History of Worcester County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. II, Part 82

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 82

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Leominster has other important industries, some well under way and others in process of development. The rattan works, now only fairly commenced, prom- ises to add to the permanent forces of the town. A. W. Colburn & Co. employ some twenty-eight men in the manufacture of musical merchandise. Aldrich Cook has a factory for doing all kinds of enamel work. Tenney & Kenney are manufacturers of builders' supplies, as window-frames, doors, etc. A. A. Tisdale & Co. manufacturers of reed goods, car- riage-bodies, etc. The Union Desk Company located here in 1887, manufacturing all kinds of desks and library tables. But as the history is substantially complete, perhaps the enumeration has proceeded far enough to show that the claim was a just one, that Leominster could afford to be judged by the character and extent of her manufacturing industries.

No town can be exempt from the action of those forces which affect trade and currency. Business will have its times of depression in any community. Nor is there any wish to state the case for Leominster any more favorably than the facts will warrant. But con- sidering the extent of her industries and their variety, the general character of the employés for skill and intelligence, it may fairly be claimed that Leomin- ster will suffer as little from labor depressions or labor troubles, will offer as constant employment and at as favorable wages to her mechanics as any other town in this Commonwealth. If to this be added the con- siderations which would naturally come from her pleasant surroundings, healthy location, superior ad- vantages of education, of social culture and religious training, who will say that the two questions, stand- ing at the opening of this chapter, do not here find so favorable an answer as to make Leominster a most desirable place for a home ?

CHAPTER CLVIII.

LEOMINSTER-(Continued.)

MILITARY.

LEOMINSTER has an honorable war record. She would, indeed, be unworthy both of her ancestors and the times of her birth, if in all the struggles for liberty, she had not made full proof of her patriot-

ism. It is true that the first settlers of the town had no personal experience of the tomahawk and the scalping-knife; but the story of what their fathers had suffered was a close remembrance; and these hardy pioneers had barely time to build their rude homes, " establish God's house in the wilderness," connect the hill-tops by roads and erect here and there a mill to grind their corn and saw their logs, when the alarm of war sounded at the North, and the sword did not, for the next thirty-and-five years, rest easy in its scabbard. The origin and the early environments of the town were favorable for the growth of patriotism : and so it is no surprise to find that in all wars, where the records can be obtained, Leominster was at the front.

Leominster hardly knew herself to be a town when King George's War began in 1744. If any requisition was made upon Leominster for this war, there does not appear to a record of the fact; but as the chief event was the siege and taking of Louisbourg, and as the burden of this expedition rested upon New Eng- land, and particularly upon Massachusetts, it may well be that Leominster was represented at that fa- mous siege. Possibly some son of hers learned there that which was practiced thirty years later for Eng- land's benefit. But the past must be allowed to keep its secret as regards this war.

The French and Indian War, so called, soon fol- lowed, and in this contest we are able to find the work of Leominster. Her quota of troops was thirty-six, and these names make a part of the list :

Lientenant Benjamin Whitcomb, Captain Jonas Johnson, Luke Rich- ardson, Jonas White, Wm. Warren, Samuel Warren, Joseph Polly, Jonas Clark, Jonathan Houghton, Captain Wni. Boutelle, Sergeant John White, Elias Carter, Zenas Whitcomb, Benjamin Stevens, Jonathan White, Jonas Spufford, Benjamin Whitcomb.

The following muster-roll, also, shows that a com- pany marched from Leominster in answer to a special case of alarm. The taking of the fort was no doubt the cause of the return. Whether all were Leomin- ster men or not cannot now be ascertained. The roll is of interest.

A muster Roll of a foot Company, commanded by Thomas Wilder, of Leominster, detached out of Col. Oliver Wilder's Regiment, that marched on the Alarm for the relief of Fort William Henry as far as Springheld. Gone 14 days.

Captain Thomas Wilder, Lieutenant Samuel Nonrse, Ensign Josiah Bayley, Sergeant Nathaniel Page, Sergeant Caleb Sawyer, Sergeant Oliver Hale, Sergeant Nathan Bennett, Corporal Wm. Wilder, Corporal Nathaniel Hastings, Corporal Phinehas Wheelock, Corporal John Pol- lard, Benjamin Wheelock, Jonathan White, James Simonds, Rofus Houghton, Amos Kendall, Kendall Boutell, Joseph Polley, Nathaniel Colburn, Luke Richardson, Asa Johnson, Oliver Wyman, James Ballard, Gardner Wilder, Phillip Vorbach, Silas Bayley, Jacob Honghton, Ola- diah Gill, Samuel Moore, Henry Satel, Thomas Fife, James Snow, Mathey Knight, Sammel Bruce, Wm. Pollard, James McBride, Jabez Bears, Elijah Wilson, Jonathan Holman, John Pyper, John Grout, Jon- athan Messau, Jonathan Page, Joseph Davis, Reuben Wyman, Jacob Gonld, Aaron Taylor, Jonathan l'age, Jr., Ephraim Oshorn, Timothy Fox, Seth Dodge, John Leach, Zebulon Dodge, Jonathan Wood, Silas Dutton, Jonathan Holt, Asa Satel, W'm. Kimball, Renben Smith, John Symonds, Amos Haseltine, William Seward, Samuel Hodgekin, David Pierce. Abijalı Pratt, Daniel Pierce.

Worcester SS: January 8th, 1758. Then Cap. Thomas Wilder person-

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ally appeared and made oath to the truth of the above roll that each person set thereon served the whole term and took nothing on account of the Province but what is there set forth.

Sworn before me.

THOMAS WILDER.

JOSEPH WILDER, Justice of the Peace.

Mr. Wilder, in his history, says, that of those who were drafted, some went willingly, and others fur- nished substitutes ; and, what is still more remarka- ble, all lived to return and unite in the general thanksgiving over the conquest of Canada. This thanksgiving occurred October 9, 1760. Leominster was thus happily through the first severe war after her incorporation. Through the more serious trou- bles jnst at hand she was not to pass without the stain of blood.

If one could, in imagination, enter a Leominster home anywhere between the years 1765 and 1775, he would find, as the evening came on, the family gath- ered about the immense fire-place, discussing the darkening prospects of the Colonies and their rela- tion to the mother country. It is likely that little mention would be made of absolute separation from England. But the spirit was only waiting motive and direction. Leominster was not disloyal; but there was liberty in her blood. England, in her sel- fishness, taught her Colonies to think, to organize, to pay and to fight, and they bettered the instruction. It was pleasant music to English ears when, on June 17, 1745, New England men beat the triumphal march into Louisbourg; but when, on June 17, 1775, thirty years after, the same drums were heard at Lexington, the music was less agreeable. Still, it was the same old tune.

What the town did in these years of preparation may be briefly summarized. The people of Leomin- ster were loyal to King George while King George was loyal to the Colonies; but their allegiance to him was held within the larger feeling of liberty,-a determination to maintain their equal and just rights of freemen, to secure which they had braved exile, danger and death. In witness of this, the closing words of an address, adopted March 3, 1766, may be quoted. The people of Boston were suffering under the laws of the British Parliament. The address was one of sympathy, and closes with these words: "WE MUST, WE CAN, AND WE WILL BE FREE. We cannot part with our creation right. We are obliged forever to assert it, as it is our glory to be in subjection to that Supreme Power which made us free."

It appears from the spirit and temper of this ad- dress that the people of Leominster were not one whit behind the rest part of Massachusetts in their love for liberty and in their willingness to take any risk for its possession. There is clear proof that this interest did not fail or become faint. For exam- ple, in September, 1768, a committee of three was appointed to meet other committees in Boston and to consider questions relating to the public good. About four years after, Leominster took occasion, in town-

meeting, to approve the doings of Boston in regard to their troubles with the British government. . In August, 1774, Leominster, with other towns, ap- pointed a Committee of Correspondence. These com- mittees were not only a means of collecting intelli- gence, but were also the first step towards organization, and in the end gave the country the Continental Con- gress.

When, in the progress of events, the port of Boston was closed, a committee was appointed to consider the state of the country, and they made this report :

We are of the opinion that as the Delegates from the several Colonies are soon to meet in Congress, in order to point out and advise what is hest to be done at this alarming crisis, it will be most proper in us to wait until we are informed what measures they recommend before we come to any particular Resolutions concerning the matter, except as follows :

Ist. That we will to the utmost of our abilities strictly and stead- fastly pursue such methods as shall be recommended by the said Con- gress as the most likely to recover our just rights and privileges.

2d. That we will heartily endeavor as much as in us lays to awaken and stir up every person to a thorough sense of the real certainty there now is of America being reduced to the most abject slavery and poverty ; and the danger there also is of the loss of our religious, as well as our civil rights and privileges, unless we unitedly endeavor by a steady und Dianly opposition to prevent it.

3d. We earnestly recommend it to the consideration of this town whether it is not their indispensable duty to afford some relief to the in- dustrious poor of the town of Boston, who are really exposed to the most severe hardships by means of the late cruel Acts of Parliament.

4th. We recommend peace, firmness and a manly fortitude in asserting and maintaining, to the utmost of our abilities, all our just, lawful aud constitutional rights and privileges.

THOMAS LEGGETT, ISRAEL NICHOLS, STEPHEN JOHNSON, JOHN JOSLIN, JR., THOMAS GOWING,

Committee

Angust 27, 1774.

When war was the only possibility, Leominster was not a moment behind. A large number, considering the population of the town, marched at once to Lex- ingtou, June 17, 1775. The names of the members of this company who belonged in Leominster are given below :

Captain David Wilder, Sergeant Rufus Houghton, Sergeant Abijah Butler, David Kendall, Josiah Whitcomb, James Joslin, David Wilson, William Nichols, Ebenezer Stuart, Ephraim Bates, David Clarke, Josi- ah Colburn, Asa Kendall, Richard Stuart, Reuben Gates.

A company was at once enlisted into the service for eight months, and some of the same re-enlisted for the war. Of this company of eight months' men all but a very few were from Leominster, and for this reason their names are given below :

Continental Twenty-third Regiment of Fout, commanded by Colonel Asa Whitcomb .- Captain David Wilder, Lieutenant Jonathan Gates and Lieutenant Timothy Boutell, commissioned April 19, 1775. Sergeants Francis Lave, William Warner, Josiah Carter, Peter Joslin ; Corporals, Levi Waroer, Samuel Buss, James Butler, Jonathan Warren ; Drum- mer, Thomas Rogers ; Fifer, Abijah Haskell ; Privates, Charles Eames, James Bontelle, Abel Bigelow, John Battles, Isaac Blodgett, Amos Brown, Levi Blood, Jonathan Colburn, Stephen Chase, Nathaniel Chap- man, David Clark, Elisha Carther, Josiah Colburn, David Clark, Jr., Daniel Edson, David Fleeman, John Farmer, Reuben Gates, Jonathan Gates, Jr., Joshua Hemenway, Henry Hall, Benjamin Hale, John Hale, Josbua Holt, David Hale, Luke Johnson, Jonathan Kendall, Ja- cob Kibberiger, Asa Kendall, Amos Kendall, Philip Lock, John Lock, Ebenezer Osgood, Joshua Prouty, Asa Priest, David Robinson, Joseph Smith, Benjamin Stearns, Zehedee Simone, Jolin Stona, Samuel Salter,

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HISTORY OF WORCESTER COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

Aaron Sampson, Othniel Taylor, Joshua White, Henry Winchester, Sammel Willard, John Whitney, Isaac Whitmore, Josiah White, Ebe- nezer Wood, James Wood, Philip Winter, Luke Wilson, Jacob Winter, Joseph Smith, Jr.

All except eight enlisted April 19, 1775.

Not only did Leominster respond promptly and hartily to every call for men and means in the regu- lar services, but she was ready with help in such special emergencies as came in this section. of the country. It is known that in the case of Burgoyne's invasion many volunteers went to Bennington in ad- dition to the company whose names are here printed. At this battle Thomas Joslin, a brother of the captain, was killed by the first shot of the enemy.

This company marched from Leominster, but prob- ably some were from the neighboring towns:

ROLL.

Roll of Captain John Joslin's Company in Colonel Job Cushing's Reg- iment, who marched from Leominster for Bennington on the last of July, A.D. 1777, by order of Council, to " joyn " General Seth Warner, as fol- lows :

Captain, John Joslin ; Lieutenants, Boman Brown and Benjamin Spaulding ; Sergeants, Francis Lane, David Sawin, John Wood and Timothy Fullim ; Corporals, Stephen Miles, Barnabas Wood, Benjamin Stuart and John Goodridge ; Drummer, Nehemiah Follenshe; Fifer, Na- thaniel Follenshe ; Privates, Jonathan Adams, Asa Buttrick, John Ben- nitt, Asa Brooks, Sammel Bowers, William Bontel, Stephen Bayley, Jon- athan Benjamin, Richard Haseltine, John Cohe, Joseph Davis, Samnel Danforth, Nicholas Dike, Edward Fuller, Thomas Farnsworth, Joseph Fisher, Oliver Fullam, Jacob Goodail, Jonathan Graves, Levi Graves, Zeeb. Green, Jonathan Gipson, Elijah Houghton, Obediah Holt, Israel Hale, John Hale, Samnel llartwell, Aaron Hodskins, Elijah Holt, John Holt, Jacob Holt, Phinehas Hemenway, Sammuel Hutchinson, Thomas Joslin, Thomas Kimball, Philip Lock, Nathaniel Lane, Joshua Millens, Samnel Miller, Levi Miles, James Marble, Ezekiel Medcalf, Isaac Puffer, Amos Putnam, Daniel Pushe, Mitchels Richards, Nathaniel Russell, Jeruthan Ramond, Sammel Sanderson, Aaron Sanderson, Joseph Stuart, Benjamin Sterns, Jacob Spofford, Jonathan Stiles, Silas Spaulding, Asa Savig Taylor, Robert Upton, Willis Wilder, Samuel Wood, Nathaniel Walker, James Wood, James Walker, John Whitcomb, Joseph Hough- ton and Jos. Priest.

From the record of those times we may pick a few points of interest and such as will throw much light upon the general spirit of the town during the Revo- lutionary struggle. It is clear that the people of Leominster were never moved by a mere sense of exact duty. There was manifested a large-hearted love and loyalty for the cause in all their acts, which tell how fully they had committed themselves to the service of liberty. The question was not: How can we meet this requisition so as just to relieve ourselves of its terms? but each call was filled promptly, fully and often more. There was something left over; a spirit of largeness in the service, indicative of the love which went with the offering. Still the men of that time, as now, did their own thinking. They could not be pushed too far even in the service of their country. June 3, 1778, we find that in town- meeting assembled they voted a remonstance to the "General Court," "setting forth that they had at all times fully met all calls upon them for men or mate- rial ; but so many other towns had failed in these re- spects as greatly to increase their burdens and that they could not much longer furnish men at their

own expense." Still we find that in the next call there was no trouble or delay in furnishing the men, and when the State, in September, 1780, voted a large supply of beef for the army. Leominster paid for three hundred and thirty-four pounds more than her pro- portion, which was seventy-two hundred pounds. This fairly illustrates the spirit of the men who con- trolled this town during the Revolution.

There is another fact worthy of mention and of more than passing interest. Mr. Wilder, in his history, has this statement, which stands still uncontradicted : " Although the men of this town were loyal subjects of their King before the Revolution, yet during the whole time of the struggle for Independence no one was accused, or even suspected, of being a Tory, or unfriendly to the cause." That is worthy of remem- brance, and may well be a matter of pride to the present inhabitants. ALL the people were loyal to the cause of freedom. It is pleasant to believe that the town did its WHOLE duty, that there was no one within its limits who did not love the cause of the nation, labor for its success and rejoice in its triumph. It is a good record.

Still another point of interest appears in this, that the people of Leominster have always favored the exact defining of power on the part of the Legislature by a Constitution. Unrestricted power for State or nation was not their idea of liberty. Hence we find that the town voted by large majorities for a State Constitution and instructed their representative to work for the same. At a later period, also, the town voted in favor of adopting the National Consti- tution.

The method adopted by the town to fill its several quotas is interesting, and at this date somewhat amus- ing. The town divided itself into classes or districts. Each class was to provide and pay for a man. In this capacity the classes acted separately, levied taxes and made contracts. The business was done in no half-pledged manner, as appears from the follow- ing contract, made by one of these classes with the man who was to serve them :

LEOMINSTER, April 10, 1781.

I, the subscriber, do engage to serve in the Continental army for three years, unless sooner discharged, for the class of which Capt. Joshua Wood is the head, provided the class pay me two thousand dollars io paper money or silver, at the exchange, before I go, and eigh- teen three-year old muddling cattle, provided I stay two years and six months ; and if I stay one year and six months said cattle are to be two years old ; and if I stay but one week said cattle are to be one year old. DAVID JOSLIN.

LANCASTER, April 12, 1781.

Then passed muster, David Joslin, for a Continental soldier for the term of three years, and for the town of Leominster and Capt. Joshua Wood's class.

Before me, Wat. DUNSMOOR, Must. Mast.

This young soldier was a mere boy, and tradition says that it required high-heeled shoes and some extra under-garments to take him safely through the ex- amination. He made a good soldier, however, served out his time and received his cattle as per agreement.

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LEOMINSTER.

Many instances of special patriotism and the cheer- ful bearing of burdens incident to the times could be given. The women were in no way behind the men in this regard, and all did their duty well. What has now been said, however, must suffice. "The souls of the people were tried and their pockets drained, but they stood up to the work like men."

It is not at this time possible to give any full list of those who served as regular soldiers iu the army during the Revolution. Mr. Wilder mentions the names of eleven and thinks that five more were in- cluded in the first enlistment of three years' men. The late James Bennett, Esq., had at the time of his death collected a large number of the names of those who served in this and other wars, but the lists are not designated with sufficient clearness so that a full record can be made. Entries which were clear to him cannot now be properly placed. The record is sufficiently full, however, so that all will admit that the town passed with credit through this great struggle.

In the Rebellion of Daniel Shays, which came but a few years later, this town fully sustained its reputa- tion and stood firmly for law and order. Its quota of men for the militia was filled with characteristic promptness, and the town in addition furnished two of the officers-Ensign John Buss and Maj. Timothy Boutelle. The record, at this day, has its chief interest in the fact that, while Leominster furnished men to put down these insurgents, none of the insur- gents themselves claimed a home within her limits.

THE WAR OF 1812 .- This war is the next point of interest in the military history of the town. In com- mon with other towns in this part of the country, Leominster, in her corporate capacity, does not seem to have been directly connected with this war. When our coast was threatened, a full company of artillery, under Capt. Joseph Tenney, marched to South Bos- ton, and were on duty three months.

Without doubt some volunteers went from Leo- minster, but the writer can give the names of only two-Elisha Carter, who served nine months in the Eleventh United States Infantry, from June, 1812, to March, 1813. He died at Burlington, Vt., at the age of thirty-five years. The other was Jonathan Carter, of whom no account can be given.

CIVIL WAR .- It is greatly to be regretted that so large a part of Leominster's record in the Civil War is now lost. The history which could so easily have been written at the time, and which would to-day be of such incalculable interest and value, was neglected or forgotten in the hurry and excitement of the war. When men are busy in making history, they usually fail either to note its importance or record its facts. They are too near to see its bearing upon the future, too much interested in the events themselves and too large a part of the history to remember that there will ever come a time when the transactions

will not be as present aud vivid to the minds of all men as they are to their own thought. In this way what Leominster did and suffered in the Great Rebel- lion was left, for the most part, unrecorded. There was no weekly paper to chronicle the doings of the people, and the records of the town are but the dry, cold bones of what was once a life so intense that its pulsations reached and affected every home in the commuuity.

Writing in 1852, less than ten years before the Civil War, Mr. Wilder said of the military spirit of the town : "Even at the present day, should their politi- cal rights and privileges be infringed, a vast majority of the inhabitants of this town would doubtless at once stand forth in the defence of freedom and to sustain the laws and support the Constitution, both of this Commonwealth and of the United States." This was strikingly true in the years from 1861 to 1865 ; but before giving such details of the history as can now be obtained, this general statement is proper.

The old record of the Revolution was repeated. Leominster furnished four hundred and four men, and her quota was more than full. She " stood forth " nobly and well in the defence of freedom and in sup- port of the laws and the Constitution. The insight which we get here and there of the town during the war shows active and sustained interest, energy and zeal in doing her part in suppressing the Great Rebellion.

At the opening of the Civil War there was one company of militia in town, Company A of the Ninth Regiment. It was originally chartered as a company of artillery in 1787, and for many years two field-pieces with the necessary appliances were kept in town. The company was an honor to the State, and especially to the citizen soldiery of the town of Leominster. This is the company which has already been referred to as marching to South Boston during the War of 1812. After this war it was changed into an infantry company. The first move in the War of the Rebellion, so far as Massachusetts had any part, was to muster the militia companies of the different towns into the service of the United States for three months. Company A, of Leominster, desired to go under this call, but was too late, as it had been decided to accept only such as would enlist for three years. The form of agreement was this :

" We, the undersigned, by our signatures liereto an- nexed, do hereby severally agree to serve as members of the Massachusetts Volunteer Militia for the term of three years, unless sooner discharged, from the date of our being mustered into the service, in accordance with the terms of the proclamation of the President of the United States, issued May 3d, 1861." Under these conditions this old Company A enlisted as Com- pany A in Fifteenth Massachusetts Regiment. To their first offer of services the following reply was received :

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HISTORY OF WORCESTER COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS, Adjutant-General's Office, May 9, 1861. George W. Rockwood, Co. A, 9th Regt :

DEAR SIR, -Your letter of the 7th instant, enclosing the offer of your Company to serve three years in according with the President's proclamation, gives pleasure to the department.

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History of Worcester County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. II, Part 82

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