen years the treasurer, as well as a member of the Executive Com- mittee of the Corporation from the organization of

1 By Gen. Francis A. Walker.

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HISTORY OF MIDDLESEX COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

that committee. To his courageous acceptance of responsibility and his strong financial support the friends of the school largely attribute its rescue from pecuniary embarrassment and its subsequent remark- able development. By a vote of the corporation in 1889, when he retired from the office of treasurer, Mr. Cummings' name was applied, in perpetuity, to the Laboratories of Mining Engineering and Metallurgy, in recognition of his services.

Mr. Cummings' remarkable disinterestedness in public life, his severe integrity, combined with great kindliness in personal intercourse, his powerful intel- lectual grasp and strong Scotch-American sense have made him one of the most useful citizens of his native Commonwealth.

CHAPTER XXXII.

SHIRLEY.

BY REV. JOSEPH CREHORE.

SHIRLEY was originally a part of Groton. It was set off from the parent town and incorporated as a district of the Province of Massachusetts by an act of the General Court at its session in January, 1753. Six years previously, at the March meeting of the town of Groton, the following petition, signed by John Whitney and thirty-two others, asking for the separation, was presented :

"To the inhabitants of the town of Groton, assembled in town- meeting on the first day of March, 1747 :

" The petition of us, the subscribers, being all inhabitants of the town of Groton, aforesaid, humbly showeth that your petitioners all live in the extreme parts of the town, and by that means are incapacitated to attend public worship constantly, either ourselves or families ; and be- ing sensible of our being set off in order for a precinct will be of great service to us, we desire that we may he set off by the bounds, viz., begin- ning at the month of the Squannacook river, and so run up said river till it comes to Townsend line, and then by Townsend and Lunenburg lines till it cometh to Groton southwest corner, and so by the south line in said town until it cometh to Lancaster (Nashua) river, and then run dowo said river till it cometh to Harvard corner, and then about a mile on Har- vard north line, and then turo to the north and run to the waste brook in Coicors (Caneus or Nouacanens) farm, where people generally pass over, and from thence to the mouth of Squannacook river, where we first began ; and your petitioners as bound in duty will ever pray, etc. John Whitney, John Williams, David Gould, John Kelsey, Phinehas Burt, Joseph Wilson, Thomas Laughton, James Patterson, Jonathan Gonld, Robert Henry, John Williams, Jr., Jacob Williams, William Farwell, Jonas Longley, Oliver Farwell, Isnac Holden, Jarathmael Powers, Philemon Holden, Stephon Holden, Jr., William Simonds, Wil- liam Preston, William Williams, Henry Farwell, Isaiah Farwell, John Russell, James Park, Daniel Page, Joseph Dodge, Moses Beanett, Jr., Caleb Bartlett, Francis Harris, Caleb Holden, Hezekiah Sawtell."

The petition was read " at the anniversary meeting in Groton, March 1, 1747, and the prayer thereof granted, except the land on the easterly side of Lan- caster (Nashua) river." A delay of nearly six years occurred after this action of Groton consenting to the division before an act of incorporation was obtained from the General Court. This was passed and ap-

proved at its session in January, 1753. A small ad- dition to the territory embraced in this act was made on the southern line by the Legislature of 1765, and a few changes have been made since that date, the most important of which was in 1871, when all that part on the east of the Nashua River was taken for the new town of Ayer. As at present constituted, it contains an area of about sixteen and a half square miles, and is quite irregular in form. From its ex- treme north point to its southern line it is seven and one-half miles, and its greatest width four miles. The Squannacook River bounds it north and east, runs southeasterly from the Townsend line on the west to near the centre of its eastern line, making the ex- treme north an acute angle. Groton joins it on the north, Groton, Ayer and Harvard on the east, Lan- caster on the south, Lunenburg and Townsend on the west. Its distance from Boston is thirty-eight miles. The name of Shirley was given it in honor of William Shirley, Governor of the Province of Massachusetts at the time of its incorporation.

The first meeting of the district after the act of in- corporation was held March 1, 1753. The warrant calling this meeting reads as follows :

"Middlesex, SS. To Nathaniel Harris, in Shirley, in the District of Groton, ia said County of Middlesex. Greeting :

"By virtue of the power and authority given to me, the subscriber, by an act of the Great and General Court of Massachusetts Bay, in New England, for dividing the Town of Groton, and making a District by the name of Shirley, to call the first meeting of the inhabitants of said dis- trict, you are hereby required, in his majesty's name, to warn and give notice to all freeholders and other inhabitants qualified by law to vote in Town, District and Parish meetings to assemble and meet at Mir. John Whitney's in said Shirley on the First day of March next at nine of the clock in the Forenoon.

" First to choose a moderator to manage said meeting.

" 2ly. To chuse all such officers for said district as otber towns by law are enjoyned to chuse at their annual meeting.

"3ly. To conclude where the next district meeting shall be held, and make due return of your doings herein, to myself, at or before nine of the clock of the above said day. Given under my hand and seal at Shir- ley this ninth day of February, A. D. 1753, in the 26th year of his Ma- jesty's reign. JOHN WHITNEY."

The officers chosen at this meeting were a moder- ator, town clerk, selectmen, assessors, constable, high- way surveyors, tithingmen, sealer of weights and measures, sealer of leather, fence-viewers, field-drivers, carer for swine, deer-reaves, surveyor of lumber, pound-keeper. The number of inhabitants at this time is not definitely known, but it is thought to have been about 400. In 1800 the population was 713; in 1860 it was 1460. But in 1871 the incorpora- tion of the town of Ayer took a part of its territory and reduced its population. The present number is about 1500. The property valuation rises a little above $600,000, and the annual products above $200- 000. From 1875 to 1885 there was a decrease of its manufacturing industries from forty-two to eighteen, caused by the fluctuations and depression in the va- rious branches pursued. A gradual recovery from this condition is now being witnessed from year to year, and the water privileges, yet unused, together

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with the facilities for transportation and the natural attractions of the place, which in beauty of scenery and healthiness of location is excelled by few, should render the full return of its former activity and pros- perity a matter of but a few years.

The first settlement made within the territory in- cluded in the district was about 1720, and the first farms cleared and occupied were in the northern part.

The soil presents some features quite distinct from that of the neighboring towns. Along the rivers there are large tracts of intervale land that are excel- lent for tillage, and that yield large harvests to reward the faithful cultivator ; and upon the higher lands there are many valuable farms. There is also much woodland covered with oak, walnut, chestnut, birch, maple and pine. Running through a part of the town is an extensive range of coarse slate, which begins in Boylston and continues through Lancaster, Harvard and Shirley to Pepperell. There is a large acreage of light, sandy soil. But the most important feature, and one that adds much to the beauty of the natural scenery, as well as furnishing valuable power for various mechanical industries, is its numerous water-courses. The largest of these is the Nashua River, which runs through the southern and eastern part, while the next in importance is the Squannacook which runs along the northeastern boundary and flows into the Nashna near the line between Groton and Ayer. The Catacunemang is formed by the junction of two streams, one of which rises in Lunen- burg, and the other in Lancaster. It flows through the southern part of the town and empties into the Nashua on the southeastern boundary. By residents along a part of its course it is familiarly known as Bow Brook, having received this name from Miss Sarah C. Edgarton, afterwards Mrs. Mayo, who " sang its praises in a beautiful poem," written in 1838, the first two verses of which we here give :

" Far in a wild and tangled glen, Where purple Arethusas weep-

A bower scarce trod by mortal neo- A hannt where timid dryads sleep-

A little dancing, prattling thing,

Sweet Bow Brook, tutor of my muse !

I've seea thy silver currents spring From fountains of Castalian dews.

" A wilder or more sylvan spot, Ne'er wooed a poet's feet to roam ; Not e'en Calypso's classic grot Would be so fit a fairy's home. The birchen bonghis so interlaced, That scarce the vault of heaven is seen,

With pendant vines are wildly graced- An arbor of transcendent green."

Another stream, of much larger importance than its name would imply, is known as Mulpus Brook. On these several water-courses are many fine privileges, the best being upon the Catacunemaug. Some of these are improved by valuable manufacturing inter- ests ; but there is still a large amount of water-power unoccupied.

BURIAL-GROUND .- One of the first needs to receive attention after the district was incorporated was a place for the burial of the dead. In September, 1753, a committee of five was chosen " to find a centre for the district, and to find a burying-place." The spot selected by the committee seems not to have been favorably regarded by the inhabitants, as another lo- cation was secured. The land chosen for the purpose belonged to the "Proprietors of Groton," and at a meeting held by them March 7, 1755, the following vote was passed : " 41y. Voted to ye District of Shirley four acres of land (where their burying-place now is) for a burying-place and a training field, in said dis- trict, and that ye Proprietors' committee be directed to lay out the same, providing it doth not infringe upon any former particular grant."

The committee made the following record of their work :

"Shirley, April 17, 1755. Theo we, the subscribers, pursuant to ye vote of ye Proprietors of Groton, have laid out a peace of land for a burying-place, etc., in ye district of Shirley, and hounds as followeth : beginning at the northwest corner, at a chestnut tree ; thence ye line runs southerly twenty-eight poles, to a red oak tree ; thence easterly twenty-four poles, to a red oak ; thence northerly twenty-eight poles to a ded white oak tree ; thence westerly twenty-four poles to ye chestnut first mentioned ; the same peace of land contains four acres and sixteen poles. JAMES PRESCOTT, Prop'ra Clerk.

" WILLIAM LAWRENCE, " THOMAS TARBELL, " SAMUEL TARDFIL, " BENJA. PARKER.

·Committee."

This gift called forth the following action at a meeting of the district convened for the purpose : " Voted to chuse a committee to return thanks to the Proprietors of Groton for a Piece of land for burying-place and other uses. Lieutenent Powers, Mr. Samuel Walker, Mr. Richard Herrington, Captain Harris, Ensign Walker was chosen this committee." The unstable nature of the landmarks left the land given somewhat open to encroachment in subsequent years, so that land was obliged to be purchased for the enlargement of the burial-ground in 1864, the larger portion of the gift remaining in public possession being then occupied as the church lot and a public common. One and one-quarter acres were at this time purchased. In the following year, 1865, Thomas E. Whitney made a gift of an additional amount, with conditions that were accepted and agreed to by the town. In 1849 a purchase was made by the town for a new cemetery at the South Village. It borders on the Catacune- maug, and is partially covered with a young growth of wood and finely adapted for the purpose. Artistic taste combined with the fine natural scenery will in time make it one of the most beautiful of burial- places. It is enclosed with a fence composed of stone posts and iron rails or bars on three sides. That part of the fence which separates the grounds from the street was the gift of Mr. N. C. Munson, and was built under his supervision at an expense of $5000. It is an iron structure resting on a solid granite founda- tion, with an elaborate and finely constructed gate-

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HISTORY OF MIDDLESEX COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

way at the centre; the columns, arches and entabla- tures composed of Nova Scotia sandstone.

TOWN-HOUSE .- From the incorporation of the district, in 1753, until the mecting-house was built, in 1754, meetings for municipal purposes were held in private houses. From that time until 1839 the meeting-house was the place for the transaction of the public business. During the larger part of this pe- riod, if not the whole of it, the meeting-house was the property of the town. But in the ecclesiastical changes which transpired and the separation of the church from municipal oversight, "The First Con- gregational Society," which was organized in 1822, became the legitimate successor of the Town Parish, and held the legal claim to the property. Extensive alterations and improvements were made in the house in 1839, and it was then " closed to all secular gatherings and objects." This turned attention to the matter of building a town-house. But no decisive steps were taken to this end till eight years later, in 1847. In March of this year a communication was addressed to the selectmen of the town by the execu- tors of the will of James P. Whitney, notifying them of the bequest of $500 by Mr. Whitney to be appro- priated towards the building of a town-house. The terms of the bequest were as follows: "I give and bequeath to the inhabitants of the town of Shirley the sum of five hundred dollars, to be appropriated towards the building of a town-house, with a commo- dious hall for holding town-meetings, and suitable rooms for the safe keeping of records, books and pa- pers belonging to the town, and for the transaction by the Selectmen, and all other town officers, of all the town business; provided, however, that said town-house shall be located in that part of the town now considered the centre thereof, but not placed near the south side of the land which belonged to my late father, bordering on the Training-Field, so called, without the consent of the owner of said land; and provided, also, that the same shall be built within three years of the time of my decease; and in case of failure on the part of said inhabitants to comply with the provisions aforesaid, I then give and bequeath the said sum, with all the interest that may have accrued thereon, to my said daughter, Henrietta Parker Whitney, or whoever may be my heirs-at-law.

" I also give and bequeath to the inhabitants of said town of Shirley the sum of one hundred dollars, the interest of which is to be annually expended in ornamenting the burying-ground now belonging to the town, by the cultivation of trees and shrubbery, and otherwise improving the same; and the principal sum may be appropriated towards the building of a handsome fence around the same whenever the town shall so determine."

The town voted to accept the legacy and proceeded at once with measures for building the town-house. In the mean time Thomas and George A. Whitney,

brothers of James P., and executors of his will. pro- posed to give $500 in aid of the building, and a lot of land on which to set the same, upon conditions which the town, by vote, accepted and agreed to. A building committee was chosen and the work pro- ceeded with. Ground was broken on the 17th of June, and, on the 5th of July, "the corner-stone was laid with imposing ceremonies." The service was combined with the 4th of July celebration, which came on that day. The address was given by the Hon. Leonard M. Parker, chairman of the building committee.

The building was completed at a cost of $2953.75, including the furnishing, and was opened for a meet- ing of the town on the 19th of September, 1848. The public recognition and celebration of the com- pleted work was delayed till the 4th of July of the following year, when services fitting to the occasion and to the day were held, with an address by Rev. Seth Chandler, pastor of the First Congregation- alist Society.

POST-OFFICE .- Few things in the progress and rapidly-changing customs and methods of our civil and social life mark the difference of the present from a century or even half a century ago more strongly than our postal facilities and methods of communication and transportation. Not till fifty- eight years after the incorporation of the town was there a post-office within its borders. In 1811 one was established at the centre of the town, and Thomas Whitney was appointed postmaster. He remained in office till his death, a term of thirty- three years. About twenty years after the establish- ment of this office, the growth and business import- ance of the south part of the town required another in that section, and one was there located, and Dr. Augustus G. Parker appointed postmaster.

ALMSHOUSE .- The custom prevailing throughout the New England towns in the early period of its history for providing for the poor dependent upon them, was adopted in Shirley and continued till 1837, a period of eighty-four years.

" At the annual town-meeting the names of the unfortunates were publicly paraded, and they were auctioned off, one after another, by the moderator to the lowest bidder." The moral sense of the people was, in a measure, awakened to the wrong of this treatment, and, at a town-meeting in March, 1763, a movement was made for providing a home for this class, and a committee was chosen " to provide a work-house in this district." But nothing resulted from this effort, and, for seventy-four years more, "the gavel of the moderator was heard at each annual town-meeting, hammering off the board and lodging of the unfortunate pauper to the lowest bidder." The following are samples of the notices which were accustomed to be posted in the different parts of the town :

" Notice. The Poor of the Town of Shirley will be let out in lots, for

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one year from the 3rd day of April next, ou Saturday, the 29th day of March instant, at one o'clock r.M. at the store of Thomas Whitney & Son.

" JAMES PARKER, JR., for the Overseers."

" Teko Notice. At Whitney's store in Shirley, on Monday next, at seven o'clock P.M., the wife of William Longley will be set up at auc- tion to the lowest bidder, nt so much per week, from then until the first of April. Shirley, Feb. 13, 1821."

"Notice. David Atherton and Mary Davis will be let out by the week for one year or a shorter time, at Esq. Whitney's store, Monday, 5 o'clock p.M. May 5, 1828."

In 1837 this wrong and oppressive custom was brought to its end. Land and buildings were pur- chased, aud a comfortable and pleasant home provided where all dependent upon the town could be well cared for.

The house was that of Mr. John Whitney, where the first meeting of the district for the transaction of public business, after its incorporation, was held. The farm contained a little more than 100 acres. The number of paupers entered and cared for at this home, the first three years after it was opened, varied from fifteen to thirty each year. After this there was a gradual diminishing of the number, caused chiefly by the effect of the temperance reformation, till "at the close of the twelfth year there were but from three to five who claimed a home in the Alms-house."

This change led to the disposal of the property by a vote of the town, in 1853, as an economic measure. Since then those who are dependent upon it for sup- port have been provided for in private families, under the direction and care of the overseers of the poor.

MILITARY .- The "French War," which terminated in the surrender of the Canadas to the English Gov- ernment, was in progress at the time of the incorpo- ration of Shirley. Volunteers from this district were in that war. "Joseph Longley, who held the office of first selectman and town clerk, at the organization of the district, entered and died in that service." In the controversies and contests which resulted subse- quently with Great Britain, on account of the griev- ances imposed by the King, the district took an active and decided part in support of measures for maintain- ing the rights and liberties of the Colonies. The first public action recorded was in reference to the "Stamp Act," passed by the British Parliament. It was at a district meeting held October 18, 1765, when the fol- lowing instructions to its representative received a unanimous vote : "Ordered that Abel Lawrence, Esq., Representative, &c., for us and others in the Great and General Court, have a copy of our views, and is desired to act accordingly. Is it a matter of wonder that every thinking person in the Colonies of North America is greatly alarmed by the late act of Parliament, called the Stamp Act, as it affects the state and liberty of every loyal subject of said Colonies ? It is therefore thought by your constitu- ents that, at this critical season, you would not be unwilling to know their minds upon this important affair. We look upon said act as a burden, grievous,

distressing and insupportable ; not only likely to en- slave the present, but future generations. The great and heavy load lying upon us, occasioned by the late war, with its increasing interest, and all other inci- dental charges at home for the support of government, &c., have sunk'us so low already that we are wholly unable to bear the duties imposed upon us by the ' Stamp Act,' which, if it take place, must and will immediately prove our certain ruin. With regard to the power of the British Parliament to lay taxes in such a manner, is, you know, a point that has been disputed with great warmth on both sides of the question. We are far from saying or acting any- thing whereby we might be charged with disloyalty, as subjects to the best of kings, or that we have not a proper sense of the British Court, but we do think that our charter privileges and natural rights, as the free- born sons of Britain, are infringed upon by said Stamp Act. Our advice, instruction and direction, therefore, to you is, that upon all proper occasions you use and exercise your utmost endeavors and strongest efforts, in a modest, becoming and respect- ful manner, to prevent said act from taking place in the government ; and that you with a watchful eye, upon every occasion, diligently guard and protect the liherties of your country, to the utmost of your power, against all encroachments and innovations. Like- wise we desire you to frown upon every attempt for raising, by way of tax, any sum or sums of money, or consent to dispose of any already raised, without the consent of the people, upon any pretence whatso- ever, except for defraying the necessary expenses of government. Also we would signify our dislike of the late act of violence in the town of Boston, and every other act of rage committed against any particular person or private property, anywhere within his Maj- esty's most loyal and dutiful province of Massachu- setts Bay. Finally, your constituents expect that, on all occasions, you will view their interest as closely connected with your own, and at all times endeavor topromote it, and also the interest of the province generally. By order of the committee. John Long- ley."

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History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. I, Part 129

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton), ed Publication date: 1890 Publisher: Philadelphia, J. W. Lewis & co Number of Pages: 1034

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton), ed
Publication date: 1890
Publisher: Philadelphia, J. W. Lewis & co
Number of Pages: 1034