History of Worcester County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. I, Part 132

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 132

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During the pastorate of Rev. Luther Willson a State law was passed disestablishing the churches of Massachusetts. A Trinitarian Congregational Church was organized, which included those who did not accept the "Christian Profession," which had been substituted for the earlier "Covenant." The affairs of the Church were to be no longer connected with

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HISTORY OF WORCESTER COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

the town. The property and records passed to the First Congregational Parish, which received from the town 83975.43 in money, that being the amount of a fund which had resulted from the sale of the "ministerial lands." These lands were one proprie- tor's lot set off for the maintenance of the ministry. They had been used by Rev. Aaron Whitney pre- viously to the year 1775. Two entries in the records of a meeting held May 24th of that year will serve to indicate the cause of transfer of the lands to the care of the town :

" Voted unanimously, that the town will not hire the Rev'd Mr. Whitney to preach with them any longer, and that he is Dismissed from any further services as a Gospel Minister in this Town. . . . Voted, that the Selectmen take possession of and lease out the minis- terial lands for the most they will fetch." Three years later, or in 1778, it was voted to sell the ministerial lands. From such sale the ministerial fund was es- tablished.

The report of the committee which sold the lands, accepted by a town-meeting, 1780, shows that four hundred and twenty-eight acres and one hundred and four rods were sold in lots to ten different persons, corn being the standard of value. The sales amounted to 6779 bushels and 22 quarts, as the valne of the lands. The annual interest to be paid, as reckoned by the committee, was 405 bushels and 15 quarts. The rate appears to have been six per cent. The slight discrepancy in reckoning from these figures is doubtless explainable by the fact that the committee reckoned from a number of smaller quantities.

Upon the separation of the affairs of the church and town, Aaron Brooks, Esq., Jared Weed, Esq., and Jonas Carruth were the committee which made the in- ventory of church property to be transferred. The parish also received subsequently the sum of one thousand dollars, which was given by Nathaniel McCarty, his will having provided that the interest "shall be ap- plied to the support of Unitarian preaching in said Town," and five hundred dollars, which were devised by an item of the will as follows : "I give and be- queath to the Town of Petersham five hundred dol- lars, the interest to be appropriated to support the singing on Sundays in their meeting-house. Provided the inhabitants of that town see that part of public worship decently and properly performed; the princi- pal to be perpetually kept good by a safe investment on land security."

The will contained this explanation : " My induce- ment to these bequests is . .. a desire to testify the interest which I continue to feel in the place where I long resided and where, with the blessing of heaven, I acquired much of my property." These bequests came to the church as the successor of the town in respect to ecclesiastical interests.

The first Sunday-school in Petersham was estab- lished by Rev. Luther Willson, who was its first su- perintendent. Rev. George R. Noyes, D.D., suc-

ceeded Rev. Luther Willson. His translation of a large portion of the Bible has given him a reputa- tion wider than any one denomination. His works, which are still in print, are a Translation of the He- brew Prophets, Translation of the Book of Psalms, Translation of Job, and the New Testament Trans- lated from the Greek text of Tischendorf. He made also a collection of Theological Essays by various authors, for which he wrote an introduction. The translation of the Scriptures anticipated many of the changes of the Revised Version.

Dr. Noyes was a native of Newburyport; a gradu- ate of Harvard College. 1818 ; received the degree of Doctor of Divinity, 1839 ; settled in Brookfield, 1827 ; installed in Petersham, October, 1834; elected to a professorship in the Theological School of Harvard University in 1840.

Rev. Nathaniel Gage was born at North Andover, Mass., 1800 ; graduated at Harward, 1822; at the Di- vinity School, 1826; was settled in the ministry at Nashua, N. H., and Haverhill, Mass., seven years each; installed at Petersham, October 6, 1841 ; dis- missed, 1845 ; afterward of Lancaster and Westboro', which was his last settlement. He subsequently re- sided at Cambridge, preaching at Ashby aod other places, and died in 1861.

During the ministry of Mr. Gage at Petersham the house of worship, which is still occupied by the First Parish, was erected. It was built by a stock subscrip- tion of fifty-five shares of one hundred dollars each, which were subsequently presented by the share- holders to the parish. The first church edifice, which was regularly occupied from the year 1738, after several years of progress toward completion, was used until about the year 1780, or sixty-two years. Then the building of a new church was agitated, but it was probably 1788 when it was ready for occupation. Eleazer Bradshaw, Esq., of Brookfield, gave a bell which came from the works of Paul Revere. A clock was given Jater, 1828, by Cyrus Wadsworth. Upon the erection of the present church, 1842, the bell and clock were removed from the old church. That build- ing, which had been used for worship from 1788 to 1842, or fifty-four years, was removed to the east side of the Common and devoted to secular uses until de- stroyed by fire, 1845. - The previous removal of the bell and clock, and consequent preservation of those relics of the early time, is an occasion of special sat- isfaction. The bell bears the inscription :

" The living to the Church I call, And to the grave I summon all."

Brief mention only can be made of those who have since served as pastors of the church. Rev. Ephraim Nute, Jr., was ordained October 15, 1845; dismissed, 1848. He has since been settled in Scituate and Chic- opee, and has lived in Kansas, to which State he went in connection with a movement to settle that terri- tory with emigrants opposed to slavery and in favor of the organization of a free State.

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PETERSHAM.

Rev. Martin W. Willis, ordained at Walpole, N. H., 1843, was installed at Petersham, 1848. The pastorate continued until 1851, since which time he has been settled at Bath, Me., and at Nashua, N. H., subse- quently residing in St. Louis.

John J. Putnam, previously settled in Bolton, was installed 1852. During his ministry the organ was purchased, which displaced the violin, violoncello and bass viol, which had been in previous use as an aid to church music.

Rev. Seth Saltmarsh served eight years as pastor of the church.

Rev. Daniel Francis Goddard was born at Plym- outh, Mass., November 29, 1827. He studied two years at Amherst College, afterward preparing for the ministry with Rev. Russell Tomlinson, a Uni- versalist. He was ordained and settled over a Universalist Church, Boston, afterward being en- gaged in the ministry at Weymouth and Chelsea, before coming to Petersham. His subsequent em- ployment was at Revere, Harvard and Chelmsford. He died July 13, 1883.

Rev. Thomas D. Howard, who served as pastor about four years, was born at Springfield, Mass., December 26, 1826, being the son of Charles and Elizabeth (Dwight) Howard. He graduated at Har- vard College, 1848, Divinity School, 1851, and has since been settled in order at Berry, Me., Sheboygan, Wis., Petersham, Charlestown, N. H. He united in marriage, 1854, with. Sarah A. Eaton, of Berry, Me. During the War of the Rebellion Mr. Howard served as chaplain, and upon resigning at Petersham, served as secretary of the Commissioners of Prisons for Massachusetts.

Lyman Clark was born at what is now Sago, W. Va., 1838, being the son of Cornelius and Abigail (Wright) Clark, natives respectively of Bridgewater and Westford, Mass. The family having removed to Illinois, Lyman Clark served in the War of the Re- bellion, 1861-65. Upon leaving the army he entered the Meadville Theological School, remaining four years ; was graduated 1869 and ordained at a meeting of the Western Conference at Quincy, III., October of the same year. He was located for several months at Jacksonville, Ill .; has been settled at Lancaster, N. H., 1870-74; Petersbam, 1874-82; Ayer, 1882; to the present time. He was a member of the House of Representatives 1879, representing the towns of Tem- pleton, Phillipston, Hubbardston and Petersham; was united in marriage, 1872, with Isabel Clough, daugh- ter of Eben and Susan Clough, Bethel, Me.

Rev. Isaac Francis Porter was born at Wenham, Essex County, Mass., June 29, 1839. He served as a soldier in the War of the Rebellion, attended Madi- son University, New York, afterward the Meadville (Pa.) Theological School. He has been settled in the ministry at Princeton, Ill., Peterboro', N. H., Chicopee, Petersham, (1883-87), Bolton and Berlin, Mass.

Henry Harrison Brown, the present pastor, was born at Uxbridge, 1840, the son of Pemberton Brown, and Paulina (Whitmore) Brown, of Sutton. He studied at Nichols Academy, Dudley, at Mead- ville and served in the War of the Rebellion from 1862-65 ; was ordained at Petersham, 1888.

CONGREGATIONAL .- An Orthodox Congregational Church was organized and established by council held January 25, 1823. Its house of worship was built sev- eral years later, or about the year 1829. Its pastors have been Rev. Mr. Wolcott, 1830-33; Rev. Caleb B. Tracy, installed June 25, 1834 ; Rev. Columbus Shum- way, installed October 4, 1837; Rev. Solomon Clark, installed April 13, 1841 ; Rev. A. B. Foster, installed May 12, 1853; Rev. Lucien H. Adams, installed Oc- tober 28, 1862, dismissed January 2, 1865, to become a missionary to Turkey of the American Board of Com- missioners for Foreign Missions. The church has since been served in pastoral relations by Rev. Charles Kendall, Rev. Mr. Root, Rev. Wm. Miller, Rev. Abijah Stowell, Rev. Benjamin Ober, Rev. Charles W. Fifield, installed October 14, 1874; Rev. Elbridge W. Merrit, acting pastor, and Rev. David Shurtleff, installed May 8, 1884.

A second church of the Orthodox Congregational denomination was organized in the southwest part of the town, on the borders of Dana and Hardwick, in the year 1836 or 1837, and a meeting-house was built. Probably the nearness of the locality to Dana Centre led to its discontinuance.

BAPTIST CHURCH .- At the time of the Revolution, aud for some years afterward, a Baptist Society was maintained in the southwesterly part of the town, its church being located near the Factory Village, so- called, otherwise Nichewaug. Rev. Samuel Dennis and Rev. Mr. Sellon were pastors. The meeting-house was subsequently moved to Dana, where it was for some time occupied by the same society and after- ward by Universalists, finally being used for secular purposes.

A branch society of the Baptist Church in Athol was organized in Petersham, November, 1824. Rev. Thomas Marshall held services for several years, he residing in the westerly party of the town. In May, 1849, this branch church assumed an independent organization, and Rev. John Shepardson became their first pastor. He was succeeded by Rev. E. C. Anderson, D.D., and Rev. T. T. Merriman and Rev. Kilburn Holt, pastor from 1882-87. Rev. Arvin Au- gustus Smith, the present pastor, was settled 1888. Of these several pastors a few facts may be given. Rev. Samuel Dennis was an ardent revolutionist and probably the author, in part, of the reply of the town to the Committee of Correspondence of the town of Boston, the resolutions sent to the General Court, and the instructions to their representative. His name appears as representative to the General Court, 1777.

Rev. John Shepardson was active in the organiza-

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HISTORY OF WORCESTER COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

tion and conduct of the Highland Institute, a school which was for some years maintained in what is now known as the Nichewaug, and of which Rev. E. C. Anderson, D.D .. was for some time principal.

Rev. T. M. Merriam, A.M., was the author of two works entitled "The Trail of History; or, History of Religion and Empire," and "William, Prince of Orange."

Rev. Kilburn Holt had served in the ministry at Lancaster, N. H., and Colebrook, Mass., having removed to Amherst upon leaving Petersham.

Rev. Arvin A. Smith was a graduate of Brown University and studied theology at Newton.

The house of worship occupied by the Baptists was purchased of the Universalists about the year 1849.

A UNIVERSALIST SOCIETY was organized in the year 1836 or 1837. It built the house of worship now occupied by the Baptists. The society was con- tinued probably until the year 1849. Rev. Mr. Wil- lis and Rev. Mr. Coolidge served as pastors,

THE METHODIST CHURCH .- Preaching was main- tained by the Methodists, and a society formed, which continued from 1843 to 1848 or '49. A small chapel was built, the use of which, for church purposes, was afterward discontinued. Their pastors were Rev. Messrs. Dutton, Clarke and Goodwin.

CHAPTER LXXIV.

PETERSHAM-(Continued.)

Schools-Industries-Wealth-Population-College Graduates-Congressmen -State Senators -- Representatives-Town Officers -- Selectmen-Town Clerks-Town Treasurers-School Committee-Officers 1888.

FROM a letter of Captain Park Holland we have this account of the educational facilities of the town during his boyhood, or about the year 1760 :

"Our opportunity for obtaining an education was very limited indeed. The Psalter and a few old books were all that were used in the few months' school we attended. . .. Our books of amusement were likewise very few. Æsop's Fables and occa- sionally some ballads brought us by a strolling pedlar, were the principal, and they were read with great pleasure; and not read merely, but often committed to memory." From such, not by any means worth- less, beginnings has grown the present modern school.

SCHOOLS .- The town being large in respect to ter- ritory, it has been necessary to maintain schools in the several neighborhoods. Nine school-houses are still found out of the village, and formerly there were ten, one having been burned. Schools have been temporarily suspended at different times in several of the school-houses for want of pupils in the neighbor- hood, other schools being well filled. In the village a brick school-house is found, in which are three

rooms, one of which has recently been occupied by the library, one by a primary and ungraded school, one by a high school. Although the population is below the standard which requires a high school to be maintained, the town has been accustomed to vote an appropriation for the high school from year to year. This voluntary action indicates the earnest interest of the people in the education of children. The town appropriates a high percentage of its valuation for school purposes. The number of children of school age, or from five to fifteen years, was one hundred and fifty-nine for the year 1888. A boarding-school, under the name of the Highland Institute, was maintained for several years.

INDUSTRIES .- The most common employment of the people from the beginning has been that of farm- ing. The necessary grist-mill, saw-mill and black- smith and wheelwright shops have done their work from an early date. No manufacturing corporation is at present located in Petersham. In 1847 a fire which swept the westerly side of the Common, destroying property estimated at fifty thousand dollars, burned a building which was fitted with engine and machinery for the manufacture of lasting buttons. Fourteen buildings were burned, including two hotels, barns and out-buildings, one dwelling-house, one large store, one building occupied by shops, offices, etc. This fire inflicted permanent injury to the business interests of the place.

The braiding of palm-leaf hats was introduced by Mr. Samson Wetherell, October, 1327. He procured material and employed a Miss Gilbert to teach braid- ing, furnishing her a room in his own house for the purpose. The apprentices became teachers of others throughout the town. The first expense was borne wholly by Wetherell & Brown, merchants. After- ward one dollar was paid by learners to the teacher. The leaf was first split with a pen-knife, the hats heing whitened in a barrel with brimstone, pressed with a flat-iron and barreled up to send to market. In ten years from the introduction the gross business amounted to twenty-five thousand four hundred and ninety-five dollars, the value of one hundred and thirty thousand five hundred and twenty-five hats, the product of one year. This continued for a long time to be an impor- tant industry in many households, and is still prac- ticed to some extent.

The seating of chairs is also practiced somewhat, the chair frames being distributed from the factories in Gardner.

Pearlash was at an early day produced to a consid- erable extent. To meet the necessities of the Revo- lution, saltpetre was made to be used in manufacture of gunpowder. More patriotism than profit is said to have been connected with this enterprise.

To meet a want caused by interrupted commerce, salt was made at Rochester Shore ard brought to the town for the use of the people. The enterprise was not successful, for which reason it was abandoned.

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PETERSHAM.

Paul Peckham formerly manufactured ladders, and it the proper season sent them around through the country for sale. In this business he used a ma- chine, invented by himself, for dressing tapering conical surfaces.

A cheese-factory was erected three-quarters of a nile sonth of the village, and the business carried on or some time. It was finally discontinued, and the building moved to the rear of the Unitarian Church, where it was converted first into a skating rink, and afterward into a tenement-house.

Mr. Hiram Gibbs for some years carried on the naking of staves for pail manufacture.

German Lagara has manufactured articles of fancy wood-work, plates, bowls, nut-dishes, etc., which are old to summer boarders and others who visit the own.

Mr. Elisha Webb has, for many years, mannfac- ured powder kegs at the south part of the town, em- loying a small corps. of workmen. This has for years been the largest manufacturing interest of the own.

Formerly Petersham was a thoroughfare and stop- bing-place for teams passing with merchandise or tage-coach passengers from Boston through Sudbury, Shrewsbury, Holden, Rutland and Barre, to Athol, Orange, Greenfield, Northfield, Warwick and the outheastern part of Vermont. For the accommoda- ion of this travel there were four taverns-one in he eastern part of the town, two near the centre and one on the road to Athol at the north end. One of these, as Rev. Dr. Samuel Willard tel's us, main- ained a sign which " was somewhat emblematic of what a tavern should be, viz .: a tea-kettle hung rom the arm of the post."

John Chandler, Esq., who lived a century ago, xept a large deer park of seventy acres, surrounded by a very high Virginia fence, sufficient, as was sup- posed, to keep the deer safely enclosed. But tradi- ion tells of an exceedingly deep snow, which, drift- ng against the rails, compacted into a bridge, which gave his deer their natural liberty.

WEALTH .- By the census of 1885 the population of the town was 1032, of whom 972 were native, 60 of foreign birth. The dwelling-houses numbered 278. The products of the town were valued at $167,583, including, with other classifications not here given, animal products valned at $9252; dairy products, $40,459; cereals, $10,297; wood products, $9299; hay, straw and fodder, $56,628.

The property of the town, other than that classi- ied as products, was valned at $706,765, and in- cluded land, valued at $355,132; buildings, $199,274; machines and implements, $36,968; domestic ani- mals, etc., $70,609; fruit-trees and vines, $41.782. The total value of products and property was $874,- 348.

Rev. Peter Whitney, who published his " History of Worcester County " in 1793, states the relative

position of the town in respect to wealth thus: "There are but seven towns who pay more to a State tax." From this it appears that Petersham was then eightli in the State in respect to wealth.

POPULATION .- The population of the town has declined somewhat during the present in comparison with the previous century. In the early settlement of the State, villages were often located at the summit of hills, presumably on account of the more defensible position. The possibility of a stealthy attack from a savage foe made it necessary to select the village site with a military eye. But the advent of the ponderous locomotive, with the necessity for a graded road-bed, determined the location of villages in the valleys rather than upon the hills. The building-up of the railway centres has made steady drain upon the popu- lation of farming communities, whether upon the hills or in the valleys. During at least a large portion of the present century the young people have con- stantly gone from Petersham to make homes in other towns and cities. The movement of population is indicated by some figures collected by Mr. Willson for his historical address, with the addition of the results of the later census returns.

The town was incorporated 1754, the first census afterward being in the year 1765, the population 707. The subsequent numbers appear in the following order : 1776, 1235; 1790, 1560; 1800, 1794; 1810, 1490; 1820, 1623; 1830, 1696 ; 1840, 1775; 1850, 1527; 1855, 1553; 1860, 1465 ; 1865, 1428; 1870, 1335; 1875, 1203; 1880, 1109; 1885, 1032. From this it appears that the largest population was in the year 1800, the number next in order being for the year 1840. The number of inhabit- ants by the last census is the smallest since 1765.

The depopulation of Petersham has built up other places, its former residents being found in Boston, Worcester, Fitchburg, Athol, Greenfield, New York, Chicago and many other places. It remains for a future writer to narrate the exodus of this town, and tell of the doings of its children in their new homes.

COLLEGE GRADUATES .- The graduates of several colleges who were native inhabitants of Petersham, include the following names :

Harvard University :- Peter Whitney, A.M., class of 1762; Paul Whitney, A.M., 1772; Abel Whitney, 1773; William Amherst Barron, A.M., 1787; John Chandler, A.M., 1787; Richard Whitney, A.M., 1787; Nathaniel Chandler, 1792; Thomas Barron, 1796; Samuel Willard, S.T.D., 1803; Samnel Ward Chandler, 1822; Francis Augustus Brooks, 1842; John Brooks, 1856.

Dartmouth College :- Jonathan Grout, A.M., class of 1787; John Jackson, 1792; William Ward, 1792; Paul Grout, 1793 ; George Grout, 1795 ; Elisha Ham- mond, 1802; Abiathar Hopkins, 1806; Hutchins Hapgood, 1813; Cyrus Pitt Grosvenor, 1818; Moses Gill Grosvenor, 1822.

Williams College :- Daniel Bigelow, class of 1803;

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HISTORY OF WORCESTER COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

Lewis Bigelow, 1803 ; Charles Goddard, 1815 ; Joel S. Sanderson, 1850.

Amherst College :- John B. Kendall, class of 1827 ; Charles Grosvenor Goddard, 1841; Andrew Jackson Wheeler, 1846; George Sumner Grosvenor, 1858; Abiathar Blanchard, 1875.

Brown University :- Aaron Brooks, 1817; James Willson Brooks, 1855; Charles Hutchins Hapgood, 1857.

Middletown College :- Fisher Ames Foster, John Wells Foster.

Union College :- George Grout Hapgood, 1830.

Yale College :- Daniel Bigelow Parkhurst, 1836.

CONGRESSMEN .- Jonathan Grout, who came from Lunenburg, having served seven years as Representa- tive in the General Court and one year in the Senate, was chosen a member of the first Congress under the Constitution.

Lewis Bigelow, born 1785, a graduate of Williams College 1803, studied law and was chosen a member of the Seventeenth Congress. He was the author of a Digest of the Cases determined in the Supreme Judicial Court from 1804 to 1815, a work published in 1818, yet still found in law offices. A comparison of these dates shows that this standard work of legal analysis was produced before the author was thirty- three years of age.

GENERAL COURT OF MASSACHUSETTS .- Senators- Jonathan Grout, John G. Mudge.

Representatives-Joshua Willard, 1761, 1763 ; John Chandler, 1768; Theophilus Chandler, 1769; Ephraim Doolittle, 1772, 1773, 1774; Jonathan Grout, 1775, 1777, 1779, 1784, 1786, 1787; Captain Elisha Ward, 1777 ; Samuel Dennis, 1777 ; Samuel Peckham, 1787 ; Park Holland, 1788, 1789; Ruggles Spoouer, 1770, 1790; Daniel Bigelow, 1791, 1792; Asa Pond, 1818; Joel Bryant, 1822; Hutchins Hapgood, 1823; Israel Houghton, 1824; Cyrus Wadsworth, 1827; Joseph Gallond, 1829, 1830, 1832; Micajah Reed, 1829, 1832, 1833; Josiah Wheeler, 1830, 1849; Aaron Brooks, 1834, 1835; Nahum Gale, 1836, 1837; Cephas Wil- lard, 1835, 1838; Seth Hapgood, 1837, 1840, 1849; Joseph Brown, 1839; Artemas Bryant, 1839, 1840; Asa Clark, 1841; Jonas Howe, 1845; Elbridge G. Miles, 1846 ; Lyman Robinson, 1848; George White, 1851, 1858; Lewis Whitney, 1852; John G. Mudge, 1856, 1858, 1865; Josiah White, 1861; Hudson Tol- man, 1862; Stephen D. Goddard, 1869, 1873 ; Lyman Clark, 1879; Elisha Webb, 1883.

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History of Worcester County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. I, Part 132

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