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 39
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About the year 1800, or perhaps a little earlier, Rev. Mr. Rice built the house formerly standing near where the dwelling of Alonzo D. Bolton now is, and set up his son-in-law, Farwell Jones, in mercantile business there, deeding him the property in 1801. Two years later Mr. Jones sold to Moses Greenwood of Hubbardston, whose son Aaron was in trade a few years, after which the building passed to other uses.
' In 1801 Farwell Jones purchased the land on which what is known as the Bradbury house stands, and erected a building, partly for a residence and partly for purposes of trade, into which he moved from his former location on the hill. Mr. Jones died in 1804, and his widow seems to have continued the business until succeeded by Rufus Dodd and Zadoc Sawyer, who were in partnership some time, the latter going on by him- self after the death of the former in 1810. Later Mr. Sawyer had for an associate David Cobb, to whom he sold his interest in 1815. Joel Wood was in possession of the property and traded there afterward. It was purchased by William S. Brad- bury in 1829.
In the year 1798 Silas Smith, who lived on the well-known Smith place, half a mile north of Scrabble Hollow, was licensed to sell intoxicants, and it is presumed that he had at that time a store also for general merchandise. Such was the case at a later date. He was in trade for many years, but is not known
21
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HISTORY OF WESTMINSTER, MASS.
to have had a successor, though his son, Capt. Silas, may have been such for a brief period.
Early in the present century a store was built on or near the site of the Westminster Bank, by Capt. Stephen Hoar, then proprietor of all the land on the south side of the main street between where the bakery now stands and the Hubbardston road. He sold it, in 1806, to Doctor Shumway, whose son-in-law, Samuel Cobb, and David Cobb, opened it for trade soon after- ward-probably its first occupants. From Doctor Shumway the property passed through the hands of his son Nehemiah into the possession of Joel Wood in 1815. Mr. Wood is understood to have carried on business there for a time, finally selling to Joseph Whitman in 1829.
In 1803 Dr. Daniel Bartlett started a drug and medicine trade in connection with the sale of liquors and other articles pertaining to his profession, at his residence near what was then the west end of the village. This was the beginning of what, after various modifications and changes, became the mis- cellaneous traffic conducted by Oliver Estey for many years, and finally by Estey and Giles.
David Forbush, elsewhere mentioned, on account of failing health occasioned by work in the tannery, left that occupation for a time and engaged in trade at Scrabble Hollow, where he was located. He subsequently gave way to his brother, Manas- seh S., and Joseph Whitman, and removed to the center of the town, where he resumed his original vocation.
Farwell Cowee, son of David who lived on the North Com- mon, opened a store near his father's residence about 1816. Some six or eight years later he gave up business at that point and moved to the Center. His successor was Asa W. Rand.
About the same date Charles Smith, residing on the road to South Ashburnham half a mile above Whitman's hotel, took out a license for the sale of spirituous liquors, and is presumed to have carried on in connection therewith the usual traffic of a country store for a few years. Still later his son Milton was in business at the same place.
Joseph Whitman, as just stated, started in trade at Scrabble Hollow with his brother-in-law, Manasseh S. Forbush. After a few years he left there and, having purchased the Shumway store on Main Street, transferred his business to that more promising locality. Later he became owner of the lot adjoin- ing on the east with a dwelling house upon it, in which he afterwards took up his abode. He erected for his use a brick structure, to take the place of the old wooden one, which was subsequently enlarged, and built up for himself in due time a prosperous trade. He made a specialty of the straw braid and bonnet manufacture and traffic, which proved highly re- munerative and helpful both to himself and the community. He continued business until advanced years and failing strength
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TRADERS OF A LATER DATE.
obliged him to give place to younger men. In the midst of his mercantile career he associated with himself Phineas W. Reed, under the firm name of "Whitman & Reed," and later in life his son, Joseph M., under the style of "Joseph Whitman & Son." For about twenty-five years previous to 1861 this store shared the advantage of having the United States post office located therein. It was removed to other quarters at the date named, but returned upon the appointment of the present post- master, Edward S. Kendall, in 1889.
In the year 1817 Samuel Cooper, in the extreme north part of the town, started a retail trade on his premises, which he continued under varying conditions until far advanced in age.
At what date a store was opened at the house of Joseph Mudge, in the western part of the central village, can not be as- certained. Nor how long it was continued there. It is said by some of the older inhabitants that his wife had charge of it, at least for a while, and that she was the first person in town who dealt in straw braid.
Nathan Corey, who built the house nearly opposite the bak- ery, now owned by E. L. Burnham, about 1820, seems to have engaged in mercantile business there for a few years, though he appears to have converted the room occupied for that purpose into a chair shop later, during his residence on the premises. Possibly Joel Wood, who bought the property in 1833, was also in trade there, the room being reconverted by him to its former use.
In or about the year 1824 Timothy Doty, who had been keep- ing the hotel in the Center for ten years before, built the large double house on the adjoining lot with a store close by, and be- gan trade there, continuing it till his last illness, ten years later. He was succeeded by Leander Cowee, Abel S. Wood, Artemas W. Johnson, Harrison Whitney, and perhaps others of brief continuance. For forty or more years the building has been used for a variety of purposes, of which mention need not be particularly made.
William S. Bradbury came from his native place, Hollis, N. H., and opened a store in the extreme north part of the town, a few rods west of what is known as the Chesmore house, on the old County road. This was in 1825. Four years later he pur- chased, at the Center, the estate with which his name was for a long time identified, and moved his business there, where he re- mained till his departure elsewhere in 1862.
In addition to the persons above named, who, it has been as- certained with a good degree of certainty, were in trade in Westminster during the first century of its history, and whose places of business have been, for the most part, absolutely de- termined, there were several others, of whom mention may be made, though very little can be affirmed respecting them. Dr. Asa Miles, who at the time owned and lived on the easterly portion of the present estate of F. A. Merriam, was licensed to
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HISTORY OF WESTMINSTER, MASS.
sell spirituous liquors in 1803, to which traffic he may have added drugs and medicines to a limited extent. Samuel Sawin, who resided where Samuel Bridge now does, was similarly fav- ored in 1805; as were also John Barnes in 1813, and Levi Graves, Jr., in 1823, neither of whom have been definitely lo- cated at the date given. Moreover, Daniel Putnam seems to have been a trader here in 1812, and Philip Crosby in 1825, but no further knowledge of them has been found.
It is a suggestive fact that, during the entire period thus far covered by this review, nearly every retail merchant in town was authorized to include alcoholic liquors among the articles offered for sale to the general public ; while during the greater part of the remainder of the town's history, as will be more fully noticed in another chapter, the opposite has been the case, -the sale of intoxicants, when allowed by law at all, having been restricted to one or two public houses in the place.
Little more will be attempted in this statement concerning the merchants and traders of the town than to present a list of those properly belonging to this class of business men, who have been here within the last generation, and the places occupied by them, with little regard to details. With the exception of a few years' trade carried on by Franklin Wyman at Wachusett- ville, about a generation since, the stores have been confined to the central village. Of these each will be spoken of in its turn, and its occupants mentioned, as far as possible, in chrono- logical order.
It has been stated that among the occupants of the store erected by Timothy Doty, after his decease in 1835, was Harrison G. Whitney, who is thought to have been the last permanently established there. He moved across the street into a building fitted up for his special use. After a few years he gave up business and was succeeded by a Protective Union which had been organized in town. After the Union dissolved, S. Gerrish Kendall occupied the premises, taking for a partner Wallace Cheney. Mr. Kendall having deceased, Mr. Cheney sold to George W. Bruce, the present incumbent.
The brick store so long owned by Joseph Whitman, and others associated with him passed, after his death in 1860, into the hands of Edmund Nichols, who put it in charge of his younger sons for a while, but soon sold to John B. Day. After Mr. Day came Nathaniel Ames and Charles G. Giles. Mr. Ames dying, Mr. Giles continued the business by himself for ten years. In 1876 he disposed of his stock, good will, etc., to Francis A. and John F. Merriam, sons of the late Joel Mer- riam, Jr., who operated under the firm name of Merriam Broth- ers. The former, after a time, bought out the latter, and is at present sole proprietor and manager.
The well-known stand at which William S. Bradbury carried
W. P. ALLEN, GARDNER, MASS.
RESIDENCE AND STORE OF F. A, MERRIAM.
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INNS AND INNHOLDERS.
on trade for a generation remained idle some years after he left town. It was then stocked with West India goods and groceries by the Sovereigns of Industry, a co-operative as- sociation of some note in its day, which sold at length to Jerome Whitman. Since the retirement of Mr. Whitman from business, in 1889, this old place of traffic has remained unoccupied.
PUBLIC HOUSES.
Inns, taverns, or hotels, as places for the accommodation and entertainment of man and beast have been variously termed during the town's history, have had a good representation in the community from the beginning. There are not less than seven- teen localities within its present boundaries at which provision has been made, at one time or another, for the traveling public and other transient patronage, since the first settlement in 1737. These can all be determined without any difficulty or doubt, as can the names of those who have presided over them and acted the part of host in them, with perhaps a few unimportant excep- tions.
The pioneer innholder here was undoubtedly the first settler, Fairbanks Moor, and his hostelry was about half of the main building now occupied as a dwelling by Hobart Raymond. He was licensed for the position the year after his arrival, 1738. For two years more he was similarly honored and authorized to serve the general public. His conveniences could not have been extensive nor his supplies very abundant, but they were probably equal to the demand. In 1741, 1742, 1743, the township seems to have had no licensed keeper of a public house. In 1744 Mr. Moor was again authorized to act in that capacity, as he was the year following, before the close of which, however, he left the place, returning afterward, but only as a transient resident.
In 1744 an innholder's license was granted to Daniel Hoar, whose place of business was a few rods east of Mt. Pleasant cemetery. There he kept tavern continuously for sixteen years, and intermittently some time afterward. In 1745 Dea. Joseph Holden opened his dwelling at the foot of the pond as a public house, an act which in those days was deemed in no wise incon- sistent with the title he bore as an officer in the church. Mr. Holden remained an innkeeper till near the end of his life and was succeeded by his son Abner, who gave up the business when called to more active and responsible public labors incident to the breaking out of the Revolution in 1776, but who resumed and continued it for several years after the war was over.
John Wheeler had a public house for a few years on or near the site of the present meetinghouse of the Congregationalist society, but had no successor. John Rand had a tavern for about ten years on the North Common, beginning in 1773. Farwell Cowee seems to have re-established this tavern in 1819 and continued it till 1823. The same year Jedediah Cooper
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HISTORY OF WESTMINSTER, MASS.
started one on the County road in the extreme north part of the town, which was kept open for some years in the present century. His son Samuel succeeded him.
A somewhat famous hostelry for a long period was the large house in the central village occupied formerly by David For- bush and his son, Joseph W. - the present residence of Edwin L. Burnham. It was first opened to the public by the builder, Joshua Everett, in 1777. In 1781 William Penniman purchased the property and continued the business for more than forty years, or until he sold to David Forbush in 1827. The place gained considerable notoriety under his administration, "Pen- niman's tavern" being noted in all the neighboring region for its good cheer and conviviality. As early as 1778 Peletiah Everett had a public inn where F. M. Carpenter now lives. He continued to dispense hospitality there some twenty years. An inn was established in 1779 by Isaac Williams at the brick dwelling near the schoolhouse of old time District No. 7, and served the public till about the close of the century. Three years subsequently one was opened at the late Benson Bigelow (now R. J. Laver) place by his grandfather, the first Elisha Bigelow. Standing on what was then the main thoroughfare from Lancaster and the lower towns to Athol and the settle- ments beyond, a large business was very soon built up there, which continued till the construction of the "Turnpike" in 1801, when, the through travel being diverted to the new road, the house was closed to the general public. But for a dozen or fifteen years it was the principal hotel in town, and one of excellent reputation wherever known.
Zachariah Whitman received an innholder's license in 1799, opening a public house in Scrabble Hollow for the accommoda- tion of the increasing travel through that part of the town. He was followed by his sons, Jonathan and Zachariah, and they in turn by their brother-in-law, Manasseh S. Forbush, before whose death, in 1868, the place was closed, having served in the capacity indicated longer than any other in the history of the town, the one in the Center alone excepted.
In the same year in which the Whitman tavern was opened to the public Stephen Hoar, son of the old innholder, Daniel Hoar, erected at the northerly end of the same lot on which his father's dwelling stood, the first installment of the present West- minster hotel, locating himself in it as its first landlord. In 1810 Mr. Hoar died, after which for two or three years it was in charge of his sons, Charles and Ezra, who sold in 1813 to Tim- othy Doty, and he in turn to Simeon Sanderson in 1833. Mr. Doty seems to have been personally in charge of the house till 1824, when he let it to Col. Oliver Adams, who run it for six years, and was succeeded by John A. Thompson. After Mr. Thompson, who was landlord only a year, Calvin Hayward had it for three years, or until the change of owners, as stated
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INNS AND INNHOLDERS-CONTINUED.
above. During Mr. Sanderson's proprietorship his brother-in- law, Emory Bates, superintended the establishment. It was subsequently disposed of to Willard Allen, who himself assumed control of it. Mr. Allen died in 1852, and his son Frederick became owner and manager for a time. It was subsequently run for a few years by Loring Jacobs, when Mr. Allen again became landlord. He sold the property to Luther Maynard from Stow, who had charge till his death in 1863, being succeeded by his son-in-law, Ferdinand Dickinson, who greatly enlarged the accommodations and made preparation for summer boarders. Capt. Samuel Beaman afterward served the public there, and a Mr. Leach. He was followed by Merrick Puffer, who kept an excellent house and did a large summer boarding business, sell- ing to the present proprietor, Emerson N. Goddard, May 10, 1884.
Isaac Miles bought the land on which the brick house near the easterly end of the central village now stands-the Doctor White estate -in 1801, and is supposed to have erected that structure directly afterward and opened it as a hotel when com- pleted. He appears to have been succeeded in the manage- ment, though not in the ownership, of the place a few years later by Adam Noyes, and he by Stephen Whitney, Jr., who died in 1810. For some time after that date the building does not appear to have been used as a public house. It was pur- chased in 1816 by Seth Wellington, who reopened it to the public, and who disposed of it in 1818 to Benjamin Davis, and Mr. Davis in turn to Farwell Cowee, the last innholder on the premises.
In the latter part of the last century John Bigelow purchased the Garfield farm, where Daniel E. Hurd now resides, and, after the completion of the turnpike, about 1800, commenced serving the public as a tavern keeper; but the experiment, probably proving unprofitable, was abandoned at the expiration of two years. Not long after, a hotel was running a mile below, in the edge of Fitchburg, which, with the farm attached, was by a legislative act set to Westminster in 1813. The keeper of it then was Thomas Miles, son of Lieutenant John, who ere long gave place to Maj. Stephen W. Webster, well remembered by the older inhabitants of the neighborhood. Mr. Webster was followed by Nathaniel Maynard, Zenas Barney, Amasa Putnam, a Mr. Bruce, and perhaps others, and lastly by Joseph Elmore. The establishment was finally destroyed by fire, though not till after it was closed as a public trysting place.
The brick house at the easterly end of the old common was used as a hotel for many years, under the administration of Augustus Emerson, who also had a store there at the same time, as noted elsewhere. His first innholder's license was taken out in 1811, the last in 1827. The latest of these public institutions, chronicled substantially in the order of their estab- lishment, was that of Nathan Corey, opened in what is now
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HISTORY OF WESTMINSTER, MASS.
Wachusettville in 1813, which had an existence of only four years.
It will be noted that this sketch not only locates the seven- teen hotels or inns that have furnished accommodations for the traveling public and solicited the patronage of the community at large, but also records, with very few exceptions, the names of those, some fifty in all, who have served as "mine host " and dispensed the diversified hospitalities and honors of those several establishments. It will also be observed that for twenty years or more a single one of them, that in the Center, has sufficed for all existing needs in that department of activity to which they relate, and that for sixty years only two, the one at Scrabble Hollow in addition to the last-named, have had a place within the limits of the town. At some periods of its history no less than seven were running at the same time. Verily, things are greatly changed in this regard.
SUPPLEMENT TO CHAPTER XVI.
Wachusettville Water Power. A connected sketch of the develop- ment of this power is herewith given, although involving in some of the de- tails occasional repetition.
Within the distance of half a mile on the stream running through the main part of this village, and having an aggregate natural fall of about 90 feet, there have been six mill privileges utilized during the history of the township. Three of these were located on lot No. 112 of the original sur- vey; two, it is believed, on No. 107, and one on No. 108. The former of these lots lay longitudinally at the west end of the other two. the boundary line between them running nearly north and south, crossing the stream on or near the site of the present principal paper manufactory. The line be- tween lots 107 and 108, running east and west, crossed the stream nearly opposite the schoolhouse. Of the building of the first sawmill in town, in 1736. by William Brattle of Cambridge, at the point where the reservoir dam now stands, the details have been given elsewhere. In 1737 Mr. Brattle sold one-fourth of the mill to Joseph Holden, in whose possession, and that of his son Abner, it remained for more than sixty years.
In 1744 Mr. Brattle, who was never a resident in the township. sold the remaining three-fourths of the mill, and the lot of 66 acres on which it was situated, to David Dunster, who had previously occupied lot No. 10 in what is now the central village. It is probable that Mr. Dunster erected a dwell- ing for himself and family close by the stream, a few rods below the old gristmill site, some indications of which are still to be seen. How long Mr. Dunster remained there is uncertain. But in 1749 he purchased lot 117, lying directly west, and, very likely, soon moved thither, since in 1751 Henry Stevens was occupying No. 112 as tenant for the time being, gaining full ownership of the same in May, 1758. Mr. Stevens died before the ex- piration of the year, and Elijah Gibbs, who settled his estate and subse- quently married the widow, came into early possession of the property. Mr. Gibbs died in 1773.
The next owners, so far as can be ascertained, were William Edgell and Thomas Bemis, who, it is presumed, purchased of the administrator of Mr. Gibbs' estate. Edgell and Williams disposed of the lot in 1782 to Thomas Rand of Weston. Up to this date only the sawmill stood upon the stream, as in the time of William Brattle, one-fourth of which was still owned by Abner Holden. But the new purchaser, a housewright and a man of enter- prise and thrift withal, soon began to make improvements in the way of utilizing the yet unemployed power below the existing dam. He put up
Lux Eng. Co., Boston Mass.
FRANKLIN WYMAN.
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UPPER WACHUSETTVILLE PROPERTY.
the gristmill a few rods down the stream, and still farther a fulling mill and clothier's shop. Near to the last, on the very borders of his lot, and deriv- ing power from the same dam, he also built a blacksmith's shop, with a trip hammer attachment, for doing common blacksmithing and the manufacture of iron goods for the general market. Before the year 1792 he sold this last to Isaac Williams and Thomas Bemis, and with it the right to draw half the water from the pond directly above. In July of that year he disposed of the fulling mill and its appurtenances, with lands adjoining, to David Wyman of Jaffrey, N. H., and in December the rest of the property, in- cluding both the sawmill and gristmill, to Simeon Brooks of Ashburnham, and Ephraim Robbins for some years before a citizen of Westminster. The next year Mr. Robbins sold his share to Asa Farnsworth, who lived on the estate now owned by Samuel H. Sprague, and early in 1795 Mr. Brooks did the same. In 1799 Mr. Farnsworth bought the quarter of the sawmill previously owned by Abner Holden, which put him in possession of all of lot No. 112 and its belongings. except the fulling mill and trip hammer shop, with lands contiguous thereto.
It is to be presumed that Mr. Farnsworth built the carding mill which stood on the north side of the road opposite the sawmill, and which was run by water from the sawmill pond, though it may possibly have been erected by the next known owner, Eleazer Rider of Holden, in possession of the entire property in 1803, the date of whose purchase has not been learned. In May of that year Mr. Rider sold the saw- and gristmills, with the land on the north and west side of the road, excepting a small piece on which the carding mill was located, about thirty-seven acres, to Nathaniel G. Wood of Holden, and, two years later, the carding mill and its site, with twenty acres of land and a house on the south and east side of the road, to his son, Joseph Rider, who became a permanent resident in town, the father being but temporarily here.
It would seem that Mr. Wood built and occupied the original house stand- ing on the site of the recent residence of George W. Merriam. That he lived there is certain, but no mention of a dwelling is made in the deed conveying the property to him. He sold, in 1811, all his possessions, - two mills, thirty-seven acres of land, a house and barn, -to Asa Moor of West Boylston, and Mr. Moor, five years afterward, disposed of the same to Thomas Miles. previously a hotel keeper on the turnpike below the Daniel Miles place. Mr. Miles mortgaged the property to Andrew Whitney of Princeton, and it was sold under foreclosure to Wonder Wears, from whom it passed to the ownership of Asa Farnsworth and by him was advertised for sale in the Massachusetts Spy, 1825. It reverted by purchase, or other- wise, to Mr. Wears, who disposed of the house, gristmill. and lands to Plympton Barnes in 1824, and whose executor, Dr. A. G. Parker, in 1841, sold the sawmill to Franklin Wyman, in whose possession it has since remained. Mr. Barnes sold the gristmill. etc., to Almon Derby and John Edgell in 1829, and Mr. Derby, who had bought out Edgell, to Franklin Wyman in 1836. David Wyman, Jr., bought it in 1840, from whom it passed to his brother Alfred, and thence back to Franklin in 1845. The same year it was bargained to Oliver Carter of Berlin, who run it for two years and then reconveyed it to Mr. Wyman.
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