USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > History of Worcester County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. II > Part 71
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Seth Lincoln, Jr.
Joseph Davis.
Jonas Lamson.
John Danforth. Caleb Brooks. Davis Burrus.
Gideon Davis.
Joseph Gleason. Barnabas Blackmer.
Isaac Patrick. Nathan Wood.
Heury Rogers. Samuel Gray. Ellet Makepeace. Thomas Lincoln. Rice Wheeler.
The following men belonged to the company of militia commanded by Capt. Josiah Putnam, and at- tached to Col. Jedediah Foster's regiment, which marched to Roxbury from Warren, April 21, 1775 :
Josiah Putnam, captain. Simeon Dwight, Jr.
Samuel Basconi, lieutenant. Isaac Crane.
Timothy Rice, corporal. Jonathan Flint.
Peter Damon, corporal.
Henry White, Jr.
Benjamin Thompson. John Conly.
Solomon Blackmer.
Ebenezer Temple.
. Elias Holbrook,
Mathew Kalligan.
John Crabtree.
Samuel Bliss,
John Chandler.
Jude Foster.
Samuel Bascom, Jr.
Henry Switcher.
Thomas Chandler.
Reuben Bliss.
Joseph Tidd.
Samuel McAllister.
William Marr.
Josiah Putnam, Jr.
James Mills.
The following were miscellaneous enlistments in 1775, some of which were re-enlistments:
Jonathan Danforth, captain.
Jonas Lamson.
Asa Putnam, captain.
Nathan Wood.
Jason Allen.
Mathew Kalligan.
Edmund Washburn.
Abel Fairbanks.
Henry White.
Daniel Forward.
Solomon Gilbert.
Martin Kellogg.
Joseph Chandler.
John Wood.
Daniel Keys, lieutenant-col.
Samuel Bliss.
Joshua Danforth, corporal.
Jude Foster.
Nathan Allen.
Medad Kellogg.
Thomas Whipple.
Sylvanus Brooks.
Ebenezer Field, corporal.
James Stone.
Heury Rogers, sergeant.
Converse Cutler.
Setli Lincoln, corporal.
James Blackmer.
Joseph Davis.
The following men belonged to the company of militia commanded by Capt. Joseph Cutler, which marched to join General Gates, September 24, 1777 :
Joseph Cutler, captain.
Jesse Allen.
Alexander Both well, lient.
Barnahas Blackmer.
Matthew Gray, lieutenant.
Rico Wheeler.
Heury Wallridge, sergeant.
Josiah Austin.
Alexander Wilson, sergeant. William Morse, sergeant.
Samuel Patrick.
- French, sergeant.
John Pattrell.
James Blair, corporal.
Isaac Crane.
Joshua Crossmau, corporal.
Jonathan Flint, corporal.
Solomon Bliss.
Janies Hunter.
Aaron Bliss.
Ebenezer Cutler.
Silas Ballard.
Henry Chadwick.
Jobn Bothwell.
Solomon Rich.
Aaron Crawford.
Thomas White.
Simeon Dwight.
Edward Larnand.
William Vergin.
William Blair.
John McAllister.
Eli Putnamu.
John Chandler. Duty Partridge.
Reuben Read.
Nehemiah Reter.
Asa Putnam.
Reuben Bliss.
David Barrows.
Moses Bliss.
John Demon.
Isaac Patrick.
Robert Furbes.
The following enlisted in the Continental Army in 1778 :
Joseph Cutler.
Tower Humphrey.
Solomon Chandler.
Pomp Loring.
Alexander Tliomas.
Ebenezer Luce.
Samuel Davis. Martin Kellogg.
Samuel Wood.
Noble Spencer.
Joshua Danforth.
Jason Allen.
Jeremiah Mason.
Joseph Chandler.
Samuel Andrews.
1188
HISTORY OF WORCESTER COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.
The following were drafted for nine months' service in 1778:
Samuel Bascom, Jr.
Johu Potterell.
John Nevens.
Shsrebiah Ballard. Nathaniel Chickering. Amos Hodgman.
The following enlisted in the Continental Army in 1779 :
Daniel Newport. Pomp Peters.
Dennis Mcswaney.
Jeptha Putnam.
The following men belonged to the company com- manded hy Capt. Joseph Richardson, attached to the regiment of Col. Samuel Denny, which went to Claverack on the Hudson for three months' service :
John Calister, sergt.
Elijah Barnes.
Wm. Hamilton, sergt.
Richardson Dunham.
James Boyden, corp.
Jesss Dunham.
Ezra Tucker, corp.
Eliab Dyer.
Elijah Carpenter.
Sılas Dean.
Jude Adams.
Ellis Doty.
Simon Rice, drum.
Alexander Dnou.
Andrew Bauister, fifsr.
Thadens Dodge.
Lemnel Andrews.
John Earls.
Israel Aiken.
Moses Fay
Isaac Abbot.
Oliver Gilbert.
James Bigelow.
Thomas Hanikio.
Isaiah Bacou.
Joseph Hamilton.
John Bigelow.
Noah Hatch.
Joseph Brown.
Benjamin Hodges.
Joel Blair.
George Hayes.
Benjamin Jennings.
Thomas White.
Lemmel Johnson.
Jolın Hixou.
Thomas Lamson.
Jupiter Hall.
Simon Bacon.
John Pattrell.
The following enlisted in the Continental Army in 1780:
Jacob White.
Joel Blair.
Eli Hitchcock.
Oliver Gilbert.
John Crawford.
Richard Packard.
John Calister. Jesse Teague.
James Calister.
John Poterell.
Jonathan Hitchcock.
Mathew Galligan.
Eleazer Desmarque.
Samnel Dals.
Joseph Davis.
Job Blair.
Joho Luce.
James Clifford.
John Smith.
Vassal White.
The following Warren men joined Capt. John Cutler's company, attached to the regiment of Col. Luke Drury, in 1781 for six months' service :
John Calister, corp.
Wm. Parkhurst.
James Black mer.
Joho White.
Simeon Blackmer.
Thomas Fuller.
Joshua Nichols.
Jacob Kellogg.
The following enlisted in the Continental Army in 1781 :
Dominick Finn.
John Danforth, sergeant.
Nathan Lamson, drummer. Dan Newport.
Jason Makepeace, corporal. Joseph Clifford.
Having entered on the military career of the town, it may be as well to complete it at this point in the narrative. In 1786, as is well known, Daniel Shays, who was first a private and afterwards a captain in the Revolutionary War, initiated his rebellion in the town of Pelham, in Hampshire County, and the town
of Warren became more or less involved in the excitement attending it. No prominent persons, however, in the town were connected with it, and after prudent concessions on the part of the Govern- ment had, to a certain extent, removed the canse of the trouble, the rebellion was speedily suppressed.
In the War of 1812 a military company marched to Boston, but was sent back by the order of Governor Strong, and little was known or felt, so far from the seaboard, of its inconveniences. In fact, it is probable that the hostilities served as a sort of protection to onr infant industries from the importation of foreign merchandise, and enabled our manufacturers to lay the foundations of enterprises which otherwise would have struggled in vain against foreign competition.
In the War of the Rebellion the town of Warren performed her full share. The following list includes the names of those who entered the service or, on being drafted, paid commutation. Some of these were credited to other towns and some enlisted more than once. The list only refers to their first enlist- ments :
Second Regiment.
Ephraim Carey.
George H. Cronch.
Wm. L. Cowles.
Wm. H. L&flin.
Allen A. Marsh.
Albert M. Powers, lieutenant.
Chauncy Peck.
Philo H. Pack.
Alfred Stepheos.
Owen Tiffany.
Eleventh Regiment.
Henry Allen.
Wm. Hamilton.
Milton Watkins.
Fifteenth Regiment.
John Carmady.
Edward Smith.
Nineteenth Regiment.
James Hart.
Twentieth Regiment. John Dress.
Twenty-first Regiment.
Ira Thompson.
Charles L. Chapia, sergesot.
George Walsh.
Otis E. Nelson.
Horatio Tower.
Calvin Cutler.
Enoch C. Morgan.
Joseph C. Griggs.
Twenty-second Regiment.
Amos Bliss.
Twenty-fourth Regiment.
George Bliss.
Danisl Carr.
Charles H. Harback.
Isaac II. Gilbert.
Hugh Costello.
John Sweeny.
Twenty-fifth Regiment.
Albert Peck.
Oliver B. Rumwell. Lewis Wright.
Hoses Merriam.
Twenty-sixth Regiment.
James Flyoo.
Twenty-seventh Regiment.
Patrick Burk.
Wm. Sibley. Edwin P. Hale.
Wm. H. Washburn.
Wm. W. Cummings.
Twenty-eighth Regiment.
Robert Allison.
Frank Griffia.
Elijah Jones.
Henry G. Mahleu.
John Wilcox.
John W. Forbush.
Thirty-first Regiment.
Emory W. Johasou.
Horace W. Strickland.
Thirty-second Regiment.
Darling Brownell, draftsd.
Thirty-third Regiment.
Joseph W. Hastings, surgeon. Thirty-fourth Regiment. Wm. P. Butterworth.
Wilbur M. Fay.
Lucien W. Gilbert.
John H. Wiswell.
Albert A. Aldrich.
Theodore Dodge.
William Foley.
Lewis Gravell. Oscar Marsh. Marcus Hartwell.
Eleazer May.
James O'Neil.
John O'Neil.
Frank Sherman.
Austin F. Wilson.
Edward J. Wright.
Charles J. BerDis. Daniel Bliss. Charles H. Bliss.
Almon R. Caswell.
Harvey B. Stone. Joseph R. Brooks.
Lemuel Fuller.
James Humphrey.
1189
WARREN.
Sixtieth Regiment.
Alonzo A. Brooks.
Nelson C. Burhank. Charles H. Crossman. Proctor L. Ward.
First Cavalry.
Sherlock H. Lincola.
Almon L. Sweetser. Charles Barr. Adelbert Packard.
Second Cavalry.
James Smith.
Wm. W. Smith.
Heary A. Kelly.
John E. Elliot.
Second Rgiment of Heavy Artil- lery.
Timothy Mahoney.
Wm. Dnan.
Wm. Smith.
Charles F. Cutler.
Obed J. Carroll.
Andrew Barney. Thomas W. Fagan. Henry Ball. Edward Sullivan. Charles H. Barratt.
Wm. Carter.
Veteran Reserve Corps.
John Byron.
Thomas Davis.
James Devine.
Thomas Finnegan.
John O. Gaffney.
Fletcher B. Goldsmith.
George C. Harford.
Patrick Lane. John Morris. Philip Mulhaveil.
John O'Brien.
Thomas O' Brien.
Eaoch J. O'Shea.
John Patterson.
Samuel Fauslet.
Regular Army.
Peter McGuire. Henry M. King
The following persons were drafted in July, 1863, and paid three hundred dollars commutation money :
Samuel E. Tidd.
George A. Walker.
Benjamin A. Tripp.
Wm. H. H. Shepard.
George T. Lincoln.
Joha W. Tyler.
Edward P. Clark.
George Wright.
John L. Moore.
Ebridge C. Bliss.
Thomas H. Jones.
James L. Weeks.
Edwin L. Jaggar.
The following persons were either killed or died in the service during the war :
Alfred Stephens. .died March 30, 1862, at Frederick, Md. Chauncey Peck. killed May 25, 1862, at Barnestown, Va. Philo H. Peck killed at Gettysburg July 3, 1863 Wm. M. Cowles .. re-eal. in the navy; was lost in the "Jubiata " Ira Thompson. died at Arlington, Va., July 31, 1864 Horatio Tower. died at Newport Newa June 2, 1862 Lewis Wright .killed at Cold Harbor Jude 3, 1864 Edwin P. Hale .. ...... .died at Newhera, N. C., December 9, 1863
Joha H. Wiswell died at Wilmington, N. C., March 23, 1865 Wm. Foley. .killed at New Market, Va., May 15, 1864
Harvey B. Stone. died at Petersburg April 2, 1865
Albert N. Bliss .. died at New Orleans March 31, 1863
Elias H. Cutler .died at Brashear City, La., May 28, 1863 George H. Shepard ......... died at Berwick City, La., May 3, 1863 Chas. HI. Johason .. died of w'ads at Beaufort, S. C., Sep. 18, 1863 Charles F. Cutler. died at Andersonville October 1, 1864
Obed J. Carroll. .died in prison July 3, 1864
Andrew Barney died at Fort Mooroe, Jnae 2, 1864
Oscar Marsh died at Wilmington, N. C., March 13, 1865
After the incorporation of the town educational, as well as religious, affairs began to interest the people. In November, 1745, it was voted to build a school- house, twenty feet long and seventeen feet broad, and the sum of eight pounds was appropriated for the board of the schoolmaster eight weeks. As in other towns during the provincial period, the schools were few in number and kept only a few months in the year. They were, moreover, confined exclusively to boys. The introduction of girls into the public schools is well remembered by many now living, not beyond middle age. In 1795 the town was divided into eight districts, each district having the exclusive management of school affairs within its limits. In 1846 one district was added, and the district system so continued until it was abolished in 1869. In 1842 Mrs. T. Lombard gave land on Furnace Hill for edu- cational purposes, and a joint stock company was formed, which established the Quaboag Seminary. At its dedication Daniel Powers, a native of the town, and a graduate of Yale in the class of 1837, delivered an address. Its first principal was Joshua Pearl. Owing to some privileges which the youth of the town received from the seminary, an appropriation of five hundred dollars was made for its benefit in 1850. In 1856 the property of the seminary was bought by the town, and has since been devoted to the use of the high and other schools. The meetings of the town, which had for the most part been previously held in the Congregational Church and a hired hall, were held in the seminary building after its purchase until the erection of the present town-house in 1878. There are now twenty-two schools in the town, one high, three grammar, two intermediate, two interme- diate and primary, four first primary, five second primary and five ungraded. These are under the direction of a School Committee and a superin- tendent.
According to the last annual report of the commit- tee, for the year ending March 1, 1888, there were ten hundred and fourteen enrolled scholars, an average membership of seven hundred and sixty-two, and an average attendance of seven hundred and fifteen.
Connected with the schools is the Agassiz Associa- tion, which, though managed by private individuals, is composed of scholars in the high and grammar schools, and is so far recognized by the School Committee as to occupy with their consent a room in one of the school- houses of the town. An evening-school has also been established, and is performing useful work. According
Thirty-fifth Regiment. James Keleher. Leverett L. Butler.
Thirty-sixth Regiment.
George H. Jennings. Charles Chickering.
Thirty-ninth Regiment.
Daniel W. Blanding, drafted. Charles Damon, drafted. Thomas B. Shaw, drafted.
Forty-second Regiment.
Wm. H. Shepard, lieut. Thomas Bryant. Giles Blodgett.
Albert N. Bliss.
Amos D. Bond. Charles F. Bosworth. Samuel J. Mcintosh. Elias H. Cutler. Edwin Byecroft.
George H. Shepard. Joho W. Shepard. Wm. E. Lovegrove. Wm. C. Hitchcock.
Forty-third Regiment.
James P. Johnson. Charles H. Durant. Andrew Taft.
Fitzhenry Moore. Hervey Jones. James Mccullough.
Charles S. Robiasoo. George W. Nichols. Joseph C. Marshall. Joseph S. Tidd. Warrener Bliss.
Ebenezer Cole, Jr. Albert Walker. Shepard Dunbar. Elijah H. S. Wilson.
Fifty-fourth Regiment.
Charles H. Johnson. Fitzhenry Newport.
Fifty-seventh Regiment.
George Kionerney.
Silas W. Cooke.
Fifty-eighth Regiment.
Harman Wisoer.
1190
HISTORY OF WORCESTER COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.
to the report above referred to, the sums credited to the school department for the year 1887-88 were,-appro- priation for schools, $9500; appropriation for even- ing-schools, $100; appropriation for repairs, $500; appropriation for books and supplies, $500; State school fund, $200.65 ; books and supplies sold, $23,65 ; tuition received, $86.65. Total, $10,910.95.
The expenses for the year were,-for salaries of school teachers, $7,770.80; for salaries of evening- school teachers, $143.50; for care of evening-schools, $51.50; for oil, lamps and fixtures, $20.06; for fuel, $819.30; for care of buildings, $867.40; for repairs, $476.32; for school-books and supplies, $598.53; for incidentals, $611 47. Total, $11.358.88.
As supplementing the work of the public schools, it will be proper here to make some allusion to the Public Library. The library is owned by an associa- tion incorporated January 17, 1876, and is managed by a board of trustees. It was put in operation about the time of the erection of the town-house, in 1879, and occupies, by permission of the town, a convenient room on the ground floor of that building. It re- ceives also an annual appropriation of $500 and the amount of the dog fund from the town, which, in 1887-88, amounted to $245.67. The treasurer's last report, dated March 17, 1888, showed cash on hand at the beginning of the year, $174.48; cash from read- ing-room, $125; cash from town, $500; dog-fund, $245.67 ; cash from George F. Blake, Manufacturing Company, $100; fines, $42.01 ; cards, $9.18 ; catalogues, $4.52; total, $1200.86. It showed payments as fol- lows: For books, $317.09; for binding, $48.60; for printing, $4.67 ; for librarian, $300; for cleaning room, $10.90; for delivering books at West Warren, $26; for bag for same, $3; for gas bills, $82.75 ; for supplies, $3.86; for freight and express, $2.07; cash on hand, $395.92; total, $1200.86.
The reading room, which, though connected with the library, is so far distinct as not to be free, received during the year a contribution of one hundred dollars from the George F. Blake Manufacturing Company, and $79.50 from other subscriptions, which left, after paying $54.51 for papers and magazines, the sum of $125 credited to the library account. In 1884 Lucius J. Knowles, of Worcester, for many years a resident of the town, gave by his will five thousand dollars to the town, the income to be used for the support of the library. The legacy was paid in 1887, and the library is now reaping its benefit. The number of books in the library March 1, 1888, was five thousand two hundred and sixty-four. During the year previous the number of books given out was seventeen thousand and thirty-four. The establishment of this library reminds the writer of the impression he has received from a survey of many of the towns in Worcester County, that probably no other county in the Com- monwealth has done and is doing so much to build up these auxiliaries to the public schools. To a con- siderable portion of the people of the county they are
more important than the schools themselves. Its large and increasing number of immigrant families, drawn to it by its extensive and flourishing industries, are many of them too old to reap the advantages of a school education, but are enabled by these library as- sociatious to breath a purer atmosphere and absorb at least the elements of an education, which otherwise they could not have received.
After the foundations of religion and education had been laid, the attention of the people of the town was directed more particularly to the special purposes of their settlement and the business rela- tions of life. At first agriculture was the almost uni- versal employment, with here and there on favorable streams a saw-mill to provide lumber for their houses and a grist-mill to provide food for their cattle and themselves. Of course the development of manu- facturing industries has enticed many from the plough and the furrow, while the growth of agricul- ture in the West, with facilities for obtaining Western grain at a cost less than that of raising it at home, has aided in the depreciation of an industry which a century ago was the source from which all the com- forts of life were secured. But Warren still holds its own with other towns in obtaining from the soil what it will yield with ease and profit. It will not be out of place to include in this narrative a schedule of the agricultural products and property of the town, taken from the census of 1885 :
Animal Products.
Wood Products.
Calf skins.
$100
Ashes
$123
Candles
13
Rails
20
Hides
Fuel
3,673
Wool.
167
Lumber
131
Manure
9.172
Posts
207
Sleepers
2,050
Total
$9,513
Dairy Products.
Butter
$4,471
Total
$6,228
Cheese
887
Cream.
4,212
Milk ....
43,074
Total
.$52,664
Food Products.
Canned fruit $38
Cereals.
Barley.
£825
Buckwheat
43
Maple molasses.
1
Corn, Indian. 6,160
9
Vinegar.
318
Oats
1,674
Rys
3+1
Total $775
Wheat
'25
Liquors and Beverages.
Cider
$2,479
Wine
Fruits, Berries and Nuts.
Apples.
$3,788
Total
$2,487
Nursery Products.
Trees, fruit. $4
Butternuts
9
Cherries.
24
Poultry Products.
Crab-apples
10
Eggs .. $3,06]
Cranberries.
399
Feathers
7
Currants
14
Manure
209
Grapes
31
Poultry. 732
JIuckleberries
12
Melons.
3
Total
$4,008
Pears
133
Shingles 15
Other Products.
Seeds
$ 2
Soft soap ..
18
Total
$20
Dried fruit
4
Ice ..
380
Pickles, 31
Corn, pop.
Total 89,077
Blackberries
9
Blueberries, 3
.
1191
WARREN.
Plums
44
Quinces.
12
Shellbarks
23
Strawberries 57
Total
$4,370
Hay, Straw and Fodder.
Hay. $43,562
Straw 716
Fodder 3,054
Beets, for stock 51
Turnips for stock. 200
Total. .. $47,583
Meats and Game.
Beef $4,950
Mutton
154
Pork
3,005
Veal 1,845
Total $9,954
Vegetables.
Asparagus.
$1
Beans.
171
Beets. 35
Cabbages 365
Carrots. 10
Celery
10
Green-corD
27
Poultry.
2,086
Cucumbers 2,880
Onions.
50
Parsnips ..
11
Green peas
35
Potatoes
4,956
Pumpkins
158
Rbubarb
2
Squashes
50
Tomatoes.
16
Turnips 71
Not classified 527
Total
$6,505
Property.
Acres of cultivated lands .... 3,3567s
Acres of uncultiv'd lands ... 8,613
Acres of woodland. ... 3,144₴
Crab-apple. 20
Hickory.
5
Peach.
82
Pear 779
Plum, 57
Quince. 115
Shellbark
50
Carriage-bonses. 1,850
Cider-mills 975
Granaries 550
Ice-houses 475
Total ..
.$11,011
It was not long after the usefulness of the Quaboag River and Wigwam Brook was proved in connection with grist-mills and saw-mills before it was discov- ered that these streams could be put to more profitable uses. In 1793 there were in operation on Quaboag River, within the town limits, two grist-mills, one saw-mill, one scythe-mill, one fulling-mill and one forge.
In 1800 iron works were established hy Joseph Field and Isaac Moore, and in 1812 powder-mills were built on the present site of the steam pump works. These last were exploded in 1826 and never rebuilt. Among the natives of Warren who were inspired by the inventive spirit of the age in the early
Out-buildings. 1,810
Sheds 4,870
Shops
475
Other buildings 1,623
Total. $214,475
Machines, Implements, etc.
Carts, wagons, harnesses,etc.$9,249 Cultivators. 243
Feed-cutters 50
Harrows 420
Hay-cutters and tedders 639
ITorse-hoes, rakesand powers 1,373
Implements
1,374
Manure-spreaders. 300
Mowing-machines 1,670
Ploughs 949
Seed-sowers.
15
Other machines 51
Total. $16,333
Domestic Animals.
Bulls $1,261
Calves.
1,119
Colts.
1,025
Dogs
131
Ducks.
13
Geese
S
Heifers.
2,910
Hogs
Horses
13,200
Lambs
83
Milch.cows
31,364
Oxen
6,777
Pigs. 523
Sheep
510
Steers 875
Other animals. 166
Total $64,931
Fruit-Trees and Vines.
Apple $9.409
Butteruut. 17
Cherry ... 150
Chestnut. 92
Total .15,21414
Value of above .... $283,835
Buildings.
Dwelling-houses. $128,800
Barns. 73,050
Walont 63
Grape-vines. 172
part of the present century was Nathan Read. He was the son of Major Reuben Read, who won some distinction in the Revolutionary War, and was born in Western (now Warren), July 2, 1759. He gradu- ated at Harvard in 1781, in the class with John Davis, for many years judge of the United States Court, and Samuel Dexter and Dudley Atkins Tyng. In 1795 he settled in Danvers and engaged in the manu- facture of anchors and chain cables, and removed to Belfast, Maine, in 1807. From 1800 to 1803 he represented the Essex South District in Congress, and in the year of his removal to Belfast was made chief justice of the Court of Common Pleas in Hancock County. He was the first petitioner for a patent be- fore the patent law was enacted. He invented the machine for manufacturing nails and was the first to apply steam to locomotives. He died in Belfast January 20, 1849. In 1812 the manufacture of scythes was begin at West Warren and carried on many years, but has long since been abandoned. In 1815 the manufacture of cotton cloth was begun in the mill now used for the manufacture of cotton warp; but when the mill went into the hands of Lucius J. Knowles the manufacture of its present product was introduced. The present industries of the town are the cassimere factory, conducted with eight sets of machinery, by Sayles & Jenks; the Warren Cotton- Mills, at West Warren ; an ink and blueing factory, owned by G. J. & I. E. Moore ; two edge-tool factories, one of which is at West Warren ; a cheese factory, another cotton-mill on the Quaboag River, the warp- mill, conducted by Moses K. Whipple, and the Knowles' steam pump works. The works last men- tioned are situated on Wigwam Brook in the central village, and are very extensive and successful. They were established by Lucius J. Knowles, who, with growing success, carried them on some years with Simon K. Sibley, and sold them in 1879 to the George F. Blake Manufacturing Company, under whoseman- agement they are now carried on, with E. F. Strick- land, a most competent and intelligent superinten- dent. The steam pumps of this company have the best reputation, and find their way to England, France, South America, Japan, and indeed to all parts of the world. Recently the Emperor of Japan has ordered and received one for the irrigation of his garden and other private grounds. A pump made at these works is now in use in Chicago pumping eight millions of gallons of water daily.
The cotton-mills at West Warren, owned by Bliss & Fabyan, of Boston, include a large plant and em- ploy a large number of hands. The plant includes four mills with an aggregate of seven hundred and thirty-two looms, and forty-four houses containing one hundred and nineteen tenements. These estab- lishments furnish an amount of employment which has' constantly added to the population, prosperity and wealth of the town. In 1791 the population was estimated at 900; in 1838, 1196; in 1865, 2180; in
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10
1192
HISTORY OF WORCESTER COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.
1870, 2623 ; in 1875, 3260 ; in 1880, 3889; and in 1885, 4032. The valuation of the town in the last census, in 1885, $2,373,757.
The town is not supplied, in its corporate capacity, with water. For private supply reliance is had ex- clusively on wells and pumps, and small aqueducts owned by individuals. Pipes, however, are laid in the streets by the town, and in case of fire, supplied with water by the Knowles Steam Pump Works and the Warren Cotton-Mills. The streets are lighted by gas furnished by the Warren Cotton-Mills and the Globe Gas-Light Company, and a small Fire Depart- ment, in the possession of one engine and two hose carriages with hose, is supported by the town. The following estimate of expenses for the year 1888-89, reported to the town by the selectmen, will give some idea to the reader of the scope of the municipal operations of the town :
Contingencies. $1,200 00
Town officers 1,600 00
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