History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. I, Part 94

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 94

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The next mill above, on this young Souhegan, which has had many proprietors, is occupied by S. M. Buxton, who uses modern machinery for sawing all kinds of building lumber. Mr. Buxton also makes a large amount of cider, his customers not having the

fear of the prohibitionists before their eyes coming from all directions. A short distance above this is another mill owned by Mr. Adriel Jefts, which at present is not used. The next mill up stream, situ- ated near the town-line, is owned by Mr. Levi E. Flint. This is a large and commodious building, and is used in the manufacture of boards and shingles, and stock for making tubs and pails. All the appli- ances here, for this business, are first-class so far as room, power and machinery are concerned. A set of tub and pail lathes have recently been put into this mill. On a brook, which is an affluent of the Sou- hegan, draining the easterly slope of the Watatic, and its surroundings, is a mill that was built at an early date at the side of the New Ipswich road. Here is a strong stone dam holding in its grip a nice little privilege, and the mill, owned by Mr. Asa Holt, is in fair condition considering its age. Besides be- ing used as a saw-mill it has been a chair factory, and Colonel George Waters used it for a starch factory as long as that business was remunerative. At present there is no business done here. There was a saw-mill on Trap Falls brook, called "the Ralph Hill mill," near where Perley Gates died, before the town was incorporated.

About 1804 Samuel Whitney and Asa Wright built a saw-mill on Willard's Stream, situated just below the bridge next below the Sheldon bridge. This mill was carried away in 1856 by the breaking of the reservoir dam. Before 1791 Captain Abijah Wyman built a saw-mill on Willard's Stream, a short distance above the Sheldon bridge, which has been gone for a long time, but a part of the stone foun- dation and mud-sill still remain to mark the location. On the next mill-site above this, a mill was burned, in which Benjamin D. Lawrence, William Lawrence and Martin Allen, in 1831, made the first tubs and pails which were made in Massachusetts, which were turn- ed in a lathe. James O. Kendall in 1846 built the mill now standing here, which is used in sawing, turning and planing, owned Mr. Harry Wilder.

The next mill above this is the tub and pail factory of Alonzo A. Carr. This mill also was built by James O. Kendall in 1847. It was used for a saw-mill till 1853, when Abram M. White bought it and put in tub and pail lathes, and from that time to the present it has been used in this manufacture. This factory has always been a source of wealth to its owners. Mr. Carr employs from twelve to fifteen men and his annual sales amount to about twenty-five thousand dollars. About 1780 Benjamin Lawrence built a grist-mill which stood about one hundred feet below where the present grist-mill at the South Village now stands, which was in existence till about the begin- ning of the present century, when Ephraim Hayward bought it, tore it down, and built the mill now in operation. This property has passed through the hands of several owners. Joseph Kendall, father of James O. Kendall, who owned it soon after it was

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built, probably had the largest amount of custom in grinding the cereals which were raised in Ashby, at a time when a part of the grain was taken in payment for grinding. The present proprietor, William O. Loveland, is doing considerable business in grinding Western corn and in the sale of grain and meal. With the new road just finished and the improve- ments lately made in the saw-mill, this establishment must be a source of profit to the owner. In the south- east corner of the town, on the Pearl Hill Brook, and near the Fitchburg line, Daniel Ware has a saw- mill which is run a part of each year in the manufac- ture of that kind of coopering stock which is worked by hand. Two mills, on this brook, one above Ware's mill and the other below, called "the Lord mill," have gone down. The Lord mill was made for wool-carding, cloth-dressing and coloring, by a mau by the name of Holt, from Fitchburg, in 1827 or 1828. It was not used much for lack of proper management. In 1810, Joseph Kendall built the antique-looking mill which is situated a short distance above the Carr tub and pail factory. He put in machinery for carding wool, fulling, coloring and dressing the woolen cloth which the farmers' wives and daughters spun and wove by hand. This mill was rented for this business to Paul Gerrish for a term of years, who, after the expiration of his lease, located in the same business at Townsend Harbor. It was of great benefit to Ashby and the adjoining towns all along till the spinning jenny and "the power loom" took the places of the "patent-head " and the hand loom of " the mothers." Anstin Hayward is the present owner, who does something in this line of wool-card- ing for the few who can spin or knit.

Jabez Lawrence, in 1824, built a mill for the man- ufacturing of starch, which was situated on the road from Lunenburg to Ashburnham, on Willard's Stream less than a mile below the reservoir. The manufac- ture of potato starch at that time was a very profita- ble business. Potatoes were easily raised in this vicinity then ; the farmers had large families and stal- wart boys capable of doing good work.

Samuel Abbot, an educated man, of Wilton, N. H., originated the idea of making starch out of this pro- duct of the soil. In 1811, Ezra Abbot, brother of Samuel, erected a building about twenty feet square, the lower story for a horse to turn a shaft connected in the second story with machinery for washing and grating the potatoes, and also having an apparatus for cleansing and drying the starch. The building and its contents did not cost six hundred dollars. Months passed before the machinery was all in, du- ring which time there was much wonderment in the neighborhood concerning what was to be done here, as Abbot kept his own counsel, and never gave any- thing but evasive answers to the questions of the curious. The first year of his experience in this in- dustry showed a manufacture of 6000 pounds of starch, at the rate of eight pounds of starch to each

bushel of potatoes. For a market he made repeated visits to the cities on the tidewater, selling some and leaving some to be sold on commission. He sold at eight cents a pound, and traders often put the price as high as twenty cents a pound. It was used in families for making puddings, and otherwise, and was recommended by druggists as a delicate food for invalids .. Soon after the practicability and profitable- ness of this business was learned, these two brothers entered largely into this manufacture. Farmers found a ready market for their "long reds," and there was some rivalry among them as to who could raise the largest crop for the Abbots. The price of pota- toes, at that time, varied from fourteen to twenty- three cents a bushel, according as the season was favorable or unfavorable for the production of the crop. About this time a starch-mill was established in Mason, and another in New Ipswich, and another in Jaffrey, owned by the Abbots. The success of the Abbots, presumably, was the incentive which caused Jabez Lawrence to build his factory for this work in Ashby. The building was large and convenient, and the power sufficient to do the amount of work re- quired, but the business did not prove to be as profit -. able as was expected, and it was not used in this man- ufacture for many years. It was afterward converted into a sash and blind factory, and run in this business til 1840, when it was burned.

In 1853 five mill-owners-John Burr, Joseph Foster, Hiram Aldrich, James O. Kendall and Abram M. White-built the reservoir dam and adjusted the dam- age done to the owners of the land which the dam caused to be covered with water. On the 11th of April, 1856, this dam broke away, and the valley be- low was flooded, and considerable damage was done. There was a heavy rainfall for nearly thirty hours before the accident occurred ; and when the clouds lifted, a brisk wind from the southwest set in, sweep- ing across the pond and driving the waves against the dam. Soon a small, but continuous, stream flowed over the top of the dam on the southeast end of it. The current at that point plowed deeper and deeper every moment, until the dam yielded to the force of the escaping water. A mounted courier was dis- patched down the valley to notify interested parties of the approaching danger. The flood dashed rapidly down the bed of the stream in its work of destruc- tion. The old dam which Jabez Lawrence made to obtain power for his starch factory was swept away; arriving at the grist-mill at the South Village, the current spread out on both sides of the building and washed the earth and stones away clean down to the ledge, leaving the mill standing, but carrying away considerable lumber and other property.

The first bridge below where Carr's tub and pail factory now stands was washed away. On reaching the Sheldon bridge, that yielded to the mighty force of the water. The mill which stood just below the next bridge down stream, built by Lemuel Whitney

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and Asa Wright, was suddenly lifted to the top of the waves and scattered in the fury of the flood. From this point the wrathful current went dashing down stream on a steeper grade between two precipi- tous banks, lifting great boulders from their beds and howling and seething with increased velocity till it reached the more level land in Townsend, where two or three cellars were filled with water, and from whence quite an amount of wood and lumber was carried down into Ash Swamp. The town was obliged to pay large bills for the repair of roads and bridges caused by this washout. The bill for re- building the Sheldon bridge was over $450. The owners of the reservoir, not disheartened at their loss, soon after employed James O. Kendall, one of their number, to reconstruct the dam, which he did in a workmanlike, substantial manner, completing the job in the month of the following July.

Three citizens of Ashby-Abraham Edwards, Alex- ander T. Willard and Philander J. Willard, two brothers-were considerably noted as clock-makers. The clocks made by them were put in cases a trifle more than six feet in height, were metallic and would . run for eight days without winding, their dials being nearly one foot in diameter. From 1780 to 1840 this kind of a clock was very much in use. This is the time- piece that dudes and people of mawkish sentimentality are so anxious to possess. These gentlemen accumu- lated considerable wealth in this trade, as many of their clocks were made to order and the price was fixed accordingly. Mr. Edwards' place of business was in a building which stood on the ground on or near where Francis W. Wright, Esq., now lives. The Willards owned and occupied the premises where Lysander Willard now resides. About 1815, Cushing Burr put in tan-vats and erected buildings conven- · ient for tanning and currying leather, which were situated a little west of where the Post-Office now stands. This gentleman and those who succeeded him in this branch of industry were successful in that trade till about 1840, when the combined capital in places like Woburn and other large towns, made it impossible for those doing a smaller business to place their goods in the market at the prices then paid. Levi Burr and Jackson Burr were in this business when it was discontinued. Cushing Burr, Jr., was interested here part of the time.

painted and finished his instruments and tuned them so nicely that they became celebrated. Some church organs made by him sold as high as $1500. Presum- ably he did not get rich in this enterprise, but his son, Andrew Whitney, who went to Fitchburg, owns about as large a part of that city as any one man. He has followed the advice of the Avon poet :

" Say less than thou knowest, Have more than thou showest."

A half a century ago the mothers and daughters of Ashby were engaged in braiding palm-leaf hats. The traders furnished the leaf to the workers, who made it into hats and returned them to the stores and took their pay in goods. For some time hats of this kind nicely made, were worn here, but most of them found a market south of Mason and Dixon's line. In 1837, 59,989 hats of this kind were made in Ashby, valued at $7751.50, and this was about the annual average.

CHAPTER XVIII.

ASHBY-(Continued).

ECCLESIASTICAL AFFAIRS.

THREE years before the incorporation of the town the people levied a ministerial tax upon themselves aud hired itinerant preachers, holding their meetings at private houses, generally at the residence of Peter Lawrence. This custom was continued until their meeting-house was in a condition to accommodate them. The interests of the town and those professing religion were one and inseparable. From these facts it will be easily seen that in this dual arrangement the town held a controlling influence in all its relig- ious interests. In 1771, "voted not to hire Mr. Lan- caster any more." This gentleman is the first minis- ter named in the records. The town was not successful in securing the services of a pastor who pleased the people, or, if one was found whom they liked, he could not be induced to settle with them. Before a church was organized three reverend gentle- men had each received a formal "call" to become their pastor. One of them was Rev. Joseph Goodhue, of Dunstable, who gave as a reason for not accepting that he "distrusted his ability in making the town united in approval of his services." Different min- isters supplied ; the names of some of whom are not on record. Rev. Abraham Fowler was dismissed 1777. That is all that is said of him. About this time Rev. Jabez Fisher supplied the pulpit for a short time (there was a pulpit in town then), but he did not prove a lucky "fisher of men." In 1788 a call was given to Rev. Samuel Whitman (born in Weymouth, March 1, 1751 ; Har. Col., 1775), which was accepted,

Perhaps Jonas Prescott Whitney excelled all other Ashby men in mechanical ingenuity. While working at the carpenter's trade in Boston, he bought a small reed organ to gratify his musical taste, upon which he learned to play. On looking it over he concluded that he could make an instrument superior to the one he had. Soon after he moved to Ashby and com- menced organ-building in the house now occupied by Miss Clara Mansfield. He made every part of his organs : the keys, the reeds, the bellows and stops ; he made cases and sawed the veneering, getting his power from a wind-mill on top of his house. He and he was ordained as the town's minister. From

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the commencement there appears to have been a lack of unanimity between the church and the town. In 1781, at their annual town-meeting, this article was in the warrant: "To see if the town will pay Mr. Whitman his salery for two years." The towu voted to pay him, but four of the citizens "ordered their dis- sent to be placed on record." It was with consider- able difficulty that the money was collected to pay his salary the next year.

In 1783 he was obliged to sue the town before his salary was paid. Soon after this he was dismissed. In 1784 Rev. Joseph Langdon (Dart. Col., 1783) sup- plied the pulpit for a short time, and in 1786 Rev. David Hascol and Rev. - Bailey were the preach- ers. In 1792 the name of the preacher was Gideon Dorranel. For the next four years they had a variety of ministers as usual. On the 14th day of June, 1797, Rev. Cornelius Waters was installed. He was born in Sutton, May 6, 1749; graduated from Dartmouth College 1774; married Sibyl Gardner, of Brooklyn, N. Y .; died at Ashby, July 30, 1824. He was dis- missed February 14, 1816, having a pastorate of nine- teen years. He was a man of average ability. The town voted to print his sermon delivered on Febru- ary 22, 1800, on the death of Washington. During the latter part of his pastorate sectarianism and doc- trinal differences began to disturb the people. Soon after, the town extended a call to a person whom the church would not accept, which caused a tedious con- troversy. In 1818 an ex parte council was convened which advised the church to withdraw and worship separately from the town; but it was more than a year before a large majority of the church finally left the town's meeting-house and held services by them- selves. A part of the people of the town went with the church. At that time the church had one hun- dred and ten members, all but nine of whom left- one male and eight females. After the separation in 1819, the church and minority of the town worshiped for more than a year in the house of Fred Estabrook. From 1819 till 1885 the church was connected with an ecclesiastical society known as the "Calvinistic Congregational Society." On the 17th of April, 1885, by an act of the Legislature, it took the name of the "Orthodox Congregational Society in Ashby." In 1820 this society built a meeting-house located on land which at present is covered by a thrifty apple orchard at the east side of Charles C. Green's house.

For fifteen years this building was quite well filled on the Sabbath, near the end of which time it was considered too small for vestry and Sabbath-school accommodations, and was sold to a number of gen- tlemen, who moved it to a lot facing the east end of the Common, and fitted it for an academy-now Watatic Hall. This building is now owned by the town. The first story is used as a town-house, the second for the High School and the basement con- tains the selectmen's room, with the archives of the town. The meeting-liouse now used by the Or-

thodox was built in 1835, and dedicated January 1, 1836.

Under the new arrangement, after the withdrawal from the town, the first pastor was Rev. John M. Putnam, who was ordained and installed December 13, 1820; dismissed December 13, 1825. This gen- tleman was here just five years, aud he had the pleasure of receiving forty-six members into the church during the second year of his pastorate.

The next man was Rev. Albert Barlow Camp, born in Northfield, Vt., February 16, 1797 (Yale College, 1822, Andover 1826) ; ordained and installed January 24, 1827 ; dismissed March 28, 1832.

The next pastor was Rev. Orsamus Tinker, born in Worthington November 5, 1801 (Williams Col- lege 1827, Andover 1830), installed January 1, 1834; died October 13, 1838.

Rev. Charles Wilkes Wood, born in Middleborough June 30, 1814 (Brown University 1834, Andover 1838) ; installed October 30, 1839; dismissed Janu- ary 7, 1858.

Mr. Wood is a well-balanced man of amiable and exemplary character, besides being a preacher who secured the attention of his audience by the clear- ness and force of his arguments. During his pas- torate of more than eighteen years he was much respected. He was popular as a school superinten- dent. He was the orator at the Ashby Centennial, September 4, 1867. At present he resides at Mid- dleborough,

The successor of Mr. Wood, upon whom his mantle fell, was Rev. James M. Bell, born in New York City February 25, 1833 (Union College 1854, Ando- ver 1827); ordained and installed July 21, 1858; dismissed June 21, 1864. He was genial and pre- possessing in his manners, an excellent scholar, always knowing what he wanted to say, and always saying just enough. He now has a pastorate at Lisbon, N. H.

Rev. Horace Parker, who was graduated from Amherst College in 1860 and studied theology with Rev. J. C. Webster, of Hopkinton, was installed May 18, 1865; dismissed April 1, 1870. A corre- spondent says of him: " Mr. Parker did good work here; not a great scholar, but quite original-rather blunt in his way." During his ministry forty-five were added to the church.

Then came Rev. James Monroe Bacon, who was installed November 2, 1870, and his labors were closed by death March 5, 1873.

Rev. George F. Walker (Amherst College 1844) was installed June 11, 1873; dismissed November 18, 1875.

Rev. Azro A. Smith, a graduate from Andover, supplied the pulpit from January 4, 1877, till July 14, 1878.

Rev. Frank E. Mills, born in Charlestown April 8, 1847 (Andover 1878), was ordained and installed November 13, 1878 ; dismissed May 24, 1882.

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Rev. Melvin J. Allen, born in Cincinnatns, N. Y., May 7, 1852 (Amherst 1879, Andover 1882), ordained and installed November 8, 1882; dismissed 1889.

From what has been gathered from the records the inference is that religion in Ashby, among all its inhabitants, is a great improvement on that of one hundred, or even fifty years ago. Now a man of one faith can look at another of different views without calling forth a shudder or a scowl from either party. Harmony and "good-will" between the Arminian and the Calvinist have become substi- tutes for discord and bitterness. Some of the peo- ple of Ashby have been slightly irritated, however, from the fact that the Orthodox pastors in their church mannals, and at all times, when allnding to the history of their church, have invariably repre- sented that their church was the church which was gathered in 1776.

It is difficult for any one who is perfectly disinter- ested to understand it in any other way than that there was a great difference of opinion between a large part of the town and a small part of the church on one part, and a large majority of the church and a small part of the town on the other part; that the last-named part, angered at not having a controlling influence, seceded and established a church of their own, and called it the "Calvinistic Congregational Church." The decision of the Court at Concord, in 1822, whereby those who withdrew from the town's meeting-house in 1819 were compelled to return cer- tain property to the town and church, shows conclu- sively that the church organization was perpetuated by the nine members and the congregation which worshiped with them.

In 1809 the first meeting-house, which was built in 1770, was torn down, and a new one was erected by the town on the same location. This is the house now in nse by the First Parish. Joseph Kendall and Darius Wellington, of Ashby, did all the carpenter's work on this building. In 1841 the First Parish re- modeled this house by making a floor across, on a level with the gallery floors, supported by strong in- sulated pillars, thereby making a commodious audi- torium on the second flat, with a large hall below, which is used for secular, social and literary purposes. The funds for the purchase of the bell were raised by subscription, headed by Lewis Gould, a number of gentlemen following his example and giving twenty- five dollars. In 1846 he was a donor to the town of $300, given expressly for the purpose of buying the town clock, to be placed on this church, and in 1847 he contributed $100 towards defraying the expense of the Fitch monument, now on the Common.

"The Congregational Church in Ashby," with the majority of the town sympathizing in its behalf, anx- ious to secure the services of a spiritual adviser, extended a call to Rev. Ezekiel Lysander Bascom to become their pastor. He was born in Gill, August 20, 1777 (Dartmouth College, 1798); on the 24th of

September, 1800, he was married, and ordained the same day at Phillipston, where he was pastor of the First Congregational Church for twenty years. He was installed in Ashby June 2, 1821. He was a man of scholarly attainments, a good extemporaneous speaker, and was highly appreciated by his parish- ioners. He retained his relation with his people till his death, although he was unable to perform the active duties of his office. He died at Fitzwilliam, N. H., April 20, 1841, and was buried in Ashby. His colleague during the last six years of his life was Rev. Reuben Bates, who was so much appreciated that he was chosen as his successor. Mr. Bates was born in Concord, March 2, 1808; Harvard College, 1829; Harvard Divinity School, 1832; dismissed Angust 14, 1845 ; died December 1, 1862.

On the 14th of January, 1846, Rev. William Pit- kin Huntington (Harvard College, 1824), was in- stalled and was dismissed on the 20th of the fol- lowing November. Mr. Huntington was succeeded by Rev. Theophilus Pipon Doggett, born in Taunton, Jannary 20, 1810 (Brown University, 1832; Harvard Divinity School, 1835) ; installed February 24, 1847 ; dismissed April 23, 1853; died May 7, 1876. He had pastorates in Bridgewater, Ashby, Barnstable and Pembroke, where he performed pastoral duties for more than thirty years. He had a ministerial ancestry. His biographer says of him: "He was a faithful and devoted worker in his varions fields of ministerial service."

Rev. John Stillman Brown, born in New Ipswich, April 26, 1806 (Union College, 1834), supplied the pulpit from April 1, 1855, till April 27, 1857, and was followed by Rev. Nathaniel Gage, born in Andover July 16, 1800 (Harvard College, 1822; Harvard Di- vinity School, 1827) ; installed June 5, 1858. He did ministerial work in Nashua, N. H., Haverhill, Peter- sham and Westford before he came to Ashby. He was a man of attractive personality, never spoke harshly of other denominations, and was much re- spected. As a preacher he was considerably above mediocrity. He died in office, much lamented, May 7,1861.

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History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. I, Part 94

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