USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > Westminster > History of Westminster, Massachusetts (first named Narragansett no. 2) from the date of the original grant of the township to the present time, 1728-1893, with a biographic-genealogical register of its principal families > Part 26
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206
HISTORY OF WESTMINSTER, MASS.
in the way of Law, the Distance from the Shire Town, the multiplicity of business, the Increase of Travel feas, with many other things so Increase Cost upon the Subject that it becomes almost intolerable to bare and a Redress of these Greviences becomes of absolute Necesiety." But the proposed action "can by no means answer the End wished for," they say, as it would be "but a partial Releaf," putting a large number of towns in the county of Worcester "under the same or worse Desadvantage" as those helped by it, "and what is worse, no hopes left of ever obtaining Redress" as the number of towns thus discommoded would be insufficient for a separate county, etc. They further observe that "the Northerly part of Worces- ter County, if divided from East to West will be suffecient to forme a County within themselves without breaking into any other County," and as a remedy for existing ills they "would moste Humbly and Earnestly move to this Honourable Court" that "the Towns of Lunenburge, Fitchburge, Leominster, Lan- caster, Sterling, Westminster, princetown, Hubbardston, peters- ham, Athol, Berry, Hardwick, and Harvard-may be set of as a County by themselves and that the Town that Lieth Nearest the Senter may be the Shire Town." Very naturally both of the propositions submitted to the Legislature were rejected, and neither Petersham, the heart of the original movement, nor Westminster was raised to the dignity of a shire town, as may have been fondly anticipated by some of those who strongly favored the project.
In 1791 the inhabitants of the northwest part of Worcester County again made an effort for a new county. A convention was held at Petersham, to which Capt. Elisha Bigelow was sent as delegate, but nothing was accomplished thereby. In 1796 the experiment was repeated, the convention, to which Captain Bigelow was again delegate, meeting at Templeton, but the result was the same as before.
Two years later the General Court so far indulged those de- sirous of a division of Worcester County as to pass a resolve on the 3d of March, authorizing towns interested in the matter to vote upon the question. The result in Westminster was 82 in favor of the proposition and 5 against it. Probably the aggregate vote was largely the other way, which settled the matter for that time. On the 6th of November, 1800, a con- vention in the same behalf was held at Templeton, in which the town was represented by Abel Wood, who was instructed "to act his best Judgement" in the matter. But nothing came of this, as nothing came of similar action taken at several different dates during the next seventy years. The final issue of all the efforts made to dismember the great county which comprises the "Heart of the Commonwealth " has been to leave it essentially as it was at the beginning, unimpaired and secure in its integrity and completeness, and destined to
207
FINANCIAL STANDING OF THE TOWN.
remain so in all probability as long as counties exist or the state endures.
Valuation of the Town in 1798. It will throw con- siderable light upon the condition of the population of West- minster at the close of the last and opening of the present century, as well as give the names of the families and responsi- ble persons then resident within its borders, to present a calen- dar or table showing who were the owners or occupants of homesteads and lands, the extent of the latter, and the appraised value of each, respectively. It is prepared from tax lists made by order of the national government in 1798, and under the direction of assessors appointed and commissioned for that especial duty, of whom Ebenezer Jones, Jonas Miles, and Abel Wood were chosen for this district, and may be deemed, gener- ally speaking, correct and reliable. The first column gives the names of the tax payers; the second, the number of houses owned ; the third, the valuation of the house or houses, includ- ing the lots not exceeding one-fourth of an acre each; the fourth, the amount of land in acres; the fifth, the valuation of the land; the sixth, the value of total taxable property. A few outbuildings and other unimportant items are omitted. The names appear in the order found in the list. Those with star (*) prefixed were non-residents.
NAMES.
Houses.
Value.
Acres land.
Value.
Total.
Adams, John .
I
$102
22
$ 273
$ 375
Bigelow, Jabez
I
750
258
2,631
3,381
Bigelow, Ephraim
I
380
IIS
775
1,155
Bigelow, Elisha
I
790
537
5,796
6,586
*Barnard, Benjamin
I
30
129
773
803
Baker, Nathan
I
IO
15
55
65
Bartlett, Daniel
I
58o
62
458
1,038
Bigelow, Luke
I
1 50
22
3.50
500
Bolton, Aaron
I
1 50
57
660
SIO
Brown, Josiah
I
60
I-2
78
138
Beard, Joseph
I
36
66
649
685
Barnes, Francis
1
30
3-4
58
98
Blodgett, Isaac
I
40
60
410
450
*Brooks, Samuel
65
520
520
*Boulding(?), David, and Abel Maynard
75
500
500
*Beaman, Jonas
60
720
720
*Bowman Heirs
15
45
45
Bond, Thaddeus .
I
500
165
1,737
2,237
Bacon, Edward
I
101
120
1,166
1,267
Bemis, Zacheus
I
220
100
1,000
1,220
Bigelow, John
I
130
72
730
760
Bemis, Ebenezer .
T
300
125
1,420
1,720
Beaman, Joseph (Mrs. Bemis,
owner)
1
400
IIO
1,226
1,626
Beaman, Silas
1
200
40
793
993
Barnard, Edmund
I
500
317
2,690
3,190
Baker, Richard .
I
350
132
1,076
1,426
73
490
490
Bemis, Edmund .
208
HISTORY OF WESTMINSTER, MASS.
NAMES.
Houses.
Value.
Acres land.
Value.
Total.
Bigelow, Benjamin
I
$103
IOI
$1,196
$1,299
Brooks, Samuel .
I
175
IIO
SOI
976
Brooks, Isaac .
I
410
85
7 59
1, 169
Bemis, Thomas
T
103
134
1,106
1,209
Brown, Jonathan
I
420
123
1,113
1,533
Child, David
I
IIO
So
549
659
Conant, Thomas .
2
55
75
603
658
Conant, Thomas, Jr.
1 I
IIO
35
401
5II
Cohee, James .
I
57 5
232
2,512
3.087
Calef, Stephen
I
80
35
440
520
Cooper, Jedediah
I
540
I 50
2,132
2,672
Dunster, Thomas
I
45
28
243
28S
Derby, Andrew
I
200
90
834
1,034
Damon, John .
I
300
47
896
1, 196
Damon, Timothy
I -
320
88
SS9
1,209
Derby, Ezra
I
I 50
45
489
639
Derby, Nathan
I
200
48
409
609
Derby, John
T
350
120
1,330
1,6So
Dunn, John
-
40
50
425
465
Dike, Nicholas
I
I 50
180
1,245
1,395
Dunster, Hubbard
12
163
20
238
401
Eaton, Nathaniel
2
615
I85
1,890
2,505
Estabrook, John .
I
400
222
1,575
1,975
Everett, Peletiah
I
480
4
I35
615
*Everett, Joshua, Jr ..
36
288
288
Flint, Benjamin
I
105
76
978
1,083
Fessenden, John .
I
300
I 57
1,412
1,712
Foskett, Daniel
2
220
51
526
746
Farnsworth, Asa .
I
85
115
1,207
1,292
Gates, Phinehas .
30
IO
100
1 30
Gates, Amos
I
1.50
67
68
69.50
Graves, Levi
S3
783
783
Graves, Peter (Adm'r) .
63
230
230
Gager, Jeremiah .
70
7.50
7.50
Goodale, John
140
2,260
2,260
*Gill, Michael
I 5
50
50
*Goodenough, Asa
30
200
200
Hoar, Stephen
11 I I
589
148
1,693
2,282
Hoar, Samuel .
26
104
104
Hoar, Timothy
I
60
72
1,027
1,087
Holden, Stephen
I
IIO
78
839
949
Holden, Abner
T
560
254
3,052
3,612
Holden, Abner, Jr.
I
240
50
930
1,170
Holden, Levi .
T
400
I4I
1,144
1,544
Holden, Elias .
-
70
71
959
1,029
Harrington, Seth
I
400
173
2,150
2,550
Heywood, Timothy .
T
103
1 59
1,587
1,690
Hager, Jonathan .
1
480
239
3,425
3,905
Holden, Rebecca (John Brown, occupant)
I
480
I39
1,974
2,454
Howard, Nathan
I
260
1 50
1,740
2,000
*Heywood, Benjamin
120
890
890
*Hazeltine, Benjamin
60
100
100
*Houghton, Joel
15
45
45
*Kilburn, Sally (Joel Houghton, owner
60
280
280
I
85
72
900
985
60
53
395
455
Eaton, Nathan
40
372
372
*Everett, William .
9
72
72
*Everett, Joshua .
IS
56
956
956
Graves, Jonathan
870
172
2,98 1
3,851
Hoar, John
144
144
Dupee, John
Edgell, William
209
FINANCIAL STANDING-CONTINUED.
NAMES.
Houses.
Value.
Acres land.
Value.
Total.
*Hunt, Samuel
60
$ 240
$ 240
Howard, Micah
I
$ 50
So
370
420
Hadley, John .
I
50
76
1,072
1,122
Howard, Benjamin
50
61
443
493
Hall, Elisha
25
I
35
60
Hall, Elisha
-- I I
55
I
65
120
*Hilton, Thomas
30
100
100
Howard, Simeon
37
275
275
Jones, Ebenezer .
I-2
530
530
Jones, Ebenezer (Moses Gill, owner)
116
1,760
1,760
Jackson, Oliver
102
93
1,160
1,262
Jackson, Edward
598
198
1,642
2,240
Jackson, Sebez
150
51
476
626
Johnson, Thomas
I 50
51
476
626
*Jewell, Jacob .
51
140
1.40
Kendall, Edward
-
275
5
325
325
Knower, Thomas
I 50
100
680
830
*Kendall, Joshua .
ISO
1,400
1,400
*Kendall, Josiah
I
120
120
Laws, James, Jr ..
I
I 20
I20
Laws, James, Jr. .
I
80
99
1,180
1,260
Laws, Thomas
60
90
1,583
1,643
Laws, Thomas, Jr.
60
335
335
*Livermore, Elijah
78
330
330
Mosman, Abel (B. & J. Lynde, owners)
186
1,346
1,346
Minot, Jonathan
I
500
124
1,143
1,643
Miles, Noah
I
320
89
1,125
1,345
Mosman, Samuel
600
143
1,539
2,139
Miller, Isaac
T
IO1
60
645
746
Miles, Jonas
I
700
92
1,657
2,357
Miles, John
1
360
73
1,000
1,360
Merriam, Asa .
I
1 50
150
Merriam, Thomas
I
320
300
3,404
3,724
Merriam, Samuel
1 50
80
1,1 52
1,302
Martin, John .
[
460
II8
1,800
2,260
Miller, Joseph
I
170
59
953
1,123
Matthews, Paul
T
300
So
870
1,170
Murdock, John
I
440
440
Murdock, William
66
896
896
Maynard, David .
I
36
58
560
596
Miles, Stephen
1,543
1,543
Mosman, Samuel
I
IO
10
Mosman, Samuel, Jr.
43
180
180
Miles, Asa .
82
4II
411
Wiswall, John (J. Miles, owner)
I 1
15
2
135
150
Miles, Jonas (Reuben's heirs)
90
871
871
Miles, Isaac
I
40
57
805
845
Miller, Ephriam
1
480
186
1,846
2,326
Miles, Thomas
60
5So
580
Nichols, Benjamin
I
50
120
767
817
*Nichols, Jeremiah
30
150
150
Newton, Timothy
90
400
400
Penniman, William .
I
9So
65
716
1,606
Pierce, Jarvis
I
325
15
195
520
Pierce, John
I
IIO
61
600
719
I
220
25
200
200
Laws, Thomas
I
15
77
428
443
Miller, John
31
310
310
*Merriam, John
60
500
500
177
Miles, Trow
I
320
Miller, Samuel
275
Perry, Silas (E. Kendall, owner)
I
14
210
HISTORY OF WESTMINSTER, MASS.
NAMES.
Houses.
Value.
Acres land
Value.
Total.
Phillips, Jonathan
T
$140
2
$ 72
$ 212
Puffer, Jonas .
I
102
I02
S77
979
Puffer, Josiah .
I
2So
107
1,627
1,907
Melendy, Richard (N. Parker, owner)
11 I I
30
56
2 56
286
*Pierce, Abijah
*Perkins, Benjamin
60
200
200
Rice, Rev. Asaph (exempt)
I
I6
Ray, Heman
I
103
108
941
1,044
Rand, Zachariah
I
450
33
450
900
Rand, Zachariah (John's heirs),
11 I I
200
54
500
700
Robbins, Ephraim
175
So
57 5
750
Wheeler, Nathaniel owner)
(Z. Rand,
I
90
175
1,200
1,290
Sawin, Daniel .
I
IOI
IOI
Sawin, Joseph
1
200
62
416
526
Sawin, James .
I
200
71
636
956
Sawin, David .
I
400
124
1,151
1,551
Sawin, Abner
I
15
60
215
230
Sawin, Daniel .
I
30
135
595
625
Sawin, Joseph (Reuben's heirs),
40
175
1,018
1,058
Sawin, James
I 1
20
III
602
622
Smith, Silas
I
115
60
68 5
800
Smith, Charles
T
400
31
482
SS2
Smith, Thadeus
I
200
60
507
707
Shumway, Abishai .
I
290
20
405
695
Sampson, Abraham .
J
300
57
386
686
Spaulding, Joseph
I
I 50
I20
1,208
1,358
Spaulding, Zebina
I
105
I 5
239
344
Seaver, Benjamin
I
102
220
1,314
1,416
Seaver, Sarah . .
70
450
450
Smith, Joseph
I
15
25
115
1 30
Sawyer, Jonathan
I
740
275
2,900
3,640
Sawyer, Eli
1
230
168
1,800
2,030
Smith, Jonathan .
I
20
60
659
679
*Smith, William
30
175
175
*Sawyer, Thomas . Sawyer, Amos
1 I
90
90
1,400
1,490
*Sheldon, Amos
I
IOI
96
Soo
90I
Thurston, Moses
I
320
26
601
921
Taylor, Asa
1
220
62
671
S91
Taylor, Samuel
I
105
70
540
645
Whitney, Nathan
I
520
262
3,182
3,702
Woodward, John
1
103
120
1,316
1,419
Woodward, Nathaniel .
I
ISO
60
240
420
Wetherbee, Thomas
-
105
53
386
491
Wetherbee, Ephraim
I
200
60
507
707
Wilder, Joel
I
4So
75
725
1,205
Whitman, Zachariah
I
78
287
2,260
3,040
Warren, Jednthan .
I
101
1 50
909
I,OIO
Wheeler, Thomas
I
103
181
2,221
2,990
Wyman, David
1
160
57
304
464
Wyman, David
I
50
I-2
52
102
38
304
304
Raymond, Jonathan
Sawin, Jonathan
T
IIO
200
Sawin, Samuel
I
I 50
So
1,035
I,IS5
Pierce, Elisha .
60
420
420
Fenno, Ephraim (A. Rice, owner)
16
Wheeler, Josiah .
I
465
I 58
958
1,423
Taylor, Joseph
I
15
66
634
649
28
196
196
*Simonds, Joseph .
30
I 50
I 50
32
133
133
Taft, Asa
Tottingham, Nathaniel
I
I
775
103
I
320
200
211
FINANCIAL STANDING-CONCLUDED.
NAMES.
Houses.
Value.
Acres land.
Value.
Total.
White, James .
1 I
$3So
130
1,362
1,742
Wetherbee, Caleb
9
152
152
Leonard, Samuel ( Jas. White, owner)
Whitcomb, Oliver
I
40
So
740
780
Winship, Jonas
I
102
12
90
192
Winship, Jonas, Jr. .
1
200
63
681
SSI
Winship, Cyrus
I
250
125
1,776
2,026
Wood, Nathan
50
60
699
749
Wheeler, Hayman
197
1,031
1,031
Ward, John
40
I26
1,052
1,092
Jackson, Oliver ( J. Winship, owner)
40
400
400
Whitney, Abner .
I
IOI
195
1,709
1,810
Whitney, Alpheus
160
120
1,249
1,409
Whitney, Phinehas
T
275
90
1,177
1,452
Whitney, Elisha .
T
15
35
335
350
Whitney, David
I
380
3So
Whitney, John
I
520
520
Whitney, Jonas
I
355
II3
1,15I
1, 506
Williams, Isaac
I
210
218
2,166
2,376
Wood, Ahijah
- T
819
164
1,333
2,152
Wood, Abel
I
690
181
1,493
2,183
Walker, James
I
50
70
581
631
Wiswall, Noah
I
70
250
1,15I
1,227
Whitney, Samuel
50
315
3,160
3,210
Walker, Paul .
1
70
143
213
*Houghton, Abel (D. Willard, owner)
60
380
38o
*Warren, Joseph
30
240
240
Wheeler, Mary
13
78
78
Flint, Ezekiel .
I
60
85
435
495
65
746
851
Whitney, Joel .
I
105
58
546
561
I 5
107
$1,048
$1,048
Whitney, Nathan, Jr.
According to this table there were in town, at the date repre- sented (1798), 186 dwellings of taxable value ; very likely there were a few others too old or worthless to be enumerated. The entire ratable property, exclusive of the estate of Rev. Mr. Rice, seems to have been $240,890.50, somewhat variously distributed, yet not unlike what appears in all communities at any given period of their history.
At the close of the last century the population of Westmin- ster was scattered very generally over its territory, the tendency to concentrate in villages and closely settled districts not yet having manifested itself in country towns to any appreciable extent. The section now covered by the Central Village had upon it, until nearly that date, only eight dwelling houses, al- though half a dozen new ones, including the hotel, had been erected during the few previous years-the beginning of an in- crease which continued for two or three decades with consider- able rapidity. This growth was stimulated largely by the con- struction of the Fifth Massachusetts Turnpike, which brought a greatly extended amount of travel through the place, and helped to make it a center of trade for the people of a wide area of out-
212
HISTORY OF WESTMINSTER, MASS.
lying country. Corresponding to this village enlargement was the decline of the population outside, and of agricultural inter- ests that had prevailed almost universally till then, as evidenced by the abandonment of many of the original homesteads of the town. This was the inauguration of a change of social re- lations and industrial pursuits which has continued with vary- ing irregularity to the present day, and which will receive further notice later on.
CHAPTER XII.
THOROUGHFARES, BRIDLE WAYS, AND BRIDGES.
TOWN AND COUNTY ROADS - FIFTH MASSACHUSETTS TURNPIKE - VERMONT AND MASSACHUSETTS (FITCHBURG) RAILROAD.
IT is generally believed that the pioneer settlers of Narra- gansett No. 2, in coming to what was designed to be their future home, were obliged to make their way from Lancaster, the nearest settlement in the direction of the more densely populated communities whence they migrated, through an unbroken forest, with a pocket compass for their guide, or per- chance, blazed trees bearing the marks of committees of the General Court, surveyors, or other explorers who had preceded them. Such, however, was not the case, except for a very short distance lying wholly within the boundaries of the township. In the year 1733 the Provincial Legislature had caused a high- way to be laid out and opened for travel from Lancaster to Sun- derland, and hence called the " Sunderland Road," for the con- venience of the plantations already established at Deerfield and vicinity, in the valley of the Connecticut River. This highway entered the town a little distance north of Everettville, passing thence westwardly in a nearly straight line across the narrow part of Wachusett Lake, and up over the hills not far from the residences of the late Cephas Bush and Betsey Bacon, to a point in the Hubbardston boundary, southwardly of the homestead of the late Joel Newton, and so on through Templeton, Petersham, etc., to its western terminus. Though no signs of it have been visible for many a day, and though it is almost wholly lost to "the memory of the oldest inhabitant," yet it was an actual thoroughfare and served an important purpose until superseded by others built and maintained by, or for the convenience of, the various settlements along its route. A plan of it is still preserved at the State House, indicating its general course, and giving its length in three sections as follows: "from Lancaster to Wachusett pond is It miles, and from sd pond to meeting- house Place in Volunteers township [Petersham] is 14 miles, and from thence to Sunderland is 23 miles." Moreover, the parties who originally built this road were compensated for their labors, wholly or in part, by the grant of a township adjoining Sunderland, which was called Roadstown at first, but incorpo- rated in 1764 as Shutesbury. And furthermore, at a meeting of the proprietors of Petersham in 1734, Capt. Jonas Houghton,
214
HISTORY OF WESTMINSTER, MASS.
a noted surveyor and contractor of those days, was voted cer- tain privileges and a sum of money "for making the road so feasable from Lancaster along the north side of Wachusett as to carry comfortably 4 barrels of cider with 4 oxen at once," which shows what then constituted a "feasable " road as well as what was an important farm product of those days, and a supposed-to-be necessary article of consumption. "Sunderland Road" is occasionally mentioned in the records of the proprie- tors' clerk, and in some of the early conveyances of lands in the southerly part of the township.
It has already been stated that in the original "laying out" of the lands of the township in 1734, the dividing committee, whose action was accepted by the proprietors, made provision for a highway, of which the main street is a section, extending in opposite directions as far as the survey went. This road was continued southeastwardly, no doubt, until it struck the Sun- derland Road somewhere within what is known as the No-town addition, between Everettville and Crow Hill. And it was over this road that the early settlers, especially those locating in the central and northerly portions of the then surveyed territory, passed to and from their new homes for twelve or fifteen years, or until the county road was constructed from Lancaster to Athol in 1754. This appears from the fact that at a proprie- tors' meeting, Oct. 31, 1739, as the records say, "the vote was put whether they would Clear the Road from Crow Hill to the meeting House," which "passed in the Negative," indicating the location of the first highway established in the township. It is proper to state here, that, in addition to this principal street, provided for by the dividing committee, there were also, as the original plan shows, numerous subordinate ones running between different lots in localities where it was thought they might be needed. Few of these were ever used for the purpose designed, and they but for a brief season. The only one that became a permanent highway was that lying between lots No. II and 12, the first half mile, from the Nichols Bros.' chair fac- tory, of what is known as the road to Hubbardston.
The first action relating to highways, of the proprietors of Narragansett No. 2, of which a record has been found, took place Nov. 23, 1737, a few months after a settlement had been effected, when, at a meeting in Cambridge, Benjamin Brown, Joseph Holden, and Joseph Lynde were appointed "to look out and mend the Road from Lancaster to the Township and through the same to the Meeting-house Spot in said town," "where it will best accommodate the whole town." It is to be presumed that these gentlemen attended to the duty assigned them, continuing in service until their successors, Joseph Holden, Fairbanks Moor, and Joseph Miller were appointed nearly three years afterward. On the 10th of September, 1740, it was voted "to pay those that had marked a road through the
215
FIRST ROADS IN THE TOWNSHIP.
township " and fio were granted for that purpose and " to clear said road." Nothing very definite was done thereafter with reference to highways for several years. Committees were occasionally appointed to care for them, but no report of their doings was made and no new public highways seem to have been projected. Probably each settler, or group of settlers living near together, cut a rude path through the forest where it was found to be most easy and convenient to do so, and in this way the general need of the plantation was fairly well supplied without the intervention of the propriety.
At length, on the 26th of October, 1749, Joseph Miller, Daniel Cook, and Jonathan Watson were made a committee "to Lay out such ways in the propriety as they shall Judge nec- essary, making report of their doings," etc. At a meeting held Sept. 13, 1750, they reported several roads upon which action was taken as recorded by the clerk, thus :
"Voted and accepted of the Road Laid out to Lunenburg from No. 2.
"Voted and accepted of the Road Laid to Sunderland Road.
"Voted and accepted of ye Road from ye town Streat to Mr. Darbe's Land, and from Daniel Walker's to the parting of the Roads, and from the Lot No. thirty nine to the aforesaid Road. Voted the Roads now laid out be three Rods wide."
These are all the facts that have been obtained in regard to these several highways, and it is not an easy matter to locate them ; but from a knowledge of the condition of things in the young settlement at the time, their general courses may be in- ferred. The first, in all probability, started at or near the site of the old Baptist meetinghouse and ran in an easterly direction through the present cemetery grounds, near the residence of George Harris, and thence not far from the line of the old turn- pike, or possibly by a more northerly course, into what is now Fitchburg, then a part of Lunenburg, and so on to Lunenburg meetinghouse. The second was substantially the present trav- eled way from the same point to Wachusett Lake, past the house of Theodore S. Wood, where a beginning had already been made, as there had also at the Larrabee place below. The third extended from the Common around the end of the pond. The fourth was substantially the road, as it now lies, from what is known as Parker's Corner to where the late Isaac Seaver lived, Daniel Walker, his great-grandfather, being the first occupant of that site. Originally this road seems to have followed a direct line from the corner east of the house of the late Calvin Baker to the late residence of Doctor Liverpool ; and the fifth of the list named above was simply a branch of the fourth, leading from that corner to Mr. Baker's.
At this same meeting Philip Bemis, Daniel Hoar, and Joseph Miller were chosen a new road committee, and a tax of eight shillings on each lot, making an aggregate of nearly fifty pounds, was ordered for the purpose of mending the highways.
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HISTORY OF WESTMINSTER, MASS.
It was also ordered "that Such as work in the hiways have two Shilings a day from the first of may to ye first of october, and from the first of october to the first of may one Shiling and Six pence Lawful money."
Six weeks afterward, Oct. 24th, the road from the Lunen- burg road to lot No. 50, was reported and accepted by the pro- prietors. This is the first highway the courses and distances of which are preserved in the records. It was the original of the present road from Hobart Raymond's to the North Common, running by the house of the late James R. Bruce.
On the 19th of June, 1751, Daniel Hoar, Samuel Whitney, and Stephen Holden were chosen a committee "to lay out ye Highways in said township," and on the 4th of December following, reported a list of twelve which were duly considered and acted upon by the proprietors. The records of the clerk state the acceptance of only four or five of them, but the original papers relating to them severally have been found, and upon these papers memoranda to the effect that they were all ap- proved and became public thoroughfares. These roads were located in different parts of the township, and with those pre- viously provided for, furnished reasonably adequate facilities for intercommunication between the resident families of the place, and also ready access to the two established settlements on the east, Lunenburg and Lancaster.
The limits of this work will not allow a detailed statement of the action of the town from the beginning to this day upon the subject of which this chapter treats. Nor is such a statement, perhaps, specially desirable. Having indicated briefly how the present extensive and complex road system of the town com- menced and became fairly started in its growth, it is deemed suffi- cient to give in a tabulated form, chronologically arranged, a list of all the public thoroughfares as they have from time to time been laid out and opened to common use, locating them as far as possible in every case. Unimportant changes of location will not be noted, and instances of discontinuance will be referred to only in an incidental way. These thoroughfares will be arranged in the order of their acceptance and construction, and numbered accordingly. To make the list complete, it will begin with the very first and include those already mentioned, though with as little repetition as possible.
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