History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. I, Part 176

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 176

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WAR OF 1812-14 .- We will pass now from the Revolution to the War of 1812-14. We find but little action of the town relative to the matter. The war was generally unpopular in the State, and no great zeal was manifested in most of the towns to furnish the men and the means of carrying it on. On the 22d of May, 1812, it was voted to pay each volunteer soldier two dollars down and three dollars when called into active service, and make up ten dollars per month with what the government pay them. In the following September a Committee of Safety was chosen. September 12, 1814, voted to make up the three sol- diers that were detached twenty dollars per month with what the government pays them. March 6, 1815, the soldiers were to have sixteen dollars per month with what the United States pay. None of the Stow soldiers were killed in this war, and we know of none who died in service.

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HISTORY OF MIDDLESEX COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

REBELLION WAR .- Immediately after the assault of the rebels upon Fort Sumter and the call of Presi- dent Lincoln for volunteers to defend the attack upon the nation's life, some of the Stow boys, members of the " Davis Guards," of Acton, promptly responded to the President's proclamation, as did others at the beginning of the Revolution, and were in the famous Sixth Regiment when it passed through Baltimore on the 19th of April, 1861, just eighty-six years after the Coneord fight. At once a call was issued by the selectmen for a legal town-meeting, which was held on the 27th of April, to take action in the great crisis that had arisen. It was then voted to appropriate $1000 to uniform and equip those who would volun- teer into the service of the country, and also to assist their families while absent. This action induced twenty-eight men to enroll themselves for duty. Early iu the fall of 1861 an appeal, endorsed by the President, was made to the women of the loyal States to furuish hospital stores for the sick and wounded soldiers. In response, a public meeting of the citi- zens was held, October 22d, and a committee, consist- ing of R. W. Derby, A. W. Nelson and Angustus Rice, was chosen to obtain and forward contributions. Previous to this a sufficient amount of eloth had been purchased to make nearly one hundred garments, which the ladies had prepared for an emergency. Following the appeal for sanitary stores, the ladies in each school district collected a large amount of articles that were forwarded to the proper authori- ties. In July, 1862, the town voted a bounty of $125 to the three years' men, and in August, $100 to the nine months' men. There were frequent meetings during the war to encourage enlistments, and to uphold the nation's arm. The Stow men entered twenty-five different regiments, which made it difficult to look after and assist those who were in need.

April 4, 1864, it was voted to pay re-enlisted men a bounty of $100. During that year eleven persons were bought to fill the town's quota, who were paid from $325 to $525. Quite large sums were subscribed by individuals for recruiting purposes, which were subsequently refunded by the town. There were 174 men in the army accredited to the town, who served for a longer or shorter time, including the nine months' and one hundred days' men. The record of these men was not so accurately kept as it should have been. Twenty-two more recruits were furnished by the town than were called for by the Government. Only once, we think, was it necessary to resort to a draft for a few men.

The whole amount of money expended by the town on account of the war was $15,991.70, exclusive of State aid to soldiers' families, amounting to $8000, that was reimbursed by the State. A large amount of sanitary articles were furnished by the Soldiers' Aid Society, to the value of nearly $1500. The read- iness with which the people responded to these calls is shown by the fact that on the 14th and 15th of

December, 1864, a fair was held to raise funds for the needy soldiers. The net receipts of the fair were $617.58. The interest taken in it by the ladies is shown by the fact that two young misses called at the grist-mill about a mile southerly of the village, and solicited a bag of meal. The young Mr. S., who was in charge at the time, said he would give it if they would drag it up to the Town-Hall. They assented to the proposition, and, loading it into a little hand- wagon, they soon accomplished the task. It may be interesting to add that Mr. S., not long afterwards, married one of the young ladies. A wheelwright gave a wheelbarrow, which was sold on shares for $17. It was then given back, and sold two or three times at auction, and netted over $46. The contributions to the Sanitary Commission, and directly to the sol- diers of the town, amounted to more than $2000, which was quite a generous sum for so small a town. On the 3d of April, 1865, the joyous intelligence reached the town, late in the afternoon, that Rich- mond, Va., the rebel capital, was captured, and that the members of the Confederate Government were fleeing for their lives. Great enthusiasm was mani- fested. The bell of the village church was rung, flags were displayed, and in the evening the house of the pastor of the First Parish was illuminated. Just one week later the most welcome news of the surren- der of General Lee and his army was received with every possible demonstration of delight. The church bell rung for an hour, aud almost all business was suspended. In order to accommodate all parties, a general illumination of the houses was deferred until the next evening, wheu a most brilliant exhibition was witnessed hy crowds of people. An extemporized band of musicians paraded the streets, and finally all came together in the Town-Hall and listened to some patriotic songs. Yet many hearts were sad at the recollection of dear friends whose lives had been sac- rificed during the "cruel war." The following per- sons were either killed, died of wounds or disease, or in rebel prisons, viz. : Lieutenant Winfield H. Ben- ham at New Orleans, La., May 18, 1863; John Brown at Point Lookout, Va., September 5, 1864; Sergeant John Alpheus Brown at. Winchester, Va., December 8, 1864; Thomas Cunningham at Salis- bury Prison, N. C., October 30, 1864; Edward An- drew Davidson at Baltimore, Md., November . 9, 1864; William Henry Dun'ap at New York January 13, 1863 ; Samuel Hampton in rebel prison after June 5, 1864; Albert Mardough Kingsbury at Gaines' Mills, Va., August 31, 1862; Daniel Artemas Lover- ing, at Cold Harbor, Va., June 3, 1864; Francis William Moore at New Orleans, April 19, 1863; Albion Nutting at Washington, D. C., October 14, 1864; George Whitemarsh Parks at Gettysburg, Pa., July 2, 1863; Charles F. Perry March 18, 1863; James Rye at Vienna, Va., March 4, 1864; Abraham Foster Rogers at Baton Rouge, La., August 5, 1862; Corporal Matthew Smith at Danville, Va., December 2, 1864;

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Joseph Albert Swift at Winchester, Va., October 12, 1864; Albert Walcott, April 15, 1864; George Frank- lin Whitcomb at Salisbury Prison, N. C., January 2, 1865; Thomas Whitman at Fair Oaks, Va., June 19, 1862; Sergeant Henry Windsor Wilder at Winches- ter, Va., September 1, 1864; George Willis af. Chan- tilly, Va., September 1, 1862. Of these, Cunningham, Nutting and Rye were non-residents, but were credited to Stow.

NEW TOWNS .- About 1729 the question of form- ing a new town from parts of Stow, Lancaster and Groton was agitated, but the town voted, March 2, 1729-30, not to set off the lands beyond Beaver Brook, with the inhabitants thereon. This brook is in the westerly part of Boxboro'. On the 20th of August, 1730, the town, through their committee, John Whit- uran, John Foster and Phineas Rice, gave the following reasons why the petition of Simon Stone, Jonathan Whitney, Thomas Wheeler and others for the forma- tion of a township should not be granted: A great part of the land was barren and incapable of improve- ment ; the new town would take away about one- seventh of the inhabitants; that the town was poor and could hardly support their minister, nor could they bear the country charges without help from the others. But these pleas availed not with the General Court, and on the 29th of June, 1732, the town of Harvard was incorporated. This left a small strip of territory west of the Nashna River, abont two hun- dred rods wide, belonging to the old town, but com- pletely separated from it; and for many years it was known as " S.ow Leg." But in March, 1764, the town voted that this tract of land, between Lancaster and Shirley, might be annexed to the latter place, on con- dition that all taxes due from the inhabitants be paid to Stow. Soon after, it became the southern part of Shirley, extending from Nashua River to Lunenburg.

Boxborough .- About forty years after the incorpor- ation of Harvard another portion of the old town was wanted to help make a new municipality, but it met with no favor from a majority of the inhabitants. For, on the 1st of March, 1773, it was voted not to grant the request of Daniel Wetherby and others, to be set off from Stow, to form a new town, with portions of Littleton and Harvard. This vote was repeated in 1775. The chief reason given for a new town was the distance they were from the meeting-house and the difficulty of a regular attendance upon public wor- ship. But to obviate this difficulty, while the town vote " no " relative to separation, Dec. 19, 1777, they agree to give the northerly part of the town £6 13s. 4d., lawful money, to hire preaching with. This did not, however, satisfy the north-enders. They still ask for a separation. Twice in 1779 the town refused to be dismembered, whereupon Edward Brown and fifty-one others apply to the General Court, ask- ing to be erected into a town, for the reason that " many of us are four or five miles distant from the .

meeting-houses of their respective towns, whereby it

is impossible for them, with their families, to attend the worship of God, at those places, in the winter season, as they desire to do ; " and also that, at great ex- pense, they had built themselves a meeting-house, etc. Their prayer was not granted. June 15, 1780, it was voted not to provide any money for preaching in the northerly part of the town. And on Oct. 16th of the same year it was agreed to grant the prayer of the petitioners on these conditions, viz., that the propos- ed bounds should be somewhat changed, that those set off should take all the poor of that section and also the poor of the former inhabitants that should come back for support, and that Stow should be at no cost for roads nor any other thing. But for some reason there was a delay in the matter. Ac- cordingly, in March, 1782, Silas Taylor and sixty- eight others again apply to the General Court to be made a town, district or parish. In about a year, after some opposition from Littleton, they were made a district, taking 154 inhabitants from Stow, and three-tenths of the valuation. It was more than three-fourths of a century before any more of the old territory was wanted for a part of another town. But when the time came, in 1866, for the incorporation of Hudson, no particular opposition was made to giving a few acres to the new town, as no inhabitants were included.

Maynard .- When it was proposed, in 1871, to take the easterly part of Stow and the westerly part of Sudbury to form the town of Maynard, seeing it was a forgone conclusion, very little opposition was made to the project, and about 2300 acres and 800 inhabit- ants passed into the new municipality. This leaves the old town in a much better form than when orig- inally constituted, though with less than one-half its area.

CEMETERIES .- The cemetery at the lower village, near where the first meeting-house stood, was donbt- less the first spot devoted to burial purposes. The earliest allusion to it we have found was August 21, 1738, when a committee was chosen "to lay out ye Burying-place in order for to fence it." But there seems to have been no haste about the work, for on the 31st of March, 1740, forty pounds were voted to fence the ground. Yet we presume the fence was not immediately built. Io his will, dated May 13, 1751, Thomas Burt bequeathed to the town £6 12s. Sd., for the purpose of fencing the burying-ground, but pro- vided that if it should be well fenced previous to the payment of the money, it was to be used to purchase "necessary or decent utensils for the communion table " of the church. The money did not become available until after the death of his widow, in 1762, when a committee was chosen to receive the be- quest ; and from a vote taken in 1763, it appears that after fencing the ground there was some money left, which was ordered to be delivered to a committee of the church. For more than a hundred years this was the only cemetery of which we have any record.

656

HISTORY OF MIDDLESEX COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

A new burial-place becoming necessary, the town voted, September 21, 1812, to take a part of the town's land near the meeting-house for a burying-ground. Thus the cemetery, situated on the southerly side of Pilot Grove Hill, near the brick school-house, came into existence. This was, however, too small a lot to last for many years. Accordingly, as additional space was needed for sepulture, the town, in the spring of 1864, purchased "Brookside Cemetery," on the Rock Bottom Road, and northerly of Assabet Brook; and it was, on the 1st day of the following October, pub- licly consecrated, with appropriate religions exercises, to the purpose for which it was set apart. The ad- dress was given by Rev. George F. Clark, the pastor of the First Parisb.

POUND .- March 5, 1705, a three-pound rate was voted to build a pound. As early as 1698 the Gen- eral Court decreed "that there shall be a sufficient Pound or Pounds made and maintained, from Time to Time, in every Town and Precinct within this Province . for the impounding or restraining of any Swine, Neat Cattle, Horses or Sheep, as shall be found damage-feasant, in any cornfield or other in- closures, or going upon the Common " without author- ity. So the town felt obliged to comply with the law. The pound was to be set "on a small Knowel, Be- twixt the meeting-house & Thomas Whitney's house." It was to be " thirty foot square, seven foot high, with good white oak posts, the railes to Be Eyther sawed or hewed timber." In the progress of years a new pound was deemed necessary. Hence, October 21 1721, it was voted to " erect a good and substantial, pound, which shall be according to Law . . on

the edge of the highway between the Capt"s house and the meeting-house." It was doubtless maintained there for many years, perhaps until the one near the brick school-house was erected.

POOR AND WORK-HOUSE .- The first reference to a pauper was March 17, 1724-25, when widow Mary Hewes was voted to be one of the poor, and provi- sions were made for her support. A mulatto child was thrown upon the town, June 28, 1748, by Deliverance Wheeler, and thus we suppose he was delivered of a burden. It was voted, December 20, 1784, to build a work-house to put the poor in. It was to be thirty feet square and seven feet stud. The house was not probably built, for in 1787 another vote was taken to build a house for the poor. April 14, 1788, money was granted to build a poor-house to be set on the side-hill near the burying-place. Oliver Blood was chosen overseer of the work-house in May, 1790. In April, 1796, it was decided that the children in the work-house should go to school near Esquire Wood's, and twelve shillings were to be paid to that quarter. A committee was chosen December 1, 1828, to pur- chase a farm for the poor. The farm, we presume, was soon bought, and in March, 1829, it was voted that the poor-house should be a house of correction. The poor of the town are still provided for on this farm.

SLAVERY .- It is well known that several of the inhabitants of the town, many years ago, were own- ers, or perhaps we should say holders of slaves. Morally speaking, no man can be the owner of an- other man. Of course it is impossible, at this late day, to learn the names of all the slaveholders iu town. Some of them are known to have been lead- ing citizens. But the name of one man, whose moral eyes were so opened that he could see the injustice of human slavery, ought to go down to posterity as that of a philanthropist in advance of his times. We allude to Joseph Stone, who, in the early months of the Revolutionary War, recognized the inconsistency of fighting for freedom, while holding a fellow-being in bondage. On the town records the following act of manumission may be found, which we gladly transcribe :

" WHEREAS, I, Joseph Stone, did, on the 14th day of February, A.D. 1776, buy of one Nathaniel Sher- man, of Boston, gentleman, a negro man named Youbel, to serve me and my heirs forever, as a ser- vant ; therefore, in consideration of his fidelity and other motives moving me, I have, and do hereby dis- charge and set at liberty from slavery said slave known as Youbel Stone." Perhaps it was in conse- quence of his emancipation that this Youbel Stone served forty-six months and eleven days as a soldier in the Continental Army. Soon after the close of the war, by a decision of a judge of the Supreme Court, slavery ceased to exist in the Commonwealth.

TOWN-HOUSE .- For a long period the town-meet- ings were held in the meeting-house, as there was no other suitable place. On the erection of the fourth meeting-house it was thought best not to use the auditorium of the building for the transaction of town business; and therefore, October 22, 1827, it was decided to finish a town-hall under the meeting- house, and meetings were held there until the house was burned. Then, on the 20th of December, 1847, it was voted to build a town-house; and soon after land was purchased of Francis Conant for $125, whereon to erect the building, which was to be fin- ished within a year, and is the one now used for town purposes.

TEMPERANCE .- For many years there was a great amount of travel to and from Boston, through the town, and there were two or three taverns within its limits for the "entertainment of man and beast." Intoxicating liquors were kept in these houses and freely sold to all calling for them. It was customary for some of the townspeople, especially in the cven- ing, to resort to these places for a social time with the guests ; and much drinking was often the result. The excessive use of liquor in those days was no un- common thing, and quarrels were sometimes the re- sult. Hence the town, March 4, 1771, ordered that the law respecting idle and disorderly persons be observed and carried into execution.

Again, in May, 1796, it was voted to put the law in

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force to stop those persons who are spending their time and estate at public-houses, which indicates the town's desire to maintain good order and good morals. In accordance with a later law the town, in 1819, declared that they would support the selectmen in doing their duty in respect to those frequenting "the taverns and grog-shops, to the damage of themselves and families," by posting up their names in public places. And, in 1823, a committee was chosen to " enforce the law against bowling alleys and other complements of gaming." No decided temperance movement was inaugurated here until about 1829, when we are told that the late Deacon Calvin Hale was one of the first to "sign away his liberty," as it was called, by affixing his name to a pledge against the use of ardent spirits or distilled liquors. It was not until about 1838 that the pledge against the use of all alcoholic liquors was adopted. The Washing- tonian crusade followed in 1840, and aroused a new interest in the reform. On the 23d and 24th of August, 1841, Dr. Charles Jewett gave temperance Jectures, which awakened so much interest that a meeting, of which Jonas Warren was chairman, was held on the 25th to consider the matter of forming a temperance society. It was decided to organize an association, and two pledges were adopted, one against the use of all intoxicating liquors, but the other allowed the use of cider. The following pledge, however, was soon made the basis of the society, viz .: " We, the undersigned, mutually pledge ourselves that we will not use as a beverage any intoxicating liq- uor." The Stow Total Abstinence Society was formed September 1, 1841, with Rev. William H. Kinsley as president, and H. W. Robinson secretary. In the course of two or three weeks nearly all the officers, for some reason, resigned their positions, and others were chosen. There was a grand temperance cele- bration on the 25th of August, 1842, when a Cold Water Army of 200 members was enrolled. At the close of the first year 262 names were attached to the pledge-111 males and 151 females. After a year or two meetings were held very irregularly, sometimes almost a year intervening between them. Lectures were given occasionally, and committees chosen to induce the rum-sellers to quit their business. The last record of a meeting was October 16, 1852. Up to that time 266 men and 299 women had signed the pledge. The interest waned after the passage of the prohibitory law, in May, 1852, and little was done in the cause until February 16, 1863, when Protector Lodge of Good Templars was organized, composed of some of the most respectable citizens. For about ten years it exerted a very beneficent influence, when it ceased to exist. Gleason Dale Lodge, at Rock Bot- tom, was instituted June 3, 1867, and lived about seven years. Eben Dale Lodge was formed Decem- ber 20, 1886, at Rock Bottom, and is the only temper- ance organization in town.

LAFAYETTE .- One of the red-letter days of the

town was September 2, 1824, when the Marquis de Lafayette passed through frem Concord to Bolton. It was nearly sunset when he left Concord, and quite dark when he arrived at the lower village, where he was met by a military company, commanded by Capt. Pliny Wetherbee, and by a large concourse of citizens. Rufus Hosmer, Esq., was chief marshal of the occasion. Fer an hour or so there was a general reception at the hotel. Bonfires were kindled, flags were unfurled and the booming of cannon resounded among the hills as the distinguished friend of America and the intimate confidant of Washington was escorted on his journey beyond the limits of the town.

HOMICIDE .- In the year 1844 a trouble arose between William Goldsmith and George Hildreth, about grass which both claimed. Early in Septem- ber Hildreth passed Goldsmith's house, while the latter was using an axe near his residence. The old quarrel was renewed, and it is supposed, in self- defence, Goldsmith struck his opponent with the axe, which proved a death-blow. Without knowing the result, Goldsmith entered the house and called for his best hat and coat, saying he "must be off from the place immediately," and left. The selectmen offered a reward of $100 for his arrest. Having become weak and exhausted from travel and hunger in a day or two, he started to return, when he was met in Wilton, N. H., and recognized by a man who had learned of the reward offered, and he was taken into custody without resistance, and brought back. He was tried and convicted of manslaughter, and sentenced to the State's prison for seven years. But before the expiration of his sertence he was pardoned, and remained a very quiet and inoffensive citizen until his death.

BUSINESS MATTERS .- The principal employment of the citizens has, from the first, been agriculture. At one time considerable attention was given to the raising of hops, but nothing in that line has been done for many years. Besides other farm products, about 194,000 gallons of milk, worth $18,250, some $2000 worth of butter, and nearly $8000 worth of apples have been sold some years. The aggregate value of all the agricultural products in 1885 was $144,332.

A tannery was started a hundred years ago, or more, near where Mr. F. W. Warren now lives, and was subsequently operated by his father, Mr. Jonas Warren. Having had their tannery destroyed by the bursting of a reservoir, at Ashburnham, in May, 1850, Mr. Peter Fletcher and Nehemiah A. Newhall removed to town and established the tannery business, which they maintained for about twenty years, at the site of the old grist-mill, just below Brookside Cemetery. Sometime previous to 1853 Rufus Temple, Cyrus Brigham and Theodore Pomeroy carried on the shoe business at Rock Bottom. In 1853 H. Brigham assumed the owner: hip. Mr. Brigham and A. Ricc were in partnership from 1862 to 1864.

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HISTORY OF MIDDLESEX COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

Mr. S. A. Gleason, with Mr. Brigham as a silent partner, managed the business from 1865 to 1867. The large shoe-shop built in 1862 was burned in 1875, which put an end to this industry in that village. The first allusion we have found to a mill was about the year 1700, when a road was laid out through Israel Heald's honse-lot to the corn-mill. This mill was probably on the Assabet River, just above the present village of Maynard, and the road must have started from near the old cemetery at the lower village. Andrew J. Smith built a saw and grist-mill on Assabet Brook, not far from his house, in 1856. He sold them to Mieah Smith in 1864. They were subsequently owned by A. Priest and B. F. Folsom, and are now operated by E. F. Wheeler. Other small mills are alluded to later, but their exact locality we have not learned.

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History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. I, Part 176

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