USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > History of Worcester County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. I > Part 140
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1846 .- Town Clerk, William D. Peck ; Selectmen, Samuel Iloughton,
R. H. Sawyer, Perley Bartlett; Assessors, Torry Honghton, L. W. Rugg, Ephraim Fairbank : School Connuittee, Rev. O. Cunningham, Samuel Osgood, Torry Houghton, J. N. Stevenson, Prentice M. Rugg ; Repre- sentative to the Legislature, Jonas R Goodnow.
1847 .- Town Clerk, William D. Peck ; Selectmen, R. Il. Sawyer, Per- ley Bartlett, John H. Davis; Assessors, R. H. Sawyer, L. W. Rugg, Francis Butterick, Jr ; School Committee, Rev. O. Cunningham, Rev. T. Preotise Allen, Rev. Quincy Whitney, Samuel Osgood, Prentice M. Rugg ; Representative to the Legislature, William D. Peck.
1848 .- Town Clerk, William D. Peck ; Selectmen, Perley Bartlett, Benj. Stnart, Jacob Priest ; Assessors, Luther W. Rugg, Ephraim Fair- hank, Samuel Osgood; School Committee, Rev. O. Cunningham, Rev. T. Prentiss Allen, Rev. Quincy Whitney, Samnel Osgood, Prentice M. Rugg ; Representative to the Legislature, William D. Peck.
1849 .- Town Clerk, Dr. William D. Peck ; Selectmea, Manasseh Houghton, Joho H. Davis, Levi Kilburn ; Assessors, L. W. Rugg, Eph- raim Fairbank, Samuel Osgood ; School Committee, Rev. O. Cunning- ham, Rev. T. Prentiss Allen, Rev. Samuel A. Davis, Samuel Osgood, Prentice M. Rugg; Representative to the Legislature, Manasseh Houghton.
1850 .- Town Clerk, William D. Peck ; Selectmen, Manasseh Hough- ton, John H. Davis, Levi Kilburn ; Assessors, Moses Sawyer, James W. Fitch, John M. Steveason ; School Committee, Samuel A. Davis, John M. Stevenson, Jacob N. Tolmao ; Representative to the General Court, Luther W. Rugg.
1851 .- Town Clerk, William D. Peck ; Selectmen, Jacob Priest, Joseph Whitney, James Phelps ; Assessors, Luther W. Rugg, Silas M. Wilder, Samuel Osgood ; School Committee, T. Prentiss Allen, Samuel A. Davis, J. M. Stevenson, Samuel Osgood, P. M. Rugg; Representative to the General Court, Lnther W. Rugg.
1852 .- Town Clerk, William D. Peck; Selectmen, Joseph Whitney, James Phelps, J. S. Butterick ; Assessors, Samnel Osgood, Silas M. Wilder, P. M. Rugg; School Committee, Rev. S. A. Davis, Rev. T P. Allen, Rev. William Guilford, Samuel Osgood, P. M. Rngg. J. N. Tol- man, George Ba-s, Jr .; Representative to the General Court, Luther W. Rugg.
1853 .- Town Clerk, William D. Peck ; Selectmen, John H. Davis, Moses Sawyer (2d), Charles M. Pailey ; Assessors, John M. Stevenson, James W. Fitch, Henry E. Kendall ; School Committee. Samuel Osgood, P. M. Rugg, John M. Stevenson ; Delegate to the Constitutional Con- vention, Samuel Iloughton ; Representative to the General Court, Wil- liam D. Peck.
1854 .- Town Clerk, William D. Peck ; Selectmed, John H. Davis, Moses Sawyer (2d), Charles M. Railey ; Assessors, James W. Fitch, Henry E. Kendall, Levi Reed, Jr. ; School Committee, Samuel Osgood, P. M. Rugg, Rev. Wm. M. Guilford; Representative to the General Court, J. Sawyer Butterick.
1855 .- Town Clerk, William D. Peck ; Selectmen, Moses Sawyer (2d), Charles M. Bailey, L. W. Rugg ; Assessors, James W. Fitch, Prentice M. Rugg, John H. Davis; School Committee, Rev. T. P. Allen, Rev. J. H. Learned, Samnel Osgood, N. M. Lee, Jonathan Davis ; Representa- tive to the General Court, Moses Sawyer (2d).
1856 .- Town Clerk, William D. Peck ; Selectmen, Charles MI. Bailey, S. W Rugg, Joseph P. Heywood ; Assessors, Prentice M. Rugg, John H. Davis, Levi Reed; School Committee, Rev. Wm. Miller, Samuel Osgood, Jonª. Davis, Nelson N. Lee, Ezra Sawyer; Representative to the General Court, Moses Sawyer (2d).
1857 .- Town Clerk, William D. Peck; Selectmen, L. W. Rngg, Joseph P. Heywood, J. Sawyer Butterick ; Assessors, John II. Davis, Samuel Osgood, Perley Bartlett ; School Committee, Rev. Wm. H. Knapp, Rev. Wm Miller, N. M. Lee, Samnel Osgood ; Representative to the General Court, Samuel Osgood.
1858 .- Town Clerk, William D. Peck ; Selectmen, L. W. Rugg, Joseph P. Heywood, J. Sawyer Butterick ; Assessors, John H. Davis, Samuel Osgood, Perley Bartlett ; School Committee, Jona. Davis, P. M. Rugg, John E. Grey, F. A Sawyer, Samuel Osgood, W. A. P. Wil- lard.
1859 .- Town Clerk, William D. Peck ; Selectmen, Perley Bartlett, Asa Keyes, Edward Burpee ; Assessors, John H. Davis, Samuel Osgood, Prentice M. Rugg ; School Committee, Samnel Osgood, J. Kendall Dear- ing ; State Senator, William D. Peck.
1860 .- Towo Clerk William D. Peck ; Selectmen, Perley Bartlett, Asa Keyes, Edward Burpee; Assessors, John H. Davis, P. M. Rugg, Ezra Sawyer; School Committee, Prentice M. Rugg, Lnther Rugg (2d) ; Representative to the General Court, Samuel Osgood.
1861 .- Town Clerk, William D. Peck ; Selectmen, Perley Bartlett, Asa Keyes, Edward Burpee; Assessors, John H. Davis, P. M. Rngg,
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HISTORY OF WORCESTER COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.
Ezra Sawyer; School Committee, Benjamin Woodard, Rev. E. B. Fair- child, Jonª. Davis.
1862 .- Town Clerk, William D. Peck ; Selectmen, J. S. Butterick, Josiah Phelps, James A. Pratt; Assessors, John H. Davis, P. M. Rugg, Ezra Sawyer; School Committee, Samuel Osgood, Rev. E. B. Fairchild, Rev. J. C. Labaree ; Representative to the General Court, Luke Sawyer.
1863 .- Towa Clerk, William D. Peck ; Selectmen, J. S. Butterick, Josiah Phelps, Ephraim Fairbanks; Assessors, Prentice M. Rugg, Samuel Osgood, John Houghton; School Committee, Samuel Osgood, Prentice M. Rugg.
1864 .- Town Clerk, William D. Peck ; Selectmen, Ezra Sawyer, Henry E. Kendall, Moses B. Heywood ; Assessors, Prentice M. Rugg, Joho Iloughton, Luke Sawyer ; School Committee, P. M. Rugg ; Representa- tive to the General Court, Luke Sawyer.
1865 .- Towa Clerk, William D. Peck ; Selectmen, Ezra Sawyer, Henry E. Kendall, Moses B. Heywood ; Assessors, Prentice M. Rugg, Edward W. Toombs, L. W. Nichols ; School Committee, Dr. F. D. Lord, Rev. J. C. Labaree.
1866 .- Town Clerk, William D. Peck ; Selectmen, Ezra Sawyer, Henry E. Kendall, Moses B Heywood ; Assessors, Prentice M. Rugg Ezra Sawyer, M. B. Heywood ; School Committee, Rev. Elbridge Gerry.
1867 .- Town Clerk, William D. Peck ; Selectmen, Luke Sawyer, Clio- ton Heywood, Edward W. Toombs; Assess rs, Prentice M. Rugg, E. W. Toombs, Luke W. Nichols; School Committee, Samuel Osgood.
1868 .- Town Clerk, William D. Peck ; Selectmen, Prentice M. Rngg, Clinton Heywood, S. Thurston Wilder ; Assessors, Moses B. Heywood, James A. Pratt, Jonathan Davis ; School Committee, Rev. A. S. Nick- erson (for three years) and Henry S. Sawyer (for one year).
1869 .- Towa Clerk, William D. Peck ; Selectmen, P. M. Rugg, Clia- ton Heywood, S. Thurston Wilder ; Assessors, M. B. Heywood, James A Pratt, Jonathan Davis; School Committee, Dr. F. D. Lord, Mrs Mary S. Rugg, Alvah S. Howe, Miss Abby Hastings, Samuel Osgood, Miss Nellie A. Willard ; Representative, Charles H. Loring.
1870 .- Town Clerk, William D. Peck ; Selectmien, Ezra Sawyer, James W. Fitch, James A. Pratt ; Assessors, Prentice M. Rugg, Samuel Osgood, Clinton Heywoud ; School Committee, Rev. H. C. Bates, William H. Bur- pee, Henry S. Sawyer.
1871 .- Town Clerk, William D. Peck; Selectmeo, Ezra Sawyer, John H Davis, F. L. Wilder ; Assessors, P. M. Rugg, Samuel Osgood, Clinton Heywood ; School Committee, Rev. H. C. Bates, Jonathan Davis ; Rep- resentative, Asa Keyes.
1872 .- Towa Clerk, William D. Peck ; Selectmea, Ezra Sawyer, Joha II. Davis, F. L. Wilder ; Assessors, Ezra Sawyer, Jonathan Davis, Wil- liam HI. Burpee ; School Committee, Rev. H. C. Bates, Wm. H. Burpee, George K. Powers,
1873 .- Towu Clerk, William D. Peck ; Selectmen, Ezra Sawyer, Jolin H. Davis, Charles H. Loring; Assessors, Ezra Sawyer, Jonathan Davis, William H. Burpee ; School Committee, Henry S. Sawyer.
1874 .- Towa Clerk, William D. Peck ; Selectaien, Ezra Sawyer, John Il. Davis, Charles H. Loring ; Assessors, P. M. Rugg, Wm. S. Walker, A. L. Fitch ; School Committee, William H. Burpee, Rev. L. D. Mears, Representative, Moses B. Heywood.
1875 .- Town Clerk, Wm. D. Peck ; Selectmen, Moses B. Heywood, Charles H. Loring, Wm. H. Sawyer ; Assessors, Jonathan Davis, P. M. Rugg, S. Thurston Wilder: School Committee, Rev. L. D. Mears.
1876 .- Town Clerk, William D. Peck ; Selectmen, Jonathan Davis, James Bailey, Marcus L. Snow ; Assessors, P. M. Rugg, Wm. S. Walker, Ezra Sawyer ; School Committee, Henry S. Sawyer, Rev. Henry P. Cut- ting; Representative to the Legislature, Perley Bartlett.
1877 .- Town Clerk, William D. Peck ; Selectmen, Jonathan Davis, James Bailey, Marcus L. Snow ; Assessors, P. M. Rugg, Ezra Sawyer, Win. S. Walker ; Schoul Committee, William II. Burpee.
1878 .- Town Clerk, William D. Peck ; Selectmen, Jonathan Davis, Marcus L. Snow, James Bailey ; Assessors, P. M. Rugg, Ezra Sawyer, Wm. S. Walker ; School Committee, Oliver W. Rugg.
1879 .- Town Clerk, William D. Peck : Selectnien, Jonathan Davis, E. W. Toombs, P. T. K. Burpee ; Assessors, P. M. Rugg, Ezra Sawyer, Wm. S. Walker ; School Committee, Heury S. Sawyer.
1880 .- Town Clerk, William D. Peck ; Selectmen, Pierson T. K. Bur- pee, Charles H. Loring, Perley Bartlett; Assessors, P. M. Rugg, Ezra Sawyer, S. Thurston Wilder; School Committee, Williami II. Burpee ; Representative to the Legislature, William H. Burpee.
1891 .- Town Clerk, William D. Peck ; Selectmen, P. T K. Burpee, C. H. Loring, Perley Bartlett ; Assessors, P. M. Rugg, Ezra Sawyer, S. Thurston Wilder ; School Committee, Ol ver W. Rugg.
1882 .- Towa Clerk, William D. Peck; Selectmen, Jonathan Davis, E.
W. Toombs, F. L. Wilder ; Assessors, Ezra Sawyer, S. Thurston Wilder, Wm. S. Walker ; School Committee, R. L. Chandler, J. H. Wilder.
1883 .- Towa Clerk, William D. Peck ; Selectmen, Jonathan Davis, E. W. Toombs, F. L. Wilder ; Assessors, Ezra Sawyer, S. Thurston Wilder, W. S. Walker ; School Committee, C. D. Albro.
1884 .- Towa Clerk, Williem D. Peck ; Selectmen, Jonathan Davis, E. W. Toombs, F. L. Wilder ; Assessors, Ezra Sawyer, S. Thurston Wilder, W. S. Walker ; School Committee, J. S. Burpee; Representative to the Legislature, F. L. Wilder.
1885 .- Town Clerk, William D. Peck ; Selectmen, Jonathan Davis, E. W. Toombs, F. L. Wilder ; Assessors, Ezra Sawyer, S. Thurston Wilder, W. S. Walker ; School Committee, Samuel Osgood.
1886 .- Towa Clerk, William D. Peck ; Selectmen, Jonathen Devis, E. W. Toombs, F. L. Wilder ; Assessors, Ezra Sawyer, S. Thurston Wilder, Henry W. Burpee ; School Committee, Arthur P. Rugg.
1887 .- Town Clerk, Edward P. Bartlett ; Selectmen, W. S. Walker, HIeury W. Burpee, George F. Davidson ; Assessors, Henry W. Burpee, W. S. Walker, Ezra Sawyer ; School Committee, J. S. Burpee.
1888 .- Town Clerk, Edward P. Bartlett ; Selectmen, W. S. Walker, George F. Davidson, H. W. Burpee ; Assessors, W. S. Walker, H. W. Bur- pee, Ezra Sawyer; School Committee, Dr. A. M. Tyler; Representative to the Legislature, Albert H. Newhall.
The following persons, natives of the town, have had charge of our public schools as teachers:
Luther Allen, George Richardson,
Luther Rugg,
Luther Rugg (?d),
Olive L. Nelson,
David Willard (3d),
William Richardson,
Eusebia Gerry,
Elizabeth Parker,
Jonathan Wilder, Alonzo W. Willard, David Wilder, Joha Rugg,
Moses Sawyer, Heary S. Sawyer,
AugustineHolcomb,
Josialı H. Wilder,
Mark Kendall,
William H. Burpee,
Jane E. Sawyer,
Josiah Kendall,
Oliver W. Rugg,
Mary E. Willard,
Ezra Kendall,
Joseph H. Osgood,
Mary Richardson,
P. T. Kendall,
George K. Powers, Mary Rugg,
Nathaniel Lewis,
Ezra Powers,
Nellie A. Willard,
Oliver Blood,
Edmund Powers,
Sarah H. Rugg,
Rufus Hastings,
R. L. Chandler,
J. S. Burpee,
E. P. Willard,
F. B. Willard,
Fannie Kidder,
Thomas S. Blood, James T. Alleo,
Nabby Buss,
Mary Burpee, Catrie Rugg,
Solon S. Hastings,
Keziah Buss,
Anna E. Osgood,
Gilbert H. Howe,
Lydia Porter,
Augusta Richardson,
Darius Redding,
Caroline Allen,
Jessio F. Osgood,
Torry Houghton,
Mary Ana Phelps,
Kittie Wilder,
Anios W. Breck,
Harriet Rugg, Caroline Moore, Emily Wright,
Gertrude H. Rugg, Helen Burpee, Flora P. Barnes,
Charles H. Loring,
Prentice M. Rugg,
Polly Belknap, Mary K. Loring,
Joseph Gerry, Lucy Belknap,
Rosa E. Willard,
Edmund Moore,
Martha Kendall,
Addie Burpee,
Edwin May,
Edward A. Synds,
Adolphia Rugg, Rebeccah Buss,
List of practicing physicians in Sterling :
1774 .- Josiah Leavitt, to 1787 ; removed.
1786 .- Israel Allen, died 1817, aged sixty ; John Barnard, died 1825, aged eighty-two ; Pierson Kendall.
1804 .- Luther Allen.
1817 .- Pierson T. Kendall, after forty years' practice, removed to Clia- ton, where he died January 11, 1865, aged seventy-two years.
1830 .- Dr. Newhall, of Stow, remained hut a short time.
1837 .- William D. Peck.
1840 .- Joha S. Andrews, removed after five or six years' practice.
1851 .- E. C. Knight, remained in towa only about six months.
1854 .- Thomas H. Gage, removed to Worcester, 1856 ; A. W. Sidney, removed to Fitchburg.
1859 .- Frederick A. Sawyer, removed to Greenfield, 1862 ; C. E. Dowelle, removed 1874.
1862 .- Friend D. Lord, removed to Newton Lower Falls, 1870. 1870 .- Warren Pierce, removed to West Boylston, 1874.
Mary S. Osgoud, Georgianna Pratt, Mary K. Pratt,
Phineus B. Dana,
Samuel Sawyer (20),
Edwin Conant,
Polly Kimball,
Delin S. Nourse,
Reuben II. Sawyer,
Betsey Pratt,
Samuel Osgood,
Nellie Heywood.
Lucy Buss,
Polly A. Burpee, Elizabeth Bailey, Lucinda Hildreth, Jane Hildreth,
Samuel Sawyer, Wm. A. P. Willard,
Eli Kilburn
Edward Burpee
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STERLING.
1874 .- Herbert Shurtliff, removed to Brockton, 1879.
1879 .- E. N. Perkins, removed to Harvard ; C. D. Albro, removed to Mendoo, 1887.
1887 .- George D. Skinner, died same year ; A. M. Tyler ; F. C. Gillson, removed to Boston, 1888.
The above dates may not be exactly correct, but nearly so.
BIOGRAPHICAL.
CAPTAIN ELI KILBURN.
Eli Kilburn was born in Princeton, Mass., April 3, 1796. His father, Calvin Kilburn, was a native of Sterling, but spent most of his life in Princeton, where he died, January 23, 1852, in the ninety-fifth year of his age. His mother, Mary Stratton Kilburn, was a native of Rutland. She died in Princeton, September 15, 1847, at the age of eighty-nine.
Eli was the youngest of three sons, with two sisters, one older and one younger than himself. He is now, and has been for many years, the sole survivor of his father's family.
Eli was educated in the common schools of Prince- ton, and at the Leicester Academy. At the age of eighteen he came to Sterling, and began learning the chair-making business. Soon after attaining his majority he became a manufacturer on his own account.
In 1821 he married Miss Lucinda Bailey, of Ster- ling, and settled near Dana's Mills, in that town.
In 1829 he was chosen commander of a company of light infantry, known as the Sterling Guards.
In 1856, at the age of sixty, Captain Kilburn closed his prosperous career as a chair manufacturer, and bought a lot in Sterling Centre, on which he built a house, where he has since resided.
His wife, Mrs. Lucinda Bailey Kilburn, died in February, 1867, and in April, 1868, he married Mrs. Jane H. Powers, widow of Ezra S. Powers, and half- sister to his first wife.
Captain Kilburn during his long and active life has held many positions of trust and responsibility. He served as justice of the peace for twenty-eight years, and was chairman of the board of trustees of Oak Hill Cemetery for twenty-nine years.
For several years he was chairman of the Boards of Selectmen and of the Overseers of the Poor, and has served on numerous important committees in town affairs.
He has settled many estates, and acted as guardian for sixteen minor«. For thirty years he has been the agent in Sterling for the Worcester Mutual Fire Insurance Company. About two years ago he gave up this business, finding that his private affairs needed all of his time and strength.
Captain Kilburn has been a successful business man, and, by persevering industry, good management and habits of thrift, has amassed a handsome fortune.
Since coming to Sterling he has been an active and
influential member of the First Congregational (Unitarian) Society.
He has always taken an active interest in politics, and cast his first vote for President for James Monroe.
During recent years Captain and Mrs. Kilburn have made many pleasant excursions, visiting the White Mountains, the Saguenay River, Niagara Falls, Saratoga, Washington and other places of interest, visiting Saratoga Springs for thirty consecutive years.
Happy in his domestic life, prosperous in his busi- ness, honored and respected by his fellow-citizens, sound in mind and body at the age of ninety-two, cheerful, hopeful, serene, Captain Eli Kilburn is to- day one of the best representatives of our New Eng- land life.
EDWARD BURPEE.
Edward Burpee is one of the most substantial and highly respected citizens of Sterling. He comes from a line of honored ancestry, reaching back nearly to the first settlement of the town.
His great-grandfather, Jeremiah Burpee, came to Sterling from Rowley, in Essex County, probably about the year 1745 and settled on Rowley Hill (so called), where he died in 1817 at the advanced age of ninety-two years.
The subject of this sketch was the son of Jonathan Burpee-a citizen of Sterling universally respected for the rectitude of his character-and was born June 13, 1814. His mother's name, before marriage, was Fanny Johnson, daughter of Edward Johnson.
As Mr. Burpee was an only child he remained with his parents, assisting them in their labors, and, by their example, acquiring habits of industry and strength of moral character, until he was eighteen years of age. At this time his father obtained for him a situation with Joel Pratt, Jr., at that time one of the most prominent chair manufacturers in Worcester County. He remained with Mr. Pratt three years, serving him faithfully for the sum of one hundred dollars, with board and clothing and with the privilege of attending the district school in the winter; his entire education being such only as the common schools of the town at that time afforded. At the close of his apprenticeship to Mr. Pratt he left his employ and engaged service to Mr. Thomas Lewis (2d), a near neighbor.
He renewed his engagement to Mr. Lewis three years successively. At the end of this period, in 1838, he purchased Mr. Lewis' place and business and commenced the manufacture of chairs on his own account. In April of that year he married a Sterling lady, Miss Lucy Ann Smith, a daughter of Manasseh Smith, and began housekeeping in the same house he now occupies.
In 1861 he had the misfortune to lose his wife by
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HISTORY OF WORCESTER COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.
· death, but in the following year he again entered into the marriage relation with Mrs. Mary Curtis, who now faithfully presides over his household and devotedly ministers to his comfort as the infirmities of age begin to creep upon him.
Thus, for fifty years, with varying fortunes, he has been constantly, and at times quite extensively, engaged in the chair business, by which, through in- dustry, economy and forethought, he has secured such a competency as relieves him from all anxious thought in respect to present wants or future needs.
His home and attention to his own private busi- ness was always more congenial to his nature than crowded assemblies or public office. Nevertheless, he has several times held the office of selectman and other responsible positions, and his fellow- townsmen have ever had implicit confidence in his intelligence, sound judgment and uprightne-s of character. Ile is still in business, doing a larger amount than any other concern of the same line in the town. He receives his friends with a hearty welcome, and entertains them with generous hospi- tality.
CHAPTER LXXVIII.
BROOKFIELD.
BY WILLIAM T. DAVIS.
A LITTLE south of what is nearly the centre of Massachusetts there is a territory about eight miles square lying for the most part within the limits of Wor- cester County and including a small tract of land in Hampshire County, which, as early as the year 1647, attracted the attention of settlers along the coast, who were seeking favorable spots for farming and pas- turage. It was occupied by the Quabaug tribe of Indians, and had been cleared by them to such an ex- tent that its hillsides and plains, together with the meadows watered by the rivers and streams flowing through them, offered a rich prize to those who were adventurous enough to wander into the wilderness so far from the more thickly-settled villages and towns along and near the shore. The Quabaug Indians by some historians have been called a distinctive tribe, and by others they are supposed, with the Agawams and Waranakes and Naunotuks and Pacomptucks and Squakheags, along the Connecticut River, the Nipmucks proper, a little farther to the eastward, and the Nashaways, a little farther to the north, to have formed the great Nipmuck tribe. They exhibit, however, in their history, an individuality which warrants the belief that they were an independent tribe, acting only by voluntary association with other tribes and under the rule of sachems not their own. It is stated on undeniable authority that when suffer- ing from the hostile attitude of other tribes they ap-
pealed to Massasoit, the chief of the Wampanoags, for assistance, and that late in life that sachem dwelt among them and became their ruler. Indeed, it is more than probable that the famous warrior of Mount Hope was the sagamore of the Quabaugs in 1661, and that in that year or the next, while Wamsutta, his son, was the acting sachem of the Wampanoags, died among his new-tound followers.
At the time at which this narrative opens Spring- field, settled in 1636, was the only town on the west and the nearest towns on the east were Lancaster, planted in 1643; Concord, settled in 1635, and Sud- bury, in 1639. These new settlements were reached by the Indian trails or paths, along which the immigrant could only travel on horseback or on foot ; but these trails leading from the villages of the In- dians to various points on Massachusetts Bay, Mount Hope Bay and Long Island Sound were looked on by the early settlers, inured as they were to hardship and fatigue, and eager in their efforts to secure the ownership of land, as easy avenues to the prizes they sought.
The territory to which we have referred was called Quabaug, and gave its name to the tribe occupying it. As pronounced by the Indians, it was Squapauke or Squabaug, and signified "red water place," or "red pond," and was so called from the reddish color of the bottom underlying the various sheets of fresh water with which it abounded. According to J. H. Temple, whose exhaustive and interesting "History of North Brookfield " has afforded much material for this narrative, the various villages of the Quabaug tribe Jay along the different trails which intersected its ter- ritory, the largest of which was the Wekabaug village, in what is now West Brookfield. The native word was Wekapauke, meaning "at the end of the pond," and was adopted by the English as the name of Wekabaug Pond, containing about three hundred acres and lying near West Brookfield village. An- other large village was Quobagud or Quobacutt, in the east part of Brookfield, near what is now called Quabaug Pond, and still another was Ashquoach vil- lage, north of Great Pond, in Brimfield, and others still were the Quassuck, in what is now Sturbridge, and Putikookuppog, on the south side of the Quine- baug River, near the present line between Sturbridge and Bromfield.
The Quabaug territory is watered by the Quabaug River, which is formed by the union of the Five Mile River and the Seven Mile River and flows into Qua- baug Pond. It leaves the pond at its westerly end and flows through what is now the town of Warren, uniting afterwards with Ware River, where it takes the name of Chicopee River, and empties into the Connecticut in the town of Chicopee. Numerous brooks, of more or less size and importance, enter Quabaug River at various points, including Moore's Brook, Stone's Brook, Coy's Brook, Sucker Brook, New Mill Brook, Cheney's Brook, Mason's Brook,
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BROOKFIELD.
Salmon Brook, Dean's Brook, Wigwam Brook and many other small streams, some of which in early and later times have furnished water for wheels of industry. Among the ponds which dot the territory, are the Quabaug Pond, more than five hundred acres in extent ; South Pond, nearly two hundred acres; Wekabaug Pond, three hundred acres, and Cranberry, North, Horse and Perry Ponds, of smaller dimensions.
Such was the territory when, in 1647, it first came within the notice of the government of the Massachu- setts Colony. In that year the Quabaug tribe suffered from the raids of marauding Indians of other tribes, and applications for aid were sent by Quacunquasit, the sachem of the tribe, to the Massachusetts Gov- ernor. At the same time John Eliot became interested in the tribe, and in 1649 made a visit to their villages, an account of which he gave in a letter, from which the following is an extract, dated Roxbury, Decem- ber 29, 1649:
There is another aged Sachem at Quobagud, three score miles west- ward, and he doth greatly desire that I would come thither and teach them and live there; and I made a journey thither this summer and I went hy Nashaway ; but it so fell out that there were some stirs be- twixt the Narraganset and Mooahegan Indians, some murders com- mitted, etc., which made our church doubtful at first of my going; which, when the Nashaway Sachem (Sholao) heard, he commanded twenty armed men (after their manner) to be ready, and himself, with these twenty mea, besides suadry of our near Indians, went along with me to guard me ; but I took some English along with me also, so that hereby their good affection is manifested to me and to the work I have in hand. Here also (at Quobagud) I found suodry hungering after instruction; but it pleased God to exercise ns with such tedious rain and bad weather that we were extreme wet, in so much that I was not dry night nor day from the third day of the week unto the sixth, but so travelled, and at night pull off my hoots, wring my stockings and on with them again und so continued. The rivers also were raised, so as that we were wet riding through ; but that which added to my affliction was my horse tired so that I was forced to let my horse go empty and ride on one of the men's horses, which I took along with me. Yet God stept in and helped; I considered that the word of God (2 Tim. 2: 3), " Endure hardship as a good soldier of Christ,"with many other such like meditations. . . . And I thank the Lord neither I nor my company took any hurt.
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