USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > Clinton > History of the origin of the town of Clinton, Massachusetts, 1653-1865 > Part 23
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C. G. STEVENS. EZRA SAWYER. J. D. OTTERSON. SIDNEY HARRIS. H. N. BIGELOW.
" Lancaster, Nov. 12, 1849."
The " Minority Report " stated that the town of Lancaster had just built a new town house, which would be compara- tively useless in case of division; that the regular number of town meetings was three; that, although Clintonville urges that it wishes to take charge of its schools, it has had as much charge of them as it would have if it were a town by itself. The interests of the two villages, although they differ in occupation, are common, as both need roads, bridges, schools, and town officers. This report complains that some on the western division line do not wish to be cut off from their old associations, and it therefore advises another divi- sion line if a separation is to take place.
There was much private discussion concerning a division
278
THE INCORPORATION OF CLINTON.
of the town. In the Courant of January, 1850, a paper by Rev. W. H. Corning was published. He stated: first, that it had never happened that a manufacturing village having the largest number of voters, was willing to remain subordinate, and if Clintonville remained united to Lancaster, the town business must, in time, come to this section; that Clinton- ville should have a name and a "local habitation, and not be hidden in Lancaster and unknown;" that we ought to part with the kindest of feelings, yet already there is some bitter- ness of feeling, and this will be apt to increase in the future; public improvements which come now from private subscrip- tions, could, after division, be raised by tax.
This paper was answered in the Courant of February 8, 1850. The answer declared that Lancaster had almost uni- versally granted the privileges that Clintonville had asked of her; that the corporations and many of the richest land owners were not in favor of a division; that it was mostly urged by those who were dependent on the corporations for their employment; that the population of Clintonville was constantly changing, and in a few years there might be only a few who would desire a division.
These reports and papers will sufficiently indicate the nature of the discussions heard everywhere on the streets and in the stores. These ideas were briefly embodied in a petition to the General Court .*
* To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Common- wealth of Massachusetts in General Court assembled :
The undersigned, citizens of Lancaster, in the County of Worcester, legal voters, respectfully represent that a manufacturing village called Clintonville, has recently sprung up in the south part of said town, con- taining already a population of nearly three thousand persons, whilst its favorable location with the amount of capital invested in manufactures, give assurance of large increase; that the inhabitants of Lancaster pro- per and of Clintonville have separate and distinct interests and wholly different business associations; that the distance from the center of the town renders it expensive, while their occupation makes it highly incon- venient for citizens of Clintonville to meet with the other citizens of
279
TERMS OF DIVISION.
At a meeting of the citizens of Clintonville, held Febru- ary 9th, a new line of division was submitted, discussed, and approved. This change was made because the citizens of the Deer's-Horns district preferred to remain with the old town. It left a long, narrow, strip of land between Clinton- ville and Sterling, in the possession of Lancaster.
The final decision of the question as to whether Lancaster should oppose the division or not came on the 15th of Feb- ruary, 1850. Some expected bitter opposition and an excit- ing discussion, but better counsel prevailed, and a committee of the citizens of the older part of the town, consisting of John G. Thurston, Jacob Fisher, Silas Thurston, Henry Lin- coln and Nathaniel Wilder was appointed to decide with the Clintonville committee before mentioned, what terms of division ought to satisfy the town of Lancaster to consent not to oppose the division of the town. This committee unanimously reported in substance, as follows: That the old town of Lancaster should have all the property of the town within its limits, after the division; that Clintonville should maintain and support, forever, all paupers now supported by the town who may have gained a legal claim upon the town by reason of birth or residence within the limits of Clinton- ville, or who may, in like manner, hereafter make good such claim; that the inhabitants of Clintonville shall pay to the · town of Lancaster the sum of ten thousand dollars, in yearly installments of one thousand dollars each, with interest thereon,-the interest to be paid semi-annually,-which sum shall be in full for their proportion of the present town debt; that the line of division be as proposed by C. G. Stevens; that the substance of the articles shall be stated in the act of incorporation. These terms of agreement were then sub- mitted to the meeting for approval or rejection, and were
Lancaster, as they are now required to do, to hold elections and for oth- er municipal purposes.
CHAS. G. STEVENS, and others.
280
THE INCORPORATION OF CLINTON.
accepted by nearly, if not quite, a unanimous vote. A com- mittee was then chosen to carry into effect the terms of the report. This committee consisted of Henry Wilder, Rev. Benjamin Whittemore, and John G. Thurston.
The giving of ten thousand dollars to Lancaster seemed an unnecessary piece of extravagance, but it is doubtful if Clinton could have been set off at this time if Lancaster had opposed it. The annual interest of this sum was much less than the excess of the amount of taxes collected from Clin- tonville over the amount laid out in that section. Henry Wilder, indeed, feeling that Lancaster had made a poor bar- gain, opposed the division before the legislature, but as the town had voted not to oppose the division, his opposition had little influence.
The following is the act of incorporation :-
"COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS.
"IN THE YEAR ONE THOUSAND EIGHT HUNDRED AND FIFTY. "An Act to Incorporate the Town of Clinton.
"Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- tives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:
"Section I. All that part of Lancaster, in the county of Worcester, which lies southerly of the following described line, viz: Beginning at a monument on the east line of the town bound which is a corner of Bolton, Berlin and Lancas- ter, and running thence North 65 deg. 30 min. West 518.II rods to a bound near the railroad bridge at Goodrich's Hill; and thence South 48 deg. 30 min. West 783 rods to a town bound on the westerly line of said town near the Elder farm, is hereby incorporated into a separate town by the name of Clinton,-and the said town of Clinton is hereby vested with all the powers, privileges, rights and immunities, and subject to all the duties and requisitions to which other towns are entitled and subjected by the Constitution and Laws of this Commonwealth.
2SI
ACT OF INCORPORATION.
" Sec. 2. The inhabitants of the town of Clinton shall be holden to pay all State, County, and Town taxes legally assessed on them before the passage of this act, and also shall be holden to pay their proportion of State and County taxes that may be assessed on them previously to the tak- ing of the next state valuation; said proportion to be ascertained and determined by the town valuation of the town of Lancaster next preceding the passage of this act, to the treasurer or collector of the town of Lancaster; and all moneys now in the treasury of said town, or that may here- after be received from taxes now assessed, shall be applied to the purpose for which they were raised and assessed, the same as if this act had not passed.
"Sec. 3. Said towns of Lancaster and Clinton shall be respectively liable for the support of all persons who now do, or shall hereafter, stand in need of relief as paupers, whose settlement was gained by, or derived from, a settlement gained or derived within their respective limits.
"Sec. 4. All the corporate property now owned by the town of Lancaster shall remain the property of said town; and the town Clinton shall pay to the treasurer of the said town of Lancaster the sum of ten thousand dollars by ten equal an- nual payments, with semi-annual interest, the first payment to be made one year after the passage of this act, which sum shall fully discharge the town of Clinton of and from all debts and charges now due and owing from said town of Lancaster, or which hereafter may be found due and owing, by reason of any contracts, engagements, judgment of court or any matter or thing whatsoever now or heretofore entered into or existing.
"Sec. 5. Any justice of the peace within and for the county of Worcester may issue his warrant, directed to any principal inhabitant of the town of Clinton, requiring him to notify and warn the inhabitants thercof, qualified to vote in town affairs, to meet at the time and place therein appointed, for the purpose of choosing all such town officers as towns
282
THE INCORPORATION OF CLINTON.
are by law authorized and required to choose at their annual meeting. And said warrant shall be served by publishing a copy thereof in some newspaper printed in said Clinton, and by posting up copies thereof, all attested by the person to whom the same is directed, in two public places in said town, seven days, at least, before such time of meeting. Such jus- tice, or in his absence, such principal inhabitant shall preside, until the choice of moderator in said meeting.
"The Selectmen of Lancaster shall, before said meeting, prepare a list of voters in said town of Clinton, qualified to vote at said meeting, and shall deliver the same to the per- son presiding at such meeting, before the choice of modera- tor thereof.
"Sec. 6. This act shall take effect from and after its passage.
"HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, March 14, 1850. " Passed to be enacted.
"ENSIGN H. KELLOGG, Speaker.
"IN SENATE, March 14, 1850.
" Passed to be enacted. "MARSHALL P. WILDER, President.
" March 14, 1850.
"Approved.
"GEO. N. BRIGGS. "SECRETARY'S OFFICE, March 14, 1850.
"I hereby certify the foregoing to be a true copy of the original act.
" W. B. CALHOUN.
The boundary lines of Clinton on the east, south and southwest are the same as those of Lancaster were. These lines had been determined by acts: incorporating Bolton, June 27, 1738; annexing six square miles of Lancaster to Shrewsbury, February 18, 1781; incorporating Sterling, April 25, 1781; setting off the estate of Peter Larkin to Berlin, then part of Bolton, February 8, 1791. The latter act caused
283
THE TOWN OF CLINTON.
the irregularity in the southeastern portion of the town boundary.
Thus, one hundred and ninety-seven years after the first enterprise was started within its borders, and seven years after the period of the rapid development of its industries began, Clinton became a town. The ease with which the separation was effected arose from the skillful management of those who had charge of the business, and to these gentle- men great credit is due. The citizens of both Lancaster and Clinton were satisfied with the conditions of division, and from the first, the most cordial relations existed between the two towns.
CHAPTER XVIII.
FIFTEEN YEARS OF MUNICIPAL LIFE.
THE town of Clinton at the time of its incorporation had according to the report made by the assessors a population of two thousand seven hundred and seventy-eight. The United States census, taken the same year, gives an enroll- ment of three thousand one hundred and eighteen. On ac- count of the employment of so many females in the mills the number of males in town was small as compared with the population. As there were many immigrants who had not been naturalized, the number of voters was small com- pared with the number of males. This ratio would have been still smaller if there had been the usual proportion of children in town. The youth of so many of the inhabitants and the consequent fact that most of them had not as yet acquired homes, made the number of property holders small as compared with the number of voters. This was more than balanced as regards the rate of taxation by the fact that a large proportion of the money raised from property came from the corporations.
Not only the community as a whole, but also the indi- viduals of which it was composed and the business interests upon which it depended, were as yet in their untried youth. It was a time of beginnings with them all. Economy in the present for the sake of a competence in the future was the motto of private life, but, at the same time, there was the spirit of enterprise and the full recognition of the fact that any false economy in laying the foundations of municipal
285
FIRST OFFICERS.
institutions meant a great increase of expense in the future. Therefore a far-seeing liberality prevailed. The new town had some school property, roads and bridges, with a conse- quent debt of fourteen thousand five hundred and twenty- five dollars. Provision for the needs of the poor, a place of burial and protection against fire were lacking and demanded immediate attention. Such other needs as a town hall, town water and sewerage were of necessity postponed to a distant future.
The first town meeting was held April Ist in the vestry of the Congregational Church. C. G. Stevens was chosen moderator, an office to which he was elected for forty-three successive annual meetings. The object of this meeting was "To choose all necessary officers for the ensuing year." A caucus had been held on the 28th of March to nominate a list of officers, but the voters broke away from the list prepared in several cases. The list of those chosen is as follows: Clerk, A. S. Carleton; Selectmen, Ezra Sawyer, Samuel Belyea and Edmund Harris; Treasurer and Collector, Sidney Harris; Assessors, Alfred Knight, Joseph B. Parker and Ira Coolidge; Overseers of the Poor, James Ingalls, Alanson Chace, Nathan Burdett; Constables, Ira Coolidge and Wil- liam Fleming. April 15th, E. K. Gibbs was added to the list of constables .*
*LIST OF TOWN OFFICERS TO 1865.
A. S. Carleton, 1850-53.
Artemas E. Bigelow, 1854-60.
Charles S. Patten, 1853-54.
H. C. Greeley, 1860-65.
Treasurers.
Sidney Harris, 1850-51, 55-56. Alfred Knight, 1851-55, 56-65.
Ezra Sawyer, 1850-52. Samuel Belyea, 1850-51, 56-57.
Selectmen. Nelson Whitcomb, 1852-53, 55-56.
Alanson Chace, 1852-53.
Edmund Harris, 1850-51. Calvin Stanley, 1851-52.
Jonas E. Howe, 1853-55, 58-60.
Abel Rice, 1853-56.
Gilman M. Palmer, 1851-55, 56-57. Josiah Alexander, 1855-56.
Clerks.
286
FIFTEEN YEARS OF MUNICIPAL LIFE.
A meeting was held April 15th, at which preliminary steps were taken to provide for the most pressing needs of the new town. A committee was appointed to prepare a set of by-laws, rules and regulations. This committee consisted of C. G. Stevens, C. W. Blanchard, H. N. Bigelow, J. T. Dame, William Stearns, Ezra Sawyer, Sidney Harris, J. B. Parker and Haskell McCollum. The report as presented by this committee was adopted by the town August 5th, and the by- laws were but slightly modified for many years.
The selectmen asked for and received an appropriation of eight thousand two hundred dollars for expenditures for the current year.t When we consider the needs of the new community, this appropriation seems small, yet at the close of the year there was a net balance in favor of the town of three hundred and seventy-one dollars and eleven cents.
Horace Faulkner, 1856-57, 58-59.
Charles W. Worcester, 1861-64.
David Wallace, 1857-58.
P. L. Morgan, 1861-63.
Joshua Thissell, 1857-61.
Elisha Brimhall, 1863-65.
Gilbert Greene, 1857-58, 60-61.
A. A. Burditt, 1863-65.
James F. Maynard, 1859-63.
B. R. Smith, 1864-65.
Valuation.
Amount Raised by Taxation.
Rate.
Polls.
Debt.
+1850
$1,262,803
$9,059 33
7.
575
$14,525 00
1851
1,184,93I
16,660 88
8.
593
13,900 00
1852
1,312,460
11,307 50
8.50
577
16,900 00
1853
1,254,700
22,320 94
17.00
643
16,800 00
1854
1,558,840
11,929 90
7.
674
14,500 00
1855
1,607,99I
13,428 06
7.70
712
14,500 00
1856
1,736,823
18,765 41
9.70
788
14,500 00
1857
1,766,181
16,661 39
8.80
745
14,500 00
1858
1,655,723
14,988 67
8.20
782
14,500 00
1859
1,610,051
14,886 25
8.50
781
14,500 00
1860
1,690,692
14,851 92
8.
879
14,500 00
1861
1,722,532
15,969 54
8.50
885
19,500 00
1862
1,686,242
16,868 18
9.
846
26,064 71
1863
1,715,653
20,320 19
II.
724
29,022 18
1864
1,871,000
22,115 00
II.
767
34,190 82
1865
1,860,763
27,776 68
14.
863
39,484 20
287
THE CEMETERY.
Expenses connected with the separation from Lancaster and the town debt consumed one thousand five hundred and fifty-three dollars and eighty-six cents, leaving six thousand two hundred and seventy-five dollars and three cents, of which three thousand two hundred and forty-nine dollars and seven cents went to permanent investments, and three thousand and twenty-five dollars and ninety-six cents to cur- rent expenses. A tax rate of seven dollars per thousand, or about an average of one dollar per individual for permanent investments and another for current expenses does not seem very alarming, especially, when the indebtedness was less at the end of the year than at the beginning.
The cemetery question also received consideration at this meeting of April 15th. A "Cemetery Corporation" had before existed, but little action of permanent importance had been taken. A committee of five was chosen by the town to procure a lot of land for a cemetery, after conferring with the "Cemetery Corporation." This committee was also given the power to sell the choice of lots at auction. August 5th, this committee was instructed to purchase more land if suitable terms could be obtained. After various additions had been made and some of the land had been given up to the poor farm, the cemetery contained in 1853 some over thirteen acres, which cost nine hundred and eighty-four dollars and three cents. This cemetery was called Woodlawn. The grounds were fenced in in 1853. A receiving tomb was completed in 1854. From year to year, public as well as private improvements were made in the grounds until the western hillslope was covered with verdant lots and shady walks. The Catholics have a burial ground of their own near Sandy Pond where their dead are laid.
At the town meeting of April 15, 1850, five hundred dol- lars were appropriated for the organization of the fire department. Before this, the mills had done something in their private capacity for self-protection. Even as far back as the time of Poignand & Plant there had been a fire com-
288
FIFTEEN YEARS OF MUNICIPAL LIFE.
pany connected with their factory. There had been consid- erable discussion concerning a public company in Clinton- ville during the months preceding the separation, but nothing definite had been accomplished. So the real origin of the fire department of the town is found in this appro- priation. On August 5th there was another appropriation of one thousand dollars for a fire engine. There was great enthusiasm in the organization of the fire company, which was named "Torrent Engine Company No. I," and many of the most prominent citizens became members. Henry But- terfield was made foreman. This organization was com- pleted September 18th. An engine house was built on the school-house lot on Church Street at a first cost of six hundred and seventy-five dollars and sixty cents. The fire engine, which was a "Hunneman," arrived on the 10th of December. The cost was one thousand and thirty dollars and seventy-six cents. Through an act of the legislature, a fire department was established in March, 1851. Franklin Forbes was made chief engineer. He wrote all reports made until 1859.
The company was not called out to any considerable fire until a year after the engine came, and then it was found that the box was half full of ice so that nothing could be done. On May 5, 1852, the company voted to dissolve. Some had enrolled their names as members of the company who were unwilling to drill. May 15th, the company was re-organized with only working members. A committee ap- pointed to consider the question of a supply of water for fires reported May 7, 1853: "After careful investigation with the assistance of an engineer in making surveys and esti- mates, they find themselves unable to report to the town any plan for supply of water that seems to them practicable." In accordance with their recommendation, it was decided to purchase another engine and a hose carriage.
On June 17, 1853, a second company was organized called Cataract, No. 2, with Henry Bowman as foreman. The
289
THE FIRE DEPARTMENT.
engine, also bought of Húnneman & Co., came to town June 2Ist, and there was a great celebration in which the Cataract and Torrent Companies both participated. Franklin Forbes' first printed report appeared this year .*
It was not until 1854 and '55, that the members of the engine companies received pay for their services. B. R. Cotton was for some years the foreman of the Torrent Com- pany, while Gilman M. Palmer was foreman of the Cataract.
July 7, 1858, the Franklin Hook and Ladder Company was formed and apparatus purchased. The old brick school- house of No. 4 was fitted up for this company. There was much rivalry between the Torrent and Cataract Companies. After the flag staff was erected on the Common, there were repeated contests as to which could throw the highest verti- cal stream. The companies also took part in various con- tests abroad. There were few serious fires from 1850 to 1865. Only five worthy of special notice are on record. In January, 1853, there was a loss of five thousand dollars at the comb shops of Sidney Harris. December 20, 1856, Alanson Chace's tenement building on Oak Street was burned, and February 17, 1857, the planing mill of Fuller & Rice near the railway station, February 5, 1858, the O'Mal- ley house in California was destroyed and three persons burned to death. January 4, 1859, the Union building on Pleasant Street was burned. The total pecuniary loss dur- ing all these years could hardly have averaged one thousand dollars per annum. This fact was largely due to the effi- ciency of the department. In 1859, Samuel Belyea became
* He stated the expenses of the Fire Department as follows:
Cataract Engine House
$715 34
Cataract Engine. 725 00
600 feet Hose 360 00
Hose Carriage. 50 00
Pipes, Buckets, etc. 403 69
$2,254 03
20
290
FIFTEEN YEARS OF MUNICIPAL LIFE.
chief engineer, in 1861, '63 and '64, Charles Bowman, in 1862, Elisha Brimhall, in 1865, Franklin Forbes.
In this first year, 1850-51, the only other item of expense for permanent investment, except for the cemetery and fire department, was the pound. This cost about fifty-four dol- lars.
Preliminary steps were entered upon in regard to the purchase of an alms-house and poor farm, August 5, 1850, but no definite action was taken until the next year. C. W. Blanchard, in a report made for the committee on a pauper establishment, states: "The committee purchased the place of Sumner Thomson, near the Cemetery, consisting of a small house and barn, with about nine acres of land, for one thousand dollars. They afterwards purchased of Mr. Joseph Rice about three acres more for two hundred and fifty dol- lars. * * They have erected upon this land a dwelling- house thirty-six feet by thirty feet, containing eleven rooms." The cost of the building was two thousand and seventy- three dollars and seventy cents. The pauper establishment also received some over an acre of land from the cemetery, making thirteen acres in all.
March 1, 1858, thirty-eight people were supported by the town. All but two of these were "foreigners." After the completion of the pauper establishment, the number dimin- ished so that at the end of the year only seven remained. In August 1852, there was not a single pauper at the house. Jeremiah Barnard was the first superintendent, and he re- mained until 1858, when Joseph Cole took the position, stay- ing until after 1865. Mr. Cole came from Littleton.
In the spring of 1852, H. N. Bigelow presented to the town a lot containing about four acres with the conditions: that it should always be used as a Common; that no perma- nent structure should ever be placed upon it; that it should be laid out according to the plans of J. C. Hoadley, and that it should be cared for and beautified at public expense. At a meeting held April 5, 1852, it was voted to accept from
--
THE COMMON FROM THE CORNER OF CHURCH AND CHESTNUT STREETS.
291
THE COMMON.
H. N. Bigelow this gift, and to appropriate one thousand dollars for the improvement thereof according to the condi- tions imposed.
The workmen were soon busy in transforming the "un- sightly bog-hole" into a beautiful park. The springs were utilized in filling a pond which was to serve not only for adornment but also for utility inasmuch as it was proposed to use it as a reservoir to be drawn from in case of fire. This pond was in the southeasterly portion. In an editorial in the Courant, May 15, 1852, Edwin Bynner, in his gushing style said: "The site is a splendid one, commanding an ex- cellent view, and when the grounds shall have been laid out, trees planted and the whole neatly fenced, imagination will readily hear the plaudits of the youth of the twentieth cen- tury, who, as they promenade in loving couples the smooth, umbrageous walks around it, looking up admiringly through the wide spread branches of the saplings you now encircle with your hand, will hold in pleasing memory, not only the public-spirited donor, but the wise ancestors who thus timely accepted and improved the gift."
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