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 45
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" That persons exert a more powerful influence in an associated than in an individual capacity is a truth well authenticated by facts. It is a truth. equally well authenticated, that the co-operation of female associations does greatly accelerate the cause of benevolence. Believing Temperance to be one of the most important branches of the benevolent operations of the day and little comparatively having been done by the ladies of the place for this cause, We, the ladies of Westminster, do agree to form a Society the object of which shall be to relieve the unfortunate and suffering families of the inebriate, to aid and encourage poor and reformed inebriates, and to co- operate with all Total Abstinence Societies in their efforts for the suppres- sion of the evils of intemperance. The better to accomplish these designs we hereby mutually agree to be governed by the following Pledge, Rules, and Regulations.
"This Society shall be called . The Westminster Martha Washington.'
" Pledge. The members of this Society agree that they will never use any intoxicating drinks as a beverage and will in all suitable ways discoun- tenance the use of them in the community and do all in their power to re- claim the unfortunate slaves of appetite.
" It shall be considered the duty of each member of this Society to make known to any member of the Board of Officers all cases of habitual drunk- enness that may come within the limits of the Society, in order that the subjects may be plead with and if possible induced to abandon the injurious practice and sign the second Declaration of Independence - the Total Abstinence Pledge. They shall, as far as possible, attend all meetings and induce all intemperate persons to attend, so that by countenancing the meet- ings the glorious cause in which we are engaged will not suffer and grow languid.'
In a few months after its organization, this association had a membership of about 200, made up largely of the intelligent, active, and earnest women of the town, who labored diligently, conscientiously, and effectively for the reclamation of the fallen, the relief of the needy, and the true welfare, prosperity, and happiness of the community. Its first board of officers, repre- senting every school district, were, Mrs. Sally M. Titus, Presi- dent; Mrs. Charles Hudson and Mrs. Jonathan Forbush, Vice-
373
SUCCESS AND TRIUMPH OF THE CAUSE.
Presidents ; Mrs. Mary M. Wood, Secretary; Mrs. Mary F. Kendall, Treasurer ; Mrs. Rufus P. Chase, Mrs. Joseph Whitney, Mrs. Simcon Warren, Mrs. Reed Merriam, Mrs. Daniel Miles, Mrs. Josiah Page, Mrs. Joseph Howard, Mrs. Aaron Wood, Mrs. James Puffer, Mrs. Joshua Upham, Mrs. Reuben Sawin, Mrs. John Heywood, Managers.
Under the auspices of the organizations named, and by means of agencies and activities which they established co-operating with individual effort, was the great battle with King Alcohol fought nearly fifty years ago-a battle which resulted in a triumph for the right, thus rescuing the town from the fearful thraldom of the rum power and establishing it firmly on the side of sobriety, good order, and public virtue, where it remains to this day.
The work then done and the successes then gained have been followed by corresponding labors on the part of the friends of the cause, through all the intervening years. During much of the time there have been organizations-Sons of Temperance, Good Templars, and the like-to keep the camp fires of the great reform burning, to bear aloft its banner and sound its tocsin through the air-to guard its interests, maintain its principles, prevent any lapse from the lofty vantage ground it had attained, and urge it on to still grander achievements and nobler victories. The churches have been active and united in the warfare against a common foe and have done much to tone up public sentiment in this behalf, to insure vigilance and fidelity, and to sow the seed of harvests yet to come. A branch of the Women's Christian Temperance Union was formed a few years since, which, under the wise direction of Mrs. Thomas Damon as President, who is aided by a corps of devoted, earnest co- adjutors, is an efficient instrumentality for the continued prose- cution of the work it represents. A new lodge of the Order of Good Templars has recently been instituted with Abner F. Green as Chief Templar.
Anti-Slavery. It has already been made to appear, page 185, that the principles of impartial liberty had an earnest sup- port by the inhabitants of Westminster at an early period of its history, and that the idea of chattel slavery was deemed by thern utterly wrong and reprehensible. A few persons "guilty of a skin not colored like our own" were at one time held in bondage here, but the prevailing sentiment was hostile to such a custom, and it was soon eliminated from the domestic and social life of the community.
For many years there was no call or occasion for any expres- sion, public or private, upon the great system of American oppression as it existed in the Southern States of the Union, but when the movement for its overthrow was inaugurated by Benjamin Lundy, William Lloyd Garrison, and others, it awak- ened an approving response in the breast of a few who heartily
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HISTORY OF WESTMINSTER, MASS.
espoused the cause it represented and gave it earnest sympathy and support. Nothing has been found respecting the very first active efforts here in behalf of the enslaved, but it is known that as early as 1836 an Anti-Slavery Society existed, with "Edward Kendall, Jr., Secretary." Regular meetings were held, public lectures and discussions took place, and tracts were circulated in order to awaken interest in, and gain adherents to, the unpopular and much despised reform.
Distinguished champions of freedom, among whom were William Lloyd Garrison, Adin Ballou, Dr. E. D. Hudson, Rev. Charles T. Torrey, Abby Kelly, Angelina Grimke, Sally Holley, Parker Pillsbury, Henry B. Stanton, Rev. Amos Dresser, and Frederick Douglass, visited the town from time to time pleading earnestly and eloquently for the enfranchisement of the bond- man and the inborn rights of all mankind. As a result of what was done, considerable numbers took an open stand in favor of impartial liberty and against the growing usurpations of the slave power, avowing themselves ready to do what they could to insure the overthrow of the national sin.
The First Congregationalist and Baptist churches passed reso- lutions setting forth the iniquity of making merchandise of the bodies and souls of men, and the consequent duty of Chris- tian believers to absolve themselves from all responsibility therefor, and to labor diligently and perseveringly for its extinction. Not only did the apostles of the anti-slavery gospel find a welcome and a generous hearing here, but the panting fugitive, fleeing from the prison house of Southern bondage and the cruelties of an inhuman master or overseer, was granted temporary shelter and help on his way to Canada -then a refuge for the weary and oppressed.
When the proposition for the admission of Texas into the American Union, in order to strengthen and perpetuate the iron rule of the slaveholding oligarchy of the South, was brought before Congress, the town, in regular meeting assembled, Dec. 23, 1844, voted 114 to 22 to petition both the National and State Legislatures in opposition to the measure, and it was done. This was understood to be a vote against the extension of slav- ery and indirectly against the whole slave system, and was the only one taken by the citizens in their corporate capacity upon the subject until ten years afterward.
The anti-slavery sentiment of the community was of a three- fold type, and those animated by it were grouped accordingly. A certain number followed the lead of Mr. Garrison, holding that slavery was a sin against both God and man, and that all com- promises with it, both political and ecclesiastical, were wrong, and therefore not to be entered into or justified under any cir- cumstance whatsoever. They absolved themselves, therefore, from church and state relations, and sought to advance the in- terests of the cause they had at heart by moral agencies alone,-
375
THREE CLASSES OF ANTI-SLAVERY PEOPLE.
by promulgating anti-slavery truth, appealing to the public intel- ligence and conscience, and calling men and the nation to re- pentence and a new life of justice, humanity, and righteousness. This class was properly represented by such men as George Miles, Benson Bigelow, Theodore P. Locke, Benjamin and Alfred Wyman, etc. Moreover, it is to be said, in justice to all concerned, that there were women in town, respect- able as to numbers, who not only lent the cause under notice their hearty sympathy, but extended to it the help of their per- sonal co-operation. This circumstance derives additional in- terest and significance from the fact that the more radical friends of the slave, with whom they, for the most part, affili- ated, made themselves obnoxious to multitudes in the commu- nity at large, and to many anti-slavery people even, in the early days, by honoring women with positions and responsibilities, public and otherwise, to which, by reason of the change of fifty years, every class of philanthropic workers now cordially wel- comes them, and in which they render their country and their kind distinguished service.
Another class of abolitionists was composed of those who, while professing to maintain a no less faithful testimony to the moral turpitude of slaveholding, and a no less vigorous war- fare against the national crime on moral grounds, claimed to be able consistently to retain their connection with both church and state; only the church must be outspoken in its advocacy of the principles of liberty, and the political party with which they were affiliated must be established and managed in the interest of freedom and humanity. And, believing that both the great parties then existing in the country were wedded to slavery, or in guilty complicity with it, they refused allegiance to them and united in the formation and support of a new party which they deemed guiltless of all such immoral entanglements. These persons were known in their day as Third Party Aboli- tionists or Liberty Party men, and of their number were Dea. Joel Merriam, Dea. Robert Peckham, several of the Woods, and others. Their first vote for President, on an independent and distinctively anti-slavery ticket, was cast in 1840, when they threw 9 ballots against 343 for the two other candidates. In 1844 the number had increased to 50 against 311 for the old party nominees.
A third class of anti-slavery men in Westminster was com- posed of those who, while recognizing the sinfulness of slave- holding, and the duty of employing all possible agencies for creating a right public opinion upon the subject of limiting the aggressions of the slave power and ultimately bringing the nation's curse to a perpetual end, believed they could effectively supplement such efforts and hasten the desired result by con- tinuing their relations with the Whig party, to which they, with scarce an exception, belonged, and using their influence, through
376
HISTORY OF WESTMINSTER, MASS.
their votes and otherwise, to rally that party around the stan- dard of universal and impartial liberty, and so make it the in- strumentality by which at length the slave system should be destroyed and the country become "the land of the free" as well as "the home of the brave." These men and those like minded elsewhere were known as "Conscience Whigs" in con- tradistinction from their pro-slavery fellow-partizans, who bore the corresponding sobriquet of "Cotton Whigs." To this class belonged Dr. John White, William S. Bradbury, Harrison G. Whitney, John Heywood, and many others, who acted under the inspiration and leadership of such statesmen as Charles Sumner, John G. Palfrey, Henry Wilson, Judge Allen, and other distinguished citizens of the Republic at that date.
Before the recurrence of another presidential election in 1848, that phase of political anti-slavery known as the "Free Soil Movement" appeared upon the arena of public affairs, under whose auspices the "Third Party" men and the "Con- science Whigs" united to form the beginning of what grew at length to be the great, triumphant, and long regnant Repub- lican Party of the land. The vote in town for the "Free Soil" candidate for President in the year named was 190 against 210 for all others. In 1852 the corresponding vote was 143 against 218; in 1856, 293 against 70; and in 1860, when Abraham Lincoln was elected and the genius of Liberty mounted the presidential chair, 252 against 83.
Notwithstanding the seemingly vacillating state of the public mind upon the great question of the age, as indicated by the above-mentioned quadrennial votes, there was, no doubt, a steady growth of anti-slavery conviction among the people at large in town, and an increasing determination to oppose and resist, by all rightful and constitutional means, the imperious and insolent demands of the South in the interest of its "pecu- liar institution." The iniquitous measures submitted to the National Legislature from time to time, and the subsequent action upon them, together with notable occurrences at Wash- ington and elsewhere illustrating the spirit and purpose of the slaveholders and their abetters,- such as the Mexican War, the Fugitive Slave Law, the Kansas-Nebraska Bill, the Border Ruffian Invasion of Kansas, the assault upon Massachusetts' honored senator, Charles Sumner, etc., created no little excite- ment here as in other localities, and, to a certain extent, pre- pared the citizens and all concerned for the crisis that at length was forced upon the country in 1861, transferring the question at issue from the arena of polemics to the field of carnal strife, and committing its final disposition to the "arbitrament of the sword." Only once, however, in addition to the instance re- ferred to, did the town, as such, take action in regard to what was transpiring in this behalf, and put itself on record there- upon for all coming time.
377
INTEREST IN THE PEACE QUESTION.
At the annual meeting in 1854, while the so-called Kansas- Nebraska Bill was pending in Congress with strong indications of its ultimate passage, upon the recommendation of a commit- tee consisting of Joel Merriam, Jr., John Minott, and Joseph M. Whitman, chosen to consider the matter and report, the citizens
" Resolved, That we, the legal voters of Westminster in Town Meeting held Mar. 6. 1854, do most solemnly protest against the Bill now before Congress to give Territorial Governments to Nebraska and Kansas."
The reasons for this protest were declared to be, (1) That the bill proposed to annul a solemn treaty which had been made with certain tribes of Indians who had moved from the homes of their nativity east of the Mississippi to those territories, under a promise that they should remain in peaceful possession of them as long as a remnant of them existed, which was in violation of every sense of right and justice; and (2) That the involved repeal of the Missouri Compromise of 1820, so far as related to the prohibiting of slavery north of 36° 30', was in direct violation of a solemn compact between the North and the South. The town clerk was instructed to forward a copy of the resolution, with the reasons appended, to each of our (Mass.) Senators and Representatives in Washington.
Subsequently to this occurrence, the moral conflict between freedom and slavery went on as before, until the breaking out of the Rebellion, -in fact, until amid the flames of civil war and the thunders of the battlefield, the Commander-in-chief, President Lincoln, issued his immortal " Proclamation of Eman- cipation," striking the fetters from the limbs of the enslaved and setting every captive free, -an act upon which he very properly invoked "the considerate judgment of mankind and the gracious favor of Almighty God."
Peace. The spirit of human brotherhood, which gave birth to the great reformatory movements just considered, is the fruitful source of other causes having in their keeping the progress and well-being of the race. Especially does it prompt to efforts for the promotion of "Peace on earth and good will to men," involving the ultimate overthrow of the mighty war system of the world, -a system which Rev. Robert Hall, a distinguished English clergyman, declared to be "a temporary repeal of all the principles of virtue," and the celebrated Amer- ican divine, Rev. William Ellery Channing, D. D., " the worst ves- tige of barbarism and the grossest outrage upon the principles of Christianity." Through the consecrated labors of such men as Rev. Noah Worcester, D. D., and Howard Malcolm, D. D., Hon. William Jay, and George C. Beckwith, much interest in this reform was awakened throughout the general community early in this century, resulting at length in the formation of the American Peace Society and other organizations, for the pur- pose of disseminating the principles of peace, quickening the
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HISTORY OF WESTMINSTER, MASS.
spirit of reciprocity and unity among the nations, and helping to hasten on the time when " men should learn war no more."
The town of Westminster felt the impulse of this movement, and a goodly number of persons professed themselves in sympa- thy with it, and desirous of helping to realize the ends it had in view. Sincere believers in Christianity, seeing how difficult it is to reconcile the slaughter and horror of the battlefield with . the loving precepts of the Gospel, and those committed to other humanitary enterprises, recognizing the bond that unites all causes calculated to bless the world "and make the sum of human sorrows less," were constrained to acknowledge the claims of this great philanthropy, and to avow themselves in some sense or other its friends and supporters. To be sure the " War of the Rebellion " came in to show that even this so-called Christian nation was not Christian enough to obey the Master's precepts in the settlement of important questions of public policy, and to chill the ardor, if not to destroy the faith, of many of the friends of peace; yet is it to be believed and hoped that something of the former abhorrence of the wholesale slaughter of man by man still remains, something of the old- time desire for the reign of " peace and good will" among the nations - for the coming of the promised era of brotherhood and love.
Other reforms, too, have had their adherents here-those ready to confess and urge their claims. Among them that of Woman's Higher Education and Complete Enfranchisement has held an important place; a reform rising to ever-increasing promi- nence with the onward march of time, and destined to universal recognition in years not very far ahead. And so with others still, that can not in this connection be named. Here, as all through the land and all over the world, the spirit of improve- ment more or less pervades the air and animates the hearts of the people. The result sooner or later must be the righting of old wrongs, the overcoming of existing evils, the overthrow of strongly-intrenched systems of oppression and cruelty-a larger liberty and a nobler, truer life, for individuals, for society. and for all mankind.
Foreign Missions. Early in the present century a deep interest was awakened among the various churches of New Eng- land in the work of extending the benefits and blessings of the Gospel of Christ to so-called pagan nations in the far-off por- tions of the earth. It pervaded, to a considerable extent, the more humanely religious portion of the community here, and found expression in practical efforts to promote the objects which it sought to serve. Under the leadership of Mr. Mann, a monthly concert in aid of the cause of missions was estab- lished in the church of which he was pastor, and remains unto this day constant in its efforts to advance the kingdom of God in foreign lands.
379
FOREIGN MISSIONARIES.
As a result of the early enthusiasm in this behalf, three of the daughters of the town consecrated themselves to the work involved and entered into active service in the mission field - two of them giving up their lives a willing sacrifice on the altar of their faith and love. The first of these in the order of time, was Myra, daughter of Col. Abel and Phebe (Holden) Wood, born Dec. 7, 1800. She married May 28, 1827, Rev. David O. Allen of Princeton, who had engaged to go to India under the auspices of the "American Board of Commissioners for For- eign Missions," and ten days later they set sail for Bombay. Stopping for a month on their way at Calcutta, they reached their place of destination, Nov. 28th, and commenced at once their labors. Mrs. Allen gave herself unreservedly to the work she felt called upon of God to do, as evinced in her fre- quent letters to her friends at home, which were full of tender love, devout feeling, and grateful joy. After a time, her health became seriously impaired, but she recovered, resuming her duties and discharging them with unfaltering diligence and zeal. In the midst of them she was stricken down with a suddenly fatal blow, the same day witnessing her first attack, her death, and her burial. At 6.30 o'clock on the morning of Feb. 5, 1831, she gave birth to a son, Myron W. Allen, with no signs of seri- ous consequences, but an unforeseen change soon occurred, ter- minating her life three hours later, her funeral being held at 5 P. M. A memoir of her life, forming a volume of some three hundred pages, was prepared by Rev. Mr. Mann, and published by the Massachusetts Sabbath School Society-an appreci- ative tribute to a pure and lofty spirit and a consecrated life.
The second of the missionaries alluded to was Mary, daughter of Jacob and Mary (Rice) Sawyer, born Sept. 14, 1814. Having obtained an education in the common school, at Westminster Academy, and the Charlestown Female Seminary, she married Sept. 9, 1835, William C. Jackson, a native of Eaton, N. H., a former principal of the Academy, and a recent graduate of Andover Theological Seminary. On the 5th of December they set sail for the missionary field in Asiatic Turkey. Tarrying a few months at Constantinople, they then went to Trebizond on the southeast shore of the Black sea, where they remained at their chosen work about three years. Thence they were trans- ferred to Erzeroom, 150 miles distant in a northeast direction, la- boring there some six years. Mrs. Jackson's health giving way in the spring of 1844, the result of causes incident to a life of pri- vation and trial among a semi-barbarous people, they resolved, after a year of great suffering on her part with no prospect of relief, to return home, which they did, arriving at Boston, Dec. 5, 1845. Since then they have resided in Lincoln, Dunstable, and Brentwood, N. H., in which places Mr. Jackson has been settled as Congregational (Trinitarian) minister. He relin- quished pastoral labors in 1881, but continued to reside in
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HISTORY OF WESTMINSTER, MASS.
Brentwood some nine years, when they removed to Newton, their present home. Mrs. Jackson has been much of an invalid since returning from Turkey, nearly half of the time confined to her bed, and so unable to be active in Christian work, but her aim has ever been "to do what she could," illustrating the spirit of virtue, humanity, and piety, in a worthy, useful, and noble life.
Catharine Wood, cousin of Myra, was daughter of Ezra and Katy (Jackson) Wood, born Dec. 17, 1817. In August, 1839, she married Rev. Samuel H. Walcott, then of Jacksonville, Ill., and a few months later went with him to Syria, there to engage in missionary labors as his associate and helper. They were stationed at Beiroot, where she sickened and died after about two years of active, self-denying service. She was much be- loved and greatly lamented, and left a fragrant, blessed memory behind her. Her husband subsequently returned to America, married again, was settled at Providence, R. I., Cleveland, Ohio, and elsewhere, and was honored with the title of D. D. He had twelve children, of whom one, the Hon. Edward O. Walcott, is at present U. S. Senator from Colorado.
It is but proper and just to note the fact that, for some years after the war, the church to which these missionaries in foreign fields belonged, true to the anti-slavery sentiment characterizing it in previous days and a corresponding regard for the colored race, supported, wholly or in part, a teacher among the freed- men of the South, Miss Martha L. Boutelle of Leominster, whose labors, educationally and religiously, were crowned with much success, eliciting warm commendation from Gen. O. O. Howard, former head of the Freedman's Bureau, at Washington, D. C., and well known, not only for his soldierly qualities, but for his high character as a man and an American citizen. The same kind of missionary work in the home field has been carried on, or substantially aided, by other agencies and activities in town, in the interest of a common humanity and for the welfare and enduring prosperity of the Republic.
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