History of Worcester County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. II, Part 64

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 64

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A Baptist Society was organized in 1827 and a church of a corresponding faith three years afterward. A plain brick meeting-house was erected in 1829, be- ing located, for obvious reasons, on a rise of land near the foot of the pond. In 1863 this building was abandoned, and the present more conveniently lo- cated and attractive one in the Centre took its place. Rev. Appleton Morse was the first minister, serviug in both Westminster and [Princeton at the same time. He has had fourteen successors, the Rev. Lyman Par- tridge being now the pastor.

During the years 1842 and 1843 considerable inter- est was awakened among certain classes of the popu- lation in the views promulgated by one William Miller respecting what was denominated the Second Coming of Christ and the end of the World, which was represented as being then near at hand. Meet- ings were held; converts were made; much excite- ment prevailed, aud for a brief period more religious zeal and activity seemed to be manifested in connec- tion with the acceptance and promulgation of those views than in any other direction: But time passed

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on; the world still kept up its accustomed move- ments, showing no signs of age or decay ; the excite- ment died out, and the religious concerns of the community received due care and consideration by the established societies and churches, as before, and so continue to this day.

PHILANTHROPY AND REFORM .- While the people of Westminster have given due consideration to the general interests of the community, and have been willing and ready to foster and promote whatever in the ordinary trend of things seemed calculated to advance the common welfare and happiness, they have not been indifferent to the great reform move- ments which have characterized the last fifty years of American life, and to those causes inaugurated and carried forward either for the purpose of resist- ing and overthrowing some of the existing evils of society or of ameliorating the condition, in some positive, effectual way, of their needy, unfortunate and suffering fellow-men. The cry of outraged, sor- rowing humanity has not been sounded among them in vain. When the appeal of the Southern bondman weut forth through the land, there was a goodly number, representing both the radical and conserva- tive types of anti-slavery activity, who boldly and openly "stood up and were counted " on the side of those who sought to circumvent the designs of the oppressor and secure the enfranchisement of the oppressed. And so it has been in respect to the mighty evil of intemperance. Suffering as the town has done with all others by reason of this devastat- ing scourge, yet have its ravages and threatenings been met with an earnest and vigorous opposition, expressed both in personal influence and by organ- ized efforts which have been productive of striking and gratifying results. The use of intoxicating liquors as a beverage is essentially abandoned among all the better classes of its population, and the traffic in such liquors, which in bygone times brought so much death and woe into the community, has, for many years, been placed under the ban of public opinion by the vote of the citizens, and thereby also under the ban of the statutes of the . Commonwealth. It has been, and still is, the same proportionately with other good causes and enterprises having in their keeping the improvement and progress of man. kind.

CARE OF THE POOR .- The town under review has never been indifferent to the condition and righteous claims of the unfortunate and needy among its popu- lation. Early in its corporate history Jonas Winship and others were paid for keeping Hannah Mead and supplying her with the necessaries of life, at the rate of " three shillings per week when she was well, and six shillings when she was ill." At the annual March meeting in 1765 twenty pounds were voted for the support of the poor, the first appropriation made for this purpose. Agreeably to both provin- cial and State law, most new-comers were " warned

out" or "cautioned," as the process was sometimes called, whereby the persons involved were cut off from all claims upon the town for support or help, provided they should ever become dependent or des- titute. For many years the public poor were let out for keeping and care to the lowest bidder, but subse- quently the selectmen or overseers of the poor were authorized to arrange for their proper sustenance in a more reasonable, Christian way. In 1803 an effort was made to induce the town to purchase a farm, with suitable buildings and furnishings for the care of the poor, but it failed, as did several others in succeed- ing years. In 1829, however, a farm was procured, and properly fitted up at an expense of about three thousand five hundred dollars. It was on Beach Hill, two miles from the central village. After using it for about forty years it was exchanged for the Abner Whitney place, near the North Common, where ample accommodations have since been pro- vided for the unfortunate class of people under no- tice, and where every reasonable provision is made for their need, their comfort and their happiness.

RELATIONS TO THE REVOLUTION .- The founders and early residents of the town of Westminster were thoroughly imbued with the spirit that animated the New England fathers in coming to these shores, and fully established in those principles of civil and reli- gious liberty upon which they songht to build the new civilization that was to realize to them their long-cherished dream. They were jealous of their inborn rights, and watched with tireless eye and reso- lute heart the encroachments of the mother-country upon her dependent colonies from the beginning. At the very first indications of trouble between the two they planted themselves squarely in opposition to all attempts of the parent government to impose unjust and oppressive burdens upon its subjects this side of the sea. And they were prepared, when the proper time came, to join with Boston and other towns'in protesting against, and finally in openly re- sisting the tyrannical measures by which England undertook to enforce her demands against those who, for freedom's sake and for conscience' sake, had estah- lished themselves at great sacrifice and peril in the new world. The chapter in the "History of West- minster," covering the entire Revolutionary period, including the preliminary steps leading thereto, is rich in incident and accomplishment, and exceeding- ly interesting. Only a few facts detailed from it can be given in this review. When Great Britain laid heavy imposts on goods sent to this country for con- sumption, Westminster, with other towns, voted not to use imported articles any further than was abso- lutely necessary, and to encourage, in every possible way, home industry and home manufactures. When the Provincial Governor dissolved the General Court because it would not co-operate with the Brit- ish ministry in the execution of unjust enactments, but sought to parry the blow with which the Crown

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would smite the colonists by counter-legislation, the inhabitants of Westminster chose its leading citizen to represent it in a convention called by Samuel Adams, James Otis, Joseph Warren and others, to meet in Faneuil Hall to consider and take action with reference to the usurpation. This was in 1768. In 1772 a Committee of Correspondence was chosen to encourage and support the town of Boston and the popular branch of the Legislature in their conflict with the royal Governor Hutchinson, whose rule in the interests of the King and his court was most ob- noxious to the patriotic and liberty-loving portion of the people. As the difficulties deepened and the prob- ability of an open rupture between England and the colonies increased, the citizens of the town almost without exception signed a compact, still preserved, pledging their fortunes and their lives to the mainte- nance of the cause of the colonies against the crown. When Governor Gage cancelled the order convening the General Court, and refused to issue a new one, Westminster was represented in the House of Repre- sentatives, which met in spite of the Governor's ac- tion, and which resolved itself into a Provincial Congress, claiming to act, not in the name of the Crown and Court of England, but in the name of the people, whose agents they were, thereby inaugurating the new era in American history. When the Pro- vincial Congress recommended the enrollment of twelve thousand soldiers as minute-men, ready to respond without delay when in any possible emer- gency a call might be made for their service, the inhabitants of the town immediately formed three companies in accordance therewith. And these men, nearly a hundred and twenty in number, under their respective captains, Elisha Jackson, John Estabrook, and John Miles, upon hearing of the battles of Con- cord and Lexington, April 19, 1775, marchied at once to Cambridge to engage in any service where they might be needed. No further outbreak occurring, they were discharged at the expiration of seven days, though twenty-seven of the men enlisted immediately for further duty, and were probably among the re- serve forces at the battle of Bunker Hill. Sub- sequently a company of fifty-four men was raised by Captain Bemis, and took part in the siege of Boston.

When the war was fully inaugurated and the peo- ple saw the nature and magnitude of the conflict, the citizens of Westminster rallied, with great courage and unanimity, to the support of the cause of the Colonies. For a time there were voluntary enlistments sufficient to meet the exigencies of the case, and when the town was called upon to act in its corporate capacity it did so with promptness, liberality and patriotic devotion. Westminster men were to be found in nearly every campaign of the war and in many of its important battles. By a careful and extensive search through the military rolls preserved at the State House in Boston and elsewhere, it ap- pears that during the entire struggle two hundred

and four Westminster men enlisted in the service, while sixty-two served as minute-men and went to Cambridge at the time of the Concord and Lexington alarm, making two hundred and sixty-six men in all who were engaged in the Revolution-a goodly pro- portion of the inhabitants, when it is remembered that the entire population of the town at the time was only about eight hundred. Besides these, to make out a certain quota at a certain date, the town hired eight men, which would make her full repre- sentation in the conflict two hundred and seventy-four men. Two of the citizens of the place rose to the office of colonel-John Rand, who had command of a regiment in New York at the time of Burgoyne's invasion, and Nicholas Dike, who was stationed with the men under him at Dorchester Heights, for the protection of the city of Boston.

During the uncertain period which followed the Revolution, when the responsibility of laying the foundations and shaping the features of a new gov- ernment for the emancipated Colonies weighed heavily upon the patriotic mind and heart, and taxed to the utmost the wisdom, the patience and the statesmanship of the leaders in political affairs, the people of Westminster evinced not only a sublime devotion to the truthis enunciated in the Declaration of Independence, and an enthusiastic spirit of self- sacrifice for the public welfare, but a sagacity and practical judgment in the consideration of questions of public policy that seems truly surprising. They were ready to do their full share to aid in establishing the National Government upon a sound and perma- nent basis; and when the first draft of the Federal Constitution was submitted to them for consideration they discussed its several features with an understand- ing of fundamental principles, a clearness of political vision and a force of argument which must have con- tributed in due degree to the final and satisfactory results which were at length achieved in this regard. All honor to the fathers for their wisdom, constancy and loyalty in "the times that tried men's souls."

IN THE REBELLION .- When the slave power, in order to maintain its supremacy in the national councils and to perpetuate its cherished system of injustice and oppression in the land, inaugurated the reign of civil war, the town, true to its ancient record of loyalty to the principles of liberty and to the national banner, rose to meet the emergency with commendable alacrity and zeal. Its citizens proved that "as were the sires so were the sons," and that they believed that what their fathers had secured of freedom and independence in the former days at immense cost of blood and treasure was worthy of be- ing preserved at still further cost, and to its preserva- tion they were ready to pledge "their lives, their fortunes and their sacred honor." On the 29th day of April, 1861, in response to the call of President Lincoln for seventy-five thousand men. to suppress the insurrection which had arisen in the Southern

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States, issued two weeks before, the town, at a meet- ing convened for the purpose of considering what it would do for the defence of the country, voted to raise a company of volunteers and uniform them for the public service and also pay each man a dollar a day in addition to what he received from the government. At the same meeting money was appropriated where- with to make good the promise which those votes implied. This is but a specimen of the town's action in this behalf while the conflict lasted. It sent more than a hundred and thirty of its sons into the conflict, encouraging and supporting them with hearty financial and moral backing to the last. Of these, thirty-four never returned, some being slain in battle, some dying of wounds or of disease contracted in the service and several of starvation and ill-treatment while incarcerated as prisoners of war in Libby Prison and Andersonville. A granite monument, with marble tablets, on which the names of these de- parted heroes are inscribed, attached to the four sides of its main shaft, occupying a conspicuous position in the central village, commemorates their patriotic services and sacrifices. In addition to those who were properly enlisted as Westminster soldiers, there were many others, natives or former residents of the town, who, though joining the ranks elsewhere, were yet in a measure proper representatives of its loyalty and heroism in the great crisis of the Republic. And it is but fitting that mention be made in this connection of one son of Westminster, who, moved by patriotic enthusiasm, enlisted in the service at an early period of the war and rose rapidly through the various grades of promotion until he attained the high position and distinguished honor of Major-General of the Federal Army. Since the termination of hostilities Gen. Nelson A. Miles has honored himself and his native town by displaying in his intercourse with and treatment of the Indian wards of the nation as a military commander, a degree of common sense, practical wisdom and Christian principle rarely found among his contemporaries, for which he deserves the heartfelt gratitude of every generous, patriotic, high-minded citizen of the Republic and friend of humanity.

The military spirit has prevailed somewhat exten- sively in the town independently of those special manifestations displayed in connection with the great crises in the history of the country to which reference has been made. As early as 1761 a company of soldiery had been organized, of which Nicholas Dike was commissioned captain and Benjamin Butterfield lieutenant. Ten years later there were two such companies-one in the north part, with John Rand, captain, and one in the south part under the command of Captain Nathan Whitney. The territory seems to have been divided into two military districts by the first county road from Lancaster to Athol, which division was practically continued some years into the present century, the companies enlisting from the

different sides of that road taking the name of the North and South Companies respectively. In the year 1816 the North Company, which had belonged to the infantry, was reorganized as a rifle company and continued in that capacity for some twenty five years. It attained a high standing in military circles, and was the pride of those people in town interested in the profession of arms. After the formation of the Rifle Company the South Company disbanded and thenceforward the former had the whole field to itself. Subsequently to the dissolution of that organization an infantry company called the West- minster Guards was chartered, but it had only a brief existence. In 1868 the " Wachusett Rifles " was enrolled as a part of the Massachusetts Volunteer Militia and continued for ten years, being thrown out when the State forces were reduced in 1878. A com- pany of cavalry, composed of men from Westminster and neighboring towns, existed for many years after the Revolution.

MISCELLANEOUS ITEMS .- In passing from these reminiscences copied from the military annals of the town it may be of some interest to mention the fact that after the battle of Bennington, in August, 1777, a detachment of sixteen Hessian officers and their servants, taken prisoners at that time, were sent, un- der parole, to the selectmen by the Provincial Gov- ernment at Boston, and were quartered at various dwelling-houses in different neighborhoods. They remained only a few months, however, but a few me- morials and traditions of them are still found in some of the families with which they had a temporary home. One of the number was so well pleased with the locality that he remained after his companions left, married and settled in a neighboring town and has descendants now living in the vicinity.

In noting the changes that have been going on during the present century it may be stated that nearly a hundred homesteads existing ninety years ago in the outlying districts of Westminster have been abandoned, of which only empty but expressive cellar-holes are the reminders at the present time. The multiplication and growth of the villages of the town constitute a corresponding fact, indicating a marked tendency of the age.

There have been three commemorative occasions of special interest in the history of Westminster. One was the celebration of the centennial of its incorpora- tion, held October 6, 1859, at which Hon. Charles Hudson, of Lexington, for twenty-five years a promi- nent citizen of the town and familiar with its annals, gave a historical address; Rev. William S. Heywood, then of Hopedale, a poem, while other appropriate exercises filled out the day. The proceedings were published in full and widely distributed. The one hundredth anniversary of the Declaration of Inde- pendence was duly commemorated July 4, 1876, when Rev. Mr. Heywood, then of Holyoke, delivered an address, dealing largely with national affairs, with

De Miles

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special reference to the causes of the Rebellion, its development, progress and final overthrow. On the 22d of June, 1887, the one hundred and fiftieth an- niversary of the original settlement of the town was appropriately observed, at which time an address was given by the last-named gentleman, accompanied by other exercises suited to the occasion. The sev- eral churches have, from time to time, held special services in honor of some marked event in their his- tory.

There are three cemeteries in Westminster: one a mile east of the Centre, the oldest portion of which was laid out soon after the settlement, while two other portions have been annexed to the original as the needs of the town required; one in Scrabble Hol- low, near the dwelling of the late Mr. James Puffer ; and one half a mile southwest of the Centre on the rise of land sometimes called Mount Pleasant. The first two belong to the town, the last to private indi- *viduals.

There is a Post of the Grand Army of the Republic in town, composed of twenty-four members, with Mr. Lyman M. Drury, commandant. It is named the Joseph P. Rice Post, No. 69, in honor of the lienten- ant-colonel of the Twenty-first Massachusetts Regi- ment, who was a native of Westminster. The town has a well-equipped Fire Department, with two en- gines at the central village and one at South West- minster. A Farmers' Club has been in existence for many years and has done good service in keeping up an interest on the subject of agriculture, the leading industry of the community. Its annual fairs in the autumn have an excellent reputation in all the neighboring region.

The Westminster Bank was chartered in the year 1875, chiefly through the influence of Mr. Daniel C. Miles, who has been its president from the outset. Its capital is one hundred thousand dollars. Mr. William Mayo was the first cashier, who was suc- ceeded, in 1887, by the present incumbent, Mr. Frank W. Fenno.

There are at present three post-offices in town-one at the central village, one at South Westminster and one near the railroad station. For some years there was one at Wachusettville, but it has recently been given up.

The number of persons assessed for property in the year 1888 was five hundred and thirty-eight ; for polls, one hundred and fifty-six, making a total tax-list of six hundred and ninety-four persons. The amount of personal estate taxed in the same year was $178,672; of real estate, $577,584. Entire property taxed, $756,- 256. The number of acres of land subject to taxation was twenty-two thousand four hundred and eighty- four. Number of horses, 392; cows, 599; sheep, 36; neat cattle, exclusive of cows, 283; swine, 98 ; houses, 272}. The total amount of tax for 1888 was $11,- 884.96. The appropriations for the same year were: Highways, $2500; schools, $3000; contingent expenses,

$4500; Decoration Day, $55; cemeteries, $50; total, $10,105. Tax on a thousand dollars, $14.50.

The town officers for 1888-89 were: Clerk, Edward S. Kendall ; Selectmen, J. Hervey Miller, Charles C. Dawley, A. Jackson Bolton, who are also overseers of the poor; Assessors, J. Hervey Miller, Hobart Ray- mond, Stephen F. Lamb; Treasurer, David W. Hill; School Committee, Rev. C. M. Palmer, Rev. Lyman Partridge, Daniel E. Hurd. With his present official term, Mr. David W. Hill completes thirty years of service as custodian of the town's finances.

As a matter of general information, the population of Westminster at each decennial period from the first settlement to the year 1885 is herewith presented. The first five numbers are only approximately correct, there being no official and authoritative census tables previous to 1790 extant, and the figures are therefore only estimates from collateral records: 1740, 30; 1750, 120 ; 1760, 325 ; 1770, 675 ; 1780, 990 ; 1790, 1176; 1800, 1369; 1810, 1419; 1820, 1634; 1830, 1696 ; 1840, 1645 ; 1850, 1914; 1860, 1840; 1870, 1770; 1880, 1650 ; 1885, 1556.

The agricultural interests of the town in 1880 are represented as follows: Land, $340,917; buildings, $267,813; machines, tools, etc., $34,264; animals, $60,- 751; fruit trees, $28,156; total, $731,901. Value of farm products for the same year, $193,931.

Westminster has not the honor of having given birth to any considerable number of distinguished personages in any calling or sphere of life, yet it has contributed its share, perhaps, of members to the learned and honorable professions and to high and responsible positions in the various circles of human society. Twenty-five of its sons are known to have been graduates of the different New England colleges, and several of its daughters of some of the higher institutions of female education. It has given about twenty of its native-born children to the pulpit, half as many to the study and practice of medicine and a smaller number to the bar. In each of these callings there have been some who have gained distinction and earned wide and well-sustained reputations. Two sons of the town have had a place in Congress, and three of its daughters devoted themselves to the work of missions in foreign lands, in that spirit of Christian consecration and self-sacrifice which adorns and glorifies human nature and is worthy of all com- mendation.

A large number of persons, both male and female, have gone out from this goodly town to fill the place of teachers in the work of popular education, and have rendered efficient and honorable service in that most important field of human effort and responsi- bility. Of General Nelson A. Miles mention is made in another connection. The town may justly claim some special interest in the renown and glory which are indissolubly linked with the name and memory of the lamented President Garfield, inasmuch as his grandfather, Thomas Garfield, son of Solomon, first

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History of Worcester County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. II, Part 64

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