USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > Worcester > History of Worcester, Massachusetts, from its earliest settlement to September, 1836 : with various notices relating to the history of Worcester County > Part 34
USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > Worcester > History of Worcester, Massachusetts, from its earliest settlement to September, 1836 : with various notices relating to the history of Worcester County > Part 34
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The institution has a library of about 500 volumes, and a philo- sophical and mathematical apparatus, was presented by Stephen Sal- isbury, Esq. one of the trustees.
The studies pursued, are grammar, geography, rhetoric, book- keeping, arithmetic, algebra, geometry, surveying, the languages, in- tellectnal and natural philosophy, and chemistry. The academic year is divided into four terms, of eleven weeks each, commencing on the first Wednesday in September, December, March, and June ; and each followed by two weeks of vacation. The charge of each term, for tuition in English studies, is $5, and in the languages, $7 : for rent of room and furniture, $2. Board in commons is furnished at the actual cost: the aggregate expenditure for provisions, ser-
309
MOUNT ST. JAMES SEMINARY.
vants, and other necessary payments, being divided proportionably among the scholars.
It was the original design, not only to afford the means of the ac- quisition of knowledge by teachers, library, and apparatus, but to furnish such employment as would promote the health of the stu- dents, while it enabled them to defray some part of their expenses. During the period of agricultural operation, this has been provided. The farm and garden are cultivated by the students : if the full labor of a man is performed, eight cents the hour is allowed for the ser- vice, and the same ratio of compensation is adopted for less work. A report of the principal, in the autumn of 1835, states, that many of the students have been enabled to pay their tuition, and some, by industry, had discharged the bill for board ; and adds, that those who had given evidence of the greatest improvement, on a then recent examination, had spent a portion of almost every day in active labor. The want of funds has yet prevented the erection of buildings and accumulation of capital, necessary for establishing branches of man- ufactures and mechanics, affording useful occupation during the in- clement season.
The number of students in 1836, was 135: among them, 18 from Worcester. The officers are : Isaac Davis, President : Otis Cor- bett, Secretary : Ichabod Washburn, Treasurer : Silas Bailey, Prin- cipal : Hervey S. Dale, Teacher : Joel Marble, Steward : Rev. Abi- el Fisher, Joseph White, Rev. Otis Converse, Rev. Frederic A. Willard, Stephen Salisbury, Otis Corbett, Isaac Davis, Edward Phil- lips, Samuel D. Spurr, Pearley Goddard, Daniel Goddard, Ichabod Washburn, Joseph Converse, Joseph T. Everett, Trustees.
MOUNT ST. JAMES SEMINARY.
This institution, of very recent origin, was founded by Rev. James Fitton. Its buildings are situated on the northern slope of Pakachoag Hill, and are connected with a farm of about sixty acres of land. The government is vested in a President, Principal, and Prefects, of the Catholic denomination. The course of instruction comprises the branches of practical education which qualify youth for usefulness in the business of life. Pupils of the age of eight years are admitted. From the elementary studies of reading, writ- ing, and grammar, they may proceed through courses of arithmetic, bookkeeping, geography, astronomy, history, and composition. There are two scholastic terms in the year ; one from September to March, the other from March to the middle of August : the first
..
310
POPULATION.
followed by one week, and the second by two weeks, of vacation. In the published statement, the expenses of support and tuition are estimated at eighty dollars per annum.
The present officers are Rev. James Fitton, President, and Jo- seph Brigden, Principal.
CHAPTER XV.
Population. Emigration. Mortality. Valuation. Taxation. Support of the Poor. Communication. Stages. Manufactures. Trade.
POPULATION. Until within a few years, the inhabitants of Wor- cester have been principally employed in agriculture, and the pop- ulation has increased slowly but gradually, until the commencement of works of internal improvement and the establishment of manu- factures, which have given great and rapid accessions of numbers.
The tables below show the numbers in the different years ex- pressed.
Age.
1790. Male. Fem.
1800.
1810.
1820. Male. Fem.
Under 10 years,
350
428
337
355
479 344
From 10 to 16,
494
-
178
162
186
182
171 188
From 16 to 26,
601
277
230
262
283
403
312
From 26 to 45,
949
213
215
2.42
231
319
325
45 and upwards,
175
170
207
531
218
270
Total,
1095 949
1193 1135
1234 1343
1490 1439
1830.
Age.
Male.
Fem.
Tot.
Age.
Male.
Fem.
Tot.
Under 5 years,
300
280
580
From 40 to 50,
155
156
311
From 5 to 10,
218
218
436
50 to 60,
83
95
178
10 to 15,
188
209
397
60 to 70,
44
71
115
15 to 20,
258
229
487
70 to 80,
43
38
81
20 to 30,
537
428
965
80 to 90,
8
10
18
30 to 40,
260
251
511
90 to 100,
0
3
3
2094
1978 4072
The number of free blacks in 1777, were 10: in 1790, 51 : in 1800, 83 : in 1810, 88: in 1820, 95: in 1830, 90.
Male. Fem.
Male. Fem.
311
EMIGRATION.
In 1820, there are returned as engaged in commerce, 1 : agri- culture, 218 : manufactures, 126 : foreigners, 19.
The whole population in different years was as follows : Years, 1763. 1776. 1790. 1800. 1810. 1820. 1825. 1830. 1035. 1836. Pop. 1478 1925 2095 2411 2577 2962 3650 4172 6624 abt. 7500
EMIGRATION. The enterprise of the citizens of Worcester, and the want of profitable employment of industry at home, has, at dif- ferent periods, led her natives to seek fortune in regions deemed more propitious. About 1730, a colony of the presbyterian planters went out to Worcester in New York. Soon after the war of the revolu- tion, the town of Paris, in Maine, was founded by Levi Hubbard, and the brothers of the Stowell family, joining with him, have been among the useful and honored of the inhabitants of that town. Many oth- er of the young plantations of that state derived accessions of num- bers and worth from our community. Col. Josiah Brewer was the first settler of Cummington in Hampshire Co. Mass. Col. Timothy Bigelow, in 1780, became grantee of Montpelier : Col. Ephraim Doolittle, long resident here, commenced the cultivation of Shore- ham ; and Windsor, Chester, and Woodstock, all in Vermont, re- ceived additions from our citizens. Some were in Col. Putman's expedition of 1787, to build cities in the then far West, and many went, after the war of 1812, to new lands. The county of Wor- cester has been like a hive of population, sending out swarms in all directions. The town has borne full share in this contribution to the good of others. The biographical notices of former pages show a portion of the talent thus bestowed.
MORTALITY. The favorable local situation of the town, the salu- brity of the climate and healthful occupations of the people, have rendered the visitations of epidemic disease unfrequent.
Before the small pox had been disarmed of its fearful power of destruction, during the period when it spread over the country, hos- pitals were established in the town, to which whole families resorted for inoculation, in preference to awaiting the danger of taking the disease the natural way. This malady prevailed generally in 1776, when the deaths here were 76.
In 1796, the dysentery prevailed, and between July and Novem- ber, 44 children under five years, and 15 persons over that age, died here of that complaint. The number of deaths in that year, was 80 : the average of five preceding years had been 24.
In 1810 and in 1813, a very malignant fever raged and created
312
MORTALITY.
great terror in the county. Its destroying effect, though severe, was less fatal here than in other towns.
The bills of mortality have been imperfectly kept until recently. The following tables, collected with great labor, exhibit accurate re- sults through the period they comprehend.
1
5 10
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80 to
90
Un- known
Tot.
1816
2
3
0
1
4
5
5
4
2
3
4
2
0
2
7
1819
4
5
1
2
8
2
1
3
3
3
3
2
3
1821
3
2
0
2
4
2
3
1
8
6
2
2
3 2
1
0
6
6
0
15
1829
5
11
2
2
4
1
5
4
5
2 5
3
0
5
1830
8
5
2
10
3
10
5
5
5
4
10
7
0
0
1S31 1832
10
10
7
5
10
5
10
3
5
3
0 7
0
2 0
68 87
1835
20
Jan. Feb. Mar. Apr. May. June. July. Aug. Sep. Oct. Nov. Dec. Total.
1807
10
0
0
3
5
7
5
3
4
5
4
1
2 39
1815
2
1
3
3
4
1
2 2
0 3
2
5
3
1
4
1
3
2
3
6
6
8
1
14
1832
4
6 6
5
3
3
3
6
4
2
10
6 10
3
1833
7
S
7
1
6 4
4 5
7
7
8
2 7
4
2 68
1834
8
8
4
1
1835
10
9
12
8
3 7
5 3
6
11 10
11
10 15
5
10 9 105
10 40. 2
lo 50. 2
to 60. 2
70. 2
4
2 3
0 1
6 49 43
1818
1
6
0
2
7
3
4
3
6
2
4
0
3 1
0 1
0 1 0 1
7 2 20 5
1824
3 0
2
1
1
1
0
1
4
3
3
3
2
1
5
1
1
5
3
1
1
1
4
1 14
1827 1828
7
5 0
0
4
6
1
2
4
8
6
2
2
60 46 55 49 68 74 71
1833
14
13
1
3
8
1
11
4
4
1834
21
15 10 4
4 5 4
1
4
9
5
4
6 6 5
2 5 2 4
3 3 2
0 1 6 48
1820
6
5
7
9
4
4
4
8
8
7
5
2 1
1825
2
7
2
1
2
1830
5
8
2
2
2
5
5
2
3
1822
2
5 6
2
3 4
4
4 6
4 3
5
10
1
1825
3
4
1
5
6
2
4
3
3
1826
4 3
5
1
5
7
1
4
1823
Under 1.
to 5.
10.
20.
30. 2
1 23
1817
3
5
4
10
to
to
80.
90.
to 100.
10 17 105
10 3
12 2 10 1
4 2
5 5
8
12
5
7
87
The deaths in other years, so far as the means of ascertaining the numbers are preserved, were : in 1775, 22: in 1776, 76 : in 1778, 39: in 1779, 21 : in 1780, 17: in 1781, 24: in 1782, 31 : in 1783, 28: in 1784, 38 : in 1791, 22 : in 1792, 26 : in 1793, 23: in 1794, 18 : in 1795, 33 : in 1796, 80 : in 1797, 28 : in 1808, 39 : in 1809, 29 : in 1811, 32: in 1812, 21 : in 1813, 70: in 1814, 42.
8 3
6 32 3 39 43 68 70 71
1831
9
6
4 12
9
4
3
5
4
0 0 22
14 7 51 39 35 39 57 38 18 43
1820
2
5
1
1810
5
2
7
3
9
Years.
313
VALUATION.
The ratio of deaths to population in 1830 was 1 in 61: 1831, 1 in 61: 1832, 1 in 65: 1833, 1 in 70: 1834, 1 in 80 : 1835, 1 in 63.
There have been a few instances of extraordinary longevity. John Young died June 30, 1730, aged 107: Sylvia, an African fe- male, May 22, 1804, a. 105 : Kesina Harris, Oct. 27, 1832,"a. 102.1
VALUATION. The following estimates of the principal articles of property are compiled from the returns of the assessors in the of- fice of the Secretary of the Commonwealth. On these documents the valuation of the state in successive years has been founded. Al- though the results cannot be considered precisely correct, they ap- proximate near to accuracy.
1781.
1791.
1801.
1811.
1821.
1831.
Buildings, Barns,
207
218
256
310
371
450
Houses,
216
244
278
330
384
521
Shops,
11
16
18
71
86
123
Other Buildings,
32
49
110
146
221
372
Cider, No. of barrels,
2063
2178
2999
3324
2114
575
Corn,
13350
14112
17813
22272
Oats,
6165
7228
11784
17645
Rye,
4813
4164
5726
4261
Wheat,
482
238
287
39
Hay,
English,
tons,
Meadow,
1393
1417
1204
1431
Land,
Tillage,
acres,
1034
1193
1395
1745
1962
1925
Mowing,
1074
1253
1754
2362
2882
3932
Meadow,
1606
1574
1814
1856
1844
1751
Pasture,
2881
4199
7469
7794
10560
10262
Wood,2
14912
12213
5114
4574
3421
3730
Unimproved,
4246
3918
1293
1072
Unimprovable,
2106
907
316
857
72
Covered by water,
90
396
388
448
roads,
-
420
444
450
489
Live Stock, Cows and steers,
778
1039
1063
1050
1101
1822
Horses,
277
319
390
321
314
434
Oxen,
365
407
513
391
488
614
Swine,
212
671
687
565
717
698
Ratable Polls,
389
486
520
519
643
1109
-
- -
-
-
1 Josiah Pierce, who died in 1806, a. 85, left 14 children, 77 grand children, and 35 great grand children. Kesiah Nichols died 1807, leaving 152 lineal descendants: 7 children, 52 grand children, 86 great grand children, 7 greal great grand children. Col. Benjamin Flagg, died Nov. 1819, aged 95, leaving 4 children 42 grand children, 83 great grand children.
2 In 1781, 1791, the woodland and unimproved land are not distinguished.
40
-
Grain, Barley, bushels,
359
289
625
-
1464
1683
2500
42.19
314
TAXATION.
The ratable polls have numbered as follows, in years not includ- ed in the tables.
Years, 1777. 1778. 1780. 1793. 1803. 1813. 1823. 1833. 1834. 1836.
Polls, 438 440 460 490 508 599 715 1300 1312 1633
The aggregate value of the property of the town is inserted in a column below.
TAXATION. The following statement will furnish a comparative view of the sums raised for public expenses in different periods. In addition to the town taxes for the support of schools, large sums are assessed in the Centre District.
Years.
Total Valuation.
Total Taxes.
High- ways.
School Tax. Worship.
Public
County State Ratable
Tax.
Tax.
Polls.
1800. $ 296542 $3017 81500 $1628
$808
$151
$ 962
530
1805.
443760
2130
2000
1300
875
238
1171
540
1810.
1476383
3213
2000
1500
1195
297
1049
518
1815.
1776635
4580
2000
1500
1443
219
1325
641
1820.
2015750
4715
2000
1700
2604
983
1181
626
1825.
2437550
6215
2000
2000
2458
485
881
1830.
2747800
8073
2000
2700
4868
1295
619
1018
1835. 3667250 15986
2500
3600
5480
1564
1570
1836. 3990950 24047
6700
5200
6435
1564
- 1683
-
-
The expenditures of the town during the year ending in March, 1836, were, as stated in a report : for highways, $2445: repairs of bridges, $104: new roads, $965 : schools, $3472 : fire department, $800: new engine house, $1200 : principal and interest of town debt, $3379 : lighting streets, $341 : poor establishment, $1404 : poor not at the poor house, $453 : compensation to assessors, $170 : burials, $216 : amounting, with some contingent expenses, to 815698. Of this sum, $ 527 has been repaid by allowance for support of state paupers : and $341 from other towns, from individuals, or from pensions.
SUPPORT OF THE POOR. In the early years of the town, the charges for supporting those who by infirmity or misfortune were destitute of the means of subsistence, were inconsiderable. There was a general equality of pecuniary condition, and that common prosperity and independence resulting from industry, frugality and temperance, which either prevented indigence or relieved its wants. Those who needed aid, were sustained by the charity of neighbors, more blessed with worldly goods, freely contributing for their com- fort. The first tax assessed for the support of the poor, seems to have been as late as 1757, when &£5 4s. were appropriated for that use.
315
SUPPORT OF POOR.
In 1763, it was voted, ' that a suitable workhouse be built for placing therein all persons that are, or may be, to be supported by the town, to be under the direction of the selectmen.' In 1772, a building, for the same purpose was erected on Front street, 40 by 18 feet in dimensions, at an expense of £70. Little charities were often be- stowed on the meritorious, so small as to be memorials of the com- passion, rather than the munificence of the public. In 1766, £6 were raised, to be disposed of in transporting a sick female to Staf- ford, and supporting her there while using the medicinal waters of the spring, ' she being one of the poor of the place, and laboring under great infirmity.' In 1784, the selectmen were empowered ' to procure an anvil for Cato Walker, and lend it to him, or let him it during their pleasure.' In 1807, it was determined to build an Alms House of brick, but after land had been purchased for the site, and materials for the structure, the plan was abandoned. Un- til 1817, the poor were supported by contracts with the highest bid- der at public auction, in the manner usual in the country towns. In that year, the Jennison farm, situated on the great road to Bos- ton, bordering on the upper end of Quinsigamond Pond, was pur- chased, with its comfortable mansion, for $5500, and a permanent home provided for the aged and infirm of our indigent citizens. This establishment, under the supervision of the selectmen, is con- fided to the charge of a Superintendent, constantly residing with his family in the house, upon a salary of $350 annually, with board and rent, conducting the cultivation of the land, and ministering to the comfort of the numerous dependents placed by the swelling popu- lation and peculiar local situation of the town under his charge, as well as exercising good discipline over those committed by public authority to this institution, as a workhouse.
A building has been erected, affording suitable accommodations for the insane, and a hospital is to be established for relief from the occasional visitation of contagious disorders.
The following statement exhibits the condition of those supported by the charity of the town for two years.
1834.
1835.
Males,
42,
58
Females,
27,
23
Whites,
63,
75
Blacks,
6,
6
From 80 to 90 years of age,
6,
6
Above 90 years of age,
6.
6
316
COMMUNICATION.
Intemperate,
25,
28
Married,
24,
31
Born in Worcester,
31,
33
Foreigners,
9,
24
Unable to read or write,
5,
4
Blind,
2,
2
Idiotic,
5,
5
Insane,
4,
2
Whole number,
69,
81
The annual taxes for the support of the poor from 1762 to the revolution, would average £30.
COMMUNICATION. Prior to 1755, there was a mail between Bos- ton and Philadelphia. A letter sent from one city to the other, was then three weeks on its way, and the writer could not have obtained an answer in less than about seven weeks. A great reform took place in that year, and the speed was so accelerated, that the mails were delivered in fifteen days, so that the reply to the letter could be received in a month from its date. The first stage on the route from Boston to New York, set up by J. and N. Brown, started June 24, 1772, and was intended to run once a fortnight. In the Boston Evening Post, July 6, 1772, patronage is solicited, and it is promised ' that gentlemen and ladies who choose to encourage this new, useful, and expensive undertaking, may depend upon good usage, and that the coach will always put up at houses on the road where the best entertainment is provided.' Notice was given, that ' the coaches will leave New York and Boston, on their next trip, on Monday, July 13, and arrive at each of those places on Saturday the 25th,' occupying thirteen days in going from one place to the other. The mail stage now goes from Boston to New York in 34 hours, and to Philadelphia in 44 hours. A person might reach the former city in 24 hours by public conveyance.
The stage was not continued to the revolution. In 1774, the only regular communication of the town, was by a post, going once a week between Hartford and Boston, and occupying six days in the journey. At that time, the mails were carried on horseback in sad- dlebags. James Adams, who died at Charlemont, at advanced age, and a Mr. Hyde, were long employed on this route, and went through Shrewsbury, Worcester, Leicester, and Springfield.
Soon after the removal of the Spy to Worcester, Mr. Thomas made extensive arrangements for its distribution. In June, 1775, a post rider set off each Wednesday at noon, who, by hard traveling
317
COMMUNICATION.
arrived at Cambridge the next forenoon, and at Salem by night. Returning, he left Watertown as soon as Edes and Gill's Gazette was published on Tuesday, and reached Worcester in the evening. On Wednesday, a post started for Providence, and came back on Saturday.
The first Post Office of the town was established, Nov. 15, 1775, under the charge of Isaiah Thomas, receiving and forwarding one mail from the west on Tuesday evening, and one from the east on Friday morning. Nathaniel Maccarty, who had been apprentice to Mr. Thomas, carried papers and letters to Fitchburg every Wednes- day, thence distributed through the north part of the country.
The condition of the roads rendered traveling slow, difficult, and dangerous, and intercourse was laborious, tedious, and expensive. The mails were transmitted, as almost all passing was performed, on horseback. A journey of an hundred miles was a matter of greater preparation, apprehension, and toil, than one of a thousand would be now. There were few vehicles of any description. The first pleasure carriage which was in the town, is said to have been a chaise, owned by Daniel Waldo, sen., a merchant of Boston, who after residing some time in Lancaster, removed to Worcester in 1782.
The first effort to establish a stage, appears, from an advertise- ment, June 13, 1782, stating, that ' a gentleman in Boston, having a genteel coach and a span of horses, would be willing to be concern- ed with some trusty person capable of driving a stage between Bos- ton and Worcester.' The proposal was not accepted. But the pro- ject of making a regular communication did not long slumber. Le- vi Pease, then of Somers, Conn. and Reuben Sikes, 1 then of Suf-
1LEVI PEASE, sometime of Somers, Conn. afterwards of Boston, became an inhabi- tant of Shrewsbury, where he died Jan. 28, 1824, aged 81. During the revolution, he served under Gen. Thomas, in the Northern department, and in supplying the army with provisions, was often exposed to great danger and hardship. His activity and fidelity recommended him to Gen. Wadsworth, and he was employed in useful service, connected with the operations of the South. He kept tavern for some time in Somers, afterwards in Boston, and finally went to Shrewsbury, where he afterwards resided.
He was the original projector, for some time the sole proprietor, and long a principal owner, of the stages between Boston and New York. Ile entered on the enterprise not only unassisted, but discouraged by his friends : the scheme was considered vision- ary and ruinous ; and the most judicious, regarded it as being at least a century in ad- vance of the public wants.
REUBEN SIKES, born in Somers, Conn, July 16, 1755, went to Hartford in I783, and after about two years residence removed to Wilbraham, where he remained about ten years : was sometime of Suffield, Conn. and in May 1807, came to Worcester, and was long proprietor of the hotel, now the Exchange Coffee House. Although much younger than Capt. Pease, the industry, perseverance and enterprise, which marked his charac-
T
318
COMMUNICATION.
field, ' having furnished themselves with two convenient waggons,' began a business, Oct. 20, 1783, which became most extensive. One waggon started from the sign of the Lamb in Boston, every Monday morning, at 6 o'clock, and stopped for the night at Martin's, in North- borough : on Tuesday, going through Worcester, it rested at Rice's in Brookfield : on Wednesday, it advanced to Pease's, in Somers : and on Thursday reached Hartford. The other leaving Hartford at the same time, and stopping at the same houses, arrived in Boston in four days. Passengers were carried for 4d. the mile. Mr. Thom- as remarks, in the Spy of Oct. 30, 'Should these waggons be en- conraged, it will be of much advantage to the public, as persons who have occasion to travel between, or to, or from, either of the places, may be accommodated on very reasonable terms, and will not have the trouble and expense of furnishing themselves with horses.' They were encouraged, and the enterprising proprietors, personally acting as drivers and conductors, set about improvements of their accommodations and arrangements. In May, 1784, they purchased new carriages : Pease, going from the Lion, in Marlborough street, Boston, lodged at Farrar's in Shrewsbury, and the next day exchang- ed passengers at Spencer with Sikes, who returned by the route of Springfield to Hartford. The customers found their way to New Haven, and thence took sloop navigation to New York. Industry, frugality, devotion to business, and sagacious management, soon made the waggoners and stage drivers, wealthy proprietors and great mail contractors. They entered into an arrangement with Talmage Hall and Jacob Brown, of Hartford, to extend the stage communi- cation to New Haven, in Nov. 1784. 2
ter, rendered him fit assistant in the execution of a plan, in its origin bold and hazar- dous. He was extensively engaged in the establishment and management of stages, and after the retirement of his partner, was one of the largest proprietors of that prop- erty in New England. He died August 19, 1824, aged 69, not long after his associate.
2 The following interesting memoranda, transcribed from the New York Daily Adver- tiser, of 1833, differ somewhat from the account in the text.
'In the year 1736, the first stage carriage that ever was established on the great post road between New York and Hartford, was set up by Jacob Brown, then a resi- dent of Hartford, in the state of Connecticut, and commenced running between Hart- ford and New Haven. It was a carriage somewhat resembling the coaches of later times, but far inferior to most of them in workmanship and appearance, and was drawn by one pair of horses, which performed the whole journey through from one lown to the other. The route was upon what is called the middle road, that is by Berlin, Wal- lingford, &e. and the journey occupied the day. At that time, for a large part of the year, a great proportion of travelers from the Eastward to the city of New York, look passage at New Haven, on board the sloops which plied between the two ports, and thus finished their journey by water. The passages varied according to wind and
319
COMMUNICATION.
In Jan. 1786, the energetic founders had established a line of stages from Portsmouth to Savannah, transporting the several mails. From Boston to Hartford, coaches left the inn of Levi Pease, op- posite the Mall, every Monday and 'Thursday morning, at 5 o'clock: went to Worcester on the first day : on the next day to Palmer : on the third to Hartford : and in three days more arrived at New York. This was the winter arrangement : in summer, the stages run with the mail three times a week, ' by which means,' say the owners, ' those who take passage at Boston in the stage which sets off on Monday morning, may arrive at New York on the Thursday evening following, and all the mails during the season will be but four days from Boston to New York ;' and a letter adds, 'by this unparalleled speed, a merchant may go from Boston to New York, and return again in less than ten days ; which is truly wonderful.' The advertisement proceeds to remark, that 'it is the most conve- nient and expeditious way of travelling that can be had in America, and in order to render it the cheapest, the proprietors had lowered their price from 4d. to 3d. the mile, with liberty to passengers to carry 14 pounds weight of baggage.' In July, 1788, notice was given by Levi Pease, that after great expense and fatigue, he had completed the line of stages from Boston to New York ; that the carriages which before were heavy and uneasy, had been hung upon springs, and would not fatigue more than a common coach : and that to Nov. 1, there would be three stages a week, and from that date to May 1, two the week.
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