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

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton)
Publication date: 1889
Publisher: Philadelphia : J.W. Lewis & Co.
Number of Pages: 1464

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

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There are six schools in the town. The number of school-children, between five and fifteen years of age, May 1, 1887, was one hundred and sixty-six. The total number of different scholars in the schools for the year 1887 was one hundred and seventy-seven, and the amount expended for all school purposes was $2,228.07.

Boylston. has an excellent public library, which was established by the town at its annual meeting, March 1, 1880, when the sum of two hundred dollars and the amount of the dog fund remitted from the county treasurer was appropriated for the purpose.

On the 27th day of the following June the Boylston Social Library-a library existing in the town, organ- ized March 2, 1792, eighty-eight years previous, and consisting of three hundred and eighty-six volumes- was by vote, and subsequently by deed, added to the library. The library was completed by the donation of agricultural works to the amount of fifty dollars, from the Boylston Farmers' and Mechanics' Associa- tion, and twenty-five volumes from Mrs. John B.

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Gough. The library contained, when open for ciren- lation September 4, 1880, eleven hundred and ten cata- Jogued volumes. It has since received many valuable donations, the more important of which have been from Hon. Phinehas Ball, of Worcester, the late John B. Gongh, Esq., the late Oliver Sawyer Kendall, the late Sanford M. Kendall, Miss Ellen Williams, of North- borough, Hon. George F. Hoar and others. In 1887 Miss Hannah E. Bigelow, M.D., of Marlborough, Mass., gave to the library one hundred and fifty dol- lars in books and money, in remembrance of her mother, the late Mrs. Levi Bigelow, of Marlborough, who was a native of the town. An interesting feature of the library is a collection of photographs of the present and former citizens of the town and the sol- diers of 1861-65. The collection now comprises five large volumes and was the design of the late Oliver S. Kendall and has been largely carried out by his family. The library now contains about twenty-five hundred volumes. George L. Wright is the librarian, and has held that position since its organization. A library has also been established at Sawyer's Mills by the Lancaster Mills Company for the use of its oper- atives. There is also a large and flourishing Grange of the Patrons of Husbandry in the town, of which George A. Hastings is the present master. The fol- lowing is a list of the town officers chosen at the annual town-meeting in March, 1888 : Moderator, George L. Wright; Town Clerk, Henry H. Brigham (died June 19, 1888, and P. M. Brigham chosen to fill the vacancy); Selectmen, George R. Hastings, Penniman M. Brigham, Wm. A. Andrews ; Assessors, Elmer Shaw, Lyman S. Walker, Wm. H. Hastings; Overseers of the Poor, Lyman P. Kendall, Nathaniel L. Kendall, Charles E. Smith; Treasurer and Co]- lector, Benj. C. Lane ; School Committee, George L. Wright, F. B. Willard, Thomas C. Sheldon ; Trustees of Public Library, P. M. Brigham, A. V. R. Pronty, George L. Wright, Miss F. M. Whitcomb, Mrs. Everett Kendall.

CHAPTER CXVIII. BOYLSTON (Continued.)

EARLY FAMILIES AND SETTLEMENTS.

OF the territory now constituting the town, about three-fourths belonged to Shrewsbury, the northerly and northeasterly portions were included in the original grant made to the town of Lancaster by Sholan, Indian Sachem of the Nashaways in 1643, and the remainder, a very small tract in the northerly part of the town, was derived from the Lancaster new grant made by George Tahanto, nephew of Sholan, in 1701. It is not certain when the settlement of the town hegan, but three large grants were made within its territory by the General Court of the Massa- chusetts Bay long before the actual settlement began.

One of these grants was known as the "Malden Farm" and was made to the church in Malden in 1655, and consisted of one thousand acres and lay in the sonthwest part of the town and partly within what is now West Boylston. This grant was the cause of a long and vigorons suit between the proprietors of Shrewsbury and the church in Malden. Another grant was that made in 1658 and confirmed in 1659 to Capt. Richard Davenport, commander of the castle in Boston Harbor, and consisted of six hundred acres laying in the northwesterly part of this town and extending along the Nashua River into West Boylston. The third grant was the Sewall farm, comprising within its limits one thousand five hundred acres, and was partly in Boylston and partly in Shrewsbury, and probably adjoined the easterly line of the Malden farm, and was granted to Chief Justice Samuel Sewall.

The first permanent settlement began in that por- tion of the territory taken from Lancaster by descend- ants of Thomas Sawyer, one of the first settlers of Lancaster, on the farm now owned and occupied by James E. Ball. Vestiges of the cellar of this house may now be seen a short distance south of the present buildings. The estate of the Sawyers included the farm now owned by Nathaniel L. and Everett Kendall, sons of the late Oliver Sawyer Kendall, and descendants of the Sawyer family, and extended to Sawyer's Mills village, where the Sawyers erected a corn-mill on the Nashua River. It is uncertain when they settled in that part of Lancaster now Boylston, but they were probably there as early as 1705 or '06. The Sawyer family were long and prominently connected with this part of the town. Lient. Aaron Sawyer, a member of the family, was pro- minent in Lancaster affairs during the Revolution ; was first town clerk of Boylston, assistant United States assessor in 1798, and a prominent land surveyor. The house erected by his father, bearing on a stone in its chimney the date 1745, is now standing at Sawyer's Mills, and probably the oldest house in the town. The settlement of that part belonging to Shrewsbury began abont 1717. Among the early settlers are found the names of Bennett, Stone, Bigelow, Taylor; Ball, Hastings, Newton, Keyes, Temple, Howe, Bush, Davenport, Flagg, Andrews and Wheeler.

The Ball family was probably the second family that settled in what is now Boylston and came from Watertown. The family is descended from John Ball, who came from Willetshire, England, and settled in that part of Concord now Bedford, where he died October 1, 1655. He had Ebenezer, Eleazer, John and Nathaniel ; the last-named was the father of Caleb, and grandfather of Reuben, who married Experience Flagg in 1713, and had eight children, three of whom lived to be over ninety years of age. The sons of the first-named John Ball settled in Lancaster and Watertown, and were among the first settlers in those places. John Ball, probably a son of

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the first of that name, settled at South Lancaster, where he, with his wife, Elizabeth, and an infant child, were slain by the Indians in the massacre of February 10, 1676, and two others of his family were carried into captivity. The portion of the family which settled in Boylston located in the easterly portion of the town, within the territory derived from Lancaster and very near the line which separated that town from Shrewsbury. The original farm is now occupied by Alonzo Ball, and has always been in the possession of the family since its first settlement. The family has always been noted for its longevity.

The Bennett family were from Lancaster, where George Bennett, a descendant of James Bennett, of Concord, and a nephew of Richard Linton, one of the early settlers of Lancaster, came some time previous to 1665. Bennett was killed by the Indians August 22, 1675. He left a widow and five small children, among whom was Samuel, born 1665, and who suc- ceeded to his father's estate. This Samuel Bennett, Mr. Ward says, was probably the one who was in the Shrewsbury north part as early as 1723, and whose son Samuel was one of the permanent settlers in that part of Shrewsbury. The place where he resided in- cluded the farms now owned by Leonard Brewer and Augustus Flagg, situated about one mile east of Boyls- ton Centre, on the road leading to Berlin. The site of the original house may be seen marked by a slight depression in the ground, on the left of the road, a short distance below the present buildings on Mr. Brewer's farm, and near where the brook crosses the road. This house was used during the early settle- ment as a garrison-house for protection against the Indians. The Bigelow family came from Marlborough, where they settled some time between 1690 and 1700, coming to that place from Watertown. The history of the family can be traced in England as far back as the time of Henry III., when the family name was written Bagulay, and was derived from the place where they dwelt. Richard was Lord of Bagulay in the time of Henry VIII .; Ralph De Bigulay was Lord of Ollerton Hall, and died in 1540. The name has also at different periods been spelled Biggeley, Bigulah, Bigloh, Biglo and Biglow in the early records. John Bigelow was the first of the family in New England, and settled at. Watertown, where he married Mary Warner, October 30, 1642. His grandson, John Bigelow, settled at Marlborough. In 1705 he was taken captive by the Indians with Thomas Sawyer, Jr., and his son Elias, and carried to Canada. Sawyer offered to erect a saw-mill for the French government on the Chambly River upon the condition that he should obtain the ransom of the three captives. The Indians, however, refused to accept the ransom of Thomas Sawyer, and bound him to the stake for tor- ture, when a friar excited the fears of the savages by brandishing a key, and threatening with it to unlock the door of purgatory and thrust them into its fires if they did not release their prisoner. They

immediately unloosed him, and, true to his promise, he completed the mill, which was the first erected in Canada. When Sawyer and Bigelow returned home, Elias Sawyer was detained a year longer to ruu the mill. Captain Joseph Bigelow, a son of this John Bigelow, settled in the north part of Shrewsbury about 1729, a prominent man there, and was the ancestor of most of the families of the name living in Boylston. Dea. Amariah Bigelow, a son of Samuel, of Marlborough, settled in Shrewsbury North Parish about 1747, in that portion now belonging to West Boylston, and on the farm now owned by George T. Brigham, Esq. He was a prominent man and had a large family of children. One daughter was the wife of Rev. Eleazer Fairbanks, the second minister of the Boylston Church.

There are several families of the name now residing in both towns. The Stone family probably came from Andover and settled in the extreme northerly part of the town. The Taylor, Keyes, Temple and Bush families came from Marlborough. Lieutenant Eleazer Taylor, first of the name in Boylston, was probably the first settler in the central part of the town. He resided on the place afterwards owned by Rev. Ward Cotton, and now in the possession of Henry V. Woods. He was the father of Anthony and David Taylor, both of whom were noted for their prodigious strength. The Keyes family came here about 1720 and settled in the south part of the town. They were promineut in church, precinct and town affairs. John Keyes, Sr., was the first magis- trate in the territory now Boylston, and one of the first deacons of the churches in Shrewsbury and Boylston, first town clerk of Shrewbury, a member of the first Boards of Selectmen, Assessors, etc., and Re- presentative in 1746. Cyprian Keyes was also a deacon in both churches, one of the selectmen of Shrewsbury eighteen years, assessor fourteen years, town clerk seven years, etc. One of his daughters married Major Ezra Beaman and another was the wife of Jotham Bush and mother of Colonel Jotham Bush. Deacon Keyes died June 18, 1802, aged ninety-five years and nine months. His brother, Jonathan Keyes, was also a deacon in the Shrewsbury North Parish (now Boyls- ton). The family name is now extinct in Boylston. The Temples settled in the southwest part of the town and on territory now embraced within the lim- its of both Boylston and West Boylston. Isaac Tem- ple was the first of the name and appears to have been a very influential man in the early town and precinct affairs. His son, Lieutenant Jouas Temple, was a very prominent man in both Shrewsbury and Boylston and much employed in town affairs and Representative from both towns.

His residence was within the present limits of West Boylston, and when that town was incorporated, in 1808, he refused to be set off to the latter town, and the Legislature made provisions in the act of incorpo- ration whereby he and his farm should remain a part

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of Boylston until his decease, which occurred Novem- ber 3, 1815, at the age of eighty-three years. John Bush was the first of that name who settled in Boyl- ston, and was the son of Abial Bush, who settled in Marlboro', in 1690. John Bush settled on the place now owned by the estate of the late Charles Andrews, Esq., at Boylston Centre; he was prominent in hoth town and precinet affairs and was instrumental in the incorporation of the North Parish, their agent before the General Court and the first precinet clerk. His son, Jotham Bush, Jr., and his son-in-law, Rev. Ebe- nezer Morse, M.D., were royalists in the time of the Revolution ; and Jotham Bush was compelled to leave his estates and flee the country ; he was finally taken and sent on board a ship in Boston Harbor, where he died of small-pox in 1778. After his death his estate came into the hands of his son, Colonel Jotham Bush, where he erected a large and fine mansion, at the time one of the best in Worcester County. This house was destroyed by fire October 20, 1859; Colonel Bush re- sided there until his death, November 13, 1836, at the age of eighty years. He was an honored and influen- tial citizen, devoting himself untiringly to the best interests of the town, and in return was honored with nearly every office within its gift. He was promi- nently identified with the movement, in 1786, which led to the division of Shrewsbury and incorporation of Boylston. Three of his daughters married clergymen and left descendants who were prominent in that and the medical professions, among whom is Dr. William F. Holcombe, of New York. One daughter, Mrs. Martha Dickinson, of Brooklyn, N. Y., widow of Rev. Baxter Dickinson, was living in 1886, at the age of eighty-eight years. One of her sons is Rev. William Cowper Dickinson, of Cincinnati, Ohio ; another son, Rev. Richard Storrs Dickinson, was associate pastor of Rev. Dr. Barnes, of Philadelphia. Deacon Jotham Bush, son of Colonel Jotham Bush, died here in 1880 and was the last of the family in Boylston.

The Howe family came here about 1725, when Phineas Howe, then a young man, was sent from Marlboro' by his father to form a home in the then more unsettled wilderness ; he settled on the farm now owned by George Hazard, and spent the first winter here alone. It is said that he found his way to and from Marlboro' by blazing the trees with an axe. He married Abigail Bennett, daughter of Samuel Bennett, one of the earliest settlers and his nearest neighbor, and resided here until his death. The family is de- scended from John Howe, E-q., who came from War- wickshire, in England, and was connected with Lord Charles Howe, Earl of Lancaster, in the reign of Charles I. There are many descendants of the family now living in the town.

The Newtons also came from Marlborough, and settled in the extreme southeast and northwest parts of the town. The Wheelers were from Watertown. Both of these families are now extinet. The Daven- ports were descended from Capt. Richard Davenport,

the commander of the castle in Boston Harbor, who came over to Salem in September, 1628, with Gov. Endicott. He was a prominent man in the Massa- chusetts Bay Colony, and was one of the guardians of Adam Winthrop, Jr., a grandson of Gov. John Winthrop, and was also much employed in the ser- vice of the colony, and received from the General Court, in 1659, the grant of land already mentioned, and where his grand-ons-William and Nathaniel - settled in 1736, and which remained in the family for eight generations. Capt. Davenport was killed by lightning, July 15, 1665. The family was also connected with the families of Dr. Isaac Adding- ton, whose son of the same name was chief justice under Gov. Dudley, register and judge of probate for Suffolk County, etc. and also with the family of Gov. John Leverett. His grandson, Addington Daven- port, was register of deeds and clerk of courts for Suffolk County, clerk of the House of Representa- tives and judge of the Supreme Court. The history of the family can be traced in England in unbroken descent from the time of the Norman Conquest, and was very highly and honorably connected. What relation Capt. Richard Davenport was to the distin- gui-hed Rev. John Davenport is not known, but the relationship, if any, must have been distant, as they were contemporary together, and were not father and son, as stated by Mathew Davenport, Esq., in his " History of Boylston." The Flaggs came from Watertown and Concord. Thomas Flagg was in the former place as early as 1643. Gershom Flagg was in Boylston in 1729, and was the direct ancestor of the families here of that name. This family has produced many influential men. The Hastings family came from Watertown, in the person of Dan- iel Hastings, who settled in the easterly part of the town, on the farm now owned by A. V. R. Prouty. He was a prominent man, and much employed in town and precinct affairs. It is said that when he settled here, in 1729, he traveled on horseback with his family and goods through an unbroken wilder- ness, and was several days in making the journey. This family is of Danish origin, and dates hack to the early times, when the Danes made frequent in- cursions into that part of England and Scotland bor- dering on the North Sea. In one of these incur- sions Hastings, a Danish chief, made himself for- midable to Alfred the Great by landing a large force of men on the English coast. He took a por- tion of Sussex, and the castle and seaport were held by his family when William the Conqueror landed in England, and held it for the crown many years. Henry was Lord of Hastings and son of William De Hastings, steward of Henry II. They were allied by marriage with the royal family of England and Scotland. Sir Henry and George Hastings, grandsons of the Earl of Huntingdon, be- came Puritans, and fled from England to the New World, and were the first of the family in this country.

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The Andrews family came here about 1746, when Robert Andrews. a son of Robert Andrews, of Box- ford, settled cn the farm lately owned by the heirs of Willard Andrews and now occupied by Henry L. Shumway. This farm was in the possession of Robert Andrews and his descendants from its first settlement until 1887. He was a prominent man, captain of militia and during the Revolution was one of the selectmen of Shrewsbury. He was accidentally killed November 11, 1789. His wife was Lucy Brad- street, of Topsfield, a descendant of Governors Dudley and Bradstreet. This family has furnished many in- fluential men to the town. Of all the Boylston fami- lies, the Flaggs, Hastings and Andrews were the most numerous, and many families of each name are now residing in the town. It is not known that the early settlers were ever attacked by the Indians in hostile manner, but Shrewsbury and Lancaster were among the frontier towns put into a state of defense by the General Court in 1722, and garrison-houses or stockade forts were early maintained. One of these was at the house of Samuel Bennett, already described, on the farm of Leonard Brewer. Another was at the house of John Bush and the third stood within the present limits of West Boylston, about eighty rods from the present residence of George T. Brigham, Esq. The early settlers carried firearms into their fields of labor and many false alarms of savage incur- sions are believed to have taken place. One anecdote, said to be anthentic, is that the wife of one of the set- tlers who came from Marlborough was preparing dinner, and putting her meat into the dinner-pot, hung it over the crane, when the family were suddenly alarmed and fled to Marlborough, returning in about a year. She found her dinner preparations in the same situation in which she had left them. Specimens of Indian arrow-points, stone implements, etc., have been found in different parts of the town, and the sites of some of their corn-fields and grana- ries, which were simple excavations in the ground, have been discovered.

CHAPTER CXIX. BOYLSTON-(Continued.) CIVIL AND POLITICAL HISTORY.

As early as 1738 it is evident that the inhabitants of the north part of Shrewsbury considered them- selves sufficient in numbers and in strength to assume the responsibilities of a separate town government, and a bill was introduced into the General Court for the incorporation of the northerly part of Shrewsbury into a separate township. This passed the General Court, but was negatived by Governor Shirley for the reasons that the too rapid increase of new towns was injurious, since each town was entitled to one Repre-

sentative to the General Court, and every town having one hundred and twenty or more voters to two Repre- sentatives. Only Boston, Salem, Ipswich and New- bury, of all the towns entitled to send more than one, availed themselves of the law ; some of the towns did not send any. There were one hundred and sixty towns, and only from one hundred and nine to one hundred and twenty Representatives were yearly sent to the General Conrt ; but in a case of emergency the number could be doubled, and even trebled, and any matter introduced by the King's Governor which met with their opposition would be defeated, and he accor- dingly recommended the incorporation of precincts and districts without the right of representation. These matters were reported to the Royal government at London, and instructions returned to the Governor that no new town should be erected without the King's consent. Thus defeated in their plans to become a separate town, they soon after made appli- cation to the General Court for incorporation as a distinct precinct. In this they were successful, and on December 17, 1742, were incorporated as the North Precinct of Shrewsbury. At the same time the town of Lancaster voted to grant the request of Joshua Houghton and others to he joined to them by the following hounds: Beginning at Bolton (now Berlin) line, one and one-half miles from Lancaster (southwest corner); thence to run due west to the Nashua River, to the town line, excluding only the lands of Philip Larkin that might fall within the said lines. By this a strip one and one-half miles wide was given to Boylston. On the 19th of January, 1743, in obedience to a warrant from John Keyes, Esq., " one of His Majesty's Justices of the Peace," the first precinct meeting was held, and the following officers were chosen: Moderator, John Keyes, Esq .; Precinct Clerk, John Bush ; Precinct Committee, John Bush, Joseph Bigelow, Dea. Cyprian Keyes, Joshua Houghton and Abner Sawyer. About the same time they relinquished their rights in the meet- ing-house to the town of Shrewsbury for £32 10s., to be paid when the new parish should have erected and covered a meeting-house. At the next meeting, held February 7, 1743, they "voted £26 8s., old tenor, to pay for preaching for eight days past," which probably included each Sabbath that there had been since they were incorporated ; also "voted £50, old tenor, for preaching in the future," and Daniel Hastings, Abner Sawyer and Joseph Biglo (or Bigelow) were chosen as a committee to provide a minister ; "voted, that the centre of the North precinct in Shrewsbury, that is, south of the Quinnepoxet River or the nearest convenient spot to the centre, be the place to set the meeting-house on ;" "voted, that Capt. Flagg be the surveyor to find the centre of the North precinct in Shrewsbury," and Jonathan Liver- more was chosen "in case Capt. Flagg fails this week." This was Deacon Jonathan Livermore, of North- horough, for many years clerk of that town, and who

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lived to be over one hundred years old. On the 18th of the same month they voted to proceed to build a meeting-house forty-five feet long, thirty-five feet wide, and twenty feet between the joints, and that the honse should be up and covered with shingles and rough-boarded around the sides by the 1st of the fol- lowing June. The following year the house was nearly completed. This church stood on the present South Common, and nearly in front of the Old Ceme- tery, at the north end of which was the "Noon or Sabbath-day house," built in 1772, where the people were accustomed to retire between services for lunch and warmth, no fires being had in the meeting-houses. The stocks, for the punishment of petty crimes, was located near the cemetery gate. The Old Cemetery was purchased about the time of the erection of the meeting-house of Lieutenant Eleazer Taylor, and the first interment was made April 14, 1745, as appears from the following epitaph upon a head-stone near the gate :

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

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton) Publication date: 1889 Publisher: Philadelphia : J.W. Lewis & Co. Number of Pages: 1464

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton)
Publication date: 1889
Publisher: Philadelphia : J.W. Lewis & Co.
Number of Pages: 1464