USA > Massachusetts > Plymouth County > Carver > History of the town of Carver, Massachusetts : historical review, 1637-1910 > Part 14
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The South Carver office was established about 1850, with mails delivered from Wareham by teamsters. The postmasters have been Amos Adams, Matthias Ellis, Augustus F. Tillson, Peleg McFarlin and Thomas M. Southworth.
In the decade 1870-80, mail for residents of Wenham was left at the house of Albert Shurtleff, but the regular postoffice at East Carver was not established until ten years later with Ephraim Robbins as postmaster. His successors have been Alerton L. Shurtleff and George E. White.
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HISTORY OF CARVER
SMALL POX
The appearance of small pox in 1777, created consternation in the towns of Plympton and Mid- dleboro. The infected region was in what is now North Carver and East Middleboro and raged on both sides of the town line .*
The problem of confining the plague was taken up in a special town meeting, but municipal action appears to have been mainly in the negative. It was voted "that Jonathan Parker's family and Caleb Loring should not have the small pox in Jonathan Parker's house," and further, "that they should not be removed to Widow Ann Cush- man's nor to the Widow Repentence Chandler's to have the small pox." But the malady, unmind- ful of town ordinances, continued to rage.
A movement was made to build a pest house on the Cranebrook, then at a safe distance from the settlements, but nothing came of it, and in lieu of it a committee was appointed to take the afflicted ones out of town. Failing in this delicate duty, the Selectmen were instructed to provide a place where the sick could be cared for.
*There were eight deaths in Middleboro, including Rev. Sylvester Conant of the First (Putnams) church, Zachariah Eddy, William Soule, Sarah Reading, Hannah Love, Widow Rhoda Smith, Joseph Smith and Bethiah Smith. These were buried in a field between Mahutchett and Rocky Meadow, which has since grown up. The late Otis Bent cared for the lot with fidelity, planting eight pines around it. After his death the pines were cut by lumbermen and nothing remains to mark the spot except an unmarked slab and one foot stone.
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CEMETERIES
Dr. Jonah Whitcomb appears as the storm centre of popular clamor. As a practicing physician he may have desired to study the disease for the benefit of his profession, but whatever his motive may have been, he viewed the situation calmly and whether justified or not the town voted to prosecute him for inoculating Jonathan Parker's family. The suit was dropped, however, and the only rein on the doctor's activities was a town vote forbidding him the privilege of speak- ing in the town until the disease should abate. The disease in a mild form appeared in East Car- ver in 1873.
CEMETERIES
Carver cemeteries were of the conventional or- der. The older markers were of slate and the in- scriptions were solemn warnings to those who lived to read them. The following quotations illustrate the system in vogue in the 18th and in the first half of the 19th century of making the dead speak to the living through the slab that stood above their resting place :
"Reader stand still and spend a tear, Think on the dust that slumbers here, And as you read the state of me Think on the glass that runs for thee."
"The dear delights we here enjoy And fondly call our own Are but short favors borrowed now To be returned anon."
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HISTORY OF CARVER
"My time is spent, My days are passed, Eternity must count the rest. My glass is out
My race is run The holy will of God is done."
"Reader, the time's at hand When you and all Into the dust With me must fall."
"Hither my friends just turn aside And read and see how young I died, And as you read consider well How soon you'll die there's none can tell."
"Here rests his head upon a lap of earth A youth to Fortune and to Fame unknown, Fair Science frowned not on his humble birth And Melancholy marked him for her own."
"All you who stop my tomb to see As I am now so you must be, Repent, repent, while you have time For I was taken in my prime."
Burials were made without reference to any plan, which is a handicap in the efforts to bring the plots under the modern order. Perhaps it is best that the resting places of the dead should stand as a monument to the simple ways of those whose pilgrimage ended there, for in the modern lot where the square plots are marked with white marble and polished granite, the most attractive
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CEMETERIES
spot is the old corner dotted helter skelter with reclining slate stones.
The Union cemetery is fortunate in the posses- sion of the Jesse Murdock and Fanny Murdock en- dowments for general repairs, which with the many endowments for private lots insures the per- petual care and improvement of the ground and with the many costly monuments this cemetery has earned the name of : "The Mount Auburn of Plymouth County."
Lakenham cemetery, the oldest, most unique and from the historical standpoint the most in- teresting was endowed in 1912 by Mrs. Rosa A. Cole. Up to that year with few endowments for private lots the cemetery was neglected, and many of the inscriptions on the older stones had be- come indecipherable. The Wenham and Carver cemeteries have each a few endowments for private lots but none for general improvements.
Cushing's Field Cemetery
A small cemetery was located on a knoll near the N. S. Cushing residence. Many of the Ben- sons were buried on this plot, but the "burial ground" was discontinued before the present gen- eration came upon the scene and with one excep- tion the markers had been removed by boys.
Lakenham Cemetery
The land for Lakenham cemetery was given from the Shaw estate. Burials were made before the incorporation of the South Precinct and the
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HISTORY OF CARVER
location of the burial ground settled the location of the first meeting house. The oldest inscription is that of a daughter of Benoni Shaw (Rebecca ?) which reads as follows :
Here lyes a child of Benony Shaws Dyed April ye 4th in ye year 1718 in ye 8th year of her age.
In 1736 Benoni Shaw, George Barrows and Jonathan Shaw were named by the Precinct as a committee "to clear and subdue their burial place." In 1741-42 a committee was chosen by the Precinct to see that each lot owner clear his own lot, and more than a century passed before the ground was cleared as we know it. Up to 1908 when the town voted to elect cemetery commis- sioners the plot was left to the care of individual efforts.
Wenham Cemetery
The land for Wenham cemetery was given by the Ransoms and Hammonds. Burials were made before the Revolution. There is no organization in connection with the ground, the Hammonds and Finneys caring for it until the town assumed con- trol.
Carver Cemetery
The land for the Carver cemetery was given by the Shurtleffs from their large estate adjoining. In 1885 "The Central Cemetery Association of
.
LAKENHAM CEMETERY The Oldest Section
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CEMETERIES
Carver" was organized with the following officers : Thomas Vaughan, President; James A. Vaughan, Secretary; H. A. Lucas, Treasurer; and T. T. Vaughan, Perez T. Shurtleff, and Albert T. Shurt- leff, Executive Committee; Mrs. P. J. Barrows, Mrs. P. J. Holmes and Mrs. A. T. Shurtleff, soliciting committee.
Union Cemetery
The land for Union Cemetery was given from the Barrows estate. The oldest inscriptions are for the year 1777 in memory of Nathan who died Oct. 22nd and Bethuel who died Nov. 2nd of that year, both sons of Jonathan and Lydia Barrows. The west addition was made through a gift from Maj. Thomas B. Griffith, and the ground was cared for during the last half of the last century by William Savery in an individual capacity. In 1906 the cemetery was incorporated as "The Union Cemetery of South Carver" with the fol- lowing incorporators: Alfred M. Shaw, S. Dex- ter Atwood, Henry S. Griffith, Josiah W. Atwood, N. G. Swift, John Bent, Gustavus Atwood, Mar- cus Atwood, John F. Shaw and Mrs. Eldoretta McFarlin.
In 1908 the town voted to elect Cemetery Com- missioners and since that year the unincorporated cemeteries have been cared for by the commission- ers. The following have served in that capacity : Josiah W. Atwood, George E. Blair, George P. Lincoln, Eugene E. Shaw and Fred A. Ward.
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HISTORY OF CARVER
The population of Carver according to the Na- tional census of 1790 was less than one thousand. It has varied but slightly as per the following, up to and including the year 1860 according to na- tional census, and since 1860 the state census :
1790
847
1850
1186
1800
863
1860
1186
1810
858
1875
1127
1820
839
1885
1091
1830
970
1895
1016
1840
995
1905
1410
In the figures for 1895 were 1008 whites and 8 blacks. In 1905 the proportions were changed to 1231 whites and 179 blacks.
MISCELLANEOUS INDUSTRIES
Agriculture has been carried on in a general way from the days of the first settlers and with no great specialties until the development of cran- berry culture. But beginning with the establish- ment of furnaces in 1733 manufacturing in varied lines has been the main source of the town's in- dustrial activities.
The lumber trade ranks high in this line. Be- ginning with the up and down mills of old, mill men have kept pace with the times. The mills of longest record are Cole's at North Carver, Holmes' at Quitticus, Cushing's at Fresh Mead- ows, Vaughan's at Carver and Cushman's (now Shaw and Atwood) at South Carver. Shaw's steam mill at Carver is a modern plant. While box boards have formed the principal output of these mills, long boards, cedar boat boards, shingles, staves and heading have been manufac- tured at different times at most of the plants. Bent's mill at Popes Point and Barnes' mill at Swan Hold were busy plants in their day, while Eddy's mill on the site of the Federal furnace and White's mill on the Cranebrook later supplanted by the Shoestring factory were active centres in the days following the Revolution. The latter was in operation up to the middle of the last century.
251
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HISTORY OF CARVER
While Holmes, Cushing and Cole did consider- able cooperage business in the manufacture of nail kegs the trade was not fully developed until the output of cranberries created a demand for bar- rels since which time barrel making has been an important adjunct of the lumber business.
Making cloth from hemp and flax for home con- sumption was a necessity in the early days and ex- tended well into the 19th century, when many of the older houses held looms among their keep- sakes. But this industry disappeared under the development of modern mills.
The shoe trade had become quite a factor when the period of centralization set in. In the decade 1830-40 the annual output was about five thousand pairs of boots and shoes and this was increased until by 1860 small shops were scattered over the town many of the farmers taking it up as a side line working in connection with Bridgewater plants. In the boom days following the Civil war Chandler Brothers established a shoe manufac- tory under King Philip's hall where those who held to the craft found employment. The business disappeared from town finally in the decade 1880- 90.
Sheep Raising
Sheep raising was an important factor in the early agriculture of the town, but this industry had nearly disappeared before the end of the 19th century when James A. Vaughan who held a dozen was the only sheep raiser in Carver.
The practice of letting the sheep run at large on the common lands was long continued after such
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MISCELLANEOUS INDUSTRIES
lands had been divided. As this tract was not cul- tivated except in spots it was used in common well down to the 20th century, and private sheep marks were recorded with the town clerk by which the separate owners could reclaim their own at the end of the grazing season. When the custom was dis- continued there were seventy-eight brands on re- cord a few of which I give as specimens.
Consider Donham. A square crop off each ear and two slits in the end of each ear and a hole through the left ear.
Nathaniel Atwood. A square crop off the right ear and a slit in the end of the left ear.
James Savery. A swallows tail in the end of the right ear and a hapeney the under side of the left.
Sheep were turned loose in the woods after the May shearing and when the season had advanced to a point where they could not live in the open they must be corraled and returned to the fold. This was sport for the boys who loved excitement and a severe test on their endurance. In the na- ture of sheep when their domain is invaded the first tendency is to scatter and each one will dart in a different direction. It required long runs over the hills and valleys, and no little patience and perseverance on the part of the boys to head them off but after the rattled Nannies had once been corraled in a herd they would hang together and no amount of driving could induce them to separate again. Thus after the exciting chase had ended driving them to the fold in a compact mass, and picking out the separate marks, was an easy proposition for the boys.
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HISTORY OF CARVER
Another custom which grew up with sheep rais- ing never received the sanction of law. Hunters in the woods for rabbits, foxes, or deer, frequently shot and dressed a fat lamb, and mutton was no luxury while sheep ran at large. The silly animals were an easy mark for dogs and great damage was inflicted on the herds by lawless canines. One farmer who was accused of shooting dogs that worried his sheep lost a large percentage of his herd one season and the field where the massacre took place is still known as Mutton Island.
In the popular fancy none of the varied indus- trial springs of the town holds a firmer place than the "shoestring" factory, that thrived for a genera- tion. In 1852 William F. Jenkins a young man from Utica, N. Y., associated with George P. Bow- ers and Inman, an inventor, in a firm styled Wm. F. Jenkins & Co. for the manufac- ture of cotton goods. The works were estab- lished on the Cranebrook on the water privi- lege of White's mills and through the enterprise of Mr. Bowers. Mr. Jenkins died in 1854 and a brother S. Freedom Jenkins became manager of the business. Sometime later it assumed the name of the Jenkins Manufacturing Co. or the Jenkins Braid Mill, but from the nature of its products its name of the Shoestring Factory could not be eradicated from the popular mind.
In the first years of the operation of the firm 1800 spindles were in motion, 50,000 pounds of cot- ton were consumed annually and 150,000 gross of shoestrings placed upon the market. While shoe- strings always took the lead in its manufactures,
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MISCELLANEOUS INDUSTRIES
its products varied with the demands of the times. Cord and braid were made extensively, and during the years that hoop skirts raged in the world of fashion the company did a thriving business covering the whalebone and steel that entered into the mechanism of the skirts.
The larger portion of the employees were girls who came from south eastern Massachusetts but largely Nova Scotia. The boarding house in con- nection with the plant was a mecca for the young and many of the girls married and are now promi- nent among the older generation of the town. The factory building was burned in 1880 in conse- quence of which the business was moved to Brain- tree, and the boarding house was remodeled for use as a cranberry apartment house.
In 1853 Thomas B. Griffith, Jesse Murdock, George W. Bent and Matthias Ellis formed a partnership for the manufacture of grates, under the firm name of Bent, Griffith & Co. The works were established on the brook that runs from Fur- nace pond, and a salesroom fitted in Boston. But eight employees were engaged during the first years of the project and about twenty-five tons of grates manufactured annually.
In the expansion days following the Civil war the plant increased its output, and Bent with- drawing from the firm its name was changed to Murdock & Co. At this time Maj. Griffith travelled extensively over Europe gathering styles and data from which the firm took front rank in its line and as a manufacturer of fancy household furnishings it had a national reputa-
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HISTORY OF CARVER
tion. Brass moulding was added to the firm's facilities and brass castings by expert workmen from Sweden were finished in the most artistic manner. In 1877 the business was incorporated under the name of the Murdock Parlor Grate Co. The buildings of the firm were demolished by fire in 1885 when the business was moved to Middle- boro.
HARRISON G. COLE
CHRONOLOGICAL EVENTS
1698. Rochester road laid out. Sampsons pond first mentioned. Jonathan Shaw ordained deacon.
1707. Plympton, seventh town of Plymouth County, incorporated. William Shurtleff first town clerk.
1717. Committee of two chosen to procure a schoolmaster.
1730. Moses Seipit appears in town.
1734-35. George Barrows, Nathaniel Atwood and Jabez Eddy elected first South Precinct her- ring committee "to take care that there be no stoppage in South Meadow river to obstruct or hinder the course of the fish either in their going up or going down sd. stream."
1737. School officers called trustees.
1738. Elisha Lucas elected Collector because incumbent "incapable of serving because of in- disposition of body and mind." (David Shurtleff).
1740. Road laid out from Edward Washburn's and Silvannus Dunham's to the Meeting house.
1765. Town officers began to "take the oath respecting the bills of the neighboring govern- ments."
1768. Laid out road from Barnabas Atwood's to Rochester road. School agents Seth Cushing, Isaiah Cushman, Joseph Wright, Dea. Lucas,
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HISTORY OF CARVER
Capt. Shaw, John Shaw, Jr., and Joseph Barrows.
1773. Samuel Lucas and Caleb Cushman named as a committee to join with Wareham in a petition to the General Court for an act to pre- vent the destruction of fish.
1775. Dea. Thomas Savery elected Selectman of Plympton.
1779. Nathaniel Harlow elected agent to take care of the Tory land and hire it out to the best advantage.
1781. Laid out road from Nathaniel Atwood's to Rochester road. Committee elected "to reduce paper money to hard money." Reported in favor of a ratio of sixty to one. Great difficulty in pro- viding horses and beef for the army.
1783. School agents : Dist. 7, Consider Chase ; Dist. 8, Dea. Thomas Savery; Dist. 9, Capt. Wil- liam Atwood; Dist. 10, Lieut. John Shaw; Dist. 11, John Muxam. Committee of Correspondence and Safety: Lieut. John Shaw, Isaac Churchill, Seth Cushing, Isaiah Cushman, Dea. Thomas Savery. Voted not to receive any of the "Refugees which had fled to the enemy for protection" and to hire out their land for the benefit of the town treasury.
1790. Carver incorporated.
1791. Laid out road from Lakenham road to Dea. Dunham's. Joseph Vaughan, Isaac Cush- man and Abijah Lucas, first Herring Committee. Jonathan Tillson authorized to locate the bounds of the training field. Laid out road from Middle- boro line to Ebenezer Blossom's.
1792. Laid out road from John Atwood's to Rochester road via. Gibbs pond. Atwood rebel-
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CHRONOLOGICAL EVENTS
lion. John, Joseph, Samuel, Gannett, Nathaniel, Joshua and Lieut. Caleb Atwood refused to pay their Precinct taxes and 22 pounds were raised for their abatement.
1794. Committee chosen to survey the town and make a map.
1796. Road changed from East to West side of Ephraim Griffith's.
1799. Town paid a fine of $9.99 for neglecting to repair highways.
1804. Rev. John Howland died. Burial in
Lakenham cemetery. Headstone inscription :
Died, the Rev. John Howland, pastor of the church in this town being possessed of great patience and resignation he fell asleep in Jesus in full expectation of a glorious resurrection.
Nov. 17, 1804. Aged 84 years and the 59th of his ministry.
"Reader, the time's at hand When you and all Into the dust With me must fall."
1807. April 10th "four persons were dipped at the North end of Plympton by Mr. Ezra Ken- dall a Baptist minister from Kingston. Lived near Kingston line and were lead into error by Kingston Baptists. These were the first Baptists of Plympton." Record.
1809. Bounty of six cents on crow's heads; three cents on crow blackbirds; and one cent each on jaybirds and red winged blackbirds.
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HISTORY OF CARVER
1811. Bounty increased to twenty-five cents on crows, eight cents on crow blackbirds and two cents each on jaybirds and red winged blackbirds.
1812. Laid out road from Joshua Atwood's to Asaph Atwood's to end at Clark's Coal house.
1813. Selectmen instructed to "call on Roches- ter and see if they can settle respecting the affairs of a black woman."
1815. Voted to recommend that all societies in town unite and hire one minister.
1826. I. and J. C. Pratt petitioned to be set off to the town of Wareham.
1842-44. School Committee reports published in Old Colony Memorial.
1843. Voted to disapprove of any one selling ardent spirits around the meeting house on town meeting days.
1851. Barn built on poor farm.
1852. Benjamin Ellis store built on the hill. Old store removed from its lot near the pond and fitted as a tenement. First house on Tremont street south of store.
1855. Libraries of fifty-five volumes each pre- sented the schools in town by William Savery.
1855. Seventy acres devoted to cranberry rais- ing valued at $1,622.50.
1856. Tillson Pratt and son appointed liquor agents of the town to sell for use "in the arts and for mechanical, chemical and medicinal purposes and no other." Those who served as agents un- der the system were Thomas Hammond, Charles W. Griffith, Robert W. Andrews and Ralph Cope- land.
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CHRONOLOGICAL EVENTS
1861. Ladies of South Carver thanked by the town "for their offer to make clothing for the soldiers and otherwise contributing to their com- fort." The ladies specially remembered Lieut. John Dunham with a revolver.
1861. Savery's Avenue. This unique driveway was built and presented the public by William Savery in 1861-2. It consists of parallel roads a. distance of one half mile, shaded on each side and with a line of trees and shrubs between the two driveways. In January, 1861, Savery entered into an agreement with Eli Southworth, Jesse Mur- dock, Thomas Hammond, Tillson Atwood and Jo- seph Barrows, owners of the land through which the avenue was to extend, whereby said owners were to give the land and Savery to bear the ex- pense of building the road. The owners bonded themselves to the amount of one hundred dollars and Savery to the amount of five hundred dollars, for the faithful execution of the agreement. The trees between the roads and on the outside of them were to be left standing "for shade and ornament for man and beast." Both roadbeds were Mac- adamized in 1907, a portion of the expense being advanced by the daughters of the builder, Mrs. Mary P. S. Jowitt and Miss H. D. Savery.
1872. Charlotte furnace buildings burned.
1873. Great Railroad fire.
1877. Tramp house built.
1881. E. D. Shaw Sons facing mill established.
1885. Federal Assembly, K. of L. organized. Charter surrendered 1889.
1889. Road commissioners elected.
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HISTORY OF CARVER
1890. E. D. Shaw & Sons foundry built. Sold to Plymouth Foundry Co. in 1891.
1893-98. E. Herman Murdock Superintendent of Streets.
1895. Carver Public Library established.
1898. William Dischane, Arcade A. Patenaude, Felix Pouliot and Harry F. Swift volunteer for Spanish-American war.
1899. Road Commissioners elected.
1901. First macadam road built.
1902. Old Home Week observation instituted through the Library trustees.
1905. Soldiers Monument. The Carver Ladies' Soldiers Memorial Association was organized with one hundred members and the following of- ficers : President, Mrs. P. Jane Barrows; Vice- President, Mrs. Charlotte Cole; Secretary, Mrs. Helen F. Mckay; Treasurer, Mrs. Laura L. Fin- ney. By collecting annual dues from its members, holding lawn parties and general contributions, with an appropriation from the town, funds were collected and the monument dedicated with ap- propriate ceremonies Decoration day of 1910.
1907. Capt. William S. McFarlin Sons of Vet- erans Camp 132, instituted with the following charter members: Arthur C. Atwood, Herbert F. Atwood, John E. Atwood, Frank E. Barrows, Arthur W. Burbank, Charles O. Dunham, William C. Hatch, Jesse A. Holmes, Edward C. Shaw, El- bridge A. Shaw, Isaac W. Shaw, William M. Shaw, Carlton Shurtleff, Oliver L. Shurtleff, Percy W. Shurtleff, George L. Spaulding, Horace D. Stringer, George P. Thomas, Frank F. Weston, Seneca T. Weston.
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CHRONOLOGICAL EVENTS
1908. Frederick Andreson, Frank E. Barrows and Abbott G. Finney elected Park Commission- ers of Carver. This was the starting point of the park system.
1908. The Woman's Alliance of Carver was organized July 15, 1908, with the following charter members : Delia Atwood, Laura A. Austin, Wil- helmina L. Cornish, Sadie F. Gibbs, Mabel Griffith, Mary P. S. Jowitt, Anne Richmond McFarlin, El- doretta McFarlin, Helena McFarlin, Sarah F. Mc Farlin, Veretta McFarlin, Anna R. Savery, Ethel Savery, Hattie D. Savery, S. Louise Savery, Ger- trude F. Shaw, Nancy A. Shaw, Dora F. Tillson, Reba W. Tillson, Elva H. Washburn, Hattie D. Winberg. The following have joined the Alliance since its organization: Eleanor Barrows, Eliza- beth J. Barrows, Catherine Costello, Julia Cos- tello, Caroline Gibbs, Hannah Hawkes, Della G. Kenney, Mary Lincoln, Emma T. Moore, Jane L. Moore, Susan A. Murdock, Ethel V. Roy, Anna K. Shaw, Daisy Vaughan.
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