History of Worcester County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. II, Part 38

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 38

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Methodist Episcopal Societies .- The oldest of these is the church at South Athol, which was probably organized about the year 1830. Their house of wor- ship was erected in 1836, and Mrs. Melatia Crossman has now in her possession the builder's contract. This is an agreement between nine trustees and two carpenters to build a church forty-two by thirty-two feet and fifteen feet from top of sill to plate. The lumber was to be furnished by the trustees, and the doors, windows, sashes and blinds by the contractors. Forty-four pews were to be built "after the style of the Orthodox Church of Athol." The lumber was furnished by subscription, and the contractors were to receive three hundred dollars for their work.

At present there are thirty-six pews in this church,

and it has a cottage organ and melodeon for instru- mental music. Originally it stood in New Salem, hut the changes of territory have brought it into Athol.

In 1839 a pulpit Bible was given to this church by a man in Wendell, with the request that all names of pastors, with dates, should be written in the " Family Record."

Rev. George Hudson, commencing in 1887, is the minister at present.

In 1851 a Methodist Episcopal Church was organ- ized in Athol, with Mr. George Gerry as class leader. A congregation of considerable size was soon col- lected, and public worship was held in halls in the Lower Village until a convenient church edifice was erected and dedicated in 1861. The pastors of this church have been Rev. John Goodwin, Rev. Linus Fish, 1857-59; W. J. Hambleton, 1859-60; Rev. J. B. Bigelow, 1860-62; Rev. J. W. Coolidge, 1862-63; Rev. F. T. George, 1863-65 ; Rev. John Capen, 1865-66; Rev. C. H. Hannaford, 1866-68; Rev. W. T. Harlow, 1868-69 ; Rev. C. L. McCurdy, 1869-72; Rev. John Peterson, 1872-75; Rev. A. F. Herrick, 1875-78; Rev. L. A. Bosworth, 1878-81; Rev. Wm. Full, 1881-83 ; Rev. A. R. Nichols, 1883-84 ; Rev. P. M. Vinton, 1884-87; and Rev. W. N. Richardson, 1887.

Second Advent Society .- This was organized May 17, 1863, with a membership of twenty-eight persons. For some time the meetings were held in the Engine House Hall, the preacher being Dr. James Heman- way. In 1873 their house of worship was built, at an expense of about two thousand dollars. Their first and only settled minister was Roland D. Grant, who was called January 5, 1876, and resigned November 1st of the same year. The officers of the church at present are James Hemanway and J. F. Sawtelle, elders; George Stockwell and Austin Sheldon, deacons ; O. T. Brooks, treasurer ; and H. A. Wilder, clerk.

The Second Unitarian Church and Society .- This society was legally organized February 22, 1877, the first meeting to consider the matter of such an organ- ization having been held during the previous Novem- ber. Preaching for the new congregation was estab- lished in Starr Hall iu February, 1877. Rev. J. C. Parsons was installed as pastor June 12, 1877. Land was purchased for the erection of a church edifice at the cost of $4,000, and the church was built at the cost of $7,458.48. The furnishing of the same involved the additional expense of $2,994.50. The hall and vestry were built at the cost of $5,348.49, and furnished for $383.19, making the total cost of the entire property, $19,134.66.

The whole amount of cost was raised by subscrip- tion. Unity Hall was dedicated June 11, 1885.

Rev. Mr. Parsons having retired, Rev. Charles P. Lombard was called in March, 1882, and remained as pastor about six years, when he removed to Plymouth, Mass., to take charge of the First Congregational

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Church in that town. The present pastor, Rev. Chas. E. Perkins, was invited to this pastorate May 30, 1888.

The records of this church show that it has at this time one hundred and twenty-six members.

Roman Catholic Church .- Rev. Mr. Martin, in charge, has furnished the facts that are here given.

Prior to 1850 the Catholics of this town were vis- ited at irregular intervals by different priests, but after the above date Athol became a mission and was attended by Rev. M. W. Gibson, of Worcester, who, in 1853, purchased the old Baptist Church in the Upper Village. After this the wants of the people were better supplied. In 1855 Rev. Father Turpin took charge of this mission. About the year 1862 Otter River hecame a parish with resident priest, Rev. Mr. Bannon, who visited Athol monthly. Suc- ceeding him were Rev. Messrs. Orr (now of Cam- bridge), the two by the name of McManus (since dead), Robert Welch (now of Worcester), R. J. Dono- van (since dead) and Joseph Coyne, who attended three times each month till March, 1882, when the present incumbent, Rev. E. F. Martin, was appointed resident rector. Attached to the newly-formed parish are the Catholics of Orange, who have services every Sunday. This deuomiuation has in Athol a prop- erty costing about twelve thousand dollars, four acres of land lying centrally between the two villages; also a basement roofed over until there are sufficient means to build the superstructure ; also a substantial parochial residence. The Catholic population of Athol numbers about nine hundred. the majority of whom are permanent residents, owning their houses and highly esteemed by their fellow-townsmen of all denominations.

Protestant Episcopal Church, St. John's Parish .- In 1793, as Whitney informs us, there was one family of Episcopalians in Athol.

The first Episcopal services held in this town were in 1864, and the meetings were in the Town Hall. Rev. Messrs. French, of Greenfield, and Denham, of South Boston, were among the officiating clergymen at that time. Bishop F. D. Huntington, Rev. W. H. Huntington and others officiated later, and Septem- ber 3, 1866, St. John's Parish was organized and three months later was incorporated. Rev. James D. Reid was at once chosen as rector, but after laboring for a year he removed from town. From that time till 1881 but few services were held, but when, in the autumn of that year, Rev. J. S. Beers was elected diocesan missionary, the interest in this organiza- tion was revived under his faithful labors. At the present time there are about sixty communicants ; the Town Hall is engaged for six months or until a chapel or church edifice can he erected, while a lot for this has been secured on the corner of Park Ave- nue and Allen Street, towards which Mr. Hollon Farr has generously coutributed two hundred dollars. It is expected that the building will be commenced

with the opening spring, and that arrangements can be made so that, for the present, the same rector can officiate in Athol and Winchendon. The clerk is H. M. Burleigh ; Mrs. E. J. G. Parmenter is treas- urer; C. W. Sibley, assistant treasurer ; and Mrs. H. M. Burleigh, organist.

CHAPTER CXXXVII.

ATHOL-(Continued.) MISCELLANEOUS.

THE MILLER'S RIVER BANK .- This bank com- menced business September 12, 1854, with a capital of one hundred thousand dollars, which, later, was increased to one hundred and fifty thousand dollars. Its presidents have been : John Boynton, 1854; Seth Hapgood, 1855-64; Isaac Stevens, 1864-65; and Al- pheus Harding, from 1865 to the present time. Cashiers : Merrick E. Ainsworth, for two years ; Al- pheus Harding, Jr., 1856-65; Albert L. Newman, 1865-81; William D. Luey, 1881, incumbent with William B. Harding, assistant. January 12, 1865, it became Miller's River National Bank. Directors : A. Harding, John G. Mndge, George T. Johnson, Rodney Hunt, A. L. Newman, George Whitney, H. R. Stowell, George D. Bates and William D. Luey. This bank has paid semi-annual dividends ever since its organization, and for the last twenty years these have been at the rate of twelve per cent. annually, amounting to three hundred and sixty thousand dol- lars. The reserve fund is one hundred thousand dollars.

ATHOL SAVINGS BANK .- This bank commenced business in 1867. Presidents, Charles C. Bassett, 1867-82, and John G. Mudge (incumbent), chosen in 1882. Alpheus Harding has been its treasurer from the beginning; Assistant Treasurer, William D. Luey. It has always paid semi-annual dividends. Its standing is: Deposits, $1,357,817.09; guarantee fund, $40,000 ; undivided earnings, $29,763.38. Di- rectors : A. Harding, J. G. Mudge, G. T. Johnson, Rodney Hunt, James G. Smith, J. C. Hill, James M. Lee, Solon W. Lee, Lucian Lord, O. T. Brooks, George N. Kendall, Lewis Thorpe and Henry R. Stowell.

ATHOL NATIONAL BANK .- This bank began bus- iness September 15, 1874, with a capital of one hun- dred thousand dollars. Its first Board of Directors consisted of Thomas H. Goodspeed, Solon W. Lee, Lyman W. Hapgood, Edwin Ellis, James M. Lee, Washington H. Amsden and Gilbert Southard, of Athol ; S. S. Farrar, of South Royalston ; Edward Powers, of Phillipston ; D. C. Paige, of Petersham ; and Isaac Brown, of Templeton.

The present Board of Directors consists of Thomas

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HISTORY OF WORCESTER COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

H. Goodspeed, O. A. Fay, J. D. Holbrook, C. A. Chapman, James M. Lee, F. C. Parmenter and James G. Smith, of Athol; Isaac Brown, of Templeton ; H. C. Longly, of Dana ; and J. H. Lee, of Boston ; with one vacancy.

The president of the bank is Thomas H. Good- speed and the cashier C. A. Chapman. The amount of loans is sixty-five thousand dollars, the amount of deposits is ninety-four thousand dollars and the amount of surplus and profits is thirteen thousand dollars.

CONNECTION WITH THE WORLD .- Athol has good carriage-roads leading to all the neighboring towns, and railroad connection with most of them and with the world at large. The Vermont and Massachusetts Rail- road (from Fitchburg to Greenfield) was opened in 1847. This is now an important link in the great Fitchburg Railroad system. It has now a double track, and affords excellent facilities for travel and business. In years gone by, especially after snow-storms, close connections with other roads were very uncertain.

The Athol and Enfield Railroad, which has since become the Springfield and Northeastern Railroad, was opened in part in 1871. This road now belongs to the Boston and Albany Railroad system, and opens an important outlet for business, and will probably become more and more valuable to the town.

The spacious and convenient railroad station at Athol, costing about thirty thousand dollars, was erected in 1873. At this station some of the passen- ger trains stop for refreshments. There is a railroad station at South Athol, on the Athol Branch of the Boston and Albany Railroad.

POST-OFFICES .- List of postmasters1 at Athol (now Athol Centre) from the establishment of the office :

Appointed

Joseph Esterbrook

October 3, 1802

Solomon Strong

April 3, 1803

James Humphreys April 1, 1805

Joseph Proctor, February 11, 1809

Reappointed. .May 8, 1819

Nathaniel C. Esterbrook September 13, 1822

Clough R. Miles

March 24, 1823

Reappointed .July 15, 1828

Lincoln B. Knowlton February 25, 1835

William II. Williams August 24, 1837

Isaac Stevens July 13, 1841

William H. Williams

September 5, 1842

Benjamin Esterbrook December 30, 1847

Stillman Simonds. .August 25, 1849

Isaac Stevens June 10, 1850

Jolin II. Williams .May 13, 1854

Samuel Lee .. March 27, 1858

Thomas II. Goodspeed. June 25, 1862

Reappointed. April 22, 1873

Frank H. Raymond (incumbent). .July -, 1885

List of postmasters at Athol Depot (aud later Athol) from the establishment of the office :

Appointed

Joseph W. Hammond.

.August 4, 1849

Sylvanus E. Twitchell

......... .. August 7, 1851

1 This list was procured and kindly furnished to the author by the proprietors of The Athol Transcript.

Howard B. Iunt. November 1, 1864 Reappointed March 2, 1867

Lucien Lord. April 21, 1869

William W. Fish (incumbent).

The post-office at Athol Centre has been kept in dwelling-houses, stores and other buildings too numer- ous to mention.

The office in "The Factory Village," later "The Depot Village," and now Athol, was opened in 1849 in a small house, a little west of the Methodist Church. Two years later Mr. S. E. Twitchell estah- lished it in a small room in the Pequoig House. Mr. Hunt kept it for a time in the ell of the same hotel, and then removed it to his music store.

Mr. Lord having erected Masonic Block in 1874, reserved in it spacious and convenient quarters for the post-office. The present names of the two offices were given them June 8, 1875.

From the list of postmasters and their appointment as given above, it appears that relatively the post- office in Athol was established quite early, for towards the close of the last century nearly the whole of Worcester County was served by the office at Worces- ter. In the Massachusetts Spy, 1801, the postmaster of Worcester advertised letters for nearly all the towns in the county and for some of the towns in ad- joining counties.

THE WORCESTER NORTHWEST AGRICULTURAL AND MECHANICAL SOCIETY .- For some years previous to 1867 annual fairs were held in Athol, at which the exhibitions were highly creditable and awakened a great amount of interest. These gatherings, which were largely attended, doubtless prepared the way for the incorporation of the society named above. This was established in the town of Athol in 1867, and issued its first report in that year. Its officers at that time were as follows: Calvin Kelton, president ; Josiah Haven and J. F. Packard, vice-presidents ; Thomas H. Goodspeed, treasurer ; . E. T. Lewis, secre- tary; and L. W. Hapgood, Benjamin Estabrook, F. F. Fay, C. H. Baldwin, A. G. Stratton and E. J. Sage, trustees, all of Athol, except Mr. Baldwin, who belonged in Phillipston. The exhibition of horses and farm stock took place on the Common, while that of fruits, vegetables, flowers and manufactured articles was in the vestry of the Orthodox Church. Premiums amounting to abont one hundred and ten dollars were awarded. The list of members contained the names of eighty-five men and women of Athol and of nineteen others, belonging mostly in Phillips- ton, Royalston and New Salem.

For the year 1868 F. F. Fay, Esq., of Athol, was president, and seven well-known gentlemen of this town and vicinity, vice-presidents. The society re- ceived from the State, as its share of the State bounty, abont $218, and paid out for premiums $219. The chief event of that year affecting the society was the purchase of land for fair grounds. A lot was bought of Mr. Benjamin Estabrook for $1500, and another

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lot adjoining of Mr. S. D. Prouty for $1300. There was cash in the treasury to pay $300 on these pur- chases, and notes were given for $2500, with interest at five per cent. Within the grounds there is a beauti- ful grove, while a lake borders the same upon one of its sides. During 1869 an exhibition hall was erected, one hundred by fifty feet, two stories high. In the second story is a hall for addresses, society dinners, etc., with offices for the officials of the society. A track was prepared for the exhibition of horses and a stand for judges erected. These permanent im- provements upon the grounds cost $8853. During the year 1871 $1200 of the debt of the society were paid, the sum total of the receipts for the year having been $4846. Of this amount $600 were received from the Commonwealth. The number of members was also largely increased. From year to year it has been customary to enlarge the range and amount of premiums offered and to diminish as rapidly as possi- ble the debt of the society. In 1875 this amounted to $9722. In 1880 this debt had been reduced to $7125, and in 1887 it appears from the reports to have amounted to only $1400. From the beginning, the whole enterprise has been eminently successful.

PHYSICIANS AND SURGEONS.1- Dr. Joseph Lord, first physician, exhorter and clerk of proprietors, died in Vermont; Dr. Ellinwood, home at the Ellin- wood place, on The Street ; Dr. Royal Humphrey, son of first pastor, on The Street; Dr. Ebenezer Chaplin, on the Common ; Dr. Rice, removed, lived in the house of Theo. Jones; Dr. Holmes, removed to Lei- cester, dead ; Dr. Morton, lived on Sawyer place, Orange Road; Dr. William H. Williams, Brick House, Centre, dead; Dr. George Hoyt, water cure founder, dead ; Dr. George Field, water cure, dead; Dr. J. H. Hero, removed to Westborough, water cure ; Dr. Hutchinson, contemporary with Dr. Hoyt, dead; Dr. George D. Colony, in Depot Village, re- moved to Fitchburg; Dr. Austin, in Centre, acci- dentally killed in 1856; Dr. A. G. Williams, in Depot Village, removed to St. Albans, Vt., dead ; Dr. James Cooledge, successor of Dr. Colony, died in Depot Village; Dr. J. B. Gould, removed to Somerville ; Dr. Kendall Davis, removed to Templeton, dead; Dr. O. M. Drury, removed to Orange, dead; Dr. H. A. Deane, removed to East Hampton, Mass .; Dr. V. O. Taylor, removed to Providence, R. I .; Dr. Jackson, removed to Somerville, Mass. ; Dr. Kemp, removed to Danvers; Dr. King, removed to Huntington; Dr. Donnell; Dr. A. N. Parsons, removed to Mexico, and Dr. C. W. Parsons, removed to Worthington, dead, brothers ; Dr. Chamberlain, lived on The Street, re- moved to New Salem; Dr. James P. Lynde, now resident . since 1856, Centre; Dr. James Oliver, resi- dent since 1877, Centre; Dr. H. O. Dunbar, came in 1873, Depot Village; Dr. M. L. Linsey, 1882, Depot

Village; Dr. Smith, 1888, Depot Village; Dr. H. H. Burns, 1888, Depot Village; Dr. R. H. Dunne, re- moved to New Haven, 1888.

Eclectic Physicians .- Dr. Simmonds, Depot Village, removed ; Dr. Chase, on Hollis Goddard place, re- moved; Dr. Maybe, Depot Village, removed; Dr. Green, removed to Paris, Maine, Riceville; Dr. D. D. Davis, Centre, removed.

Homeopathic Physicians .- Dr. Cragin, Depot Vil- lage, removed ; Dr. Broons, removed to East Boston ; Dr. Thayer, removed; Dr. Colburn, removed; Dr. C. H. Forbes, resident between the villages. Drs. A. G. Williams and James Oliver were surgeons in the army during the Rebellion. Dr. G. D. Colony is widely known as a consulting physician in Fitchburg and vicinity, and so is Dr. Lynde in the northwestern part of Worcester County. Dr. Lynde is treasurer of the Board of Control of the State Agricultural Ex- periment Station. Drs. Colony, Lynde and Oliver have been efficient members of the Athol School Com- mittee, the former two for a series of successive years.

In the list given above, there are the names of some others who, from time to time, took an active part in the business, educational and religious interests of the town.

LAWYERS .- No public record has been preserved respecting the earliest lawyers in Athol. In 1850, and for about fifteen years afterwards, till the time of his death, Isaac Stevens had his law-office in the Upper Village. He was a useful citizen, and very favorably known in his profession as a member of the Worcester County bar. For a short time he was the president of Miller's River National Bank, also postmaster at Athol for some years.

Among the lawyers of Athol who have died, Far- well F. Fay may be mentioned. He was a native of New Salem, and was first known in Athol as a suc- cessful teacher in one of the common schools. Later he became master of the High School, but relinquished this position to study law in the Law Department of Harvard University. After his graduation he settled as a lawyer in Athol. In 1862 Mr. Fay recruited a company of soldiers-chiefly from Athol-for nine months' service against the Confederacy, and was chosen their captain. This was Company E of the Fifty-third Regiment Massachusetts Volunteers, and served during the tedious campaign in Louisiana. For some years after his return from the war he was a member of the School Committee. Later he opened a law-office in Boston, and died there in 1888.

Charles Field is one of the senior members of the Worcester County bar, and one of the vice-presidents of the Bar Association. He was born in Athol and removed in early youth to Greenfield. He studied law in the office of Hon. Daniel Wells, afterwards chief justice of the Court of Common Pleas. After his admission to the bar he spent four years in the West and Southwest, returning thence to Massachu- setts and to his native town, which he has since made

1 The names of these and dates have been kindly furnished by Dr. James P. Lynde.

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HISTORY OF WORCESTER COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

the place of his residence. In 1857 he was elected to the House of Representatives, and in the two years following was a member of the State Senate. In 1860 he was a Republican Presidential elector, and, with Chief Justice Chapman, John G. Whittier and others, cast the electoral vote of Massachusetts for Abraham Lincoln and Hannibal Hamlin. Since then he has confined himself to the duties of his profession. On the establishment of the First District Court of North - ern Worcester, in 1884, he was appointed justice of the same, and still holds that office. In 1856 he mar- ried Caroline C. Alden, and has one son, Charles Field, Jr., who follows his father's profession.

Though not in the army during the Civil War, the services of Mr. Field were eminently helpful. For a number of years he was the collector of internal rev- enue in the district embracing Athol.

George W. Horr, a member of the Harvard Law School Association, the senior member of the bar of Northern Worcester, is a native of New Salem. He received his academical education in his native town, in Quoboag Seminary, Warren ; in Phillips Academy, Andover; and Williston Seminary, Easthampton, from the last of which he graduated as salutatorian in 1848. He then pursued science and law at Harvard University. Later he was in law-offices in Greenfield and New York City, and, later still, as a partner of the late Charles G. Colby, opened a literary bureau in Brooklyn, N. Y. Returning to Massachusetts, he was admitted to the bar in 1860, and received the de- gree of LL.B. from Harvard. Mr. Horr filled various important positions in his native town before remov- ing to Athol in 1863. During the Rebellion he en- listed as a soldier, but a severe injury received before the war prevented his acceptance. In Athol he has served as chairman of the School Committee and moderator of the town-meetings. A Democrat, he cast the one solitary vote for the Democratic candi- date for Governor in 1865. On various occasions Mr. Horr has delivered literary and scientific addresses, and at the celebration in Athol, July 4, 1887, he was the orator.

For the "History of Worcester County," published in 1879, Mr. Horr prepared the histories of Athol, Dana, Petersham, Phillipston and Royalston. His law practice is large, particularly in the Department of the Interior, at Washington.

Sidney P. Smith, A.B., LL.B., attorney-at-law, Athol, Mass., was born in Princeton, 111., July 13, 1850, and fitted for college at the High School in his native town, and entered Amherst College, Amherst, Mass., 1870, and gradnated in 1874. He was principal of the Athol High School from 1876 to 1880. He graduated at Union College of Law, Chicago, in 1882, and the same year was admitted to the bar in Illinois, and in 1883 to the Massachusetts bar. He has been special justice of the First District Court of Northern Worcester since 1884, and represented the First Worcester District in the Massachusetts House

of Representatives in 1887 and 1888. He married, in 1879, Miss Stella M. Parmenter, of Athol, by whom he has had two children.

Henry M. Burleigh, counselor-at-law, Athol, Mass., was born in Hartford, Conn., March 2, 1835; was fitted for the bar under private tutors, and ad- mitted to the bar of Suffolk County, Mass., as an attorney and counselor-at-law July 17, 1856. He was commissioned second lieutenant in First Regi- ment New York Volunteers, April, 1861 ; promoted to adjutant, and afterward captain of Company D. He was also commissioned assistant adjutant-general of volunteers in April, 1862, and served on the general staff of the United States Army till the close of the war. He was wounded three times-at Antietam Sep- tember 17, 1862; again July 4, 1864, and at Win- chester in April, 1865. He was mustered out Sep- tember, 1865. He settled in Kansas, and in 1866 was appointed United States commissioner, and also served two terms as prosecuting attorney of Allen County. In 1878 he settled in Athol. He married Clara Hoyt, daughter of Dr. George Hoyt, of Athol, in May, 1871, but has had no children.

E. V. Wilson, counselor-at-Jaw .- Mr. Wilson was born at Winchendon, Mass., July 1, 1847. After fitting for college in New Hampshire, he graduated from Cornell University at Ithaca, N. Y., in 1872. He read law with Wheeler & Falkner in Keene, N. H., and was admitted to practice in the New Hamp- shire Courts in 1875. In 1876 he was admitted to the Massachusetts bar at Greenfield, and established himself in his profession in Athol in May of the same year. Mr. Wilson was auditor for the town in 1887, and at the last election was chosen a member of the School Committee for the term ending in 1890.

Charles Field, Jr., counselor-at-law .- Mr. Field was born in Cambridge, Mass., fitted for college at Phillips Academy, Andover, and with private tutors ; entered Williams College in 1877, and graduated, B.A., in 1881. He studied law in the office of his father, Judge Charles Field, of Athol, for two years ; also read law two years in the Boston Law School, and was admitted to the Massachusetts bar in June, 1886. Mr. Field is in practice in Athol.

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History of Worcester County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. II, Part 38

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