History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. I, Part 97

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 97

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MAGISTRATES .- There was no person appointed here as a justice of the peace by royal favor during the eight years of existence which Ashby had under the reign of His Majesty. After the adoption of the Constitution the duty of appointing these officers de- volved upon the Governor. One hundred years ago there was much dignity attached to this office. The salutation on meeting would invariably be "Good morning (if that was the hour), Esquire Smith." Esquire Smith, always instead of Mr. Smith, was the prefix used. There has been a great change within a quarter of a century, and now men holding this office do not enjoy the distinction that once attended the position.

The following is a list of the Ashby justices of the peace, giving the dates of their appointment and the dates of their death :

Jonathan Locke, commissioned 1788, died August 29, 1808 ; Allen Flagg, commissioned 1798, died October 7, 1815; AMjah Wyman, com- missioned 1802, died November 24, 1804; John Locke, commissioned 1802, died August 24, 1855 ; John Wyman, commissioned 1808, died May 9, 1816 ; Alexander T. Willard, commissioned 1811, died December 14, 1850 ; Ezekiel Coleman, commissioned 1813, died December 10, 1854 ; Stephen Wyman, Sen., commissioned 1827, died April 30, 1852; Amos Wellington, commissioned 1839, died November 20, 1857 ; Luke Wel- lington, commissioned -1843, died January 26, 1868 ; Isaac Patch, com- missioned 1843, died April 26, 1847 ; Alfred Hitchcock, commissioned 1843, died March 30, 1874; Cushing Burr, commissioned 1848, died February 6, 1866; Francis W. Wright, commissioned 1648; Stephen Wyman, Jr., commissioned 1850, died February 13, 1868 ; Leonard French, commissioned 1858 ; Martin Howard, commissioned 1859 ; Ben- jamin W. Seamans, commissioned 1860, died November 16, 186G ; Zenae Allen, commissioned 1863, died May 20, 1887 ; James M. J. Jefts, com- missioned 1864, died December 22, 1886; Dennis Fay, commissioned 1865, died February 22, 1889 ; Francis Tinker, commissioned 18GG; Benjamin F. Wallace, commissioned 1867; Alonzo A. Carr. commis- sioned 1874 ; Charles O. Green, commissioned 1874 ; Jons P'. Hayward, commissioned 1874, died Novomber 29, 1887 ; Samuel R. Damon, com- missioned 1876; S. Joseph Bradlee, commissioned 1884.

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ASIIBY.

The last named gentleman has the power to issue warrants and take bail; and the office was given to him because Ashby is situated about seventeen miles from a Middlesex District Court.

CHAPTER XXII.

ASHBY-(Continued).

POST-OFFICE, PHYSICIANS, AGRICULTURAL, PER- SONAL NOTICES.

POST-OFFICE .- A post-office was established in Ashby in 1812, soon after the turnpike was finished. The following list of postmasters, with the dates of their appointments, was furnished by the Post-office Department at Washington :

Alexander T. Willard, appointed January 27, 1812; Lloyd Hall, ap- pointed October 4, 1839 ; William Weston, Jr., appointed May 21, 1847 ; Martin Howard, appointed May 31, 1848 ; Nathaniel Whittemore, ap- pointed July 8, 1849 ; George L. Adams, appointed April 12, IS56; Abram White, appointed December 19, 1856 ; Samnel M. Allen, ap- pointed May 8, 1860 ; Benjamin W. Seamans, appointed August 15, 1861; Perez C. Burr, appointed March 23, 1864; Charles O. Green, appointed October 31, 1867 ; George Handley, appointed November 24, 1885.

Mr. Willard held the office twenty-seven years, eight months and seven days. At first the office was kept by Nathaniel Adams, at the tavern on the corner of the Common. A part of the time it was kept at the Start store. Mr. Hall was a shoemaker, and he had the office. in the west wing of C. O. Green's store. Since 1860 the office has been kept at its present location.

PHYSICIANS .- Dr. Thomas Carver was the first dis- ciple of Galen, who had the courage to commence in the practice of his profession in Ashby. He settled here in 1774, seven years after the incorporation of the town, but nothing is known concerning his hirth - place, or where he received his education. His name does not appear on the town records more than onee or twice when he was chosen on a committee. The fact that he remained in practice here for nearly forty years furnishes sufficient evidence that his professional services were appreciated here. He was a skillful physician and an honorable man. He died October 7, 1815.

Dr. Allen Flagg came to Ashby in 1798; his pre- vious history is also unknown. He opened an office and shared the practice with Dr. Carver. While here he built the house which stands on the east side of the road from the post-office to the South Village, just after crossing the rivulet, the next house south of the Goodnow house, built by Lewis Gould. He had an extensive practice, sometimes riding beyond the limits of the town, and he was a much-respected citi- zen. He was the second person in Ashby who re- ceived the appointment of justice of the peace. The

next year after he came here he was elected town elerk, and with the exception of two years he held the office till his decease. He died October 15, 1815, just one week after the death of Dr. Carver.

Dr. Abraham Haskell, Jr., soon after the death of Dr. Flagg located in Ashby, and practiced medicine here about three years, when he sold out to Dr. Moses Kidder and removed to Leominster, where he was in practice for some time, but he returned to Ashby and bought out Dr. Kidder, and remained here till his death, April 23, 1851.

Dr. Moses Kidder was born in Billerica, July 25, 1789. He entered Williams College two years in ad- vance, and spent the junior year (1810) in that insti- tution, but he did not proceed further in a collegiate course of study. He studied with Dr. Stickney, of Autrim, N. H., during 1811, and with Dr. Matthias Spaulding, of Amherst, N. H., during 1812. In 1813 he was a surgeon stationed at Fort Warren, where he remained until the close of the war. He was a self- made man, quick of apprehension, and remarkable in regard to his .power of memory. He was not a healthy man, and for this reason while he was here at differ- ent times he had two men of his profession with him as assistants. He was skillful and faithful to his patients. He left town about 1825, after which time he was in practice at Townsend, Littleton and Dub- lin, N. H., a short time in each place, and at last he removed to Lowell, where he died.

Dr. George Haskell was the successor of Dr. Kidder. There is nothing particular in tradition concerning this gentleman. He remained here about five years when he removed to Alton, Illinois.

Dr. Daniel B. Cutter was born iu Jaffrey, N. H., May 10, 1808; graduated from Dartmouth College in 1833, from Yale College Medical Department 1834. He came to Ashby in 1834, and remained here two years and then he moved to Peterborough, N. H., where he not only became popular as a physician, but he was a prominent citizen, holding the most im- portant offices in the gift of the town, and where he died in 1889.

Dr. Alfred Hitchcock was born at Westminster, Vt., October 23, 1813. In 1831 he went to New York City and spent three or four months to be cured of stam- mering, which was a great annoyance to him and an impediment from which he suffered greatly during his youth. He returned partially relieved, but he never entirely overcame the embarrassment. His early education was acquired at the "People's Col- lege," the common school, although he pursued his studies at the academy at Bennington, Vt., and at Phillips Academy, Andover, a short time at each place. His health failed him so that he was unable to study; and from Andover he went home and passed a long time under the care of a doctor. In 1834 he commenced the study of medicine in his native town with a physician of considerable note, with whom he remained a year or more. He graduated from Dart-

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HISTORY OF MIDDLESEX COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

mouth College Medical Department in 1837, and commenced the practice of medicine in Ashby the same year. In the beginning of his practice fortune seemed adverse, and it is said that for the first six weeks he had no business. His inerits, however, soon began to be appreciated, and it was not long before he entered upon a sphere of nsefulness which attended all his labors as long as he lived. Through his influ- ence Ashby, though a small town and surrounded by able physicians, became a centre of medical practice. Young men resorted thither to avail themselves of his teachings, particularly in anatomy. He repre- sented Ashby in the General Court in 1847, and was one of the selectmen in 1848. During the next two years he was invited and importuned even, by the in- fluential people of Fitchburg to remove to the town. He went to Fitchburg in 1850. In 1851 he attended medical lectures in Paris during a visit to Europe. In 1861-62-63 he was a member of Governor Andrews' Council. His death, which occurred March 30, 1874, was caused by angina pectoris, which was exceed- ingly distressing at times, and at a partial relief of what proved to be the final paroxysm his last words were, "Now I will rest."

Dr. Leonard French, son of Leonard C. and Nancy (Hutchinson) French, was born in Bedford, N. H., Nov. 11, 1817. Fitted for college at Gilmanton (N. H.) Academy ; graduated from Dartmouth, 1843 ; took his degree of M.D. from the same college in 1846. April 1, 1847, he came to Ashby and entered into partnership with Dr. Hitchcock, with whom he re- mained three years. He then located in Fitchburg; but for some reason, known only to himself, he only remained there three months; and then returned to Ashby, and continued the duties of his profession until November, 1861, wlien he removed to Manches- ter, N. H., where he now stands at the head of the medical profession. While he was here he had ån extensive practice, was consulted in difficult cases from the adjoining towns, and was much respected. He was one of the counselors of the Massachusetts Medical Society. He has two sons, both of whom were born in Ashby, who are practical physicians and surgeons. Dr. L. Mellville French, born July 26, 1849, commenced the study of medicine at home in 1869, afterward attended lectures at the Univer- sity Medical College, New York, through a course, and in 1873 graduated from Dartmouth College Med- ical Department. He is now in practice at Manches- ter, N. H. Dr. Henry M. French, his second son, was born April 1, 1853; gradnated from Dartmouth College in 1876 ; took his degree of M.D. in 1879, from the same institution. In 1880 he attended a course of lectures in New York City, and afterward was con- nected with the hospital at Flatbush, N. Y. He is at present in practice at Concord, N. H., where he is a successful physician and surgeon.

Dr. Charles Davis followed Dr. French soon after he left. Dr. J. S. Andrews was in Ashby a short time.

Dr. James Emerson was born in Barnstead, N. H., in 1817; graduated from the Dartmouth Medical School in 1857; was in practice at Ashby from 1862 to 1865 ; resided in Gardner since that time until he died there, January 18, 1890.

Dr. Josiah M. Blood, son of Ebenezer and Betsy (Abbott) Blood, was born in Hollis, N. H., July 3, 1832. He fitted for college at Worcester Academy, but did not pursne a collegiate course. He graduated from University Medical College, New York, in 1857. An alumnus of this college says of him, " He was one of the six best scholars in his class of one hundred and twenty." He commenced practice in Temple, N. H., and remained more than two years in that town. From Temple he removed to Townsend and practiced his profession until the commencement of the Civil War, when, in 1862, he was appointed assistant sur- geon in the United States Army. He remained in the service until the close of the war. He came to Ashby in 1865, and for a quarter of a century he has held, and now holds, the confidence of its citizens. He is a modest man, skillful, cantious, prompt to an appointment, and his record compares favorably with any of his predecessors who have practiced medicine in Ashby.

AGRICULTURAL .- The farming interests of Ashby, compared with that of the adjoining towns appear to good advantage. The last decennial census (1885) gives the number of farmers as 157, number of farm laborers as 101. The population of the town at that time was 871-number of males, 436; number of females, 435. Number of boys in the public schools, 60. The aggregate of the farmers, laborers and boys was 376, leaving 118 males including those who were either too old or too young for labor, who are engaged in every other industry. Of this 118, 43 are repre- sented as either retired or at home (children under ten years), leaving only 75 males in town who do not work at farming. These workers produce annually on their farms over 3000 tons of hay, about 12,000 bushels of potatoes, abont 3000 bushels of Indian corn, abont 1000 bushels of cats, about the same quantity of barley and other grains and vegetables in about the same proportion. From their orchards, in every " odd year," they gather about 13,000 bushels of merchanta- ble apples besides the fruit not fit for market, which is made into cider amounting to abont 12,000 gallons. They have 584 milch cows, and a creamery, operated by a small engine, the annual product of which is 40,000 pounds of butter. Quite an amount of dairy products does not go through this creamery, but is used at home. A large amount of milk is put on the cars for Boston market and some retailed in Fitch- burg. Besides these sources of income they have large graperies and acres of land covered with vine- yards, which (except an occasional year when frost comes too early) pay them well for their labor. One man sold twenty-six pounds of grapes recently for fifty-two dollars. And then the peaches, the straw-

ASHBY.

berries, and other small fruits, receive an equal amount of attention, and pay equally as well for the trouble of cultivation.

If the farmers in this climate can accomplish as much and do as well as is above represented, it cer- tainly shows a lack of good judgment for so many young men in New England to leave the old home- stead and begin anew in the land of cyclones at the far West. One thing is certain beyond dispute : it will be long time before any real estate agent will make a fortune on commissions in selling farms in Ashby. Its citizens love their homes and do every- thing they can to induce their children to be attached to the town, by approving of all innocent amusements, by giving them excellent advantages in schooling, and by supplying them abundantly with those news- papers and magazines which reflect the thoughts of some of the keenest minds of this nation. The people of this town have a good amount of wealth, and their buildings are kept up with neatness and good taste. They enjoy good air, good water and delightful scenery, and best of all, they are "not slothful in bus- iness," but " given to hospitality."

The person who named the town is unknown, but it is known that its name has for a long time and still is pronounced wrong by many. It is not Ashbye, but Ashbee, the last syllable sounded like bee. In no other State or nation is it pronounced Ashbye, but it is Ashbee. No one ever heard of General Canhye- pronounce it Canby and the Indian fighter flashes be- fore the mind.

PERSONAL NOTICES .- James Locke, a very enterpri- sing man, came from Hopkinton in 1749, and bought two lots of land of Amos Whitney, situated on Bat- tery Hill, and commenced a settlement on it the same year. This land was taken into Ashby at the incorporation of the town, and it lies on both sides of the road leading from Greenville to Fitchburg. This was the next year after John Fitch was captured by the savages, and for self-preservation he built a strong garrison-house near the log cabin in which he lived. Tradition has it that he was a man of great physical strength and endurance, and very industrious. He was first in the list of church members, and he huilt a grist-mill, situated on the Locke Brook, about a quarter of a mile easterly of the spot where the large, unpainted house now stands on what was his home- stead. He died September 1, 1782.

James Locke, Jr., born in Hopkinton in 1729, came to Townsend with his father, and they lived together for some time, until he married, and then they were near neighbors. He made great exertion to get a good common education. When the petition for a new town (which resulted in the incorporation of Ashby) was before the General Court, he appeared at Boston at two or three different times as representa- tive of that part of the petitioners belonging to Town- send. At the first and second town-meetings under the charter he was chosen town clerk, and for the

next two years he was moderator of the annual town- meetings. He served on the Board of Selectmen four times, and was on the committee for building the meeting-house. In 1773 he moved from Ashby to Townsend, and lived on a farm situated about a mile northerly from the harbor, and it was at that place where the sheep were sheared and his wife and daughter spun the wool, wove it into cloth, and made a suit of clothes for one of the family who was drafted into the army at so short a notice.1 He was second lieutenant in Captain James Hosley's company of minute-men, who responded to the call of the 19th of April, 1775. From 1774 to 1787 he was clerk of the Townsend proprietors, and the records he made, both in chirography and language, are equal to those made at the present time. In 1777 and 1778 he represented Townsend in the General Court.

Jonathan Locke, Jr., born Dec. 7, 1737, a brother of the former James Locke, Jr., came to Ashby from Hopkinton in 1772, at the solicitation of his father to care for him, as he had become old and well stricken in years. He was then thirty-five years old, and he inherited the activity and energy of his father. He was town clerk in 1782 and 1785, and one of the selectmen five times from 1777 to 1785. He was on important committees several times. He was second lieutenant in Captain John Jones' company, which marched at the alarm on the 19th of April, 1775. He was the first man in Ashby who held the office of justice of the peace appointed by the Governor. In proof of his enterprise and force of character, we have only to look at the set of farm buildings, which have resisted the force of the elements for more than a century, now standing on the place where he lived and died, and which he built. The farm is now owned by Isaac B. Hayward. He died August 29, 1808.

Captain John Jones, son of Thomas and Mary (Miles) Jones, was born in Concord December 7, 1730. He married, October 24, 1754, Phebe Brewer, of Weston. He lived in Concord until 1762, when he settled in the northeast part of Dorchester Canada (now Ashburnham). He was a selectman of Ash- burnham in 1766 and 1767. In 1767 Ashby was in- corporated, and his farm was a part of the new town. At the first town-meeting of Ashby (1767) he was elected a selectman, and also for the years 1768, 1773 and 1778. He was constable 1771 and town treasurer in 1768 and 1771. He wrote a fair hand and gave ev- idence of an education beyond that of a majority of his time. He commanded the company of militia which marched on the memorable 19th of April. He became one of the original members of the church, and in town affairs was often chosen on important committees. The location of his house and land gave the name to "Jones' Hill" in the westerly part of the town. He died December 18, 1811.

Major Samuel Stone, son of Jonathan and Chary

1 See Sawtelle's " History of Townsend," pp. 201, 202.

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HISTORY OF MIDDLESEX COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

(Adams) Stone, was born in Lexington, June 10, 1727. He moved to Ashby in 1770, and soon after built the house where Francis S. Wheeler now lives, near Townsend line. He was an inn-holder here for several years. His grandson, Captain Prentice Stone, of Ashby (now an old gentleman), has the sign which hung in front of his house, on which is painted a man on horseback with the word " entertainment " under- neath. The Stones from whom he descended were among the early settlers of Lexington, and "were quite numerous in the town, so much so that they were, in many instances, in the Lexington records, designated by their geographical position as John Stone, east, and John Stone, west, and Samuel Stone, east, and Samuel Stone, west." He bought, in addi- tion to his first purchase, four or five lots of land which were sold for non-payment of taxes in 1772, so that he had a large amount of land. He built the first mill on the site where Stickney's mill now stands, at the base of the Ashby Hills, in Townsend. At an early date he had a brick-kiln near Trap Falls Brook. He commanded the minute-men who responded to the call, April 19, 1775. In 1776 he was chosen major in the militia. From 1772 to 1782 he served six times on the Board of Selectmen. In 1777 he served as a private, side and side with Colonel Wil- liam Prescott, of Pepperell, and Major Henry Wood, of Groton, in a volunteer company of sixty men, most of whom belonged to Townsend, commanded by Cap- tain James Hosley, of Townsend, which went to the assistance of General Gates, and they participated in the battle which resulted in the surrender of the over- confident General Burgoyne. No other battle of the Revolution except that at Bunker Hill, was of so much importance to the patriots. Major Stone died in Ashby, December 15, 1806.

Captain Abijah Wyman, son of Abijah and Abigail (Smith) Wyman, was born in Lancaster August 9, 1745. No Ashby man except John Fitch ever had so eventful a life as he passed. On the 14th of Au- gust, 1758, he was impressed into Captain John Car- ter's company for a drummer-boy. This company marched on an expedition to Fort William Henry and returned the following November. In 1762 he vol- untarily served in Captain James Reed's company in the same capacity. This experience on the rough side of life, added to the few weeks in each year passed at the common school until he arrived at majority, was the extent of his education. With his father, in the manufacture of brick, he accumulated some money, and at the age of twenty-six he came to Ashby. In 1773 he bought a farm of 130 acres of Deacon Jonathan Lawrence, situated northerly and westerly of the Com- mon and joining land, at that time, of Joseph Davis on the east. In 1772 the province laid a tax on all non-resident land in Ashby, and empowered the assessors to sell all the land on which the tax was not paid, to collect the money due the town. At these sales he bought four lots of land for a small sum of

money. Soon after he bought three other tracts of land in Ashby, one from Abijah Wyman, of Woburn, making him owner of nine lots of land in town, some of them joining each other. He was first sergeant in Captain Stone's company before mentioned. When that company returned, under a provincial call for men he enlisted a company consisting of citizens of Ashby and other towns, of which he was appointed captain. His company was in Colonel William Pres- cott's regiment and was engaged in the battle of Bun- ker Hill, in which two of his men were killed and two taken prisoners, who soon after died of their wounds received in the action. He married Bettie Stearns, of Billerica. After the war ended he indus- triously applied himself to the improvement of his real estate and the general prosperity of the town. He served on the Board of Selectmen five years, and was moderator of nine of the town-meetings, from 1774 to 1801. He was one of the charter members of Social Lodge of Free Masons, and for a short time he was landlord at the tavern which adjoined the. south- west corner of the Common. He died in Ashby, No- vember 24, 1804.

Hon. John Locke, son of Jonathan and Mary (Haven) Nichols Locke, was born in Hopkinton Feb- ruary 14, 1764. He was not a brilliant scholar, but he had much patience, and while engaged in teach- ing school through several terms he, for the most part, fitted himself for college. He graduated from Har- vard College in 1792. In 1796 he was admitted to the bar, and commenced the practice of law in Ash- by. He held the responsible offices in the gift of the town, and took much interest in its welfare. He rep- resented Ashby in the General Court in 1804, 1805, 1813 and 1823. In 1820 he was the member for Ashby in the Constitutional Convention. In 1823 he was elected a member of Congress for the North Wor- cester District, Ashby being then in that Congres- sional District, and was twice re-elected, making a six years' service in Congress. As a lawyer he was not an eloquent advocate, but as a judge of law and as a counselor he stood in the front rank in the profes- sion. In 1804 be built the dwelling-house on Main Street, now owned and occupied by Mrs. Willard, which has been kept in excellent condition since he left the town, and it is decidedly the most substantial and elegant dwelling-house in Ashby. He lived a few years in Lowell, but the latter part of his life he spent in Boston, where he died August 24, 1855.

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History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. I, Part 97

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