History of Worcester County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. I, Part 192

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 192

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On the 21st and 22d of February, 1865, a fair was held in the Town Hall. Governor Emory Washburn was president, and made an opening address. The amount realized was 82636.07, which was equally di- vided between the Sanitary and Christian Commis- sions and the Freedmen's Aid Society.

In the Massachusetts Fifty-seventh Regiment were James Ackley, wonnded at Spotsylvania, first serving in the navy, under Admiral Farragut on the Missis- sippi River, at the capture of New Orleans; William H. Anthony, shot at the North Anna, and killed by a charge of grape while being carried from the field ; Freeman Davis, first in Fifteenth (wounded at Bull's Bluff), killed in the Wilderness ; Oliver Gosler, died of wounds near Petersburg; Phineas L. Hol- brook, wounded at North Anna; Edward A. Hawes, Emerson B. Lacount, musician; Patrick H. Mann-

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ville, enlisted at fifteen years of age, killed at the battle of North Anna ; Henry C. Maloney, died in the service ; Joseph B. Winch, Sergeant Horace S. Pike, wounded at Petersburg; Jesse S. Scott, principal musician ; Charles W. Gleason.

Hiram Streeter was also a member of this regiment. When friends endeavored to dissuade him from leav- ing his wife and young children, he said : "I have decided that it is my duty to defend my country, if I die in so doing." He enlisted, and after participating in the battles of the Wilderness and North Anna, was killed by a minie ball, before Petersburg, Juue 17, I864.

In the Sixtieth Massachusetts Regiment, one hun- dred days' men, stationed at Indianapolis, were Corporal Alonzo W. Bond, Francis A. Bond, Aaron T. Cutler, Lewis R. Dowse, William Graham, John T. Gough, Lieutenant George R. Roberts, Lieutenant Joseph A. Titus, Henry L. Watson and Alphonso Woodcock.

In the Second Regiment was Edwards D. Farr, wounded in the foot at Cedar Mountain, twenty-four hours on the battle-field; came from it on crutches made with a pen-knife ; died of the wound in the Massachusetts General Hospital, where he had suf- fered amputation. In the Tenth were Silas Bercume, wounded at Fair Oaks, re-enlisted in the First Con- necticut Cavalry, taken prisoner at Ashland, in Libby Prison, Andersonville, Savannah and Milan ; James E. Bacon, William Conway, who died in the service. In the Eleventh was George McDonald, missing after hattle in the Wilderness.

In the Twelfth were the brothers Charles B. Fris- hee (in fifteen hattles, wounded at Antietam) and Albert Frisbee (in all the engagements of the regi- ment till taken prisoner at Gettysburg, in prison at Belle Isle, Lihby and Andersonville, where he died. Their brother, William, was in an Ohio regiment, and was wounded in Georgia. Lovell P. Winch was in the Thirteenth; John Denny, in the Nineteenth ; Henry R. Dawson, in the Twentieth. John Lord was in the Twenty-second, killed at the battle of Chicka- hominy. Lieutenant John Minor was in the Twenty- eighth ; also Jesse Pollard, who was wounded in the second battle of Bull Run, and also at Secessionville, S. C. Eli Wrigglesworth was in the Twenty-ninth. In the Thirtieth were Sergt. Aaron Bowman (in all the battles of the regiment till his death at Baton Rouge, La.), Henry S. Thayer (who died at New Orleans), and James H. Whitney (who died in Mississippi). Captain Thomas Burt was in the Thirty-first ; also in a Connecticut regiment ; assistant provost mar- shal at New Orleans. Alexander H. Fairbanks and George E. Sibley were in the Sixty-first, and James H. Knight in the Sixty-second.

George Armitage was in the First Cavalry; Henry J. Biggs in the Second Cavalry, also John Trim, Lewis Gosler, Dennis S. Quinn. In the Third Cav- alry, John Crogan, Eugene Eschman ; in the Fourth

Cavalry, David Dawson, bugler; Thomas Doyle, first in the Fifty-first Infantry, died of wounds at Magno- lia, Florida ; in the First Frontier Cavalry, Rodney W. Greenleaf.

In the Second Heavy Artillery, James Flannigan, Andrew Stowe, who died at Andersonville, and Charles L. Cummings, also in the Fifty-first Infantry ; in the Third Heavy Artillery, John Crogan.

Edward May, paymaster in the naval service. Joseph Doran was also in the naval service.

In addition to those named are the following men who enlisted in the quotas of other places-in what regiments is not known : Dexter Austin, John Brooks, Andrew Clark, John Darling, Charles Fay, Michael Fritz, Patrick Henry, E. Hastings, James Morgan, John L. O'Brien, Owen Rice and Hugh Hopkins.

In addition to those who enlisted from town were men who were purchased as recruits from other places. Some of these are known to have done good service ; of others little is known. In the Second Heavy Artil- lery were William Henry Harrison, James Lowell, Edward Mckay, John McDonald, Walter Stone. In the Second Massachusetts Regiment were Richard Lynch, John Maller and Edward Shandley. In the Veteran Reserve Corps, Oliver Santum and Corporal Edward Kendall. In addition to these were Patrick Dowd, of the Fifty-sixth ; Alexander H. Fairbanks, of the Sixty-first ; Samuel Slater, of the Fifteenth and Twentieth; James Scott, of the Fifty-eighth ; James Smith, of the Twenty-seventh ; Rodney W. Greenlief, of the First Battalion, Frontier Cavalry, William H. McGregor, also of First Battalion, Fron- tier Cavalry, and Corporal George H. Lancaster, of the Third Heavy Artillery.

The following is a list of the names of recruits pur- chased by the town whose designation and history are unknown : Wm. Adams, Lewis L. M. Arnold, Jas. Barnes, Antoine Bownett, Jesse Croslin, Mark Colman, James Delany, Michael Demsey, John Doyle, Eliakim H. Eaton, Jas. Edmanson, Joshua H. Eldridge, Jno. F. Farrell, Henry Hastings, John F. Kenniston (un- assigned recruit), James Leary, John L. Labene, William H. Leighton, Cornelius Leary, David G. Lambert, John Lee, Albert L. Loud, John Lindsey, Geo. S. Little, Wm. J. Lord, Patrick Lynch, Edw. L. Limminson, Stephen Lynch, John Lindsey, John Mullen, James Miller, Shubal Mayo, John Mooset, Sawney Nelson, William Ottevall, Owen Rice, Wm. Reese, Owen Smith, Henry Stewart, Samuel Stewart, Samuel Taylor, Edward Vaughn, George Varnum, Charles Vose, Edward Cottey, George Donnelly, Thomas Graves, Martin McBride, Oscar B. Phelps.

Eleven of the recruits are recorded as deserters. Their names are omitted from the roll of honor. With all the pains taken to make the list of soldiers com- plete, there are doubtless inevitable omissions.

The highest rank to which a soldier attained in the service is given in the lists. Some enlisted for other towns. The number of battles in which a soldier

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was engaged is in some cases given; in others it is unknown.

As nearly as can be ascertained, the town furnished three hundred and twenty men for the war, of whom two hundred and forty-eight were in three years' regiments. Six were commissioned officers. Dr. John N. Murdock and T. E. Woodcock furnished substi- tutes. The military expenses of the town were 842,- 653.28, of which $12,383 were, however, for State aid. A league of enrolled men was organized in the sum- mer of 1864, which raised 84,400 for the purchase of recruits, and $2,960 were raised by citizens not liable to a draft.

Considerable sums were also raised for the Sani- tary and Christian Commissions. Throughout the entire war the women were untiring in their interest and labors for the relief of the suffering soldiers.

The names of Leicester men are on the rolls of twenty-eight Massachusetts regiments, and others en- listed in other States and in the regular army. At least thirty-three died in the service ; eleven were in Rebel prisons, of whom seven died. The sons of Leicester were in over a hundred battles.

The premature announcement of General Lee's surrender occasioned such a thrill of joy as had not been experienced since the close of the Revolutionary War. The bells were rung, cannons were fired, and responses were heard from surrounding town .. News of the actual surrender arrived on the morning of the 10th of April, and was followed by the firing of can- non and the ringing of bells, and in the evening by the playing of the band and a general illumination. The terrible revulsion came on the 15th, with the tidings of the assassination of President Lincoln. The feeling here, as elsewhere, was intense ; every other interest was forgotten, business was suspended, the bells were tolled during the afternoon, and ministers laid aside their preparation for the next day, unable on that memorable Sabbath to speak upon any other theme than that which alone inter- ested the people. On the day of the funeral the bells were tolled and services, attended by people from all parts of town, were held in the First Church. " It was a large, sad audience."

During the morning service, on the 14th of May, a message was brought to the church containing the news of Jefferson Davis' capture, and the welcome fact was announced from the pulpit.

CHAPTER XCIV. LEICESTER-(Continued.)

MISCELLANEOUS.

Individuals and Residences-Physicians-Lawyers - Items of Interest-Bury- ing-Grounds -Post-Offices-Fire Department-Tuverns-Libraries-Cherry Valley Flood-Histories-Celebrations.

INDIVIDUALS AND RESIDENCES .- In a sketch so brief as this there can be special mention of only a few of the many persons who are worthy of such notice. To some of these reference has been made in other connections.

The Earle families generally resided in the north- east part of the town, where they erected substantial homes, some of which are still an ornament to that neighborhood. They were so numerous that in 1812, when Rev. Dr. Nelson visited the Northeast School on examination day, he found that of the forty pupils present, twenty-one were grandchildren of "Uncle Robert" and "Aunt Sarah " Earle. Ralph Earle, the ancestor of the Leicester Earles, came to town in 1717 from Freetown, Mass. He became a large land- owner and the head of a family, members of which, in their different generations, have had more than a local reputation. Among these, Ralph, his great- grandson, takes special rank as an artist. He made full-length portraits of Dr. Dwight, of Yale College, and others in Connecticut, and portraits of "many of the nobility and some of the royal family" of Eugland. For a time he was under the instruction of Benjamin West in London, and he was made a member of the Royal Academy in that city. He painted the battle of Lexington and other battle- scenes of the early period of the Revolution, which were engraved. He has the distinction of heing the first historical painter of America. A landscape view of Worcester, taken from Denny Hill, is now in the possession of Deacon C. C. Denny. His brother, James Earle, was also a painter of "considerable eminence." He was married in London, but died in Charleston, S. C., on a visit to America. Thomas Earle, grandson of the Ralph who came to Leicester, was a mechanic of remarkable skill. His home was ou Bald Hill, in Cherry Valley, opposite Olney's factory. He planted rows of sycamores in front of his house on the day of the battle of Lexington, three of which are still standing. A musket of su- perior quality and beautiful finish, which he made for Col. William Henshaw, is preserved in good condition. Gen. Washington so much admired it that he ordered one like it for himself. Mr. Earle made the gun with great care, and when it was completed he loaded and primed it, placed it uuder water to the muzzle over night, and in the morning discharged it at the first pull of the trigger. He afterward shouldered it and carried it on foot to General Washington in New York.

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Thomas Earle, the son of Pliny, born in Leicester and educated at the academy, was, in 1840, candidate of the Liberty party for Vice-President, with James G. Birney. He was an able editor and an influen- tial writer in opposition to slavery. His home was in Philadelphia. He is described as " a man of pow- erful intellect," "enlarged views," "of warm and generons impulses," "a philanthropist whom oppres- sion could not swerve; a politician whom politics could not corrupt ; 'and a Christian whom sect conld not cirenmscribe.'" Notices of other members of this family will be found in the history of Worcester.

The Henshaw place, northeast of Henshaw Pond, at first called Judge's Pond, was owned, and the honse first built, by Jndge John Menzies, who came from Roxbury in 1720. He was from Scotland, a member of the Faculty of Advocates in Edinburgh, and was appointed judge of the Court of Admiralty of Massachusetts, Rhode Island and New Hampshire. He was the first representative of the town to the General Court.

The place was afterward owned by Judge Thomas Steele, who has already been mentioned. After the Revolutionary War it came into the Henshaw fam- ily, where it has remained. Captain David Hen- shaw purchased it in 1782. Still later it was the home of Hon. David Henshaw. He was appointed collector of the port of Boston, by President Andrew Jackson, in 1829, and served with great credit to himself and advantage to the department. He was appointed Secretary of the Navy by President John Tyler, served for a short time, but his appointment was not confirmed by the Senate, which was of the opposite political party.

The mansion-house on Mount Pleasant was built in 1772 by Joseph Henshaw, who also gave to the hill its name.1 He was a graduate of Harvard, in 1748. His connection with early Revolutionary events has already been referred to. He was a man of wealth, and loaned to the government, in its time of need, at least a hundred thousand dollars. At this honse he took the mail from the conrier, before the establishment of a post-office here. In 1795 the place came into the hands of James Swan, who fitted up the house and grounds in a style of magnificence far surpassing anything in this region. His wealth was supposed to be immense. After a few years reverses came upon him, he retired to France, and in 1830 re- appears upon the opening of the Dehtor's Prison, in Paris, as one who was set free, after occupying the same room thirty-two years and one day.

Daniel Denny, from whom descended all of that name in town, came from Combs, Suffolk County, England, to Boston in 1715, and removed to Leices- ter iu 1717. The prominent position of the members of this family, in connection with town and national affairs, has already been indicated.

Deborah, the danghter of Daniel Denny, was the wife of Rev. Thomas Prince, D.D., of the Old South Church, Boston. Colonel Samuel Denny lived on Moose Hill; he was lieu tenant-colonel of the minnte- men and colonel of the First Worcester Connty Regi- ment, a member of the General Conrt, and of the convention to ratify the National Constitution.

St. John Honeywood, son of Dr. John Honeywood, graduated with high honors at Yale in 1782, was a lawyer in Salem, N. Y., and one of the electors for John Adams. He died at the age of thirty-fonr. Says Washburn : "He gave early evidence of having been endowed by nature with the eye of a painter and the sensibility of a poet." A posthumous volume of his poems was published in 1801.

Colonel Henry Sargent was one of the wealthy and prominent men of the town honored with civil and military office. Two of his sons were graduated from Harvard College, and were physicians in Worcester. Dr. Henry Sargent died in 1857. Dr. Jos. Sargent died in 1888, after a long practice in the profession, in which he held high rank. The Sargent family has been one of standing in the town, and other members are elsewhere noticed.

The Green family came from Malden, and were at one time the most numerous in town. Members of this family have been already noticed in connection with the early history of the town. The Sonthgate family were from England, and have also been promi- nently identified with the town's history.

The large residence east of the Common was built by Joshua Clapp, the enterprising and generous Clappville manufacturer. Mr. Denny, in his "Rem- iniscences," says of him that he was " a decided and activetemperance man in the early days of the reform." In 1836 he bought the hotel in the Centre village, and converted it into a temperance house. Mrs. Ellen E. Flint afterward owned the Clapp place for many years. She was a woman of strong character, benevo- lent and public-spirited. She built the massive walls which have given to the place the name of " Stonewall Farm." The place, some time after her death, came into the hands of Dr. Horace P. Wakefield, who resided there several years. It was then purchased by Hon. Samnel Winslow, mayor of Worcester, re- modeled and much enlarged, and is now his summer residence.

Phineas Bruce was elected to Congress in 1803, but never took his seat.

Hon. William Upham was educated at the acad- emy; was district judge in Vermont and United States Senator.

Hon. Nathan Allen was a member of the House of Representatives ; also Hon. John E. Russell, elected in 1886.

Three persons at least, in Leicester, have lived to a remarkable age. Elihu Emerson was born in West- field, Mass., July 21, 1771. He resided for many years with his daughter, Mrs. Dr. Edward Flint,

1 Not Lewis Allen, as Washburn states.

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where he died October 31, 1873, at the age of one hundred and two years, three months and ten days.

Ebenezer Dunbar was born March 29, 1777, in Leicester, where he always resided. He died No- vember 4, 1877, and was thus one hundred years, seven months and six days old.

Mrs. Lydia Watson, the widow of Mr. Robert Watson, is still living in her one hundred and third year. She was born in Spencer, January 5, 1777.

PHYSICIANS .- The first physician in Leicester was Dr. Thomas Green, already noticed as the first pastor of the Baptist Church in Greenville.

Dr. Pliny Lawton taught school in 1748 and 1749 and was then called " Doctor." He died, in 1761, of small-pox, which he contracted while in the cour- ageous discharge of his duty, and was buried in his own field.

Dr. John Honeywood was in practice here in 1753. He was an Englishman and his interest in the early Revolutionary movements, and his death while serv- ing in the American army, have been already noticed. He was a well-educated and skillful physician.

Dr. Solomon Parsons taught school in 1751. He was a son of Rev. David Parsons, born April 18, 1726, and died March 20, 1807. His wife died the same year as Dr. Lawton, of small-pox, and he was under the necessity of burying her alone, by night. He is supposed to have been surgeon in the army in 1761.

Dr. Isaac Green, son of Dr. Thomas Green, was born in 1741 and died in 1812. He was surgeon in Col. Samnel Denny's regiment in 1777, and was at Saratoga at the taking of Burgoyne.

Dr. Edward Rawson was born in Mendon in 1754 and died in 1786.

Dr. Absalom Russell practiced here a few years and was a surgeon in the Revolutionary army.

Dr. Robert Craige, Dr. Jeremiah Larned and Dr. Thomas Hersey were in practice in town during the last half of the last century, and also Dr. Thaddeus Brown.

The most eminent physician of the town, after Dr. Thomas Green, was Dr. Austin Flint. He was born in Shrewsbury, January, 1760; came to Leicester in 1783, and died August 29, 1850. He is characterized by Governor Washburn as "an intelligent, well- informed man, of strong will and indomitable cour- age ;" of "affable manners" and with a "rich fund of anecdote and good sense." He entered the army at the age of seventeen and his record in the Revolu- tion and "Shays' Rebellion" has already been given He was for twenty successive years moderator of town-meeting, for fifteen years town clerk, for sixteen years trustee of the academy, for about thirty years a magistrate and for five years a Representative in the Legislature. He not only practiced throughout the town, but also in other towns. He kept a record of the births at which he rendered professional aid. The number is 1750. Ilis wife (Elizabeth) was the daughter of Col. Wm. Henshaw.

Dr. Edward Flint, his son, elsewhere noticed, be- gan practice here in 1811.

Dr. Ames Walbridge came to Greenville about the year 1830, and died there July 30, 1867, at the age of seventy-five.

Dr. Jacob Holmes was a physician in Leicester from 1834 to 1847. Rev. Isaac Worcester, M.D., who married the daughter of Colonel Henry Sargent, was for a shorttime in practice here, as were also Dr. C. D. Whitcomb and Dr. James P. C. Cummings and Dr. E. A. Daggett, who was followed by Dr. John P. Scribner. Dr. George O. Warner came to Leicester in 1866 and remained until his death, November 12, 1885, at the age of forty-six. He gained a very ex- tensive practice throughout the entire town and region. He was for a short time an army surgeon. He was kind and sympathetic and his death was universally lamented.

The present physicians in the village are Dr. Fred. H. Gifford, graduated from the Harvard Medical School in 1874. Dr. Charles H. Warner graduated from the Har- vard Medical School in 1870, and commenced practice in Leicester in 1885; and Dr. Charles G. Stearns, graduated from Amherst College in 1874 and from the Harvard Medical School in 1881. He commenced practice here in the winter of 1885. Dr. Leonard W. Atkinson graduated from Boston University Medical School in 1884, began practice in Cherry Valley in 1885.

LAWYERS .- Christopher J. Lawton came to Lei- cester, 1735; practiced until 1751.

Hon. Nathaniel Paine Denny graduated at Harvard, 1797; settled in Leicester in 1800; practiced for twenty years; and represented the town in the Legislature ten years.

Bradford Sumner, graduated at Brown University, 1808; came to Leicester, 1813; practiced until 1820.

David Brigham, graduated at Harvard, 1810; came to Leicester in 1817 ; practiced a little more than two years.

Daniel Knight, graduated at Brown University, 1813 ; came to Leicester, 1821.

Emory Washburn, graduated at Williams College in 1817; practiced in Leicester from 1821-28.

Waldo Flint, graduated at Harvard in 1814 and came to Leicester in 1828. He was afterward for many years president of the Eagle Bank, Boston.

Silas Jones succeeded Mr. Flint, but only practiced for a short time.

Henry Oliver Smith, a native of Leicester, gradu- ated at Amherst, 1863, and since 1866 has practiced in Leicester.

ITEMS OF INTEREST .- A few items of interest from Washburn's history and other sources are added here. The first public conveyance for passen- gers was the line of " stage-wagons " between Boston and Hartford, opened October 20, 1783, by Levy Pease, of Somers, Conn., and Reuben Sikes, of Hartford. Before this the mails were carried on horseback.

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There are persons now living who remember to have seen sixteen stage-coaches at one time around the tavern on Leicester Hill. In the last century two huge horse-blocks near the meeting-house and the public stocks were conspicuous objects on the Com- mon. The last "pillory " was built in 1763, for thir- teen shillings, by Benjamin Tucker. George Wash- ington, on his journey to Boston in 1789, passed through Leicester October 22d, and met a delegation of gentlemen from Worcester on the line between the two towns. Lafayettte, on the 3d of September, 1824, passed through the south part of the town " attended by a troop of horse and an escort of military officers, citizens, etc."

Colonel Thomas Denny introduced the first piano to the town about the year 1809. The second be- longed to the daughter of Captain John Southgate a few years later. The first carpet in town was woven by Mrs. David Bryant early in the present century.

In the first quarter of the present century there was in the Centre Village a literary association composed of the younger women, which met from honse to house, and is represented to have had a brilliant suc- cess. Some of the productions of its members found a place in the Worcester Spy, among the "Blossoms of Parnassus." " History," says Washburn, " can only record the fact that it once existed, flourished many years and disappeared." It has had, however, many successors.

BURYING-GROUNDS .- The first burying-ground in town was the church-yard back of the early meeting- house, which was surrounded by a brush fence. It dates back to 1714. The Greenville Cemetery was opened about the year 1736 ; the Elliott Burying- yard, in the north part of the town, in 1756. The burying-ground of the Friends at Mannville was in existence as early as 1739. The Rawson Brook Cem- etery dates back to 1755, and the Cherry Valley Cemetery was opened in 1816, and the Pine Grove in 1842. In these several burying-places have been laid about 2800 bodies. The number of deaths in town since 1800, recorded on the town books and elsewhere, is 3469. In the first decade there are 98, in the sec- ond, 150; in the third, 193 ; in the fourth, 265; in the fifth, 324; in the sixth, 431; in the seventh, 474; in the eightlı, 552 ; from 1880 to 1883, 451. These facts are from the record of C. C. Denny, Esq., who has made a careful investigation and study of the subject.

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History of Worcester County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. I, Part 192

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