History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. I, Part 164

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 164

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HISTORY OF MIDDLESEX COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

perhaps, some one would give him a profit on it and take it off his hands. He was a man of conviction, was straightforward, energetic, pushing, and always at the front of everything which he undertook. He was one of the selectmen 1856, 1860, 1861, 1862, and he represented District No. 27 (Ashby and Town- send) in the General Court in 1859. He never mar- ried, but always had a home of his own, which Miss Mary Ann Craig, an unmarried sister, happily shared with him all along up to the three-score and ten point of life ; and in the distribution of his large estate by his will, this sister was kindly and liberally remem- bered. He died January 11, 1886.

CHARLES POWERS.1

Charles Powers, son of William and Pamelia (Wright) Powers, was born in Pepperell September 6,1809.

He was a descendant, in the sixth generation, from Walter Power, an Englishman, born in 1639, and who came to this country (landing at Salem) in 1654. Walter Power was married in 1660 to Trial, daughter of Deacon Ralph and Thankslord Sheppard, at Mal- den. Two danghters and seven sons were the fruit of this marriage. Walter Power, in 1694, bought of certain Indians one-fourth part of the township of Nashoba (now Littleton) and settled there.

The name Power in the next generation was spelled Powers, and it has retained that orthography since that time. The subject of this sketch grew up to manhood under the influence of a home where work was the rule and not the exception. He at- tended the public schools at the time when the first principles of an education were mastered and not burried through to gain a higher grade, and the edu- cation which he acquired was a better equipment for the battle of life than in many instances is taken from our colleges.

During his minority he earned some money, with which he purchased the farm which his father had rented, and gave a deed of it to his mother. After he became of age he purchased a few horses, and en- gaged in the teaming business, and removed to the adjoining town of Townsend, which was upon the great highway between Boston and the large towns of northern Middlesex County and New Hampshire. This was at a time before any railroads were built, and the business became large and lucrative, requiring a large number of horses.

Soon after removing to Townsend he, with Mr. Noah Adams, purchased the mill property at Town- send Centre, and a co-partnership was formed under the firm-name of " Adams & Powers," which became well known throughout and beyond Middlesex County for more than twenty years. This firm did an exten- sive business in lumbering, coopering stock, grist and Houring-mill work. Mr. Powers became the presiding

genius of this firm. The buying of large timber lots was done altogether on his judgment. After several years of devotion to business he purchased interests in manufacturing enterprises, railroads and banking establishments. For a few years he was a sheriff of Middlesex Connty. He never was an office-seeker, having a natural distaste for politics. He occasion- ally acted as moderator at meetings of the town, and served as chairman of the Board of Selectmen in 1851. If there was any money to be raised, either for charitable, political or religious purposes, he would solicit moderately among his friends for the amount needed, and would always make up the deficit from his own pocket. He contributed largely towards the sum necessary to purchase the old First Parish Meeting-house, and presented it to the Methodist Episcopal Society of Townsend. He was the patron of the Methodists, and is gratefully remembered by that denomination. In private life his character was of singular charm. He was a man of large physique, was warm-hearted and affectionate, most faithful in his friendships, and delighting in liberal hospitality, and unwearied in his efforts to make everybody about him happy.

His probity was a tower of strength to himself. and to all who dealt with him. What was right and honest was the very law of his heing. His judgment was sound and conservative. He was a Christian and belonged to the whole church of Christ, and be- cause he loved every branch of the church, he loved not his own communion less. In the bestował of his charities and benevolent contributions he was gov- erned, not by occasional impulses, produced by ap- peals to his emotional nature, but by calm, settled, religions principles. He was one of the few but in- creasing number who gave by system annually as God gave him the means, and known only to the Great Head of the church are the amounts of his benefactions. As a friend to young men commencing business or a course of education, there are a num- ber living to-day, and filling honorable positions in the community, who can bear testimony to his unos- tentatious but generous aid. The manner of his death was like the seal of Heaven on a good man's life, On the 7th of October, 1856, having spent the greater part of the day in the city of Boston, and having re- turned to his home in Townsend, seemingly in best health and spirits, when all at once, feeling a faint- ness coming over him, he exclaimed, " I believe I shall faint away ;" these were his last words on earth, and after uttering them he immediately expired. At the time of his death he had lived forty-seven years, one month and one day. He left a widow, Sarah (Brooks) Powers, and a son, Charles Edward Powers, both of whom are among the living.

ABRAM S. FRENCH.

Abram Stickney French, son of Abram and Eliza- beth (Kidder) French, was born in Boston March 5,

1 By Charles E. Powers.

Charles Powers

Abram J. French

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1809. He made one or two voyages to the West In- dies as a cabin-boy, but not being pleased with a maritime life he was sent to New Ipswich Academy, where he acquired a good educatiou. He preferred a business life rather than to pursue a course of studies with the view to enter upon one of the learued professions. In 1830 he engaged in the morocco- tanning business at West Townsend, in a building which stood opposite to the residence of A. M. Wil- son. In 1833 he built a morocco-factory on a brook running northeasterly from Bayberry Hill, near its junction with Squanicook River. This establishment was in successful operation until 1853, employing constantly ten or twelve workmen; and from the fact of a continuation of twenty years in the trade, the. presumption is that the business was a source of wealth to the proprietor. Leaving Townsend in 1853, he went to Lockport, N. Y., and stocked a tannery,. where he carried on business successfully with a part- ner, to whom he sold his interest in the business in 1858, and removed to Wellsville, N. Y., and built an extensive tannery, and pursued that branch of indus- try for several years, doing a large and profitable business. Partially losing his health, and seeing a good chance to sell out, he disposed of this factory and its stock in trade and retired from business in 1864. The price of everything was inflated by the paper currency, caused by the war, so that leather -like all other property-was worth more than double when he sold, compared with its value when he built the tannery, and consequently the sale was a good stroke of financial policy. He married Lois P. Richardson, daughter of Jonathan Richardson, October 2, 1831. She was born in Townsend July 16, 1812. Although they have an abundance of. wealth and friends, they have been greatly bereaved by the loss of four of their six children-a son in the Rebellion, two daughters, each about twenty years of age, and a danghter in childhood. The account of this family may be of interest to the future gere- alogist looking after persons by the name of French.

Children : Mary Elizabeth, born October 26, 1832, died September 30, 1834; Mary Elizabeth, born March 30, 1834, died February 6, 1859; George Fred- erick, born September 1, 1836, died November 24, 1861; Aun Maria, born August 2, 1838, died August 26, 1854; Abram Arthur, born March 1, 1844; Martha Ellen, born November 4, 1846.

Mr. French has always been fond of books, which, during the days of bad health, have been a source of pleasure to him. He has a retentive memory, is well posted on historical matters and possesses a large amount of miscellaneous information. He gives liberally to the poor, and enjoys life at his advanced age in a remarkable manner. He is a member of the Republican party, and in 1861-62 he represented the Twenty-seventh District (Ashby and Townsend) in the General Court.

CHARLES EMERY.

The name of Emery is said to be of Norman origin. Those of the name were in England in 1066, and engaged in the battle of Hastings under William the Conqueror. In 1635 John Emery and his son John, and Anthony his brother, embarked in the ship " James," Captain Cooper, and landed in Boston June 3d of that year. John settled in Newbury, and he died there November 3, 1685, aged eighty-five. He was a carpenter, and it was from him that the subject of this sketch is descended. Zacheriah Emery, the great-grandfather, came to Townsend about 1739, and, December 2d, he married Esther Stevens, of Townsend, He was a leading man in town and church affairs, was one of the selectmen eight years, from 1754 to 1778. He was at the battle of Bunker Hill in Captain Hosley's company. He owned a large tract of land, situated about two miles south from where the meeting-house stood, on the Lunen- burg road, leading through South Row. This estate has remained in the Emery family to the present time, Charles Emery and his sister being the sole heirs. About 150 acres of this tract remain in a per- fectly wild state, and the sound of the woodman's ax has never reverberated among the huge and mossy trunks of this primeval forest. John Emery, the grandfather, was a prominent townsman; was in Cap- tain Henry Farwell's company at the battle of Bunker Hill; married Ruth Sanderson, of Lunenburg; was one of the selectmen seven years, from 1795 to 1809. Joel Emery, the father, was a soldier in the War of 1812, stationed at Fort Warren. He served on the Board of Selectmen six years, from 1832 to 1852, and he represented Townsend in the General Court in 1835, 1836, 1837 and 1839.

CHARLES EMERY, son of Joel and Mary (Sylvester) Emery, was born in Townsend December 3, 1819. He married, July 2, 1846, Amanda M. Walcott. She was born in Lowell September 24, 1828. Children : twins, a son and a daughter, born October 9, 1862. The daughter died in infancy ; the son, Charles H. Emery, died October 17, 1879. The death of this son, a promising youth of seventeen, was a great be- reavement to these parents. He was their only ehild. Mr. Emery, soon after he arrived at majority, opened a store at Townsend Harbor, in the same building which he now occupies as a store. In 1848 the fail- ure of the contractors to build the Peterborough and Shirley Railroad ruined him financially, as he had a large amount of goods trusted to their boarding-house keepers and laborers, who received little or nothing for their services and consequently could not pay their bills. Not losing his courage, he served as a clerk for a firm in Boston for a short time, but he soon returned to Townsend Harbor and commenced business at the store where he is now in trade, where he paid all his debts and has had a profitable trade ever since. He has often been urged to accept some of the town offices, but he has always declined a nom-

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HISTORY OF MIDDLESEX COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

ination. With the exception of about five years, from 1850 to 1855, he has been postmaster at Townsend Harbor since 1843, a term of over forty years, He is a genial gentleman and has as few enemies as any Townsend man. Since last winter (1890) his usual good health has failed so much that in July of this year he sold out his stock in trade and retired from business.

ROYAL B. BOYNTON.

Royal Bullard Boynton, son of Isaac and Sybil (Lawrence) Boynton, was born in Pepperell February 7, 1826. He is descended from John Boynton, who, in 1638, came from Yorkshire, England, and settled in the old town of Rowley. On his maternal side he is a descendant of John Lawrence, who first settled in Lexington ; afterwards removed to Groton. He was one of the original proprietors of Townsend. While not at school or teaching school the subject of this sketch worked on his father's farm until he ar- rived at majority. The whole dream and hope of his boyhood was to become a physician, and he was at his books while his neighbors' boys were at their games and amusements. In 1847 he was at Ludlow Academy, Vermont. In 1848 he was connected with Pepperell Academy, both as pupil and assistant teacher in math- ematics. During the winter of 1848-49 he was at Groton Academy, studying Greek and geometry, with a view of entering college two years in advance, and while he was there his eyes failed by an attack of amanrosis to such an extent that in the following spring for about six weeks he was totally blind. Re- covering partially from this difficulty, but not so much as to enable him to pursue his studies, he went to Lowell and entered the office of Knowls, a noted mechanical and operative dentist, and attended to the mechanical part of that business for abont two months during the following summer. He was after that a student in the office of Dr. Nehemiah Cutter, who gave him a certificate of two years' study of medicine. He graduated from Woodstock Medical College (Woodstock, Vt.) in 1852, in a large class, of which he and five others stood in the front rank in scholar- ship. He commenced the practice of medicine in Pepperell soon after his graduation. In 1855 he moved to Townsend Centre, and was in practice at that village until 1862, when he removed to Mason Village, N. H., and remained there until 1865, when he removed to West Townsend, where he is now in practice. Ile is a skillful physician and surgeon and has an extensive practice. He is decidedly a self- made man, and his success in his profession is at- tributable as much to his interest in his studies at the fireside in his father's house as to any other source. He keeps thoroughly posted in the literature of his profession, and he has the same yearning for advancement, sometimes called ambition, which he felt in early life. His office patients come from all directions, and, besides taking many long rides to

visit the sick, he occasionally travels by rail, some- times a long distance, to attend to those who wish for his professional services. November 12, 1863, he married Jose H. Taft, of Mason Village, N. H.

CHAPTER XLIII.

LEXINGTON.

BV REV. C. A. STAPLES.

TOPOGRAPHY AND SCENERY.

THIS town lies west-northwest of Boston, the cen- tral village heing about eleven miles distant from that city and connected with it by the Western Division of the Boston and Maine Railroad. It contains nineteen square miles of territory, or upwards of 20,000 acres. The boundaries of the town are quite irregular, and its length from north to south considerably greater than its breadth from east to west. It lies between the towns of Winchester, Wohurn and Burlington on the east, and Lincoln and Waltham on the west, and between Arlington and Belmont on the south and Bedford on the north. The central village is situated chiefly in a plain, probably in geologic eras the bot- tom of a shallow lake, from which rise on all sides, excepting the northeast and southeast, hills having an elevation of from fifty to one hundred and fifty feet. The site is nearly two hundred and fifty feet above tide-water in Boston harbor and ninety feet above Concord River, six miles distant toward the north - west. The surface of the town is broken by ranges of hills running generally from northeast to southwest, and by many isolated elevations of considerable height. Of the latter, Concord, Davis, Fiske and Lor- ing Hills, lying southwest and north west of the village, and Merriam, Hancock Heights, Mason, Mount In- dependence and Mount Ephraim, lying east and south of the village, are illustrations. These hills are gen- erally covered with wood and are of a rocky and pre- cipitous character, especially the eastern slope; but some are used as pastures and afford extensive and beautiful views of the surrounding country from their summits. Embosomed among these hills are exten- sive peat swamps, many of which have been reclaimed and brought under cultivation. They form a striking feature of the landscape in some portions of the town and produce enormous crops under generous fertiliza- tion. On one of these meadows the owner gathered recently, at a single mowing, over four tons of hay from an acre, by actual weight, when put in the barn. The second harvest not unfrequently affords half the quantity of the first.

The general elevation of the surface of Lexington prevents the accumulation of stagnant water within its borders. It contains no pond of more than one or two acres in extent, excepting that near the east vil- lage, made by flooding the great meadows to furuish

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a water supply for the Arlington reservoir. The town is virtually the water-shed of the southern part of Middlesex County between the Charles and the Mystic Rivers. Considerable streams take their rise in the town and run in different directions.' Among these, Vine Brook, one of the largest, rises half a mile west of the village and pursues a northeasterly course into the town of Burlington, affording several mill privi- leges and emptying into the Shawshine River. The North Brook, rising in the same locality, flows directly north into the town of Bedford, where it unites with the same river. Half a mile southeast of the village the Munroe Brook, having its source in a copious spring of pure cold water, flows southeast- erly into Arlington, where it forms the chief supply for the town water-works, furnishing, by actual meas- urement, 200,000 gallons daily. A mile west of the village Hobbs' Brook has its source and runs in a southerly direction along the borders of Lincoln, in a deep valley, and pursuing its course under the eastern slope of Mount Tabor, empties into the Charles River in Waltham. Other brooks in the southerly portion of the town flow in the same direction, pouring their waters, through various channels, into the Mystic or the Charles. Thus we may say, in general, that the surface of the town slopes to the north and to the south, the local water-shed being in the vicinity of the central village, from which streams flow in these oppo- site directions. This absence of stagnant water and the good drainage afforded by these brooks, together with the general elevation of the surface, give the atmosphere great purity and cause the town to be one of the most healthful in the State. There are few tracts of level ground within its limits, excepting the plain in which the central village is situated and one of considerable extent lying eastwardly on the bor- ders of Vine Brook, and containing the old race- course.

Having a great variety of surface, with extensive tracts of forest and meadow land and bold, rocky hills, the scenery of Lexington is attractive and delightful. In every direction the drives are inviting, winding around wood-covered hills, along rich valleys, past comfortable and spacious dwellings, with broad and beautiful landscapes continually opening before the traveler. In many parts of the town Wachusett Mountain is seen rising in graceful outline on the western horizon thirty miles distant. Farther to the north the Grand Monadnock lifts its giant form in solitary grandeur, and around it are gathered the lofty Peterboro' hills, all distinctly visible on a clear day. But the most extensive and fascinating view is obtained from Hancock Heights, where, at an elevation of 150 feet above the village, the eye sweeps the unbroken line of the horizon on a radius of thirty or forty miles. A vast extent of gardens, fields, or- chards and forests lies outspread before you, dotted over with flourishing villages, while through an open- ing between Crescent Hill and Arlington Heights

are seen the spires and domes of Boston and Cam- bridge. The city of Woburn lies farther towards the north, with Stoneham and Reading beyond, while still farther north are Burlington and Bedford. Turn- ing towards the west, we have a wide sweep of woods and fields backed by mountains, and in the south a charming view over Waltham and Newton, with the Blue Hill of Milton in the distance. From hills around East Lexington, and from clevations on the Cary farm, the views, though much less extensive, are hardly less striking and beautiful.

Lexington is, almost exclusively, an agricultural town, and contains many large and valuable farms. Among these the most noted is the Hayes estate of 400 acres, with its lordly stone mansion, its noble groves of pine and oak, its well-kept lawns and gar- dens, its extensive collection of plant-, shrubs and trees, and its broad fields and meadows around the farm buildings at the foot of Hancock Heights. Few places in the vicinity of Boston present so many and so varied attractions,-a surface so diversified by hill, valley and plain, such enormous masses of rock, grand old forests, a natural pond on the highest point of land and an unfailing brook winding along its southern border. Its late owner, Hon. Francis B. Hayes, laid out these extensive grounds with fine taste and adorned them with rare shrubs and trees. It is a place delightful to visit, especially when its thousands of rhododendrons are in bloom, and the air is fragrant with the choicest roses, azaleas and lilies of the garden and conservatory.

In the northern part of the town are many exten- sive and well-tilled farms. Among these we may notice the Bowman farm, now owned by Mr. F. O. Vaille ; the Hammon Reed place, now owned by Mr. Stimpson ; the Wetherbee farm, the John P. Reed farm and the Henry Simonds farm, all large and pro- ductive, with spacious dwellings, fine barns and out- buildings, and having the appearance of comfort and prosperity. In the western and southern portions of the town we notice the Berry farm, recently pur- chased by Mr. Hartley, who is adding extensive and costly improvements ; the Cary farm, owned by Miss Alice B. Cary, and occupied by her mother, the late Maria Hastings Cary, many years as a summer home, and by her ancestors for many generations, one of the most valuable and beautiful of Lexington farms ; the old Phinney place, How owned by Mr. Webster Smith, long the residence of the I'hinney family ; the Wellington farm, where, for a hundred and fifty years, the ancestors of Mr. Cornelius Wellington, the present owner, have lived-a place which, for beauty of location, fine lawn and garden, noble trees, well- tilled fields and broad views over a charming coun- try, can hardly be excelled by any other in this por- tion of the county ; the old Matthew Bridge farm, now owned by Mr. Goldthwaite, with its large extent of fertile meadows, probably the most productive farm in town, upon the improvement of which much

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money has been expended by successive proprietors ; and the Estabrook and Blodgett farm, now owned by Mr. Severns. Upon the main road, a mile south of the village, the farm and grounds of Mr. James S. Munroe deservedly attract much attention for their beauty and productiveness. The broad meadows, the natural groves of oak upon rounded knolls, the ex- tensive lawn carefully kept, the hills bounding it up- on the west, planted with many varieties of trees, make it a delightful place, and peculiarly dear to its owner as the home of several generations of his fam- ily. In the eastern quarter are the valuable farms of Mr. Haskell Reed, Charles Putnam and the late George Munroe, pleasant for situation and under careful tillage, while farther north, near the Burling- ton line, is the well-known Gibbs farm, recently bought by Mr. Moody and now undergoing extensive improvements. In the same neighborhood the Wil- lard place bears evidence of skillful and profitable farming, with its well-managed dairy and its enor- mous brood of 2000 chickens. In addition to the large farms already mentioned are many smaller and hardly less valuable estates belonging to merchants and business men of Boston who have made here pleasant homes for their families. Among these are those of Colonel William A. Tower, near the east village, on a commanding height overlooking a wide sweep of wooded and cultivated land dotted with farm-houses and animated by peaceful scenes of coun- try life; the new and spacious house of Mr. C. C. Goodwin, with its many acres of bright, velvety lawn skillfully graded and adorned with trees and shrubs ; the stately mansions of Mr. Matthew H. Merriam and Mr. B. F. Brown, on Hancock Street, with exten- sive grounds showing the care of many years in fine orchards, gardens and noble trees; and the unique and beautiful house of Mr. George O. Whiting, occu- pying a pleasant site at the corner of Hancock and Adams Streets, and having a delightful view from the broad piazza and the spacious rooms over a vast ex- tent of country backed by Wachusett, Monadnock and the Peterboro' hills in the western horizon. The home of Dr. R. M. Lawrence, on the southern slope of Loring Hill, half a mile southwest of the village, is a noteworthy place. On a broad avenue winding up from Waltham Street through the native forest, sheltered on the north by a heavy growth of oak and pine, amid huge masses of granite rock, and having a fine outlook to the southwest upon the hills and farms of Lincoln, it forms a picture of seclusion and com- fort peculiarly attractive to a refined and cultivated mind. Many other pleasant homes might be named, for Lexington abounds in such, especially among those recently erected on Bloomfield and Oakland Streets ; but enough has been written to show that the old town has fine farms, noble mansions, beautiful scenery and much to please and interest the traveler.

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History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. I, Part 164

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