History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. I, Part 155

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 155

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An electric motor has recently been introduced into this factory.

The subject of this sketch was of medium height, compactly and symmetrically built, with dark and penetrating eyes and an attractive countenance.

Edward Walcott was born in Danvers, Mass., May 3, 1810, and was the son of John and Rebecca Newell Walcott, and the eldest of thirteen children, of whom two died in infancy. It was an industrious, laborious, pious family. John Walcott was a farmer and could give to most of his children only such educational advantages as were afforded seventy-five years ago by the public schools. The youngest daughter, however, would have graduated at Mt. Holyoke Seminary had she lived five weeks longer.

The subject of this sketch inherited from his father what may be termed an easy temper coupled with good judgment, and from his mother ambition, hope- fulness, foresight and perseverance.

Probably without any definite and settled plan for his life's work he came to Natick when a youth of seventeen or eighteen years, and found a home in the family of Captain William Stone, who lived in the west part of Natick, and whose daughter Elizabeth he married about six years later, or December 25, 1834. Having gained some knowledge respecting the making of shoes, he invested the little money he had been able to save in the stock and implements necessary for this work. This was in 1828, which, as nearly as can be ascertained, was the date of the founding of Natick's great industry-the manufacture of foot-wear.

Lacking a more convenient stand for cutting his leather, young Walcott placed two barrels under some

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HISTORY OF MIDDLESEX COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

shade-trees, and upon a wide board laid upon them commenced his work. When the stock first pur- chased had been used he took his goods to Boston and received for them additional stock and a little money. Though gradually enlarging his business, it was conducted for a number of years in this manner, when Mr. Walcott found himself able to remove to larger and more convenient quarters. Having pur- chased of Rev. Martin Moore his estate which covered the chief part of what is now West Central Street, with much of the land on both sides of it, and extend- ing from Main Street west to the extreme boundary of Dell Park Cemetery, he moved the parsonage (built by Rev. Freeman Sears) from the corner where the Edward Walcott business block now stands west, and, turning it so as to have it face the north, made it into a comfortable home for himself. This is the house next west of the Edward Walcott block, on the south side of West Central Street. The house next west of this, and fronting north on the same street, was Mr. Walcott's Shoe Factory, in which for many years the cutting and packing was done. At that time no machinery was employed in the manufacture of boots and shoes, and the making of them was chiefly done at the homes of the workmen in this and the neighboring towns, even twenty or thirty miles distant. In 1856 the historian of Natick, Oliver N. Bacon, reported Mr. Walcott as employing about 100 men, and as having manufactured not far from three million pairs of shoes. But this business did not en- gross all the attention of Mr. Walcott, for, anticipat- ing the wants of the growing village, he was instru- mental in the laying out of new streets, and in re- claiming the swampy lands between the Boston and Albany Railroad and the Saxonville Branch, and con- verting them into good building lots. Spring Street was laid out and built up by Mr. Walcott.

Later be built the Edward Walcott Block, which is still owned by his surviving family, and also erected for himself the spacious and costly residence on West Central Street, now owned and occupied by Mr. Charles W. Gleason. It may safely be asserted that no other man ever built so many houses in Natick as Mr. Walcott, while to his forethought and taste the town is indebted for the long rows of noble shade- trees that add so much to the beauty and comfort of the homes on West Central Street, and awaken at once the admiration of strangers. With an unusual share of public spirit he was a leader in making im- provements, and for a number of years was the largest tax-payer in Natick. He was not ambitious for office, bnt the town found in him a capable and faithful servant, while for a considerable period he was one of the directors of Newton and Framingham Banks. Happy in his domestic life, his home was his delight- ful retreat, while his numerous cares were perplexing and the gravest responsibilities pressed heavily upon him. Among Mr. Walcott's carly associates in Natick were Captain George Herring, ; B. Mann and Henry

Wilson. With the latter he was especially intimate, as both were early anti-slavery men from the depths of their souls. "The Underground Railroad," which carried so many bondmen from hard servitude to free- dom, had an opening into Mr. Walcott's house, and many an escaping slave found help and protection there and was sent on his way rejoicing.

During the war for the suppression of the Rebel- lion he was for two years a paymaster in the service of the Government, and stationed mostly at Wash- ington.

By his marriage to Elizabeth Stone, Mr. Walcott had five children, one of whom died in infancy ; three sons and a daughter survive him. The eldest of these, Albert, resides in Washington, and is em- ployed in one of the Government departments. The second son resides in Oakland, Cal., and does busi- ness in San Francisco. The third son is John W. Walcott, who is, as his father was, a manufacturer of foot-wear in Natick.

The daughter is Mrs. Nichols, a widow, whose home is with her stepmother in the pleasant dwelling where Mr. Walcott spent his last years and died.

His second wife was Mrs. Hannah P. Henry, and they were married December 19, 1850.

When a young man Mr. Walcott was rather slightly built, but as years increased he became a stout man, weighing 180 pounds. His' habits were those of the courteous and refined gentleman.

In 1832 he became a member of the Congregational Church, which he always supported with his money and influence.

In politics he was a consistent Republican, though not an ardent partisan.

His last sickness was of about three weeks' dura- tion. It was a case of apoplexy, and he died April 7,1876.

The interment was in Dell Park Cemetery, which, bwenty-seven years before, he had conveyed to the town for burial purposes.

Willard Drury .- The most remote ancestor of Cap- tain Drury, of whom the family in America has any reliable information, was Hugh Drury, whose name appears upon the records of Sudbury in 1641. The year following this date he purchased an estate in that town, but, selling the same four years later, he removed to Boston. There he became a member of the First Church, in 1654, and owned one-half of the Castle Tavern estate, besides lands near the Mill Bridge. He was a house carpenter by trade. Mr. Drury died in July, 1689, and was buried with his wife, Lydia, in the Chapel burying-ground.

The subject of this sketch was of the eighth gener- ation from Hugh, as follows : Hugh1; as above John2; born in Sudbury May 2, 1646; Thomas", born August 10, 1668 ; Caleb', born October 5, 1688; Caleb5, born May 22, 1713; Caleb" (time of birth unknown) ; Abel™, married, December 1, 1803, Nabby Broad, of Natick. Willard was a son of Abel, and was born April 18,

Hillard Dning

Leonard house

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NATICK.

1806, in the house now belonging to the estate of Ed- mund W. Wood, a little west of the Waban Rose green houses, for that was the home of Abel Drury, his father.

Willard Drury was the younger of two children, both sons, his brother Otis having been born Novem- ber 26, 1804. Mr. Otis Drury lived in Boston, and was in business there. He died October 2, 1883. Captain Willard Drury lived in the house in which he was boru forty-seven years. In childhood and youth he attended the public schools of the town, and for a time was a student in Leicester Academy. Arriving at mauhood, he became a teacher, though devoting himself chiefly to farming.

In early, as well as in mature life, he was distin- guished for his industry, earnestness, perseverance and fidelity to trusts. Whatever he was expected to do he found means of accomplishing, provided it was right. Difficulties that would dishearten most meu only served to make him more resolute, and to call into requisition new and more effective resources for overcoming them. No other man ever detested shams more heartily than did Mr. Drury, while he had what amounted to a genuine reverence for what was real, true, just and right. These characteristics he re- taiued to the last, and never did they serve him and his fellow-townsmen better than during the last twenty-five years of his life. His mother was a very capable and strong-minded woman, in the best sense of this much-abused term, and her son Willard inher- ited most of her best qualities of mind and of heart.

Mr. Drury cared little for official distinction, but when called to office he was faithful iu meeting all its responsibilities. It is doubtless within the bounds of truth to say that more than to any other person or persons the town of Natick owes to Mr. Drury one of its most beneficent and valuable institutions. Ref- erence is here made to The Morse Institute, the gen- eral history of which will be found in its place in this sketch of Natick. It may properly be stated here, however, that, after the town had voted to ac- cept the gift of Miss Mary Ann Morse for the found- ing of a library, Mr. Drury was the first named of the five trustees appointed by the town to take charge of the property and to carry into execution the will of Miss Morse respecting the same. After the trustees had been legally organized, and had entered upon their work, such difficulties and complications ap- peared that a vote was carried in a town-meeting to refuse the offer of Miss Morse, and to annul the act appointing a Board of Trust. It is understood that a part of the trustees favored this last-mentioned pro- ceeding, and were indisposed to make any additional efforts to save the property for the town, but the ma- jority persevered and brought about the appoint- ment of Mr. Drury as administrator of the estate of Miss Morse with the will annexed. At once he entered upon the difficult work before him with great earnestness, and for some years managed the

whole matter with so much care and skill that, while the claims against the estate were satisfied, the prop- erty increased rapidly and largely in value; so that before 1872 the trustees could report to the town that the estate was substantially settled, and a large fund was ready for building purposes and the purchase of a library.

With less resolution; courage and skill in manage- ment on the part of Mr. Drury and his associates (of whom in this matter he was the acknowledged leader) the Morse Institute, with its large and valuable free library, reading-rooms, etc., would never have been established. Probably few, if any, of the multitudes who enjoy from week to week the benefits of this in- stitution have any adequate idea of the narrowness of the margin between success and failure in this case, or of the amount of life-consuming anxiety and labor that was involved in saving this treasure for the town of Natick.

Mr. Drury's first wife was Miss Louisa Haynes, who was born April 22, 1805, and died August 26, 1849. Their only child, Abigail, became the wife of Mr. Isaac M. Fellows September 5, 1854. Mr. and Mrs. Fellows have a pleasant home on West Central Street.

June 1, 1853, Mr. Drury married Miss Roxa Broad, - of Natick. She was born February 13, 1823, and died October 5, 1875. Their only child, Ella M., was born August 16, 1856. She was a member of the first class that graduated at Wellesley College. As an instructor in microscopy she spends a portion of each year in Boston, and devoted to the same spe- cialty she is a member of the faculty of instruction of Martha's Vineyard Summer Institute, the sessions of which open each year in the month of July and continue a number of weeks.

In 1853 Mr. Drury sold the house in which he was born and had hitherto lived, with all the land con- nected with it on the north side of the street (now " the Waban Rose " property), to Mr. William Henry Howard, and built for himself a new house on the south side of the street. This, standing upon eigh- teen acres of reserved land, was ever afterwards his home. It is the well-known place now occupied by Mr. Browning.

lu stature Mr. Drury was tall and large, and till he was injured by lifting a burden too heavy, in the later years of his life, he was strong and had great powers of endurance. His parents became members of the Congregational Church in 1808, and he united with ~ the same Nov., 1866.

Mr. Drury's last sickness, of a few weeks' duration, bronght with it much suffering, and he died of cystitis (inflammation about the bladder) July 13, 1882. By will he left funds to the town of Natick to secure care for his burial lot in Dell Park Cemetery.

Leonard Morse, 1 belonged to one of the ancient

1 This family name was, and is, variously spelled, in different, and

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HISTORY OF MIDDLESEX COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

families, certainly of America, if not of England, and one of the most numerous. Reliable records trace his descent from Samuel Morse, who was born in England in 1585, and came to America with his wife, Eliza- beth, and, at least, three sons, and settled in Dedham, Mass., in 1637.

Samuel Morse was not one of the "Pilgrim Fathers," but a stanch Puritan.

The subject of this sketch was of the ninth genera- tion from Samuel the immigrant. The names of these ancestors, with those of their wives, are here given.

Samuel1, wife Elizabeth; Daniel2, wife Lydia; Daniel3, wife Elizabeth Barbour; Daniel4, wife Su- sannah Holbrook; Obadiah5, wife Mary Walker; Daniel6, wife Hannah Eames ; Henry7,, wife Eunice Dowse; Georges, wife Abigail Underwood. LEONARD9 was born at Sherborn, Mass., Jan. 27, 1817. He had two brothers, George, born Oct. 13, 1821, and Jobn U., born Jan. 21, 1829, and a sister, Eleanor.C., who was horn Oct. 17, 1819.

The father of this family was a farmer, and re- moved from Sherborn to Little South, now Sonthville Natick. Mr. Leonard Morse, like many other Natick men when laying the foundations of their prosperity, learned in youth the trade of a shoemaker, and not content to be simply a workman in that business, he established a shoe factory upon the east side of South Main Street, nearly opposite the dwelling-house of Mr. Dexter Washburn. This was before the intro- duction of machinery in the manufacture of foot- wear. All the work was done by hand, and it was a slow way to make a fortune. It is certain Mr. Morse did not acquire any considerable portion of his wealth in this manner, but he gained what was then more valuable,-a knowledge of men and skill and shrewdness in business.

The exact date of his withdrawing from this, which is the chief industry of Natick, is uncertain, but the time came when he turned his attention to invest- ments in real estate and the loaning of money, and this was his business during all of the latter part of his life. For many years he always had funds to loan in almost any amount on good security, and doubtless did vastly more in this branch of business than any other capitalist in Natick. Rarely did his good judg- ment fail him in making his numerous investments.

often in the same localities. Morse, Moss, Morrs, Morrse and Mors com- prise the chief variations, and to these possibly Mazz may be added. . It is supposed, with good reason, that the name was spelled at an early period Mors (the Latin for death), as it was spelled by the Faculty of Harvard College in granting early degrees to members of this family, and that to obscure the original meaning of the word some branches of the family wldud an e, others an s or a double s, while some omitted the r. The motto upon the coat of arms of the Morse family for more than 500 years, or from the time of Edward III. has been, " In Deo non armis fido,"-" I trust in God, not in urms." Of the numbers of the family it may bo said that the Morse Register, published forty years ago, and con- taining a record of seven divisions of the family hus, according to its compiler, 20,000 entries of births, marriages and dentbs. It is nearly cer- tain that the seven heads of these divisions had a common ancestor.

Among his valuable possessions in real estate was the lot upon the east side of Main Street, next south of the block which contains the post-office. After the great fire, Jan. 13, 1874, bad swept off all the cheaper buildings which had previously covered both sides of Main Street in that part of the village, Mr. Morse erected upon the lot just named the Masonic Block. This is built of brick, with a marble front, and is three stories in height, withi stores upon the lower floor, business offices and rooms upon the second floor, while above are the spacions and convenient quarters occupied by the Masonic Fraternity. This is one of two or three ornamental blocks in Natick, and no other is more conveniently located for business purposes ..

May 1, 1842, Mr. Morse married Miss Mary Ann Stone, daughter of Mr. Gilbert and Mrs. Eunice Un- derwood Stone, of Hopkinton, Mass. They had no children. Mrs. Morse survives her husband and re- tains their pleasant home on North Main Street, cor- ner of Mechanic Street.

For two years before his death the health of Mr. Morse had been gradually failing, but he was con- fined to his house three weeks only. His death oc- curred April 27, 1888, and the immediate cause of it was apoplexy. His age was seventy-one years and three months, and he was buried in his lot in Dell Park Cemetery. Mr. Morse always took a deep in- terest in whatever affected the growth or prosperity of Natick.

Captain Daniel Morse, of the fourth generation from Samuel, of Dedham, was a man of note in the early history of this town. Born in 1694, he married, in 1719, Hannah Dyer, a daughter of his step-mother, and died January 7, 1773. He was the captain of the first military company raised in Natick, and when the plantation was to be erected into a parish, in 1746, he was authorized by the General Court to call the first meeting. His intellectual ability and undaunted courage fitted him to be a successful leader among the white settlers and the resident Indians.

Samuel O. Daniels was born in Framingham No- vember 10, 1844. He came to Natick when a young man, and after having rendered himself familiar with the business of a druggist, opened, on Main Street, a druggist's store, on his own account. In the great fire in 1874, which consumed nearly the entire central portion of the village, Mr. Daniels was one of the sufferers ; hnt when Clark's Block was rebuilt he opened a new and very attractive druggist estab- lishment in that block, at the corner of Main and Summer Streets, and directly under the Natick National Bank. In this business he continned till the time of his death.

From his interest in scientific pursuits, especially in chemistry, it was natural that he should be among the first of the citizens of Natick to consider the ad- visability of introducing electric lights as one of the

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TOWNSEND.

institutions of the town. As the result of inquiries and deliberations upon this matter, in which Mr. Daniels took a leading part, six gentlemen of Natick formed a syndicate for the purpose of establishing here an electric plant and lighting the streets and business establishments of the town by electricity. Of this syndicate Mr. Daniels was president and gen- eral manager, and Hon. Francis Bigelow was treas- urer. A large building was erected on Summer Street and furnished with the appliances for generat- ing electricity, and the business thus projected was prosecuted with good success. But not many months elapsed before it was deemed best to dissolve the syndicate and to organize and carry on the work as a regular corporation. For this purpose a charter was obtained from Maine, and the Natick Electric Company was organized, with Deacon J. B. Wilson as president, Hon. Francis Bigelow as treasurer, and Mr. Daniels as Manager. This was in 1886, and seventeen stockholders constituted the company, with a capital stock of $14,800. The system adopted was the Thomsou-Houston, and, in 1889, there were thirty-six public and four hundred and fifty com- mercial lamps in use. Since the date just mentioned the number of both kinds has considerably increased, the town appropriating each year a larger sum for arc lights, and maintaining them in all the larger centres of business, while the incandescent are found year by year in a greater number of factories, stores and offices. Business has been greatly facilitated by these movements, and the same may be said of the comfort of the people and the security of their property.

Recently, the company, of which Mr. Daniels was, for a time, general manager, has sold its entire effects to a new electric corporation, which is building, in the northwest part of the village, new and greatly enlarged works for the generating machinery. As the result of these changes, and the founding of a new and costly electrical plant, the running of electric cars through the village of Natick, and a new and easy connection with Boston, are among the an- ticipations of the near future. Of this entire electric ·enterprise Mr. Daniels should have the credit of be- ing one of the foremost and persevering originators. In the midst of his work he died very suddenly of apoplexy, March 28, 1888, at the age of forty-three years.

CHAPTER XLII.

TOWNSEND.

BY ITHAMAR B. SAWTELLE.

DESCRIPTIVE.

THE town of Townsend is situated in the north- west angle of the county, in latitude 42° 38' north, and longitude 4º 19' very nearly east from Washing-

ton, on the northern margin of the State, adjoining . New Hampshire. It is forty miles northwesterly from Boston, thirty-two miles northerly from Wor- cester, and fifty-six miles southerly from Concord, New Hampshire. In 1792 the selectmen of Town- send, in company with the selectmen of the seven adjoining towns, each in their turn, caused an accu- rate survey of the town and a plan thereof to be made. The several boundaries of the town since that date have remained unaltered in the least particular. According to that survey it is bounded as follows :

" Beginning at the northeast corner and running sonth 4º west ou Pepperell line 300 rods to Groton old corner ; thence south 14º west ou Pepperell line 880 rods to the northwest corner of Groton ; thence south 14º west on Groton line, 270 rods to the northwest corner of Shirley ; thence south 14º west on Shirley line, 500 rodsto the northwest corner of Lunenburg ; thence south 62140 west, 1880 rods to the northeast corner of Lunenburg, in the east line of Ashby ; thence north 9º east by A shby line, 1360 rods to the northeast corner of Ashby ; thence south 8216° east by the State line and Mason south line, 1106 rods to the sontli- east corner of Mason ; tbence by the State line and the sonth line of Brookline, 760 rods to the point of beginning ; and contains by estima- tion 19,271 acres."

The town contains a trifle more than five and one- half miles square, or thirty and one-ninth square miles. The surface of the town, except that portion near the river, is greatly diversified with bills and val- leys. On the banks of the Squanicook, through the en- tire length of the town, there are areas of level sandy plains. Some of these, that are only slightly elevated ahove the natural surface of the river, are fertile and afford good remuneration to the husbandman for his la- bor. The rocks are ferruginous gneiss, Merrimac schist, sienite and St. John's group. There are ledges which afford large quantities of stone for building purposes ; some of them can be split and worked to good advan- tage, and only a small portion of iron, which is one of their constituent parts, prevents a much more exten- sive use of them. On the east side of the Nissequas- sick Hill a veia of plumbago crops out, which has never been investigated, and nothing is known in re- gard to its quality or value. The borders of the town, except at the southeastern part, are hilly. The prin- cipal hills are Nissequassick Hill, West Hill, Barker Hill, Battery Hill and Bayberry Hill.

NISSEQUASSICK HILL embraces the northeastern part of the town, from the Harbor to the State line, the northern slope extending into New Hampshire. Since the settlement of the town this hill has been more densely populated than any other portion thereof, except the villages. It contains some rough ledges and broken crags on its eastern brow, except which, it has few ravines or abrupt elevations ; and its soil, al- though somewhat rocky, is both arable and productive. It is a graceful elevation, and has many standpoints of scenic beauty. Many charming prospects, worthy of an ascent to behold, may be seen from its summit. The Monadnock, the Watatic, the Wachusett and the bold elevations at the north, including Jo Eng- lish Hill, together with the mountains of New Ips- wich, Peterborough and Lyndeborough, .in New

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History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. I, Part 155

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