History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. II, Part 173

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 173

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Without invidious discrimination, in addition to those already named, there may be mentioned a few heroes of this town who fought their way to distinc- tion on many a bloody field. First in the list should be named Horace M. Warren, who had in him the true, undaunted spirit of the soldier. Barely twenty years old when the war broke out, he enlisted at once in the local corps, which became Company E of the Fifth Regiment of Massachusetts Volunteers. After his three months' service in this company he enlisted for three years in Company E, Twentieth Regiment Massachusetts Volunteers, and was made a sergeant. At the bloody and disastrous battle of Ball's Bluff, October 21, 1861, he was severely wounded in the arm, body and leg, and came home entirely disabled. After a few months, his wounds having nearly healed, he became impatient to be again in the field, and in August, 1862, re-enlisted in Company E, Fiftieth Regiment Massachusetts Volunteers, and was commissioned first lieutenant. After efficient service of about a year in the Department of the Gulf, this being a nine months' regiment, he came home

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and was discharged by reason of expiration of ser- vice. Not content with inactivity at such a time, hc soon after, in 1863, accepted a new commission as first lieutenant and adjutant of the Fifty-ninth Regiment Massachusetts Volunteers, and found active service in Virginia under General Grant. For effi- ciency and bravery he was promoted to be major, and was mortally wounded in the battle of Weldon Railroad, Virginia, August 19, 1864, and died a few days later, August 27th. Thus early perished a brave young spirit, who laughed at danger and hardship, the memory of whose gallant deeds is tenderly cher- ished in the town of his home, and when Post 12, G. A. R., was organized, no more fitting name could be thought of by which to designate a Post of veterans. Major Warren, was the son of Rev. Edwin R. and Mary H. Warren, and born in Topsham, Maine, July 8, 1841.

Another veteran of the war, well worthy of special mention, was James F. Mansfield. He joined Company E, Sixteenth Regiment, in July, 1861, and was appoint- ed sergeant. He was promoted first lieutenant Febru- ary 14, 1864, and transferred to the Eleventh Regi- ment ; promoted to captain October 9, 1864, to be major June 16, 1865, and lieutenant-colonel July 11, 1865.

Colonel Mansfield served with faithfulness and bravery throughout the war, and earned his promo- tions by brave deeds and faithful service in those ter- rible Virginia campaigns where there was so much weary marching and so much hard fighting, and came out at the end without a serious wound. Colonel Mansfield was the eldest son of James J. and Martha B. Mansfield, and born in South Reading in 1836.

Another brave man from this town was Thomas M. Mckay, son of John and Elizabeth M. Mckay, born in Boston, December 5, 1836. He served three months in Company E, Fifth Regiment, re-enlisted for three years in Company G, Twentieth Regiment, was appointed sergeant, and was in the awful disaster at Ball's Bluff, where his brother was killed. For gal- lantry and efficiency he was promoted, September 5, 1862, to be second lieutenant, and July, 1863, to be captain. He was killed by a shot from a conscript October 5, 1863, while in camp at Culpeper, Vir- ginia.

No braver man went into the war from South Read- ing than George W. Townsend, though he attained no high distinction in rank. He was the son of Jacob and Nancy Townsend, born in South Reading in 1829. He was among the first to volunteer, and served three months as sergeant in Company E, Fifth Regiment, and was at Bull Run. He re-enlisted December, 1861, for three years in Company E, Twenty-fourth Regiment, as corporal. He was in Burnside's expedi- tion to North Carolina, and, in the hotly contested battle of Newberne, lost two fingers of his right hand, and was discharged on account of his serious wounds. He re-enlisted in Company C, of the Fifty-ninth Reg- iment, in December, 1863, and was made color ser-

geant, and borc himself with conspicuous courage in the carnage days of 1864, in the battles of the Wilder- ness, Spottsylvania, Nortlı Anna, Cold Harbor, Peters- burg, Weldon Railroad and Fort Steadman. Hc was in for the war and saw the end of the Confederacy before he furled the tattered colors of his devotion that had often been carried in the thickest of the fight, and never yielded to a foe. A friend and townsman sce- ing Townsend with Warren, and the gallant Fifty- ninth marching through Baltimore, as they were hurrying to the front, was moved to heroic versc :

" Our Fifty-ninth, God shield them all, As dauntless to the front they press For conflict in the Wilderness. Who holds their battle flag ? Its stars of gold Are borne by our own Townsend bold. And who is worthier to bear than he, . With shattered hand, the banner of the free ? He followed it when rain of life blood wet Old Roanoke and Newberne's parapet.

Closing the shining rear brave Warren there, On duty's pathway rode serene and fair, Unheeding life, on into war's red zone To fiercer conflicts than he yet had known."

William H. Walker is the name of another soldier- son who has conferred honor on the town by faithful service in camp and on the march, and bright deeds on the field of battle. His first service was as a private in Company E, Fifth Regiment, in which were trained so many martial and patriotic spirits, and he re-enlisted in Company G, Twentieth Regiment. He carried himself bravely on many a hard-fought battle-field from Ball's Bluff to Gettysburg, and was rapidly pro- moted to second lieutenant, first lieutenant ; and company commander, receiving his commission as Captain August 29, 1863. He was severely wounded in the thigh at the battle of Gettysburg, and was dis- charged by reason of his wounds April 26, 1864. Captain Walker was born in South Reading in 1837, son of Levi and Laura Walker, and grandson of Cap- tain Noah Smith.

Space would fail to tell of all the heroic men who went out from this town into the Rebellion and de- served well of their country for gallant service with gun or sword. There were daughters, too, of the old town who went forth as ministering angels and ren- dered priceless and perilous service to the sick, wounded and dying, on bloody field and in fever- smitten hospital.

During the progress of the terrible struggle the soldiers' friends at home were watching and working with anxious sympathy for their sons, brothers and fathers in the field, and various agencies were cm- ployed through which to express their affectionate interest in tangible forms. One of these agencies was the South Reading Union Soldiers' Rclicf Association, organized in 1863 to obtain caslı, clothing, food and medicine, and other necessaries, and distribute the same to the Union soldiers and their families, and es- pecially to such as belonged to South Reading. Many

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articles were contributed and much money raised by subscription, fairs, lectures and social gatherings, aud devoted with blessed results pursuant to the object of the Association, the first officers of which were Charles R. Bliss, president; Samuel Kingman, vice- president ; Edward Mansfield, treasurer, and C. W. Eaton, secretary.

The worthy dead are represented to the eyes of the present generation in the membership of the Grand Army of the Republic, of which a flourishing Post, known as H. M. Warren Post, No. 12, is located in Wakefield, and assists in keeping green the memory of their comrades-in-arms, and in relieving the neces- sities of their families and of disabled survivors. The ladies of the H. M. Warren Relief Corps are efficient auxiliaries in the work of humanity and love. A camp of Sons of Veterans has also been lately organ- ized in the town.

A room in the Town-House has been tastefully and beautifully fitted up for a Memorial Hall, as a tribute of municipal remembrance of the living to the dead. This room is also devoted in part to the practical uscs of a Public Reading-Room. The veterans of Post 12 have projected a tine, large edifice to be located on Albion Street, and to Be known as "Memorial Hall," as a more worthy and enduring monument to departed comrades, the foundation walls for the contemplated structure being already laid.

BURIAL-GROUNDS .- The burial-places of a town are in a certain sense the most interesting and signifi- cant memorials of a vanished race. One of the great- est marvels and disappointments to the zealous ex- plorer who seeks new lessons among the dead things of a by-gone age, is his failure to find in all this region any graves or sepulchral monuments of the red aborigine.

The characters, the habits and condition of the early fathers and mothers of a city or town can to some extent be truthfully inferred from a careful in- spection and study of the inscriptions upon the grave- stones of the pioneers. Wakefield is rich in such mementos and helps to the antiquarian. For many years after the coming of the first settlers, the " Com- mon," so called, extended northerly from its present southerly limits to the "Great Pond," and included all of that territory that lies west of Main Street and northerly of Church Street as far west as the home- stead late of Colonel James Hartshorn, deceased. This tract included what the present generation, with admiring and artistic eyes, perceive to be the inost lovely and picturesque portion of the town, or of many towns; but the forefathers had little leisure for the indulgence of a poetic taste or for admiring the softer beauties of nature. They had to face with grim courage and fortitude stern and practical duties, amid perils and hardships we know not of. They had an eye for the useful, and what seemed to thein of imme- diate necessity or importance, and so, like the first in- habitants of Boston, they buried their dead near the

heart of the town. The earliest grave-yard of ancient Reading was in that portion of Wakefield's new park where formerly stood the old town hall and the brick engine-house of the Lucius Beebe Steamer, No. 1. Here for more than fifty years was the only place of interment for the first and second generations of set- tlers. Many of these first graves, it is presumed, were without slabs or monuments, and as the ground was for a long time unfenced, many of the oldest grave- stones were broken down and destroyed. The land around thegraves was subsequently sold by the Parish, the purchaser being bounded by the graves. In pro- cess of time, therefore, the portion of land devoted to interments was reduced to quite contracted dimen- sions, and much of the soil occupied by the dust of ancestors was disturbed by the plough of the agricul- turist. Upon the erection of a Town-House in 1834, the towu purchased of the First Parish what was left of the old grave-yard, took up the old slabs of slate, many of which were broken and defaced, and placed them in a continuous row on the easterly side of the lot, and in the truthful languageof our local historian, " If the particular dust which they memorialized did not lie beneath them, it is certainly true that the stones did lie above them."

When the new park was purchased by the town in 1871, and the old Town Hall was sold and removed to smooth the way for the systematic grading and im- provement of the new acquisition, these sacred relics of departed worthies were again transplanted, and this time to the "Old Burial Ground," so called, being the second burial-yard of the town, and placed in a row near Powder House Point, with a front as crect and regular as a battalion on parade. When the ruthless hand of progress will next seize these stern- faced monitors of the past, and where it will finally deposit them, can only be sadly conjectured by the shocked and reverent antiquarian.

The inscriptions on these ancient stones have be- come nearly illegibic, yet a kindly solicitude and vigilance have preserved most of them in private archives.

Following are some of them :

" Memento te esse mortalem.

Fugit Hora. Vive memor læthi. Fugit hora.

C. ye 2d.

ITere lyes the body of Capt. Jonathan Poole, who deceased in the 44th year of his age. 1678.

Friends sure would prove too far unkind If out of sight they leave him out of mind.

And now he lyes transform'd to native dust

In earth's cold womb as other mortals must.

It's strange his matchless worth intomb'd should lye, Or that his fame should in oblivion dye."

NOTE .- This stone contains the oldest date and the most artistic and elaborate work of any of the old monuments in this yard representing in relief swords, honr-glass, coffin, spade, pick-axe, cross-bones, etc.

" Memento Mori. Fugit hora.

Here lyeth within this arched place the body of Deacon Thomas Par- ker, who was won of the foundation of the church, who dyed the 12th of August 1683, aged about 74."

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HISTORY OF MIDDLESEX COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

" Momento te esse mortalem.

Fugit hora. Vive momor læthi. Fugit hora. Here lyes the body of John Person Senor. Aged 64 years. Deceased April 17, 1679.

Soon after the crection of the second church edificc in Reading, the settlers began about 1690 to use their second burial-ground, on the territory contiguous to their church, and here for more than one hundred and fifty years was the principal place of sepulture for the inhabitants of the First Parish, and has long been known as the Old Burial-Ground of Wakefield. Here rest the ashes of the greater portion of her former in- habitants, and it consequently possesses a most lively and mournful interest to the descendants of the fathers. Its location is beautiful, on the southerly borders of Lake Quannapowitt, and, though several times enlarged, is now full of graves and tombs. The earliest date upon any stone in the yard is in memory of Lieut. Thomas Bancroft, who died Aug. 19, 1691, aged sixty-nine. The first three ministers of the town were buried away from Reading, probably among their relatives at Watertown and Boston. We tran- scribe some of the more notable of the inscriptions and epitaphs from stones in this yard :

" The Rev. Mr. Jonathan Pierpout, late pastor of the church of Christ iu Redding for the space of twenty years. Agcd 44 years, who departed this life June 2, 1709.

A fruitful Christian pastor, who Did good to all, and lov'd all good to do, A tender husband and a parent kind, A faithful friend which who, oh who, can find. Of rules he preached, the souls of men to save,

A Pierpont, all of this, here Icaves his dust, And waits the resurrection of the jnst."

" Here lies interr'd ye body of ye Rev. Richard Brown, ordained Pas- tor of ye Ist church in Reding, June 25, 1712. His character bespeaks him faithful in in his preaching, impartial in his discipline and exem- plary in his conversation ; a man greatly beloved iu his life and much lamented at his death, which was Oct, 20, 1732. Aged 57 years."

" In this Sepulchre is reposited the mortal part of the Rev. Mr. WII- liam Hobby, A.M., late pastor (the sixth in the order of succession) of the first church in the town of Reading, learned, vigilant and faithful. He was a preacher of the word of God, deservedly commended for his pure evangelical doctrine, replenished with erudition and piety, to- gether with solid judgment and eloquence, being at length worn out with studies and labors and most acute pains of long continuance, calmly resigning to the will of his Almighty Father, and earnestly as- piring after the Heavenly Habitation and Rest, he breathed out his soul into the hands of his Savier June 18, Anne Christi 1765. AEtat 58 years. He left, to profit his bereaved flock, a written monument ef sage advice, in which, though dead, he speaks in solemn strains."

"Sacred to tho memory of Rev. Caleb Prentiss, late pastor of the first church in this town, who passed iuto the world of spirits Feb. 7, 1803, in the 57th year of his age, and 34th of his ministry. Faith, piety and benevolence, with a kindred assemblage of Christian graces and meral virtue adorned his public and private character, eudeared his memory to a bereaved family, a mourning flock, his brethren in office, and all acquainted with his merits.

He tried each art, reprov'd each dull delay, Allur'd to hrigliter worlds and led the way ; Though gone, he is not dead ; no geod man dies, But, like the day-star, only sets to rise."

"Here lies ye body of Majer Jeremiah Sweyen, Esq., who departed. this life Ang. 13, 1710, in ye 69th year of his nge.

The memery of the just is blessed."

" Here rests what was mortal of Lieut. John Poel, who deceased Nov. 22, 1721. Agcd 56.

An humble Christian, nsefnl and sincere,

Much givon to hospitality, lies here.

Rich in alms to the poor, and in distress

The widow's friend, father of the fatherless,

A leviug husband and a parent kind, A neighbor good and a most useful friend.

All this he was, and more but now at rest,

The memory of the righteous man is blest."

" Ilcre lyes ye body ef Mrs. Abigail Bancroft, wife of Mr. Raham Bancroft, who died Mar. 26, 1728. Aged 40.

A prudent, pleasant wife was she, An helpmate like the laboring bee, Kind parent ; virtue's graces tell That she in those did most excel ; Full ripe for licaven, assured of bliss, Long'd to depart to happiness. If men forget to speak her worth, This stone to agcs sets it forth."

" Iu memory of Joseph Walton, son of Lieut. Timothy Walton, who was drowned in Lyun, Sept. 17, 1792, in his 23rd year.

Death, thou liast conquered me, I, by thy dart am slain, But Christ has conquered thee, I shall rise again."

" In memory of Sophia Prentiss, danghter of the late Rev. Caleb & Mrs. Pamela Prentiss, who died Oct. 12, 1807, Aet. 25.

"Taste, Fancy, Virtue, Piety combined, Enlarg'd, improv'd her heaven-born mind. To pale disease she gave her carly breath, Bnt courted more than fear'd the approach of death."

In 1846 the necessity for a new place of sepulture became urgent, to accommodate the increasing popu- lation. Public-spirited citizens of the town united to form a corporation called "the Proprietors of Lake- side Cemetery," and having purchased an extensive tract of land on the westerly shores of Lake Quanna- powitt, proceeded to lay out the same with avenues, paths, lots and bowers, from well-considered designs. The original lots, about four hundred in number, were offered for sale October 15, 1846, and on the same day the grounds were consecrated, with public exercises at the cemetery, including an address by the Rev. Caleb Stetson, then of Medford, with hymns, prayers and remarks by the resident clergy and leading citizens. Following may be taken as a taste of the original hymns composed for and sung on the occasion.

" And here as oft in coming years Our children's children tread, Glad thoughts will rise to quell their fears, Among the silent dcad. Oh ! hallewed spot ! A cherished grave, Beneath the flowery sod ! The form shall rest by sparkling wave The spirit with its God."

" When all life's cares with us are gone, And we have reached our journey's bourne With woes distressed, with age oppressed, Aud longing for a pluce of rest, llow sweet 'twill be to find a home, Where we can lay the weary frame, 'Mid fragrant flowers and vine-wrought bowers, On this dear Inke Side sent of ours."

The original enclosure has been greatly enlarged by purchases of adjoining lands, and the hand of taste has transformed an unfertile plain, by the ad- dition of graceful trecs, blossoming shrubbery and

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pleasaut arbors, along well-kept paths aud ave- nues, into one of the most romantic and beautiful cemeteries in the country. Added to these features, a multitude of marble shriues and costly monuments make the scene wonderfully and mournfully impres- sive to the appreciative visitor. Ou the annual re- currence of Decoration Day, the H. M. Warren Post, No. 12, G. A. R., with solemn straius of martial music, escorted by the Richardson Light Guard, and attended by a reverent throng of sympathizing spec- tators, fill this sacred euclosure, and lay fragrant tributes upon the graves of fallen heroes, and around the Soldiers' Lot, guarded by cannon, hold impressive memorial rites.

The Israelites of Boston have also sought the shores of this same lovely lake by which to locate a burial- ground, which is very near Lakeside Cemetery, though a much smaller enclosure. It is known as the Jewish Cemetery, and is attractive for its beauty of situation and the numerous splendid monuments and other costly memorials of the dead therein contained.

RAILROAD FACILITIES .- The first regular public conveyance between this town and Boston was estab- lished in 1817 in the shape of a lumbering stage, and such means of passenger transportation continued until steam-cars began to run about 1846. The ex- tension of the Boston and Maine Railroad from Wil- mington to Boston throngh South Reading, was opened 1845, and gave a fresh impulse to the growth and ex- pansion of the town. As an inducement to lay out the railroad it was predicted by an enthusiastic promoter that South Reading would furnish thirty daily passen- gers to Boston by rail. This utopiau prediction was more than realized, and now there are at least 1500 daily passengers on numerous trains between Wakefield and Boston. At a later date the Danvers Railroad was constructed through the town, effecting here a junction with the Boston and Maine Trunk Line. This road connected with the Newburyport Railroad, running from Danvers to Newburyport, both of which have long been leased and operated by the Boston and Maine Railroad. The South Reading Branch Railroad, to Salem, was also opened, and thus the advantages of three railroad lines running through the domain of Wakefield afford ample and unusual facilities for transportation and communication, with easy and di- rect access to the great centres of Boston, Salem, Newburyport, Lawrence, Haverhill and Lowell. There are six depots within the town, and about forty trains running daily to and from Boston.

A street railroad to Stoneham is soon to be con- structed by a company already incorporated, and it is contemplated that electric cars will ruu ere long over a circuit road connecting the towns of Wakefield, Reading and Stoneham, and the tracks be extended through Greenwood to Melrose.

STREETS .- One hundred streets in Wakefield, cov- ering about fifty miles in length, afford ample facili- ties for people to get out of town and return, and for

iuter-communication. About $10,000 are annually appropriated by the town for new and old highways, which are illumined at night by gas-lights and oil- lamps, and wisely cared for under modern systems and appliances. With such a pleasing variety of scenery in the region, of hill aud vale, grove and lake, these ways of Wakefield furnish opportunities for delightful walks and drives, which inhabitants and visitors are not slow to improve.

PUBLIC AND PRIVATE BUILDINGS .- The most im- portant public buildings of Wakefield are the town hall, churches, school-houses and depots. The town hall, with the lot of land on which it stands, was the munificent gift to the town of the late Cyrus Wake- field, and is an imposing and elegant structure of brick, metropolitan in style and finish. It was for- mally presented to the town and dedicated with fit- ting ceremonies on the 22d of February, 1871. On the lower floor are apartments for the various town officers, the Public Library, Memorial Hall, and Pub- lic Reading-Room. On the second floor is the spa- cious auditorium, with its 1200 sittings and conveni- ent ante-rooms. The third floor, with its large accommodations, is waiting, as it were, in abeyance, for future uses.

The Baptist Church, beautiful and stately, already alluded to, and the new Congregational Church whose walls of granite, massive and symmetrical, are even now rising toward the sky, may be mentioned as con- spicuous and significant adornments of the central landscape. The St. Joseph's Church, the Universal- ist Church, the Methodist Church and the modest Episcopal Chapel are also worthy and haudsome specimens of church architecture.

Among the institutions of learning in Wakefield the High School crowns them all with its carefully chosen curriculum and fine equipment, and has a fit- ting home in the elegant temple of education fronting the old park, at the corner of Common and Lafayette Streets. In this edifice there is a blending at seve- ral points of various styles of architecture, the por- ticoes and their ornamentation being beautiful speci- mens of the Ionic order, while there are delightful croppings out here and there of the Gothic and other ancient divisions, with expressions of the modernized lines. Its construction is of wood, in burrowed sheathing, with granite base. It is a splendid speci- men of exterior architecture, and its interior finish and appointments are in fitting correspondeuce, and well adapted to its uses, there being a commodious school-room and other apartments on each of its three floors. The High School building was erected in 1872, at an expense of about $75,000, and was dedi- cated with appropriate ceremonies Oct. 10, 1872.

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History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. II, Part 173

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