History of Worcester County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. II, Part 34

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 34

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The names of Aaron Smith, Samuel Dexter, Noah Morton, Robert Young, Robert Marble, Nathaniel and Eleazer Graves, and of the four brothers, Wil- liam, John, James and Robert Oliver, appear upon

1 See Lincoln's "History of Worcester," page 16.

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HISTORY OF WORCESTER COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

the list of settlers in 1736. Most or all of these were able-bodied, industrious, resolute men in their va- rious callings and did much to give a healthy tone to the newly-organized society of the township.

The provision made in the original grant for the establishment of religious privileges among the settlers has been already noted. Owing, doubtless, to the loss of the carliest records, we are obliged to rely chiefly upon tradition for the truth of what follows. Measures were taken as early as possible to erect a house for religious worship. This was built of logs and stood upon eight acres of land, a part of the lot of fifty-eight acres laid out for " Lieutenant Samuel Kindle on the original right of Jonathan Marble," the lot exceeding in size the others laid out at the same time by eight acres. The plan was that these eight acres should lie in common for a " Burying-place and a Meeting-house place," according to the discre- tion of the proprietors.1

These eight acres lay upon the north bank of Mill Brook, sixty or seventy rods sontheast of the railroad station and covered the old cemetery lot, which was recovered, cleared and fenced by the town in 1859, with considerable territory north and east of this which had been under cultivation.

This first meeting-house probably stood a few rods northeast of the granite monnment which the town erected at the rededication of the ancient cemetery, July 4, 1859, to which allusion will be made here- after. From the papers discovered by Rev. Mr. Clark, it would appear that this building for church purposes could not have been erected before 1741, which was too late for compliance with the conditions of the grant. Be this as it may, the first church was doubtless erected upon that spot, with the first ceme- tery adjacent, according to the custom prevailing very generally one hundred and fifty years ago. The reason for the selection of this spot for the location of the church and cemetery is apparent when we consider that it lay just about half-way between the two principal settlements of the township at that date, the one heing on The Street and the other around the fort on West Hill, northwest of the Lower Village. In those days foot-paths took the place of our highways, and there was plainly such a path leading from The Street, by the church and cemetery lot, to the northwest settlement.

This log church was never finished, but no such building was ever speedily finished in those days. The probability is that it was so far completed that it could be used for public worship, but how long it was used for this purpose, or hy whom the religious services in it were conducted, we have no informa- tion. In some family records the title of Rev. is at- tached to the name of Dr. Joseph Lord, but it can hardly be supposed that he was ever a regularly or-

dained minister of the Gospel, for one hundred and fifty years ago this title was most jealously guarded.

That he was a man of marked ability is certain, and that he was a fluent speaker is probable. With- ont much doubt he was an exhorter or lay preacher, and conducted for some years the religious services of the early settlers.

This first meeting-house was soon consumed by fire, lighted, it has been generally supposed, by In- dians.2

The site was now abandoned for this purpose, al- though burials took place in the first cemetery for some years longer.

The settlement on The Street or " East P'equoiag Hill," as it was called, having had the most rapid and largest growth, was soon regarded as the centre of the township, and there the second meeting-house was erected. No record is found that throws light upon the exact date of the erection of this building, its size or cost. It is said to have had, certainly at first, but a single pew, and this was doubtless in- tended for the family of the first minister. The house stood not far from the fort already noticed.

The proximity of these two structures was plainly a precautionary measure. As yet no " learned Or- thodox Minister " had been settled in this township, according to the conditions of the original grant, and all the improvements that had been made were tech- nically forfeited. But the Province of Massachusetts was more lenient in its treatment of such cases one hundred and fifty years ago than the land companies are now, near the close of the nineteenth century, and the settlement made sure though slow progress. A Mr. Brown preached at least one Sabbath in 1749, and the proprietors allowed him five pounds, old tenor, for his services.

Rev. John Mellen, pastor of the first church in Sterling, Mass., is supposed to have supplied the pul- pit more or less during the same year.3

So far as is known Mr. James Humphrey, of Dor- chester, was the first regular candidate for settlement as the minister of this township, and he commenced his probationary work as preacher early in December, 1749, and preached eighteen Sabbaths.

His services were so acceptable that at a legal

" The eld'tradition about the burning of the first church is costra- dieted by ad ancieat document, just received from Mrs. Mary R. Hum- phrey, of Dedham, widow of James Humphrey, the fourth of the same ia regular succession, in which it is stated that "by setting the woods afire it caught the Meeting House, which was burnt dowo." This is doubtless a Irne statement of the case. It is added that this was a heavy burden to the people, still being desirous of continuing their re- ligions privileges. They immediately commenced building a new meet - ing-house on " The Street," within about twenty reds of the fort. This also is added, "When a part was in the sanctuary a number was obliged to watch at the post of her deers with their arms at their side, to keep off their devouring enemy whilst others were worshiping God within."

8 Mr. Mellen was a maa of influence in the Province, and was some- times employed to arrange civil matters with the Royal Governors and Councils. See " Ilistory of Fitzwilliam," N. H., pages 126, 127.

1 See the documentary evidence bearing upon this matter in the Ap- pendix to Rev. Mr. Clark's "Centennial Discourse," page 60.

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meeting of the proprietors on the third Wednesday of May, 1750, Samuel Kendall being moderator, it was

Voted that we choose an Orthodox Minister to settle in this Place. Voted that Mr. James Humfries, our present Preacher, be the Ortho- dox Minister in this Place.

Voted that we give Mr. James Humfries, our present Preacher, the Sum of Fifty Pounds, lawful Money of this Province of the Massachu- setts Bay, per Annum, while he continues in the Work of the Gospel Ministry in this Place, and further add to that Right or whole Share of Land in the Township of Pequoiag laid out by the General Court for the first Minister of sd Pequoiag, of which the House Lot on East Pequoiag Hill, on the West Side of the High Way-Number Eight is part-the Sum of Sixty Six Pounds thirteen Shillings and four Pence, lawful money of the Province of the Massachusetts Bay, to be paid, one-half withia Que Year after his Ordination, the other half within one Year after the Payment of the first half, if he accepts of the Work of the Gospel Min- istry in this Place.

This call was communicated to Mr. Humphrey by a committee, but his answer was delayed till August of the same year, for be plainly desired time to con- sider a matter of such importance. The answer was as follows:

To the Proprietors of the New Township, called Pequoiag, at their Meet- ing, continued by Adjournment from May 16th to August 8th ensuing : GentlemD :

I received, by the Hand of Lieut. Richard Morton, a Copy of your Votes, passed at your Meeting on the 16th of May last, respecting my settling among you in the Capacity of a Gospel Minister. And in Ao- swer thereto, -In the first Place I do heartily thank you for the good will you have expressed to me in your Invitation. After mature De- liberation upon the important affairs, I now signify my acceptance of the Salary and Encouragement you have given me to Settle in the Work of the Ministry among you in this Place, io case the Propriety will make me ao Addition of Forty Shillings lawful money to your former En- couragement for my Annual Support, and if it please God in his all-dis- posing Providence regularly to introduce me into the Pastoral Office over you, I hope by his grace and Spirit I shall be enabled, in some good measure, to fulfil my Ministry.

So I remaio, with hearty Regards, your Servant in Christ Jesus, JAMES HUMFREY.

Pequoiag, August 8, 1750.

At the meeting of the proprietors, August 8, 1750, after the answer of Mr. Humphrey had been received it was " voted that Mr. Humfrey has Forty Shillings lawful money of this province added to the former Encouragement we have given Him for his annual support or Salary." A committee was also appointed to make arrangements respecting the proper ordina- tion, and "to take care to send to a neighboring Minister or Ministers to Assist them in a Fast and in Gathering a church in this place."

The church was organized August 29, 1750, Rev. Samuel Kendall, of New Salem, Rev. Abraham Hill, of Shutesbury and Rev. Aaron Whitney, of Peters- ham, taking part in the service. The entry in the ancient church records is that they " met in Peiquage, and, after solemn prayer to God, they gathered the church, and it was Imbodied and each member signed the Covenant."

A little more than two months later the ordination of the first pastor, Rev. James Humphrey, took place. All that is known respecting it is found in the follow- ing entry in the church records :

Peiquage, November the 7, 1750. An Ecclesiastical Council, convened |

in Peiquage ; the council consisted of the Church of Christ in Dor- chester, ye Chh. in Hatfield, ye Chh. in New Salem, ye Chh. in Road- town,1 ye Chh. iu Nitchawoag," and ordained Mr. James Humphrey pastor over the Chh. and Congregation in said Place.

Attested by JONATHAN BOWMAN, Mod.

This entry was made by Mr. Humphrey, who had been chosen, or acted, as the clerk of the church, and the same hand, about eleven months later, made this additional entry : "Dorchester, Oct. the 9th, 1751, James Humfrey and Esther Wiswell was married, and the 3rd day of November we. got home to Pei- quage."

For about twenty years Rev. Mr. Humphrey ap- pears to have enjoyed a peaceful pastorate. His salary was always small, and not always paid prompt- ly, but this was doubtless true in a large majority of 'the county congregations in Massachusetts.

Before the expiration of these twenty years of peaceful labor the township of Pequoig, on Miller's River, had become the town of Athol, when the pay- ment of the pastor's salary was assumed by the town.

The lot of which he became possessed by becoming the first pastor was on the west side of the highway leading over The Street, and upon this he erected his house, the well-known dwelling of himself, of his son, General James Humphrey, and of his grandson, the James Humphrey whom not a few of the present resi- dents of Athol well remember.

Portions of the house, as it now stands, were a part of the original structure. The second, the third and the fourth James Humphrey were born under this roof, while the first, the second and the third died there. The fourth in the succession bearing that name removed to Dedham-not far from twenty-five years ago-and died there. The old parsonage is now owned by Mr. I. L. Cragin.

The aged elms that have so long shaded the dwell- ing were planted by the first pastor, according to the family tradition.3

From this point the history of the first pastorate properly becomes ecclesiastical.

The meagre account already given respecting the allotment of the lands of this township may be mis- leading. It is to be remembered that the territory embraced in the grant was six miles square and contained thirty-six square miles, or twenty-three thousand and forty acres, including ponds and rivers. At first but a small part of this territory was allotted to the individual proprietors.

From what seems to be an authentic statement respecting the laying out of the eight acres for the first cemetery and lot upon which to build the first meeting-house, it is nearly certain that in the first

1 Now Shutesbury. 2 Now Petersham.

3 James Humphrey (the third) had three children,-Antoinette, who married a brother of Gov. Bullock and died io Athol, leaving a son, Rufns A. Bullock, who is a lawyer in Boston ; James, who married Mary D. Ripley, was a merchant in Boston, and left a widow and three children-two daughters and a son, James Humphrey, now ahout seven- teen years of age ; Fred., who died in his youth in Athol.

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HISTORY OF WORCESTER COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

division only a fifty-acre lot was assigned to each proprietor. If so, but three thousand one hundred and fifty acres were included in the first allotment. leaving nineteen thousand eight hundred and ninety acres of common land to be aftewards divided as cir- cumstances might seem to require. An attested record of the first division was doubtless contained in the book which disappeared with Dr. Joseph Lord, as already noticed ; but in the volume prepared to take the place of this, and legalized by the General Court, no information respecting the first division is found.

With regard to the second and succeeding divi- sions of the lands owned in common after the first division, the records are now satisfactory.

In the second division thirty-acre lots were laid out, though they frequently contained from two to five additional acres. A greater or less surplusage was allowed all along, in making these various allot- ments, for streams, ponds, land for roads, and possibly, in some cases, for what were called waste lands, or such as were declared absolutely valneless.

In the third division the lots consisted of ten acres ; in the fourth, one hundred acres, in the fifth, fifty acres ; of the sixth and seventh the records are indefi- nite, but one of them must have been on the basis of eight acres, while the eighth was for one hundred acres, and the ninth for thirty acres. These several divisions as here stated would have amounted in the end to an allotment of three hundred and seventy- eight acres on each right, which would be almost eight hundred acres in excess of the contents of the whole township. But it is found that while some of the assigned lots exceeded in size the unit of division, others fell far short of it, sometimes twenty or twenty- five acres on the large divisions. Moreover, "delin- quents," as they were called in the ancient records, were common in those days, and their lots may some- times have been entered for re-allotment.

With regard to the method adopted in making these divisions after the first, some information may be gained from the directions adopted for this purpose by the proprietors, May 29, 1765.

The committee appointed to make a new allotment was directed to accommodate each proprietor already in possession of a lot or lots by laying the new lot on the line of the adjoining lots already owned and possibly improved, so that the whole might be as compact as possible. It was a delicate business to make these allotments, but no complaints of the work of the committee are on record.

The rights to lay out the common land under the direction of the proprietors were soon hought and sold like any other property.

During the years immediately succeeding the incor- poration of the town, viz., 1762-65, this work of allotment made the greatest progress, but the common land was not all discovered and sold before 1824.

The last meeting of the proprietors of which there is any record was held September 29th of that year.

Nathan Goddard was the proprietors' clerk for some years, succeeding Rev. Abraham Hill, and Jesse Kendall held the same office after 1768. After 1820 James Oliver was clerk of the proprietors.

A very singular warrant for a proprietors' meeting is found recorded on page 60, 2nd vol. of Proprietors' Records. It reads as follows :

[SEAL.] PROVINCE OF THE MASSACHUSETTS BAY IN NEW ENGLAND. To Nathaniel Graves, of Burton, in the County of Worcester, Nove England, Gentleman :

Greeting-

You are hereby required to notify the Proprietors of said Paxton, lately known by the name of Pequoiag, lying on Miller's River 80. called, in the County of Worcester, that they assemble and meet at the Publick Meeting-House in ssid township on the 2d Wednesday of March next, for the transaction of their usnal business, &c.

This warrant was dated February 22, 1762, only twelve days before the Great and General Court in- corporated the township, giving to the town an en- tirely different name. Nathaniel Graves was a well- known citizen of Pequoiag, and it seems certain that the clerk of the proprietors, Rev. Abraham Hill, a non-resident, knew but little of what was transpir- ing in the township at that time, and so took it for granted that the new town had received, or was to receive, the name of Paxton.

Possibly this was the general understanding when the movement for incorporation was made.

The name Paxton had not then been appropriated to a township in Worcester County, but another name for the settlement on Miller's River had been suggested, which met with general favor, and this, perhaps, at the last moment, went into the request for incorporation. The meeting called by the war- rant alluded to is stated to have been held in Pe- quoiag March 10, 1762, four days after the township had become the town of Athol. Important news traveled slowly in those days.

CHAPTER CXXXIV.

ATHOL-( Continued). ATHOL-1762-1800.

Ils Incorporation as u Town-Ils Name-Its Organization-Ciril History- Provision for Schools and Religious Privileges-Patriotic Measures at the Opening of the War of the Revolution-Serrire in the War-Condi- tion at the close of the Century

By whom the movement was made for the incor- poration of "Pequoig on Miller's River " into a town is uncertain, but tradition asserts that the petition for this purpose was headed by John Murray, Esq. The same authority informs us that Mr. Murray was a resident of Athol for a number of years before he removed to Rutland, Mass. The charter was granted March 6, 1762, and is recorded in Chapter XX. of "Acts and laws passed by the Great and General

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Court or Assembly of His Majesty's Province of the Massachusetts Bay in New England," and is as fol- lows :

Anno Regni Regis, Georgii III., Secundo, 1762. CHAPTER XX.

An act for erecting the new Plantation called Payquage, in the County of Worcester, into a Town by the Name of Athol. Whereas, it hatlı been represented to this Court that the inhabitants of the Planta- tion of Payquage, in the County of Worcester, labour under great diffi- cuIties by reason of their not being incorporated into a Town, and are desirous of being so incorporated : Be it therefore enacted by the Governor, Council and House of Representatives, That the said Plantation be, nnd hereby is, erected into a Town by the Name of Athol, bounded as fol- lowe, viz. : Northerly on the Plantations of Royashire and Mount-grace, Westerly on Ervingshire and New Salem, Southerly on Petershamn and the Plantation called Number Six and Easterly on said Number Six ; and that the Inhabitants thereof be, and hereby are, invested with all the Powers, Privileges and Immunities that the Inhabitants of the Towns within this Province are by law vested with. And be it further enacted, that John Murray, Esquire, be, and hereby is, directed and empowered to issue his Warrant directed to some of the principal Inhabitants with- in said Town requiring them to warn the Inhabitants of said Town qualified to vote in Town Affairs to assemble at some suitable Time und Place in said Town, to choose such Officers as are necessary to manage the Affairs of said Town : Provided, nevertheless, the Inhabitants of said Town shull pay their proportionable part of such County and Province Charges as are already assessed in like Manner, as tho' this Act had no been made.

With regard to the name of the town thus created the uniform tradition is that it was named for the second Duke of Athol, a Scottish nobleman, and in part because the scenery of the new town resembles that in the vicinity of Blair Castle, the palatial resi- dence of the Dukes of Athol. The castle is situated in Blair, Scotland, and occupies a beautiful and ro- mantic locality on the southern slope of the Gram- pian Hills.1

1 It is almost certain that the John Murray, Esqnire, mentioned in the act of incorporation, was largely responsible for the name nuder which the plantation was chartered. Murray, as is well known, is the family name of the Dukes of Athol or Athole, as it is sometimes spelled in Scotland. John Murray, Esq., held proprietors' rights in Pe- quoig as early as November, 1761, and before the town was incorporated was owner of 340 acres of land in the township. Later, viz., in 1762 and 1763, he was in possession of 238 additional acres-io all 578 acres. The title Esq. is invariably attached to his name npon the records, a distinction accorded to no other proprietor. March 31, 1768, when pro- vision was made for a new allotment, John Murray, Esq., drew No. 19 for the selection of a " pitch " when the additional division should be made. How long he resided in the township before removing to Rut- land is uncertain, but, evidently, he was for years the most distinguished man in both places. It will be seen from these statements that it was eminently proper he should be selected as the moderator of the first town-meeting in Athol.

The following incidents of his life were obtained by the efforts of Rev. Charles P. Lombard, pastor of the First Church in Plymouth Mass., and late pastor of the Second Unitarian Church of Athol :

Mr. Murray's third wife was Lucretia Chandler. In a genealogy of the Chandler family, collected in 1883, it is recorded that Col. John

Murray " came from Ireland, and it has been supposed with good reason that he was the youngest and wayward son of the Duke of Athol, Scot- land. He had a plate with the Duke's family arms on it. In the grant of the town of Athol by the General Court, the first name was that of John Murray, who probably gave the name of his ancestral honors to the new town. The 'History of Rutland' says he was too poor when he came over to pay his passage. He lost his wife on the voyage. At first he peddled about the country, and then settled at Rutland as & merchant. Some of the doors of the house of Col. John Murray were used in building the State House of Ohio, by mistake for those of Gen. Rufus Putnam's former residence in Rutland, whose memory (Putnam's) the people wanted to honor.

The call for the first town-meeting was as follows:

Worcester SS. To George Cutting, of Athol, in the County of Wor- cester and one of the Principal Inhabitance of Said Town Whare as I the Subscriber, um Impowered by act of the Grate and General Cort To Call a meeting of the Inhabitance of the said Town of Athol to Choose Town officers, &c.

These are Therefore In his majesties Name to Require you forth with to Warn and Notifie the Said Inhabitauc of Athol Qualified to vote in Town affairs that they meet at the meeting-House in Said Town of Athiol, on Monday, the 29 of this Instant, march, at one of the Clock in the afternoon, then and there to Choose a moderator, Selectmen, Town Clerk, assessors, Towa Treasurer, wardins, Constables, Surveyers of Highways, Tythingmen, fence-viewers, Sealers of Leather, Sealers of

"Colonel John Murray wasa man of great influence in his vicinity and in the town of Rutland, which he represented many years in the General Court of Massachusetts. On election days his house was open to his friends, and the good cheer dispensed free to all from bis store, told in his favor at the ballot-box. His wealth, social position and political in- fluence made him one of the colonial noblemen, who lived in a style that has passed away in New England. He was, in 1734, appointed by King George III. and Lord Dartmouth, ' Mandamus' Councilor; but he was not sworn into the office because a party of about five bundred stanch Whigs, with the Committee of Correspondence, repaired to his house in Rutland and requested him to resign his seat in the Council. He left his house on the 25th of August, 1774, and fled to Boston, as he stated in his memorial.

" In 1745 he had commanded the provincial troops, in conjunction with the British, against the French. Like most, who at that day held office atul station from the royal hand, he gave his influence and support to the cause of the government and his King, which brought down upon him the displeasure of the Whigs. Frank Moore, in his ' Diary of the American Revolution,' page 40, vol. i., says, 'Col. Murray, of Rutland, one of His Majesty's Council, has been obliged to leave a large estate in the country and repair to Boston to save himself from being haudled by the mob, and compelled to resign his seat in the Council.'

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History of Worcester County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. II, Part 34

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