History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. II, Part 61

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 61

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He represented the town at the General Court and held other important offices. He was town treasurer at the time of his death, which oceurred in 1719. His house stood near wherc Charles Sweetser now lives, upon South Street. Ebenezer Wright, the other school-master, lived in the neighborhood of what is now Middlesex Village in Lowell. There were three brothers, John, Joseph and Ebenezer, living in that section in 1692.

School-dame Snow lived ncar the present Westford depot on the Stony Brook Railroad. The neighbor- hood was known as the " Stony Brook houses." Mrs. Corey lived in the south part of the town near Great Brook, now in Carlisle.

The grammar school was found to be a heavy bur- den of expense. For several years it was not sus- tained, and the town was again brought to task by the Court, and a petition was sent in " as to an easment of our gramer Scoole."

At " A Generall Toune Meting March the 7th, 1709- 10, voted that the sclectmen shall agree With a man to teach children and youth to Wright and sifer and

kep scool in Chelmsford," and in 1711 " thic Selectmen are appointed By the uote of the towne to provide a Scoolmaster as the Law Derects." The following year five pounds were paid to "m" Clicney for being our Seoolmaster."

From this time forward the town was not without a school for some part of each year. The grammar school, however, had not yet become firmly estab- lished. The town was ealled upon to answer for want of one in 1714, 1716, 1721 and again in 1726.

At a " Town Meeting May the : 12th, 1718, voted to Petition the genorall court that the fishing place at Pattuctt may be granted to Chelmsford for the benifit of seporting a scoole in Chelmsford the fishing-place one the south side mneremack."

Before the waters of the Merrimack were diverted from their native channel, to furnish motive-power for manufacturing, the fishing industry was a inost important one. Allen, writing in 1820, says : "The quantity of salmon, shad and alewives caught in Chelmsford annually may be computed at about twenty-five hundred barrels, besides a large quantity of other fish of less value." The river derives its name from the Indian name of the sturgeon.

As the settlements extended each year farther from the centre of the town the question of the loea- tion of the schools assumed more importanee and sometimes oeeasioned lively eontests. An article an- nually appeared in the warrant for the March meet- ing similar to the following :

"To agree and vote in what part or parts of the said town the Grammar school or other schools shall be kept the year ensuing, and to act in that affair as shall be thought proper." Upon this question, in 1716, the town "voated that the scule master shall keep scule in the fore quarters of the town one month at a time in one place.

" Voated that the selectmen shall determine wheir the fore quarters of the town are."

This duty must have taxed the wisdom of the fathers of the town.

Mr. Nathaniel Prentice, of Cambridge, was the schoolmaster for the years 1718, 1719, 1720. He graduated from Harvard College in 1714. He was afterwards the second minister of the church of Dun- stable, where he labored until his death, in 1737.

The following is the language of the contract be- tween Mr. Prentice and the town :

" CHELMSFORD, September 224, 1719.

" The select men have agreed with mr. Nathaniel Prentice, of Cam- bride, to keep scoole in Chelmsford from the firs of october next ensu- ing the Date untill the firs Day of Aprill, 1720, the above sd Nathaniel Prentice does obleige himself to keep Scoole six hours every Day in sd term exept it be Saturday, Dayes which he is alowed for himself, For which sd prentice is to have eigteen pounds."

The school, as we have seen, rotated between tlie four quarters of the town-one month at the eentre of the town, the next, perhaps, in the Stony Brook neighborhood, five miles distant, the third at the south end. This school was usually ncar where the

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No. 3 School-house was afterwards built, ou the road leading from South Chelmsford to Carlisle, past the house of Mr. Quimby. The last month was at the north eud. This included, iu addition to the present No. 2 District, all that part of the town to the north and northeast, including what is now Lowell.

The first school-house was built in 1718. It cost £21 10g., which was paid by the following con- tributors :

"mr Stoddard, Moses Barron, Josiah Fletcher, Deacon Waring, Eben Foster, Edward Spaulding, William Fletcher, John Bates, Stephen Peirce, Moses Parker, John Daues, Nathall Butterfield, Sam" Barron, Benoni Perham, Eben Parker, John Burge, Benj. Parker, Richard Stratton, Joseph Foster, Benjamin Adams, Edward Foster."

The land for this building was granted by the town to William Fletcher for this purpose, and by him conveyed to the subscribers. It appears by the description that this school-house stood upon land now occupied by the horse-sheds belonging to the First Congregational Society.

" CHELMSFORD, octobr the 27th, 1718.

" Laid ont To Willam Fletcher, one m' Moses Fisk's Right three Rod and half of Land at the inost Easterly Cornar of the buring Place iu chelmsford afore sd the same being more or Less to the use of the suh- scribers to the bulding of a Shoole house up on sd Land being buted and bounded as foloweth Eastwardly np on a stake and heape of stons southi- erle by the baring Place Wall to a stake and heape of stons which is the most sontterle Cornar on the westerle Cornar to a stake and heape of stous, the Northerle Cornar to a stake and heape of stons Aud to the bounds first mentioned.

" EPHRIAM HELDRETH, " JOHN WRIGHT,

" JONATHAN BOWARS,

Comite."

" November the 28th : 1718.

"These Presents Declars that I, Willam Fletcher, a boue sd do give the three Rods and a half a boue Laid oute at the Northerie Cornar of the Boring Place on Which the Schoole.honse stands to thein that bult it to them there heirs and asignes for Euer and to that use for euer as " Witness my hand and seale in Presence of

" ROBERT RICHARDSON. SAMUEL HOWARD. "WILLIAM FLETCHER [his seal]."

The second school-house must have been erected soon after, for in 1720 a road was laid out from the " North School-house" leading over the home meadow and Carolina Plains. The building stood a few rods east of J. R. Parkhurst's green-houses, at the point where the road intersects with the old Mid- dlesex turnpike. It is probable that this school house was also paid for by subscription, as there is no evi- dence that the town raised money for such purposes prior to 1794.

Joseph Whipple succeeded Mr. Prentice as teacher. He continued from 1721 to 1724.

Mr. Whipple's work did not meet with unanimous approval. But he was sustained by a majority of the citizens in the following vote in 1724 : " voted that the Petition of Moses Parker and nine others, freeholders who Petitioned that the School-master be Dismissed and a committee chose to provide another in his Room, be dismissed." Mr. Thomas Frink, of Sudbury, followed Whipple and taught three years, when the town paid John Spaulding-" to wait upon Mr. Frink home."

Josiah Richardson, Isaac Richardson, Joseph Lov- ett and Jonathan Miles each taught for one or two years.

Samson Stoddard, a son of the minister, taught for five years, ending in 1734. He was a graduate of Harvard, a gentleman of culture and strong char- acter. His relation to public affairs is treated in another place.

Oliver Fietcher, of this town, taught six years, beginning in 1750. He was a graduate of Harvard, class of 1735. He was a person of high character, and received many honors at the hands of his fellow-townsmen. He was town clerk for a number of years, and the records that he has left are elegantly written. Bridge refers to his death, which occurred in 1771, as a " great loss." Allen says of him, "His piety and integrity gave him great ascendancy over his fellow-townsmen, and secured their esteem and confidence."

The action of the town in locating the grammar school sometimes occasioned great dissatisfaction to the people in the more remote sections. In one case, 1724, when the town voted to " settle" the school at the centre of the town, two citizens, Joseph Under- wood and Ebenezer Wright, entered their formal pro- test. Underwood lived at what is now the centre of Westford, and Wright lived where Edwin Heyward now resides, near Chamberlin's corner. The next year the wishes of the dissenters were respected, and the west end was given four months school.

For several seasons after Westford was set off the grammar school was continued throughout the year at the centre of the town. At other times the vote would be to keep "one-half in the north end and one- half in the south end," and again it would be decided to " circulate." None of the plans met with suffi- cient favor to become permanent until 1757. That year the time was divided between the north end, the centre and the south end. This method was annually adopted, with but one or two exceptions, until the formation of the school districts in 1792.

The north end embraced what is now District No. 2, and North Chelmsford (then called Newfield) and the neck (now Lowell). The school-house for this wide section was less than two miles from the centre of the town, but the school was sometimes kept at a dwelling-house at the neck, "where the neighbor- hood should appoint."

The school-house at the south end was built about 1753. It was upon the road leading from South Chelmsford to Carlisle, past the house of Mr. Quimby. The old school-house now forms a portion of a dwell- ing, upon the same spot.

Schools of a primary grade, for " reeding, Righting and Cyphering," were provided at the same time for the different sections and held in dwelling-houses.

In 1781, in addition to the grammar school, the town voted "Nine months Righting-school, three mos in Neck, so-called, extending from Mr.

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HISTORY OF MIDDLESEX COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

Timothy Clark's to the mouth of Concord and to Mr. Simeon Moreses and to Mr. Picrieces So by Mr. Philip Parkers.

" Voted one month schooling at Newfield, one month at Mr. David Spaulding's, one month in Concord River Neck, so-called, and five weeks on the mill road, so-called, and cight weeks at, or near, Mr. John Adams."

This record is valuable, as it defines the limits of the neck district, and furnishes a basis for estimat- ing the population of Lowell one hundred years ago.

Timothy Clark lived in Middlesex, near the head of Baldwin Street.

Simeon Mores' house stood upon what is now Moore Street. Joseph Pierce lived near the present City Farm buildings, and Philip Parker upon West Pine Street, near the Highland School. This district then embraced all of what is now Lowell, excepting what lies beyond the Concord and Merrimack Rivers.

The children were provided with three months' school in the little red school-house, which stood upon what is now School Street, near the cemetery. The first mention, in the records, of a school-house in this section was in 1767.

Soon after the adoption of the Federal Constitu- tion, in 1789, the school district system began to de- velop. Up to this time the management of the schools had been in the hands of the selectmen. In 1792 this authority was, for the first time, transferred to a School Committee, as it has since continued. The change was not made without a struggle. But after several adjournments and attempts at reconsid- erations, the following vote was recorded : "that a select committee be chosen to provide the grammar school-masters and all other school-masters, and that said committee proportion, inspect and regulate said schools."

The committee chosen consisted of nine persons, one from each district or " squadron." In 1794 it was "voted to raise £250, for the purpose of building school-houses, each squadron to draw their .own money for building their school-house, location de- cided by vote of members of squadrons."

In the year 1800 the town supported twelve schools, at an expense of six hundred dollars. They were lo- cated as follows :

At the middle of the town, now District 1.

At the North School-house, now District 2.

Near Ebenezer Parker's, now District 3, South Chelmsford.

At Mill Row, now District 4.

At Squadron by Capt. Benj. Fletcher's, now District 5.

At Concord River Neck, now District 6, East Chelmsford.

At school-house by Simon Stevens', now District 7. At Newfield, now District 8, North Chelmsford. At Grate Neck, now Lowell.

At school-house by Joseph Adams' and At school-house by Benjamin Chamberlain's.

One of these last was undoubtedly in Carlisle, where the school-house now stands, north of Great Brook, and the other was in Lowell. This portion of the town had now begun to develop. The little red school- house was outgrown, and three others took its place,- one at the corner of Parker and Powell Streets, an- other on Pawtucket Strcet where the City Hospital stands, and the third at Middlescx.

In these district schools men teachers were usually employed for the winter terms and women for the summer. The grammar school now disappears, and its loss must have gone far towards offsetting the ad- vantages of the new system.

In 1801 a new school-house was built in the "Mill Row " District (now No. 4), costing $310, and the fol- lowing year a new brick school-house took the place of the original structure at District No. 1, at a cost of $500. This building is now used by the town for a hearse-house.

The district schools had some famous teachers, among whom was Willard Parker, afterwards the em- inent physician of New York. He taught in the old brick school-house in the winters of 1821, '22 and '23.1 Dr. Parker was a descendant of one of the five brothers who came from Woburn and settled in Chelmsford in 1653. He graduated from Harvard College in 1826, studied medicine under the direction of Dr. John C. Warren, Professor of Surgery in Har- vard University, and took his degree of M.D. in 1830. He was at once appointed Professor of Anatomy at the Medical School at Woodstock, Vt., and the same year, the same position at the Berkshire Medical In- stitution. His appointment to the chair of surgery at the same college soon followed. In 1836 he filled the chair of surgery at the Cincinnati Medical Col- lege. Hesoon after visited Europe and spent consid- erable time in the hospitals of London and Paris. Upon his return he was appointed to the chair of sur- gery in the College of Physicians in New York City, a position which he held for thirty years. He was one of the founders of the Academy of Medicine and at one time its president.

In 1870 the degree of LL.D. was conferred upon him by a college in New Jersey. Dr. Parker was a son of Jonathan Parker, who removed to New Hamp- shire when a young man. He returned to Chelms- ford when Willard was five years old and settled upon the hill where Rilcy Davis now lives on South Street. Jonathan was "Jock" in those days, and he was called " Hill Jock " to distinguish him from another Jonathan Parker, his next neighbor, who was called " Trooper Jock."

Dr. Parker always retained his interest in Chelms- ford. He kept the old homestead until near the close of his life, when the carc of it became too perplexing.

1 Letter of Dr. Parker written in 1877 to HI. S. Perham.

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CHELMSFORD.

The feelings with which he regarded it are shown in a letter written in 1879 : "I love it as my old home, and where my parents lived, worked hard and died." His death occurred in New York City in April, 1884.

CHELMSFORD CLASSICAL SCHOOL .- The desire of the people for better educational advantages, for those wishing to pursue the more advanced studies, led to the establishment of the Chelmsford Classical School in 1825. The building, which has since been converted into a parsonage for the Central Baptist Society, was erected for that purpose. The funds for the support of the school were furnished by individual enterprise.

The management was entrusted to the following Board of Trustees :

Abel Hunt, Rev. Wilkes Allen, Rev. Abiel Abbott, Samuel Bachelder, Esq., Oliver M. Whipple, Jonathan Perham, Esq., J. S. C. Knowlton, Esq., Capt. Josiah Fletcher, Sen., Dr. J. C. Daiton, Owen Emerson, Jr., Cranmore Wallace, Captain William Fletcher, Dr. J. O. Green, Dr. Rufus Wyman, Otis Adams, Joel Adams, Esq., Joseph Warren, Captain John (?) But- terfield.

The trustees with rare good fortune secured the services of Ralph Waldo Emerson, of Concord, as teacher.

Although the Chelmsford Classical School had a brief existence the town has occasion to feel proud of its results. Probably at no other period has so many young men gone out from the schools of Chelmsford to gain distinction abroad and confer honor upon their native town.

The following distinguished men were among the pupils of Ralph Waldo Emerson, or the teachers who immediately followed him : Judge Josiah G. Abbott, of Boston ; Hon. Fletcher Abbott, Esq., who died at Toledo, Ohio; Morrill Wyman, A.M., M.D., LL.D., who is still in the practice of his profession at Cam- bridge, Massachusetts ; Professor Jeffries Wyman, M.D .; the late Benjamin P. Hunt, of Philadelphia, and the late Professor John Dalton, M.D., of New York, who gained a national reputation in his profession.

J. G. Abbott entered Harvard College at the age of thirteen. After completing his studies there hechose the profession of the law, in which he rapidly rose to distinction. He has also occupied many high posi- tions of political honor, among them that of member of the United States Congress. A more extended notice of him is given in the chapter upon the Mid- dlesex Bar. Benjamin P. Hunt, born May 18, 1808, entered Harvard College in 1828. From there he went to Philadelphia and engaged in teaching a clas- sical and scientific school. He sailed for Kingston, Jamaica, March 6, 1840, in the capacity of supercargo. He wrote an account of his voyage which was pub- lished in The Dial in 1843. Emerson said of it: " It seems to me the best of all sea voyages. Besides its rhetorical value, it has another quite additional,

inasmuch as it realizes so fully for me the promise of the large, wise boy who made my school-days in Chelmsford so glad by his lively interest iu books and his native delight iu ethical thought, and life looks more solid and rich to me when I see these many years keep their faith." Hawthorne pays the follow- ing high tribute to the literary excellence of the arti- cle-" a solid example of facts which had not lost their vigor by passing through the mind of a thinker."

In 1842 Mr. Hunt went to Hayti and became the head of a wealthy mercantile house.

Although actively engaged in business his scholarly mind was at work in other directious. He made a study of the West Indian negro character, and he got together a unique collection of books relating to those islands. It is said that his collection of works relat- ing to the Antilles is the most complete in the coun- try, if not iu the world.

In 1858 he retired from business and settled in Philadelphia. Here he became actively engaged in charitable and philanthropical movements, especially those for the benefit of the freedmen.

Through his efforts the orphans of the negro sol- diers were collected and provided for in a home upon the banks of the Delaware. In June, 1869, Mr. Hunt was requested by President Grant, through Secretary Fish, to " join a party of gentlemen going to the West Indies for the purpose of obtaining information con- cerning several interesting localities in those islands, but more especially Saint Domingo." He was deeply interested in the project of annexation, but sickness prevented his taking part with the commission.

Jeffries Wyman was Professor of Anatomy at Har- vard College at the time of the famous murder of Dr. Parkman by Professor Webster, and the trial largely turned upon the scientific investigations of Professor Wyman. His death occurred September 4, 1874.

The need of better educational advantages than were offered by the public schools led to a movement in 1859 for the establishment of a school of a higher grade. The use of the building erected for the Chelmsford Classical School, thirty-four years before, was obtained, and on Aug. 29, 1859, the " Chelmsford Academy " was opened. Albert Stickney, A.B., a graduate of Harvard University, was the principal. The trustees were: Levi Howard, M.D., William Fletcher, Dea. David Perham, Charles H. Dalton, Edward F. Richardson, Solomon E. Byam and Edwin H. Warren.

Mr. Stickney was succeeded by Edward E. Spald- ing, now of Passadena, Cal. Mr. Spalding was a native of the town, and had had a long and success- ful experience as an instructor.

But in the mean time the War of the Rebellion came on. Some of the pupils joined the ranks of the army. The trustees were unable to secure the sup- port necessary for its maintenance, and in 1862 the school was closed,

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HISTORY OF MIDDLESEX COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

CHAPTER XVIII.

CHELMSFORD-(Continued).

MANUFACTURES.

THE first saw-mill, established in 1656, has already been mentioned. In 1669 the town granted a large tract of land to Thomas Henchman, William Flet- cher and Josiah Richardson to encourage the erection of another saw-mill in the northwest part of the town. The contract stipulated that the inhabitants of the town "shall have their boards at four shillings per hundred, and not exceeding that price, for any kind of pay that the inhabitants can make at price current between man and man, in this town ; and that any of the inhabitants of said town, by giving timely notice to any of the owners, shall be supplied for their pay before others. And it is further agreed that the aforesaid owners of the mill shall have full liberty to take from the town common what timber they see ineet to work in the mill."

The location of this mill was at what is now called Westford Corner, upon Saw-mill Meadow Brook, which flows from Nabnasset Pond and empties into the Stony Brook at that point. A mill was continued here until within the memory of persons now living.

There is some evidence of there having been a mill at an early day upon Stony Brook below the file-shop at West Chelmsford. An excavation like a wheel-pit is still pointed out, and marks of an old cart-path leading in the direction of the Crooked Springs Road. The late Dea. Isaiah Spaulding (born 1792) re- lated the tradition that a corn-mill stood there.

In 1678 a saw-mnill was built upon Beaver Brook, at the centre of the town, by Abraham Parker and his sons; Moses and John. It is probable that a grist- mill was soon added, as a deed given by Abraham to John, in 1679, mentions "ye upper & low" Dam." The old wheel-pit of the mill at the upper dam is still to be seen beside the railroad track, a few rods above the machine-shop. The entrance to this inill was from the "lane," at the point where Alfred Day now resides. The mill was removed to the lower dam within the memory of the older residents. Dutton Brothers (Lewis M. and Edwin E.) are the present proprietors.

In 1673 (Feb. 3d) the following action was taken by the town: "the day above, by a major voatt was granted to farther the Iron-works that thy shall have for 2d. a cord leave to cutt wood acording to former agreement." I find no further record in regard to iron-work at so early a date. It probably refers to works near the outlet of Forge Pond, then in Groton.

The people in the east part of the town were ac- commodated by a grist-mill upon the Concord River at what is now North Billerica. The following vote

refers to the mill at that place: "7 of March, 1721-2. Voted that the Selcetmen in the name of the Town Petition to the Hond General Court that Mr. Christo- pher Osgood's mill Dam may be speedily erected again." Osgood's grant from the town of Billerica was in 1708.

THE THIRD GRIST-MILL .- In 1695 Daniel Waldo had leave "to set up a grist-mill at the mouth of stony brook below the way that leads to Dunstable between Merrimack river and the bridge." He was obliged to contract "to grind the corn and malt of the inhabit- ants of Chelmsford, except on the forth day of each week, which was appropriated to the use of Dunsta- ble. He was to grind the town's corn and malt for half toll, except a small quantity as a bushel, or the like, and according to turn, as much as may be." 1 The original mill was situated on the northerly side of Stony Brook.

In 1709 the mill was owned by one John Richard- son, as at a town-meeting held May 25, 1709, "It was voted that John Richardson shall have the Liberty of Drawing of the pond called New- field pond to suply his mill with Water; and shall have the benefit of sd pond to thet high-water mark."2 Acting under this authority, he dug through a narrow bank which sepa- rated the pond from the Stony Brook Valley. The water, let into a sandy channel which they had dug for it, soon cut a passage for itself, carrying in its current a negro, who happened to be the only person in the ditch at the time, until a pond, covering ninety acres, was in a very short time emptied, leaving only about one acre covered with water. The body of the negro was never found.

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History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. II, Part 61

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