History of Worcester County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. I, Part 159

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 159

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surgery in the Eclectic Medical Institute of Cincin- nati, Ohio, a position he has held ever since.

He is the author of a treatise on General Surgery, and also of works on special branches of surgical science. He has, during his residence in Cincinnati, performed all the great operations of a surgical char- acter and he is favored with a wide range of patron- age. In 1886 Dr. Howe made a tour of Europe, visiting the famous hospitals of the Continent, and became acquainted with the distinguished men of his profession. As a recreative indulgence, Dr. Howe has cultivated a taste for biological investigations, and has acquired some distinction as an anatomist. For many years he was one of the curators in the Cincinnati Society of Natural History. Dr. Howe married, in 1858, Georgiana, the oldest daughter of George Lakin, of this place.

The familiar faces of Dr. and Mrs. Howe are occa- sionally seen in town revisiting the places familiar in their childhood, and renewing old acquaintances, hy whom they are ever cordially welcomed.

Jonah How lived on Davis Hill, and died there aged eighty-four years. Artemas How was also prominent in public affairs.

Rev. Elbridge Gerry Howe, son of Jonah Howe, was a graduate of Brown University, and went West on missionary work and established the first Congrega- tional Church at Waukegan, III. He was four times married. He leaves two sons, E. G. Howe, Jr., and Ira Howe. Rev. Mr. Howe was one of those men who left the world better by having lived in it. He was pre-eminently adapted to missionary labors, in which he had great success. He was always an earnest speaker and always found on the side of right on every public question. He was an honest man and of exalted character.

The Grosvenor family were among the notable people during their residence in this town. A brief sketch has already been given of the Rev. Daniel Grosvenor. Jonathan P. Grosvenor was a prominent man, occupying offices of trust and honor for many years. He was a justice of the peace, and lived on the farm now owned by Peter Daw. Here met some of the most cultivated people in town. His daughter, Lucy Grosvenor, married David Manning, Sr., of this place, and subsequently they removed to Worcester, where they at present reside.

Capt. Tyler Goddard, who lived just north of the meeting-house at the junction of the Rutland and Holden roads, was the first postmaster in Paxton. The office was established December 10, 1816, and he held the place till 1841. He kept a small grocery store just across the road west of his house, in what is now the new burying-ground. An anecdote is related of him that one time, in order to cure David Sweetser of the bad habit of borrowing jugs, filled one for him in which oil had been kept. This jug came back and with it the lost jugs, and a pretty free expression of miscellaneous statements on the part of Sweetser, to

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HISTORY OF WORCESTER COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

the great amusement of Capt. Goddard. Luther God- dard, of Worcester, is a son of Tyler, and was for some years the town clerk of Paxton. The next post- master was S. D. Harrington, followed by Otis Pierce, and in 1861 Nathaniel Clark was appointed and still holds the office. Of town clerks Ephraim Moore was first and William H. Clark, the present incumbent, the last chosen.

The Bigelows have ever been prominent in town since the advent of the Rev. Silas Bigelow. He had a brother, Ithamar Bigelow, who also lived on Asney- bumskeit and he had sons Silas and Ithamar, Jr. Silas Bigelow had children: John Flavel, George Nor- man, Artemas E. and Adaline E. Ithamar Bigelow, Jr. had children : Ralph Earle, Walter R. and Lewis. Ralph Earle Bigelow had children : Caroline, Eme- line and John C. Lewis Bigelow had children : Henry, Charles, Edward, George, Phoebe and Eliza.

In the late Civil War this town contributed seventy- four men, and of this number fifteen lost their lives while in the service. The records show that on the 26th July, 1862, a bounty of one hundred and ten dol- lars was voted. On August 9th the amount was raised eighty-five dollars. On December 8th the town offered one hundred and ten dollars for nine months' men, and one hundred and sixty dollars for those en- listing for three years. These offers were in addition to any bounties or gratuities proffered by the State or United States governments. There was an additional bounty offered in June, 1864, of one hundred and twenty-five dollars. In the year 1871 a granite monument was erected on the " Common " in mem- ory of those losing their lives during the four years' contest with the Southern States. An iron railing surrounds this shaft, and within the inclosure there are four cannon donated by Congress. On this shaft are the names of twenty-one of our soldiers who died by reason of the Rebellion.

On June 14, 1865, the town celebrated the centen- nial of its incorporation. There was a large assem- blage of the sons and daughters of the town on that occasion. There was a public meeting in the church, at which Hon. George W. Livermore, of Cambridge, Rev. John F. Bigelow, D.D., of Brooklyn, Prof. George N. Bigelow, also of Brooklyn, and Rev. George G. Phipps, now of Newton Highlands, delivered addresses. They were all natives of this town. A public dinner was served on the " Common," opposite the church, of which many hundreds partook. It was a grand gala occasion, and the reunions were many and most cordial, and the memory of them is as a sweet savor to all participating.

In 1888 the town erected a new town hall, in part ont of the proceeds of the estate of the late Simon Allen, who left by will his entire property in trust to the town, which was to be used in the building of a

town hall, the same to be called Allen Hall. The amount of his estate was twenty-two hundred dollars, but the prolonged illness of his widow reduced this amount to fifteen hundred dollars. During the life- time of his widow the property could not be used for the purpose designated by the testator, but on her decease, which occurred in 1887, the Allen fund was turned over to the town treasurer, and at the annual meeting of the town in March, 1888, it was voted to add a thousand dollars to the Allen fund and go for- ward with the building, the town appointing the fol- lowing persons as a building committee, viz. : L. Bill, William Brown, A. S. Graton, E. P. Keep and H. H. Pike.

The land for the location was given by the writer, and in the following July the contractor began his work, and by the 20th of the following October the building was complet ed, and was formally dedicated on November 1, 1888. The dedication address was delivered by Col. William B. Harding, of Worcester, the poem by George Maynard, also of Worcester, with remarks by Rev. George H. Gould, D.D., and Scrip- ture reading and dedicatory prayer by Rev. Alpha Morton.

The chairman of the selectmen,1 Ledyard Bill, re- ceived the keys from H. H. Pike on behalf of the building committee. The church choir, under the leadership of Oliver Goodnow, who for over fifty years has been connected with church music here, gave choice selections ; the exercises in the main hall clos- ing with America, in singing which, all joined. A public dinner was served in the lower hall by the Ladies' Union, of which Mrs. Nathaniel Clark is president. The building stands on the west side of the Barre Road, opposite the "Common." It is a plain appearing structure, but inside it is all that will be required for years to come. The total cost will not be far from forty-five hundred dollars. Simon Allen was born in 1806, in Holden, in the house near the foot of the big hill, on the Paxton and Holden Road, on the south side of the highway, and east of Mr. Metcalf's. He attended the Northeast School in Paxton a portion of his youth. He moved to Shrews- bury, where he married Miss Fannie Norcross. He was a boot and shoe-maker, and followed that trade while in Shrewsbury. He moved to Paxton in 1840, and bought a farm of the elder John Slade, on the Rutland Road, where George A. Brown now lives. He was a plain, unassuming, honest man, and re- spected by all who knew him. He died December 29, 1880, and was buried by the side of his first wife, near the west entrance to the Public Cemetery. He was twice married, but left no children.

1 The first board of selectmen chosen in 1765 was Oliver Witt, Ephraim Moore and Samnel Brown, while the last board chosen in 1888 was Led- yard Bill, A. S. Graton and L. T. Kirby.

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WEST BOYLSTON.

CHAPTER LXXXIII.

WEST BOYLSTON.

BY HORATIO HOUGHTON.

WEST BOYLSTON is situated seven miles from Worcester, by which it is bounded on the south, and is about forty miles from Boston. Its territory ex- tends about five miles from north to south and about three and a half miles from east to west. In shape it very much resembles an Indian tomahawk without a handle. Its territory bas been covered iu part by the organization of six other towns, previous to its incor- poration as the town of West Boylston in January, 1808. At the first incorporation of Lancaster, in 1653, its southwesterly corner boundary did not touch the present limits of West Boylston, it being near the house on the Robert Andrews place in Boylston. The extension of Lancaster in 1711 covered all of the ter- ritory of this town lying east of the Stillwater River and north of a line drawn from near the present cen- tral bridge, nearly east to near the southwest corner of the first Lancaster grant in Boylston.

At the incorporation of Worcester, in 1722, it in- cluded the territory afterwards set off as Holden in 1741. Shrewsbury was incorporated in 1727 and in- cluded all the territory lying between Lancaster and Worcester, the strip of land lying between the Still- water River and what was afterwards Holden, of about a mile in average width and about four miles in length, receiving the name of "Shrewsbury Leg." That part of this strip now within the town of Ster- ling still retains the name of "The Leg." In 1768 all of this leg lying north of the Quinnepoxet River and covering the present village of Oakdale was ceded to Lancaster.

"A petition, dated May 15, 1780, asking to be set off from Lancaster to Shrewsbury, was sent to the General Court, signed by the following persons :- Aaron Sawyer, Nathaniel Lamson, Silas Hastings, John Glazier, John Dunsmore, Ezra Beaman, Na- thaniel Davenport, Wm. Dunsmore, Silas How, Jo- seph Sawyer, Robert Andrews, Jr., Nathaniel Hast- ings, Oliver Sawyer, Frederick Albert, Micah Har- than, Elijah Ball, Hugh Moor, Levi Moor, Josiah Bennet, Sam'l Bigsby, Phineas How, Jacob Winn, Edmund Larkin."

Several of these men were then living within the limits of Shrewsbury, but it is probable that some of their landed estates extended into Lancaster ; a part, too, were residents of territory now in Boylston and part in West Boylston. This petition was granted February 2, 1781, making a new line between Lan- caster and Shrewsbury ; but just where this line was located cannot now be given.

Sterling was incorporated the same year, 1781, and covered all the territory belonging to Lancaster then

lying within the present limits of West Boylston. Boylston came next as a town, in 1786, and took a part of this territory from Sterling. In 1796 the "Second Precinct of Boylston, Sterling and Holden " was formed, taking from Sterling about two thousand three hundred acres, from Holden a strip of land about sixteen bundred rods long, one hundred rods wide at the north end and about one mile wide at the south end, and from Boylston all the rest of the terri- tory was taken, now embraced in West Boylston, ex- cept the long neck of land extending to the line of Shrewsbury. This neck, which is about a mile wide at its northern end and about one hundred rods at its southern extremity, is about two miles long and covers about one-half of the grant of one thousand acres made to the town of Malden in 1665, by the colonial authorities of Massachusetts, and which is more particularly described hereafter, was added to the said precinct territory, when the town was incor- porated in 1808.

It will be thus seen that all that part of the "Shrewsbury leg," lying north of the Quinnepoxet River, now embraced in the limits of this town, and covering the village of Oakdale, has been within the limits of five different towns,-first to Shrewsbury, from 1727 to 1768; then to Lancaster until 1781: then to Sterling, until 1786 ; then to Boylston, until 1808, when it became a part of West Boylston. Sev- eral other portions of the town have been within the limits of four different towns, and there are no por- tions of it which have not been in three different ones.

The natural scenery of the town is multiform, and in many places somewhat romantic in appearance, as it strikes the eye of a stranger, being diversified with hills and valleys, and in all directions interspersed with streams and springs of water, suited to the needs and wants of its inhabitants. Much of its soil is fer- tile, and with good management and cultivation well repays the labor of the skillful and industrious hus- bandman. Legendary history points to the fact that before its occupation by white men it had been peo- pled by Indians, and many places have been pointed out as the location of their corn-fields and dwellings, its first white settlers often finding specimens of Indian stone implements. The first white persons, of whom we have any history, locating within its territory were Jacob Hinds, Joseph Wooley, Ebene- zer Frizzol, Benjamin Bigelow, Jonathan Fairbank, Aaron Newton, Ezekiel Newton, Edward Goodale, Stephen Belknap, William Whitney, Phineas Ben- nett, Jonathan French, Jonathan Lovell and Josiah Wilder, who came here from older towns below about 1720. These men, with their families, settled in the southeastern part of the town, and to protect them- selves from any possible trouble from their Indian neighbors they built a garrison, or block-house, to which they could repair for the night as a place of security when danger was apprehended. This block-

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HISTORY OF WORCESTER COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

house was situated about forty rods north of the line of the Worcester and Nashua Railroad, and about half a mile from Boylston town line. A well, con- nected with this fort, is still in excellent preserva- tion, and the outlines of an old cellar are plainly to be seen. Other families soon followed these first spoken of, and within a few years are known to have had settlements in nearly all the parts of the town. There are no accounts that any of these early settlers were troubled by the Indians, and it is not known that any lived within the town limits after its first settlers located here.

The circumstances which finally led to the forma- tion, first, of the Second Precinct, and afterwards of the town, are given in the sketch of the life of Major Ezra Beaman on other pages of this history.

At the time of the incorporation of the town there were in it ninety-eight dwelling-honses and about the same number of families, one hundred and sixty ratable polls and one hundred and five legal voters. There were three school-houses, one church, one cot- ton-mill, two grist-mills, two saw-mills, one clothiers- mill, one tannery, four blacksmith and one cabinet- maker's shops, two book-binderies, three stores and one tavern. There were sixty farmers, ten or twelve mechanics, several laborers, one clergyman and but one person of foreign birth.

At the first election in West Boylston, held on the first Monday in March, 1808, the following town lege, so liberally granted, until their decease, when

officers were chosen : Moderator, Silas Beaman ; Town Clerk, Robert B. Thomas ; Selectmen, Ezra Beaman, jurisdiction of West Boylston. Jonathan Plimpton, William Fairbank, Silas Bea- man and Amos Lovell ; Assessors, Robert B. Thomas, Silas Newton and Moses Perry ; Treasurer, Ezra Beaman ; Constable, Silas Beaman. At the first election for State officers, in April, 1808, there were eighty-five votes cast for Governor-Christopher Gore had sixty-six; James Sullivan had eighteen : and Levi Lincoln had one.

Since 1840 the candidates for President have re- ceived votes as follows in this town : In 1840, Whig, 169; Democratic, 36; Liberty, 17. 1844, Whig, 138; Democratic, 37 ; Liberty, 66. 1848, Whig, 56 ; Dem- ocratic, 27 ; Liberty, 201. 1852, Whig, 47; Demo- cratic, 41 ; Republican, 184. 1856, Whig, 3; Demo- cratic, 27; Republican, 296. 1860, Whig, 5; Demo- cratic, 66; Republican, 326. 1864, Lincoln, 287; McClellan, 48. 1868, Grant, 279; Seymour, 18. 1872, Grant, 300; Greeley, 40. 1876, Ilayes, 304; Tilden, 88. 1880, Garfield, 290; Hancock, 51. 1884, Blaine, 231 ; Cleveland, 110. 1888, Harrison, 221 ; Cleve- land, 88.

The population of the town in 1885 was 2927; voters, 506; valuation, $1,173.443.

The town is made up of seven different villages, West Boylston proper covering the Central, Valley, Lower Factory, Depot and Old Common villages, and comprises about three-fifths of the town, with its ont- lying farm population. Oakdale, covering the vil-

age of Harrisville, makes the other two-fifths of the town. The Worcester and Nashua Railroad passing from south to north, and the Central Massachusetts Railroad passing from east to west through the town, crossing each other's tracks at Oakdale, gives the town full and constant connection of travel to all parts of the country. There are also lines of telegraph and telephone wires connecting with the main lines throughout the continent.

At the time when the precinct was incorporated, by a provision in the act, any persons, with their fam- ilies, living within its limits, and who did not sign the petition for it and preferred to retain their con- nection with the old parishes, were allowed to do so by notifying the clerk of said Second Precinct within six months after the passage of the said act. The follow- ing-named persons availed themselves of this privi- lege : Jonas Temple, Jacob Hinds, Thomas Keyes, Thomas Keyes, Jr., Micah Harthan, Elijah Goodnow, Aseal Partridge, and Jesse Dana, of Boylston ; Saul Houghton, Joshua Houghton, Jonas Mason and Jona- than Prescott, of Sterling.

At the incorporation of the town in 1808, three of these individuals were allowed to retain their citizen- ship, and pay taxes on their estates in the old town to which they belonged. They were Jonas Temple and Thomas Keyes, to Boylston, and Jonas Mason, to Sterling; and they tenaciously adhered to the privi- their real estate, within the limits, came under the

The town officers for 1888 were as follows :

Town Clerk, Horatio Honghton ; Selectmen, H. E. Morton, D. P. Waite, J. E. Peirce ; Assessors, S. P. Hallock, J. E. Peirce, J. L. Howe; Overseers of Poor, Silas Newton, Wm. R. Walker, Francis Mer- riam ; Treasurer, Geo. F. Howe; Collector, F. H. Baldwin ; School Committee, Rev. W. W. Parker, Geo. F. Howe, S. S. Russell, J. E. Peirce, S. P. Hal- lock, J. M. Lord, Henry Boynton, Geo. E. Dana, Warren Howe, E. B. Berry, A. H. Murdock, Geo. B. Newton ; Constables, F. H. Baldwin, James Doyle, E. A. Newton ; Library Directors, Geo. L. Hyde, H. E. Morton, H. O. Sawyer, Geo. B. Johnson, H. Hongh- ton; Auditor, Geo. L. Hyde.

MODERATORS .- The following persons were sever- ally moderators of the annual March Meeting, for the first fifty years, from 1808 to 1858 : Silas Beaman, Silas Newton, Paul Goodale, William Fairbank, Robert B. Thomas, Dr. John M. Smith, Andre Taft, J. F. Fay, E. M. Hosmer, D. C. Murdock, Benj. F. Keyes, J. C. Lovell. Since 1858 the position has been filled by D. C. Murdock, J. C. Lovell, W. N. White, Geo. H. Jefts and Geo. F. Howe, Mr. Howe having presided for twenty-one years.

CHAIRMAN OF SELECTMEN .- The following gentle- men served as chairman of the Board of Selectmen in the years from 1808 to 1858: Ezra Beaman, four years; William Fairbank, one year; John Temple,

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WEST BOYLSTON.

six years; Robert B. Thomas, three years; Ezra Bigelow, three years; Joseph Hinds, four years ; Francis Davis, one year ; Joseph White, four years ; Silas Newton, one year; Asa Bigelow, one year; Dennis Harthan, two years; Benj. F. Keyes, two years ; Thomas Holmes, one year; E. M. Hosmer, three years ; Lotan Cleveland, five years ; D. C. Mur- dock, four years; Addison Lovell, one year; Jona- than Peirce, one year ; L. M. Harris, one year ; John Prentiss, one year; Samuel Lawrence, one year. Since 1858 the position has been held as follows : Levi Goss, one year; W. N. White, one year ; C. H. Baldwin, one year ; D. C. Murdoch, five years ; E. F. Brigham, four years; W. B. Harris, two years ; Stephen Holt, four years ; L. M. Harris, one year ; S. H. Smith, seven years; S. F. Hemenway, two years; Aaron Goodale, one year ; H. E. Morton, two years.

The office of treasurer of the town was held during the first fifty years by the following persons: Ezra Beaman, Ezra Beaman, Jr., Barnabus Davis, Jona- than Plympton, Andre Taft, Francis Davis, John Lees, Seth White, Thomas Holmes, Ezekiel Peirce, A. E. Winter, E. B. Newton, Moses Brigham, Samuel Brown, E. W. Holbrook, Dennis Harthan, Oliver B. Sawyer, who continued to hold the office until 1862. Since that year George F. Howe has served as treas- urer 22 years, and Henry A. Sawyer, 5 years.

From 1808 to the present time the office of town clerk has been held by the following persons: Robert B. Thomas, 1 year; Joseph Hinds, 4 years, Ezra Bigelow, 10 years; Francis Davis, 2 years; Seth White, 5 years; Ephraim Bigelow, 7 years; B. F. Keyes, three years ; Barney Howe, 10 years ; O. B .. Sawyer, five years; H. F. Holt, 1 year ; Edward Howe, 3 years; H. O. Sawyer, 1 year; H. Houghton, 29 years.

REPRESENTATIVES TO THE GENERAL COURT .- The following persons represented the town in the House up to the year 1857, after which the district system went in- to operation : Ezra Beaman, 4 years ; Barnabus Davis, 6 years ; Joseph Hinds, 5 years ; Robert B. Thomas, 5 years; Silas Newton, 1 year ; Thomas White, 1 year ; Silas Walker, I year ; Dennis Harthan, 1 year ; B. F. Keyes, 1 year; Levi Pierce, Jr., 1 year; Samuel Brown, 1 year ; Brigham Prescott, 3 years; Addison Lovell, 1 year; Amos Child, Jr., 3 years; Eli W. Holbrook, 2 years; E. M. Hosmer, 2 years ; O. B. Sawyer, 1 year ; D. C. Murdoch, 2 years. The Four- teenth District of IIolden, Paxton and this town, was represented in 1859 by Winson N. White; in 1862 by L. M. Harris, and in 1864, by D. C. Murdoch. The Eighth District, of Sterling, Boylston and this town, was represented in 1867 by W. McFarland; in 1870, by Stephen Holt; in 1872, by Rev. J. W. Cross ; in 1875, by Geo. F. Howe. The Sixteenth District, of Boylston, Northboro, Shrewsbury and this town, was represented in 1876 by Henry Pierce; in 1880, by H. O. Sawyer ; in 1884, by H. Houghton. For the Thir -

teenth District, composed of seven towns, and enti- tled to two representatives, H. E. Morton went from this town for two years, 1886 and 1887.

At the date of the incorporation of the town there were within its limits three school-houses. The first year the town voted fifty dollars as an appropriation for schools. In December, 1808, the town voted to " divide the town into four school districts, two south of the river and two north." These houses were located, one near where the present South School- house stands ; the second, about eighty rods north- west of the old Common ; the third near the present location of the double house in the Northeast District ; and the fourth above the village of Oakdale, or near the house of Pliny W. Stearns. A fifth one was built soon afterwards on "French Hill," at the Lower Factory village. The sixth house was built in 1843, and the seventh and eighth within the next eight years. For several years the town used the school- room in " Thomas Hall " for a high school. It was not until after the close of the late Civil War that the town took decided steps to relieve the over- crowded condition of our schools. Four two-story and one single-story house were built, and the town now has fourteen fine school-rooms, several of which have extra recitation and play-rooms attached. There is one high school and one grammar school, both in the same building, which have sessions of about forty weeks in the year. This building has, within the past two years, been much enlarged, with additional recitation and other rooms, making it a model house. A valuable apparatus for illustrations has been col- lected and is being added to from year to year. A valuable library of scientific, historical, biographical and mechanical works has been started, and now numbers over two hundred volumes.

Besides these two schools, there are three interme- diate, one mixed and seven primary schools, hold- ing sessions of thirty-three weeks each during the year.

Previous to 1840 the schools had not probably averaged sessions of more than twenty to twenty-four weeks in the year. To show their gradual increase, a few items are given, and as a further contrast of causes and effects, pauper expenses for the same years are given.

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History of Worcester County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. I, Part 159

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