History of Worcester County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. I, Part 129

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton)
Publication date: 1889
Publisher: Philadelphia : J.W. Lewis & Co.
Number of Pages: 1576

USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > History of Worcester County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. I > Part 129

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

It is accordingly of interest to take into our limited view the history of a few typical families,-not all, or perhaps the most familiar, of those that might be selected; but those of which the following memor- anda have been kindly put into my hands, here given alphabetically :-

BAILEY .- Rev. Benjamin H. Bailey, now of Mal- den, Mass., writes to me as follows: "My grandfa- ther, Silas Bailey, came from West Berlin to the old farm of my boyhood [of 214 acres] about 1795. The farm was bought of Abraham Munroe, grandfather of Mrs. F. D. Bartlett. My grandfather died late in the autumn of 1840, aged 84. His wife, Lavina, sister of Mr. Jotham Bartlett, died a few weeks before her hus- band, aged 82. There were 11 children, 7 of whom grew to manhood or womanhood. Timothy, the oldest son, a farmer in Berlin, died about 1838, aged 57. Silas died in Worcester in 1860, aged 86. Hol- loway [my father] died in Northborough, Feb, 12, 1872, aged 87 years, 7 months. My mother, Lucy Sawyer, was the youngest but one of 11 children of Benjamin and Rebecca (Houghton) Sawyer, of Bol- ton. Their family consisted of 5 children, of whom I am eldest. Three grew to manhood, of whom two remain, myself and my brother, John Lewis, now living at Newton, Mass. Silas Henry was killed at Spottsylvania, Va., May 12, 1864, aged 29 years. He was captain of Company G, 36th Regiment Mass. Volunteers. His comrade in arms, now Rev. H. S. Burrage, of Portland, Maine, in a history of this regiment, and this engagement (most disastrous to our troops), says, p. 168: 'Of the commissioned officers, Capt. Bailey, the beloved commander of Co. G, had received a mortal wound. Corp. Hall, of his company, was one of the first to fall in our close conflict with the enemy, and some of his comrades carried him to the rear of our line of battle. Capt. Bailey moved at once to the spot, and as he was bending over the dying corporal, a minnie ball en- tered his forehead, and he fell forward upon the cor- poral's body. Some of his men carried him to the field-hospital, but nothing could be done for him. He breathed all day, but consciousness did not re- turn ; and so we were called to part with a faithful officer and a noble-hearted companion. He had en- tered the service with a patriotic desire to serve his country, and his last words to those whom he loved, written after the battle of the Wilderness, showed that he had counted the cost, and was willing, if need be, to lay down his life in the endeavor to secure the great objects for which on our part the war was

waged.' In the letter above referred to Capt. Bailey says, after giving detailed account of the awful car- nage : ' We stand and wait, and fall if we must, I think, willing sacrifices. May God give us the victory, and keep us till his own time for our meeting.'"

BALL .- Of the Ball family, several members of which are spoken of above, in the mention of physicians, I have the following account. Of the four sons of Nathaniel Ball, of Concord, John (who was killed by the Indians in King Philip's War, 1675) left five children ; of these, John (d. 1722) had seven ; of these, James (1670-1730) had eight, of whom James (b. 1695) was the father of Stephen, the first physician who settled in the district of Northborough. Of his six children, Stephen (1767-1850) was the second; a younger brother, Jonas, was a well-known citizen in my boyhood, keeping the "Ball Tavern " on the Wor- cester Road. Of the thirteen children of Dr. Stephen Ball, besides those before mentioned, were Louisa, wife of Dr. Fitch, of Virginia, afterwards of West Newton, Mass .; Elizabeth, wife of Dr. Henry Barnes; Harriet, wife of Charles Mayo, and afterwards of Jairus Lincoln and Benjamin (1820-59), who pub- lished a volume narrating his adventures and remark- able travels in Eastern A-ia, the island of Java, and Mauna Loa, the famous volcanic island of the Hawai- ian group, and lost his life in an equally hazardous expedition in Nicaragua. Several of the others have left an honorable and kindly record.

BRIGHAM .- Conspicuous among the excellent and dignified fathers of the town, a few years ago, was Nathaniel Brigham (1785-1870), whose ancestor, Thomas Brigham, migrated from England in 1634, settling afterwards in Sudbury. The line of descent was through Thomas (1643-1719), David (b. 1678), Levi (1717-87), and Winslow (b. 1756). Of his eight children, Elijah W. (b. 1816) went into business in Boston ; Catharine married George G. Valentine and, with her sister Mary, lives in Northborough. (The brothers; Charles and Frederick Brigham (d. 1881), were of only remote kindred to the above.)

DAVIS .- From a representative of the large and widely-honored Davis family I have the following : Isaac Davis was born in Rutland, Mass., February 27, 1749. When a young man he came to Westborough to teach the tanner's trade to the sons of Mr. Stephen Maynard, and married Mr. Maynard's step-daughter, Ann Brigham. In 1781 he bought the place in North- borough now occupied by Mrs. George C. Davis, and established a tan-yard there. Of Isaac Davis and Ann Brigham nine children lived to maturity. Three sons lived in Northborough-Phinehas, b. September 12, 1772; Joseph, b. February 28, 1774; Isaac, b. September 23, 17 -. Another son, John Davis, after- wards Governor of Massachusetts and United States Senator (" Honest John "), was born June 13, 1787, died 1854. Of the children of Phinehas Davis, Mrs. Nathan Davis Wells (b. November 4, 1865) and her son James are the only descendants now living in

Stephen Ball

LOyrus Lale

NORTHBOROUGH.

Northborough. Of the children of Joseph, George Clinton Davis (b. February 28, 1813; d. April 26, 1873) was the only one who spent his whole life in North- borough ; a younger son, James (b. June 20, 1818), now lives in this town. Of the descendants of Isaac, Mrs. Adeline Sanford, Miss Sarah Davis and Mrs. Ann Fiske also live in Northborough.

FAY .- The Fay farm lay hid from from public view, more than most, among the woods and hills to- wards the western part of the town, but the family is a large and important one. Of Paul Fay (the re- motest of whom I have any record : 1719-90), the son here hest known was Asa (1762-1837, a retiring, hard- working, and somewhat eccentric farmer of the old school ; and his son was Lewis (1799-1880), father of ten children, of whom Joseph T. (b. 1819) is engaged in business near the village.

GALE .- Cyrus Gale, youngest but one of seventeen children, was born in Westborough October 7, 1785, and died in 1880, at the age of ninety-five.1 He be- gan life at sixteen, as a market gardener, in Roxbury, and at twenty-one held a stall iu Faneuil Hall Mar- ket, Boston. He removed to Northborough in 1812 for the benefit of his failing health, and here became active in various lines of business,-postmaster, agent of the cotton factory, and storekeeper, as well as a large owner of land; in later years a director of the bank and largely interested in the railroad. His wife was a sister of the brothers Davis. He was for several years in the State Legislature, and in 1852 a member of the Governor's Council; a strong friend of temperance, and actively interested in politics. An offer to the Commonwealth of land and building- stone, with admirable advantages of water and situa- tion for the Women's Prison (now in Sherburn), was not accepted. His wealth and public spirit were of essential help in the building of the handsome and commodious Town Hall, soon after the close of the Civil War, and in establishing the Public Library. His eldest son, Frederick William, (born 1818, Har- vard University 1836 ; married to Miss Sarah Whit- ney, of Brookline), was lost, with his wife and child, in the sinking of the steamship "Arctic," off the coast of Nova Scotia, in October, 1854. Of his other sons, Cyrus lives in Northborough; George died in 1856; Walter Scott, born in 1832, lives in Cali- fornia. A danghter, Hannah, was wife of George Barnes, of Northborough ; died in 1851.

RICE .- Edmund Rice, from Hertfordshire, Eng- land (born about 1594, died 1663), settled in Sudbury in 1638 or '39; had eleven children. His son, Ed- ward (1619-1712), had eleven. Of these, Jacob (1660-1746) removed to Marlborough. His son Jacob (1707-88), the first of the family who lived in North- borough, was one of a family of nine; had eight

children. Amos (1743-1827) had a family of ten children, of whom Asaph (1768-1856) was a well- known citizen from fifty to seventy years ago, puri- tanie in principle and eccentric in habit; dearly loving a sharp set-to of speech in town-meeting or lyceum debate; he drove his weekly wagon-load of country produce to Boston from his farm on the cross- way between the Worcester and Boylston roads, start- ing at two in the morning, and getting his arrears of sleep (it was said) as he walked beside his team of slumbering horses-a unique character who could not be spared from the reminiscences of this time. Of his nine children, the two best known were Anson (1798- 1875), kindly, public-spirited, a frequent moderator at town-meetings, an important figure in the village choir with his great bass-viol ;2 and John (d. 1881), a useful citizen and active business man, of excellent intelligence and admirable private character, who died, suddenly, while on the railway train for Boston The present representative in Northborough of this strong and numerous family is Charles A., son of Anson, born 1825. A sister, Mrs. Mary F. Sherman, also lives here.

SEAVER. - Samuel Seaver (1770-1838), a wool- carder by trade, was the father of seven children. Of these, the eldest son, Abraham Wood (1809-87), went at fifteen into the store of Gale & Davis, afterwards becoming partner with Mr. Gale (Cyrus Gale & Co., succeeded in 1845 by Cyrus Gale, Jr., & Henry May- nard). Between 1845 and 1853 he was engaged in the paint and oil trade in Boston; then with Milo Hildreth, in Northborough, in the comb manufacture. In 1854 he became cashier of the Northborough Bank (George C. Davis, president), which office he held, with a short interval, until his last sickness, " a quiet but busy man, enjoying the confidence of the community, well known and highly respected through the central and eastern portions of Worcester County. He has held many positions of honor and trust, with credit to himself and profit to others, and declined an appointment as Judge of the Second Worcester District Court." His brother Samuel was the father of three sons,-Edwin Pliny (Harvard University, 1864), superintendent of schools in Bos- ton, living in West Newton; Walter, a young man of very winning character and noblest promise, a most successful teacher, who died in 1867; and Francis, cashier of the Mannfacturers' Bank, Boston.

VALENTINE .- From John Valentine, who came to Boston in 1745, there were descendants in the fourth generation-sons of William, who settled in Northborough in 1804-Gill (born 1788), the eleventh child, and Elmer (born 1795), the fifteenth and youngest. Of the five children of the former, George Gill (1815-69) and Thomas W. (1818-79), long a teacher of high repute in Brooklyn, N. Y., and elsewhere,

" At the time of his birth his father's age was fifty-eight, so that their united ages covered the extraordinary term of one hundred and fifty-three years.

2 Mr. Rice sang (he told me) in the choir at Dr. Allen's ordination service, in 1816, and at his funeral, in 1873.

464

HISTORY OF WORCESTER COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

are the best known names. Elmer, who was the founder of the Baptist Society in this town, was long a successful teacher here and au admirable writing master. Of his fifteen children, the eldest, Charles Elmer (born 1822, married Olive Seaver), an excellent and beloved teacher in the Boston school, was in- stantly killed by a passing train while leaving that by which he had just arrived in West Newton, where he resided (1870). The widow of Elmer (Rebecca Crawford) lives, at a great age, in Northhorough.

WILLIAMS .- George Williams, a merchant of Salem, and his wife, Lydia Pickering (of whom an admirable portrait, painted in lier old age by Gilbert Stuart, is in the Williams house in Northborough), were the parents of twelve children. Of his eight sons, the best known names are those of Timothy, a Boston merchant; Samuel, a London banker ; and Stephen (1772-1838), owner of a fine stock and fruit farm in the westerly part of Northborough, whither he removed in 1799. His portion of the family estate had been lost by shipwreck ; but a later inheritance enabled him to make the purchase of his Northbor- ough farm. Of his brother Samuel it is told that, being on his return voyage from England, his vessel was run down and that he found himself, roused sud- denly. out of sleep, clinging to the shrouds or bow- sprit of a large ship bound for England. Thus forced back, he conceived a horror of the sea, and never visited his native country, but went into busi- ness in London, where he was long well known for his hospitalities to visiting Americans. Among his good gifts, he sent to his brother Stephen a number of very fine stock-breeding animals, and pictures of the noblest of British bulls adorn the walls of the pleasant and hospitable old house. With the kindest of hearts, Mr. Williams' manner was curt and taci- turn ; he would turn aside not to betray himself, if be- guiled unawares into a laugh; he cherished, like a lover, his choice varieties of rare fruit ; and when the apple-harvest came he would leave at his minister's back-door the briefest of written messages: "Send your barrels !" A man of generous and noble traits who, with his wife (Alice Orne, of Salem, 1769-1856), a lady of dignified, refined and quiet manner, made a greatly prized variety among our rural population. His son. George Henry (married Frances E. Simes, of Portsmouth, N. H.), has of late years lived upon his father's farm. His elder daughter, Mary, married Captain Edward Orne, of Salem, a shipmaster in the Asiatic trade; their two sons were Henry (formerly of Pontotoc, Miss., and later of Memphis, Tenn., where he died in 1862), and Charles, long in business in Hong Kong, who died in New York in 1881; a daughter, Mary, now lives in Cambridge. The younger daughter, Elizabeth, married Benjamin D. Whitney, of Brookline : he lives with his daughters in Cambridge. Ellen, daughter of George H. Wil- liams, is the Northborough representative of the younger generation.

WOOD .- The family of Wood in this vicinity are descended from William Wood, who migrated from England in 1638. His son Michael died in Concord in 1674; his son Abraham in Sudbury in 1742, or a little later ; his son " Captain " Samuel came in 1749 to Northborough, where he huilt a fulling-mill, and died in 1760. Of the twelve children of his son Abra- ham, representatives are found through the seven daughters under the family names of Davis, Garrett, Rice, Valentine and others. The youngest of the twelve, Samuel, born 1799, had four sons and one daughter. One of the sons, Samuel, born 1831, is now president of the bank.

STATISTICS .- The following figures show the recent growth of the town, the ratio of gain being the largest of the towns in this county excepting four: Popula- tion in 1875, 1398; population in 1885, 1853 : in- crease, 455.

The gain is chiefly due to the immigration of French, most of whom are factory operatives from Low- er Canada. From 1865 to 1875 there was a decrease, real or apparent, of 225. In the century since 1776, when the population was 562, there has been a gain of 836, or nearly 150 per cent. Number of voters in 1885, 3931; number of ratable polls, 573 ; number of families, 416; population of native birth, 1485; popu- lation of foreign birth, 368 ; natives of Massachusetts, 1485 ; natives of Ireland, 99; natives of Canada, 154; having both parents native, 983; having both parents foreign, 629; unmarried (about one-half), 976; hav- ing both parents Canadian French, 272; having both parents Irish, 215.

The following list is taken from the town reports of 1888 :-

State tax, $1440; county tax, $856; town grant, $14,300 ; overlayings, $236.29-total, $16,832.29. Tax on polls, $1186 ; tax on real estate, $11,830.23; tax on personal estate, $3108.14; tax on resident bank stock, $707.92-total amount of tax to be collected, $16,- 832.29. Number of polls, 593; value of real estate, $946,340; value of personal estate, $248,592; value of resident bank stock, 856,613. Bank shares are taxed at $113. Rate of' taxation, $12.50 per $1000. Num- ber of dwelling-houses, 332 ; horses, 311 ; cows, 835.

The following statement is from the local newspaper : The daily shipment of milk from Northboro' aver- ages at present about 300 cans holding 8} quarts each. During the spring months the daily shipment reached 400 cans. Twenty-two cents per can is the price paid during the summer. Winter prices are a trifle higher. -(September, 1888.)

The export of apples to foreign markets began in 1864. It is estimated that in fruit seasons the exports amount to 10,000 barrels.

Financial summary for the year 1887-88. Expendi- tures : Schools, $4836.04; highways, $1757.60; bridges,

1 Being 21 1-5 per cent. of the population. The highest ratio in the county is in Lunenburg, 30 1-2 ; the lowest in Webster, 16 per cent.

465

PETERSHAM.

$294.51; snow bills, $103.70 ; Fire Department, $356.73; street lighting, $378.50; Public Library, $434.29; pauper account, $2229.76; cemeteries, $200; Town Hall, $377.29; water damage, $3556,97; State aid, $489; contingent expenses, $1958.43-total, $16,- 972.82. Interest charges and State claims, $10,845.82; total, $27,818.64.

CHAPTER LXX.

PETERSHAM.

BY LYMAN CLARK.

Locality-Topography-Railway Connections-Historical Resources-Early Settlement-Petitioners and Proprietors-Services in the Indian War- First Meeting-Settlers-Relations with the Indians-Alarm-Armed Worshippers.

LOCATED in the northwestern part of Worcester County and bounded by Athol, Phillipston, Barre, Dana and New Salem, with eastern and southern angles connecting with Hubbardston and Hardwick, is found the town of Petersham, the only place bear- ing the name in the United States. The plantation, as it was originally called, was intended to be laid out six miles square, or containing thirty-six square miles. The four angles of its boundary lines coincided nearly with the points of the compass. A range of hills extends from the extreme northern portion of the town southward, in a position central between the eastern and western bounds. It is said that on these hills is found the highest cultivated land in Massa- chusetts east of the Connecticut River, the eleva- tion being but a few feet lower than the summit of Wachusett Mountain.

On either side of this range of hills may be found streams flowing southward into Swift River, or, in the northwestern part, northward into Miller's River. East and west of these streams hills or elevated ground may be found as the traveller approaches Dana on the western or Hubhardston on the eastern border. A portion of the territory originally belong- ing to the town has been set off to increase that of Dana.

The railway connections of the place are with the Fitchburg, by stage nine miles to Athol; the Massa- chusetts Central by stage, ten miles to Barre. At North Dana, five miles distant, is a station of the Springfield and Athol Branch of the Boston and Albany, and at Williamsville, six miles eastward, is a station of the Ware River Railway. All of these stations are used to some extent in communicating with the world, that at Athol having been hitherto the chief point.

HISTORICAL RESOURCES .- Mention may properly be made of the early town records from 1757-1793, which are specially valuable; also of the early church records, which begin with the organization of the church, 1738. Rev. Peter Whitney, son of Rev.

Aaron Whitney, the first pastor, wrote the first his- torical sketch of the town, of which we have knowl- edge, in his " History of Worcester County," which was the first published history of the county. Jared Weed, Esq., prepared an address upon the history of the town, the MS. of which has been in possession of Mr. Joseph Willson, of Bellows Falls, Vt. A bower has twice been built upon the Common and the people assembled to listeu to an historical ad- dress, followed by festivities appropriate to our national holiday. The first occurred. July 4, 1854, which was specially observed in view of the comple- tion, on the 19th of April previous, of a hun- dred years from the date of the incorporation of the town. Dr. William Parkhurst presided. Rev. Ed- mund B. Willson delivered a carefully prepared, very full and complete address, presenting the previous history of Petersham. This was published in pam- phlet form, with historical appendices, and is the basis of later historical labors relative to the town, furnishing much of the information contained in this article. Reference is made to this address for more full information on many topics than is here con- tained.

The second historical anniversary was held in pur- suance of a resolution of Congress relative to local histories, under a bower on the same spot, July 4, 1876; Deacon Cephas Willard, ninety years of age, presided. Lyman Clark, then pastor of the First Congregational Church (Unitarian), delivered the address which was intended to supply some informa- tion relative to the earlier period not contained in the previous address, and to add historical facts per- taining to the period of twenty-two years which had passed since the previous celebration. This address was published in the Athol Transcript for July 11 and 18, 1876. George W. Horr, LL.B., in the year 1879 prepared a valuable historical article for a "History of Worcester County." Hon. John G. Mudge has carefully prepared the record of the sol- diers of the War of the Rebellion, and furnished much other information. Mr. J. B. Howe has for many years collected materials for the history of the town, many items of which have appeared in the Athol Transcript. A valuable MS. in his possession contains the letters of Captain Park Holland, pre- pared from a diary kept by him of six years' service in the Revolutionary War, service at the time of Shays' Rebellion, and surveying tours to the eastern part of what is now the State of Maine. Acknowl- edgments are made to these various sources of infor- mation contained in this article, including courtesies by Mr. C. B. Tillinghast, in charge of the State Library. The preparation of a full history of the town remains for the future. Probably few towns of the State will be found to have more interesting his- torical resources than are furnished by the annals of Petersham.

EARLY SETTLEMENT .- In the month of April,

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HISTORY OF WORCESTER COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

1733, John Bennet, Jeremiah Perley and sixty- five others petitioned the General Court for a grant of land six miles square. The proposed grant was to be located from a point beginning six miles from the northwest corner of Rutland, the southern line run- ning westerly six miles. The reason urged in favor of the grant by the petitioners was previous service in the Indian Wars under Captain Lovell, of Dun- stable, and Captain White, of Lancaster. Two previous petitions had been sent to the General Court without avail., This petition was acted upon favor- ably on the 25th day of April, 1733, the General Court having excluded nine of the petitioners and added five new names, making seventy-one proprietors. The grant was at the average rate of three hundred and twenty-four acres per man, or about twice the amount now allowed under the bounty laws of the United States, and may be thought a generous recog- nition of the "Hardship and Difficult marches they underwent " ... "after the Inden Enemy and Into their Country," which were humbly assigned as reasons for the grant.

It is probable that those marches had at some time led the petitioners over the lands which they thought desirable for a plantation, and that thus the location was fixed in their minds. Some of them were men of means, thus giving the enterprise of establishing a plantation responsible endorsement. The petition- ers lived chiefly in the northwestern part of Middle- sex and northeastern part of Worcester Counties. The towns of Lancaster, Boxford, Harvard, Lunen- burg, Concord, Groton, Dracut, Haverhill, Biller- ica, Grafton, Rutland, Sudbury, Worcester, Ames- bury, Exeter, N. H., Bedford, Chelmsford and other places were represented among the proprietors.

PETITIONERS AND PROPRIETORS .- The names of the original petitioners were: "Benoni Boyenten, Moses Hazzen, William Hutchins, Caleb Dalton, John Hazzen, Jacob Perley, Samuel Stickney, Phinias Foster, Stephen Merril, Benjamin Barker, Robart Ford, Abner Brown, Samuel Hilton, John White, Benjamin Walker, Joseph Reed, John Baker, John Goss, Joseph Wrighte, Richard Hall, Oliver Pollard, Samuel Fletcher, John Dunton, William Spalding, John Varnum, John Leveston, Junr., Jos- eph Whelock, Robarte Phelps, Jonathan Hough- ton, Jacob Emes, Henry Willard, John Bennet, Jeremiah Perley, and in behalf of Joshua Hut- chins, Jathro Eames, Jonas Houghton, Ezra Saw- yer, James Houghton, Samuel Sawyer, Aron Rice (Ried ?), Jonathan Adams, Moses Chandler, Sam- nel Rugg, Jonathan Atherton, Ephraim Houghton, Jonathan Wilson, Steven Houghton, heirs of Sam- uel Mossmann, Benjamin Gates, Fairbanks Moores, Joseph Whitcomb, Samuel Larned, Daniel Hough- ton, Peter Atherton, John Wilder, Edward Hough- ton, Henry Houghton, David Whitcomb, Timothy Hale, Jonathan Parling, Samuel Brown, John Saw- yer, Joseph Willson, Samuel Willard, Ephraim

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History of Worcester County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. I, Part 129

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton) Publication date: 1889 Publisher: Philadelphia : J.W. Lewis & Co. Number of Pages: 1576

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton)
Publication date: 1889
Publisher: Philadelphia : J.W. Lewis & Co.
Number of Pages: 1576