USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > North Brookfield > History of North Brookfield, Massachusetts. Preceded by an account of old Quabaug, Indian and English occupation, 1647-1676; Brookfield records, 1686-1783 > Part 40
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627
66
horses
398
66
swine
I79
66
sheep
61
66
acres of land
13,192
Value of real estate
. $1,364,010
personal estate
394,055
Grants of Money for 1886.
For Support of Schools
$9,000
" Free Public Library
1,000
" Town History
3,500
" Support of Poor
1,800
66 COWS .
728
oxen
40
1,218
376
SECOND PRECINCT- NORTH BROOKFIELD.
For Highways and Bridges .
3,500
" Sidewalks
1,200
" Contingent expenses 500
" Night watchman . 600
$21,100
Total value of Church Property, exempt
$41,550
Total value of Town Property, exempt . $62,975
1
1
That. Adams La
377
HON. CHARLES ADAMS, FR.
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.
HON. CHARLES ADAMS, JR., A.M. - A MEMORIAL.
[As Mr. Adams was one of the original movers for a History of North Brookfield, was a member of the first committee of publication chosen by the town, and had performed a most important part of the work before his death, it is fitting that a brief obituary of him should be given in this connection. J. H. TEMPLE.]
According to his own prepared Family Record, Mr. Adams is de- scended from Henry1, who came from England and settled in Braintree ; the line running through Edward 2 of Medfield, John 3 of Medfield, Abraham + of Brookfield, Jesse 5 of Brookfield, Charles, M.D.6 of Antrim, N.H., and Oakham, Mass.
Charles, Jr.7 was born at Antrim, in the part then known as Wood- bury Village, now South Antrim, Jan. 31, 1810, and died at North Brook- field, Apr. 19, 1886. In addition to the advantages of the common schools, he attended a select school in Brookfield under Rev. John Bisbee, and studied eight months with Rev. Josiah Clark of Rutland. This completed his school education. He served an apprenticeship of five years in a country store at Petersham, and was employed as clerk for a single year by J. B. Fairbanks of Ware. He came to North Brook- field in 1832, and entered the employment of the Messrs. Batcheller, shoe manufacturers, as bookkeeper and accountant, which position he held for twenty years. In 1852, he became a member of the firm, and so continued till 1860, when he retired, with a competence.
Mr. Adams was much in public life - having held by election, most of more responsible town offices : was representative to the General Court for the years 1850, '51, '52 and '62 ; state senator 1865, '66, '77 and '78 ; member of the executive council 1867, '68, '69 and '70 ; treasurer and receiver-general of the Commonwealth 1871, '72, '73, '74 and '75. He was also honored with special trusts ; was commissioner of the Norwich and Worcester railroad Sinking Fund ; and for many years president of the North Brookfield savings bank. Perhaps it is enough to say, that in all these offices and trusts, he fully met the expectation of his constitu- ents, for industry, ability, foresight, good judgment and integrity.
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SECOND PRECINCT- NORTH BROOKFIELD.
In manners, Mr. Adams had the dignity, without the preciseness, of a gentleman of the old school of official station. What was lacking in courtliness, was more than made up by self-poise, and an unaffected cordiality that won esteem, while it did not lessen respect. Always col- lected, and maintaining a proper self-respect, he yet was at home equally in the kitchen of the farmers and the parlors of the educated. He saw a true manhood in whomsoever it existed, and yielded it due homage ; he detected and did not conceal his contempt for mere pretence and outside show.
Though he often lamented his early disadvantages of schooling, yet he was, in the best sense, an educated man - not " self-made " as the popular phrase is, which implies the creating of one's surroundings and means. Rather, he subjected those surroundings to his will, and made them the means to develop and furnish his mind ; and thus was edu- cated and trained. He utilized whatever advantages were within his reach, whether at home, or at school, behind the counter, or in the counting-room ; first as a subordinate, and after as partner, owner, and director. He was a learner, always, and everywhere ; seizing the oppor- tunities, which both old and young so often throw away, to gain knowl- edge of men, and methods, and principles, and business, as well as books. And this early training, and the formation of habits of observa- tion and inquiry and research, and this steady application to the work and duty of the hour, laid the foundation of the self-reliance, and power of concentrated effort, which fitted him for the higher duties and respon- sibilities of business life and official position. He succeeded, because he had paid the full price of success.
Nor was his lack of school privileges apparent. He was well read in general and local history, as well as in political economy, the industrial sciences and finance. His memory was retentive, and was well stored with available knowledge. He was a good talker; and though com- monly very practical in conversation, he yet possessed a mobile fancy, and a vein of humor slightly imbued with satire, that, combined, and incited by refined instincts, and pure thoughts and associations, made him a desirable acquisition to any social circle.
In the quiet life of a busy manufacturer, and even in the reponsible station of a State official, there is little of incident, and few turns of affairs, to attract special notice, and give interest to a biographical sketch. The startling situations, and conflicts, and triumphs, which attach to mili- tary and professional life, and make the reputation and renown of men of thoses classes, and furnish the emphatic points in their biographies, are either wanting in legislative, and judicial, and mercantile experience ; or they are of strictly personal and temporary concern. They may have touched matters of success, or popularity, vital in their day ; but that
379
HON. CHARLES ADAMS, FR.
day was a brief one; and results affected mainly the parties immediately interested.
While a member of the legislature, and the executive council, Mr. Adams gave his attention largely to matters of banking and finance, and questions growing out of the State's connection with the Troy and Green- field, and the Boston, Hartford and Erie railroads, and other corpora- tions. He was chairman, or a member of the appropriate committees. To these committees is intrusted the shaping of the financial policy of the Commonwealth. And as several of his terms of service followed close upon the ending of the late Civil War, his sound views and prac- tical good sense made his influence at that juncture of especial conse- quence. The reports from his pen are distinguished by a broad grasp, and able reasoning, and safe conclusions.
Mr. Adams did not claim to be a popular speaker, and attempted nothing in the line of oratory. He wrote out his intended remarks ; and as he was a good reader, he made a favorable impression whenever he chose to appear before the public. He had himself and his theme well in hand ; his points were clearly put ; his evident mastery of his subject enlisted the hearer's attention, while his unaffected earnestness made a deep impression, if it did not carry conviction.
His style of writing was largely influenced by his leading pursuits. It was direct, unadorned, and what in Addisonian times would have been called didactic. He used Anglo-Saxon words and idioms; and the guiding thread of logic was always apparent in his sentences and con- secutive sections. Having Scotch blood in his veins, it was only natural that he should have a love for Scottish history and literature. He became particularly fond of the poetry of Gray and Burns, and the poetry and romance of Sir Walter Scott. And the chance he had of going abroad in 1871, to complete the sale of State bonds in London, and which opportunity he embraced for extended travel in Scotland as well as on the Continent, intensified the early passion, and gave direction to his study and reflection in later years, after his retirement from office.
In a paper which he wrote in 1873, on." The Life and Times of Robert. Burns," he tells us how he was first led into this attractive field. " In the year 1827, when I was in my seventeenth year, in a trade with another young man, to make the bargain even, I received a copy of ' Burns' Poems' in two small red-morocco bound volumes, without at the time knowing or caring who Robert Burns was. On opening the books I was delighted to find in them several songs which I had often heard sung by my mother - a descendant from clan McAllister - who was a fine singer - of course the finest I had then heard, and you will pardon me if I say the finest I have ever heard to this day (in my esti- mation). Some of her favorites, which I found in these volumes, were
380
SECOND PRECINCT- NORTH BROOKFIELD.
' Bonnie Doon,' 'John Anderson my Jo,' ' Auld Lang Syne,' ' Highland Mary,' 'The Lea-Rig,' etc. And the reading of these songs in their peculiar dialect, naturally led my thoughts beyond the songs themselves and the singer, and awakened an interest in the author and his life and home; and thus insensibly I became an ardent admirer of Burns and Scotland." - He then relates his visit to the Land of Burns in 1871, and gives expression to the thoughts inspired by the sight of the places and associations amid which the poet lived and wrote.
This paper, filling sixty-three closely written pages of manuscript, reveals a trait of character which was prominent in all his life, viz., a tender and appreciative regard for his mother; and it furnishes a fair sample of his literary style. It is characterized by vivid descriptions of natural scenery and peasant life. He groups the hamlet, and its occu- pants and home-surroundings in a spirited picture, charming by its lights and shades, its mingling of the real and ideal, and all enveloped in the fitful sunshine and mists of the Ayr and Ayrshire. - This paper, and a Diary kept by him, and since written out in full, take rank above many modern published essays and books of travel.
Mr. Adams prepared and delivered an Address at the semi-centennial of the Oakham Sabbath School, May, 1868 ; an Address at the centen- nial of Antrim, N.H., June 27, 1877, in response to the toast - "Scotch character : still marked by grit and grace"; an Address delivered on Washington's birthday, 1874; and read a paper on North Brookfield family history before the N.E. Historic-Genealogical Society, Feb. 1884 ; and had partly completed a Sketch of the Life of Thomas Gray. But his principal literary work was a compilation of Family Biographies, comprising the leading Brookfield settlers, and filling ten large quarto volumes. These manuscript volumes contain historical matter, personal anecdotes and adventures, and family memorials, of great value to gen- ealogists, and are a monument of the author's patient research and dis- criminating judgment. A summary of these Records constitutes the Second Part of this Book.
Both by nature and self-culture, Mr. Adams was a conservative man. But his was a conservatism that is an element of strength, and not of weakness ; which was a consequent of deliberation and forecast, and not of timidity. He built on well laid foundations, and not on the sand. He made no more "haste " than "good speed." The meteor may out-dazzle the evening star; but Jupiter remains king of the nightly heavens.
And this habit of mind fitted him for his work in the State Treasurer- ship, and his other financial trusts. A wise conservatism always begets confidence, and when joined with a clear head and habits of investigation, is the common antecedent of permanent success. - This trait appeared
your gifhornty
381
HON. FREEMAN WALKER.
as a factor in his daily life ; in his friendships ; in his views on education; on political and moral reforms; and on questions of theology and religion. He learned the Assembly's Shorter Catechism from his mother ; and was accustomed to recommend it as a safe manual of Scripture doctrines to be taught to children. He was for fifteen years a member of Dr. Snell's Bible-class. And he united with the Presbyterian Church, because of its steadfast adherence to the old standards of faith and practice.
Mr. Adams was tender and strong in his social friendships, and his heart and purse were open to the calls of the needy and suffering. He bestowed his charities freely, but unostentatiously, on those who had a claim on his generosity and kindness. Many a widow and orphan will miss his timely help, and cherish and bless his memory.
He received the honorary degree of Master of Arts from Dartmouth College in 1878.
HON. FREEMAN WALKER.
Mr. Walker was an original member of the committee of publication of the Town History, and has died since the work was begun. The following autobiography was found among the papers left by Mr. Adams.
[ Hon. Freeman Walker died July 13, 1883. A few days before his death he placed in my hands the following autobiographical sketch to be used in the town history, or such parts of it as the historian should see fit. It is inserted here in full. Charles Adams, Jr.]
Freeman Walker, youngest son of Dea. Walter Walker, was born Dec. 12, 1803.
Educational advantages, the public schools only, except one term at the Monson Academy in the fall of 1822. The winter following kept school in what was then the town of Western (now Warren) in the Coy's Hill district.
In May 1823 went into the store of Newell & Taintor, West Brook- field, as clerk.
In Aug. of that year at the request of my brother Amasa, who had gone to Methuen, as agent of the Methuen Manufacturing Company, and with the assent of Newell & Taintor, I went to that town to take charge of a store connected with the Company. Here I remained three years, and then by his request, followed my brother to Boston, as his clerk, in whose employ I remained till Jan. 1, 1830.
In the mean time I acted as accountant, keeping his books by double entry, and as principal salesman, as well as purchaser and as agent for the sale and purchase of merchandise, visiting from time to time all the cities between Boston and Richmond, Va. Spent some months for him
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SECOND PRECINCT-NORTH BROOKFIELD.
in Alexandria, D.C., closing up a bankrupt shoe business in which he was interested as a creditor ; afterwards spent some months for him in Baltimore, where I remained till invited to connect myself with the firm of T. & E. Batcheller, which I did Jan. 1, 1830, under the firm of T. & E. Batcheller & Walker, where I remained till 1834.
In the mean time the business had very much increased, and assumed an organization which with great improvements has continued to the present.
On the 3d of June 1830 I married Mary Bond, dau. of Amos Bond of this town.
After leaving the concern of Batcheller, I remained one year out of business, not being in good health, which had been one cause of my leaving business with them, as it was much against their wishes at the time. In 1835 I commenced the shoe business alone, and used the lower story of the old [first] town-house for that purpose, the basement of the building being then used as a district school, and the upper story as a high school.
In 1836 I built a shoe factory in addition to the carriage shop of S. G. Reed which I had bought for that purpose. There I continued business till 1838, and with Martin Bellows and others, was connected with the shoe business till 1842. In the mean time I had been appointed agent of the creditors of Woolson & Cutter of Louisville, Ky., where I spent some months in attempting to settle the claims of the said creditors against the concern, but without satisfactory success. It was during these years that I became connected with town affairs, and acted as Moderator, Selectman, Overseer of the Poor, and as Representative to the General Court in the years 1840 & 1841 and represented the County in Senate in the years 1852 & 1853; and of the 8th (?) district in the year 1861, making 3 terms in the Senate ; acted as chairman of the committee on Manufactures two years, and on other important com- mittees. Had the pleasure of sustaining Gov. Andrew in his efforts to equip and forward men to the Army, which in some instances he did before legal authority had been obtained for that purpose.
The session of 1861 was the last of my connection with legislation. Served three years on the Board of Agriculture as delegate from the Worcester West Agricultural Society. Have been connected with the affairs of the town since 1834. Acted on building committees in the erection of all [three of the] town-houses, and Grove School-house ; building the new road to East Brookfield; was director during the location and construction of our Railroad and with which in that capacity I have been connected with this road to the present time. To go back in my business history, I would say that in connection with my brother Amasa, we bought the water privilege in East Brookfield and its
383
HON. FREEMAN WALKER.
appurtenances in the year 1845, and proceeded to improve the same. First, by building a furnace and then a brick factory 75 x 40 feet, and then a large store & saw mill ; put in new wheels and stones into the grist-mill, built an addition to accommodate the plaster business, &c.
In 1848 built the reservoir dam at what is known as Brooks Pond, thereby adding greatly to the water-power at East Brookfield, and thus laying the foundation of all the business and improvements that exist on the premises at the present day.
These investments were not money-making concerns to the proprietors, but were essential to the growth and prosperity of East Brookfield. I had connexion at different times with some of the business carried on upon these premises, but always yielded my connection with them when they were wanted by other parties. For instance in the machine shop and the manufacture of hay-cutters, which I took from a nominal ex- istence, and in one year put it upon a respectable basis, and made $3,000, and at the request of my associate in business turned the con- cern over to him, after which he failed to make it a profitable concern. I did the same with the furnace business : took it on my hands when it had an unprofitable contract for castings, which I fulfilled to the entire satisfaction of the parties ; made favorable contracts for iron, and passed the concern over to the other party in interest, at their request, but not ultimately to their advantage.
In all my business relations, which include connection with at least 15 different individuals, no one of them could say that they were ever losers by business connection with me.
In society matters, I was one of those who left the First Congrega- tional Society for the formation of the Union Congregational Society. This I did from an honest belief that the best interests of religion would be advanced by such a movement and not from any personal feeling of hostility to the then acting pastor of that society, although at the time of his settlement he was not a man of my choice, and never was appre- ciated by me as a pastor or preacher. I mention this fact to correct any impression that may have existed at the time, that a personal feeling against the minister, or any member of the church or society, had any influence in causing me to leave that society. And when the circum- stances of the town and of the new society had so changed as in the opinion of many to make it expedient to unite the societies, it found in me an advocate for such a union, on terms of equality, mutual con- cession and self respect. Whether such a union would have been for the best good of the cause for which religious societies are formed, is perhaps an unsettled question, even at the present time.
My political life, though of no particular interest to any but myself, is briefly told. I cast my first vote for Governor of Massachusetts for
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SECOND PRECINCT- NORTH BROOKFIELD.
Levi Lincoln in 1824, as a National Republican. When the Anti- masonic party was formed, I sympathized with the opposition then made to that institution [Masonry], and acted with that party till its object was supposed to have been accomplished in the enactment by our Legis- lature of a law forbidding the administration of extra-judicial oaths. I then united with the Whig party, in which I voted till the formation of the Free Soil party, and followed its fortunes till it was merged into the Republican Party of the present day. It was as a member of the Whig party that I represented the town in 1840 & 1841 ; and as a Republi- can three times in the Senate. I built the house where I now reside in 1835.
Finally I would say that frequent business changes may account for the fact that a business life of more than fifty years, has produced limited pecuniary results.
HON. AMASA WALKER.
AMASA WALKER, the oldest son of Walter Walker, was born in Wood- stock, Conn., May 4, 1799. His parents, Walter Walker and Priscilla Carpenter, had been married on the 3rd of April, 1798, and at the time of his birth were living in the village, then known as Muddy Brook, now as East Woodstock. Here they remained until the following spring, when they bought the estate in the North Parish of Brookfield, in Massa- chusetts, on which their son, Amasa, subsequently lived and died.
Owing to family circumstances, however, their young son was left with his Grandfather Carpenter, in Woodstock, for an entire year after the removal of his parents to Brookfield.
Amasa Walker was a very feeble and delicate child, and lack of physi- cal stamina was manifest throughout all his youthful days, depriving him of the enjoyment of most of the athletic sports practised by his com- panions. The fact, however, had its compensation in the [impulse given to study and reflection, and, perhaps, in a higher capacity of intellectual enjoyment.
On his father's estate in North Brookfield, Amasa Walker was reared, attending the Centre District School, near the old meeting-house ; and in the intervals of study, working upon his father's farm, or sticking card- teeth for the card manufacturers of Leicester. Naturally a good and even brilliant scholar, the child and youth took the utmost advantage of the limited opportunities offered by the village school of those days, and acquired that thorough training in English which, in later days, without the advantage of a college education, enabled him to discuss the most abstruse questions of political science clearly, effectively and agreeably, and to address Senates and Universities with acceptance. Among his principal competitors in school was Ebenezer Strong Snell, afterwards
Awane Walker
385
HON. AMASA WALKER.
Professor Snell of Amherst College. Among the teachers of his early youth, Mr. Walker placed highest, Mr. Harry Brigham (1811), as the most stimulating and helpful of schoolmasters. In the intervals between the public schools, the boy used to recite to the Rev. Dr. Snell, having among his fellow pupils, William Cullen Bryant and Elijah Meade.
In 1814, young Amasa became clerk in Colonel Henshaw's store. Probably no clerk was ever more diligent and faithful or had a higher sense of the importance of his work. The qualities which afterwards secured his success in business on his own account, were fully exhibited in his early youth, and commanded the complete confidence and respect of his employer.
During the winter of 1815 to '16, the young man was laid up as a result of a physical injury, and in the spring of 1816 went to live with Dr. Crossfield, who had opened a store in South Brookfield, just across the river. In June of that year the store was burned, and the young man became clerk to Captain Moses Bond, then trading on the old green, North Brookfield, afterwards known as the Lower Village.
In 1817, Amasa Walker began to fit for Amherst College and was placed under the tuition of the Rev. Dr. Snell. His zeal in study soon outran his strength and his health completely broke down, compelling the abandonment of the college project. For three months during the winter of 1817 to 1818, he taught school in District No. 6, and then went again to live with Captain Bond. For two years following, in spite of great feebleness and occasional entire prostration, he taught school in various districts of North Brookfield or worked upon the farm at home.
In October 1820 he, in company with Allen Newell, bought the store and stock of Major Holt in West Brookfield. The partnership continued successfully until February 1823, when Mr. Walker sold out his interest to Mr. Taintor. In writing of this, later in life, Mr. Walker said, " I put in $136, and my father let me have about $650 : in all, about $800. I took out in cash, $3,550. Probably no young man had ever cleared so much in so short a time, in trade, at that period, in that part of the country. It was a day of very small things." After withdrawing from the partnership, Mr. Walker became agent of the Methuen Manufactur- ing Company, and acted in that capacity for two years, still suffering much in health. In 1825, he entered into business in Boston with Charles G. Carleton, under the title of Carleton & Walker, and on the 6th of July, 1826, married his partner's sister Emeline, daughter of Deacon Jonathan Carleton of Boston. Mrs. Walker died July 24, 1828, leaving one child who died in infancy. In 1829, Mr. Walker went into business for him- self, where his energy, ambition and high standard of duty and honor, enabled him speedily to achieve a large success ; yet, notwithstanding the urgent demands of his business and his always delicate health, often
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