History of Worcester County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. I, Part 2

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 2

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Sect. 4. That nothing in this Act contained shall be construed to dis- annul, defeat, or make void, any deeds or conveyances of lands lying in the said County of Worcester, when the same aro or shall be, before tha said Toth of July, recorded in the Register's office of the respective Conaties where such lands do now lye ; but that all such deeds or con- veyances, wo recorded, shall be held good and valid, as they would have beea bad not this Act been made.

HISTORY OF WORCESTER COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

And be it further enacted by the anthority aforesaid :

Sect. 5. That the Justices of the Court of General Sessions of the Peace at their first meeting in the said County of Worcester, shall have full power and anthority to appoint some meet person within the said County of Worcester to be Register of Deeds and Conveyances within the same, who shall be sworn to the faithful discharge of his trust in the said office, and shall continue to hold and exercise the same according to the directions of the law, until some person be elected by the frecholders of the said County of Worcester (who are hereby empowered to choose such person on the first Thursday of September next ensuing, by the methods in the law already prescribed), to take upon him that trust; and until soch Register shall be appointed by the said Justices and sworn, all deeds and conveyances of land lying within any part of the said County of Worcester, which shall be recorded in the Register's office of the re- spective counties where such Inds do now lye, shall be held and deemed good and valid, to all intents and purposes, as to the recording thereof.

And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid :

Sect. 6. That the methods, directions and proceedings by law, provided as well for electing and choosing a Register of Deeds and Convey ances as a County Treasurer, which officers shall be appointed in the same man- Der as is by law already provided, on the first Thursday of September next, and also for the bringing forward and trying any actions, canses, pleas or suits, both civil and criminal, in the several Counties of this Province and Courts of Judicature within the same, and choosing of Juries to serve at the Courts of Justice, shall extend and be attended, observed and put in practice within the said County of Worcester and by the Courts of Justice within the same ; any Jaw, urage or custom to the contrary notwithstanding. Provided, always,

Sect 7. That the inhabitants of the several towns and places herein before enumerated and set off a distinct County, shall pay their propor- tion to any County rates or taxes already made and granted in the same manner as they would have done bad not this Act been made.

A supplementary act was passed April 12th, and published April 14, 1753, providing " that all the lands within this Province, adjoining to the County of Wor- cester, and not laid to any other County, shall be and hereby are, annexed to the County of Worcester."

Hassanamisco, mentioned in the above act, was the Indian name of a territory about four miles square, which was reserved by the Sachem, John Wam- pus, when he sold to the English settlers the tract of land which afterwards became the town of Sutton. This territory was afterwards also sold and became the town of Grafton.

The South town, laid out to Narragansett soldiers, also mentioned in the act, was subsequently incor- porated as the town of Westminster. In 1728 and 1732 the General Court granted seven townships to eight hundred and forty survivors of the Narragan- sett War and the legal heirs of such as had deceased, assigning one hundred and twenty proprietors to each township, on condition that sixty families be settled in each place with a minister in the space of seven years from the date of the grant, reserving in each one right for the first minister, one for the ministry and one for the school. A meeting of the grantees was held in Boston on the Common, in June, 1732, and dividing themselves into seven classes, drew lots for the townships. The townships were laid out by a committee of the General Court as follows : " Num- ber one was located back of Saco and Scarborough, number two north of Wachusett Hill, number three at Souhegan west, number four at Amariscogan, number five at Souhegan east, number six west of number two, and number seven was not located." Sonth town was number two and was sometimes called

Narragansett number two ; number six is now Tem- pleton.

The name of the city of Worcester, from which the county derived its name, owes its origin to Worcester in England, on the banks of the Severn, built on the site of the castle of Hwiccia, called Hwie-wara-ceaster. The records of Massachusetts colony state that in 1684, " upon the motion and desire of Major-General Gookin, Capt. Prentice and Capt. Dan Hinchman, the Court grants their request that their plantation at Quinsigamond be called Worcester and that Capt. Wing be added and appointed one of the Committee there in the room of the deceased and that their town brand mark be ." The conjecture of Mr. William H. Whitmore that the name was given as a defiance to Charles the Second, who was defeated at Worcester by Cromwell, in 1651, has been endorsed in a qualified way by Mr. William B. Harding, in his valuable and interesting essay on the origin of the names of towns in Worcester County, published in 1883. Though it is true that at the time Worcester was named, in 1684, the oppressive measures of Charles had rendered him unpopular in the colonies, it is more than proba- ble that the conjecture had its origin in one of those baseless and vague traditions which have disturbed the current of history, and that, like a large number of other towns in New England, some emigrant from old England desired to perpetuate the name of the place of his birth in the new.

Worcester County is the largest county in the. Com- monwealth, occupying the central part of the State and extending across its entire breadth from north to south. It has an area of about fifteen hundred square miles, and is drained by the head-waters of Miller's, Chicopee, Quinebang, Thames, Blackstone, Nashua and other smaller rivers, which furnish power to a large number of wheels of industry. Its surface is undulating and its soil strong and productive, but its farming interests have been somewhat impaired by the advancing and strengthening wave of manu- facturing industry. These interests, however, are by no means small. According to the census of 1880, in a list of the two thousand four hundred and sixty-one counties in the United States, Worcester stands nine- teenth in farm values and tenth in farm products. The determination of the shire-town of the county was not reached without difficulty. Sutton, Lancas- ter, Mendon, Brookfield and Woodstock stood higher than Worcester, both in population and valuation. But the central position of Worcester, together with the influence of Joseph Wilder, of Lancaster, who remonstrated against the administration of justice in that town, settled the question. , The first Court of Probate was held in Worcester, July 13, 1731, the first Court of Common Pleas and General Sessions of the Peace the 10th of August, and the Superior Court of Judicature on the 22d of Sepeember in the same year. The judges of the last court present were Benjamin Lynde, chief justice, and Paul Dudley, Ed-

iii

WORCESTER COUNTY.

mund Quincy and John Cushing, justices. Paul Dudley, who was a judge from 1718 to 1745, and chief justice from 1745 to his death, in 1751, was the first lawyer who had ever sat on the bench.

At the time of the incorporation of the county nine other counties had been incorporated in what is now the State of Massachusetts,-Essex, Middlesex and Norfolk incorporated May 10, 1643; Hampshire, May 21, 1662; Barnstable, Bristol and Plymouth, June 21, 1685; Dukes County, November 1, 1683, and Nan- tucket, June 20, 1695. Norfolk County was composed of the towns of Haverhill, Salisbury, Hampton, Exe- ter, Dover and Portsmouth (then called Strawberry Bank). Upon the separation of New Hampshire in 1680, the last four towns were included within the limits of that State, and on the 4th of February, 1680, by an act of the court, the other towns were added to Essex County, and Norfolk County ceased to exist. At a later date the preseut Norfolk County was incor- porated, March 26, 1793, preceded by Berkshire April 24, 1761, and followed by Frauklin June 24, 1811, and Hampden February 20, 1812. The towns composing Worcester County at the time of its incorporation were incorporated as follows: Brookfield, which had borne the Indian name of Quaboag, was granted to petitioners in Ipswich in 1660 and incorporated Oct. 15, 1673, and included in the county of Hampshire by the act incorporating that county passed May 21, 1662; Lancaster, whose Indian name was Nashwash, was incorporated May 18, 1653; Leicester, called Towtaid, granted February 10, 1713, to Colonel Joshua Lamb and others and incorporated in 1721; Lunen- burg, the south part of Turkey Hills, August 1, 1728; Mendon, called Qunshapauge, May 15, 1667 ; Oxford, granted to Gov. Joseph Dudley and others in 1682, May 16, 1683; Rutland, called Nagueag, bought Dec- ember 22, 1686, of Joseph Trask, alias Puagostion, by Henry Willard and others of Lancaster, and incorpor- ated February 23, 1713; Shrewsbury, December 19 1727; Southboro', set off from Marlboro', in Middlesex County, July 6, 1727 ; Sutton, purchased of Sachem John Wampus and incorporated June 21, 1715; Ux- bridge, called Waeuntug, June 27, 1727; Westboro', called Chauncey, November 18, 1717; Worcester, called Quinsigamond, granted to Daniel Gookin and others October 24, 1668, October 15, 1684 ; and Wood- stock. The last-mentioned town was granted by the Colony Court in 1686 to certain inhabitants of Rox- bury, in the State of Massachusetts, and called New Roxbury. Judge Samuel Sewall says in his diary, under the date of 1690, that on the 18th of March he gave "New Roxbury the name of Woodstock because of its nearness to Oxford for the sake of Queen Eliza- beth and the notable meetings that have been held at the place bearing that name in England."

The transfer of Woodstock from Massachusetts to Connecticut was owing to a change in the boundary line between those colonies. The first boundary line, known as the " Woodward and Safery line," was run

in 1642. Previous to 1642 Connecticut had claimed Woodstock under the so-called charter by Robert, Earl of Warwick, dated March 19, 1631. On the 13th of July, 1713, an adjustment of the old line was reached, which declared the Woodward and Safery line erroneous, being six or seven miles too far south, and nearly all of Woodstock was found to be within the territory covered by the charter of Connecticut. issued by Charles the Second, April 20, 1652. Under the adjustment of 1713 it was agreed that Woodstock should remain under the jurisdiction of Massachusetts on the condition that Connecticut should receive such a number of acres from the unappropriated lauds of Massachusetts as should be equivalent to that part of the territory which had been found south of the true line. Enfield and Suffield were also found to be south of the line, and as a consideration for these three towns and for some other grants, south of the line, made by Massachusetts to individuals, Connecticut received one hundred and seven thousand seven hun- dred aud ninety-three acres of land. But a feeling of dissatisfaction grew up before many years among the inhabitants of Woodstock, chiefly because the taxes in Massachusetts were higher than in Connecticut. They claimed that they had been annexed without their consent, and insisted on being restored to the jurisdiction of Connecticut. In 1748 a memorial, in which Enfield and Suffield joined, was presented to the General Assembly of Connecticut, of which the following is the text. They represented-

That they had, without their consent or even having been consulted in the matter, been put under the jurisdiction of Massachusetts ; that as they were within the limits of the royal charter of Connecticut, they had a just and legal right to the government and privileges which it cooferred, and that they were deprived of their rights by that charter ; that the Legislature had no right to put them under another govern- ment, but that the charter required that the same protection, government aod privileges should be extended to them which were enjoyed by the other inhabitants of the colony. For these reasoos they prayed to he taken under the colony of Connecticut, and to be admitted to the liberty and privileges of its other inhabitants.

After several attempts on the part of Connecticut to negotiate with Massachusetts with a view to reconsid- ering the adjustment of 1713, its General Assembly, in October, 1752, accepted Woodstock, Enfield, Suffield, including the town of Somers, which had been taken from Enfield in 1726, and has since held jurisdiction over them. Massachusetts continued to tax the in- habitants on the disputed territory, but at the close of the Revolution the whole matter was dropped, and she not only lost her towns but one hundred and seven thousand seven hundred and ninety-tbree acres of land which had been given as the consideration for their possession. A more detailed account of the transaction may be found in "Historical Collections," by Holmes Ammidown, to which the writer is indebted for the few incidents concerning it here related.

Since the incorporation of the county, in 1731, the following towns have been incorporated within its limits : Ashburnham, granted to Dorchester men who joined the Canada expedition and called Dor-

HISTORY OF WORCESTER COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS

chester Canada, was incorporated February 22, 1765; Athol, called Payguage, or Poquaig, March 6, 1762; Auburn, incorporated as Ward April 10, 1778, and receiving its present name February 7, 1837 ; Barre, incorporated as Rutland District March 28, 1753, incorporated as the town of Hutchinson June 14, 1774, and receiving its present name in November, 1776; Berlin, incorporated as District of Berlin March 16, 1784, and as a town February 6, 1812, un- der its present name ; Blackstone, March 25, 1845; Bolton, June 24, 1738; Boylston, March 1, 1786; Charlton, November 2, 1754; Clinton, March 14, 1850; Dana, February 18, 1801; Douglas in 1746; Dudley, called Chabanakongmum, originally granted to Panl and William Dudley, February 2, 1731, old style; Fitchburg, February 3, 1764, as a town, and as a city March 8, 1872; Gardner, June 27, 1785; Grafton, called Hassanamisco, April 18, 1735 ; Hard- wick, bonght of the Indians in 1686, by Joshua Lamb and others, of Roxbury, and called Lambs- town, January 10, 1738, old style; Harvard, June 29, 1732; Holden, January 9, 1740; Hopedale, April 7, 1886; Hubbardston, June 13, 1767; Leo- minster, June 23, 1740; Milford, called Wopowage, and afterwards Mill River, April 11, 1780; Millbury, June 11, 1813; New Braintree, called Wenimesset, granted to certain inhabitants of Braintree, and called Braintree Farms, January 31, 1751 ; North- borough, January 24, 1766; Northbridge, July 14, 1772; North Brookfield, February 28, 1812; Oak- ham, ealled Rutlands West Wing, incorporated as District of Oakham June 11, 1762; Paxton. Febru- ary 12, 1765; Petersham, granted to John Bennett, Jeremiah Perley and others, called Nitchawog, April 20, 1754; Phillipston, incorporated as Gerry Oeto- ber 20, 1786, and receiving its present name Febru- ary 5, 1814; Princeton, called Wachusett, April 24, 1771; Royalston, called Royalshire, February 17, 1765; Sonthbridge, February 15, 1816; Spencer, April 3, 1753; Sterling, April 25, 1781 ; Sturbridge, settled by Medfield people, and called New Medfield until its incorporation, June 24, 1738; Templeton, called Narragansett No. 6, March 6, 1762; Upton, June 14, 1735; Warren, incorporated as Western January 16, 1741, and under its present name March 13, 1834; Webster, March 6, 1832; West Boylston, January 30, 1808; West Brookfield, March 3, 1848; Westminster, called South Town, and laid out to Narragansett soldiers, was incorporated April 26, 1770; and Winchendon, granted in 1735 to the heirs of Ipswich men who were in the Canada expedition in 1690, and called Ipswich Canada, June 14, 1764.

According to the essay of William B. Harding, be- fore referred to, Ashburnham derived its name from John Ashburnham, the second Earl of Ashburnham, and Athol from James Murray, the second Duke of Athol. Both of these towns were named by Gover- nor Bernard. Auburn was first named Ward, after General Artemas Ward, and changed in 1837, in con-

sequence of its similarity to Ware. Barre, first named after Governor Hutchinson, was changed to its present name in 1776, in honor of Colonel Isaac Barre, a friend of the Colonies in Parliament. Ber- lin was named after the German city, and Black- stone took its name from William Blackstone, the first white settler in Boston and an early sett'er in Rhode Island. Bolton was named by Governor Belcher, in honor of Charles Powlet, third Duke of Bolton, and Boylston was named after the Boy Iston family of Boston. The name of Brookfield was sug- gested by the natural features of its territory, and Charlton was named by Governnr Bernard, probably in honor of Sir Francis Charlton, Bart. Clinton took its name from De Witt Clinton, Dana from the Dana family and Douglas was named by Dr. William Douglas, of Boston, who gave the town the sum of five hundred dollars as a school fund and thirty acres of land, with a house and barn, as a considera- tion for the privilege. Dudley was named after Paul and William Dudley ; Fitebburg after John Fitch, one of its active citizens ; Gardner after Col- onel Thomas Gardner, who was killed on Bunker Hill; and Grafton was named by Governor Belcher, in honor of Charles Fits Roy, Duke of Grafton, a grandson of Charles the Second. Hardwick was named by Governor Belcher, for Phillip York, Lord IIardwiek, chief justice of the King's bench ; Har- vard was named for John Harvard, the founder of Harvard University ; Holden probably for Samnel Holden, a director in the Bank of England ; Hub- bardston for Thomas Hubbard, a Boston merchant ; Lancaster for the old town in England, Leicester for old Leicester and Leominster for the English town of

that name. Lunenburg took its name from George the Second, one of whose titles was Duke of Lunen- burg ; Oakham from Oakham in England, Oxford from old Oxford, Paxton from Charles Paxton, one of the commissioners of customs in Boston ; Peters-

ham from the English town of that name, Phil- lipston, first named after Governor Gerry, from Lieut .- Governor William Phillips; Princeton from Rev. Thomas Prince, the annalist, and Royalston from Colonel Isaac Royal, one of the grantees of the township, who gave the town twenty-five pounds to- wards building a meeting-house. Rutland was named after either the Duke of Rutland or Rutland- shire in England; Shrewsbury in honor of Charles, Duke of Shrewsbury, or perhaps after the English town of that name; Spencer after Lieut .- Governor Speneer Phipps; Sterling in honor of Lord Sterling, Sturbridge after Stourbridge in Worcestershire, Tem- pleton after the Temple family, Uxbridge after either the English town, or Henry Paget, Earl of Uxbridge .; Warren after General Joseph Warren and Webster after the great statesman. Westminster took the name of the London borough of that name, and Winchendon received its name from Governor Ber- nard, who was the eventual heir of the Tyringhams of

WORCESTER COUNTY.

Upper Winchendon, England. These derivations, as given by Mr. Harding, are interesting, and worthy, with proper credit to their author, to be inserted in this sketch.

The following schedule shows the population of the various towns according to the census of 1885, and their valuations established by Chapter 73 of the Acts of 1886 as the basis of apportionment for State and county taxes until the year 1889:

TOWN.

POPULATION.

VALUATION.

Ashburnham

2,058

$989,439

Athol ..

4,758

2,613,312

Auburn.,

1,268

407,835

Barre.

2,093

1,162, 114

Berlin

809

492,106

Blackstone

5,431

2,343,0G2

Bolton

876

617,267

Boylston.

831

409,834

Brookfield.

3,013

1,287,611

Charlton

1,823

984,445

Clinton

8,945

5,320,252

Dana

695

293,473

Donglas

2,205

1,034,050

Dudley ...

2,742

960,200

Fitchburg.

15,375

13,011,878

Gardner

7,283

3.407,018

Grafton

4,498

2,354,74+

llardwich

3,145

1,333,258

Harvard

1,184

1,071,965

Holdeu

2,471

1,006,357

Hubbardston

1,303

7.35,259

Lancaster

2,050

2,875,760

Leicester.

2,923

2,016,872

Leominster.

5,297

4,050,835

Lunenburg.

1,071

G96,525

Mendon,

945

G94,033

Milford (including Hopedale).

9,343

5,711,2G1

Millbury

4,555

2,184,045

New Braintree.

558

435,472

North Brookfield

4,201

1,919,273

Northborough

1,853

1,19',603

Northbridge

3,78G

2,960,979

Onklam

740

343,443

Oxford

2,355

1,304,456

l'axton.

561

278,636

Petersham

1,032

689,700

Phillipston

530

274,032

Princeton,

1,038

875,809

Royalston

1,153

800,311

Rutland

963

4G4,099

Shrewsbury

1,450

1,042,445

Southborongh

2,100

1,560,83S

Southbridge

4,500

3,331,140

Spencer ..

8,247

4,21G,985

Sterling

1,331

942,752

Sturbridge,

1,980

984,082

Sutton.

3,101

1,283,235

Templeton

2,027

1,207,125

Upton.

2,265

880,247

Uxbridge

2,948

2,000,577

Warren

4,032

2,373,757

Webster

6,220

2,602,570

Westborongh

4,880

1.173,443

West Boylston

2,927

844,956

West Brookfield

1,747

2,667,027

Westminster.

1,55G

805,577

Winchendon

3,872

2,057,308

Worcester

€8,389

58,043,90G

Total

244,039

$159,997,408

The various courts referred to in the act of incor- poration were established by the Court of the Prov-

ince of Massachusetts Bay soon after the union of the Plymouth and Massachusetts Colonies. On the 28th of June, 1692, it was enacted as follows :

Forasmuch as the orderly regulation and well-establishment of Courts of Justice is of great concernment, and the public occasions with refer- etice to the war and otherwise being so pressing at this season that this Court cannot now conveniently sit longer to advise upon and fully settle the sume, but to the intent that justice ho not obstructed or de- layed, -

Be it ordained and enacted, by the Governor, Council and Represen- tatives, convened in General Assembly, and it is ordained by the authority of the same.

SECT. 1. That on or before the last Tuesday of July next there he a general sessions of the peace held and kept in each respective county within this province, by the Justices of the same county or three of them at least (the first justice of the quorum then present to preside) who are hereby empowered to hear and determine all matters relating to the conservation of the peace and whatsoever is by them cognizable according to law, and to grant licenses to such persons within the same county, being first approved of by the Selectmen of cach town, where such persons dwell, whom they shall think fit to be employed as inn- hohlers or retailers of wines or strong liquors. And that a sessions of the peace be successively held and kept as aforesaid within the several counties at the sante times and places as the county courts or inferior courts of common picas are hereinafter appointed to be kept.

And it is further enacted, by the authority aforesaid :

SECT. 2. That the county courts, or inferior courts of common pleas, be held and kept in each respective county by the instices of the same county, or three of them at the least (the first justice of the quorum then present to preside), at the same times and places they have been formerly kept according to law for the hearing and determining of all civil actions arising or happening within the same, triable at the com- mon law according to former usage ; the justices for holding and keep- ing of the said court within the county of Suffolk to be particularly ap- pointed and commissioned by the Governor with the advice and consent of the council. And that all writs or attachments shall issue out of the clerk's office of the said several courts, signed by the clerk of such court, directed nuto the sheriff of the county, his under-sheriff or dep- uty. The Jurors to serve nt said courts to be chosen according to former custom, by and of the freeholders and other inhabitants, quali- fied as is directed iu their majesties' royal charter.

This act to continno until other provision be mado by the General Court or Assembly.

This law was disallowed by the Privy Council August 22, 1695. The letter from the Privy Council disallowing the act stated that "whereas Inferior Courts are appointed to be held by the Justices of Peace in each county and the Justices of Peace in the county of Suffolk are to be specially appointed by the Governor with the consent of the council, Whereby the powers of his Majesties Charter is en- acted and established into a law and distinction made by the said Act in the manner of appointing Justices for the county of Suffolk and other counties, it hath been thought fit to repeal the said Act."

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History of Worcester County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. I, Part 2

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