History of Norfolk County, Massachusetts, with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 37

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton) ed
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: Philadelphia, J. W. Lewis & Co.
Number of Pages: 1534

USA > Massachusetts > Norfolk County > History of Norfolk County, Massachusetts, with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men > Part 37

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with blocks of hard wood big enough to hold fire through the following services, and keep the circle of old men who sat around it in a sleepy warmth while the unfortunate sitters in the outer corners shivered with cold. To it at noon came the mothers, bringing their small tin hand-stoves, with perforated sides and an iron box within to hold live coals, for a fresh supply to keep their feet warm through the afternoon service. The long balustrades hemming the side galleries were crowned with hats against the two stairways, which a puff of wind from the open porch-doors sometimes sent scattering down upon the uncovered heads below. The singers' seats filled the

louder than a wooden pitch-pipe for years dared to utter a note. But about 1825 a singing-school timidly prepared the way for a violin, which soon introduced a bass-viol for the support of itself and west elbow of the gallery, each boy with one eye on the tithing-man sitting high up in the northwest cor- ner pew and the other eye wandering or asleep, while both ears were enviously open to the neighing of the horses in the hundred horse-sheds and the twitter of birds in the Lombardy poplars near by."

Not only was the irrepressible boy from the first looked after by the tithing-man, chosen " to take care of ye children, to prevent their playing in meeting," but in May, 1791, another duty was laid upon these same officers. " May, 1791, on complaint that divers persons have from time to time behaved in a very unbe- coming manner by standing in the porches of the meet- ing. house of this town on the Lord's Day, and other- wise conducting in a manner not only inconsistent with the purpose for which they professedly assemble, but highly unbecoming a person of good breeding or the character of a gentleman : Voted, that such conduct ought to be highly reprobated and discountenanced by every sober man, and they will hold them as scan- dalous and infamous persons; and the tithing-men are to take their names and publicly expose them next town-meeting, and post up this vote and the names of all future offenders." Absentees had to congregation were all safely in their pews, and under the vigilance of such sentinels, the minister could not always control their attention. It is said that on one July Sunday in 1790, when the audience were unusually torpid and sleepy, Dr. Emmons closed his manuscript, took down his three-cornered hat, came down from the pulpit, and went quietly home, leaving his comatose congregation to finish their naps or dis- miss themselves without a benediction. After giving

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them a fortnight to consider their ways and be For many years after the war for liberty the chief | business of its town-meetings was discussions of town wise, he explained the reasons of this conduct, and his penitent church voted : "1. It is reasonable the | boundaries and laying out of roads. On March 23, pastor should insist upon having the proper attention 1795, the selectmen were directed to erect the first guide-posts. of the people in time of public worship. 2. It is reasonable the church shall desire and endeavor that proper attention be given in the time of public wor- ship, and discountenance all inattention."

Military Affairs .- The military spirit, first called forth by the stern service of the Revolutionary war, did not die out with the close of the eighteenth cen- As a result of the alterations and modernizings of 1840, the top of the old sounding-board lighted upon a well-house in Ashland ; the old pulpit ended a long journey in the lecture-room of the Chicago Theologi- cal Seminary. At the same time, also, the long rows of horse-sheds were demolished, save a very few moved to the rear of the new site. The noon-houses had disappeared some years before 1840. They had been built for a resort in the intermissions on cold Sundays. They were four-square, with a seat on each side and a narrow floor in front of it. A large stone hearth filled the centre, on which a fire was built in a pile within reach of the cold feet aimed at it from the four sides, while the smoke found its way, when ready, through a wigwam-like hole in the roof. tury, but was revived at least on two days of the year, -of the May training of the two military companies, the North and the South so called, and of the fall muster of the regiment to which they belonged. The May trainings were the times for a public comparison of these two companies, when they both manœuvred at opposite ends of the Common, marched around Davis Thayer's store and Dr. Emmons' house, and halted in front of Joseph Hill's store under the poplars, and when the voices of the captains, and the fifes and drums were heard through the town. A troop of cavalry was enrolled, mostly within the town, and the horses, fresh from the plow and harrow, pranced and danced at the unwonted music of the bugle among the sweet ferns at the south end of the Common. Home Life .- In these early colonial towns the meeting-house was as literally their social as their geographical centre. The families settled on their farms in concentric circles to the outer limits of the territory, and, being busy all the week at home, the Sunday noon intermissions spent in the horse-sheds and noon-houses were their only opportunities for in- terchange of family greetings and friendly gossip. The rude connecting roads were too long, rugged, and lonely to be traveled for evening gatherings, and the young folks had to supplement their Sunday talks by the few weeks of the winter school. The town industries were home industries among the stumps and rocks of the slowly civilizing acres and at looms But greater was the excitement, especially among the boys, when the Franklin Artillery appeared in all its brazen majesty on the same Common where its gun- house, cannon, tumbrels, and harnesses were kept. The dark-blue uniforms, the Bonaparte chapeaux with their long, black, red-tipped plumes, the flashing long swords, the slow march to the dirge-like " Roslyn Castle," as the lumbering brass four-pounders were dragged over the tufts of grass and bushes by drag- ropes, angling outwards like wild geese lines reversed, were always followed by a crowd. But the climax of military excitement was reached when, about 1825, the Franklin Cadets made their first public appear- ance. Their white pantaloons, blue coats, abundantly in the attics. A corn-mill and a saw-mill were their | buttoned and silver-laced, black shining leather caps only external necessities. These they had to build as crowned with black-tipped, white perpendicular plumes, and above all their new glinting muskets, made each boy wish himself a man and a cadet. Many of the after prominent citizens of the town were proud to be called captain of such an admirably- drilled corps. The Franklin Cadets, the Wrentham Guards, and the Bellingham Rifles were the flower of the old Norfolk County regiment. soon as possible,-the meeting-house first, and then the corn-mill. Then both soul and body could be equipped for other work. Most of their daily food was raised at home, and they clothed themselves in homespun cloth made from the flax of their fields and the fleece of their flocks, whose bodies they ate. A rare visit to Boston secured what their farms could not supply. The country grocery was an invention of a later age | and a larger liberty.

The population of the town increased slowly, from less than one thousand at its incorporation in 1778 to seventeen hundred and seventeen in 1840. The first sixty-two years of its town life showed less than six per cent. increase.

The fall musters, however, condensed the highest interest. They came after the sowing and reaping of the year were done, and all were glad for a holiday. The following description of an old-time regimental muster from a frequent participant will be enter- taining:

" The day before muster a detailed squad of men

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HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

through the poplars, till a cloud of villainous salt- petre enwrapped in suffocating folds soldiers, specta- tors, booths, and landscape, and until cartridge-boxes were emptied and military furore was satiated. The hubbub subsided about five o'clock into an occasional pop from tardy muskets, and the wounded-by pocket- pistols-were picked up in the booths and along the poplars, and the crowd took their winding-to some very winding-way to their supperless homes."

marked out, by a long rope and with the heads of old axes, a straight and shallow furrow as a toe-line for the regiment, which they generally adhered to until afternoon. A boundary was also roped along the eastern side, next the road, which marked the limit for spectators. On this side were built rough booths for the sale of eatables and drinkables and gewgaws to the crowd of the coming day. With the earliest daylight came noisily-driven teams into town, bring- ing soldiers and civilians, lads and lassies from far and The Poor .- It was not until 1799 that public pro- vision had to be made for their poor by this thrifty town. Then there were but five persons. They were at first boarded by the lowest bidder, who must be approved by the selectmen, and was held strictly to take good and generous care of them, furnishing everything needed except clothes and medical care. These were separately supplied by the town. If he failed in any respect, he was to remove his charge elsewhere at his own expense. In 1835 the dwell- ing-house and farm of Alpheus Adams were bought for an almshouse at a cost of three thousand dollars. In 1868 the house was burned, but another was speedily built a few rods farther east. At no time since 1835 has the number of its inmates exceeded twelve. The appropriation for 1883 was four thou- sand dollars. near. Tents and marquees were hastily pitched around the meeting-house and along the west side of | the Common. Luncheon-boxes and extra garments were stowed in these, guards were set, and at six o'clock the long roll from a score or less of kettle- drums called the companies together. Drills, evolu- tions, and marchings displayed the skill of the cap- tains and astonished the fast-gathering crowds until nine o'clock, when, at the vociferous shouting of the adjutant, the musical squads headed their companies up to the toe-line. The musicians were then gath- ered at the head of the regiment, near the gun-house, to receive the colonel and his staff whenever they should emerge from the tavern near at hand. On their appearance and reception, the wings wheeled into an inclosing square with the officers in the cen- tre, while the chaplain, on horseback, prayed for the Burial-Grounds .- Land was set apart at the be- ginning of the settlement for the burial of the dead. One " God's acre" was at Stop River, now the City Mills Cemetery ; the other at the Centre. Both of these are still used for the same purpose. They were country and the protection of life and limb. On straightening out again, then came the march of the single fife and drum down and back the length of the line, the official inspection, the regimental manœuvre- ings, and the dodging of the line of guards by the | open and uncared for until 1768, when they were spectators.

fenced by stone walls. In 1793 committees were chosen to repair the fences, choose sextons, and fix the | fees for burial. These cemeteries have been enlarged from time to time as needful, and the dead of to-day are laid near where the forefathers of the hamlet sleep.

" At one o'clock came dinner, in tent, booth, on the grass, anywhere, hilariously moistened,-possibly with venerable cider at least,-until at three o'clock a big gun and a solemn cavalcade of colonel and staff with chaplain and surgeon called the scattered bands into In 1864, November 8th, a third burial-ground was bought and approved by the town. This is called the Catholic Cemetery, and lies some one hundred and fifty rods west of their churah. line for the grand finale-the sham-fight. Some- times the infantry tried to capture the guns of the artillery ; sometimes, divided into two equal battal- ions, they furiously bombarded each other; some- The Post-Office .- Franklin had no regular post- office until 1819. Letters and papers were few and far between. These were left at Wrentham by the carriers, who passed three times a week between Providence and Boston. Any one who chanced to visit Wrentham brought them to the owners. In 1812, Herman C. Fisher, then a lad of fifteen, was hired by a few families to go on horseback Satur- days to South Wrentham and bring the mail to Na- thaniel Adams', afterwards Davis Thayer's, store. His route was through Wrentham and Guinea to the times a tribe of pretentious Indians rushed from be- hind Dr. Pratt's barn with indescribable yells upon the cavalry, only to be ignominiously chased back to ! their invisible wigwams. Sometimes the whole regi- ment formed a hollow square, facing outwards, with a cannon at cach corner in defense of their officers, and banged away at unseen and unanswering enemies, while the cavalry dashed in all possible directions to repel imaginary sallies. Trumpets blared, drums rat- tled, horses reared and snorted, children screamed, ramrods, forgotten in the hurried loading, hurtled ' old tavern on the Boston and Providence turnpike.

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About 1815, David Fisher, keeper of Wrentham tav- Early Industries .- Sawing or splitting the forest- trees into boards for their houses and grinding the corn raised on their cleared land were the first neces- sities of the new settlement. The first corn-mill was built in 1685, by John Whiting, on the site of the present Eagle Mill, at the foot of the long and for- merly steep hill of that name, and about midway be- tween the two communities. This mill was owned North Precinct settlers sought for mill privileges nearer home, and Daniel Hawes, Jr., and Eleazar Metcalf associated with others to utilize the falls in Mine Brook for a saw-mill. The following is the contract which they signed : ern, was appointed postmaster. This brought the Franklin mail much nearer; but letters for the northern part of the town were brought from Med- | way village. About 1819 the stone store at City Mills was built by Eli Richardson, who secured a post-office there. For a while Mr. Richardson brought the letters and papers for Franklin Centre to meeting in the box of his sulky every Sunday, and H. C. | by Whitings for more than a century. In 1713 the Fisher carried them to the store of Maj. Davis Thayer to be distributed. But after two years the Centre people began a movement for a post-office of their own. In 1822 they succeeded in securing a regular office, of which Maj. Thayer was postmaster. His successors have been Spencer Pratt, Theron C. "WRENTHAM Feb. the 7 1713. Hills, David P. Baker, Cyrus B. Snow, Charles W. Stewart, David P. Baker again, A. A. Russegue, as- " We hose names are hereunto subscribed doe agree to build a saw mill at the place called the Minebrook : Daniel Hawes wone quarter, John Maccane wone quarter, Eleazar Metcalf and Samuel Metcalf wone quarter, Robert Pond Sen. wone quarter. We doe covenant & agree as follows : sistant, Smith Fisher, and J. A. Woodward, the office moving with the appointment from place to place. Mr. Woodward held from 1871 to May 14, " 1 We doe promis that we wil each of us carry on & do our equal proporchon throught in procuring of irones & hueing framing of a dam & mill & all other labor throught so faire as the major part shall se meat to doe then to com to a reckoning. 1883, when a fall from a scaffolding of his house caused his sudden death, to the grief of the whole community, with whom he was held in the highest " 2 We doe agre that all of us shall have liberty for to work out his proporsion of work & in case aney wone of us neglect to carry on said work till it be done & fit to saw & he that neglects to carry on his part of said mill shall pay half a crown a day to respect for his uniform urbanity and kindliness. His successor, and the present postmaster, is Oliver H. Ingalls ; assistant, Laura E. Blake. The income from . the rest of the owners that did said work.

the office at first was not more than thirty dollars per year; but it gradually increased till in 1882 the salary was raised to seventeen hundred dollars. It is now rated in the third class of post-offices.

Temperance .- Most of the people in the olden time drank liquors to some extent and without scru- ple, under the impression that they were healthful and strength-giving. There were some who on spe- cial occasions would get so thoroughly drunk that good people cast about for some external check upon the appetite. When said strength became too fre- quent and dangerous to the home-peace, their names were posted by the selectmen so that the dealers, " who in regard of their remoteness from Boston had liberty to sell strong waters to supply the necessity of such as stood in need thereof," should not sell to such under a penalty. But the evil habit of drinking in- creased in spite of church and minister. As early as 1825, after a lecture given in the Popolatic school- house by a son of Dr. Lyman Beecher, Caleb Fisher, Elisha Bullard, and several others not only signed a pledge, but refused to furnish liquor to their men at

"3 We doe agre that said land shall be for a mill pond soe long as the major part shall se fit. We du all so agre that no won shall sell his part of said mill till he has first made a ten- der to the rest of the owners. We du al so agre that no won shall sell his part in the land til he hes tenderd it to the rest of the owners.

"Signed, sealed and delivered in the presence of " EZRA POND " ROBART POND

" JONATHAN WRIGHT " DANIEL HAWS

his " JOHN MACCANE

" ROBERT X POND

" ELEASAR METCALF

mark "SAMUEL METCALF."

On the back is the still further agreement :

" to lay out each man's loot as they are drawn-the first loot is to be gin four foot from the upper sil of the streak sil and soe up unto the ind of the sleapers, and to devid it equal into fower loots & from the sleapers towards the road so as not to interrupt the road.

" ROBART POND " DANIEL HAWS

" JOHN MACCANE " ELEASER METCALF

"SAMUEL METCALF

" DANIEL THURSTON " March the 7 1717."

This first saw-mill came into and remained in the hands of the Whitings.

In the laying out of a surveyor's district, May 29, 1736, there is mention of " The Iron Works," said to work. The example spread, and Franklin became and | be located near the foot of Forge Hill, " Ben Works' still is a temperance town. It has always voted no license, and now has two active temperance organiza- tions-a Temperance Alliance and the Woman's Christian Temperance Union. saw-mill" and " Adams' corn-mill" at City Mills, sites now occupied by other works; but of other mills or factories no record is preserved until the beginning of the present century.

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HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

CHAPTER XVII.

FRANKLIN-(Continued).

Later Town History-Ecclesiastical-Ministers of the First Church-Other Churches and Meeting-Houses-South Frank- lin Congregational-Grace Universalist-Baptist-Catholic -Methodist-Town Library-Public Schools-High School -Franklin Academy-Dean Academy-College Graduates- Statistics of Material Growth-Town Industries-Straw Goods-Feltings, etc .- Newspapers - Railroads - Banks - Fire Protection-The Rebellion-List of Soldiers-Precinct and Town Officers-Centennial Celebration.

Ministers of the First Congregational Church. -REV. ELAM SMALLEY was settled as the succes- sor, not colleague, of Dr. Emmons, June 17, 1829. He was dismissed July 5, 1839. and installed Sep- tember 19th over the Union Church, Worcester. He remained there until 1853, when he was dis- missed to become pastor of the Fourth Presbyterian Church, Troy, N. Y., but was soon compelled by fail- ing health to give up his work and try a voyage to Europe, seeking restoration and strength ; but with- out benefit, for he died soon after his return, in New York City, July 30, 1858, aged fifty-eight. Mr. Smalley was born in Dartmouth, fitted himself for college, and was graduated at Brown University, 1827, whence he received D.D. in 1849. He studied theology with Rev. Otis Thompson, of Rehoboth. He supported himself while in college mainly by teaching singing-schools, in which he was eminently successful. His only son, George W., is the well- known London correspondent of the New York Tribune.

remaining there until he came to Franklin in the summer of 1838.

REV. SAMUEL HUNT was installed Dec. 4, 1850, and dismissed July 6, 1864. He next entered the service of the American Missionary Association in establishing schools among the freedmen in North Carolina. He became associated in 1868, as secre- tary, with Hon. Henry Wilson, afterwards Vice- President. He aided in preparing Mr. Wilson's work, " The Rise and Fall of the Slave Power in Amer- ica," and edited the last volume after Mr. Wilson's death. Mr. Hunt was born in West Attleborough, March 18, 1810; graduated at Amherst College, 1832 ; studied theology from 1836 to 1838 in Prince- ton, N. J. ; preached a year in Mansfield, Mass., and was ordained in Natick, July 17, 1839, whence he came to Franklin. He died in Boston, July 23, 1878.

REV. GEORGE A. PELTON was installed for one year, Aug. 9, 1865, but withdrew during the year following for a Western field.

REV. LUTHER KEENE, the eighth regularly in- stalled pastor of the old church, was installed Oct. 9, 1867, and died suddenly in the midst of his days April 17, 1874, aged forty-four. His last public ser- vice was April 5th. He was born in Milo, Me., Jan. 30, 1830; graduated at Amherst College, 1859, and at Bangor in 1862. He was first settled in North Brookfield, in October, 1862, as pastor of a Union Congregational Church. After five years he resigned to come to Franklin. His ministerial labors, though short, left permanent results. The membership of the church was nearly doubled, and a new meeting-house and a commodious parsonage near it were built. Rev. Mr. Keene was the first occupant of the parsonage, and dedicated the new church Jan. 4, 1872, preaching from John xii. 5.

REV. TERTIUS DUNNING SOUTHWORTH was in- stalled the fifth pastor of the church Jan. 23, 1839, and dismissed April 25, 1850. After leaving Frank- After Mr. Keene's death the church remained with- out a settled pastor, depending on the broken and evanescent impressions of transient supplies, until the wiser conclusion of the church led to the installation of the present efficient pastor on Dec. 8, 1880. lin he preached statedly in Lyndon, Pownall, and Bennington, Vt., nearly five years, teaching a school at the same time in his house. Thence he went to Pleasant Prairie, Wis., where he preached for ten years, part of the time under commission of the REV. GEORGE E. LOVEJOY, now in office, is a native of Bradford, Mass., and was resident licentiate at Andover, 1873. His pastorate previous to Frank- lin was in Bedford, Mass. Since his ministry here between sixty and seventy have been added to the church, increasing its present membership to two hundred and ninety-two. the American Home Mission Society, until a rheu- matic fever disabled him from further active service. He returned in 1869 to his early home in Bridge- water, N. Y., where he died Aug. 2, 1874. He was buried in a silken surplice given him by the ladies of Franklin thirty years before. Rev. Mr. Southworth was born in Rome, N. Y., July 25, 1801 ; graduated The present Congregational Church was built during 1871, as has been mentioned. Its site was bought, bordering the southeast corner of the Common, and at Hamilton College, 1827 ; spent one year at Au- burn Theological Seminary, N. Y., and graduated at Andover, 1829; ordained at Utica, N. Y., Oct. 7, | the building committee in charge pushed the work 1832 ; installed at Claremont, N. II., June 18, 1834, through with business-like energy. They were Messrs.

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Davis Thayer, Jr., Henry M. Greene, Albert E. Dan- iels, Osman A. Stanley, Dr. George King, E. H. Sher- man, and Frank B. Ray. John Stevens was the architect, and Hanson & Hunniwell the builders. The organ was built by Stevens, of Cambridge. The di- mensions of the main building are 100 by 60 feet ; audience-room, 60 by 80, and 29 feet high ; chapel attached to the rear, 45 by 55 feet ; two wings, 25 by 14 feet ; height of steeple, 164 feet ; whole cost of the house furnished, $36,000. It has 650 sittings in' the main audience-room, and 100 in the gallery. The chapel will seat 500, and the dining-room 400.

Other Churches and Houses of Worship .-

SOUTH FRANKLIN CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH .- | Ryan in May, 1873. In 1876 the church was dis-

Through the summer of 1855 meetings were held on alternate Sundays in the South Franklin district | from Poultney, Vt., was sent into this field to awaken school-house. A Sunday-school was formed, and a library given by friends. The scattered families of that region showed so much interest in meetings near their homes, that a council of churches was called Aug. 20, 1855, at the house of Willard C. Whiting. As a result, September 13th, a church of eighteen members was organized. During the spring following fifteen hundred dollars were secured by subscription for a meeting-house. The corner-stone was laid Sept. 5, 1856, and the house was dedicated July 25, 1857. This church has not yet felt strong enough to enjoy a settled ministry, but has been supplied by acting pastors to the present date.

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History of Norfolk County, Massachusetts, with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 37

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton) ed Publication date: 1884 Publisher: Philadelphia, J. W. Lewis & Co. Number of Pages: 1534

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton) ed
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: Philadelphia, J. W. Lewis & Co.
Number of Pages: 1534