USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > Clinton > History of the origin of the town of Clinton, Massachusetts, 1653-1865 > Part 30
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The directors chosen were Franklin Forbes, H. N. Big- elow, E. A. Harris, H. C. Greeley, C. G. Stevens, C. L. Swan and G. M. Palmer, all of Clinton, F. B. Fay of Lancaster and R. S. Hastings of Berlin. C. G. Stevens was made president and has held that office to the present time. May 12, 1864, C. L. S. Hammond was made cashier and he was soon after made treasurer of the Savings Bank. These banks had their office together at the old bank building on Union Street.
Charles L. Swan was born in Biddeford, Maine, Decem- ber 23, 1816. He was the son of Charles and Rutha Lassell Swan. He obtained his education at the district schools. He lived for a while in New Bedford. He came to Clinton- ville May 1, 1848 and became paymaster of the Lancaster Mills. He held this position until he was appointed assist- ant to H. N. Bigelow of the Bigelow Carpet Mills, July I, 1855. He afterwards became manager of the Carpet Mill, which office he held until February 1, 1872. He was made treasurer of the Clinton Gas Light Company in 1865, and remained seventeen years in this office. He became treas- urer of the Gibbs Loom Harness and Reed Company in 1875, a position he still holds. He was the first treasurer of the Clinton Savings Bank from 1851 to 1860. He has been president since 1878. He has been a director of the First National Bank since its organization in 1864. In 1850 and 1866, he was on the school committee. He was a selectman for two years. He served as fire engineer nine years and on the cemetery committee for thirty-six years. He has been
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chairman since 1868. He is a member of the Congrega- tional Church and treasurer of the board of trustees of the German Church. He has been a Republican in politics. He bought his present residence on Chestnut Street in 1870. He married Lucy Haskell. He has one son and one daugh- ter now living.
C. L. S. Hammond, who has been so closely identified with these banks from 1864 to the present time, was born in a bank at Kalamazoo, Michigan, in 1837. His father was at this time the cashier of the Michigan State Bank and had the office in his dwelling-house. Mr. Hammond was called hither from the Rollstone Bank in Fitchburg, where he had been assistant cashier for some years. The story of his efficient labors belongs to a later period of our history.
The Clinton Gas Light Company was organized by the Bigelow Carpet Company and the Lancaster Mills for their own benefit, although the people in the town in general were allowed to profit thereby. The company was incorporated March 8, 1854, with a capital stock of twenty-four thousand dollars. Franklin Forbes the president, H. N. Bigelow the treasurer, and Henry Kellogg constituted the first board of directors. The work of construction and the laying of pipes · was carried on during 1854 and 1855. In 1856, the capital invested was increased to thirty thousand dollars, at which figures it remained until after the Civil War. A. E. Bigelow was book-keeper for many years. C. L. Swan was made a director in 1856 in the place of Henry Kellogg, and he be- came treasurer on the resignation of Horatio N. Bigelow, May 1, 1865, an office which he retained until 1882. Henry N. Bigelow followed his father as director. Milton Jewett was superintendent of the works from the beginning.
Milton Jewett, the younger brother of Horace and Theo- dore,* was born in Bolton, September 22, 1824. He passed
* See pages 254-5.
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his boyhood in Sterling and received the education of the district schools. Like his brothers, he learned the trade of carpenter. February 15, 1849, he married Alicia Davis of Princeton. They have had eight children. Mr. Jewett came to Clintonville in 1842, to work as a carpenter, and followed this trade until 1853, when he was made manager of the gas works. He held this position for many years. His home- stead has been on Pleasant Street. He has been an earnest supporter of the Unitarian Society. He has served on the board of selectmen and in other town offices.
August 27, 1846, a meeting was held to consider what the people of Lancaster would do to help on the building of the Worcester and Nashua Railroad. Jacob Fisher was chairman and A. S. Carleton of Clintonville, secretary. Among the speakers were W. S. Thurston, Judge Washburn, Hon. John Davis, and H. N. Bigelow. The latter spoke of the need of earnest effort, of his success in getting subscrip- tions in Clintonville just before coming to the meeting, and of the probable increase in the value of real estate on ac- count of the road. He was appointed chairman of a com- mittee to get subscriptions. December 16, 1846, the presi- dent of the Clinton Company was authorized by the directors to subscribe for five thousand dollars worth of the Worcester and Nashua Railroad stock. Twenty-five thousand dollars worth of stock was taken by H. N. Bigelow, and the corpor- ation took the matter in hand so far as to secure him against loss therefrom. December 5, 1848, the Clinton Company voted to apply to the legislature for the right to take eighty- three shares of Worcester and Nashua Railroad stock. Articles appeared in successive issues of the Courant urging the citizens to enter heartily into the movement. On Sep- tember 19th, the editor congratulated the readers on the prospect that the road would be built through Lancaster.
A meeting of stockholders in Lancaster, September 30th, with its adjournment October 7th, decided on the building
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of the road. There was some attempt to have the road pass to the west of Clintonville through Sterling, but the present route was permanently decided upon in November. Decem- ber 19th, grading had begun in Lancaster. Operations were suspended on account of a strike in March. The part of the road between Clintonville and Groton was formally opened July 1, 1848. The passenger and freight stations were not finished until the end of the summer. At this time, three trains ran each way to and from Boston. J. C. Stiles was still running his stage four times a day to Worcester. November 22d, the road to Worcester was formally opened. Between July Ist and November 15, 1848, J. C. Stiles carried ten thou- sand four hundred and eleven persons between Worcester and Clintonville. He did not give up his business until some time after the railroad opened. The road was completed to Nashua, December 18, 1848. Three trains a day passed through Clintonville each way, northward to Nashua or by connections at Groton to Boston, and southward to Worces- ter with connection to Boston, Providence and to the West through Springfield and New York or through Norwich by steamer to New York. H. A. Pollard was station agent. He sold lime and plaster from the station. Edwin Bynner, the versatile editor of the Courant, was afterwards agent for a while. Henry C. Latham also served in the office before he went to Kansas, where he was murdered in December, 1857. Alfred Knight was a station agent for a long period.
The Boston, Clinton and Fitchburg Railroad was not built until after the Civil War.
Among early stage and express routes the following de- serve mention: May 22, 1847, A. J. Gibson bought out the line of stages from Princeton to South Acton, and turned its course so that it came through Clintonville. July 10, 1847, McIntyre and Day ran a stage to Shirley to connect with the railroad there. They also did an express business, which seems to have ceased with the coming of the railroad to Clintonville. April 22, 1848, John C. Stiles, who for somc
CLINTON AS SEEN FROM THE HOSPITAL ..
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NATHAN BURDETT.
time previously had a stage line to Worcester, opened a line known as the Clintonville and Lowell line. He was a con- ductor on the Worcester and Nashua Railroad for five years. He built the Cambridge horse railroad and was superintend- ent for eighteen years. He was then inspector of hay for the street railways in Boston. Bigelow's express to Boston began in July, 1848. Bancroft and Harlow ran a depot coach from the opening of the railroad in July, 1848, to May 5, 1849, and then sold out to Knight and Butterfield. Benjamin F. Spafford ran an express route to Worcester, beginning October 20, 1849. William P. Holder ran a Boston express through Worcester in 1854. Fiske & Co. were engaged in the express business here for many years previous to the Civil War. Emory Harris, a son of Emory Harris, Senior, for twenty-six years owned a line of railroad carriages. For a while after the opening of the Boston, Clinton and Fitch- burg Railroad, he served as conductor. He was also a farmer. He died April 23, 1879, at the age of forty-seven.
Nathan Burdett was a native of District No. 10, and was born May 16, 1813. We have studied the life of his father's family and are therefore already acquainted with his youth. He learned the comb trade and pursued it for some years after reaching manhood. He married Mary E. Carter No- vember 9, 1838. They had two sons, Charles C. and Edward W., and one daughter, who reached maturity. Mr. Burdett was for a time a travelling salesman in the dry goods busi- ness, but soon after the Worcester and Nashua Railroad was finished, he became a jobber and followed this business for over thirty years. A considerable portion of the general freight was handled by him during all this time. The family resided until the seventies on Sterling Street, and then Mr. Burdett built on Water Street. He was one of the original members of the Baptist Church. He was for five years one of the assessors. He united sterling integrity with the most genial disposition. He died July 1, 1884. His brother Thomas, who was born two years later, May 4, 1816, is still
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living among us, our oldest native citizen. We have been indebted to his recollection for many of the facts recorded in this volume. He has been a comb maker and a farmer residing for some years in Northboro and Leominster, but spending most of his life in Clinton. He married Sarah E. Woodbury, November 22, 1837. All of his sons and daugh- ters have moved away from town. June 14, 1897, he married Mrs. Laura Smith. He built his present residence on Wal- nut Street in the seventies.
Previous to December, 1847, the only hotel in the village was the old tavern on Main Street still standing to the north of the Parker estate. This had formerly been a boarding- house. After the village began to develop in 1845, it became dignified by the title of the " Clintonville Hotel." It was so small that it was but poorly fitted to accommodate the large number of new citizens that poured into the village at this time and were unable to find dwelling-places enough to sup- ply their needs. Horace Faulkner was the keeper of this tavern or hotel.
The new hotel was built through the influence of the cor- porations, especially for the accommodation of men employed by them or doing business with them. The building com- pany was called the Clinton House Company or Association. H. N. Bigelow was treasurer. October 5, 1848, the Clinton Company voted to contribute pro rata with the "other com- pany" (Lancaster Mills), toward the cost of construction. Two years later, the Clinton Company sold its share of the stock for fifteen hundred dollars. Oliver Stone was the con- tractor. C. C. Stone and Elisha Brimhall were among his workmen. When the hotel was finished, Horace Faulkner, at this time a man of forty-eight, came hither from the old hotel on Main Street. Mr. Faulkner originally came from Walpole, N. H., where he had worked in a machine shop. Jerome S. Burdett, his son-in-law, who had previously been in the dry goods business with A. P. Burdett, became his
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THE CLINTON HOUSE.
partner. The hotel was formally opened by a housewarming December 24, 1847. Most of the prominent citizens of Clin- tonville were present, and many from other sections of the town. J. S. Burdett bought out Horace Faulkner, January 1, 1854. Some years later, Mr. Faulkner moved to Groton where he passed the rest of his life. He died in 1880. For two years, he was one of the selectmen of Clinton, and for two years, he was sent as a representative to the General Court. He is the only man from our town who has ever been unanimously elected to the latter office. William N. Peirce bought the Clinton House property in July, 1858. The hotel was leased to W. N. Nichols and others, but, during most of the time until the close of the war, it was under direct charge of Mr. Peirce. After the war was over, it was sold to Capt. William R. Wheelock. When Jerome S. Burdett sold out here, he took the Sagamore House in Lynn. He was after- wards proprietor of the Leominster Hotel. The Clinton House Hall was not built until 1850. There was an opening ball on October 2d of that year. Jonas E. Howe was the contractor for the building. The hall was separate from the hotel until the spring of 1859, when the connecting structure was built. The hall has been used for every variety of gath- ering. Here, the music of the dance has often been heard; here, school exhibitions have taken place; here, Collester's and other famous singing schools have given concerts; here, many of the most eloquent lecturers of the country have thrilled their audiences; here, in town meeting, many impor- tant measures have been entered upon; here, the great war meetings were held in which our citizens gave expression to their patriotism by such noble words and deeds.
No class of public servants have been more closely con- nected with the material progress of our community than the civil engineers and architects who have lived and worked among us, and therefore it seems proper to connect their story with that of the banks, railroads and other similar pub- lic institutions.
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Most of the general surveying in Clintonville was done by James G. Carter of Lancaster Center, who was closely connected also with the legal life of the community, since the civil cases were in a large measure tried before him.
The first engineering work for our mills was done by that eccentric genius, Uriah A. Boyden, who invented the Boyden turbine wheel and thus gained twenty per cent in the power of water utilized. Mr. Boyden was never a regular resident in town, but came hither as occasion demanded.
John Chipman Hoadley was born in Turin, N. Y., Decem- ber 10, 1818. He began his work as an engineer in 1836, on a survey for enlarging the Erie Canal. In 1844, he came to Clintonville to work for E. B. and H. N. Bigelow in the con- struction of the mills. He did the civil engineering con- nected with the mills and also laid out the general system of streets as they now exist in the center of the town. The map of the streets as thus laid out by him is still in existence, and is often referred to in cases of disputed boundaries. He was one of a committee to erect the Town House in Lan- caster, April 5, 1847. He took an earnest interest in the Bigelow Mechanics' Institute and lectured twice for that or- ganization in 1846-7. He lived on the southwest corner of High and Water Streets, in the house built by John Prescott, 4th. When he left Clintonville in August, 1848, he was pre- sented with a gold watch by his fellow townsmen as a token of esteem. He went from here to Pittsfield, where he and Donald McKay established works for building locomotives and textile machinery. For a while, he was superintendent of the Lawrence machine shop, but most of his life was de- voted to the construction of engines. He invented the Hoadley portable engine, which had a great sale throughout the country. He was interested in the organization of the Clinton Wire Cloth Company. During the Civil War he went to England under the auspices of the State of Massachu- setts, to inspect ordnance and fortifications for the purpose of planning a system of coast defences. He often served as
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CIVIL ENGINEERS.
a mechanical and engineering expert. He was one of the original trustees of the Massachusetts Institute of Tech- nology. He wrote many technical papers for scientific soci- eties. The most important of these was "American Steam Engine Practice." He died October 21, 1886.
"In the spring of 1847, a young man left his home in the city of Lowell for the village of Clintonville, coming all the way in a stage-coach, a tedious ride, and taking the larger part of a day." This young man was Joshua Thissell, who was a native of Lowell. He was born December 11, 1823, and was the son of Joshua and Prudence ( Wood) Thissell. He worked on his father's farm, which was in Centralville, one of the outlying villages of Lowell. He studied at the district school and spent a few terms at Centralville Academy. Here, Benjamin F. Butler was one of his teachers. But, he says, that the largest and best part of his education was "by the open fire with a tallow dip candle." He studied civil engineering with Mr. Bennett of Lowell. His visit to Clin- tonville in the spring of 1847 was for the purpose of assist- ing John C. Hoadley in engineering work for the corpora- tions. In the following year, he came again, this time as Mr. Hoadley's successor. Mr. Thissell recollects staking out the cellars for nearly all the dwelling-houses on Green Street, for the dye-house of Lancaster Mills and for a large addition to the main body of the mill. For many years all the civil engineering for the corporations, and nearly all that of the town, was done by him. He was also an architect and many hundreds of the buildings now standing in Clinton were constructed in accordance with his plans. His office was first in the old counting-room at the Bigelow Carpet Company's Worsted Mill; afterwards, for several years, in the old Library Building. Later, it was in the basement of the old Bank Building, now the Court House. For some years, it has been in Doggett's Block.
Mr. Thissell has been a justice of peace since 1858, and has made out many legal papers. For years, civil cases
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were tried before him.
The confidence in his judgment and justice was universal .* Hon. John W. Corcoran tried his first case in this court.
November 7, 1849, Mr. Thissell married Martha Sarah Brown of Lowell. By this marriage he had one son and four daughters, of whom, one son and one daughter are now liv- ing. His son, Horace A. Thissell, has been for some years his father's partner. Mr. Thissell's first wife having died August 12, 1876, he married her sister, Mary B. F. Brown, November 24, 1877. He has lived for over a quarter of a century in a house, which he built on the corner of Prospect and Chestnut Streets.
Mr. Thissell is a deacon of the Baptist Church. He served as superintendent of the Sunday School for some years, and has taken a most active part in all church interests. Few of our citizens have been so often elected to town offi- ces. He was selectman for four years, three of which he was chairman; he was assessor for two years and road com- missioner for three. For thirty-six years he he has been on the cemetery committee. His most valuable service has been as a member of the school committec. On this board, he served for twenty-one years, a longer period than any other man. For most of this time, he was secretary and performed many of the duties that now fall to the superin- tendent of schools. In all these offices, he has been thor- oughly devoted to the good of the community, and we may well apply to him what he has said of his associates: "These men did not live for self, and I am led not only to cherish their memories, but to bless their very existence."
* His commissions as justice of the peace are as follows :- April 12, 1858. N. P. Banks, Governor.
April 4, 1865. John A. Andrew, Governor. March 22, 1872. Wm. B. Washburn, Governor. March 12, 1879. Thomas Talbot, Governor. March 3, 1886. George D. Robinson, Governor. February 16, 1893. Wm. E. Russell, Governor.
CHAPTER XXIV.
THE COMMERCIAL DEVELOPMENT OF CLINTON.
THE first store of which we have any record in District No. 10 was that kept by Poignand & Plant and their succes- sors, the Lancaster Cotton Manufacturing Company, for their operatives. It is likely that something was done in the way of furnishing family supplies soon after the business was established. In the twenties, the goods were kept in a building situated on Water Street just off Main Street. In the western end of this building was a station for a little hand fire engine belonging to the mills. In the middle was the store, and a back store-room. At the eastern end, was the mill office. The operatives and the people in Factory Village who did any work for the corporation were paid in part by goods trom the store. The general public also oc- casionally purchased from this small stock. We are told that John G. Thurston had charge of the store for a time.
There was another little store by the early thirties in Scrab- ble Hollow. The building in which it was kept is still stand- ing in a re-modeled form on its original site nearly opposite the residence of E. K. Gibbs. This store was kept by a man named Hunt. He soon failed and it went into the hands of Franklin Brigham. It is probable that Whitcomb & Hol- man of Bolton furnished the stock. Francis E. Lowe acted as clerk. Both these stores in Factory Village were given up before the mills were closed, and for several years there was no store nearer than South Lancaster.
These stores received only a small part of the trade of
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the people who were then living in Factory Village, as the larger stores of South Lancaster or Lancaster Center proved more attractive on account of their greater variety. The people traded especially with John G. Thurston, whose store was just south of the present position of the South Lancas- ter Academy building.
Between 1843 and 1850, District No. 10 developed from the position of an outlying hamlet, dependent on the stores of the neighboring villages for the necessities of life, to a commercial center for all the surrounding towns.
After the village began to be busy once more through the coming of the Bigelows, the store in the old office build- ing of Poignand & Plant on Water Street was opened again. John G. Thurston owned the goods and Lory F. Bancrort had the management of the business. Mr. Bancroft came here in the early forties from Phillipston. He was a man full of enthusiasm and enterprise, always ready for some- thing new. He became very popular among the people and was by character well fitted to act as a pioneer in developing the trade of the community.
An arrangement was made whereby he entered into part- nership with George H. Kendall for the sale of dry goods and groceries. Dr. Pierson T. Kendall of Sterling, father of George H., erected a building on the corner of High and Church Streets, which had been recently laid out. For some years, this Kendall building was a center of the commercial interests of the community as its successor on the same site, the Bank Block, is at present. This building when the Bank Block was erected was moved to the corner of Church and · School Streets, where, in its altered form, it is now standing.
The young partners moved into the central store of the new building as soon as it was finished. This was as early as the spring of 1845. They sold all varieties of goods, in- cluding groceries, clothing, dry goods, patent medicines and furniture. They did a big business with little profit. Before
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the close of the year, the partnership was dissolved. George H. Kendall remained in the store they had occupied together and continued to deal in dry goods. He afterwards returned to the variety business. Mr. Kendall was a " boss politician" as well as a merchant, and in the rear part of his store the political action of the community was pre-arranged. After being alone for some four years, Mr. Kendall went into part- nership January 1, 1850, with James W. Caldwell, his brother- in-law, from Barre. April 6, 1850, Kendall sold out his share to Caldwell. In August, 1850, Caldwell sold, in turn, to Kendall. This Mr. Caldwell afterwards became a success- ful coal dealer in New York. In 1859, Mr. Kendall sold out to H. C. Greeley. Charles H. Parkhurst was one of Greeley's clerks. In October, 1861, Mr. Greeley moved to the south- west corner of High Street and was followed in the Kendall Block by George B. Wooster. Mr. Wooster came to Clin- tonville in 1849. In 1856, he became a clerk to A. R. Mar- shall. In 1859, he was in business for himself. Mr. Wooster remained in the Kendall Block for many years. George H. Kendall went from Clinton to Worcester and worked as a shipping clerk in the office of Washburn & Moen. He died in 1889. Among the clerks employed by Kendall and Cald- well in early times, were John F. Caldwell, "a sandy-haired youth " of "easy manners," who afterwards went into busi- ness in Boston, and Joseph Lathrop, "a black-eyed favorite and miscellaneous beau," who became a dentist in Detroit.
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