History of Worcester County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. II, Part 63

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 63

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About the year 1778 Mr. Edmund Barnard, an en- terprising citizen, bought the water privilege in Wachusettville, where now stands the principal paper-mill of Mr. Wyman, with lands adjoining, and,

associating others with him, built a dam and erected works for the production of various kinds of iron goods-nails, scythes, hoes, etc. Mr. Barnard soon sold out and put up similar works on the stream flowing out of Westminster Pond, nearly opposite the present residence of Mr. Kilgore. These works were carried on under varying auspices for a genera- tion or more, but were finally superseded by other industries. At a privilege above the first of those just named, purchased by Mr. Thomas Rand, of Wes- ton, in 1782, a fulling-mill was built, which was sub- sequently sold to David Wyman, who carried on the business for more than half a century. A similar mill stood for many years a little below the town meadows, in the rear of the residence of the late Abijah Raymond. This was started by one Elisha Hall, who operated it for a while, and was succeeded by several other parties before it was finally aban- doned. Mr. Rand, who erected the clothier's shop at Wachusettville, having also purchased considera- ble property on the stream above, including the Brattle saw-mill, also erected a shop for carding wool and a grist-mill, which served the public in their re- spective ways until supplanted by other and more important interests, some forty or fifty years ago.

In or about the year 1810 Nathan Corey, of Bol- ton, bought the iron-works, or forge, as the establish- ment was called, with land attached thereto, and, at the lower end of the property, erected a factory for the mannfacture of woolen goods. This business was carried on for several years, when the building, after remaining unoccupied for some time, was used for the production of chair stock and other purposes connected with the chair manufacture. An oil-mill, erected by Ebenezer Jones, once stood on the north branch of the stream running north of the central village, near where the highway leading to Mr. Al- bert Howard's leaves the old county road to Ashburn- ham. Mr. Silas Perry began cabinet-making in the west part of the central village abont the year 1787, and was succeeded by Edward Kendall, Esq., who was clerk of the town for more than thirty years, and he, in turn, by his sons, Edward and George Kendall. A similar establishment was carried on by the Cut- ting Brothers for many years in the same village, and also one with water-power attachment by Mr. Ira Brooks in the extreme north part of the town. Mr. Joseph Minott acquired a somewhat wide reputation as maker of bass-viols. Several individuals followed the wheelwright's trade at different period-, as also that of the millwright. Harness-making was an in- dnstry of the town for a long series of years. Card- boards were produced in considerable quantities some seventy or eighty years ago. Combs were for awhile, at a later date, articles of manufacture. One distillery only, so far as is known, ever had a place on the territory, and this was not of long continu- ance. Happy had it been if the products of no other had ever crossed its boundaries.

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Of the thirty-eight mill privileges which have been utilized within the borders of the town from the be- ginning, some fifteen have been wholly or chiefly em- ployed in the production of lumber for building or other general purposes, and commanded in their day the service of a considerable number of men. But these have all been given up or made subservient to other interests hereafter to be noticed. Of the half- dozen grist-mills that have been erected to supply the needs of the community in that particular, only one remains, that of Mr. Eli Merriam, who has bnilt up an extensive flour and grain business in connec- tion with the production of meal. The building oc- cupied by him was erected in 1856 by his father, Mr. Caleb S. Merriam, for a chair shop, but was subse- quently changed to its present uses, and later passed over to the son, who has improved very much the fa- cilities for operating in his line, and greatly extended his trade.

About the year 1845, Mr. Alfred Wyman, now of Worcester, commenced the manufacture of bread in the centre of the town, having erected a shop for the purpose and furnishel it with the appliances com- monly in use at the time. By careful and conscien- tious attention to his special work, the introduction of the most approved kinds of machinery, the em- ployment of skilled workmen and the adoption of methods suggested to his inquiring mind by study and experience, he built up a business which has proved to be not only a great success in itself, but an important part of the industry of the place. He pro- duced an article of general consumption which rose at once to almost universal favor, and was in great demand not only at home, but in all the surrounding country for a dozen or twenty miles away-in all lo- calities indeed where the " Westminster Bread " was known. His several successors, by making improve- ments of their own and taking advantage of what has been gained to the art elsewhere, have been able to keep up the reputation of the goods manufactured and their labors have been crowned with almost un- exceptional success. E. L. Burnham & Son are the present proprietors of the large and prosperous estab- lishment.

Somewhere about forty years ago Mr. Franklin Wyman, brother of Alfred named above, having come into possession of most of the water-power located in what is now Wachusettville, began there the business of paper manufacturing. The undertaking proving successful, he enlarged these facilities in various par. ticulars to meet the demands of increasing business . until he built up one of the most prosperous estab- lishments in the vicinity. Having continued for some years with satisfactory results, he sold out the entire property to other parties and retired in good degree from active life. But after some changes the plant and all its accessories came back to him, when he resumed the manufacture as before. After a few years he retired again, giving up his business to his

sons, one of whom subsequently withdrew, leaving it . in the hands of the other, who is now prosecuting it advantageously on his own account. He employs about thirty men.

The principal manufacturing interest of the town at this present time, as for more than half a century past, is that of chair-making. At what date, where and by whom this industry was introduced to the at- tention of the community has not been definitely as- certained. Fifty or sixty years ago there was a consid- erable number of small chair shops scattered in differ- ent localities over the territory, the work being then done wholly by hand. It was not long, however, before some twelve or fifteen factories with water-power at- tachment were erected, mainly for the purpose of getting out chair stock, thongh many of them were afterwards used for the manufacture of chairs. These flourished for a time with varying degrees of success, employing a large number of men, uutil the tendency to concentrate prevalent in later days gradually re- duced their numbers to the verge of extinction, leav- ing in their place the more imposing establishments which now represent the industry in the community, and which it is proper to notice in their separate ca- pacity and character.

In 1857 two of the older sons of the late Edmund Nichols, associating with themselves two other per- sons, bought the property where the extensive factory of the Nichols Brothers now stands and lands adjoin- ing, and, after erecting a small shop and duly fur- nishing it, commenced operations in chair-making. They went on for some years making such addi- tions and improvements as the growing enterprise demanded and their means would .allow. After. several changes the entire property passed into the hands of Charles and Marcus M. Nichols, the young- est sons of the said Edmond Nichols, who are still in possession and doing a large and successful business. They were burned out in 1881, but immediately re- built larger than before, to meet the increasing demand for their goods. By their enterprise and thrift they contribute largely to the life and prosperity of the town. They have a small shop in a lumber region in Princeton, which is an adjunct to their main factory, and employ, in all, about seventy-five men.

Mr. Artemas Merriam and his brother-in-law, Mr. George Holden, began chair-making in what is now South Westminster in 1848. An old cooper shop somewhat enlarged and a very small water-power furnished them a starting-point for what has proved to be a large and important undertaking. A new shop, with a steam-engine, became a necessity in 1853. Four years later another enlargement of both room and power took place. Business increased and new facilities were introduced. In 1858 Joel Merriam, brother of Artemas, came into the firm. All went on well until 1869, when the factory and its contents were destroyed by fire. Mr. Daniel C. Miles was then ad- mitted to the partnership and a new factory was at

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once erected, furnished and put into operation. Early in 1873 Mr. Miles retired, and before midsummer both Joel Merriam and George Holden died. Since that time Mr. Artemas Merriam has been sole owner and manager. Increasing prosperity has attended the establishment, its capacity for business having doubled under the present administration. Seventy-five men are employed and a business is done of from sixty to eighty thousand dollars a year.

Mr. Franklin Lombard came to Westminster in 1839, and located in the north part of the town, near the Forbush Hotel. Purchasing a chair-shop and saw-mill, he began to get out chair-stock, but gradually worked into the manufacture of chairs, which he has continued to the present date. He has done a moder- ate business with satisfactory results and has the honor of running the oldest chair-making establish- ment in town.

Of the number of persons engaged in trade in West- minster since the beginning, it is impossible to speak with assurance. Stores for miscellaneous traffic have, at different times, been opened at no less than thirteen different localities, though several of them were in operatiou but a short period. For fifty years three in the central village and one temporarily in Wachusettville have been sufficent to supply the needs of the community, the larger places near by at- tracting considerable custom from the general public. There are fourteen hotel sites within the town's bound- aries, only one of which, however, has been used as a public-house for a quarter of a century.' This is the old stand at the Centre, now under the efficient man- agement of Mr. Emerson N. Goddard.

At the head of a line of twenty-five physicians who have practiced in the town stands Dr. Jeremiah Everett, a descendant of Richard Everett, of Dedham, the common ancestor of a family of wide and honora- ble repute in the State and nation. The first lawyer in the place was Solomon Strong, from Athol, after- ward Judge Strong, of Leominster, who was also a member of Congress. His successor was Alexander Dustin, who traced his descent from the celebrated Hannah Dustin, of Indian warfare memory. For thirty years the town has been without a member of the legal profession.

CHAPTER CXLIV.

WESTMINSTER-(Continued.)

Education-Religion-Military Affairs-Miscellaneous.

EDUCATION .- Nothing seems to have been done for the public instruction of the children of Narragansett No. 2 before its incorporation as the district of West- minster. Several attempts were made to establish schools, but they proved ineffectual. The principal

reason of this was, no doubt, that for twenty or more years after the settlement of the township there were very few children in it of a school-going age, and they were so widely scattered as to render it difficult, if not impossible, to bring them together for any com- mon purpose, and hence whatever instruction was given to those needing it in those days was given in the home, probably by the parents or older members of the household. The first effective action of the citizens upon this subject was taken December 24, 1759, when they "voted that they will have a Read- ing and Riting School for three months in the middle of the town," and also "that £6 (twenty dollars) be assessed and levied on the inhabitants of the District of Westminster for the use of the Schoole in sª Dis- trict." In March, 1761, £8 (twenty-six dollars) was appropriated for the same purpose. In January, 1762, the same amount was granted, and, instead of having a single school in the middle of the town, it was voted " to have a moving school," and " that the school he kept at Mr. Nathan Parker's house, and Mr. Philip Bemis's, and at Capt. Daniel Hoar's and at Lieut. Thomas Stearns'," "an equal part of the time at each place." The appropriations increased from year to year, slowly, and the schools continued to be " kept" in different localities at private houses. In 1765 the District was fined for not maintaining schools, as required by the statutes of the Province ; hence in 1766 it was, among other things, voted "to keep a school five months in the middle of the town accord- ing to law." At the same time it was also voted "to build one school-house and to build it at the pound," -that is, near the Fenno corner, opposite where the barn of Hobart Raymond now stands. The site was afterward changed "to the Northeast corner of the Meeting-house lot," and it was accordingly erected there, and remained till within the memory of some now living. October 15, 1767, the district voted "to keep school in the School-House till the first of March next." At the same meeting the citizens "allowed Abagail Whitney £1 38. 4p. for keeping school eight weeks, lacking four days." About the same time Moses Stearns was paid £1 188. 7p. " for keeping school." In the treasurer's records is the following item: "Feb. ye 1, 1768, Payed two pounds eight shillings for Mr. Samuel Hoar keeping school hear." This Samuel Hoar was the grandfather of Senator Hoar, and a son of John Hoar, one of the early proprietors of the township and a sometime resident within its borders.

In 1768 the District was divided into four squad- rons for promoting educational interests, and in 1772 a re-division was made whereby five "squadrons " were established, to wit: one at the Centre and one at each of the four parts of the ontlying territory, indicated by the four cardinal points of the com- pass. During the same year houses were ordered to be erected iu these outlying squadrons, and the order was duly executed. The five school-houses accom-

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HISTORY OF WORCESTER COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

modated the greater part of the population, but a few families in the extreme north and a few in the extreme west part of the District being still far dis- tant from any school building, were allowed for some years to draw their proportion of the school money and expend it as they saw fit. Various re- districtings of the town took place from time to time as the increase of the scholars and the gene- ral convenience seemed to require, until there were twelve in number in 1848, when they reached their maximum.

As the town increased in wealth and population the yearly appropriation for educational purposes increased proportionally, only a few items of which can be noted. In 1775 it was £40, or about $133.33; in 1800, $400; in 1810, $520; in 1820, $520; in 1830, $800; in 1840, $1,000; in 1850, $1,200; in 1860, $1,500 ; in 1870, $2,700; in 1880, $2,750.

Up to the year 1806 the schools of the town had been under the charge of no special superintending committee, only as the Constitution of the State made it the duty of the ministers of religion to visit them from time to time and exercise advisory power over them in the interest of good morals and the general welfare. The selectmen and prudential committee of each district together managed the more external affairs pertaining to their operation. But a law had been passed by the Legislature requiring towns to elect annually a committee of inspection for the pub- lic schools, and they were first chosen in the year mentioned. In 1871 the town purchased the old academy building on the westerly brow of Meeting- house Hill, in which the older children had enjoyed the privileges of a select school for a number of years, and fitted it up for high school purposes, to which it was afterward devoted as a part of the equipment of the public school system until it was burned, in the early part of 1888. The schools of Westminster have always maintained a good standing in the general community, and have sent a creditable number of those receiving their earlier tuition in them to higher institutions of learning and to useful and honorable callings and positions in life.

The Westminster Academy was established in 1829, when the structure just referred to was erected and furnished with facilities for a more advanced and wider range of studies than was at that date sup- plied by the common schools. It had a successful run for some thirty years, being especially prosperous during the decade of 1840-50, and was a valuable ac- cessory to the cause of education in the town and vicinity. Owing to the increase of high schools in neighboring towns, interest in it after a time declined, and it was finally given up, the building being dis. posed of as just now stated. A reunion of its old students was held in the summer of 1884, when over six hundred of them gathered from all parts of the country to exchange kindly greetings, indulge in reminisceuces, revive old associations beneath the

shades and in honor of their alma mater. It was an occasion of rare and memorable enjoyment.

A Social Library was established in Westminster near the close of the last century, which had a wide patronage, and exerted a healthy intellectual and moral influence upon the community for more than a generation. After it was abandoned, and its books were sold, other similar means of culture were insti- tuted, with more or less successful results. At length a collection of books, purchased by the Farmers' Club, and one belonging to a Young Peo- ple's Literary Society, were united to form the nucleus and foundation for a Free Public Library, which has been in existence for some years, and is a means of great usefulness. It contains a choice selection of the best literature of the times, is well patronized and promises well for coming years. There are in it about 2500 vohimes, and the yearly circulation is some 5000 volumes. Mrs. S. E. Warner is the ac- complished and efficient librarian.

RELIGION .- One of the first things to engage the attention of the proprietors of Narragansett No. 2 after the actual settlement within its borders, as re- quired by the original grant of the Provincial Legis- lature, was the erection of a suitable house of wor- ship and the employment of an Orthodox minister of the Gospel, to Jead in its service and have charge of the spiritual interests of the people. On the 23d of November, 1737, less than nine months subse- quent to the coming of Fairbanks Moor and Joseph Holden to the place, when only fifteen persons were residents there, the proprietors voted " to proceed as soon as they conveniently can to build a Meeting- House," and "to have it suitable for occupancy June 1, 1739." At the same meeting a committee was chosen to carry these votes into effect. In Septem- ber, 1738, when there were but three families on the territory, £30 were appropriated "to secure some suitable person to preach the Gospel to the 1st of June next." Later an equal sum was added, and £60 ($200) a year, was appropriated thereafter till a minister was permanently settled. On the 6th of June, 1738, the meeting-house, which had been en- closed and shingled, was formally dedicated to God. It was a plain structure, forty-five feet long and thirty-five wide, with twenty feet posts, having no architectural or other ornamentation whatever. It was located on Meeting-house Hill, on the north side of the street, a little eastward of the centre of . the plateau. On the 4th of August, 1742, the pro- prietors extended a call to Mr. Elisha Marsh, of Cambridge, a native of Hadley, Mass., and a recent graduate of the college, to become minister of the township. He accepted, and was ordained on the 20th of October. At the close of the services a church was instituted, with Joseph Holden and Joseph Mil- ler deacons. Mr. Marsh was to have £300 old tenor for a settlement, a house-lot of sixty acres and a sal- ary of £45 ($150) annually. The relation between

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Mr. Marsh and the people did not prove to be a very harmonious and happy one. He was troubled about their payment of his salary. They were troubled about the quality of his preaching. They were slack and inconstant in meeting their obligations. He was un-Orthodox aud latitudinarian in matters of doctrine. After fifteen years, during most of which time there was friction and mutual discontent break- ing out in two or three lawsuits, the connection was dissolved, to the relief, no doubt, of both parties.

The successor of Mr. Marsh was Rev. Asaph Rice, a returned Oneida Indian missionary, who was in- stalled, after an iuterregnum in the pastorate of ahout seven years, October 16, 1765. The distracted state of the church and township, caused by the troubles that existed between Mr. Marsh and the people, reudered it difficult to obtain a new minister until time had softened somewhat the existing as- perities and healed the alienations that had been created between the members of the church and con- gregation. Mr. Rice proved to be a satisfactory pas- tor and a worthy and highly-esteemed citizen. He remained in his office, faithfully discharging its du- ties, till obliged to suspend them by failing health, which resulted in his death, in March, 1816. He was in active service nearly fifty years.

During the ministry of Mr. Rice the meeting- house, huilt by the proprietors in 1738, becoming di- lapidated and insufficient to accommodate the in- creasing population of the town, was superseded by a new one, located a little to the west of the one whose place it was to fill. The new structure was sixty feet long by forty-five wide, in the usual rec- tangular form, with fourteen feet porches at the two ends. It was two stories in height, with ample gal- leries, large square pews, after the fashion of the times, and a high pulpit, over which hung a large sounding-board, always a wonder to the youthful mind. The work of building was done in 1788, and the dedication took place January 1, 1789. In 1807 a belfry was erected, at the west end of the house, of respectable proportions and reasonable height, ad- ding much to the external comeliness of the struc- ture, and giving to it a more imposing, as well as a more ecclesiastical, appearance. In 1820 this house of worship passed from the ownership of the town to that of the First Congregational Society, by whom it was occupied till the erection of their present neat and commodious edifice on Main Street in 1837, soon after which it was taken down.

The Rev. Cyrus Mann was installed as colleague of Rev. Mr. Rice in 1815, and continued his labors till 1841, when he gave place to Rev. Stephen S. Smith. For five years Mr. Mann was minister of the town, but afterward of the First Congregational Church and Society, which was organized at the time of the aban- donment of the control of religious affairs by the citi- zens-at-large and the adoption of the voluntary sys- tem in 1820. Since Mr. Mann there have been ten

pastors, settled and acting, of this church and society, including the present incumbent, Rev. Charles M. Palmer. The changed condition of things in regard to the tenure of the ministerial office is shown by the fact that three pastorates filled up the almost entire period of the first hundred years of the town's his- tory, while there have been ten during the past forty- eight years.

About the year 1812 a number of individuals, mostly in the northern part of the town, interested in the doc- trines and polity of the Methodist denomination, united with others in adjoining towns in the forma- tion of a society representing that form of Christian faith. A small house of worship was erected on the road to South Ashburnham, near the town line, in 1817, which stood till 1832, when it was sold, the pro- ceeds going into a newchurch at Ash burnham Centre, where the Westminster Methodists have since wor- shipped. It does not appear that any regular Method- ist minister was ever stationed in the place, the pulpit being supplied by itinerant clergyman and local lay preachers.

In 1816 a society of Universal Restorationists was established, although they had no regular minister and no house of worship for some years. They built a church on the North Common, a mile and a half from the Centre, in 1820, and Rev. Levi Briggs was installed as pastor two years later. He was succeeded by Rev. Charles Hudson in 1824, who continued in the ministerial office till 1842, when he exchanged the clerical for political life. The meeting-house of this society was moved to the central village in 1835. Since the retirement of Mr. Hudson fourteen minis- ters have been regularly employed in rendering pas- toral service to this society and the church connected with it, though there have been intervals when no re- ligious service has been maintained.

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History of Worcester County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. II, Part 63

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