History of Worcester County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. I, Part 154

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 154

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Cost of land

$2,245 17

Cost of building. 10,300 00

Architect.

600 00

Gas fixtures 316 00

Furnace. 325 00

Furniture

1,00. 00

Cash for books.

600 00

Endowment Fuod of 1876

5,000 00

Suodriee.

944 25

$21,330 42

The public schools of West Brookfield, as well as its library, reflect credit on the town. According to the last report of the School Committee, for the sake of convenience of description, the town is divided into five districts, containing in all nine schools, with rolls of 286 scholars, and an average attendance of 87 per cent. In District No. 1, there are five schools-a grammar school with an average attendance of 24; a first intermediate, with an average attendance of 26; a primary, with an average attendance of 27; a pri- mary, with an average attendance of 36; and another primary, with an average attendance of 36.

The Second District school has an average attend- ance of nineteen ; the Third District of nine, the Fourth of seven, and the Fifth of five. The grammar school teacher receives $50 per month; the first intermediate, $36 ; the first primary, 836; the second primary, $32; the third primary, $32; Second District, $28; Third District, $28; Fourth District, $24, and the Fifth District, $24. The amount of money available for the support of schools for the year was $3217.54, of which the sum of $3,000 was appropriated by the town, and the sum of $217.54 was received from the State fund. The appropriations made by the town for the various departments for the year ending at the above date, February 29, 1888, were :

Schools

83000 00

Roads and bridges

1000 00

Poor

600 00

Contingent Fuod

1200 00

Debt and interest

1000 00

Street lamps.

300 00

Common

100 00

Firemen.

600 00

Memorial Day.

50 00

Library.

300 00

88150 00

At the time of the incorporation of the town, in 1848, the ancient First Parish of Brookfield was the only one within its borders. A meeting-house was built in, or soon after, 1673, probably on Foster's Hill, but was burned during King Philip's War. It is probable that John Younglove and Thomas Millet preached to the settlers during the short time they remained on their grant. Mr. Younglove was at Quabaug, the Indian name of Brookfield before the settlement, as early as 1667. After the destruction of the settlement he removed to Hadley, where he taught school. In 1681 he is mentioned as living in Suffield, and there he died June 3, 1690. Thomas Millet seems to have succeeded Mr. Young- love and died early in 1676, before Philip's War was

563

WEST BROOKFIELD.

er. It is not probable that either Mr. Younglove he were ordained ministers. After the resettle- ent of Brookfield, in 1686, it is not believed that any eeting-house was built until 1715. Religious ser- ces had probably been held in the garrison on Fos- 's Hill, aud the preacher seems to have been styled aplain, and to have been appointed by the govern- ent of the Province, with an annual allowance wards his salary from the Province treasury. Ou e 22d of November, 1715, the inhabitants agreed to tild a meeting-house, which was erected on Foster's ill, about half a mile southeast of the first meeting- use. On the 16th of October, 1717, it was so far mpleted that it was used on that day for the ordi- tion of Rev. Thomas Cheney, who had accepted invitation to settle as pastor. On that day the rst Church of Brookfield was formally organized, d a church covenant signed, which may be found a more detailed history of the church, in the his- ry of Brookfield in these volumes. At the ordina- on of Mr. Cheney, Rev. Solomon Stoddard, of orthampton, preached the sermon. Mr. Cheney as born in Roxbury in 1690, and graduated at Har- rd in 1711. He died December 11, 1747, and his ave is at Brookfield. Rev. Elisha Harding, a Har- rd graduate in 1745, succeeded Mr. Cheney, and is ordained September 13, 1749, on which occasion ev. Nathan Bucknam, of Medway, preached the rmon. During his ministry the Second Precinct ow North Brookfield) was incorporated, March 28, 50, and the Third Precinct (now Brookfield) Novem- r 8, 1754.

In 1755 the First Church built a new meeting- use and abandoned the old house on Foster's Hill. was voted, January 22d, in that year, "to build a eeting-house for public worship at the turning of e county rode, near the northeast corner of a plowed eld, belonging to John Barns, being on the plain in id First Precinct." It was also voted that the use should be built " with timber and wood," and forty-five feet in length and thirty-five feet in idth. The location of this church was near that of e present Congregational Church, on the west side the Common.

On the 8th of the following May Mr. Harding was smissed, and on the 1st of February, 1757, Rev. ehemiah Strong, of Hadley, was chosen pastor, but clined. Rev. Joseph Parsons, Jr., son of Rev. seph Parsons, of Bradford, and a graduate of Har- rd in the class of 1752, was then engaged, and was dained November 23, 1757. At his ordination ev. Joseph Parsons, of Bradford, Rev. David White, · Hardwick, Rev. Joshua Eaton, of Spencer, Rev. hn Tucker, of Newbury, and Rev. Isaac Jones, of Testern (now Warren), took part in the services. He ontinued in his pastorate until his death, Jannary , 1771, at the age of thirty-eight years.

Rev. Ephraim Ward, born in Newton in 1741, and Harvard graduate in the class of 1763, followed Mr.

Parsons and was ordained October 23, 1771, serving until his death, February 9, 1818. Dr. Lyman Whiting, in his address on the two hundredth anni- versary of the settlement of Brookfield, said of him that "he was esteemed throughout his pastorate, which was little short of forty-seven years, as the ur- bane Christian scholar, illustrating the graces of the village pastor, so admirably pictured by the godly Herbert :

As a tender father Doth teach and rule the church and is obeyed, And reverenced by it, so much the rather, By how much he delighted more to lead All by his own example in the way, Than punish any when they go astray."

At his ordination Rev. Jason Haven, of Dedham, preached the sermon, and the churches of Western, Ware, Spencer, Sturbridge, Newton, Weston, Walt- ham and Dedham were represented.

On the 23d of October, 1816, Rev. Eliakim Phelps, a native of Belchertown and born March 20, 1790, was settled as the colleague of Mr. Ward, and at his ordination Rev. Jedediah Morse, of Charlestown, the distinguished geographer, preached the sermon. In 1818, on the death of Mr. Ward, he became his suc- cessor in the pastorate. He was a graduate, in 1814, of Union College, of Schenectady, and received the degree of Doctor of Divinity from his alma mater in 1842. On the 25th of October, 1826, he was released from his charge to assume the preceptorship of a "Classical Female School," which at one time flour- ished in West Brookfield. At a later date he was the principal of the Female Seminary at Pittsfield, and in 1860, at the time of the Bi-Centennial Celebration, he was living in Philadelphia, and was preseut and spoke on that occasion.

On the day of the release of Dr. Phelps from the church, Rev. Joseph I. Foote, also a graduate of Union College, was installed, and was dismissed May 1, 1832. Mr. Foote was born in Watertown, Conn., November 17, 1796, and graduated at Union College in 1821. At his ordination Rev. Herman Humphrey, president of Amherst College, preached the sermon. In 1833 he had a pastorate in Salina, N. Y .; in 1835 in Cortland, N. Y .; in 1839 in Knoxville, Tenn. ; and in the latter year was chosen president of Washington College, in Tennessee, but died April 21, 1840, before his inanguration.

Rev. Francis Horton, a graduate of Brown Uni- versity in 1826, was installed August 15, 1832, on which occasion Rev. Thomas Snell, of North Brook- field, preached the sermon. He was dismissed Sep- tember 15, 1841, and succeeded by Rev. Moses Chase, who was settled Jannary 12, 1842, and dismissed Oc- tober 28, 1842.

Rev. Leonard S. Parker, born in Dunbarton, N. H., December 6, 1812, and a graduate of Oberlin Colle- giate Institute, was installed December 19, 1844, and dismissed April 7, 1851. At his installation Rev. Thomas Snell preached the sermon.

564

HISTORY OF WORCESTER COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

Rev. Swift Byington succeeded November 7, 1852, and served until his resignation, November 1, 1858. At his ordination Rev. Henry M. Dexter, now living in New Bedford, preached the sermon. Mr. Byington was born in Bristol, Conn., February 4, 1824, and graduated at Yale in 1847.

Rev. Christopher M. Cordley, born in Oxford, Eng- land, January 2, 1821, was settled June 28, 1859, and continued in the pastorate until June 23, 1862.

Rev. Samuel Dunham, a Yale graduate in 1860, was ordained October 4, 1864, and dismissed October 27, 1870. At his ordination Rev. E. C. Jones, of South- ampton, Conn., preached the sermon.

Rev. Richard B. Bull was installed March 12, 1871, and dismissed July 6, 1874. The pulpit has since been supplied by Rev. S. C. Kendall, Rev. Mr. Steb- bens, Rev. Frederick Allen, Rev. E. S. Gould and the present acting pastor, Rev. Thomas E. Babb.

Among the prominent members of this church have been Henry Gilbert, his son, John Gilbert, Joshua Dodge, Joseph Jennings, Comfort, Barnes, John Cutler, Jedediah Foster, Thaddeus Cutler, Othniel Gilbert, Thomas Rich, Joseph Cutler, Levi Gilbert, Samuel Barnes, John Ross, Nathan Buck- nam Ellis, John Wood, Josiah Cary, Alfred White, William Spooner, Reuben Blair, Jr., Jairus Abbott, Josiah Henshaw, Baxter Ellis, Jacob Dukes, Liberty Sampson, Solomon L. Barnes, Moses Hall, Samuel Newell White, Enos Gilbert, Nathaniel Lynde, Ebenezer B. Lynde, Avery Keep, John M. Fales, Raymond Cummings, Adolphus Hamilton, Wm. B. Stone, George Merriam, S. D. Livermore, A. C. Gleason, Edward T. Stowell, Warren A. Blair and others too numerous to mention. This list includes nearly all the deacons of the church since its organi- zation and some laymen of later years.

On the 29th of October, 1792, it was voted to build a new meeting-house on the land given to the pre- cinct by Lieutenant John Barnes for that purpose, and its dedication occurred November 10, 1795, on which occasion Rev. Enos Hitchcock, of Providence, preached the sermon. A bell was hung in its tower in 1799, and in 1838 it was remodeled and turued round to a right angle with its former site and re- dedicated January 1, 1839. Rev. Hubbard Winslow, of Boston, preached the dedicatory sermon. In 1855 the present bell was hung, and in 1856 a new organ replaced an old one which had been in use since 1826.

The old meeting-house was removed to another lot and for a time devoted to town and parish purposes. In 1809 it was sold by auction for one hundred and eighty-six pounds. The last meeting-house mentioned was burned February 28, 1881, and, having been re- built on the same site, was dedicated September 15, 1882.

The first burial-ground, probably, in consequence of the hard clay found near the old meeting-house on Foster's Hill, was located in the fields about one hun- dred rods distant from the meeting-house, and re-

mains of the old grave-stones have been found sufficiently preserved to mark the spot. At a later day a second burial-ground was laid out in the west- erly part of what is now West Brookfield, and at a still later day a third one was laid out nearer the village.

A Methodist Episcopal Church was organized in October, 1851, and purchasing a meeting-house in Templeton, removed it to West Brookfield, where it has since been used as a place of worship. Rev. Mr. Winslow was its first pastor and he has been followed by Rev. Mr. Clark, Rev. Alpheus Nichols, Rev. J. S. Barrows, Rev. G. H. W. Clark, Rev. William Black- man, Rev. Mr. Miller and others.

A Catholic Society was organized a few years since, but has neither church nor pastor. Its services are held in the town-hall under the ministrations of Father Grace, of Brookfield.

The business of Brookfield is moderately large, but not sufficient to indicate any considerable immediate growth. The boot and shoe establishments are those of McIntosh & Co., employing about fifty hands; M. J. Savage & Co., employing about thirty ; George H. Fales, about fifty ; J. T. Wood & Co., about fifty, aud Allen & Makepeace, employing a somewhat smaller number. Besides these industries there is a con- densed milk factory carried on by W. K. Lewis' Bros. & Co., and a branch of the Bay State Corset Company having its main establishment in Springfield. The farming interests of the town are considerable, and its product of butter and cheese for distant markets is by no means insignificant. The town is well situated on the line of the Boston & Albany Railroad, about midway between Worcester and Springfield and ac- cessible by express and other trains in about two hours from Boston. It is laid out with wide and pleasant streets, and though bleak in winter is fanned in the heat of summer by airs from Long and Coy's and Foster's Hills, and across the meadows of the Quabaug. An attractive Common ornaments the central village, graced by a fountain presented by George M. Rice, of Worcester, and surrounded by a fence, the gift of Hon. J. Henry Stickney, of Balti- more, a grandson of Rev. Ephraim Ward, who gave the town thirty-five hundred dollars for the purpose. Few towns can be found along the hill-sides and in the valleys of Massachusetts presenting greater at- tractions to those who seek relaxation from the toils of business or the invigorating influences of a pure and healthy clime.

The Common above referred to was the gift of David Hitchcock, who, November 7, 1791, " granted and quit-claimed to the first parish in Brookfield a certain tract of land in said parish, containing three acres, more or less, to be held by said parish in its corporate capacity forever ; provided said tract shall never be sold to any individual or individuals, but shall always remain open as a common for public use."

565

WEST BROOKFIELD.

J. Henry Stickney, of Baltimore, through whose erality the Common was graded and fenced, is a tive of West Brookfield. He belongs to a branch the Stickney family which settled in Essex County the first half of the seventeenth century, and ich had its estates in the town of Stickney, in gland. Thomas Stickney, the grandfather of the nefactor, removed from Boston to Leicester and upied an estate which makes one of the illustra- ns in the history of that town by Emory Wash- rn. His son Thomas removed to West Brook- Id and married a daughter of Rev. Ephraim Ward, eady mentioned as a pastor of the First Church. . Ward was a cousin of General Artemas Ward, the Revolution, and his wife was Mary Colman, Boston, a relative of Rev. Benjamin Colman, of Brattle Street Church. J. Henry Stickney was a of the last-mentioned Thomas and was born in parsonage house facing the Common. At the age nine or ten years he went to Worcester, where his her had at one time lived, and from there went to pkins Academy in Hadley, where he closed his tool-days. After leaving Hadley he entered the rdware store of Montgomery Newell, of Boston, as apprentice, receiving a compensation of fifty dol- s a year. At the age of twenty-two years he went New York, where he spent a year and then joined ne relatives in Baltimore, where he was employed a term by his uncle, Benjamin Colman, who was one time a partner of Nathan Appleton in Boston. November, 1834, he began what was a new busi- ss in Baltimore, the American hardware business, I became the agent in that city for a large part of manufacturers of the country. He had accounts nearly every State in the Union, and by his exact thods and rigid integrity commanded the confi- ace of the business community. Having acquired ompetence, he retired from active business pursuits d is now living at his home in Baltimore at a newhat advanced age, but with a health and vigor body and mind which enables him to gratify and oy the refined tastes in literature and art which in busy life he has not failed to cultivate. He is a er of the past and its representative men, and to pursuits of an antiquary he has devoted time and ney, to the satisfaction besides himself of others o were less able to follow them with success. The vns of Plymouth and Topsfield and Duxbury and est Brookfield have cause to remember his liberality g after the hand which has dispensed it shall have t its power to give.

The town has two hotels, a commodious town-house, ilt in 1860, a savings bank, incorporated in 1872, a ·e Department with steam apparatus and an abund- ce of water, supplied by aqueducts from copious ings on the slopes of neighboring hills. In earlier les two newspapers were published in the town, but, in many other New England communities, the fa- ity and cheapness with which the metropolitan press

furnishes everywhere its supplies have rendered the local press both unprofitable and unnecessary. The Moral and Political Telegraph or Brookfield Advertiser, published by Thomas & Waldo, and the Political Repository and Farmer's Journal, by E. Merriam & Co., are scarcely remembered by any now living.

The population of the town, which from the date of its incorporation until 1880 had slowly, but gradually, increased, was found in 1885, in consequence of the destruction of one of the shoe establishments of the place, to have fallen off nearly two hundred. There is no reason, however, to doubt that from this new starting-point another gradual increase will set in. The population at each census since the incorporation has been as follows : 1850, 1344; 1855, 1364; 1860, 1548; 1865, 1549; 1870, 1842 ; 1875, 1903 ; 1880, 1917; 1885, 1747.

Some of the distinguished men who, in earlier times, were born or lived within the limits of the town have been referred to in the history of Brookfield accom- panying this sketch. Most of those who in later years have been conspicuous in the various walks of life have served the town in responsible offices, and have been referred to in the lists presented on earlier pages of this narrative.

It would be improper, however, even at the risk of repetition, to omit particular reference to a few of the men who have given West Brookfield distinction in the past. General Joseph Dwight, a graduate of Har- vard in 1722, who lived in the town for a time; Joshua Upham, a distinguished Loyalist, a graduate of Har- vard in 1763, who became a judge of the Supreme Court in New Brunswick ; Jabez Upham, a Represent- ative in Congress; Jedediah Foster, a graduate of Harvard in 1744, who became judge of Probate and member of the convention for framing the State Con- stitution ; Dwight Foster, a graduate of Brown Uni- versity in 1774, who became Senator of the United States, and others of equal or less reputation served to give to West Brookfield, or Brookfield, as it then was, a standing in the councils of the Province and State of which few towns in Massachusetts could boast.

Among those who have obtained distinction in broader fields of labor than were open to them at home may be mentioned Charles Merriam, of Spring- field, already referred to as a benefactor of the town ; Daniel H. Chamberlain, a graduate of Yale College, and the distinguished ex-Governor of South Carolina; Rev. Leander T. Chamberlain, of Norwich, Conn .; Rev. Enos Hitchcock, of Providence; Rev. Caleb Sprague Henry, the well-known professor and author ; Lucy Stone Blackwell and Rev. Austin Phelps.

Lucy Stone was descended from Francis Stone, who lived before 1742 in that part of New Braintree which was annexed to North Brookfield in 1854. Francis Stone, son of Francis, was born in 1742. He was with his father in the French wars, and his father was killed at Quebec under Gen. Wolfe in 1759. Francis, the son, was a captain in the Revolution, and

566

HISTORY OF WORCESTER COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

one of the leaders in Shays' Rebellion. After the dis- persion of the insurgents at Petersham in February, 1787, he fled to Vermont, where he remained until the decree of amnesty permitted him to return. He mar- ried, September 11, 1760, Martha, daughter of Abel Chase, of Sutton, and second, in June, 1777, Sarah Witt. Her children were Amy, Sally, (who married Hugh Barr, of New Braintree), Luther, Jonathan, Cal- vin and Francis. Francis, the last-named of these children, born November 9, 1779, lived on Coy's Hill, in West Brookfield. He married, March 27, 1804, Hannah Matthews, and had Bowman, 1805; Francis, 1807; Elizabeth Matthews, 1808; Wm. Bowman, 1811; Luther, 1813; Rhoda, 1814; Luther again, 1816 ; Lucy, 1818; and Sarah Witt, 1821. Lucy was born August 13, 1818, and graduated at Oberlin College. She early attached herself to the anti-slavery cause and to the advocacy of woman's rights, in which she dis- tinguished herself as a forcible and eloquent speaker. She was married in 1855 to Henry B. Blackwell, but is usually called by her maiden name.

Austin Phelps, the son of Rev. Eliakim and Sarah (Adams) Phelps and grandson of Deacon Eliakim and Margaret (Coombs) Phelps, was born in West Brook- field Jan. 7, 1820, and graduated at the University of Pennsylvania in 1837. He was ordained pastor of the Pine Street Congregational Church in Boston in 1842, and in 1848 was appointed Bartlett professor of sacred rhetoric in Andover Theological Seminary. He married, in 1842, Elizabeth, daughter of Professor Moses Stuart, who is well known as the author of "The Sunny Side," and other works. Their daughter, Elizabeth Stuart Phelps, is better known than her mother as the author of "Gates Ajar," and other works too numerous to mention.

With the mention of these distinguished sons and daughters of West Brookfield this imperfect sketch must close. The reader who would learn more of the early history of the settlement of Quabang and of the three towns into which its territory has been finally divided, is referred to the able and exhaustive history of North Brookfield, written by J. H. Temple, and published by that town in 1887.

BIOGRAPHICAL.

JOHN M. FALES.

In the middle of the seventh century James Fales came from Chester, England, and settled in Dedham. His children were James, John, Mary, Peter, Hannah, Martha, Rachel and Ebenezer. John Fales, one of these children, had Hannah, Martha, Rachel, Ebene- zer, John,'Joseph and Mary. John, one of these chil- dren, had a son Daniel. Daniel Fales married Sally Pratt, of Sherburne, and had Leander, Mary Ann, El- mira L., John M., Charles, Martha S., Sarah E. and Daniel H. Leander lived in Shrewsbury; Mary Ann

married a Parker, and lived in Holliston; Elmira L. married a Lincoln, and lived in Brookfield; Charles lived in Brookfield; Martha S. lived, unmarried, in Shrewsbury; Sarah E. married a Flagg, and lived in Westboro'; and Daniel H. married a Thurston, and lived in Brookfield.

John M. Fales, the subject of this sketch, was born in Shrewsbury August 25, 1805, and married Mary S. Trask, of Leicester, May 12, 1831, by whom he had Ann Eliza, who married Dr. J. Blodgett, now of West Newton; George Henry, who married Laurinda T. Tomblin, daughter of Lucius Tomblin, of West Brook- field; John, who died at the early age of twelve years; Leander, who died at the age of seventeen years; Francis Theodore, who married Esther Griffin, of Enfield; and Mary, who died in infancy. From James Fales came the Fales families of Holden, Troy, Bristol, Taunton, Foxboro' and Milford. The Fales family was a very prolific one, David, of the third generation, the son of the second James, having had twenty-four children, and more than fifty of the descendants of the first James having had ten.

John M. Fales attended school in Shrewsbury, and afterwards went to Dedham, where he learned the trade of making shoes. The trade he learned included all the branches of the trade, and it is said that the first pair of shoes he ever wore he made himself. About the year 1831 he went to Brookfield and there opened a custom boot and shoe shop. After a short time his success in business warranted the initiatiou of a new enterprise, and with good business qualities and ample experience he entered into the wholesale manufacture of boots and shoes. In this business he was the pioneer in Brookfield, and before his death, which occurred in 1867, he established a large trade, in which he employed about one hundred and seventy- five hands. Before the war his business, like that of other shoe manufacturers, was largely at the South, but his adherence to principle saved him when the war broke out from those serious losses which many less conscientious than himself incurred.

In 1860, at a time when dealers at the South boy- cotted Northern manufacturers who advocated meas- ures opposed to the extension of slavery into the Terri- tories, he was asked, in a letter from S. Kirtland, one of his customers in Montgomery, Alabama, if he intended to advocate the Republican cause. To this letter he made the following answer :

WYST BROOKFIELD, March 10, 1860.

Mn. S. KIRTLAND, Dear Sir,-

Yours of the 3rd inst. is received, asking my views in relation to the Republican party, and saying, if I endorsed their principles, yon should not trade with me. In reply I would say that I sell boots, not principles. I shall vote the coming Fall, if I am alive and well, for the nominee of the Republican party for president, and if you see fit to give me your orders, I shall be pleased to fill them, but not under any con- sideration will I sell my principles to sell boots.

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History of Worcester County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. I, Part 154

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