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 48
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No. 70. In the extreme W. part of the town, on the old Co. road leading from near P. P. Ellis' to S. Gardner, in what is known as the "Clark pas- ture," is a cellar and other signs of a former homestead. In 1778 the lot No. 40, 3d Div., was purchased by James Guggins from Dorchester, who built and lived there some years. From him it passed through the hands of several non-resident proprietors to Daniel Hinds from Boylston, who occu- pied it while in town. In 1798 Hinds sold to Josiah Flagg, Lanc., and he, in 1802, to Lemuel Johns from Pn., a colored man, who was there with his family till 1810. From Mr. Johns it passed to Moses Smith, Lanc., thence to Josiah Flagg again, and finally to Jonas Clark, Waltham, from whom the property derived its name.
No. 71. Somewhere between the last named place and the Clarendon Oxford house, on the old turnpike, lived a few years and died, Micah Graves. Whether or not others res. there is not known. The house was little more than a shanty.
No. 72. In a pasture belonging to P. P. Ellis, on the N. side of the road leading westward from his residence. is an old cellar. In the house which once covered it lived another colored family by the name of Ebbets. Prob. it had occupants whose names are unknown. By whom it was built or owned has not been learned.
No. 73. Westerly from the last named place, near the borders of the town, is a homestead site reached by a side-way from the main thoroughfare. It was owned and occupied in 1787 by John Adams, great uncle of the pres- ent Alden F. Adams, who prob. erected the buildings and became the first resident. He was succeeded by his son, Daniel, who lived there some years, selling in 1824 to his son-in-law, Joseph Metcalf of Pn., a long-time resident. He was followed by Joshua Upham, the last known occupant. The lot was No. 32, 3d Div.
No. 74. A cellar on the E. side of the road ab. one-third of the distance from the old Minott sc. house site to the Daniel Sawin, Jr., now Wid. Nor-
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HISTORY OF WESTMINSTER, MASS.
man Seaver, corner, marks the spot where Daniel Sawin, Sen., lived and died. Samuel Learned and others succeeded him.
No. 75. Still farther southward, on the same side of the road, was the Abner Sawin residence, in which, after his decease, his son Charles, and perhaps others of the family, lived.
No. 76. On the corner opp. where Wid. Norman Seaver now resides, a dwelling was erected and occupied for a few years by James Sawin. There was a blacksmith shop on the premises. There also lived Henry Weed, a somewhat noted iron-worker of his time, and also Wm. Bemis, a well-known blacksmith in town seventy or eighty years ago.
No. 77. Some half a mile S. W. of the former Asahel Seaver place, now in possession of W. E. Chambers, on No. 13, 3d Div., once resided John Dunn, having built a house there ab. a hundred years ago. Whether or not he had successors is unknown. The property belonged to the estate of his wife's father, Josiah Puffer.
No. 78. One of the early homesteads in town was that of Benjamin Bellows, located on the central Hub. road, half a mile S. of the Knower corner, so-called. Remnants of an old orchard, seen soon after beginning to ascend the hill, mark the general location of the buildings, their exact site not being determined. At a later day the premises were owned and occupied by Ephraim Robbins, whose name the place formerly bore.
No. 79. Indications of an ancient residence are to be seen some fifty rods N. of the present Susan Derby dwelling, not far from where D. La Ferrier lives. It is thought to have been built and occupied by Joseph Sweetzer, who md. Persis, dau. of Reuben Miles. Afterwards a family by the name of Lewis lived there, and prob. others.
No. 80. The still remaining cellar and other tokens of a farmhouse, etc., ab. 40 rods S. of the residence of Mrs. Josiah Foster, near S. West., show where Benj. Garfield settled in 1742. Subsequent owners and resi- dents were Wm. Baldwin, Lieut. John Miles, and his son Thomas, Salmon Leland, and Jotham Keyes, the last occupant of the premises.
No. 81. The well-known place so long in possession of John K. Learned, at the corner formed by the divergence of the Rutland and Worcester roads, was originally built upon by Seth Walker, the first miller of the township, ab. 1742. Following him as residents there were Andrew Darby, his son John, and gd. son. John, Jr., David Nichols, Aaron Sawin, and Mr. Learned, who located there ab. 1840. The house was burned some years since.
No. 82. In the rear of the present residence of Ephraim Lufkin, for- merly Harrington place, near the line of the old proprietors' road, are there traces of the home of Susannah Child, an unmd. woman, who lived there some 50 years. She was sister of Sarah Child, the first wife of Seth Her- rington, and of Joshua Child, who first settled on the lot No. 23, and, no doubt, built the house.
No. 83. On lot No. 27, lying on both sides of the stream above the George Smith sawmill, Jonathan Lawrence had a house in 1751. He sold in 1753 to Joseph Hosley, and he, in turn, the next year to Nathan Maynard from Sudbury. Mr. Maynard, in 1757, enlisted in the F. and 1. War, and died in the service. The house, which stood on the W. side of the stream a few rods N. of the G. Smith dwelling, with adjoining lands, soon after passed to the possession of Nathan Wood, and only transient tenants lived there afterward.
No. 84. On a bridle way leading from near the last named site to Wachu- settville, was located the house of Hubbard Dunster. After his occupancy it was owned by Joseph Rider, Ebenezer Sawin, who sold to Nathan Darby and Ezra Miller, but who the residents were has not been ascertained.
No. 85. Near by the last was the residence of Dudley Bailey, who md. Mr. Dunster's sister, Ruhamah. Both places were a part of lot No. 76, the old David Dunster farm.
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ABANDONED HOMESTEADS-CONTINUED.
No. 86. On the road to Wachusett Lake, below the Tottingham place, now owned by Mrs. Larrabee, stood the dwelling of the late Daniel Fos- kett, Jr. It was built by Ebenezer Conant ab. 1750, who soon sold to his bro. Thomas, a permanent resident on it. His son, Thos., Jr., owned it awhile, then sold to Cowee and Jones. When they failed, Simeon Sander- son came into possession of the property. Preston Pond bought it in 1827 and conveyed it to Mr. Foskett, the last resident owner, in 1830.
No. 87. Very early in the history of the township Joseph Gibbs was the occupant of lot No. 102, now represented by Wm. H. Benjamin. He had a house there in 1751. It was on the high land near the eastern extremity of the lot, in the neighborhood of Crow Hill, where memorials of it are still to be seen. Mr. Gibbs d. before 1758, when his bro. Clark sold the estate to Timo. Hoar of Concord, whose son, Timothy, Jr., settled perma- nently upon it.
No. SS. The third lot S. of Mr. Gibbs' was that of Robert Seaver, who in 1751 had "2 acres cleared and a frame of a house built." He prob. fin- ished and occupied the house. The exact site has not been found. After his d., before 1755, the property went into the possession of John Estabrook, who, having a dwelling already on his house lot, allowed this one to go to decay.
No. 89. On the same lot (the odd No. 70), by the side of the road south of the John C. Miller (now Peeler) place, is a cellar which marks the former residence of John Hadley. It was built by him at a comparatively modern date. and was occupied by him and others.
No. 90. Opposite the present residence of W. H. Evans, near Sc. Ho. No. 7, formerly was the house of Dea. James Walker, prob. built by Moses Stearns, who sold the lot, No. 68, to Mr. W. in 1760. After the d. of Mrs. Walker, in 1826, the buildings were removed and all signs of their existence were obliterated.
No. 91. Ascending the hill westward from Wachusett Lake, on a high knoll south of the road, one may find an old cellar on which was the resi- dence for many years of Samuel Harrington. If he had any successors, they were but temporary ones.
No. 92. In the same neighborhood, twenty rods, perhaps, south of the present Parcher place, is what remains of the cellar of a house built by John Headley (Hadley) of Lincoln, and perhaps occupied by him for a time, but sold to his son Josiah in 1769. A few years after, Mr. Hadley sold to John Mead of Ashm., and he very soon to Edward Goodnow of Pn., who lived there. In 1782 Edmund Barnard bought it and it was subsequently occu- pied only by transient tenants. Among these was Nathan (? ) Lewis.
No. 93. On the Miller road, so-called, running along the eastern slope of Graves' Hill, some 30 rods S. of the present dwelling of James M. Childs, lived for a while John(?) Ryan, the cellar of whose house still remains. The building was a temporary one and disappeared some years ago.
No. 94. Fifty or sixty rods farther south, on the W. side of the road, is the site of the Drury farm buildings. They were erected apparently by Joseph Hosley, who sold the lot, No. 60, with improvements, to his son Wm. in 1760. After res. there 15 yrs. Wm. Hosley sold to Peter Graves. and he in turn to Paul Matthews in 1797. The next year Mr. Matthews conveyed the estate to Eleazer Drury. After Mr. D's d. in 1845, the buildings went to decay.
No. 95. Still farther south, on the same side of the highway, stood the residence of three generations bearing the same name, Samuel Merriam, in regular succession. The oldest purchased the lot, No. 61, and located upon it as the first resident in 1772; the youngest d. in 1853. Members of the family lived there a few years afterward, when the place, as a homestead, was abandoned.
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HISTORY OF WESTMINSTER, MASS.
No. 96. On the adjoining lot, No. 59, lying mostly over the hill, some 40 rods S. E. of the residence of James M. Davis, is a cellar-hole distinctly recognizable. On it a house was built ab. 1750 by Jacob Warren, who d. a year or two later. His wid. md. Lieut. John Miles, who thereby came into possession of the estate, afterwards owned and prob. occupied by his son Thomas. In 1805 it was sold to Levi Graves, who removed the buildings.
No. 97. About half a mile directly S. of the last site, near where the old No. 3 Sc. Ho. formerly stood, on lot 72, is there a cellar upon which a dwelling was erected in 1763 by Hananiah Rand. Twenty yrs. later he sold to James Bowers, whose name the place bore for a long time, and who was prob. the last resident proprietor. It ultimately became the property of Asa and Reed Merriam.
No. 98. The adjoining lot southeastwardly. No. 73, was purchased by Stephen Calef of Waltham in 1756. He erected farm buildings upon it and spent most of his subsequent life there. The buildings stood on the sum- mit of the hill W. of the recent site of No. 3 Sc. Ho.
No. 99. On the E. side of the Pn. road, ab. 100 rods S. of the Reed Merriam (now J. W. Black) corner, may be seen distinctly marked among the walnuts the site of the dwelling of Wm. Stedman, erected ab. 1762. Dying unmd. soon after, his bro. James came into possession of the prop- erty. He d. bef. 1783, when his widow(?), Sarah Stedman, sold to Thomas Merriam. Nothing further known.
No. 100. Beyond the last named place, on lot 87, lived John Gill, who had "a small frame of a house" in 1751. Mr. Gill d. a few years later, and his wid. sold to Capt. John Carter of Lanc., who res. there some time and was succeeded by his son Thomas. Site of house undetermined. In 1792 the property was divided and disposed of to Saml. Brooks, Worc., Nicholas Dike, and Thos. Merriam.
No. 101. On the westerly Pn. road, there is the cellar of a house re- cently owned and occupied by Joshua Liverpool. The farm, consisting of Ist Div. lots Nos. 70 and 71, was first built upon by Michael Brigden before 1751. He sold to Joseph Hosley in 1771, and Hosley in turn to Timothy Heywood in 1777. The original house was abandoned, and the well-known brick one erected ab. 1800. Mr. Heywood was succeeded by his son, John, who sold to Edmund Nichols in 1855. After passing through two or three hands it came into the possession of Mr. Liverpool. The house was destroyed by fire in the fall of 1891.
CHAPTER XX.
THE SLAVEHOLDERS' REBELLION.
THE NATIONAL SIN-STEPS TO TREASON-FOUR TERRIBLE YEARS - WESTMINSTER MEN ENGAGED-THE SOLDIERS' MONUMENT, ETC.
DURING the very year in which our Pilgrim Fathers came to the new world in order to secure to themselves and their pos- terity the blessings of civil and religious liberty, a Dutch shallop worked its way up the sinuous channel of the James River in Virginia to Jamestown, where a little colony of English immi- grants had established itself thirteen years before. Beside the usual freightage of such craft, it had on board twenty Negroes stolen from the continent of Africa, which were sold as bond- servants for life to the unscrupulous, gold-seeking adventurers, genteel spendthrifts, and worthless profligates, of which that colony was chiefly composed,-"men," as was said, "more in- clined to obtain their daily bread and acquire a competency or fortune by the unrequited toil of other men's hands than by their own honest industry and frugal care." Thus was sown upon these American shores the seed-grain of a giant iniquity, the harvest whereof, in the then far away years, was cruelty, suffer- ing, and woe unutterable,-nay, in the end, treason, rebellion, and a fearful holocaust of bloodshed and death.
This was the first act of a tragic drama whose shifting scenes, as time went on, revealed the surely accumulating mischiefs and miseries consequent upon a flagrant violation of the law of God and of the inborn rights of man. The second transpired when the founders of the Republic, on supposed grounds of public policy, consented to the incorporation of guaranties to slaveholding in the organic constitution of the nation they were instrumental in founding upon the virgin soil of the western world. The recognition and virtual sanction of the system of slavery by the fundamental law of the land, seemed to have a lamentable effect upon the people at large, degrading the public conscience in respect to the evils of that system, and palsying the efforts previously put forth by the friends of impartial liberty for its extinction. Anti-slavery societies, which had long existed, either died out or lapsed into a state of inactivity which rendered them practically useless. For a generation or more, things pertaining to the great iniquity were allowed to drift, and the designs of the slave power had an opportunity to crystalize into definite and obstinate forms.
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HISTORY OF WESTMINSTER, MASS.
This guilty and ominous silence was broken at length, in 1820, by the introduction into Congress of a proposition to admit Missouri into the Federal Union as a slave state. The revela- tions then disclosed concerning the spirit and purpose of the southern taskmasters aroused the latent hatred of tyranny among the people from its long-continued repose, and stimulated it to new efforts in behalf of the principles of liberty and the rights of the oppressed in the land. These efforts culminated in that great movement, which, ten years later, inaugurated the "thirty years' war," on the moral and religious plane, between freedom and slavery, constituting what may be appropriately called "the morally grand and heroic age of American history." Notwithstanding the advantage conceded to the enemies of lib- erty by the guaranties of the constitution, and the triumphs pre- viously gained by them in the National Legislature and before the Federal Courts, the labors of its friends were unremitting, well-directed, and effective. Slowly but surely the cause for which they toiled, despite all opposition, advanced, gaining new adherents from year to year, and ever-increasing accessions of power, until it rose to ascendancy, not only in the moral senti- ment of the great mass of the people of the North, but in the political counsels of the nation itself, as shown by the elec- tion of Abraham Lincoln to the presidency of the Republic in 1 860.
This triumph, though won by legitimate methods, exasperated to insane madness the myrmidons of oppression in the country, who at once made known by word and deed the enormity and malignity of their purposes and aims. The slumbering embers of treason and rebellion, long-nourished in their breasts and made ready for any act of desperation and rage, burst forth in one of the most gigantic and appalling civil wars that ever afflicted and desolated God's fair earth. The inauguration and prosecution of that conflict constitute the history of the country virtually for four long, weary, fearful years, the details of which are written in the annals of the time and need no repeating. The result only may be mentioned -the restoration of the dis- severed union of the states, the unconditional emancipation of the slave, and the re-establishment of the Republic on a broader, surer, because a more just and righteous, basis than ever before. Dearly did the nation pay for its sin, in blood and life and treasure, fulfilling and justifying in a marked degree the teach- ing of history and the declaration of holy writ,-"Whatsoever a man [or nation] soweth, that shall he [or it] also reap." To a presentation of the part Westminster took in this great struggle for union and liberty, in the spirit of the Declaration of Inde- pendence, the attention of the reader is herein invited. It will be seen that as were the fathers in the struggle for independ- ence in 1776, so were the sons in the struggle for universal free- dom in 1861.
401
BREAKING OUT OF THE REBELLION.
Abraham Lincoln was formally inaugurated President of the United States March 4, 1861. At that date seven slavehold- ing states, with South Carolina at the head, had withdrawn from the Federal Union, had organized a Southern Confederacy, and elected Jefferson Davis President, duly installing him in office on the 18th of the previous month. Moreover, several United States forts and arsenals located within the jurisdiction of the seceded states had been taken possession of by the slavo- cratic usurpers, with the large stores of arms and ammunition they contained, and considerable numbers of troops had been gathered at different points, notably at Charleston, S. C., -the portents of, and preparations for, coming violence. In command of these forces and supplies were men trained, for the most part, in national military schools, for the United States army, who were fully committed to the cause of the seceders.
On the 12th of April Fort Sumter in Charleston harbor, commanded by the gallant and loyal Col. Robert Anderson, was fired upon by a detachment of Confederate artillery under Gen. G. T. Beauregard, and thirty-two hours afterward was surrendered to the rebel assailants. The war had actually begun. As the tidings of what had transpired were flashed through the North, the gravity of the situation began to be realized, and when, three days later, April 15th, the President issued his call for 75,000 troops, the hearts of the loyal people were nerved to the highest tension of patriotic indignation. Preparations were at once made for answering the call. On the 17th the heroic Massachusetts Sixth of the State militia, recruited from Lowell and vicinity, left Boston for Washington to aid in the defense of the threatened capital. As this regi- ment was passing through Baltimore on the 19th, the anniver- sary of the battles of Lexington and Concord, it was con- fronted and fired upon by a rebel mob, two of its members being killed, the first victims of the strife at arms. Event fol- lowed event in rapid succession, awakening throughout the loyal North a determination to maintain the government at all hazards, and to support the President in his purpose to resist this unholy attempt to overthrow and destroy it. Town seemed to vie with town in patriotic zeal and in active efforts to meet the demands of the hour. Westminster was not far behind the foremost in its endeavor to aid the imperiled Republic and rescue it from impending destruction.
At a town meeting called April 29th to see what should be done in response to the requisition for troops, it was
" Voted to raise a company of volunteers and pay the expense of uni- forms and each man one dollar a day, in addition to government pay, while in actual service, not exceeding 3 months, and expenses of organization.
" Voted to furnish the officers with revolvers and to raise $1000 for the above purposes.
" Voted, to choose a Committee to procure the uniforms, if a sufficient
26
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HISTORY OF WESTMINSTER, MASS.
number be enlisted, or the number enlisted be joined by others from any other town, to make up a company."
In accordance with this vote, Charles A. Forbush, Augustine Whitney, and Harrison G. Whitney were elected, to be joined by an equal number to be appointed by enlisted men, for the duty specified. Pursuant to this action it is stated that "twelve men enlisted at once," the first contribution of the town to the service of the government in the great crisis. To these, other recruits were added from time to time until, according to the report of the town officers made March 3, 1862, the number had reached 46 at the end of the year.
On the 5th of November, 1861, the town again
" Voted That the Selectmen be instructed to pay to all those persons from this town who went as volunteers in the 15th Regt. and all other vol- unteers from this town to whom the Selectmen can pay according to the ad- vice of N. Wood, (the town's attorney), the same to be according to the vote of the town Apr. 29, 1861."
The number of men previously enlisted for the suppression of the Rebellion proving insufficient, President Lincoln, on the 2d of July, 1862, issued a proclamation for " five hundred thou- sand more." Under this requisition Governor Andrew called upon the several towns and cities of the Commonwealth for their respective proportionate number of the same. In response thereto the citizens held a meeting, July 19th, and
" Voted, That this town furnish their proportion of volunteers (twenty-two men) and pay them one hundred dollars each when they are mustered into service and accepted by the government of the United States.
" Voted, That the Selectmen, Assessor, Treasurer, and Clerk be author- ized to procure enlistments, but without any compensation from the town for their services."
The need of troops growing more serious and imperative by reason of the obstinacy and military strength of the enemies of the Republic, an additional call for three hundred thousand nine months' men was made on the 4th of the following August. A town meeting to take action in reference thereto was held on the 25th of the same month, whereat it was
" Voted, That the town raise its quota of nine months' men by volunteers, and pay to each man a bounty of one hundred dollars whenever they are mustered into service and accepted by the U. S. government.
" Voted, That the Selectmen, Assessors, Treasurer, and Augustine Whit- ney be a Committee to carry out this vote.
" Voted, That there be a Committee of three persons to act in connection with similar Committees in adjoining towns without remunera- tion for their services [from the town] to look after our sick and wounded soldiers in the service, and, if expedient, to bring home for interment the bodies of those who may fall in battle or by disease."
Agreeably to this vote, Joseph Hager, Augustine Whitney, and Charles A. Forbush were made members of this committee.
403
TOWN ACTION CONCERNING SOLDIERS.
It does not appear from the records that any action of the town relating to the Rebellion was taken during the entire year 1863. Few recruits seem to have been demanded of Westmin- ster that year, probably for the reason that its quota had been more than filled under previous requisitions.
March 14, 1864, a call upon the country was made for two hundred thousand three years' men, of which number West- minster was requested to furnish its share, whereupon, in order to encourage enlistments, the citizens at a meeting held April 4th
"Voted, That the town raise money to pay to each soldier enlisted or pro- cured to fill the quota of Westminster under the last call of the President and any future call during the year, the sum of one hundred and twenty- five dollars."
This offer it seems was not sufficient to secure the requisite number, and a draft to supply the deficiency took place in the month following. Certain of the drafted men were excused from entering active service by paying the stipulated commuta- tion fee of three hundred dollars, the places thus made vacant being filled by hired substitutes.
The Rebellion died hard, and between the casualties of war and the inroads of disease, the forces in the field were deemed inadequate to the exigences of the situation. Consequently, a call for five hundred thousand more men was issued on the 18th of July. In what manner, or to what extent the town responded to this call, has not been ascertained. No public action seems to have been taken till the 4th of November, when it was
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