History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. II, Part 162

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton) ed. cn
Publication date: 1890
Publisher: Philadelphia : J. W. Lewis & Co.
Number of Pages: 1226

USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. II > Part 162

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Company, a spot that has always been a favorite for squatters. The Toughey house remained there long enough to be a repeated source of complaint from the public, and was finally moved ou to the lot on the west side of the Peterboro' and Shirley Railroad, where it now stands, and afterwards passed into the hands of Mrs. James Hosley, the present owner.

In the rear of Woods' Block at the time of the fire, there stood a two tenement block, that was originally built for a shoe shop. On the lot next west of Harvey A. Wood's Block, was the dwelling-house of Nahum Sawyer. This building stood well back from the street. Upon the southwest corner of the Sawyer lot there stood for many years a small building oc- cupied as a boot and shoe repair shop. This building was moved across the railroad a short time before the fire, and thus escaped the conflagration. It now forms a part of George G. Day's dwelling-house, on Forest Street. Next east of the Sawyer lot was the Unitarian, or, as it was sometimes called, the White Church, the first church edifice erected in the village. It was quite a handsome structure, faced south, and ap- proached by a broad flight of steps. In its belfry was the only bell of the village, whose notes pealed forth until a few moments before the spire fell. In the rear of the church was the new engine and hook-and- ladder house, erected by the town of Groton in 1870, to take the place of the town building destroyed in the fire of November, 1869. In the second story of this building was Colonel Needham Hall, used by the engine company for their meetings. At the cor- ner of Columbia and Newton Streets was a two-story, French roof dwelling-house of Joel E. Fletcher, the first structure of the kind erected in this village. In the rear of Mr. Fletcher's, facing Newton Street, was the cottage-house of Henry H. Bliss. The fire crossed Columbia Street and there destroyed a two-story dwelling-house owned by Joel E. Fletcher, and a long building that was erected for Bacon & Rock- wood, candy manufacturers, after they were burnt out in the fire of 1869. At the time of the great fire this latter building was used principally as a harness shop. A stable of Mr. Fletcher's was also burned. The amount of property destroyed by this fire was in the vicinity of $250,000.

The first person to begin business upon the burnt district was Alonzo D. Simmons, who purchased from the Stevens Machine Company a small building, for a time used as an office by the chair company. He moved this building on to the Andrew W. Felch lot, and was ready for business before the embers of the burnt territory had done smouldering. This build- ing has recently been moved on to the Rufus Brock lot, on the easterly side of the old road to Groton. The first new building erected upon the burnt terri- tory was Harvey A. Woods' three-story, mansard- roof block, which was finished ready for occupancy in the early fall.

This block of. Mr. Woods' also had the distinction

of being the first new building to be destroyed by fire. It was burned Monday morning, June 9, 1879, the lot remaining vacant until the next year, when Abel Prescott's building, that formerly stood in the square west of the brick freight house, was moved on to it. In 1886 Mr. Fillebrown erected the three-story build- ing now occupying that site.

At the present day there are only two lots made vacant by the great fire upon which buildings have not been erected, and they are the Samuel W. Dick- inson on Washington Street and the George G. Day lot on Pleasant Street, both of which remain to-day as they were the morning following the fire.

Immediate steps were taken to rebuild. Besides Mr. Woods' block, Mead's brick block, the brick block of Thomas H. and Alfred Page and that of Mrs. E. M. Nutting were completed the following fall. The last lot to become occupied was that of Thomas H. Page, at the corner of Main and West Streets, onto which, in April, 1878, Mr. Turner moved the Public Spirit building from Merchant's Row. Immediately follow- ing the fire there was a great demand for locations in which merchants could establish themselves. The Fitchburg Railroad Company generously gave the use of the brick freight-house, and for a while it seemed as though Merchant's Row was destined once more to come to the front as a business centre, but upon the rebuilding of Main Street the former occupants re- turned.

Monday afternoon following the fire, a citizens' meeting, presided over by Henry C. Rolfe, was held at the brick depot, and the following committee were appointed to solicit aid for those who had suffered by the fire : Thomas H. Page, Calvin D. Reed, Harvey A. Woods, James C. Tenney, Leonard J. Spaulding, Rector T. Bartlett, Abel L. Lawton, Oliver K. Pierce and Charles Brown. By this committee the sum of $2429 was raised and distributed to those who sus- tained losses in the fire, proportionately. Beside this a large sum of money was raised and distributed by private parties. The same meeting authorized the above committee to petition the selectmen to call a town-meeting, and draw up a statement of the extent of the disaster, and to send circulars to all the reli- gious societies in the surrounding towns, with the re- quest that collections be taken in all the churches, for the benefit of the homeless sufferers, who, in many iu- tances, had lost all their possessions. It was also voted that as soon as all the losses were ascertained, the Legislature be petitioned to ask an abatement of the State and County taxes for the present year.

The first relief sent was by several of the Harvard Shakers, who contributed seventy-five dollars in mo- ney and a lot of provisions and cooked food. They also kindly volunteered the use of their teams to any one needing them, and canceled a number of bills due them by parties who had suffered by the fire. At this same meeting was also considered a plan of extending Main Street farther to the north. It is to be regretted

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HISTORY OF MIDDLESEX COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

that this latter plan did not materialize, as the street would thus have had two sides practical for building, and the value of the property upon it be greatly enhanced.

July 15, 1872, the saw-mill formerly the peneil fac- tory of Charles Snow, of Pingry Village, was burned.

May 3, 1873, Prescott's building in Railroad Square was almost entirely destroycd. The basement was occupied by a Mr. Penato, shoe-shop, confectionery and fruit. On the first floor were Prescott & Hill, grain, and B. H. Graves' meat market. The second floor was occupied by Mr. Mudgett, photographer.

August 4, 1873, the brick mill of William Mitchell, at Mitchellville, occupied by him as a shoddy manu- facturing establishment, was entirely destroyed, throwing about fifty employees out of employment. It was believed that the building would soon be re- built and the business resumed. The plant has re- cently been purchased for a rubber factory, and will soon enter upon a new era of its history.

January 14, 1874, a fire caught in the cellar of Mead's Block on Main Street, occupied by Brown & Kittridge, who also occupied the easterly half of the first floor, where the National and Savings Banks now are. The fire was confined to the cellar, the chief damage being from smoke and water.

June 18, 1874, a spark from their furnace set fire to the roof of the pattern-shop of Briggs & Kelley. The roof was burned off, and the contents, consisting of valuable patterns, were considerably damaged.

October 25, 1874, the barn of Michael Barry, near his dwelling-house on the northerly side of Shirley Street was, entirely consumed, and the fire also com- municated to the dwelling-house, to which it did but slight damage.

February 4, 1875, a fire was discovered under the floor of Wood's Block, on what is now the Fillebrown lot on Main Street. There was no cellar under this part of the building, and the origin of the fire was unquestionably incendiary. It communicated to the central part of the store, then occupied by the post- offiee and E. H. Hayward, insurance agent and musi- cal instruments. The damage was slight.

February 6, 1875, as the result of storing hot ashes in the hall-way, the Haynes house, on Washington Street, at that time owned by Simeon Burt and oecu- pied by John S. Clark, was again visited by the fiery fiend. The damage was slight, being principally con- fined to the attic.

About 1876 a barn on the easterly side of West Street, occupied by William Parsons was totally eon- sumed with its contents. This barn had formerly stood on Pleasant Street and was a part of the home place of William S. Nutting.

May 27, 1876, the building known as the Stone Hall, situated on the northerly side of West Main Street, a short distance from Waste Brook, was totally destroyed.

May 8, 1877, a building standing where George H.

Hands' house now is, at the corner of Pine and Main Streets, and occupied by Albert F. Fletcher as a grocery store, was destroyed by a fire whichi was prob- ably of an incendiary origin.

July 27, 1877 a fire caught in the clothing and boot and shoe store of J. C. Tenney, in Page's Block, now occupied by Fleteher & Stone. Had it not been dis- covered scasonably, we would again have been visited by a serious conflagration, certainly by the loss of this building ; as it was, it was only through prompt and courageous action that the flames were subdued.

October 18, 1877, the marble-eutting shop of N. A. Spencer, situated near his dwelling-house, on the Harvard road, was burned with its contents.

July 6, 1878, the dwelling-house of Mrs. Michael Hart, situated opposite the Catholic Cemetery, and on the westerly side of the Peterboro' & Shirley Railroad, was burned.

August 4, 1878, a fire destroyed the barn of Wil- liam McHugh, on the westerly side of the Peterboro' & Shirley Railroad.

April 1, 1879, the large barn at the corner of Gro- ton and Pleasant Streets, on the site now oec upied by Thomas Donahue's dwelling-house, was entirely eon- sumed with its contents, consisting of hay, wagons, harnesses and two horses owned by Charles Blood.

June 9, 1879, the three-story mansard-roof building known as Wood's Block, then owned by Alfred Page, standing on Fillebrown's lot, was totally consumed. The fire was of mysterious origin, many circumstances tending to show that it was incendiary. At the time it was occupied by J. F. Boynton, hardware, tinware, stoves, etc., and F. P. Carlton, groeer, on the first floor. On the second floor were the law-offices of Frederick A. Woreester, James Gerish and George J. Burns, Henry Stone, dentist, and William H. Lane, photographer, and Horaee C. Hovey, eivil engineer, who also oocupied a room on the third floor. The Good Templars and the Ancient Order of Hibernians occupied the halls in the upper story. Great credit is due to the firemen, through whose efforts the fire was confined to the building in which it originated. Mead's Block was considerably damaged.

March 25, 1880, the town lost one of its best known and most interesting landmarks by the destruction of the Calvin Fletcher red house, so called. This build- ing was nearly opposite the pumping station, on the Harvard road. At the time of the fire it was owned by James McCarty. This building was over 100 years old at the time it was destroyed.

March 27, 1880, a fire started in the wood-shed of the dwelling-house then owned and occupied by R. N. Kendall, situated on the southerly side of Prospect Street, and now owned by Augustine A. Farr and occupied by William A. Wright. The fire communi- cated to the house, the ell was nearly consumed and the roof of the main house burned off.

May 10, 1880, about two o'elock in the afternoon, a fire was discovered upon the roof of what at that time

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was known as Duffy's Hotel, an establishment that had previously been known as the Luke House, and prior to that time as the Ross House. This building stood on the easterly side of Tannery Street, where Chandler's machine-shop now is. The building was practically totally consumed. It was occupied at the time of the fire by John Duffy, dealer in ardents.

May 17, 1880, the house of George Little, situated on the northerly side of the Stouy Brook Railroad, near Lewis Lapoint's, was entirely consumed, the fam- ily barely escaping with their lives.

September 4, 1880, the cottage-house of Catherine Barry, between the road from Ayer to Wood's Vil- lage and the Peterboro' & Shirley Railroad, was en- tirely consumned.

December 20, 1880, the northerly of Alfred Page's two mills was totally destroyed by fire. At the time of its loss it was occupied by the Union Heel Com- pany and Aaron Patten, manufacturer of cabinet work, neither of which again resumed business in this town.

This was followed February 25, 1881, by the de- struction of the southerly mill, thus completely wip- ing out that extensive plant. At the time of the fire fire, George Stevens, machinist, occupied about one- third of the first floor, and his loss was a very serious one to him, as he had no insurance at the time and much of his machinery was very valuable.

April 16, 1881, a large farm barn at Mitchellville, owned by Mary Page Heath, was destroyed by fire.

February 7, 1882, the two buildings standing on the northerly side of Main Street, between Nutting's block and the Public Spirit building, were destroyed by a fire that originated in the restaurant of William Parsons. These were two one-story buildings, the easterly of which was owned by Rector T. Bartlett, and at the time of the fire occupied by John D. Shaw, stoves and tinware. These two buildings stood upon the site of the Reed building, in which originated the great fire of April, 1872.

May 4, 1882, the barn of John B. Baggin, on the northerly side of Sandy Pond and easterly side of Snake Hill road, was destroyed with several head of cattle.

June 25, 1882, the wooden bridge of the Peterboro' & Shirley Railroad across the Nashua River near Wood's Village was entirely consumed. This bridge was erected about twenty years previous at a cost of about ten thousand dollars. It was a Howe truss covered bridge. The fire took place Sunday morn- ing. A foot-bridge was put across the river during the day, and on Tuesday a pile-bridge was completed to admit the passage of trains, which continued in use until the present iron structure was put in place. Mon- day forenoon the construction train, loaded with piling for the bridge, was run into by the Worcester & Nashua freight near the Main Street crossing, and the two roads were thus blockaded for several hours.

October 14, 1882, the building formerly occupied by Phineas Nutting near Pingry Village was destroyed,

The large building erected by Andrew Atwood on the easterly side of Columbia Street in the fall of 1876 as a boot manufactory, aud at the time of the fire used as a storehouse and skating rink, was entirely consumed by fire ou the night of January 20, 1884.

September 13, 1885, the dwelling-house of Alex- ander Falconer at Sandy Pond, where Benjamin F. Taft's handsome summer cottage now stands, was en- tirely destroyed. The building was unoccupied at the time.

April 12, 1886, the story-and-a-half two tenement house on the southerly side of Main Street, known as the Ann Park house, was entirely destroycd.

May 7, 1886, the Fire Department was called dur- ing the night to two fires, in what is known as the Fuller property, owned by Oliver Pierce, on the southerly side of Main Street, and occupied by Gard- ner W. Randlett as a dwelling-house and livery stable. The first call was at 1.30 A.M., for a fire in the ell of the dwelling-house, which was promptly extinguished. At 3.30 the department was again summoned, this time to a fire in the stable. This time the fire had gained such headway that the firemen were unable to cope with it in that quarter, and turned their atten- tion to saving the dwelling-house, and with their usual good judgment and indomitable pluck accom- plished wonders with the facilities that they had in hand. The principal part of the dwelling-house was saved. In this fire several horses were burned, and quite a number of carriages and harnesses.

December 2, 1886, about twelve hours before the time that Dr. Abbott, of the Health Department of Massachusetts, was expected to visit Ayer, with re- spect to the alleged nuisance of the Beader Glue Com- pany that occupied the Ames Plow Company build- ing, their buildings were discovered to be on fire, and the flames had gained such headway that the depart- ment directed their efforts to the saving of the sur- rounding buildings. While the loss of the business then conducted was not serious, still our village, by the loss of that extensive plant, sustained a serious blow.

May 12, 1887, the unoccupied cooper-shop of Au- gustus Lovejoy, between Main Street aud the Fitch- burg Railroad, near his dwelling-house, was entirely consumed. It is claimed that the fire originated from the locomotive of the Fitchburg Railroad.

July 4, 1887, the barn of Fred. B. Felch, on Cam- bridge Street, was burned with a stock of carriages and harnesses that were stored therein.

May 27, 1888, the cottage-house of Mary Quarry, on the northerly side of West Main Street, was entirely consumed. The fire also communicated to the two tenement house just westerly, where it was checked after considerable damage to the building. These buildings were among the oldest erected in that part of our village, the material for which was brought from Groton from a building that at one time stood on Main Street.

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HISTORY OF MIDDLESEX COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

November 5, 1888, a fire was discovered in the suspender factory of James R. Gray, on the south- erly side of Fletcher Strcet, which, however, was extinguished after having burned through the nortli- easterly corner of the building and damaging the contents largely from smoke and water.

December 30th, following, this building again took fire, this time the loss being total.

October, 1889, the dwelling-house of William Mc- Hugh, on the westerly side of the Peterboro' and Shir- ley Railroad, was entirely consumed by fire.

CHAPTER LVII.

AYER-(Continued). New Town-Agitation for Set-off-Incorporation.

THE agitation that resulted in the set-off from the towns of Groton and Shirley of the territory incor- porated by the Legislature of 1871, as the town of Ayer, was the result of a desire for separate muni- cipal existence, that from the first settlement of the village always lay near to the surface, and required but little agitation to make prominent.

The South Groton Literary Association, organized October 5, 1855, and which was, doubtless, the earliest organization of the kind at South Groton, at a meeting held December 14, 1855, discussed the following question : " Would it be good policy for the inhabitants at South Groton to petition the Legis- lature, the coming winter, to be incorporated as a new town ?" Affirmative, Nathan W. Frye and Hibbard P. Ross; negative, Benjamin F. Felch and Ebenezer Willis. After a somewhat spirited debate, the ques- tion was decided on its merits in the affirmative, with but two " dissenting votes." It was then voted to ap- point a committee of five to take the matter of the division of the town into consideration, and report at an adjourned meeting two weeks hence. The chair appointed as that committee Silas Nutting, Deacon John Pingry, Calvin Fletcher, Benjamin F. Felch and Abel Prescott. December 26, 1855, the com- mittee reported "what progress they had made, and on motion were granted further time to make final report." I am unable to learn from the records whether a final report was ever made, or just what progress the committee reported. At about this time a petition was prepared and extensively signed for the incorporation of a new town, but it was never presented to the Legislature. February 2, 1859, the same society agitated the following : " Resolved : that it is not expedient for the inhabitants of South Groton and vicinity to petition, or in any way attempt to obtain an act of incorporation as a distinct town." Affirmative, B. F. Felch and Charles Jacobs, Esq. ; negative, Ebenezer Willis and Abel Prescott. The affirmative question prevailed. For the next ten years

the "new town " project always remained to us an in- teresting topic, finding abundant supporters. There always existed a feeling that the people in the south part of the town were never remembered impartially in any respect, except, perhaps, in the question of taxes. It was easy to induce our people to believe that we did not receive the full measure of the benefit resulting from the town patronage. The erection here, in 1867, of an entirely inadequate school build- ing, at a cost of seventy-five hundred dollars, believed to be grudgingly appropriated, and the immediate building of an unnecessary thirty thousand dollar high school building at the Centre, did not, in any sense, appease the rising spirit of dissatisfaction. The distance from the town centre was a source of impedi- ment to our citizens who desired to attend town- meeting. We keenly felt the want of a high school, public library, public building, side-walks, street- lamps and other common perquisites of a town cen- tre.

The particular agitation that resulted in our muni- cipal birth may be traced directly to the following communication printed in an edition of the Public Spirit under date of August 5, 1869. The initials signed to it can be readily translated into Edmund Dana Bancroft.

"A PLEA OF SECESSION .- It seems to one of your readers that the time has arrived when the citizens of this part of tbe towu of Groton should agitate the subject of separation from our good old grandparents at the Centre. Any one who has observed the progress of events in our village for years past can but have seen that it was only a question of time when there should be a final dissolution.

"A diversity of interests, the distance from one village to the other, are constant reminders that we are not suited to each other, and that a divorce must be decreed. Let us enumerate some of the disadvantages of the present situation. A citizen of this village is obliged to go four miles to deposit a ballot, and from past experience we know that it is impossible to get enough voters to travel that distance and properly represent our interests. It is very well known that, numerically, we of this village are a majority of the town, but from the aforesaid cause we are never represented by more than one selectman, and sometimes not even one.

"It is very evident, therefore, that the popular idea of the town offi- ficers representing the people of the town is a fallacious one, so far as we are concerned.

"Our streets need attending to ; sidewalks ought to be built ; in fact, we are suffering for many of those conveniences and improvements which we could and should have were it not for the ominous two to one majority on the board of selectmen. Again, nearly a year ago a committee of five were appointed to procure a new fire-engine for the use of their vil- lage. Four out of the five were carefully selected from the centre, and the result is no action can be had from that committee. The chairman never has even called the members together for consultation. Is there not enough ' public spirit' in this village to set the ball in mo- tion, and secure our just rights or a final separation ?

"E. D. B." -

As voicing the becoming general wish for a new town, the Public Spirit, in its edition of November 10, 1870, says, editorially : " We understand that there is a growing desire with the citizens of this village to have this placc set off and made a new town. The columns of this paper would be a proper place to dis- cuss it, and we should like to hear from the people here on this important point."

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In the next edition of the paper appeared the fol- lowing communication :

" Mr. Editor :- The right name for the new town is a matter of more than usual importance here. Groton Junction is one of the most im- portant railroad centres in the country ; as such it is known far and wide. Its snccess as a place of population and business is owing to the fact of its being a railroad centre; that is, it is Groton Junction. Why not call the new town Groton Junction then ? That will keep the old name, with an addition that means something. This means the very thing which has given the place an existence, and upou which the growth and prosperity of the new town will depend. To change it would be to make a great deal of trouble and uncertainty iu railroad connections. Unless a change for the better can be made, will it not be best to let well enongh alone ?

(Signed) " PHILO."

The number of inhabitants in this village as fur- nished by the census marshal in 1870 was 1600.

Before the Legislature of 1871 convened, the senti- ment in favor of the new town had assumed such proportions that a petition was prepared, which re- ceived the signatures of 270 of the citizens residing within the limits of the proposed new town. This petition, which was presented in the House by Albert Leighton, of Pepperell, asked that the territory be set off and incorporated under the name of Groton Junic- tion. The following is the full text of the petition :

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History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. II, Part 162

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton) ed. cn Publication date: 1890 Publisher: Philadelphia : J. W. Lewis & Co. Number of Pages: 1226

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton) ed. cn
Publication date: 1890
Publisher: Philadelphia : J. W. Lewis & Co.
Number of Pages: 1226