History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. I, Part 95

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 95

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November 1, 1861, Rev. Charles Bugbee, who grad- uated from Meadville Theological Seminary, Mead- ville, Pa., 1853, was called to supply the place thus made vacant, but on the 7th of July, 1865, he, too, passed over "the peaceful river," leaving sorrowful friends behind.

Rev. William Tait Phelan, a graduate from Mead- ville Theological Seminary, 1862, supplied the pulpit for two years, from March, 1866. .

On the 18th of July, 1868, Rev. George Stetson Shaw received a unanimous call to settle with the parish, which he accepted. Mr. Shaw was born in Bristol, R. I., April 8, 1838 (Meadville Theological Seminary, 1862); married Miss Mary E. Gates, of Ashby, June 1, 1869. Mr. Shaw is courteous and unassuming in his intercourse with his fellow-men,

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and his pastorate, which has extended nearly through a quarter of a century, has been an era of concord and good-feeling.

CHAPTER XIX.

ASHBY- (Continued).

THE GREAT CIVIL WAR.

ON the breaking ont of the slave-holders' Rebel- lion, at a legal town-meeting held May 1, 1861, the following action was taken by the town :

" Resolved, That we pledge ourselves and our posterity to sustain the Constitutiou, the freedom aud the rights bequeathed to us by our fathers, and that we will defend them to the last.

" Resolved, That the towa raise two thousand dollars, and that fifteen hundred dollars be loaned to the State, aod made payable to the order of the Governor of Massachusetts."

At a town-meeting held July 22, 1862, it was

" Resolved, That in view of the sacrifices which med must now make> in being called from their business at this season, and io view of the perils aod hardships they are called to undergo, it is just and proper that additional pecuniary ioducements should be offered to those who shall enlist to constitute the quota from this towo."

In consequence of this vote the treasurer was ordered to pay one hundred dollars to each volunteer for the service of the town when he should be mus- tered into the service of the United States, and by a subsequent vote in 1864, the bonnty was increased to one hundred and twenty-five dollars. At a town- meeting on the 3d of April, 1865, "voted, that the selectmen be authorized to procure recruits in num- ber sufficient to make the surplus credited to the town fifteen." During this war Ashby furnished one hundred and nine soldiers, eighteen of whom lost their lives either from being killed in action, from cruelty and starvation in captivity, or the usual casu- alties of war. John Mayo, Eliab Churchill and David Wares fell dead at Lookout Mountain ; Albert Davis, at Fredericksburg; Daniel Daily and Amos Eastman, at Antietam ; Henry Rice died from cruelty and neglect in Andersonville prison; Daniel D. Wiley, at Baltimore ; Albert Shattuck, at sea; Lyman W. Holt, John Gilson and Benjamin H. Bigelow, at New Orleans; Daniel Coffe and James Sullivan, in Louisiana; John R. Wilder, at Baton Ronge ; Morton Gilson and John Savin at home, from disease con- tracted in the army; George A. Hitchcock passed five months at Andersonville, and one or two others thirty days ; Lieutenant Henry S. Hitchcock was badly wounded at Petersburg ; Sanders, at Fredericks- burg; Wares, in the battle of the Wilderness ; Mor- gan and Ferguson, at Dallas, Ga; and Davis, in some one of the many engagements during the war.

votes of the town were earnest and patriotic in main- taing the Union, while the mothers, wives, daughters and sisters at home bravely and faithfully did their part to assist those in the field by sending them food, clothing, medicines and home comforts of every description, and by keeping up the home farms and households. When the news of the surrender of Lee (on April 15, 1865) reached Ashby, there was great rejoicing. Every one was anxious to tell somebody that the war was ended. The church bells rang out their merry peals, which reverberated among the hills. They were used to

" Ring out the old, Ring in the new, Ring out the false, Ring in the true."

And the only cause of sadness was the tender recol- lection of "the loved and lost," who, during "this cruel war," were put into "that dreamless sleep that knows no waking."

CHAPTER XX.

ASHBY-(Continued).

MISCELLANEOUS ..

THE TURNPIKE .- At the commencement of the present century the turnpike mania raged about the same as the railroad excitement did forty years after- ward. After the debt caused by the Revolutionary War was paid, and the country had felt the influence of peace in accumulating wealth, a moderate amount of capital began to be collected in the hands of a few men in most every town, and trading and trafficking was on the increase. Better facilities for travel and freight between the larger towns and centres of trade had become necessary when turnpikes began to be built and controlled by private corporations. Towns situated on the lines of these thoroughfares were greatly benefited. Taverns, stores and blacksmith- shops became more numerous, all of which were, to a great extent, dependent on these roads for patronage. In 1801 the town of Ashby "voted to measure the route from Stone's tavern in Townsend to Milliken's tavern in Jaffrey." At that date the turnpike from Keene, through Peterborough, New Ipswich, Town- send and on through Groton, had just been com- pleted. In 1803 the town "chose a committee to look after a turnpike." It will thus be seen that the town was in earnest in its efforts to have as many im- provements as were enjoyed by its neighbors over the line in New Hampshire. The desired turnpike from Keene, through Rindge, Ashby and Groton, was incorporated in 1807 and finished in 1811. It inter- sected with the road leading from the west part of

It will thus seem that Ashby did its honorable part by contributing both men and money. The I Townsend to New Ipswich at a short distance from

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Ashby line, and is now the traveled road between Townsend and Ashburnham, leaving Ashby a short distance from Watatic. It had two toll-gates in Ashby, one at each border of the town. This road, like all others of this class, did not receive the patronage required to return any dividends to the stockholders, and, after an existence of about fifteen years, was given up and assumed by the towns through which it passed. Stockholders of comparative wealth were financially ruined, and the hard-earned dollars of those in moderate circumstances were sunk in the general crash. The prominent and wealthy men in Ashby suffered considerably, among whom were Alex- ander T. Willard, Abraham Edwards, Cushing Burr, the Wymans, the Kendalls and others in affluent cir- cumstances, besides those who invested on a much smaller scale. But if from a financial standpoint turnpikes were failures, they were of great benefit in encouraging the growth of the country, in turning trade into channels heretofore unused, and particu- larly in setting the example of a well made road-bed.

From the time that this turnpike was completed till the advent of railroads there was a great amount of travel from the southern part of New Hampshire and Vermont through Ashby. Long lines of teams and much travel for pleasure passed over this road. Heavy wagons, drawn by four, six and sometimes eight horses, loaded with agricultural products for Boston market, which returned with full loads of goods for the country stores, were continually going and coming. The four and six-horse stage-coaches, which passed daily each way, were always objects of interest to everybody. There was life and activity when they arrived and when they departed. The landlords at the taverns answered the calls of many guests, while their servants and hostlers grew weary in their constant labor and attendance.

November 6, 1826, the owners of the turnpike re- leased and quit-claimed their right to and interest in the land over which their road was built to the town for $600, which might have been fifteen per cent. of the cost of the land added to the making and fencing it.

CEMETERIES .- Most of the older towns, many times by gift, secured eligible locations for the burial of their dead on land joining their first meeting- house, in order that the departed might repose be- neath the shadow of these sacred temples. In 1770 Mr. Jonathan Lawrence, who came from Woburn to Ashby in 1758, sold to the town two and one-half acres " for a cemetery." After the town had taken a title to this land, it was found that the frontage on the main road was less than was desirable. This tract comprised the. west part of the Common and a part of the "church-yard." A meeting-house was in contempla- tion, and a larger lot being the desideratum, Mr. Jo- seph Davis, who owned land joining on the east side of this two and one-half acres, in 1771, gave the town one and one-half acres, which is now the east part of !

the Common and cemetery. When the meeting-house was built, six years afterward, in order to have a spa- cious Common, it was located so far back from the road that the smaller part of the four acres was left for a cemetery. This burial-place contains the usual number and variety of moss-covered slate stones. "With uncouth rhymes and shapeless sculpture decked," interspersed with nicely-polished marble tablets and costly monuments. In 1802 the town " Voted to fence the burying-ground bought of Ben- jamin Willington." There is nothing further on record concerning the cemetery in the west part of the town to which allusion is made by this vote. Tra- dition says that a small part of the east end of this narrow belt of land was bought of Mr. Benjamin Willington, and that the west end was given by Mr. John Wright. Quite a number of graves are here which have no head-stones. The oldest date on any stone is " 1800." As has before been stated, the Ger- mans living in this vicinity did not associate cordially with the Ashburnham people, who, at that time, had but one cemetery. From the fact that this spot oc- cupied a central location in their large domain, and that some Germans lie buried in a separate place in Ashburnham, outside of the town's cemetery, it may reasonably be inferred that these unmarked graves are those of "ye Dutchmen," and that later, others were buried here, until finally it was accepted by the town.

The Glenwood Cemetery .- In 1850 there was an effort made to have a new cemetery. At a town- meeting a committee was chosen and instructed to purchase a suitable tract of land for that purpose, and in the discharge of its duty this committee bought a lot of land and the town took a title to it. On reflection, not being quite satisfied with the location, and without much excitement, at a subsequent town- meeting the town, by a large majority, voted to sell this land. The citizens, who were particularly in favor of a new cemetery, induced others to share equally with them in the purchase of four acres of land which they had in view, to be used for this pur- pose. The number of proprietors was forty, who paid ten dollars each, and became mutually inter- ested in the ground where some of them now repose. This " city of the dead " is conveniently located and pleasantly situated in plain view from the main street. The proprietors have made liberal appropria- tions in grading, opening avenues, and improving the natural surface of the ground, and it contains many chaste and substantial works of monumental art. "It was consecrated with appropriate religious services, and solemnly dedicated as a resting-place for the dead " on the 30th day of September, 1851. Ad- dress by Rev. Charles W. Wood. Consecrating prayer by Rev. Theophilus P. Doggett.

SOCIAL ORGANIZATIONS .- The citizens of Ashby, as an aggregate body, have for the last thirty years been noted for their free intercourse and familiarity

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with each other. There is no aristocracy of wealth here to excite the envy of any one. At the meetings of their different organizations, all assemble and " a good time" is the result. They put their money into their enjoyment. No matter what the occasion may be,-at the dance, at the grange, at the farmers' sup- per, at their literary entertainments,-their exercises are conducted in a friendly and enjoyable manner. The first instance of an organization of a social na- ture in this town may be learned from the following extract taken from the records of the Grand Lodge of Masons in Massachusetts:

"GRAND LODGE, 12th March, 5798.

" A petition was received from Elias Wellington and others praying for a charter to hold a Lodge in the town of Ashby, county of Middle- sex, by the name of Social Lodge, was read by the Grand Secretary with the papers accompanying the same-and being properly recommended, vuted that the prayer of the petitioners be granted."

Abijah Wyman, the Wellingtons, the Kendalls, Cushing Burr, Sr., and others, not a large number, constituted the members of this fraternity at that time. During the last nine or ten years of its exist- ence Rev. Ezekiel L. Bascom was its chaplain. This gentleman was also Grand Chaplain for six years, be- tween 1804 and 1826, of the Grand Lodge of Massa- chusetts. This lodge met at Oliver Kendall's house, near the place where John Fitch was taken captive by the Indians. In a quiet way this fraternity did some good till about 1830, when anti-Masonry went into politics and a great excitement spread through- out the country, caused by men who had " a zeal but not according to knowledge."

About that time the temperance cause began to be agitated by the people here, and large andiences assembled at the First Parish Hall to listen to the harangues of the reformed drunkards, the Washing- toniaus and the Goffs of that period, some of whom were eloquent. Then the pledge was passed around and pleasant intercourse followed.

Coming down to the present time, we notice the May-day gatherings of veterans who were once "the boys in blue," who bear in the place of arms, flowers, to be piaced upon the graves of those who gave up their lives in the defense of the nation many years ago. In those battle years, which seem so near but are so far away, these men went at their country's call, and steadily, sometimes wearily, but never doubting, went forward in their path of duty. From some of them the stalwart vigor of manhood has de- parted, and it is well for them to have these annual gatherings to clasp each other's hands, to call to mind again the scenes and incidents of a soldier's life ; to talk again of bivonac and battle; to recall fast-van- ishing recollections and, saddest of all, to mark the changes which the hand of time has wrought among them. The exercises of Decoration Day are wit- nessed by the town's people of all ages and conditions, and it has become one of the social holidays of the year.

Perhaps "The Ashby Farmers' and Mechanics' 21

Club " has had as much influence during the last de- cade in leveling off differences of opinion, causing kindly feelings and exciting a love of home as any other association in town. This club was organized February 12, 1880, with the following officers: Pres- ident, Francis W. Wright; Vice-President, Rev. George S. Shaw ; Secretary and Treasurer, Jonas P. Hayward ; Committee, Joel Foster, Edwin K. John- son, Ivers H. Brooks. Mr. Hayward, the secretary, an excellent fruit-grower, has since deceased. The preamble to the constitution then adopted sets forth the object in forming the organization in manner as follows : "We the undersigned unite in forming a Club for the discussion of questions pertaining to farming and other material interests of the town." It is an old maxim that he who needs advice concern- ing any trade or business, should ask it from a per- son who earns his living by that business. Now these discussions before this club are engaged in by men who know what they are talking about. The market gardener, the man who sold grapes recently for two dollars a pound, the cultivator of small fruits and berries, the man who has the best hoed crop, the men who raise granes and cucumbers under glass, in fact, men who cultivate most everything that is produced in this climate, are in this club and give the result of their experience. The meetings of the club through the winter months are held every two weeks, and they are fully attended by those who enjoy the dis- cussions. Occasionally, literary and musical enter- tainments take up the time of an evening. "The club has received and paid out over $2000, much being to members as premiums ; has been the means of establishing the Ashby Creamery; has held a number of field meetings and two institutes, which were of unquestionable benefit to the farmer and all concerned. Reports of the Amherst Experimental Station are received by the secretary and distributed each month, also the crop reports sent out by the State Board of Agriculture." Since its organization there have been twenty-three lectures delivered before this club by persons of considerable distinction, among whom are Carroll D. Wright, Mrs. Mary Liver- more, ex-Congressman Edward Burnett and others.

Ashby has another organization in the interest of the husbandman, called The Grange, which has been here for a short time and has become quite an en- joyable institution. It is a congener to the Farmers' Club and does not differ materially from it, except that a larger number of the gentler sex are connected with it, who hold certain offices and participate more freely in its exercises. Every member is required to contribute something, within certain stated times, for the instruction, amusement or literary entertainment of the association. Most of the male members are interested in the Farmers' Club.

ASHBY MUSICAL ASSOCIATION .- For a town of its size (numerically considered), Ashby has always boast- ed of a more than average number of people of

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musical abilities. The early settlers of the town must have given the matter some attention, or else the pure air of the hills developed a natural talent for music, for their descendants have always been musically inclined. The record of their doings pre- vious to the present century is unknown to the writer, but doubtless one exists. "In 1818 Jonas Bar- ret taught instumental music in New Ipswich." In 1826 the Calvinistic Congregational Parish " Voted to pay the expense of the singers at the ordination of Mr. Albert B. Camp." In 1827 "Voted to pay $10 for singing books, Deacon N. D. Gould's collection, and that Isaac Patch take charge of them." In 1828 " Voted $25 for singing, to be laid out by the discre- tion of the assessors." If these sums seem small for these purposes, it may be noticed, in passing, that the minister's salary for 1828 was only $450, and that " Capt. Jona" Blood undertook to open and sweep the meeting-house for one year for $2." He had no fires to build, for the society had just " voted not to have a stove in their meeting-house." At a meeting held soon after the musical fund was, however, in- creased to $50. In 1829 "voted to consent to have the orgen staud in their meeting-house." This was probably the organ built by Mr. Whitney, referred to in another paragraph. About the year 1827 Deacon N. D. Gould, a noted teacher of vocal music, taught a singing-school in Ashby ; and he was followed in later years by Isaac Wright, Peter H. Clark, David Wares and Messrs. Fuller, Partridge, Kimball and others. In 1857 a glee club, composed of eighteen young persons, under the leadership of Myron W. Whitney, did some good singing and enjoyed many pleasant hours, the memory of which will linger in the hearts of those who participated in it while life lacts. For many years the musical services of the Second Parish were in the care of Mr. Paul A. Hay- ward, who was organist and director. He was assisted by his wife, who possessed a soprano voice of rare strength and purity, and in later years by his daugh- ters also. Since 1875 Mr. Homer J. Hayward has served as choirister. The Unitarian Society will long remember with gratitude the services of Mrs. Perley Gates, now deceased, and of her daughter, Mary Gates, now the wife of Rev. George S. Shaw, in the cause of sacred music.

Ashby boasts of having furnished to America the finest basso, in the person of Mr. Myron W. Whitney, that this country has ever produced. As a represent- ative of oratorio music he has probably no equal. Mr. Whitney now resides in Watertown, and a sketch of his life, accompanied by a steel engraving, may be found in this history in that part thereof relating to Watertown.

" The players on instruments " have not been lack- ing. Of those who achieved marked success in this direction may be mentioned Mr. Edward A. Wright, of Boston, leader of Wright's Orchestra, of whom it has been said, " he can play any musical instrument

he sees." His specialties, however, are the cornet and violin. Since the beginning of the present century several brass bands have been organized in Ashby. which, in their time, did some good work, but were not long-lived.

At present Ashby has a cornet band, composed principally of young performers, but already it gives promise of a successful future. Its members are prompt in their attendance at its meetings, and, although they have not enjoyed a long practice to- gether, " discourse sweet music."

Frederick A. Willard, leader, b cornet; William O. Loveland, second leader, e cornet; Willis G. Spaulding (business manager), tuba ; Harry F. Bing- ham, b tenor ; Oscar A. Hubbard, b clarionet ; John J. Piper, e alto; Ocorge H. Piper, baritone; Willis B. Hayward, b tenor ; Herbert P. Hayward, b clar- ionet; Frank A. Forseman, e tuba ; John C. Elliott, b bass ; John A. Willard, e alto; Curtis Huckins, b tenor ; Clifford W. Davis, e alto; George Wright, snare-drum ; Charles A. Porter, bass-drum ; E. Mon- roe Bennett, e cornet.

The centennial of Ashby was celebrated September 14, 1867. On that pleasant autumn day a large as- sembly was gathered on the Common. The principal address was made by Rev. Charles W. Wood. It embodied what may be called the domestic history of the town, military, religious and material, and must have cost a great amount of patient, plodding re- search. It was delivered well and was received with much relish. After the usual exercises on such occa- sions, there was a spontaneous movement for the mammoth tent, which had been improvised, under which long tables, laid with plates sufficient to ac- commodate seven or eight hundred persons, were covered and loaded with culinary delicacies, such as farmers' wives and daughters only know how to pre- pare. The rich viands, the tempting fruits and fra- grant bouquets had rivals in the forms and faces of the fair ones who moved around among them and . waited upon those at the feast. The day will long be remembered by those who were in attendance.

SCHOOLS .- At the annual town-meeting in 1773, "Voted to raise eight pounds for the support of schools. This was the first appropriation made here for school purposes, and about the same amount was raised " to hire preaching." The money thus raised for both of these objects, when changed into our cur- rency would be about thirty dollars, and yet these small appropriations would compare well with sums raised in the neighboring towns at that time for simi- lar purposes. At a town-meeting on the 13th of May following, "Voted to have but four squadrons. One squadron at the centre of the town, one in the south side, two in the north side of the town and that each man shall give their names to the selectmen by the first day of July next of what part or squadron they will be of, and each party to draw their proportionable part of the taxes they pay." The word squadron was

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first used in this sense in those towns which had been surveyed and laid out iuto ranges and quadrangular lots, and the territory contained in a certain number of these squares, which itself was square, constituted a district. In some towns at this time the word "diocese" was used instead of district. For the next four years ten pounds were raised, and in 1778 the town raised fifty pounds for schooling. In 1785 the town " Voted to build school-houses in the four squad- rons in town, the money to be provided to each squad- ron according to their pay, and chose a committee to see the houses built, and chose in the centre squadron Captain Wyman, Lieutenant Damon and L. Barrett ; South, Stephen Barker, Amos Putnam, Stephen Patch; Northeast, First Division, Major Stone, Ben- jamin Adams, Jonathan Foster; Second Division, Jonathan Locke, David Locke, Timothy Emerson ; Northwest squadron, John Yaquith, William Rice and Timothy Stone. Voted to raise 120 pounds for the above purpose and chose the following committee to expend the same: Jonathan Locke, Abijah Wy- man and Deacon Lawrence. Voted that the assess- ment of the school-house money be suspended till the town rate is assessed." At that time they must have had private schools or they would not have given to their sons and daughters the amount of learning which we know they had. The town records during the time from its incorporation to the end of the century were as well kept as at any other period. The amount of matter on record, changing one man from this district to that, and altering different dis- trict boundaries, shows that there was much interest in schools at that time. And again in 1792, when the town received additional territory and almost fifty inhabitants from Ashburnham it went through the ex- citement of making another school-house in a new dis- trict at the extreme northwest part of the town.

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History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. I, Part 95

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