History of Worcester County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. I, Part 202

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 202

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The spring of 1775 was unusually warm and for- vard. On the morning of the 19th of April, he farmers of Lunenburg were sowing grain and blowing their fields. On the preceding day they had earned from their chosen commanders the discipline und from their esteemed pastor the duties of the sol- lier. In arm and mind the rustic toilers became the patriot soldiers. As they toiled on the war had be- gun, yet they knew it not. The swift messages of the morning were not long delayed. Some time in the orenoon, tradition says at nine o'clock, the alarm vas fired in this town.

A full company from Lunenburg marched for Con- ord-tradition says so early that they reached Con- ord and beyond that evening, but the muster-roll would indicate that they proceeded with more prep- tration and deliberation :

" A Muster Roll of a company or party of men that narched from Lunenburg on ye 20th of April, 1775, or the Defense of the Colony against the ministerial roops under the Command of George Kimball, Capt of a company in Lunenburg, who marched in Conse- quence of an alarm made the 19th of April, 1775. George Kimball, captain; David Wood, first lieu- enant; Samuel Kimball, second lientenant ; Boman Brown, sergeant ; John Searle, do .; Benj. Darling, lo .; Samuel Farrar, do .; Samuel Hutchinson, cor- boral; Samuel Hilton, do .; Daniel Holt, do .; Bar- labas Wood, do .; David Chaplin, drummer; Silas Gibson, John Wood, Abijah Page, Nathan Johnson, isaac Bailey, Andrew Mitchell, Edward Richards, Moses Sanderson, Charles Gilchrist, Pearson Eaton, John McCarty, Benj. Redington, William Prentice, Jacob Stiles, Solomon Hovey, Eli Dodge, Zebulon

Wallis, Moses Ritter, Thomas Simonds, David Hough- ton, Jonathan Peirce, Obediah Walker, William Gil- christ, Jacob Sanderson, John Dole, Nehemiah Lane, Nathaniel Hastings, Joseph Hartwell, Joshua Reed, Benjamin Goodridge, Asa Carlton, Amos Page, Thomas Wetherbee, Thaddens Cummings, Phinehas Divol, Benoni Wallis, George Henry, John Little, John Campbell, Joseph Foster, Caleb Taylor, Jere- miah Willard, Curwin Wallis, William Goodridge, Samuel Johnson, Joseph Priest, Nathan Chapman, Seth Harrington." Here are sixty names, and beside some who hastened forward independent of organiza- tion, there were two officers and five men from this town in the Leominster company, as follows: Joseph Bellows and Thomas Harkness, lieutenants ; Noah Dodge, Phinehas Carter, Israel Wyman, Richard Fowler and Jonathan Martin.

From the men and companies thus gathered at Cambridge and from new recruits constantly arriving an army for the siege of Boston was organized. A full company, composed of Lunenburg and Fitch- burg men, were in Colonel Asa Whitcomb's regi- ment a part of the time at least and remained in the service at Boston until the close of the year. The roll is as follows: John Fuller, of Lunenburg, cap- tain; Ebenezer Bridge, of Fitchburg, lieutenant ; Jared Smith, of Lunenburg, lieutenant.

Men from Lunenburg :- Josiah Hartwell, Samnel Farrer, Samuel Litch, Ephraim Martin, John Well- man, John Wason, John Hill, Jonathan Taylor, Eleazer Priest, Adonijah (or Darius) Houghton, Sol- omon Boynton, Manassah Divol, Timothy Carlton, Francis Henry, Sewell Dodge, Benjamin Walker, Jonas Hazeltine, David Wetherbee, Joseph Foster, Jeremiah Willard, William Goodridge, Caleb Taylor, Thomas Hazeltine, Cheever Fowler, Henry Cockman, Samuel Johnson, Curwin Wallis, Joseph Priest, Nathan Chapman, Ephraim Holden, Stephen Wy- man, Abraham Carlton, Abijah Goodridge, James Carter, William Ritter, William Alexander.

Men from Fitchburg :- Jonathan Hunt, Edward Hartwell, Thomas Gary, Joseph Gilson, Ebenezer Harrington, Joseph Polley; Eleazer Priest, Nathaniel Gibson, William Bean, Ebenezer Polley, Samuel Downe, Jonathan Gibson, Daniel Harris, Stephen Bailey, Joseph Farwell, Thomas Platts, Roger Bige- low, John Goodridge, Clark Bancroft, Stephen Ful- ler, Aaron Hodgkins, Thomas Kimball, also John Taylor, of Hillsborough; Thomas Ball, of Concord ; and Charles Raley, residence not stated on the roll.

In the same service and in Colonel Doolittle's reg- iment Captain Jo iah Stearns, of Lunenburg, com- manded a company of sixty-one men. In this com- pany William Thurlo, of Fitchburg, was lieutenant and the following were Lunenburg men : John Searle, Joshna Martin, John Hall, Jacob Stewart, Barnaby Wood, Joseph Chaplin, Benjamin Bailey, John Brown, William Clark, Levi Dodge, James Darling, Pearson Eaton, Asa Jones, John Moffat, William

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HISTORY OF WORCESTER COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

Prentiss, Thomas Peirce, John Ritter, John Stearns (died in the service), Joseph Simonds, Moses Sander- son, Aaron Taylor, Seth Wyman, William Wyman, Joab Wetherbee; also five from Fitchburg and thirty from other places.

There were other men from this town in the ser- vice during the summer and autumn of this year. The residence is stated upon the original rolls and there is no room for doubt concerning the identity of the men. While the following list increases the number of Luneuburg men who served in the siege of Boston, it is not presumed to include every one : Elnathan Sawtell, Timothy Darling, Joshua Good- ridge, Samuel Priest, Richard Gilchrist, Elijah Gould, Nathan Pushee, Joshua Reed, Peter Davis, Abraham Ireland, Abner Mitchell, William Hennessey, Joseph Chapliu, Joseph Chaplin, Jr., Thomas Hovey, Isaac Baily and Zebulon Willis. The last named probably is the same person as Zebulon Wallis in the roll of minute-men.

Ou the 23d of May, 1775, Dr. John Taylor was elected a Representative to the Assembly, which con. vened at Watertown on the 19th of July.

1776 .- At the annual election of town officers in March a Committee of Correspondence, Inspection and Safety was chosen. They were: William Stearns, Abijah Stearns, George Kimball, Benjamin Reding- ton, Joseph Hartwell, Josiah Stearns and Daniel Gardner. From this time town-meetings were no longer called " In His Majesty's Name," but "in the name of the government and the people of Massa- chusetts Bay," they found a greeting more congenial to a sentiment of independence. By a vote of the town Stephen Gorham was allowed "to take earth from under the meeting-house for to make salt peter." During the remaining years of the war the inhabit- ants often assembled in town-meeting and the rec- ords furnish abundant evidence of a continued and patriotic effort in raising men to renew the decimated ranks of the army and in meeting the increasing burdens of taxation. The enlistments in 1776 were many and the rolls, to a considerable extent, repeat the names of the preceding year. A partial list of the soldiers for a longer or shorter period during the succeeding years include : William Pope, Aaron Buss, John Fuller, George Kimball, David Carlisle and Joshua Martin, who were captains in the service, and also the following lieutenants: Thomas Hark- ness, Jared Smith, David Wood, Jonathan Peirce, Benjamin Redington, Moses Ritter, Phinebas Hutch- ins and John Little. A partial list of soldiers not yet named are: Thomas Wetherbee, Zephaniah Wood, Abraham Lowe, Thomas Hill, David Wallis, Benoni Wallis, John Buss, George Landers, Benjamin Stew- art, Abijah Wetherbee, Ebenezer Wallis, Jonathan Messer, William Lowe, Ephraim Wetherbee, Daniel Wetherbee, Nathaniel Hastings, Isaac Wetherbee, Calvin Graves and George Martin ; Peter Bathrick, Abraham Carlton, Jr., James Carter, William Gil-

christ and Charles Gilchrist, who died in the ser- vice.

Col. Abijah Stearns was prominent in military affairs during the Revolution, and during a residence of many years in this town he was an active citizen and a worthy man. He was the youngest brother of Rev. David and Dea. William Stearns, of this town, and was born in Watertown, December 19, 1724. He came here as early as 1751, living at the centre of the town. He was often elected to office and during the war he commanded a regiment in two or more cam- paigns. He died November 6, 1783.

Col. Joseph Bellows, a son of Col. Benjamin, the founder of Walpole, N. H., and a brother of Gen. Benjamin Bellows, was born in this town June 6, 1744. After the family removed to Walpole he re- turned in early manhood to this town. He was a captain in the Revolution and commissioned lieutenant colonel of the militia by Governor Hancock. He was a man of influence and popular among his towns- men. Being bondsman for some failing contractors, his property was attached and his pride was humili- ated in the loss of the paternal acres. Feeble health and discouragement unfitted him for active life, and from 1784 until his death, May 13, 1817, he lived near bis relatives in Walpole.

Hon. Josiah Stearns, another of our Revolutionary worthies, was the son of Thomas and Abigail (Reed) Stearns. He was born in Littleton, July 18, 1747, and removed to this town several years before the Revolution. He commanded a company of minute- men and was a captain in the siege of Boston. He was a selectman fifteen years, treasurer nine years and a School Committee, collector and town clerk, as well as a deacon and a magistrate. He was a repre- sentative four years, and in 1792 he was chosen to the Senate to fill a vacancy occasioned by the death of Hon. Abel Wilder, of Winchendon, and was subse- quently elected. IIe was a member of the Governor's Council, 1797 to 1799. He died April 7, 1822.

Dr. John Dunsmoor, who was a surgeon in the army, was a native of Scotland, where he was born in 1720. He was a physician of skill and ability and occupied a prominent position among the profession. Apparently he enjoyed the esteem of his townsmen and he was many times nominated on committees, but he generally declined to serve and probably found full employment in his calling. After a practice of many years in this town, he died November 22, 1794.

Dr. John Taylor was a man of brilliant qualities. He was a controlling spirit in the town and a leader in the colony. He was born 1734 and probably in Townsend. Preceding Dr. Dunsmoor, he was the first physician of note in this town. Finding active em- ployment in his other business and in public affairs, it is probable that he was not engaged in active practice many years after the arrival of Dr. Dunsmoor. He was frequently chosen to town office, and was twice elected from this town to the Provincial Congress

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and excepting General Ward, his name appears upon the journals more frequently than that of any of his associates. At the session which convened at Cam- bridge, February 1, 1775, it was through his influence, as stated by his colleagues, that an adjournment to Concord was accomplished. He was named on the most important committees, being associated with Colonel Prescott, Governor Brooks and Vice-President Gerry. He was a brilliant debater, and in all the de- liberations of the convention he displayed an ability of thought and expression that permitted few super- inrs. He was a member of the committee which drafted the spirited reply to the proclamation of General Gage extending a promise of pardon to all except Samuel Adams and John Hancock, aud also one of the commission that took the historic depositions con- cerning the affray at Lexington and Concord, which were sent to Dr. Franklin, then in England. Preced- ing and in the midst of this loyal and brilliant ser- vice Dr. Taylor, however successful in his professional treatment of his fellow-men, did not subdue in him- self a deep-seated fever for land speculations, and omitting mention of many transactions of considera- ble magnitude, in 1774 he bought a tract of land in Maine containing thirty-four thousand five hundred and sixty acres, now the town of Union. He em- ployed many men to clear and improve the land, and by frequent visits he personally directed the work. During the Revolution he removed from this town and in 1780 he was residing in Pomfret, Conn. Sub- sequently he removed to Douglas, and was a delegate from that town to the convention of 1788, which rati- fied the Federal Constitution. From the printed proceedings it is known that he opposed the Constitu- tion and made a vigorous objection to several articles. Following the announcement of the final vote, stand- ing one hundred and eighty-seven to one hundred and sixty-eight, he said that " while he had uniformly op- posed the Constitution, he would now go home and infuse a spirit of love for the measure and harmony among the people." The closing years of his life were neither prosperous nor peaceful. About 1780 he sold his township in Maine, and in this and other business transactions he met accumulating troubles and became involved in vexatious aud endless litiga- tion. Several times he was committed to jail, and for a season, at least, his courage was undaunted. He died at Dudley from an overdose of laudanum April 27,1794.

General James Reed, who was a captain in the French and Indian Wars, and whose name appears in the early part of this chapter, was a resident of this town several years. He was a son of Joseph and Sarah (Rice) Reed, and was born in Woburn, 1723. He came from Brookfield to Lunenburg, 1751, and lived a part of the time at or near the centre of the town. On the earliest military roll on which his name is found he is described by occupation a "Taylor." Subsequently he was a licensed inn-holder, and in

April, 1758, the selectmen petition for a license to Joshua Hutchins " in place of Captain James Reed, who is now going into His Majesty's service." In 1756 he was a captain in Colonel Ruggles' regiment. He held the same rank in two or more subsequent campaigns. He was a selectman of Lunenburg, 1763 and 1764, being elected the last time in March, and a full month after the incorporation of Fitch- burg, and in a conveyance of land executed March 4, 1765, he is called James Reed, of Lunenburg. These records are not propitious to a current tradi- tion that during these years he was living at the site of the City Hall in Fitchburg. He removed to Fitz- william, N. H., before the close of the year 1765. In June, 1775, he was appointed colonel of a New Hampshire regiment, and the following year was named by Congress a brigadier-general. In an ill- ness, at Crown Point, he lost his eye-sight and was retired from active service soon after his promotion. He subsequently resided in Keene and in Fitzwil- liam, N. H., several years, and later he removed to Fitchburg, where he died February 13, 1807.

Lunenburg, in the War of the Rebellion, was in full sympathy with the unexampled patriotism that pervaded the loyal States. The ardor and zeal of April, 1861, the ready response of the volunteers to the call of the President, the voice of loyalty upon the street and in public meetings and many general features of a patriotic record require no assertion. It would be a thankless task and a useless offering to summon the record in support of such a measure of good works, the summary of which will crowd the limits of this chapter. On the morning of April 22, 1861, a flag was raised on Mount Pleasant by Micah W. Boutwell, Andrew Riley and Albert S. Marshall, and another, later in the day, between the Congrega- tional and Unitarian Churches. Within a few days thirty-eight flags were displayed within the town. Attending the second flag-raising a public meeting was organized, with Cyrus Kilburn chairman and George A. Cunningham secretary, and a series of resolutions, after several speeches, were adopted. Other meetings, both informal and official, followed, and in the proceedings appear the names of Nathaniel F. Cunningham, Daniel Putnam, Cyrus Kilburn, Thomas Billings, George A. Cunningham, James Putnam, Frederic M. Marston, Lemuel Pitts, Daniel Lowe, Otis P. Abercrombie, John Howard, Merrick Wetherbee, William Baker, Ephraim Jones, Charles A. Goodrich and other citizens of the town. Five men enlisted for three months, as follows : Charles Kilburn, John E. Lyons, George H. Stall, Ansel W. Stall and Russell O. Houghton.

Seventy-six enlisted upon the early calls of the President for three years' men. They were: Joseph C. Riley, Alfred Billings, Amos Billings, Charles C. Walker, Charles D. Litchfield, William F. Harris, Thomas Larghee, George L. Curtis, Henry L. Bur- nell, B. Frank Clark, Henry O. Adams, Francis A.

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HISTORY OF WORCESTER COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

Hildreth, Joseph H. Pearson, William S. Boynton, William Hodgman, Amos N. Gleason, Isaac Newton, Jr., Roswell G. Adams, Marcus M. Spaulding, Charles Kilburn, Henry P. Kilburn, Jolın E. Lyons, Charles B. Longley, James M. Hildreth, Peter Smith, Charles E. Oliver, Ansel W. Stall, William B. Stall, George V. Ball, Samuel Hartwell, Noah F. Winn, John A. Gilchrist, Calvin D. Sanderson, Alonzo Whiting, George Hndson, George A. Lancey, Luther A. Lancey, Gilbert Cook, Russell O. Houghton, Dana P. Spaulding, James D. Fairbanks, William H. Boynton, George S. Smith, William D. Perrin, Al- bert W. Haynes, George H. Haynes, Henry Sander- son, William R. Graves, J. Frank Boynton, Charles Albert Harris, Hiram W. Longley, Joseph L. Proc- tor, Albert Honghton, David Morrill, John Catin, Richard H. Wyeth, Joseph R. Graves, Foster E. L. Beal, George H. McIntire, Leonard O. Bruce, Gard- ner Vaughan, George H. Merrill, Eli S. Lancey, Lemnel Pitts, Jr., George S. Pitt, Charles H. Neal, Orlando Holman, Ezekiel G. Bailey, James H. Smith, David N. Kilburn, Charles E. Marshall, Al- vin Seidelinger, William H. Wyeth, James L. Litch- field, Charles D. Page, John F. Butters.

On the call of August 4, 1862, for three hundred thousand men for nine months', twenty men volnn- teered : Henry P. Kilburn, Forester M. Jewett, George A. Howard, Levi Parker, George E. Brown, Clark Dut- ton, Henry H. Whitney, Frederic J. Lawrence, Ben- jamin F. Marshall, Samuel Wallis, Franklin O. Cady, Oliver F. Brown, Edward E. Carr, Levi W. Goodrich, George W. Conant, Merrill B. Carltou, Andrew J. Green, Jesse A. Sargent, George H. Stall, Noble Fiske.

Thirty-three re-enlisted veterans and new recruits were credited upon the early calls of 1864: Alfred Billings, Charles C. Walker, Charles D. Litchfield, George L. Curtis, John E. Lyons, James M. Hil- dreth, George V. Ball, Samuel Hartwell, Luther A. Lancey, Gilbert Cook, Dana P. Spanlding, James D. Fairbanks, William D. Perrin, J. Franklin Boynton, Albert Houghton, Joseph R. Graves, Charles H. Neal, Orlando Holman, William H. Wyeth, John F. Butters, Charles E. Oliver, Richard H. Wyeth, Eli S. Lancey, who were veterans. The following were new recruits : Edward C. Goodrich, Richard F. Burton, Thomas Billings, Josiah S. Houghton, John Snow, Albert Stall, Edward P. Hadley, George N. Burrage and Drs. C. C. Topliff and E. C. Merriam, who were commissioned assistant surgeons.

Seven volunteered in response to the call of July 5, 1864. There were also twenty hired recruits, whose names are not included in this record. The volunteers were : John J. Ramsdell, Charles Boyn- ton, Martin Sanderson, George C. Jewett, Albert L. Ifeywood, William R. Neal, Jesse A. Sargent. The whole number of credits upon the several quotas, in- cluding re-enlistments and hired recruits, is one hundred and sixty-one, and the number of residents

included in this record is one hundred and two. Of these, thirty died in the service or immediately after their return, from wounds or from disease contracted in the service; fourteen survived wounds, and fifty- eight were discharged at expiration of term of ser- vice withont wounds or serious disability.

CHAPTER XCVIII. LUNENBURG-(Continued.)

ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY-SCHOOLS-THE CUNNING- HAM PAPERS.

To build a meeting-honse and settle a minister were among the first dnties of a New England settle- meut. The requisites were a hill on which to set the primitive honse of worship and a learned orthodox minister. Generally a hill and a minister of a suita- ble elevation were selected with rare unanimity. In these proceedings the dutiful pleasure of the settle- ment was enjoined by the General Court and incor- porated in the grant of the several townships. In ac- cepting the grant of Turkey Hills the settlers were "obliged to build a good, convenient honse for the worship of God within the term of four years." The conditions of the grant for several years remained un- fulfilled. This failure, on the part of the proprietors, did not pass unnoticed. In November, 1727, the com- mittee of the General Court, who had continued to exercise a certain supervision of the settlement, ordered that " The Proprietors shall forthwith pro- ceed to the erection of a meeting-house, to be not less than forty-five feet in length and thirty-five in breadth." Immediately succeeding this action of the committee of the General Court, and before there was an opportunity to enforce the command, the proprie- tors secured an act of incorporation. By this pro- cedure the resident proprietors and settlers of Tur- key Hills became the independent inhabitants of the town of Lunenburg. Liberated from the conditions of the grant, and from the authority of the committee of the General Court, onr worthy ancestors proceeded at once to perform voluntarily that which they had neglected to do when enjoined.

September 24, 1728, not yet two months after the date of incorporation, the town voted "Two Hundred Pounds Money for ye building and finishing of a meeting-house in said town, so far as it will do or an- swer therefor." The site of the first meeting was where the orthodox church now stands. Concerning the progress and manner of building this primitive structure the records are silent until early in the year 1731, when money was raised and a committee ap- pointed "to build a pulpit and as many seats as there is convenient room for." In accordance with a recog- Dized custom of the time, it was not intended by this

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sweeping vote to build " seats " in front of the pulpit and through the central part of the floor. This space was reserved for more dignified structures, denomi- nated pews, which were constructed at the expense of the individual, and located by a committee according to the wealth and dignity of the future occupant. Possibly through fear that their committee would not manifest a proper regard for the dignity of their min- ister, our worthies took primary action in this particu- lar. It was ordered in town-meeting that the "min- isterial pew be located adjoining to ye foot of ye Pulpit- stairs, at ye Right hand of ye Pulpit." In the same spirit, they next promptly granted a request, and courteously recognized the dignity of Mr. Gardner, their former pa-tor, who still remained a resident of the town. For his accommodation it was ordered that there be reserved " a Place in ye meeting-house at ye Right hand of ye Great Doors to build a Pew." These proceedings toward the building and completion of the first meeting-house occupied the space of four years, and while they were in progress it is reasona- bly certain that the edifice had been occupied for public worship from and after the summer of 1729.

The names of the early and occasional preachers in the settlement are not known. The first settled min- ister was Rev. Andrew Gardner, who was installed over the church then organized, May 15, 1728. This date is over two months previous to the act of incor- poration and a year or more before the building of the meeting-house. By the terms of the grant of the township, Mr. Gardner, at his settlement, came into possession of oue right of land, which he subsequently sold, and enjoyed the benefit, if any, of the use of the ministerial lands, and in addition he was promised twenty pounds as a settlement and a salary of eighty pounds. Of the character of the ministry of Mr. Gardner and the causes which led to an early dismis- sal, little is known. The records are silent. Torrey's " History of Fitchburg and Lunenburg," written after one hundred years had obscured the facts and weak- ened the voice of tradition, says :

The reasons of his dismission, so far as I have been able to learn thiem, appear to be these :- He was not a man of that grave and sober demeanor, which the people of his time thought essential to the sacred- ness of his office. He was apt to indulge ia a levity of manner on the Sabbath which was not in keeping with the solemnity of the day. He had also quite a predilection for honting, and, it is said, wild turkeysaad other game, even on tlie Sabbath, sometimes bore evidence of his skill as a marksman. For the truth of these reports I cannot vouch.

This estimate of Mr. Gardner has been frequently quoted, and sometimes with the omission of the last sentence, which qualifies and mitigates the severity of the whole. One important fact demands attention. The first reference to any dissatisfaction found in the records appears in the letter of Mr. Gardner, asking a dismissal, and while he admits the existence of con- siderable indifference on the part of the people, he boldly assumes the initiative in reference to a dissolu- tion of the pastoral relation. The letter bears date of September 18, 1730. It should be read in connection

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History of Worcester County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. I, Part 202

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