History of Worcester County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. I, Part 155

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 155

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Yours Respectfully, JOHN M. FALES.

During the war he was successful in securing army contracts, and these he filled with a promptness and

John Me Fales

& B, Jinde

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WEST BROOKFIELD.

fidelity which did not always characterize negotia- tions with the government. After the war his busi- ness was largely in the West, and his orders were re- ceived directly at the factory and filled without the intervention of middle-men in Boston or elsewhere.

Mr. Fales, at the time of his death, which occurred October 27, 1867, was a member in full standing of the Orthodox Congregational Church in West Brook- field, and made its interests and prosperity his chief concern. He was an active member of the Repub- lican party, and as its candidate represented his native town in the House of Representatives in 1847, and his Representative district, composed of Warren, West Brookfield and New Braintree, in 1864.

Mr. Fales was a man of indomitable courage, firm will, strict integrity and judicious benevolence. He sought no public station, and attended with thorough devotion to the demands of his business, but whenever appealed to iu the interests of the community in which he lived, was lavish in the use of time and money to de- velop and promote them. George H. Fales, the son of John M. Fales, was appointed town treasurer of West Brookfield in May, 1887, on the death of E. H. C. Blair, and was chosen to that office by the town atits annual meeting in 1888. Mr. George H. Fales car- ries on the business of the manufacture of shoes at the factory occupied by his father, and is a successful business man and an esteemed citizen.

EBENEZER B. LYNDE.

The subject of this sketch is descended from Enoch Lynde, a merchant of London, who married Eliza- beth Digby and died in London in April, 1636. Enoch had three children, two of whom died in infancy. Simon; the surviving child, born in London in June, 1624, followed the occupation of his father and finally, after carrying on business for a time in Hol- land, came to New England in 1650 and settled as a merchant in Boston, where he married, in February, 1652, Hannah Newgate. He had seven children, one of whom, the seventh child, Benjamin, became chief justice of the Superior Court of Judicature, and had a son bearing his name, who was elevated to a seat on the same bench. Simon Lynde was made a justice for the county of Suffolk and died November 22, 1689, at the age of sixty-five years. Hannah, the wife of Simon, daughter of John Newgate, by his last wife, Ann, born June 28, 1635, died December 20, 1684. John Newgate, her father, was born in Southwark near the bridge in 1580, and came to New England. He had three wives. By the first two he had Sarah, who married Capt. Peter Oliver, and another daughter, who married John Oliver. By his last wife, Ann, he had, besides Hannah, Nathaniel, who married a daughter of Sir John Lewis and left Capt. Nathaniel Newgate his heir. John Newgate died September 4, 1665, at the age of sixty-five years. Ann Newgate died in 1679, at the age of eighty-four

years. Nathaniel Lynde, son of Simon, took with him to Saybrook the old parchment containing the family record and family arms, which is still in the possession of the branch of the family to which the subject of this sketch belongs. Nathaniel Lynde, the fourth son of Simon and brother of Benjamin, was born in Boston, November 22, 1659, and became a merchant. He removed to Saybrook, Conn., and married, in 1683, Susanna, daughter of Governor Willoughby. He was a man of undoubtedly large means for the times and held a prominent posi- tion in the government of the Province. He was one of the early benefactors of Yale College, having given a house and land for the foundation of a col- lege at Saybrook, which afterwards was absorbed by the institution at New Haven.

Nathaniel Lynde had eight children, all of whom but Samuel were girls and died in infancy. Samuel Lynde was born at Saybrook in October, 1689, and educated at Yale. He was first justice of the peace and member of the Council for the county of New London and married Rebecca Clark. The precise location of the residence of the Lynde family at Saybrook was at what is still called Lynde's Point, at the mouth of the Connecticut River.

Samuel Lynde had three children, two of whom died in infancy. The third child, Willoughby Lynde, was born at Saybrook in 1711, and also educated at Yale. He married, November 19, 1736, Margaret Corey, and had one child, Samuel, who was born at Saybrook October 14, 1737. Samuel was also educated at Yale, and married, in July, 1758, Phebe Waterhouse. He also lived in Saybrook and had nine children, the last of whom was Nathaniel, who was born at Saybrook May 18, 1784. Nathaniel removed to that part of Brookfield which is now West Brookfield in 1805, and following the occupation of a farmer, soon became, as he continued to be until his death, a large owner of land. He married, July 15, 1806, Sally, daughter of Caleb Hitchcock, and died February 25, 1865. At the organization of the town, in 1848, he was one of a committee of three appointed to ascertain the finan- cial condition of the town and report recommenda- tions for appropriations. His judgment was largely re- lied upon in placing the new town on a sound financial basis. In 1858, on the occasion of the celebration by the three towns, Brookfield, North Brookfield and West Brookfield, of the anniversary of the Declara- tion of Independence, and in 1860, on the occasion of the bi-centennial celebration of the settlement of Brookfield, he was one of the committee of arrange- ments. The children of Nathaniel and Sally (Hitch- cock) Lynde were Caleb Hitchcock, who died early ; Mary Pemberton, who married Elijah Albord, of West Brookfield, afterwards president of the North- western Stage Company, and living in Indianapolis and Washington City ; Samuel Willoughby, living in Richmond, Indiana; William Waterhouse, who die ! in Cincinnati ; Sarah, who married James Van Uxum

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HISTORY OF WORCESTER COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

and died in Richmond, Indiana; Henry, living in Greggsville, Illinois; Elizabeth Allen, who married Charles Woodward, living in Cincinnati; and Na- thaniel, who died young.

Mr. Lynde married a second wife, Eunice Phelps, daughter of Ebenezer Bissell, of Windsor, Conn., and had Ebenezer Bissell; Eunice Phelps, who married James M. Durkee, of Pittsfield ; Ellen Augusta, who married Horace White, of Boston ; and Albert, who died young.

Ebenezer Bissell, one of these children and the sub- ject of this sketch, was born in West Brookfield Au- gust 31, 1823, and was educated in the public schools of his native town and at the Leicester Academy. Like his father, he is an extensive owner of real estate and the occupation of farming, which came to him by inheritance, he has pursued with energy and suc- cess. He married, January 23, 1850, Minerva Jane, daughter of Joseph L. White, a successful manufac- turer in North Adams, and has had the following children : Augusta, who was born July 28, 1851, and died February 5, 1852; Annie Dewey, who was born January 12, 1854, and died October 21, 1854; Herbert Bissell, who was born January 15, 1857, and is now living in West Brookfield unmarried ; Nathan- iel White, who was born January 4, 1859, and, after graduating at the Yale Scientific School and the Col- lege of Physicians and Surgeons in New York, be- came, as he now is, physician at the Inebriate Asy- lum at Fort Hamilton, New York ; Mary Finney, the youngest child, born November 4, 1868, who is now pursuing a course of instruction at the Wheaton Semi- nary in Norton.

Mr. Lynde early won a prominent position in his native town and has always continned to occupy it. Though at all times reluctant to assume public office, his clear head and sound judgment, combined with a strong will and an unusual executive ability, have often been sought by his fellow-citizens, and, when sought, they have been freely and willingly lent. He has served on the Board of Selectmen and as modera- tor of town-meetings, and in various ways he has brought his active influence to bear in the promotion of the interests and welfare of the town. As a gen- eral adviser and friend, as a promoter of peace and good-will, as the earnest advocate of philanthropic, educational and religious enterprises, in a word, cov- ering all, as a kind neighbor and good citizen, he oc- cupies a place which every man should be proud to fill. . The affection and esteem in which he is held by the community at large he possesses also in the nar- rower field of the Congregational Church, of which he is a member. To his energy and fidelity much of its prosperity is due, and to his business foresight may properly be attributed the insurance of its meeting- house, burned in 1881, without which the injury in- flicted upon the society would have been well-nigh ir- reparable. But the reputation of Mr. Lynde has not been confined to his church or town. Beyond their

borders his influence has been felt and his usefulness acknowledged. In 1877 and 1878 he represented his district in the Massachusetts Senate, and the position there sought by him as a member of the Committee on Agriculture enabled him to do something to ad- vance and promote the welfare of the farming inter- ests of the State, to which, during his life, he had been actively and intelligently devoted.

CHAPTER LXXXII.

PAXTON.

BY LEDYARD BILL. 1

IF lines were drawn diagonally across the Com- monwealth, from and to each of its four corners, the point of crossing would be within, or nearly so, the borders of the little town of Paxton ; hence it might be truly said, speaking geographically, that this town is the " axis " of the State, and that the high point of land known as Asnebumskit Mountain is the " hub" itself; thus may the least of towns aspire to rival, in some senses, the greatest !

This town lies about fifty-five miles west of Boston, and some seven miles from the city of Worcester, and is bounded and described as follows, namely: On the north by Rutland, on the east by Holden and Worces- ter, on the south by Leicester, and on the west by Spencer and Oakham. The town is situated upon high and rugged lands, and belongs to that class of towns known as the " hill towns " of the State. The general elevation above tide-water would not be very far from eleven hundred feet; indeed, the village " common " is, to be tolerably exact, eleven hundred and thirty-five feet above the sea, while the southern- most spur of the White Mountain range, Asnebum- skit, is about fourteen hundred feet above water level, and is, with the exception of Mount Wachusett, the highest land lying east of the Connecticut River. The land surface is not so broken and irregular as might be inferred from its considerable elevation, but is rather a succession of rounded hills on which are situated some of the best of farming lands and farms, and again the valleys stretch away, here and there, into level tracts both fertile and pleasant, and between the hills and valleys of this town are found many thrifty homes and a comparatively contented popula- tion.

This town does not rank among the ancient corpo- rations, but yet it has passed its first century, and may be said to have seen "generations come and go." The reasons which moved the early settlers to ask to be incorporated were various, but chief among those they gave in their petition was "the great difficulties

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they labored under in attending public worship, in consequence of the great distance they were from its places in the towas to which they belong." The fore- going petition was presented to the Legislature in 1761, and was unsuccessful, as nearly every petition of this nature is apt to he on its first presentation.

The people thus petitioning for a separate munici- pality were citizens of Leicester and Rutland, and the tract of land desired by the petitioners was that por- tion of the two towns lying contiguous, viz .: the southern part of Rutland and the northern portion of Leicester, making a tract of ahout four miles square. They complained in their first petition and subsequent appeals to the General Court that the distance to places of worship was great, and doubtless the same reasou held good when it came to the transaction of the business of the two towns, since the centre of each of these towns was full five miles distant, and we can well imagine the condition of the highways in those early days, when the best were but very indifferent roads, while the side-ways were mere bridle-paths, making it quite a task in the inclement season to perform those public duties incumbent upon them.

The inhabitants, however, had the merit of per- sistency, and the following year they again petitioned and were again rejected; but nothing daunted, they still worked for the accomplishment of their final pur- pose ; so in 1763, feeling, doubtless, the inconvenience of their position more and more, they again renewed their importunities and received some support from one of the towns, but the other (Rutland) opposing, the case was still deferred.

The following petition was presented to the authori- ties of Leicester by the undersigned, and this town, at a town meeting held on May 16, 1763, voted affirmatively on the petition, which was the first favorable action looking towards the establishment of the new town :

To the Selectmen of the town of Leicester, and the other inhabitants of the same :

The petition and desire of tha subscribers hereof humbly showeth,- That whereas, in the government of Divine Providence, our inhabitants are at a great distance from the place of public worship in this town, which, together with the snow and moisture of the land, it is exceed- ingly difficult, a great part of the year, to attend on the public worship of God in this town ; Wa look upoo it as our bounden duty to endeavor to set up the Gospel among us, by which we, with our families, might more constantly enjoy its means of grace.

In order to accomplish the good end of setting up the Gospel, we pro- pose, if possible to obtain leave so to do, to erect a town or district be- tweeo the towns of Leicester and Rutland, by taking two miles off each town to make up the contents of four square miles. Wherefore your petitionera humbly and earnestly desire that, for the good eod above proposed, you would now sett off, by a vote of this town, two milea at the north end of this town, the lands with the inhabitance thereon, to he laid out and connected with the south part of Rutland that is adjoin- ing the same, to ba erected into a town or district hy order of the Great and General Court of this province, as soon as may he, that we may set up a Congregational Church and settle a gospel minister, according to the constitution of the churches in tha land ; which we judge will be for the advancement of religion and onr comfort if it be obtained in the way of peace. So wishing your health and peace, as in duty bound, wa sub- scriba yonr petitionera :

Leicester, May 13, 1763.

Oliver Witt,

James Thompson,

Timothy Barrett,

William Thompson, Jr.,

Abraham Smith,

Abijah Bemia,

Abner Morse,

Daniel Snow, Jr.,

William Thompson,

James Nichol,

Jason Livermore,

Jauic Bellows,

Nathan Livermore,

Daniel Steward.

Finally a fourth attempt was made by these people, and the petition this time headed by one Oliver Witt, followed by many others, was duly presented to the Legislature, and this time with better results, for it was ordered "that Jedediah Foster, of Brookfield, and Col. Williams, on the part of the House, and Benjamin Lincoln, of the Council, be a committee in the recess of this court to repair to the place petitioned for to be erected into a parish, at the charge of the petitioners, and that they hear all parties interested for and against said corporation, and report at the next session whether the prayer thereof should be granted."

This committee held several meetings, at which there were hearings of all the parties interested, and at the succeeding session of the General Court re- ported, on June 23, 1765, a bill entitled, " An Act for Incorporating the Southerly part of Rutland and the Northerly part of Leicester, in the county of Wor- cester, into a District by the name of Paxton." This hill, after brief reference to the appropriate com- mittee, was reported back to the full house and speedily passed both branches of the General Court, and received Governor Francis Bernard's signature on the 12th of February, Anno Domini 1765. Thus was the frail bark of Paxton duly launched, possessing all the rights, privileges and immunities of any other town, except the right to send a representative on its sole account, but gave the right to "join with the town of Leicester and the precinct of Spencer" in choosing a representative to the Legislature.

It is proper to make some reference to the name given the town hy the act of incorporation, and per- haps no better account can be given than the follow- ing, which has come under our observation, viz .: "When the bill for incorporating this town passed the House of Representatives no name was inserted ; the blank was filled in the Council hy the word Paxton, in honor of Charles Paxton, who at that time was marshal of the Admiralty Court and a friend and favorite of Francis Bernard, the Governor, and of Thomas Hutchison, the Deputy-Governor. It is said that Paxton promised the town a church-bell if it was named for him; this promise was never ful- filled. Charles Paxton, although polished in manners and of pleasing address, was an intriguing politician and a despicable sycophant; 'every man's humhle servant, hut no man's friend,' as his paper figure was labeled, when, on Pope's day, as the anniversary of the gunpowder plot was called, it was paraded through the streets of Boston standing between the effigies of the Pope and the devil. He was the tool of Charles Townsend, the Chancellor of the English

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HISTORY OF WORCESTER COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

Exchequer, and with him devised the scheme of raising a revenue from the colonies by a tax on glass, paper, painter's colors and tea. The passage of this bill by the Parliament of England was greatly aided by Paxton, and returning to Boston, he was put at the head of this internal tax system, and made himself especially obnoxious to the people by reason of his issuing search-warrants to discover sup- posed smuggled goods, and his course was so insolent and tyrannical that he became an object of public hatred, was even hung in effigy upon Liberty Tree, and was subsequently, by the wrath of the people, driven into Castle William, and finally, at the evacu- ation, he departed with the British troops and went to England, where he died in 1788."

The course of this man, who had christened the town with his own name, was such that the bad odor of it reached the inhabitants of the newly- fledged district and they were intensely disgusted, and among the earlier public acts of the citizens was to petition for a change of name, and why the Legis- lature did not grant this reasonable request is a mar- vel. It should be attempted even at this late day, and there is no good reason why a new name would not be readily granted.

There have been several additions at sundry times to the territory of Paxton. At one time, on the peti- tion of John Davis, Ebenezer Boynton, Nathan Har- rington, Samuel Harrington, Micah Harrington and Ephraim Harrington, of Holden, their estates were set off from Holden on February 13, 1804, and attached to the town of Paxton, and, by this act, the town line was extended so as to border on Worcester. Still another addition from Holden was made in April, 1839. Again, in 1851, a small strip was added from the same source, and there is still room for improv- ing the present zig-zag boundary line between Holden and Paxton. The total acreage is now about eight thousand five hundred acres. The population of Pax- ton at the time of incorporation is not known, but it is presumed to " have been some hundreds," says an unknown writer in the Worcester Magazine, pub- lished a half-century or more ago. It is quite likely that the settlement of this portion of the country was well under way the latter part of the first century after the landing of the Pilgrims. It was, indeed, about 1720 that Rutland was incorporated and Leicester settled, and all this region of country taken up grad- ually by natural gravitation of the population west- ward, this section being at that period of time the "great west," and had its border-wars and conflicts with the aborigines and their allies. Doubtless there were wise men in those days who were wont to say to the wayward and the self-aspiring in the crowded centres of population along the seaboard : "Go west, young man, go west." And so, in the lapse of time, these hill-towns, with those in the valleys, have filled up and the great army of emigrants has continued from that day to this to flow westward, founding new

States, enlarging the boundaries of civilization and establishing both law and liberty, on firm foundations, over a vast territory.

Thus these hill-towns, so despised in the eyes of some ephemeral writers who draw distressing pictures of "abandoned farms, dwindling villages, decayed meet- ing-houses, diminished schools and poor highways," bave contributed largely to the public weal.

The marvelous strides this country has made in the last century are chiefly by reason of the inexhaustible supply of men and women drawn from the hills and valleys of New England, where they have been trained in the schools of industry and frugality. These have given direction and force to the upbuilding of the great region of the West. Thus, while it is true that the populations of the hill-towns, with some of those even in the valleys here in New England, have dim- inished, the cause is not permanently disturbing- since the era of cheap lands is about closing and the reflex tide cannot be far distant when New England will be filled to overflowing, and then this assumed prophecy of a premature decay will have been forgot- ten. The country is to be taken as a whole and not judged by any of its minor members.

The statement that there " were some hundreds " of people in the district of Paxton at the time of incorporation could hardly have meant more than two or three hundred at the most, for in 1790 the number was but 558; in 1820 it rose to 613 and in 1850 to 870, while in 1880 it had fallen to 592, and in 1885 the State census gave the town only 561.

The population in 1870 was, we believe, well towards nine hundred, but, in part owing to the destruction of one of the chief industries by fire, which, unfortunately, was never re-established, it has gradually fallen to a point in numbers to about what it was one hundred years ago.

The town is at the present time purely agricul- tural, there being no manufacturing of any descrip- tion carried on here.

In former years the boot and shoe industry was the principal business, or, at least, monopolized a very great share of the attention of the people; and the product of the shops was equal, if it did not greatly exceed in value the products of all the farms in town.

In 1820 John Partridge established the boot business in Paxton, and continued in the same line to the time of his decease, which occurred some fifteen years since, having been in business over half a century. The next notable firm to follow in the same line of industry was that of Messrs. Lakin & Bigelow, and they were succeeded by R. E. Bigelow & Son. All of these parties accumulated quite large fortunes, but none of their descendants reside within the town at the present time.

The town of Paxton is so situated, and has such natural beauty of landscape, and from its summits such extended and charming views of the surround-

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ing country, that its ultimate destiny is by no means uncertain. Already many scores of visitors rest here during the summer months, and annually come back to "view the landscape o'er" and breathe again the wholesome and health invigorat- ing air of these primeval hills and valleys. From the top of Asnebumskit, on a clear day, a score of towns may be seen, and from its summit a fine bird's- eye view of the city of Worcester can be obtained, which alone well repays the tourist for all his labors. There is still another eminence, known as Crocker Hill; this swell of land lies a few rods east of the village, and from the top there is a fine view of Wachusett, also of Monadnock and the Hoosac Mountains. This point is a charming spot to all who have any taste for the beautiful in nature. The wonder is, that some capitalist does not secure it, pitch his tent ou the same and invite the world to dine with him and spend all of the "midsummer nights " at this breezy and delightful place. On "Christian Hill," west of the village church, is an- other landscape to the north ward which is nnsurpassed for quiet loveliness. Some day an artist will discover it, and it will then be famous for its exceeding beauty.

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History of Worcester County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. I, Part 155

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