History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. I, Part 88

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 88

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Heary W. Lazell, enlisted Sept., 1861, in Co. E, 26th Mass. Reg. ; died Aug , 1863, at New Orleans, Ln.

James R. Lentell, enlisted Sept., 1861, in Co. E, 26th Mass. Reg. ; died Nov., 1862, at New Orleans, La.

William H. Loker, enlisted in Sept., 1861, in Co. E, 26th Mass. Reg. ; died April, 1863, at Acton, Mass.

Marivan Miner, enlisted Aug., 1862, in Co. I, 26th Muss. Reg. ; died Feb., 1863, at New Orleans, La.

Matthew Mckinney, enlisted Aug., 1863, in Co. E, 26th Mass. Reg. ; died Sept., 1863, at Berwick City, La.

William B. Reed, enlisted Aug., 1862, in Co. E, 26th Mass. Reg. ; died Jan., 1864, at Franklin, La.

Warren R. Wheeler, enlisted Sept., 18G1, in Co. E, 26th Mass. Reg. ; died July, 1862, at Fort St. Philip, near New Orleans, La.

James M. Wright, enlisted Nov., 1861, in Co. B, 32d Mass. Reg. ; died Sept., 1862, at Philadelphia, Peun.

John H. P. White, enlisted Sept., 1863, in Co. E, 26th Mass. Reg; died July, 1863, nt New Orleans, La.

Samuel E. Wilson, enlisted in 1864, in Co. K, 7th California Reg. ; died Feb., 1866, at Fort Yuma, Cal.

Daniel A. Levering, ealistad Aug., 1862, in Co. H, 13th Mass. Reg .; killed June, 1864, at Cold Harber, Va.

Luke Robbins, eulisted in Boston, Mass., Juna, 1864, as a seaman for two years; served on board the " Ohio" and "Seminole ; " was killed on the "Seminole" at Galveston, Texas, May, 1865.

Frank J. Barker, anlisted in Co. C, 118th Ill. Reg., Ang., 1862; died at Milliken's Bend, La., April, 1863, aged 19.

Eben Barker, enlisted in Co. F, 50th Ill. Reg., Aug., 1861 ; died at Quincy, Ill., Jan., 1862, aged 22.

Cyrus E. Barker, enlisted July, 1861, in Co. H, 13th Mass. Reg. ; dis- charged Jan., 1863, for disability ; afterwards eulisted in Co. C, 59th Mass. Reg. He was at the battle at Weldon Railroad ; was taken prisoner, and after seven months was exchanged; diad at Anoapolis, Md., April, 1865, aged 22.

The names of Acton men who served in the War of the Rebellion, and who survived that war :

Colonel, William H. Chapman ; Captains, Aaron C. Handley, Daniel Tuttle, Frauk H. Whitcomb ; Lieutenants, Silas P. Blodgett, Heury Brown, Aaron S. Fletcher, Elias E. Haynes, Isaiah Hutchins, George Willard Knights, James Moulton, George W. Raud, William F. Wood ; Privates, Frank W. Ames, George T. Ames, George B. Barker, John F. Blood, Charles H. Blood, George F. Blood, William H. Boss, Henry L. Bray, Daniel R. Briggs, Charles A. Brooks, Samuel R. Burroughs, Hiram Butten, Patrick Callahan, George Fny Campbell, Walde Chap- lin, William Chaplin, Jr., William D. Clark, Robert C. Couant, Simon T. Conaat, J. Sherman Conant, John Conway, George B. Cran, John B. Crau, Waldo G. Duna, Oscar Dwelley, Abel Farrar, Jr., Daniel H. Far- rar, Winthrop H. Faulkner, Jamas W. Fiske, John W. Fitzpatrick, Charles W. Fletcher, Aaron J. Fletcher, Ephruim B. Forbush, Channey U. Fuller, Meldon S. Giles, Heury Gilson, Nathan Goss, William B. Gray, William H. Gray, Delette H. Hall, George Handley, Charles Handlay, William S. Handley, Abram Handley, Charles A. Hanscom, Marshall Hapgood, Henry Hapgood, Francis E. Harris, Forestus D. K. Hoar, J. Sherman Hear, Walter O. Holden, Gilman S. Hosmer, Judson A. Huggios, Eri Huggins, Jr., Sylvanus Hunt, Loring M. Jackson, Mortimer Johnson, George A. Jones, Edwin A. Joues, Charles Jones, George Jones, Richard Klasley, Jonathan W. Leker, Emory D. Lothrop, Lewis J. Masten, William Morrill, Charles Morse, Charles H. Moulton, Albert Moulton, Augustus P. Newton, George B. Parker, Heury D. Parlin, George E. Peck, George N. Pierce, George M. Pike, Michael Powers, Oscar E. Prestou, John Putnam, William Reed, Levi II. Rob- bins, Joseph N. Robbins, Elbridge J. Robbins, Luke J. Robbins, Varuum F. Robbins, Albert Rouillard, George Rouillard, George W. Sawyer, Andraw J. Sawyer, George H. Simpson, Benjamin Skinner, Dennis Shehan, Luke Smith, George D. Smith, Silas M. Stetson, Emory A. Symonds, Edwin B. Taft, Edwin Tarbell, Daniel G. Taylor, Warren L. Teel, Daniel L. Veasey, Robert Wayne, John Wayne, James Wayne, Hiram W. Wetherbee, Addison B. Wheeler, Lincoln E. Wheeler, Everett Wheeler, William F. B. Whitney, Samuel E. Wilson, James H. Wood, Ebea F. Wood, Charles H. Youog.

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HISTORY OF MIDDLESEX COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

THE CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH .- This church and society was launched upon its mission amid great religions commotion. The times were full of sharp and heated controversy upon doctrinal points. The lines were rigidly drawn, and neutrals were at a dis- count.

The worship was first in a chapel, built for the pur- pose, now occupied by Mr. Julian Tuttle. This was the scene of many earnest gatherings. It was where Mr. Woodbury began his most effective preaching, and it being a time when all this section of country was marked by great religious awakenings, the events are easily recalled by those still living, cotempora- neous with those early dates.

The church was organized by a council March 13, 1832, and a house of worship fifty by forty-four feet, built the next year. Many of the important members of the old church united with the new in its first forma- tion. Rev. James Trask Woodbury was ordained and installed March 13, 1832. After preaching twenty years, he was dismissed at his own request June 23, 1852, and was afterwards settled in Milford, Massa- chusetts, where he died January 15, 1861, aged fifty- eight years.

Rev. Benjamin Dodge, of Wilton, Maine, was his successor. He was installed October 28, 1852, and dismissed April 17, 1855.

Until September, 1855, the church was supplied by Rev. Messrs. Alvord and Francis Horton.

Rev. Charles Rockwell then commenced his labors as a stated supply. On his leaving in July, 1856, Rev. Martin Moore, of Boston, and others, supplied the pulpit until January, 1857, when Rev. Joseph Garland was hired two years.

From January, 1859, to May of the same year the pulpit was supplied by various clergymen.

Rev. Alpha Morton was then engaged for four years successively, resigning May I, 1863, to accept an en- gagement with the church at West Auburn, Maine.

Rev. George Coleman was ordained and installed November 12, 1863, and was dismissed in May, 1869.

The Rev. Franklin P. Wood was ordained July 24, 1871, and installed as pastor October 10, 1872, and dismissed December 17, 1874.

During Rev. Mr. Woodbury's pastorate two houses of worship were erected.

The following is a description of the present house as found in the church records in Mr. Woodbury's handwriting :

"1847, January Ist. The new meeting house erected on the spot where stood the former one was duly dedicated to Almighty God, Son aud Floly Ghost, Dec. 16, 1846, Wednesday at one o'clock P.M. House 76 feet by 50, with a basement story of stone withi 82 pewe; Cost about $6000, exclusive of the fresco painting of the interior and the cushions, carpets, lampe, clock, communion table and chairs, Bible and hymn books, which ull cost $700, and were all absolute gifts to the church und the house, not to be put upon the pews.

" The building Committee wore : Dr. J. M. Miles, Samuel Hosmer (24). Simon Tuttle, John P. Buttrick, Col. Winthrop E. Faulkner, and they did their duty faithfully and aro entitled to the lasting gratitude of the church."

More than six hundred different persons have been members of this church.

Some repairs and alterations were made in the early part of 1867, and a fine organ introduced at a cost of $1320. The deacons and officers of this church, have been as follows : Deacons Silas Hosmer and Phineas Wheeler, died in 1838, aged sixty-five, chosen at the organization ; Deacon Hosmer died in 1872, 'eighty years old ; Deacon Stevens Hayward, chosen April 3, 1835, died in 1868, aged eighty-one; Deacon John Fletcher, chosen December 7, 1838, died in 1879, aged eighty-nine; Deacon Abraham Conant, chosen February 3, 1843, died in 1861, aged seventy- seven ; Deacon John White, chosen February 3, 1843, died in 1860, aged seventy-five ; and Deacon Samuel Hosmer, Albert Hayward, William W. Davis, and Joel F. Hayward, chosen January I, 1864.

March, 1885, William Davis Tuttle chosen. He has been superintendent of the Sabbath School, also Deacon Davis.

Rev. George M. Stearns is the present pastor, in- stalled September 23, 1887.

Deacon Silas Hosmer was clerk of the church from its organization to his death.

Rev. James T. Woodbury was born in Frances- town, New Hampshire, May 9, 1803, and died at Mil- ford, Massachusetts, January 16, 1861, aged fifty- eight. He married Miss Augusta Porter, of Medford, daughter of Jonathan Porter. His father, Honorable Peter Woodbury, was a pioneer merchant, and for many years a practical farmer in the upper division of old Hillsborough County. His father was dis- tinguished through his whole life for his strong, plain, common sense, great energy of character, as well as for his uncompromising integrity. He was for a great many years a member of one or the other branches of the New Hampshire Legislature, commencing almost with the first session after the adoption of the Consti- tution by that State and being at the time of his death a member of the Senate. His father and his mother, whose maiden-name was also Woodbury, were of dif- ferent distantly related families of Beverly, of this State, and they could both trace their origin to the ancient town of Woodbury, in Devonshire, England. His mother was a woman of rare ability. James T. Woodbury was a younger brother of Honorable Levi Woodbury, an eminent jurist and popular and able public officer, for years a judge of the United States Supreme Court. There were twelve children. James T. was graduated at Harvard University in 1823. He began a course of legal studies under the direction of his distinguished brother at Portsmouth, New Hamp- shire; was admitted to the bar in his native state in 1826. He at once opened an office for practice as a lawyer in Bath, Grafton County, New Hampshire. No young man for many years had come to the bar with fairer prospects. With a thorough education, with talents of the highest order, with an unblem- ished character, with great natural physical and in-

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tellectual powers, married to an amiable and highly accomplished wife, heloved by a large circle of friends, all looked that he should rival the fame of his elder brother, who had even then reached the highest honors within the gift of his native State. But in the midst of his apparent worldly prosperity his ambition was suddenly checked and his whole course of life was suddenly changed. Under the preaching of the Rev. Mr. Sutherland, a Scotch clergyman of Bath, familiarly known as Father Sutherland, he became a sincere con- vert to the religious creed in which he had been edu- cated by his pious and excellent mother. After a long struggle with himself, and against the advice and remonstrances of many friends, he relinquished his profession as a lawyer, and all his hopes and dreams of future greatness and worldly glory, and devoted himself to a course of theological studies. As soon as this course was completed he was ordained over the Evangelical Church in Acton, where he remained from 1832 to 1852, when he became a pastor of the church in Milford, and remained a pastor till the time of his death.

No person could stand for twenty years in any com- munity, holding the relations which were held hy Mr. Woodbury in Acton, without making a deep im- pression upon the public mind. He had a personal presence, traits of character, mental peculiarities and forces, which took him out of the ordinary line of influence, so that when he left town, not the parish simply, but the whole community and neighboring towns felt the change.

By a large majority this change was lamented and is to this day, even by some who were his opponents while here.

As a preacher Mr. Woodbury was especially noted. Why so noted ? It was not because of his rare theo- logical training. In this he was confessedly deficient, and at times even boasted of the fact that he had not been to Andover, or any of the other celebrated schools of the day. It was not because he had a natural theological acumen, which would supplement the de- ficiency of school discipline. His most ardent admir- ers admitted this, and some were glad of it. It was not because of his labored preparations for the Sab- bath effort. Few have carried into the pulpit prepa- rations apparently so meagre. His discourses were seldom written, and when partially so, were for some cause the least effective. He had simply the lawyer's brief, a small bit of paper, which none but himself could decipher, and he with difficulty at times.

of descriptive narrative. Not often did he finish a dis- course, however impressive, without telling some anecdotes which, told in his blunt, quaint style, would raise a smile through the house and cause one to look to his neighbor as if to say, "That is just like him and nobody else." "He had a fondness for nature in all her varied forms, human nature not excepted,. which, bubbling up like water from a living spring, gave a freshness to his words and sentiments and . bearing before an audience.

There was a frankness and boldness and what some would call a rashness in uttering his convictions which provoked approval and opposition, and he did not seem to care which. People gave him credit for meaning what he said, even if they did not agree with him.

His emotional conception of every subject which he treated, whether in the pulpit or on the platform, gave him a power which he wielded with wonderful effect on great occasions.

The monument which stands upon our village . green never would have graced the spot nor extend- ed the patriotic fame of the town but for his memora- ble address to the Legislature.

His only enkindled emotions transferred into the membership of the House thrilled them for a moment into a patriotic ecstasy.

They could hear again the rattle of the musketry . at the North Bridge, and the shriek of Captain Davis as he fell at the head of the advancing column.

The 19th of April was back with all its parapher- nalia of stir and fire and blood.

In this gush of excitement it was easy for them to vote yea when they had thought and purposed to vote nay on the appropriation.

As a reformer Mr. Woodbury's gifts were conspic- uous on the platform. His humor and pathos and passion and wit, his bluntness, quaintness and oddi- ties, his independent honesty and high purpose gave him at one time a foremost rank as an anti-slavery and temperance advocate.

In all the region around about and in many distant places his efforts when in happiest moods will be re- membered as sparkling with telling points and a burning oratory.

The whole town revived under his manly strokes. The houses and farms and shops and roads and schools, which had languished under the blight of intemper- ance now took on a new lease of prosperity.

Many a man headed for the drunkard's grave re- versed his steps, thanks to Mr. Woodbury's eloquent appeal. Peace be to his ashes !

But he had a large, commanding person-a character- tic of the Woodbury family. He had a clear-ringing, variable voice, which he could modulate to any cir- His oft-repeated wish to be buried in Acton, with the dear people to whom he had ministered in the buoyancy and strength of liis best years, has been gratified. He sleeps in Woodlawn Cemetery, by the granite shaft which he erected in memory of his beloved son, James Trask, Jr., by the side of his cunstances, grave or comic, to any audience-room, large or small. He had a quick, susceptible nature which flooded his face with tears, sometimes of tender sympathy and sorrow, of sudden humor or contagious passion. He would cry when others had no thought of it. It was all the same to him .- He had a rare gift. Augusta, as he was wont so fondly always to call her;

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the companion, stay and grace of his entire married life.

Extracts from an ordination charge by Mr. Wood- bury to a yonng pastor :

" My Son, I have begotten you in the Gospel, so I call you my son.

" My Son. Ist. Get your sermons from the Bible, the closet and tho fielda.

" 2d. Be brief. You are a short man and the people will not expect long sermons from yon, my Son. Unless you deem yourself a very elo- quent man. Be brief ! be brief !

"3d. If it rains, let it ruin! The rain may do good. If you try to stop it, it may rain so much the harder. My Son, let it rain!

". 4th. Throw physic to the dogs! They may not like, but they might as well have it as yon. You don't need it. Air, exercise, good food and plenty of it, are better than physic. Let the dogs have it.

" 5th. Trust in God and keep your powder dry. If your powder is wet it will not be of any use. Trust in God, but you must have dry powder or your shooting will not hit the mark. My con, God bless you and your people. AMEN."

Reminiscences .- One hot summer morning in July, quite early in the day, there was heard a loud shout- ing from a carriage which had stopped in the street opposite: "I say ! I say ! ! I say ! ! !

Hurrying to the door, Mr. Woodbury, of Acton, some thirty miles distant, was recognized sitting in the carriage alone, stripped all but his pants and shirt. He was not expected. His first salutation was, " I say ! have you any milk ?" other questions followed, but the first thing to be settled was milk; he was thirsty.

Why Mr. Woodbury liked to live outside the vil- lage. "Because," he said, "he could shout as loud as he pleased without disturbing his neighbors."

Why he wore a broad-brimmed hat, loose-fitting coat and pants of blue color, carried a blue umbrella, instead of black, had boots with sole leather project- ing a half-inch beyond the upper leather, drove his oxen through the village in a farmer's frock, with pants in his boots. Because he had a mind to.

Why he liked the Acton choir. Because it was a large choir and made up of ladies as well as gen- tlemen, and Augusta stood for years a prominent and graceful singer among them. He got tired of this all gander music when in college.

Deacon John Fletcher was born in Acton July 21, 1790, and died July 16, 1879, in his ninetieth year. He was the son of James, the son of Timothy, the son of Timothy, the son of Samuel, the son of Francis, the son of Robert, who came from England to Con- cord, Mass., in 1630, when thirty-eight years of age. He was at the time of his death the oldest person in Acton. He was nine years of age when George Washington died, and remembered distinctly the sensation which that event made throughout the country. In his boyhood all the territory west of the Hudson was a wilderness.

He married Clarissa Jones, the youngest of eleven children, all but one of whom lived to mature life, whose father was Aarou Jones. She died in her sey- enty-sixthı year (February 8th), after being married over fifty years, the mother of seven children. He

uuited with the church, together with his wife, No- vember 3, 1833, and was for many years one of its deacons.

In his early life he was captain of the Davis Blues, and was familiarly called Captain Fletcher. He was clerk of the company when it went to Boston in the War of 1812. He held the office of special commis- sioner for Middlesex County for several years. He was for a long period of years the veteran boot and shoe manufacturer of this region, and in company with his sons, John and Edwin, carried on the busi- ness up to the time of his decease. He was consci- entious in his dealings with his patrons, stamped liis name upon his work, and made it good, if at any time there was a failure. He was largely interested in the general appearance of the Common, in the planting of the noble elms which now give dignity and beauty to the village, and but for his exertions and those of Francis Tuttle, Esq., they would have perished in the severe drought of 1840, after they were set out. He was interested in the erection of the public buildings of the Centre.

After his former shoe-factory and the old church, which was used as a town hall, were burnt, he en- couraged the town to rebuild on the old site a new and commodious structure, offering to rebuild a shoe- factory which should be an ornament to the place, which he did as promised.

As early as 1815 he began an industry in the town, which, till within a few years, was of great advantage to the material interests. He early espoused the tem- perauce cause, and became an earnest advocate of the principles of anti-slavery. His ardent support of the temperance cause cost the loss of a valuable orchard in 1843-destroyed by the girdling of his trees-and the same was repeated upon him a few years after- wards. When he became convinced that a certain course was right he gave himself to it heart and hand, with but little regard to the consequences to himself. In 1828 he, with his brother James, built the homestead, which till recently remained on the site now occupied by the Memorial Library.

Simon Hapgood died in Acton December 21st, aged eighty-six years and ten months. He was one of the original founders of the Congregational Society, was for nearly forty years an exemplary member of the church, and for many years a teacher in the Sabbath- school; was one of the earliest advocates of temper- ance and emancipation, and was always identified with that which is for the best good of the community and the world at large.

Deacon W. W. Davis was born in Harvard March, 1824; came to Acton April, 1861. He married Mar- tha Taylor, of Boston, April 7, 1853. She died De- cember 8, 1868. Children : William and Ada. He has taught school eighteen terms. In 1861 he repre- sented the towns of Boxboro', Littleton, Carlisle and Acton in the State Legislature, being what was called the War Session. August 3, 1882, he married Abby

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R. Worthiley, of Andover. He has been selectman of Acton, two years; School Committee superin- tendent, three years ; Sabbath-school superintendent, fifteen years; deacon of the Congregational Church since 1862. In politics the deacon has been uniformly a Republican. He has been a hard-working man, greatly improving his farm and lifting from himself burdens which at the beginning he had to assume.

Hon. John Fletcher was the son of Deacon John Fletcher ; born in 1827. He was of the firm of John Fletcher & Sons till his father's death, in 1879. Since then he has been in the firm of S. T. Fletcher & Co., with his son, Silas Taylor, at 77 Clinton Street, Bos- ton. The business is that of butter and eggs commis- sion store. Though retiring in his habits, he has taken an active interest in public affairs, in parish, town and country. He has been chorister twenty years ; representative to General Court in 1862; in the State Senate two years (1870-71); a director in the Lowell and Nashua Railroad; president of the Schu- bert Choral Union since its organization ; superin- tendent of the cemeteries ; on the Executive Commit- tee of the village improvement, and prominent in his activities for the home support of the Civil War. He married Martha Taylor, daughter of Silas Taylor.

UNIVERSALISTS .- The following extracts from an able sermon preached by Rev. I. C. Knowlton, D.D., at the dedication of the new meeting-house at South Acton (1878) are given. In a recent note from Dr. Knowlton he adds, "I send you the missing links in your sketch of our folks in Acton. I spent much time and labor in preparing the sermon from which you copy ; I cannot go over the ground again. I think its statements are all correct."

The first Universalist sermons were preached in Acton by Rev. Hosea Ballard as early as 1814 or 1815.

January 19, 1816, the first Universalist Society of Acton was organized, consisting of eleven members.

In 1821 and 1822 Rev. Dr. Benjamin Whittemore preached one-half the Sabbaths in Acton in halls, school-houses and private residences.

January 27, 1821, the First Universalist Society of Acton was legally incorporated. It consisted of fifty paying members, two years after of sixty-one and eventually of over eighty paying members.

December 17, 1833, a church of thirty-nine mem- bers was formed as the result of the labors of Rev. Joseph Wright, who, that year, became pastor of this society.

October 4, 1834, the Boston Association of Univer- salists met at Acton. During the next six years the religious services were in the First Parish Church and well attended.

June 29, 1836, Rev. Isaac Brown became the resi- dent minister of the society and continued in this re- lation three years.

July 4, 1837, Rev. Isaac Brown was formally in- stalled as pastor of this church with appropriate ser- vices.

In 1842 an attempt was made to resuscitate the First Parish by uniting all the elements not affiliating with the Evangelical Church. At about this time there was a Methodist Church organized and there was Methodist preaching for a few years.

About 1850 our interest there, at Acton Centre, peacefully expired.

From 1850-58 there was no regular Universalist preaching in Acton. In 1858 halls were provided in South and West Acton, and Rev. J. M. Usher preached in these two places for a period of six years. The parishes in South Acton and West Acton, al- though entirely separate, were started at the same time and have always worked together in perfect har- mony. The same pastors have officiated in each place. Rev. J. M. Usher, an energetic and well-read man, was really the founder of both.

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History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. I, Part 88

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