History of Worcester County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. I, Part 31

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 31

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

The actual hand-to-hand encounters of sabre with sabre, as well as the actual crossing of hostile bayo- nets, were rare in our Civil War, as in most of the wars of history. But in this action men fought hand-to-hand. An accomplished swordsman, this brave officer had already disarmed one antagonist, and was engaged with another, when he received a pistol-shot from the first. After this he received the blow of the sabre which proved fatal, fracturing the skull. And thus, by bullet and sabre-stroke, his magnificent physique, but not his dauntless spirit,

Though constantly in the service, and often em- | was conquered.

12h

HISTORY OF WORCESTER COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

The untiring devotion of one 1 who had with equal faithfulness performed the same loving service for his brother Edward, brought Col. Washburn from the' field of battle to the house of his brother, Hon. John D. Washburn, of Worcester. He had hoped to reach the home of his childhood, and this was all the hope that could be counted as reasonable, since from the first the complication of his wounds rendered recov- ery almost impossible. His strength proved, however, unequal to the full journey. Not on the field, nor in the hospital and among strangers, but in the presence of those he loved, and in his brother's home, he died at the early age of twenty-six, on the 22d of April, 1865. So gave himself a willing sacrifice in his country's cause, this young and noble citizen, whose name has been and will ever be honored at home, and to whom, for his known purity of character and brave and chivalrous deeds, has been accorded from abroad the well-merited appellation, "The White Knight of Modern Chivalry."

The following tribute to that heroic battalion of the Fourth Massachusetts Cavalry and their gallant leader appeared in the New York Evening Post fif- teen years after their desperate charge on the memor- able 6th of April, 1865. Its repetition here may serve as a fitting close to this sketch of one of many modest heroes, who bravely dared, patiently endured and nobly died in defense of their country's life and honor.

Gud give us and our children's children grace To own the debt, and prize the heritage Thus nobly sealed in blood.

THE CHARGE OF " THE FOURTH CAVALRY."

DEDICATED TO THOSE WHO FELL ON THE SINTH OF APRIL, 1865.

[The fourth Massachusetts Cavalry, or rather a small portion of its rank and file, but with most of its field and staff officers, and led by its Colonel, Francis Washburn, formed part of the advance which, to use General Grant's words in his last gen- eral report of the war, " heroically attacked and de- tained the head of Lee's column near Farmville, Va., until its commanding general was killed and his small force overpowered." Less than a thousand men, all told, without any artillery, held in check for a considerable time, when every moment almost was worth an empire, a rebel force outnumbering them ten to one. Of the twelve Fourth Cavalry officers who went into the fight eight were killed and wounded, including their gallent leader. He lived to reach his home, and died in his mother's arms.]

1 The late Dr. Henry II. Fuller.

Onward they dash : It mattered not the toilsome march,

The foeman's cannon crash ; Their souls were in their swords,

Their steed beneath one throb : Onward they charge,

The grave's disdain to rob !

Many or few ? "Six hundred ?" nay ; that were a host Besides this band so true. Four score of trusty arms Against an army lined. Ah ! weep with us The comrades left behind !

I see them still : Down deep ravine, then up "to form " On battle-shaken hill ; One word is all enough,

One waving blade their light Into the hordes Of rehel-raging fight.

He at their head A knight, a paladin of old, A hero-honor led, And fibered with the faith

Of ages won to God- O what to him The soaked and waiting sod !

O sweet is it For love of land to do and die ; The heart-strings heaven-knit, Relaxed from tensest strain

Upon his arm to rest In whom alone Is earthly conflict blest !

And shall not we- Survivors of the martyred brave, By tears and blood made free- Give what they gladly gave ? Yes! by the loved and lost, Most sacred hold Our country's priceless cost.

A. Z. G.

GEN! FRANCIS WASHBURN.

LANCASTER.

Sonveur, Charles L., 26th, 21 ; May 7, '64 ; a non-resident substitute. Sykes, Edwin, 57th, C ; 20 ; Feb. 18, '64; a non-resident substitute.

Taylor, Henry T., 15th, A ; 27 ; July 12, 'G1 ; discharged for disability April 25, '62.

Thompson, William, 16th, B; 18 ; July 2, '61 ; wounded in hend May, '64, at Spottsylvania, Va. ; mustered ont July 27, '61.

Thompson, George, 53d (nine months), (; 21; Nov. 6, '62 ; died at Brashear City, La., May 30, '63 ; credited to Leominster.

Thurston, George Lee, 55th Illinois ; 30; enlisted in Chiengo Oct. 23, '61 ; commissioned ndjt. Oct. 31, '61 ; capt. B March 1, '62; died Dec. 15, '62, at Lancaster.

Tisdale, Charles E, 31th, H; 20 ; July 31, '62 ; corporal ; discharged for disability Jan. 8, '63.

Toole, John, 11th Battery L. A. ; 18; Dec. 23, '64: mustered out June 16, '65: a non-resident substitute.

Tracy, David H., 20; 29; July 2, '61 ; a non-resident substitute.

True, George II., 28th, 1 ; 21 ; band Oct 8, '61 ; discharged Ang. 17, '62. True, James G., 28th, A ; 25; hand Oct. 8, '61 ; discharged Aug. 17, '62. Turner, Luther G., 15th, C; 23; July 12, '61 ; wounded in arm at Ball's Bluff, Va., Oct. 21, '61, and died Nov. 1, '61.

Turoer, Horatio E., 34th, F ; 18 ; Ang. 2, '62; died a prisoner at An- dersonville, Ga., Sept. 8, '6-1.

Turner, Walter S. H., 53d (nine months), 1; 18; Oct. 18,'62 ; mustered out Sept. 2, '63.

Valdez, Joseph, 11th Battery L. A. ; 30; Dec. 23, '64 ; mustered out June 16, '65 ; a non-resident substitute.

Veret, John, 4th Cavalry, F ; 28 ; Jan. 5, 164; mustered out Nov. 14, '65.

Werner, James G., 15th, C; 31 ; July 12, '62 ; killed by bullet or drowned at Ball's Bluff, Va., Oct. 21, '61.

Washburo, Edward R., 53d (nine months), I ; 26; 1st lient. Oct. 18, '62> capt. Nov. 8, '62 ; thigh shattered at Port IIndson, La., June 14, '63 ; died of wound Sept, 5, '64.

Washburn, Francis, lot Cavalry ; 24; 2d lieut. Dec. 26, 01; 1st lient. March 7, '62; capt. 2d Cavalry Jao. 26, '63 ; lient .- col. 4th Cavalry Feb. 1, '64 ; col. Feb 4, '65 ; wounded in head April 6, '65, at High Bridge, Va., and died at Worcester April 22, '65 ; brevet brig .- gen. Watson, George, 2d ; 32; July 2, '04 ; a non-resident substitute.

Weld, George D., 47th (oine mooths), K ; 44; Oct. 21, '62 ; mastered out Sept. 1, '63.

Wheeler, Aboer, 11th, C; 25 ; June 13, '61.

Whitney, Edmund C., 53d (nine months), I ; 26; as corp. Oct, 18, '62; wowoded in arm June 14, '63; sergt, July 14, '63 ; mustered ont Sept. 2, '63.

Whittemore, Woodbury, 21st, E; 33; 2d lient. Ang. 21, '61 ; 1st lient. March 3, '62 ; capt. July 27, '62 ; resigned Oct. 29, '62

Wilder, Charles H., 53d (nine months), I; 42; Oct. 18, '62 ; mustered out Sept. 2, '63.

Wilder, J. Prescott, 7th Battery L. A .; 31; Jan. 4, '64 ; mustered ont June 8, '65.

Wilder, Sanford B., 2d Heavy Artillery, M ; 24; Dec. 24, '63; mustered out Sept. 3, '65; credited to Clioton.

Wiley, Charles T., 11th Rhode Island (nine months), D; Oct. 1, '62 ; mustered ont July 13, '63.

Wiley, George E., 34th, H ; 22; Jan. 1, '64; transferred to 24th, 6, June 14, '65 ; wounded io arm at Fisher's Hill, Va., Sept. 22, '64; discharged for disability June 26, '65.

Wilkinson, Charles, 20th ; 30; July 18, '63; mustered out June, '65 ; a non-resident substitute for George E. P. Dodge.

Willard, Edwin H., 15th, C; 23; July 12, '61 ; mustered out July 28, 1864.

Willard, Heory W., 34th, C; 21; Aug. 2, '62; discharged for disability Feb. 26, '63 ; credited to Leominster.

Wise, Jolin Patrick, 34th, A; 21 ; July 31, '62; died at home March 15, '64.

Worcester, Horace, 42d (one hundred days), K ; 20; July 18, '64 ; oms- tered out Nov. 11, '64.

Wyman, Beojamio F., 5th (nine months), E; 23; Sept. 16, '62; mus- tered ont July 2, '63.

Zahn, Peter, 2d ; 24 ; May 7, '64 ; a non-resident substitute.

The following were born and lived until manhood in Lancaster, but were resident elsewhere when the war began :

Atherton, Roswell, 33d, E; 30; served for Groton ; discharged for dis- ability Nov. 30, '62.

Bancroft, Charles L., 11th Illinois Cavalry, B; 34; 2d lieut. Dec. 20, '61 ; Ist lient. July 6, '62; mustered out Dec. 19, '64; wounded at Meridian, Miss.

Bownmo, Heory, colonel. (See Clinton.)

Bowman, Samuel M., lientenaot. (See Clinton. )

Bradley, Jerome, 3d Iowa Battery L. A., etc. ; 28; 2d lient. Sept., 'G1 ;

Ist lieut, and q mn. 9th lowa Infantry March 16, '62 ; capt, and a .- q.m. U. S. Vols. Feb. 19, '63; resigned Jan. 9, '65.

Cleveland, Richard J., 9th Iowa. B ; 40 : Oct. 9, '61 ; discharged April 1, '63.

Cutler, Francis B., 35th New York, A ; 25; killed at Fredericksburg Dec. 13, '62.

Dudley, John Edwin, Ist. Cal. and 30th Mass .; 35; Ist sergt. ; 2d lieut. Dec. 7, '64 ; Ist lient. Dec. 8, '64 ; capt. April 21, '65.

Fletcher, James T., 11th Rhode Island, ( ; Oct. 1, '62; mnstered out July 13, '63.

Fuller, Andrew L., lient. 15th. (See Clinton.)

Green, Asa W., 19th, F ; 22 ; enlisted in Haverhill ; wounded at Fred- ericksburg, Va,, in leg Dec. 13, 162, and transferred to V. B. C.

Green, Franklin W., 19th, F. (See Clinton.)

Jones, David W., 20th Connecticut, F; 46 ; killed at Chancellorsville May 3, '65.

Newman, Jamies Homer, Ist Connectient H. A., F ; 27 ; served May 23, 'Gl, to Sept. 25, '65.

Robinson, Charles A., 1st Cavalry, G; 21; Oct. 5, 'Gt ; discharged for disability, Feb. 6, 'G3 ; credited to Lowell.

Rugg, Daniel W., 21st, D; 32; served for Fitchburg July 19, '61, to Dec. 20, '62.

Sawyer, Frank O., 9th Vermont ; 30; Ist lieut. and q.m. June 10, '62 ; capt. and a .- q.m. U. S. Vols. Aug. 15, '64 ; mustered out May 31, '66. Warren, Thomas II., 12th Vermont, C; 35 ; served Oct. 4, '62, to July 14, '63.

Lancaster's quota under all calls was one hundred and seventy-one men for three years, and there were credited to her one hundred and eighty-one. The preceding list proves this to be an underestimate of .the town's contribution of men for the suppression of the great treason. The veteran re-enlistments num- bered fifteen. Ten citizens were drafted and paid each three hundred dollars commutation. Thirty- seven non-resident substitutes were hired. Twenty of Lancaster's sons won commissions; twenty-seven were killed or mortally wounded in action, and twenty-three died of disease during the war. On In- dependence Day, 1865, the town celebrated the vic- tory of free institutions in the grove at the " Meeting of the Waters ;" Rev. George M. Bartol delivered a thoughtful address to the great throng of people there assembled, and Professor William Russell read the Emancipation Proclamation.

Early in 1879 a comprehensive, illustrated history of Lancaster was published, forming an octavo vol- ume of seven hundred and ninety-eight pages. For several years previous the desirability of such a pub- lication had been privately and publicly discussed, it being supposed that among the papers of Joseph Wil- lard, Esq., deceased in 1865, would be found a history of the town partially prepared for the press. Disappointed in this hope, at a town-meeting in April, 1876, the subject was referred to a committee, consisting of Rev. George M. Bartol, Rev. Abijah P. Marvin, Jonas M. Damon, Charles T. Fletcher and Charles L. Wilder, with power to take such action as they might deem expedient. Mr. Marvin was employed to write the history, and in March, 1877, the town sanctioned the doings of the committee and appropriated fifteen

HISTORY OF WORCESTER COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

hundred dollars to meet the needful expenses. Seven hundred copies of the book were printed at a total cost of $3542.44. A copy was given to each family belonging to thetown, and about seven hundred dollars were realized from sales.

Until the present century the town's paupers were aided at their own homes by special vote of money, or placed with such persons as would take them for a fixed price by the year. Thus Dr. James Carter for many years contracted to support them for so much per head, and housed them in an old building near his own stately dwelling, but on the opposite side of the way. In 1824 Rev. Asa Packard influenced the town to a more humane policy. A farm in the ex- treme northern section of the town was bought for two thousand dollars, and there the homeless poor were collected, a family being hired to conduct the establishment under direction of chosen overseers. The buildings proving insufficient, new ones were built in 1828 on a road to the south of the old, which served until 1872, when the town bought the large three-story mansion built by Dr. Calvin Carter on the site of his father's, burnt in 1821. This was used until destroyed by fire, May 11, 1883, when the present costly almshouse and farm buildings were erected near the ashes of the old.

At the annual town-meeting of March, 1882, it being known that Nathaniel Thayer lay critically ill at his city residence, a committee were chosen to address him in a letter giving expression to the general solic- itude and sympathy, and tendering to him renewed acknowledgments for his many and generous acts of good will to the town. A year later, one tempestuous day, a large number of Lancaster's citizens paid vol- untary tribute of respect by attending his funeral at the First Church in Boston. Not the sorrow of his many private pensioners only, but the saddened faces of the whole community bore testimony to his worth and the grave sense of his loss. A tablet of Caen stone inscribed to his memory has been placed in the Thayer Memorial Chapel.

Nathaniel Thayer was the youngest of three sons born to Nathaniel Thayer, D.D., and his wife, Sarah Toppan, September 11, 1808, in Lancaster. Nurtured amid rural surroundings, in a house- hold where frngality was a necessary law, he died the wealthiest citizen of Massachusetts; a success not striven for with insatiate greed of accumula- tion, but gathered as the natural harvest of activity and sagacity, and prudently garnered for use. Mr. Thayer's school education was wholly Lancastrian ; but among his teachers at the little local academy were such inspired masters as Jared Sparks, George B. Emerson and Solomon P. Miles. After leaving school he entered upon mercantile life, and at the age of twenty-six years was received as a partner by his eldest brother, who had established a very prosperous banking and brokerage business in Boston. The firm of John E. Thayer & Co. being dissolved by the

death of the senior brother in 1857, the junior part- ner continued the business with unvarying success.

Mr. Thayer, ou June 10, 1846, married Cornelia, daughter of General Stephen Van Rensselaer. In 1870 he decided to make Lancaster his legal home, having for ten years previous spent the summers in a mansion built among the elms that shaded the old parsonage where his revered father and mother had lived and died. When here he led a quiet life, in cordial sympathy with the townspeople, studiously avoiding everything that might seem ostentatious in manner, equipage or speech, and taking a personal interest in whatever concerned the material, moral or intellectual welfare of the town. He was tenderly loyal to old acquaintanceship, and greatly enjoyed re- visiting the scenes and renewing the memories of his boyhood's days. He was ever a cheerful giver to all philanthropic objects, a munificent benefactor of Harvard College, a generous patron of scientific re- search. His liberality was wisely discriminative in its aims, independent in method, and the modest dig- nity which was his most obvious characteristic shun- ned all publicity.

For about three years before his death, which took place March 7, 1883, he was debarred by failing vigor of body and mental powers from active participation in business pursuits. He was a member of the Ameri- can Academy and Massachusetts Historical Society, and honorary member of the Berlin Geographical Society. In 1866 he received the degree of Master of Arts from Harvard College, and in 1868 was elected a Fellow of the Corporation, a very exceptional com- pliment, never but once before paid to one not an alumnus. Four sons and two daughters, with their mother, survive him. His eldest son, Stephen Van Rensselaer, a graduate of Harvard in 1870, died Oc- tober 10, 1871. He was a young man of noble impulses and rare sweetness of nature, who never had an enemy, made hosts of friends, and has left behind him a memory fragrant with generous deeds.

Lancaster has ever been noted for the social refine- ment and literary tastes of its people. The list of college graduates who were natives of the town, or here resident at graduation, as given below, numbers sixty, of which forty-four were alumni of Harvard College. Its clergymen have almost invariably been college-bred. Among very numerous resident and native authors may be mentioned : Mrs. Mary Row- landson, Rev. John Mellen and his sons (John and Prentiss), Samuel Stearns, LL.D., Joseph Willard, Esq., Capt. Richard J. Cleveland and his sons (Henry Russell and Horace W. S.), Brig .- Gen. Henry Whit- ing, William Shaler, Hannah Flagg Gould, Mrs. Caroline Lee (Whiting) Hentz, Rufus Dawes, Hon. James Gordon Carter, Edmund H. Sears, S.T.D., Hubbard Winslow, D.D., Mrs. Mary G. (Chandler) Ware, Prof. William Russell, Mrs. Julia A. (Fletcher) Carney, Louise M. Thurston, Mrs. Clara W. (Thurston) Fry, Charlotte M. Packard, Rev. Abijah P. Marvin.

LANCASTER.

The college graduates known are: Samuel Willard, 1659, Harvard, acting president; Josiah Swan, 1733, Harvard ; Abel Willard, 1752, Harvard; Samuel Locke, 1755, Harvard, S.T.D. and president ; Peter Green, 1766, Harvard, M.M.S.S. ; Josiah Wilder, 1767, Yale; Israel Houghton, 1767, Yale; Samuel Stearns, M.D., LL.D., probably in Scotland; John Mellen, 1770, Harvard, A.A. et S.H.S .; Levi Willard, 1775, Harvard; Timothy Harrington, 1776, Harvard; Joseph Kilburn, 1777, Harvard; Isaac Bayley, 1781, Harvard ; Henry Mellen, 1784, Harvard; Prentiss Mellen, 1784, Harvard, LL.D., U. S. Senator; John Wilder, 1784, Dartmouth ; Pearson Thurston, 1787, Dartmouth ; Artemas Sawyer, 1798, Harvard; Samuel J. Sprague, 1799, Harvard ; Benjamin Apthorp Gould, 1814, Harvard, A.A.S .; Hasket Derby Pickman, 1815, Harvard; Sewall Carter, 1817, Harvard; Moses K. Emerson, 1817, Harvard; Paul Willard, 1817, Har- vard ; Leonard Fletcher, -, Columbia; Jonas Henry Lane, 1821, Harvard, M.M.S.S .; Samuel Man- ning, 1822; Harvard; Ebenezer Torrey, 1822, IIar- vard; Levi Fletcher, 1823, Harvard ; Christopher T. Thayer, 1824, Harvard; Frederick Wilder, 1825, Harvard; Stephen Minot Weld, 1826, Harvard; Richard J. Cleveland, 1827, Harvard ; Henry Russell Cleveland, 1827, Harvard ; Nathaniel B. Shaler, 1827, Harvard ; William Hunt White, 1827, Brown; George Ide Chace, 1830, Brown, LL.D., acting president ; Christopher Minot Weld, 1833, Harvard, M.M.S.S .; Francis Minot Weld, 1835, Harvard; George Harris, 1837, Brown; Richard C. S. Stilwell, 1839, Harvard, M.M.S.S. ; Frederick Warren Harris, 1845, Harvard ; Alfred Plant, 1847, Yale; James Coolidge Carter, 1850, Harvard, LL.B .; Sidney Willard, 1852, Har- vard; John Davis Washburn, 1853, Harvard, LL.B .; Henry Stedman Nourse, 1853, Harvard; Sylvanus Chickering Priest, 1858, Amherst ; Enos Wilder, 1865, Harvard; Stephen Van Rensselaer Thayer, 1870, Harvard; Albert Mallard Barnes, 1871, Harvard ; Francis Newhall Lincoln, 1871, Harvard; Nathaniel Thayer, 1871, Harvard; John Emory Wilder, 1882, Agricultural ; Samuel Chester Damon, 1882, Agricul- tural; Edward E. Bancroft, 1883, Amherst, M.D .; Josiah II. Quincy, 1884, Dartmouth, LL.B .; John Eliot Thayer, 1885, Harvard; William J. Sullivan, M.D., 1886, Bellevue; John M. W. Bartol, 1887, Har- vard; Azuba Julia Latham, 1888, Boston University.

The physicians have been : Mary Whitcomb; Daniel Greenleaf, died 1785, aged 82; John Dunsmoor, died 1747, aged 45; Stanton Prentice, died 1769, aged 58; Phinehas Phelps, died 1770, aged 37; Enoch Dole, killed 1776, aged 27; William Dunsmoor, died 1784, aged 50; Josiah Wilder, died 1788, aged 45; Josiah Leavitt, -; Israel Atherton, M.M.S.S., died 1822, aged 82; Cephas Prentice, died 1798; James Carter, died 1817, aged 63; Samuel Manning, M.M.S.S., died 1822, aged 42; Nathaniel Peabody, M.M.S.S .; Calvin Carter, died 1859, aged 75; George Baker, M.M.S.S .; Right Cummings, died 1881, aged 94; Ed-

ward T. Tremaine, M.M.S.S. ; Henry Lincoln, M.M. S.S., died 1860, aged 55; J. L. S. Thompson, M.M.S.S., died 1885, aged 75; George W. Symonds, M.M.S.S., died 1873, aged 62; George W. Burdett, M.M.S.S .; George M. Morse, M.M.S.S .; S. S. Lyon ; Reuben Barron; Henry H. Fuller, M.M.S.S .; Joseph C. Ste- vens, died 1871, aged 39; Frederick H. Thompson, M.M.S.S .; A. D. Edgecomb, died 1883; Horace M. Nash ; Walter P. Bowers, M.M.S.S .; George L. To- hey, M.M.S.S.

The lawyers have been: Abel Willard, John Sprague, Levi Willard, Peleg Sprague, William Sted- man, Merrick Rice, Solomon Strong, Moses Smith, Samuel J. Sprague, John Stuart, John Davis, Jr., Joseph Willard, Solon Whiting, George R. M. With- ington, Joseph W. Huntington, Charles Mason, John T. Dame, Charles G. Stevens, Daniel II. Bemis, Her- bert Parker.

The following have served as representatives for the town :- Thomas Brattle, 1671-72; Ralph Honghton, 1673-89; John Moore, Jr., 1689; John Moore, Sr., 1690-92; John Honghton, 1690,'92,'93,'97, 1705-06,'08, '11,'12, '15-17, '21, '24; Thomas Sawyer, 1707; Josiah Whetcomb, 1710; Jabez Fairbank, 1714, '21-23, 37- 38; John Houghton, Jr., 1718-19; Joseph Wilder, 1720, '25-26; Col. Samuel Willard, 1727, '40, '42-43, '49; Dea. Josiah White, 1728-30; James Wilder, 1731; Jonathan Houghton, 1732; James Keyes, 1733; Capt. Ephraim Wilder, 1734-36,'44; Ebenezer Wilder, 1739; Capt. William Richardson, 1741, '45, '50, '54, '56, '58- 61; Joseph Wilder, Jr., 1746-47, '51-53; David Wilder, 1755, '57, '62-65, '67; Col. Asa Whitcomb, 1766, '68- 74; Ebenezer Allen, 1775; Hezekiah Gates, 1775; Dr. William Dunsmoor, 1776-78, '81; Samuel Thurston, 1778; Joseph Reed, 1779; Capt. William Putnam, 1780; John Sprague, 1782-85, '94-99; Capt. Ephraim Carter, Jr., 1786, '90-92; Michael Newhall, 1787-89; John Whiting; 1793; Samuel Ward, 1800-01; William Stedman, 1802; Jonathan Wilder, 1803-06; Eli Stearns, 1806-10; Col. Jonas Lane, 1808-12; Major Jacob Fisher, 1811-13, '21, '23; Capt. William Cleveland, 1813-15; Capt. John Thurston, 1814-17, '26; Capt. Edward Goodwin, 1816; Capt. Benjamin Wyman, 1817-19; Maj. Solomon Carter, 1818; Joseph Willard, 1827-28; Davis Whitman, 1827, '31; Solon Whiting, 1829-30; John G. Thurston, 1832, '38, '52-53, '55; Ferdinand Andrews, 1832; Dr. George Baker, 1833; Levi Lewis, 1833; James G. Carter, 1834-36; Dea. Joel Wilder, 1834-35; Silas Thurston, Jr., 1837-39; John Thurston, 1839-40; Jacob Fisher, Jr., 1841, '44, '68; John M. Washburn, 1842-43, '58; Joel Wilder (2d), 1845-46; Ezra Sawyer, 1847-48; Anthony Lane, I850-51; Francis F. Hussey, 1854 ; James Childs, 1856; Dr. J. L. S. Thompson, 1860, '62 ; George A. Parker, 1869-71; Sam'l R. Damon, 1878; Henry S. Nourse, 1882.

The following have been State Senators :- John Sprague, 1785-86; Moses Smith, 1814-15; James G. Carter, 1837-38; John G. Thurston, 1844-45; Francis B. Fay, 1868; Henry S. Nourse, 1885-86.

HISTORY OF WORCESTER COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

The following have been executive councilors :- Maj. Simon Willard, 1654-76; Joseph Wilder, 1735- 52; Abijah Willard, 1775.

William Stedman was Representative to Congress, 1803-10, and Prentiss Mellen, a native of Lancaster, was United States Senator, 1818-20.

The population of Lancaster, at various periods, has been as follows :- 1652, 9 families; 1675, 50 or 60 families; 1692, 50 families; 1704, 76 families; 1711. 83 families, 458 souls; 1715, 100 families; 1751, 285 families, 355 polls; 1764, 1999; 1776, 2746; 1790, 1460; 1800, 1584; 1810, 1694; 1820, 1862; 1830, 2014; 1840, 2019; 1850, 1688; 1855, 1728; 1860, 1732; 1865, 1752; 1870, 1845; 1875, 1957; 1880, 2008; 1885, 2050.

The population of the whole territory once belong- ing to Lancaster is about twenty-two thousand.

The United States Coast Survey locates "Lancaster Church " in 42° 27' 19.98"" north latitude, and 71º 40' 24.27" longitude west of Greenwich. The elevation above the sea level of the grounds about this church is about three hundred and eight feet.

CHAPTER VII.

CLINTON.

BY HON. HENRY S. NOURSE.

Prescott's Mills-Destruction of the Settlement by Indians-The First High- ways-The Garrison Census-The First Families,

ALTHOUGH Clinton received its name and began its corporate existence so recently as March, 1850, it being the youngest town save one in Worcester County, nearly two hundred years before that date white men were tilling its soil, and had impressed into their service some part of its valuable water- power. Its territory, in area only four thousand nine hundred and seven acres, was included in the eighty square miles purchased from Sagamore Sholan by Thomas King, of Watertown, in 1642, and confirmed to the Nashaway Company as a township, under the name of Lancaster, in 1653.

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

History of Worcester County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. I, Part 31

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