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 53
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So far as appears in the records these several votes were not carried into effect, and it is reasonable to suppose that the mat- ter was held in abeyance until after incorporation took place. On the 24th of December, 1759, the citizens "voted to have a pound," but made no provision for building it. But on the 25th of September, the next year, 1760, it was
"Voted to build a Pound and to Set it upon the corner of the Meeting- house Plot Next to Dea. Holden's land [now Geo. S. Ham's] and made choise of Benjamin Butterfield, Capt. Daniel Hoar, John Rand For a com- mite for to build the Pound thirty feet Square and that it Be Left to the Discreation of Said Commity how much they will Give a day for Labour for Building Said Pound."
No money, however, was appropriated for the purpose indi- cated, and the contemplated work was not done. In the follow-
28
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HISTORY OF WESTMINSTER, MASS.
ing March, 1761, the inhabitants were called upon to reconsider their action and to fix upon a location of the pound, "more handy to water." This they did, deciding finally upon the spot first mentioned, near where Hobert Raymond's barn stands to- day, and there the first pound was soon afterward constructed. This enclosure remained and served its intended purpose about forty years.
On the Ioth of October, 1799, a new pound was ordered to be built at the northwest corner of the Common, near the pres- ent residence of Mrs. Peter Wright. It was to be of stone, forty feet square. Definite specifications were voted in regard to its construction, and Abner Holden, Esq., Captain Hoar, and Asa Farnsworth were chosen a committee "to let out the building of the Pound at vendue to the lowest bidder." This was accordingly done, the whole being contracted for at $36.25, which, with the expense attending the sale, $2.00, made the entire cost $38.25. It was completed in due time and put in charge of the Selectmen, who appointed Ezra Holden its first keeper.
After the building of the present Mrs. Wright house in 1810, this structure was found to be an annoyance to its occupants, and when Alexander Dustin came into possession of the place, he entered into negotiations with the town which resulted in its removal, at his expense, to a spot owned by him at "the South corner of the Common near the road leading to Timothy Damon's," where it still remains. Little use has there been for it in later years, although a keeper is regularly appointed for it year by year as time goes on.
Town Stocks. Among the penal, corrective, and reforma- tory institutions or appliances of the olden times was a certain complex machine or device bearing this name. They consisted of two or more pieces of timber moving between fixed uprights, with holes or notches in them so adjusted and arranged as to confine the feet and hands and sometimes the head of a subject in a more or less painful position, as a punishment for minor offences against the good order and peace of society. They were set up in some public place, where the unfortunate culprit was subjected to the ridicule and scornful taunts of the passers- by, -this perhaps constituting the chief element of the chas- tisement received. In some instances they were permanently established -a constant reminder to the wayward and viciously inclined of the fate of the small transgressor; in others they were so constructed as to be easily put together and as easily taken apart again, being set up and exposed to view only when occasion required.
Westminster was not without this interesting and unique device, but not much is to be found in the records relating to it. Dec. 24, 1759, the question of making stocks came before the district and it "passed in [the] Negative." On the follow- ing 25th of September it was voted "to build Stocks," but
435
TOWN POSTS-HORSE BLOCK.
there is no evidence that this vote was carried into effect. Indeed no other action of the town upon this matter was at any subsequent date recorded in the books of the clerk. But in the volume chronicling the transactions of the Selectmen for the year 1793, it appears that on Jan. 14th an order was drawn for the payment of Thomas Knower "for making the town stocks, 10 shillings," which seems to settle beyond all doubt the question of their actual existence. No names of culprits sen- tenced to or confined in them have been found.
Town Posts. In a warrant for a legal meeting to be held March 2, 1789, was an article
"To see if the town will Errect a post or a Box for town warrants to stand on at the Meeting-house, etc."
Whereupon, it was
"Voted to errect a post att the S. E. corner of the Meeting-house to Sett Town Warrants on."
A committee consisting of Captain Bigelow and three others was appointed to fix dimensions, etc. They reported that there should be "a post of stone ten inches squair, two feet and a half in the ground and Six and a half above, with a Box on the Head to contain Notifications -the Box to be 15 inches wide and 20 inches high with a pitched head and a glass door, the glass to be 8 x 10 the post and box to be painted Spanish brown, said post to stand two feet from the S. E. corner of the Meeting-house." The report was accepted and adopted, and the execution of the work was let out to the lowest bidder, Capt. Elisha Bigelow taking it for IIs. 6d. A year later the matter of a second post being before the town in due form, it was voted "to git a Stone post and set it at the S. W. corner of the Meeting-house and that sd post be uniform with the other." This vote was at once carried into effect, Captain Bigelow doing the work as before. These posts stood as long as the building did, though the boxes, with which they were crowned, appear to have been superseded in the year 1810 by a single one placed upon the house itself, near the front door, by Edward Kendall, who was paid therefor $1.75.
Horse Block. Before the days of wheeled vehicles, when horseback riding was the chief means of journeying from place to place, or about one's own neighborhood, what was known as the horse block, as a help to mounting and dismounting, espe- cially on the part of women, was in common use. It was gener- ally a large stone, or butt of a tree cut off at a suitable length, -though not infrequently a rude bench or series of steps of the proper height was made to serve the end required. Each dwelling was provided with one of these conveniences, as werc also taverns, stores, and other places of public resort. At a
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HISTORY OF WESTMINSTER, MASS
very early day one was placed near the meetinghouse, occupy- ing a position at a little distance from its easterly end. It con- sisted of an immense flat stone, having a superficial area of about seven feet by ten, several inches in thickness, laid upon other stones of sufficient size to bring it to a proper elevation for its intended use. Around it would be arranged, at the close of the Sunday service or other public occasions, as many horses as could stand, which, being mounted by their respective riders, would move off and give place to others awaiting their turn and time, and so on till all desiring such accommodation were provided for. The principal stone in this case was procured by Joseph Miller, Jr., father of the late John Miller, from a pasture formerly owned by Samuel Merriam on the easterly side of Graves' Hill. It now lies in front of one of the doors of the dwelling house of George S. Ham.
Guide Posts. Probably none of these desirable helps to travelers existed within the limits of Westminster before the year 1795, when the Legislature passed a law requiring them to be erected wherever town authorities judged they might be needed for the convenience of the public, and affixing a fine of twenty shillings a month for neglecting the observance of the same. At a town meeting held May 6th, it was voted "that the Selectmen provide Guide-boards agreeably to the Law." The action of the board is noted in the clerk's book of records as follows :
"By Virtue of a Law of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and By order of the Town of Westminster, We the Subscribers Selectmen of the Town of Westminster for the year 1795, do agree to arrect the Following guide posts at the Crotch of the following Roads
" I post Stands neer Oliver Whitcomb's [now Albert E. Smith's] with two Bords on sd post the inscription on sd Bords To Ashburnham to Winchen- don 10 miles
"2d Stands by Mr. Whitmond's [Scrabble Hollow] two Bords To Wor- cester 26 miles To Boston 55 miles
" 3 below the pound [near Joseph T. Marshall's] two Bords to Ashburn- ham To Boston
"4 By the pound [near Hobart Raymond's] To Boston 55 miles To Ash- burnham 7 miles To Boston 53 miles. To Worcester 23 miles.
" 5th By Mr. Jones [on the common] Right Hand Road to Winchendon 7 miles Right and Left to Templeton 9 miles
"6 by Mr. Gerrishes [opposite Nichols Bros.' chair factory] To Temple- ton and Winchendon
"7 By Capt. Bigelows [now Rufus J. Laver's ].
"8 By Mr. John Darby's [late John K. Learned's ] To Worcester 22 miles to Rutland 12 miles To Boston and Worcester
"9 the Right hand Road to Rutland the Left hand to Worcester [probably a second board at the Darby corner].
" IO By Mr. Williams [S. E. school-house] to Westminster meeting house three miles
"II By Capt. Bemis'es [near where George Harris lives] 54 miles to Boston
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GUIDE BOARDS - TOWN BELL.
"The Selectmen have agreed that the Bords be painted and the inscrip- tion be put on Hansomly and an index pointing to the Road
"in Witness where of we have Set our Hands at Westminster July 1795 - "JOSEPH HOLDEN 1
EBR JONES ABEL WOOD ZACHARIAH RAND JONAS WHITNEY
Selectmen."
The work was done as provided for, the posts being supplied by Abel Wood, Jonas Whitney, Captain Bigelow, and Captain Bemis, and the painting, lettering, etc., by Silas Perry.
As time has gone on other boards have been put up at im- portant points, as occasion seemed to require, either by definite instruction from the town or at the discretion of the Selectmen, much to the convenience and grateful appreciation of travelers.
The Town Bell. On the 18th of March, 1793, several years after the second meetinghouse was built, the town "voted and granted one hundred pounds to purchase a Bell with," but, before the close of the meeting, reconsidered and annulled the same. Had the first action of the town been maintained it was proposed to erect at once a belfry, but, as it was reversed, the building of this appendage to the house of worship was de- ferred till a later date, as stated on page 279. And when it was finally put up in 1807, the bell for it was purchased by private subscription, though no record has been found of the fact. It is a matter of record, however, that the town voted July 4, 1807, to appropriate $32.50 "for the bell apparatus and for bringing the bell itself from Brookfield and hanging the same." Cor- responding thereto, a record of an order drawn by the Select- men for the payment of this amount to Capt. Stephen Hoar, appears in their book. The bell was in its place October, 1807, and the ringing of it from that date to March, 1808, was let to Capt. Ezra Holden for $6.00. Subsequently the ringing was asso- ciated with the care of the building, as long as the latter re- mained the property of the town, after which the town pro- vided for that service as a separate interest, year by year, at the annual March meeting.
At the time of the erection of the present meetinghouse of the First Parish, the question of what was to be done with the bell, which involved the rightful ownership of the same, became a matter for public consideration. In the warrant for the annual meeting held March 6, 1837, was an article
" To see if the town will relinquish and give their right (if any they have) to the bell on the old Meeting-house to the subscribers to said Bell, and act anything relative to said Bell or provide a place to hang said bell, etc."
Upon this article it was
"Voted, That the Selectmen of the town be directed to take down the bell from the old Meeting-house immediately after the 15th day of the present month and offer it to the owners or some one of the owners of the new
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HISTORY OF WESTMINSTER, MASS.
Meeting-house last built in the town to be hung on their house for the use of the Town and Parish -the town to have a right to appoint a person (in that way or manner they may think proper) to ring the bell at all times as the town may direct by their agents or otherwise, and the owners of said new house to have the privilege to ring the bell for all Parish purposes as they shall direct until the bell is broken or of no use to ring as a bell. And if the owners of the said new house or any one of them after being notified as before directed refuse or for the space of two weeks neglect to accept of the bell on the conditions before mentioned, then the Selectmen be directed to offer the bell to the First Universalist Society in Westminster on the same conditions And if the Universalist Society refuse or neglect to accept of the bell on these conditions then to offer it to the Baptist Society and if they refuse or neglect to accept it then the Selectmen be directed to provide a place on the ground for the bell to be hung and rung till the town shall further direct."
The party to whom it was first offered accepted it, and it was accordingly placed in the belfry of the First Parish Meeting- house, where it remained until it was superseded by a new one in 1857.
This first bell was broken at least three different times: first in 1815, when it was repaired by Samuel Mosman, Jr .; and second in 1825. By whom it was then repaired is not known, although Samuel Puffer was paid for getting the work done. In 1857 it was so badly damaged as to require a new bell to take its place. On the 14th of October Edward Kendall, Josiah Puffer, and Joel Merriam, Jr. were appointed a commit- tee to purchase a new bell weighing 200 or 300 pounds more than the old one; also to see if the old subscribers would relin- quish their interest in the broken bell. No report of that com . mittee is noted in the records of the town clerk. It is understood, however, that no representatives of the proprietors of the old bell could be found, and hence the new bell, purchased by order of the town, became the exclusive property of the town, as it continues to be to this day.
The old custom of having the bell rung at 12 o'clock M. and at 9 o'clock in the evening on week days, and tolled whenever a death occurred, was maintained till a clock was placed in the tower of the new Baptist church in the village, when the former practice was discontinued by vote of the town April 7, 1873.
Powder House. At the March meeting in 1817, one item of business specified in the warrant calling the same was "to see if the Town will erect a building for the purpose of keeping the Town Stock of Ammunition, etc." Whereupon it was voted to put up such a structure, and Dea. James White, Joseph Brown, and Alexander Dustin, Esq. were appointed a commit- tee to carry the vote into effect. This action was, however, subsequently annulled, but in 1820 the matter came before the town again, when a similar vote was passed and Alexander Dustin, Esq., Dea. James White, and Luke Bigelow were made a committee to consider and report upon the size, material, cost, etc., of such a house as in their judgment was needed.
439
FIRST FIRE ENGINE AND COMPANY.
They reported in favor of one "six feet square, to be built of brick, with walls one foot thick, five feet eight inches high, a square roof of plank well shingled, with suitable shelves in the same-a suitable door with lock and key well hung, all thoroughly finished and the wood work painted at a cost of not less than 25 nor more than 30 dollars." The report was accepted, and Capt. Nathan Whitney, Dea. James White, and Edward Kendall were chosen a committee to have charge of the work. They let it to Farwell Cowee, who erected the structure for $26.50, the committee locating it, at their own discretion, on a large rock in the rear of the present dwelling of George Hager, where it stood for many years as the symbol of a civic- military type of New England life now for the most part passed away.
Fire Department. So far as can be learned from the town records and otherwise, no provision was made for extin- guishing fires, save by the primitive means of voluntary, im- provised action on the part of individuals, using the simplest and most easily procured facilities therefor, until the year 1825, when the first fire engine was brought into the place. This engine appears to have been purchased by a number of citizens living in or near the village, who started a movement in that behalf independently of any action on the part of the citizens at large, and secured most of the money needed for the object in view by voluntary subscription. These parties failed to obtain funds sufficient to pay for the machine, and the town, Nov. 26, 1826, voted $35.00, if wanted, to make up the deficiency. The following document, which explains itself, con- tains the names of those particularly active in this matter.
"Westminster Apr. 11, 1825. To the Gentlemen Selectmen of the town of Westminster .- We, the subscribers, inhabitants of said town, who with many others have procured a Fire Engine for the use of said town, and as there is no select company to take care and manage the same in case of fire, request you gentlemen to take from the Militia Companies in this town such persons as your wisdom may dictate to take charge of said Fire Engine and manage the same whenever necessery.
" ALEXR DUSTIN, JONATHAN MINOTT. JOSEPH MINOTT,
OLIVER ESTEY.
JOHN WHITE, ASA C. EVERETT.
LUKE MINOTT,
LEONARD MINOTT, NATHAN WHITNEY, JR., THOMAS GAUT."
Pursuant to this petition, the Selectmen appointed the follow- ing named persons members of the first engine company of Westminster, to wit: Jonathan Minott, Thomas Gaut, John Damon, Jonas Cutting, Luke Minott, John Dunn, Isaac B. Woodward, Nathan H. Cutting, William Sawin, Nathan Whit- ney, Emory Bates, Oliver Estey, Edward Kendall, Jr., Leonard Minott, Hiram Everett, Ebenezer Jones, Joseph Minott, Philip Crosby, Asa Cutting, Robert Peckham, Ira Hoar. It is to be presumed that these persons, or others appointed from year to
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HISTORY OF WESTMINSTER, MASS.
year in the same way. served the public need at the outset with- out remuneration, as did the people generally in case of a con- flagration.
After a time, however, provision was made by the State Leg- islature for the payment of regularly enrolled members of engine companies. A law was passed March 1, 1834, requiring every such company to be composed of thirty men, each man to be paid a sum equal to his poll tax, subject to the action of the towns of the Commonwealth respectively. On the 2d of March, 1835, Westminster "voted to accept and approve the act re- specting Engine Men," and they thereafter received payment for their services.
The first engine was a cheap affair and satisfied the public but a few years. Hence, in March, 1839, Simeon Sanderson, Joseph Whitman, Esq., John Heywood, Capt. Jesse Spalding, Col. Asa Bigelow, and Capt. Joseph H. Whitney were chosen a committee to purchase a new engine, the expense thereof to the town not to exceed $300.00-the presumption being that pri- vate subscriptions would considerably increase the total amount. Whether this was so or not does not appear. But at an adjourned meeting an additional sum of $ 150.00 was devoted to the same object. The engine was purchased and the aggregate amount, $450.00, paid for it as per order of the Selectmen, drawn June 5, 1839.
On the 14th of November, 1842, the town voted "to let the For- bush village, so called, have the use of the old engine and old engine house on condition they raise a company to manage the engine and move the house free of expense to the town." At the annual meeting in 1844 the town
"Voted, to abate the poll tax of the Engine-men for the year ensuing.
"Then on motion voted to purchase a sled for the use of the engine men."
The poll tax of enginemen was usually abated year by year till 1870, when the sum of five dollars was voted them and this sum has been generally granted to the present day.
On the 12th of November, 1849, it was
"Voted, That the Town do purchase a good fire Suction Engine for the use of the town to be kept in the Narrows, so called, so long as the people in the Narrows will man it and keep said Engine in good repair free from expense to the Town."
At a later date this engine was transferred to South West- minster, a fire company having been formed there for the pur- pose of properly caring for and working it when occasion required.
In 1855 a new suction engine was purchased for the central village, and some years subsequently the building formerly used as a shoe shop by Aaron Smith and others, located near the Universalist Church, was secured for the proper housing of the
441
PRESENT FIRE ENGINES-TOWN HALL BUILDING.
same. On the 7th of November, 1882, the town voted to make certain changes in this building to accommodate an independ- ent amateur company recently formed, which had purchased a machine with funds obtained by private subscription.
The present equipment of the fire department consists of two Hunneman engines well preserved and in good condition, with an amount of hose suitable for ordinary fires, and other needful appliances. These are appropriately located, as indi- cated, at the Center and at South Westminster, where they are properly housed and cared for, and held in readiness for use whenever a call for them is given. At the former locality there is a company of forty men, of which A. J. Bolton is foreman, and at the latter, one of thirty men under the direction of Alfred Barnes. Both of these companies are supposed to be under good discipline and capable of efficient service. The amateur company, which has a Button engine, is resting on laurels won, if at all, in days now past and gone. The central engine house has a fine hall in its second story for the conven- ience and comfort of the men having it and its contents in charge.
Town House. From the time of the incorporation of the district of Westminster in 1759 to the year 1820 the meeting- house, which was the property of the municipality, was used, for the most part, not only for religious services, but for holding meetings for the transaction of the secular and civil business of the township. And after that structure passed into the pos- session of the First Congregational Society the same practice, probably by some condition connected with the transfer of the property, continued, without special expense to the public. But when, in 1836, the parish decided to abandon its time-honored sanctuary on the old Common, and locate in the more central part of the village, which involved an early destruction or re- moval of the building, it became necessary for the town to pro- vide other accommodations for the management of its corporate affairs in future years. A meeting of the voting citizens was therefore called on the 5th of December
"To see if the Town will take any measures to purchase the old Meeting- house of the First Parish for a Town House etc.
"To see if the town will take any measures to build a Town House for the use of the Town etc."
The first article was passed over, and on the second a com- mittce, consisting of Wonder Wears, Esq., Capt. Joseph Whit- ney, Leonard Minott, Edward Kendall, and Capt. Jesse Spald- ing, was chosen "to ascertain the necessity of building a Town- house or provide a place for holding Town meetings in future," and report at the next March meeting. The committee re- ported as directed, but the nature of their report is not recorded. Nothing definite came of this action in the line indicated, the
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HISTORY OF WESTMINSTER, MASS.
town deciding to hire the old meetinghouse for its use for an indefinite period. At length, on the 4th of March, 1839, a com- mittee of twelve persons, with Dr. John White as chairman, was appointed "to make a plan and estimate the expense of building a Town House and report." They did so, and on the 15th of April submitted the following :
"The committee are unanimously of the opinion that the Town should build a house for municipal purposes and have prepared a plan and esti- mated the cost of a building suitable for those purposes as follows: your Committee believe that the whole expense of furnishing a spot and erecting a building one story high and finishing a town hall agreeably to the accom- panying plan may be procured at the expense of $1300.00. With regard to a site on which to locate-your Committee have viewed three places-one between Mr. Joseph N. Minott's and Mr. Jonas Cutting's, which we under- stand can be purchased for $235.00; Mr. Cutting's land consists of 512 rods in front and 8 rods in the rear. JOHN WHITE, Chairman."
The town "voted to accept the report of the Committee and to build a Town-house the present season on the land of Mr. Cutting." Capt. Joseph Whitney, Leonard Minott, Simeon Sanderson, Esq., Dr. John White, and Joseph Whitman, Esq., were chosen a committee to carry the several votes into effect. An appropriation of enough of the internal revenue coming to the town was made to cover the incurred expense. An attempt was afterwards made to change the location of the house to "the spot where the Gaut blacksmith shop stands [near the present site of Mr. Bruce's store] or any other suitable spot," but without avail. The building was completed agreeably to the vote of the town, on the first of the following November, at least so far as to be occupied for the State election on the IIth of that month, though some of the details were not fin- ished for quite a while afterward.
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