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 3
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Streams. Numerous water courses, originating in the natural ponds of which mention has been made, and in adjoin- ing towns, exist within the boundaries of Westminster. In the extreme north is Phillips' Brook, which gets its name from Col. Ivers Phillips, once an enterprising manufacturer of Fitch- burg, who had extensive works upon the stream. It comes from Ashburnham, and after flowing nearly two miles in a south- erly direction, passes into the city just referred to, where it soon after is known as the Nookagee River, an affluent of the Nashua. In the early records of the town this stream is often spoken of as " the most northerly river." In the same direction, at about half the distance from the Center, is Whitman's River, so called for reasons already indicated. It rises in Gardner, and passing through South Ashburnham, where it furnishes power to several manufactories, enters Westminster, whence, after a course of about three miles, it crosses the line of Fitchburg. This is the "North River" of the early inhabitants. A stream rises in what is called Cedar Swamp, two miles southwest of the Center, and running northerly and easterly a little north of the
9
STREAMS AND MEADOWS.
main village, finds its way into the town meadow reservoir already named, whence it flows a mile farther and unites with Whitman's River, below the railroad station. An interesting fact in regard to this stream is that, after passing the immediate vicinity of the village, it is divided by nature into two nearly equal parts, which come together again in the reservoir, three- fourths of a mile below, thus forming an island of about one hundred acres in extent, rising by gentle slopes on every side to an altitude of some one hundred and twenty-five or one hundred and fifty feet above the circumjacent valley, and form- ing a prominent feature of the landscape.
The Westminster and Wachusett Ponds both have outlets of considerable size, the waters of which unite in the Wachu- settville reservoir and flow thence eastward beyond the town boundaries. All the streams thus far mentioned, with others from outside, come together in Fitchburg and combine to form the north branch of the Nashua River, the chief tributary of the Merrimac, through whose channel their waters at length reach the sea.
A brook in the westerly part of the town, having its source also in Cedar Swamp, after being intercepted by several reser- voirs, passes into Gardner and empties into Otter River, a branch of the Miller's River, whose contents enter the Con- necticut at Greenfield. Three or four small streams in the southerly part, taking ,their way into Hubbardston, become feeders of the Ware River and through that of the Chicopee, emptying at length into the Connecticut, near Springfield. The waters of all these last-named streams finally reach the ocean through Long Island Sound.
Lowlands. At the time of the settlement of Westminster and for many years afterward, the lowlands, swamps, and meadows were deemed of special value and were made the subject of special rules in the assignment of them to the origi- nal proprietors. They were not included in the division of the territory into farm or other lots, except they were of very limited extent, but were surveyed and laid out by a separate plan and in such a way as to equalize them in the final appor- tionment, as will appear in proper place and time. They meas- ured in the aggregate about six hundred acres, giving to the proprietors about five acres each. Some of the more important of them were located in that part of the territory subsequently set off to Gardner. Of this class were those lying along the banks of Otter River and streams flowing into it, in the south- west section of that town, and Spectacle Meadow, located below the present mills of Thomas Greenwood and of Lewis A. Wright & Co., at the eastern extremity of South Gardner village.
Within the borders of the town, as it now is, were the fol- lowing, to wit : - The Town Meadow, sometimes designated as
10
HISTORY OF WESTMINSTER, MASS.
the Great Meadow, situated east of Meeting-house Hill, now covered by the reservoir of Caleb S. Merriam ; Brattle or Long Meadow, which lay above the first (Narrows) sawmill, its lower portion having been given to William Brattle of Cambridge, in consideration of his erecting said mill; Mare Meadow, so-called as early as 1741, from the fact, it is said, that Joseph Hosley's mare was mired there, located in the southerly part of the territory, near the recently constructed road to Hubbardston ; Beech Hill Meadow, lying at the foot of the eminence bearing that name, on the southerly side; Pond Meadow, on the borders of Muddy Pond; and Hoar's Meadow of eighteen acres, not definitely located, but supposed to be a part of Tophet Swamp, west of the central village. There were other meadows having no specific name, being indicated in the records in a general way, as, for instance, one "that lieth on the easterly side of a Pond cast of the sawmill" (Grassy Pond); one "that lieth upon the stream that runneth through Mare Meadow"; one "in the north part of the town," probably on Whitman's River, near Ashburnham line; one "lying upon Lunenburg line, on a brook that runneth through the Great Meadow," that is, south- east of the railroad station, etc.
Cedar Swamp is in the southwesterly part of the town and is noted for the abundant growth of the kind of wood whose name it bears. The cedar was possessed of qualities which gave the land producing it pre-eminent value in the olden time, and this swamp, for that reason, was reserved in the general division and distribution of the territory, and afterward sold for the common benefit of the whole body of proprietors. An unusual and interesting natural fact connected with this swamp is, that it has three distinct outlets flowing in three different directions, north, south, and west, which constitute the head-waters of branches of three important rivers of the state - the Nashua, Miller's, and Chicopee rivers.
Though the lowlands enumerated above were deemed so val- uable at the outset as sources of food-supply for the horses and cattle of the early settlers, thereby being a strong inducement for those looking for a home in the wilderness to locate in the vicinity of them, and though they served an excellent purpose in that particular for the greater part of a century, yet have they greatly deteriorated in later years, and in many instances are regarded as of little worth, the nutritious grasses which formerly gave them value having in good part or wholly disap- peared. Whether or not they will ever be re-habilitated and made profitable to the husbandman or horticulturist, is a problem for the future to solve.
Elevations. It is not known that any careful and trust- worthy topographical survey of the town's territory has ever been made. Recently, however, a commission, authorized by the United States government, has been over the ground in a
11
ELEVATIONS AND LOCAL NAMES.
certain (or uncertain) way, and the result of its labors given to the public in a series of charts upon which a few computations have been based. Those charts assume the correctness of the figures representing the height of the railroad track above sea level, as furnished by the engineer of the Vermont & Massachu- setts corporation, but as they do not indicate measurements of less than twenty feet in extent, smaller distances being esti- mated by the writer from a limited personal knowledge of the several points mentioned, respectively, it is obvious that quite an element of uncertainty must enter into the problem involved. Nevertheless, the enumerations presented, though not mathe- matically, but only approximately, correct, may be considered sufficiently so for purposes of general information and for all the practical uses of life. With these explanations the follow- ing table is submitted to the interested reader :
Designated Localities.
Altitude.
Town line, where it crosses Wachusett mountain
1400 feet.
Graves' Hill, the highest isolated point
1325
Beach Hill, at the rear of Amasa Lovewell's
1165
Prospect Hill, above Winship buildings
1150
Bean Porridge Hill
1130 ..
Old Common, at the site of old Meeting-house
1120
66
Ball Hill
I125
South Westminster, foundation of factory
1060
Town Hall building
1060 66
Meeting-house Pond
1000 ..
Muddy Pond
950
66
Town Meadow
900
..
Wachusett Lake
870
66
Wachusettville Reservoir (full)
870 .6
Whitman's Village, in front of old hotel
Soo
Railroad station
726
Whitman's River, at Fitchburg line
655
Local Names. There are numerous localities within the limits of Westminster which have been designated during longer or shorter periods of its history by special names more or less familiar to its inhabitants and to many residing else- where. Some of those names have been already mentioned and the points or sections of territory to which they refer have been sufficiently indicated. But there are others frequently used and likely to appear on subsequent pages of this volume, which it seems desirable and important to specify and to apply in a definite way to the places and situations where they respec- tively belong. For the convenience of the reader, they are presented in a somewhat tabulated form.
" The Common," or " The Old Common," has already been alluded to as the open area which crowns the summit of Meet- ing-house Hill. It originally comprised about six acres, but has been greatly reduced by sale and otherwise. until it is scarcely more than half that size at the present time.
12
HISTORY OF WESTMINSTER, MASS.
" The North Common " designates the original site of the Universalist house of worship, together with the open lot upon which that structure fronted, situated a mile and a half north- east of the Center, opposite the schoolhouse of what was form- erly District No. 9.
"Scrabble Hollow " is a compound term applied to the group of buildings located half a mile north of the last-named place, already spoken of as Whitman's Village.
" The Narrows " was the name first given to Wachusettville, and still frequently used, - suggested evidently by its peculiar situation between the river and the somewhat abrupt acclivities flanking it on the southerly side.
" Frog Hollow " was the rustic title once applied to what is now the active, flourishing village of South Westminster.
"Tophet," or "Tophet Swamp," designates a track of woody lowland situated half a mile west of the central village.
"Parker's Corner" was the point where the Princeton and Rutland roads divide, one and a half miles from the Center, near the residence of J. Hervey Miller - the lands and residence just above on the latter road, now owned by F. A. Taylor, being once occupied by Caleb Parker, an early settler in the town.
" Miles' Corner" was a similar point a mile farther on the Rutland road, above the dwelling of Mrs. Julia A. Foster. Two Miles families, one living where Mrs. Foster now does and the other on a farm adjoining, known as the Keyes place, made the name appropriate.
"The Turnpike " was the principal thoroughfare through the town for many years, coming from South Gardner and running to Leominster, as hereafter more fully described.
"The Street" is the main road through the Central village, and may be considered as extending from the schoolhouse in District No. I to the Nichols chair establishment, or perhaps as far as the parting of the ways, beyond.
"Bacon Street" runs at right angles with the last, from a point nearly opposite the Universalist church, northward for half a mile or more.
"Pleasant Street" is a short street running from the last- named, past the residence of Joseph Hager, parallel with Main Street, to the road leading to Leominster and Fitchburg.
" Eliot Street " is a public way connecting the same thorough- fares as the last, some twenty-five rods farther northward.
" Hopkins Road " - the name formerly given, as found in the records, to Bacon Street and its extension towards Beech Hill. Its origin and the reason of its use have not been ascertained.
"No-town," a considerable tract of unincorporated land, formerly lying between Fitchburg, Leominster, Princeton, and Westminster. By an act of the legislature, passed April 10, 1838, it was divided into three parts and annexed to the three last-named towns, respectively.
CHAPTER II.
NATURAL RESOURCES AND PRODUCTIONS.
STRUCTURAL FORMATION-CHARACTER OF SOIL-FLORA AND FAUNA -INDIAN OCCUPATION.
Geology. No detailed and critical examination of the geological characteristics of the town of Westminster, by an experienced scientist, has ever been made, so far as ascertained, and therefore only a few general statements pertaining to this department of the work in hand can be presented in these pages. The underlying basis of the soil, according to Edward Hitchcock, D. D., the former learned geologist of the State of Massachusetts, is what may be termed ferruginous gneiss, a meta- morphic or fire-produced formation, constituting, if not the pri- mary or earliest rock resulting from the cooling of the original molten mass of the substance of the earth, yet the lowest accessi- ble portion of the earth's crust. Gneiss is a kind of granite, being composed of the same essential elements, - quartz, feldspar, and mica, with an occasional blending of other ingre- dients. In granite, these elements are mixed promiscuously together, forming one compact mass. In gneiss, they are arranged in layers, more or less definitely marked, rendering it difficult, sometimes, to distinguish between the two. Quartz is composed of silicon, the main constituent of pure sand, and oxygen, while feldspar has silica for a base, combined with alumina, the chief ingredient of clay, and potash. Mica is a mineral better known by the common name of isinglass, and can be easily detected by its shining properties in most of the broken stone of the vicinity. Into this gneiss or stratified granite there is introduced an infusion or admixture of iron, giving it a more or less rusty appearance, and making it highly susceptible to oxidation and consequent decomposition, - a dis- solving process plainly discernible where the primal rock is exposed to the atmosphere for a lengthy period. In some parts of the town the rock assumes a slaty form, producing what is denominated Merrimac schist, from its prevalence in the valley of the Merrimac River. In other localities, a kind of rock termed greenstone, from its usual color, appears - a variety of trap rock, in which hornblende and feldspar pre- ponderate.
This gneissic base or substratum, though occasionally brought to view in ledges and crag-like eminences, as at Graves' Hill and Crow Hill, and also in excavations, is for the most part far
14
HISTORY OF WESTMINSTER, MASS.
below the surface, furnishing a bed for a heterogeneous mass of various and multiform substances, often denominated, in a general, unscientific way, earth or soil. Portions of this mass, especially the aluminous deposits found and utilized in divers sections of the town, belong to what are termed the secondary and tertiary periods of geologic development, but most of it must be ascribed to the later or " drift " age of the building of the world. A certain percentage of the latter is, no doubt, native to the locality, its existence being due to agencies and causes operating in situ, or wherever it is found; but the greater part is foreign, having been brought here by some of those mighty movements of a glacial character, which, in long-gone ages, swept over the continent, changing the face of outward nature, and determining not only the physical characteristics of the earth's surface for all coming time, but the fortunes of many generations of the then unborn children of men. The great body of sand, gravel, pebble stones, and coarser earthy matter of this whole region, is to be attributed to this source, as is also most of the broken rock so widely prevailing. More- over, the boulders, often of great size, scattered here and there indiscriminately, sometimes lying entirely above the surface of the ground, and sometimes partly or wholly beneath it, having no kinship to the native rock, belong also to what is denomi- nated "drift," and were brought, by the agencies indicated, from far away - from New Hampshire or Vermont, or perhaps even more distant places, where they were originally produced.
Commingling with these different kinds of coarser deposit, and sometimes covering them entirely, are there finer ingredi- ents, also transported hither by vast water currents or rivers of a later date, moving southward and bearing them in the form of sediment of decomposed mineral and other matter, to be deposited just as the overflowings of the Connecticut River at this day deposit fertilizing material upon the meadows they hide from human sight. Little of this sediment or alluvium, as it is technically called, is found in Westminster, except on some of the intervales or meadow bottoms in the casterly sec- tions of its territory. Added to these drift and alluvial deposits, wherever they exist, are there other constituents of the soil, arising, as suggested above, from the local disintegration of native or imported rock, and the direct decomposition of animal and vegetable matter, both of which processes have been going on for untold ages, here as elsewhere on the globe. In the several ways referred to, is derived that diversified aggregation of organic and inorganic substances of which the surface of the township is composed, and in which are represented those elementary principles, chemical and otherwise, that give it fertility and productiveness, and render it capable, under the influence of the meteorological conditions attending it, and with proper culture, of feeding the hunger of animal life, of assum-
15
CHARACTER OF THE SOIL.
ing numberless forms of beauty and attractiveness, and of ministering in manifold ways to the necessity, the comfort, and the happiness of all classes of people.
The Soil. According to the deductions and teachings of abstract science, as represented by some of the best students of nature, a soil which has a gneissic basis or substratum is not characterized by fertility, and hence not favorable to the purposes of agriculture. Practically, however, as Doctor Hitch- cock states, such conclusions are not proved to be absolutely sound and trustworthy, since some of the most fruitful and profitable farms in Worcester County and elsewhere are of exactly this character. It is possible, as the same authority suggests, that the iron which enters into the composition of the rock in this region of country, is invested with properties con- ducive to vegetable growths, either of themselves or by com- bining with other elements with which they are brought in contact. Or, it may be, its power of oxidation enables it to set frce more rapidly than would otherwise be the case, some of the constituents of the native rock or other formations, such as potash or phosphorous, which are so helpful in promoting the development of vegetable life. However this may be, it is very certain that Westminster, though ranked as an agricul- tural town, can not be regarded as particularly adapted to agri- cultural uses. The composition of its soil, as set forth, is not such as to render it susceptible of luxurious growths or of a high state of cultivation. And then, lying as the town does upon a ridge of hills, the land is constantly losing, by the force of winds and waters, some of those fertilizing elements liberated by the decomposition of animal and vegetable matter, while, for the same reason, it is exposed to those bleak and chilling blasts which tend to retard, and in some instances prevent altogether, the growth and ripening of what may be sown or planted there. Naturally, therefore, the town is better fitted for grazing purposes than for the cultivation of fruit and cereal crops. Furthermore, the elevated position of the place renders the season comparatively short, though there is a considerable difference between the easterly and westerly parts of the town in this as well as in other respects, - the advantage being very decidedly on the side of the former.
And yet, speaking in a general way, Westminster may be considered up to, if not above, the level of the average Massa- chusetts town, for the prosecution of the calling of the hus- bandman. The land responds readily to wise and faithful tillage, and there are a goodly number of farms which, by such tillage perseveringly followed for a series of years, have been made to yield satisfactory returns for the labor expended upon them. The farmhouses, barns, and outbuildings, as well as the general appearance of the fields, orchards, and gardens, bespeak, in many instances, an unusual degree of industry,
16
HISTORY OF WESTMINSTER, MASS.
thrift, and material prosperity, and a more than average amount of real independence, solid comfort, and substantial happiness. In proof of what has been remarked concerning the adaptability of the soil to grazing purposes, it may be said that much atten- tion has in recent years been paid to the production of milk for the home and general market, while the practice of special farming in the line of raising early vegetables and small fruits, for the supply of the demand existing among the artisans of the town and in the prosperous manufacturing centers readily accessible, seems to be growing in favor, and, no doubt, might be greatly increased. The tendency to centralization, every- where manifest as a feature of modern life, and the general in- crease of mechanical industries, have resulted in the surrender and abandonment of numerous homesteads in the outer districts during the last half century, of which proper notice will be taken in due time and place. Unquestionably the multiplication of manufacturing establishments in the community at large, the superior inducements offered to the honest tiller of the soil by the virgin lands of the great West, and the very natural desire to earn a livelihood or make a fortune more rapidly and more easily than can be done upon a New England farm, have oper- ated against the agricultural interests, here as well as in other parts of this section of the country, and caused the tilling of the soil to fall below what it otherwise might have been, as a source of the means of subsistence and of the essential out- ward blessings of life. In view of the changes alluded to, it is to be questioned, when all the factors in the problem are taken into account, and all the compensations of a New England yeo- man's lot are estimated, whether more is not lost than gained to the individual, and to the community and country, by what has thus transpired. Among the most substantial, honored, trusted, and successful citizens of Westminster, during the entire period of its history, have been those who have lived upon and cultivated the soil, - their own broad acres respond- ing to their daily toil with remunerative harvests year by year, enabling them to have and maintain that unsurpassed type of competence, comfort, and content, -a New England farmer's home.
Flora. Of the immense number of varieties of plant life distributed over the surface of the globe, only a few can be found within the limits of an ordinary Massachusetts township. The products of the soil native to Westminster are similar to those prevailing throughout the general section of country of which it forms a part. Tradition, confirmed by such testimony as is found in old letters and scraps of personal narrative or diaries, teaches that the territory when taken possession of by the first proprietors, with the exception of the meadow-lands, a few boggy, unfruitful swamps, and some bleak and ledgy hills, was covered with a dense growth of different kinds of wood
17
TREES AND SHRUBS- BERRIES.
indigenous to this locality. It would seem that the chestnut predominated, with a liberal proportion of the several varieties of oak, maple, birch, pine, and ash, of hemlock, spruce, and hackmatack. The beech was common in some parts of the town, cedar grew in certain of the lowlands, and walnut or hickory graced the slopes of the Wachusett. Numerous smaller and less important kinds of trees, with the usual varieties of underbrush, were scattered through the forests, though it is understood that until a short period before the settlement, these were kept in check, if not essentially destroyed, by fires which the Indians were wont to set, from time to time, in order to render the locality more accessible and traversable as hunting grounds. The original growth of wood and timber was years ago entirely cut off, a few imposing specimens of which, espe- cially in the shape of pine lots, are remembered by the older inhabitants, and the second or third, or perhaps the fourth, has taken its place, in which most, if not all, the original varieties are to a greater or less extent reproduced. No new species of forest trees have been introduced, though a few shade or orna- mental ones have come in, to occupy and adorn the gardens or lawns of residents. During the past forty or fifty years, con- siderable tracts of land, previously cleared and devoted to graz- ing or tillage, on account of the abandonment of farms alluded to and for other reasons, have been allowed to grow up to wood, so that the acreage of forest is much greater to-day than form- erly. As a result, there is now enough of this in town to supply all common needs, to give pleasing variety to the land- scape, to impart salubrity to the air, to soften the fierceness of wintry blasts and break the violence of summer tempests, and to aid in keeping up the supply of nature's water fountains, to which woodlands so largely contribute.
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