USA > Massachusetts > Norfolk County > Franklin > History of the town of Franklin, Mass., from its settlement to the completion of its first century > Part 17
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In 1842 Mr. Thompson married Roxa M., widow of Joseph Morse, of East Walpole. She died in 1848, and he married Lou- isa Jane, daughter of Maxey and Persis Fisher, of Franklin, with whom he lived twenty-two years, and had one child, a son. After her death. in 1871, he married her sister, Susan M. Fisher, also of Franklin and the widow of Dea. Levi I. Morse, of Franklin, with whom he still lives in Norwood.
Rev. JOSEPHUS WHEATON, another son-in-law of Franklin, was born in Rehoboth, 16th March, 1788, and was the son of Capt. Joseph and Sarah S. Wheaton. He graduated B. U., 1812, was tutor for two years following, studying theology meanwhile under Rev. Otis Thompson, of Rehoboth. He was settled in Holliston. 6th December, 1815, but died of consumption 4th February, 1825, at the early age of 37.
Mr. Wheaton married Mary Ide, born in Franklin, 1st October, 1790, and only daughter of Daniel and Sarah Ide. Her father died in her childhood, and her mother afterwards married Peter Hunt, Esq., of Seekonk, where Mary was brought up and met with Mr. Wheaton. But her wedded life lasted only from Janu- ary, 1816, to 28th July, 1817, when she died of consumption, leav- ing a son of four months. Mr. Wheaton's second wife, Abby Fales, became afterwards the wife of Dea. Benjamin Shepard, of Wrentham.
ABIJAH WHITING, Esq., youngest son of Jonathan and Eleonai (Thurston) Whiting, was born in Franklin, April, 1768. He
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graduated at Brown University, 1790, and settled in the profession of law in Salem, N. J., where he was rapidly gaining a distine- tion when he was arrested in his career by death, in October, 1799.
NATHAN WHITING, Esq., was born in Franklin, April, 1774, and was the son of Asa and Elizabeth (Fisher) Whiting. He also graduated at Brown University in 1796, in the class with Judge Asa Aldis and Hon. Trisstam Burgess. He studied law and opened an office in East Greenwich, R. I. Of his further his- tory we have been unable to learn.
Rev. SAMUEL WHITING was among the earliest graduates of this town. He was a son of Joseph and Mary Whiting, one of the first settlers of the precinet. He was born in March, 1750, graduated at Harvard in 1769, and A. M. at Yale, 1772. Entering the minis- try he traveled into the wilds of Vermont, and was settled in Rock- ingham 27th October, 1773, when the town contained less than three hundred inhabitants, on a few clearings along the banks of the Connecticut, with salmon and shad fisheries at Bellows Falls. Here Mr. Whiting established and continued preaching until 1809, when he resigned in discouragement and was dismissed May 18th, the church being almost extinct. He lived but few years longer, dying 16th May, 1819. in his 70th year. He is described as a very faithful and conscientious preacher and man, but the poverty of a new and hardly broken territory was against him.
Rev. THURSTON WHITING, son of Jonathan and Eleonai (Thurs- ton) Whiting, and brother of Abijah, already mentioned, was born in Franklin, June, 1753. He is not known to have graduated at. any classical college, but he entered the ministry and was settled in Newcastle. Me., July, 1876, a church being organized the same day. He remained here until January, 1782, being followed by the well known Rev. Kiah Bailey, the predecessor of the still better known Father Sewall. Of Mr. Whiting's further work and life, our inquiries have failed to bring anything to light.
Hon. MARSHALL PINCKNEY WILDER. Franklin may, fora twice- repeated reason, claim this distinguished gentleman among her children, and he has manifested the interest of a son in the town's prosperity. But biographieal sketches of him are so many and ac- cessible that we need give only the briefest notice. The fine engraving opposite speaks for him.
Mr. Wilder was born 22d September, 1798, in Rindge, N. H.,
Mars hal PH leter
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and is the eldest son of Sammel Locke and Anna (Sherwin) Wil- der. Young Wilder, having the alternative between a college, a farm, and a mercantile life, chose the farm, and on it acquired the physical energy which bears his 80 years now so bravely. From the farm he went into his father's store, and at 21 was taken into partnership, and was also appointed postmaster. Hay- ing a military taste he organized a Light Infantry Company in his native town, and at 26 he became Colonel. In 1857 he commanded the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company of Boston. In February, 1825, he removed to Boston and opened a wholesale West India goods store on Union street, under the firm of Wilder & Payson, afterwards Wilder & Smith, North Market street. He is now senior member of Parker, Wilder & Co., Win- throp square, the oldest commission domestic goods house in Bos- ton. In all the crises of over fifty years he has never failed to meet his payments. A most honorable business record, and deservedly successful.
But Mr. Wilder's original taste for the farm has clung to him, and his ample means have enabled him to become a leader in all branches of agriculture, and a president of various societies for its encouragement, many of which he has originated. In political life he has ascended to the Presidency of the State Senate, and to a Councillorship. He has also been President of the New England Historical Genealogical Society for the past ten years. And he has filled all these trusts well.
Mr. Wilder has had three wives. He married, 31st December, 1820, Tryphosa, daughter of Stephen Jewett of Rindge. She died on a visit home, 31st July, 1831, leaving four children. Of his second and third wives we beg leave to insert from his own reply to our inquiries : -
The relations which have existed between your town and myself were brought about by my marriages with the family of Capt. David Baker, from which I have been blessed with two loving wives.
Abigail Baker was married to Marshall Pinckney Wilder 29th August, 1833. She was a lady of intelligence, culture, and piety, eminently fitted to make a family happy. She became the mother of six children, three of whom - Abbie Tryphosa, Sarah Jane, and Samuel Locke are now dead. Three still live - William Henry, Jemima Richardson, and Grace Sherwin. Mrs. Wilder died of consumption at Aiken, S. C., 4th April, 1854.
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Julia Baker, my third wife, was married to me 8th September, 1855, and here I must be permitted to record my appreciation of her estimable character as a lady of culture and piety, admirably qualified both as a wife and a mother to preside over and grace our family circle. She has two sons - Edward Baker and Mar- shall Pinckney.
Nor can I close this record without an expression of the grati- tude and veneration I retain for the memory and virtues of the good and godly parents of these daughters, who have contributed so much to the happiness of my life.
CHARLES WINSLOW, who married Harriet Newell Richardson of Franklin, and daughter of Eli M. and Melita (Norcross) Richard- son, 27th May, 1839, was a native of Barre. He studied at Hop- kins' Academy, Hadley, and two years in the Franklin Academy. He entered Amherst College in 1836, but left during the year for Oberlin. Thence he engaged in school teaching in West Virginia and other places. He died in 1843, leaving one child. His widow married Rev. Edward F. Dickinson of Amherst, and now city missionary in Chicago, where she still resides.
It is not out of place here to add to these 105 brief sketches the names of professional gentlemen not elsewhere mentioned who have become residents and have added their services to the value of the town. The settled ministers have been given in the sketches of the churches. The transient preacher's record is written in his work. Of lawyers, the town has never required a permanent resident. But its recent rapid growth and widely spreading business has encouraged GEORGE W. WIGGIN, Esq., to establish his office in town. His quiet affability and studious de- votion to the interests of our citizens have won for him a birth- right among us.
Most of the early physicians in town have their proper place in the roll of sons already given. To them should be added : -
Dr. SPENCER PRATT, a native of Mansfield, came from Foxboro to Franklin about 1800, married, 23d November, 1801, Elizabeth Wood, and settled on the west side of the Common. He was of impulsive temperament, but quite a scholar and very helpful to youth of studious tastes. In the latter part of his life he removed to Woonsocket, R. I., and died there. His two sons are included in this chapter. He had one daughter who married and lives in Woonsocket.
" MILLER HALL."
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Dr. AMORY HUNTING came into town about 1820, we think from Hopkinton, where his wife belonged. He opened an office, first at the house of Joel Daniels, where he endured a long and dangerous sickness ; but he afterwards removed to the Center and built and occupied the house now Dr. King's. Soon after the settlement of Kansas he removed to Manhattan. in that territory, where he lately died.
Dr. JONATHAN MANN followed Dr. E. D. Miller on his removal to Dorchester. He was a native of Randolph and a member of Amherst College for two years. He remained but a few years and removed to Boston.
Dr. SELIM STANLEY of Attleboro followed, but his health com- pelled him to give up his profession, and not long after his life.
Dr. L. L. SCHAMMEL next occupied this office, but he also re- moved elsewhere after a brief stay.
Dr. SHADRACH ATWOOD came in 1844. He received the degree of M. D. at Harvard University in 1830, and, with the exception of one or two absences from town, has continued in practice here until the present time.
Dr. W. B. NOLAN began practice here in 1855 and has still a wide circle of patrons.
Dr. GEORGE KING came in 1857, and, excepting the time of his absence as surgeon in the Union army, has been and is busied with an extensive practice.
Dr. MCGREGOR is the latest comer into the company of our physicians, and is already reported as successful in his profession.
Homeopathy has been represented by several practitioners, but their stay has been short. Dr. J. BLAKE, from Wrentham, has now an office, and as a physician of several years' experience has an increasing patronage. Others and of other schools may have practiced in town, but their names have not reached us.
It is but justice to add that the previous list by no means in- cludes all the persons who have added to the respectability of the town. Such a list would be both long and invidious, and the author declines the task of selecting amongst the worthy men and women, when there have been so many whose memories are still green with the mantling of their fruitful lives. He remembers well the impression upon his youthful mind, that no town could furnish so large a number of grave and reverend men and " de-
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vout women not a few," as gathered in the Franklin Sunday con- gregation, or of men so logical and spicy in debate as met for business in its town meetings. The very atmosphere was charged with an intellectual sharpness which quickened every intellect and compelled reasons for every conclusion. But all this cannot be translated in print. much as we would like to preserve it. Some genius may reproduce the social life in Franklin of Dr. Emmons' day - there are characters enough to equip a large volume - but he must be in a closer sympathy with its spirit than some who have attempted it, or his book will be a travesty.
A view of the private hospital of Dr. N. Miller is given on preceding page. It was quite a celebrated institution in the day before publie hospitals had been founded, and had a very wide patronage, It was situated at River End, and was burnt not many months ago.
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Waldo Daniels
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THE CENTENNIAL DAY
AND ITS
CELEBRATION, JUNE 12, 1878.
IN the warrant for the annual meeting of the town 5th March, 1873, was this article : -
ART. 26. To see if the town will take any action with regard to the One Hundredth Anniversary of its Incorporation, and make suitable provision for celebrating the occasion by the choice of a committee to take the whole subject into consideration, and report their doings at a future town meeting, or act or do anything in relation to the subject.
On this article it was voted : -
That a committee of five be appointed by the town with full powers to consider the whole subject, to prepare a plan for an ap- propriate celebration of the anniversary referred to in this article, to secure statistics and do whatever they may deem necessary in the matter. and report to the town at a future town meeting, and that the following-named gentlemen shall constitute said commit- tee, viz. : STEPHEN W. RICHARDSON, Esq., Rev. WILLIAM M. THAYER, WALDO DANIELS, WILLIAM ROCKWOOD, JOSEPHI A. WOODWARD.
Mr. Woodward subsequently resigned and ADIN D. SARGENT was chosen in his place. The portraits of these gentlemen are given at the opening of this chapter.
The committee soon after organized by the choice of Waldo Daniels as Chairman, and William Rockwood Secretary. They also agreed to recommend a public celebration with a historical address, a dinner, and other suitable exercises. and requested Rev. Mortimer Blake, D. D., of Taunton, a son of Franklin. to prepare the address. This report was presented and accepted by the town. The committee at another meeting divided the collection of histor-
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ical statistics among themselves and proceeded in their arduons work.
At the annual town meeting, March 5, 1877, it was " voted, that the sum of $500 be granted by the town for the expenses connected with the centennial celebration and the publication of a history of the town, subject to the order of the committee."
At the annual meeting, March 4, 1878, the following gentlemen were added to the Centennial Committee as a general Committee of Arrangements for the celebration, viz. : Rev. A. ST. JOHN CHAMBRE, D. D., HENRY M. GREENE, JAMES P. RAY, PAUL B. CLARK, and Rev. E. A. RAND. The portraits of this added com- mittee are given at the head of this chapter.
This general committee immediately proceeded to disenss and fix upon the final arrangements. They elected the following ladies to act with them : Mrs. E. E. BAKER, Mrs. W. C. WHITING, Mrs. A. G. METCALF, Mrs. A. A. FLETCHER, and Mrs. W. H. FISHER, to whom was specially committed the gathering and whole charge of a museum of antiqne articles illustrative of the history of the town. That they were earnest and successful beyond expectation an appended list of their collection will show. Other necessary sub-committees were appointed ; Capt. Lewis R. Whitaker was chosen as Marshal, and enthusiasm in the approaching festival rapidly spread through the community as the day drew near.
The Centennial Anniversary came literally on March 2nd, but the usual inclemency of that season and the necessity of an out-of- door collation demanded a sunnier time. The committee, therefore, selected June 12th as most promising the conditions favorable to a successful celebration. The day proved, excepting a sudden shower in the afternoon, all that could be desired.
The Franklin Register, whose editor and proprietor, J. M. Stewart, had given his columns to a hearty sympathy with the occasion, gave a full and graphic description of the exercises, from which we extract the following sentences : -
At 6 o'clock on the morning of the 12th of June, 1878, the jubilant bells and the crashing and growling voices of the cannon announced that the ceremonies of the day were about to commence. The earliest riser looked out upon the streets fairly glorious with flags and every species of elegant decoration which could be de- vised. or the night hours permitted to be accomplished. Main ยท street was almost canopied with the red, white and blue bunting,
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stretching across from tree to tree, or from house-top to house-top. But far the most glorious of all were the decorations of some of the houses and blocks. At a very early hour the streets began to show throngs of people, and the arrivals from the cities and neigh- boring towns rapidly swelled the crowds until it was estimated that 10.000, and perhaps more, people were abroad to celebrate the grand occasion. At 10 o'clock came the Governor of the State and his staff. Lieutenant-Governor. Secretary of State, and the Executive Council, Hon. M. P. Wilder, Manager Clark and other officials of the New York and New England Railroad, and other . distinguished guests.
PROCESSION.
A procession was forthwith organized under Marshal Whitaker and his Aids, and passed through the principal streets in the fol- lowing order : -
Squadron of cavalry in ancient costume, D. Carson, Captain. Chief Marshal Whitaker and Aids. Ancient military fife and drum corps, G. I. Partridge, Leader. Woonsocket Cornet Band. J. C. Ray Engine Company, in new uniforms.
Barouches, with Committee of Arrangements, President, Orator, and Chaplain of the day, Governor and suite, and invited guests. Assistant Marshal Peck and Aids. West Medway Mechanics Band. Grand Army, Post No. 70.
Children of the Public Schools, under L. I. Blake, Principal High School. Ancient Order of Hibernians, Franklin and Milford branches.
TRADES PROCESSION. (The leading representatives only are mentioned.)
E. Trowbridge, two teams of musical merchandise, and two business carriages. F. B. Ray, display of felt goods. F. W. Smith, carpenters working at benches. C. L. Fales & Co., groceries. F. A. B. King, carpenters at work.
J. M. Stewart, compositor setting types for Franklin Register. C. F. Carter & Son, dry goods. Farmer, Sherman & Co .. cases of straw goods. C. L. Stewart, printing press at work.
F. Rogers, blacksmithis at work with bellows and anvil.
J. W. Clark, machine running by belts attached to carriage wheel.
M. C. Darling, butcher. J . M. Whiting, lumber. J. O. Chilson, butcher, two teams. J. McFarland, men making harnesses. C. B. Craig. boots and shoes. .
G. H. Butterworth, clothing.
A. McConkey, tailors at work. Bier & Harris, clothiers. R. B. Stewart, wheelwright. G. O. Fuller, furniture.
Franklin Felting Mills, full display of feltings.
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E. Waite, large exhibit of felts in contrasted colors. City Mills, felt goods. H. R. Jenks, grocer, two teams. Hosie & Mann, coal, two teams. M. M. Daniels, milk team. A. Clark, ice cart. S. Hubbard, carpenter. J. P. Ray, ten yokes of oxen from his farm. J. Hood, men at the forge and shoeing a horse (begun and finished during the ride). C. Haggerty, harness shop. Heaton & Stebbins, men dressing a granite doorstep. Mrs. W. Bullock, girls at work on millinery.
S. W. Thayer, boots and shoes, and a boot for the biggest foot at the next Centennial.
J. P. & J. G. Ray, four teams with the various goods of their mills, also milk team. I. P. Ray, a wagon of old furniture, with an old family, and girl at the spinning- wheel.
In the procession was represented 1778 by two gentlemen and two ladies, mounted on side-saddles and pillion, and dressed in " ye ancient costume."
This long cavalcade passed in review before the Governor and the town's guests in front of the Congregational church, where the literary exercises were to be held, and then the latter entered the Congregational church.
The house was appropriately and tastefully decorated within and without with flags, mottoes, and flowers, under the superintend- ence of the ladies' committee - Mrs. C. Claflin, Mrs. St. J. Chambre, Mrs. W. Gilmore, and Miss Hattie Daniels. It is need- less to say that the house was completely filled.
ORDER OF EXERCISES.
After an organ voluntary and the singing of "the Pilgrim Fathers" by the choir, under the leadership of Mr. Edwin Trow- bridge, and reading the Scriptures and prayer by Rev. W. M. Thayer, chaplain of the day, the following centennial hymn by Rev. Mr. Thayer was sung : -
Great God! before whose throne of power We bow in this memorial hour; From heights unknown Thy gracious hand .
Sifts years as golden grains of sand.
The children live - the fathers sleep; The fathers sowed -the children reap; A harvest waves, and sheaves of gold We garner from these fields of old.
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Not one is here of all the men Who " bore the heat and burden " then ; New scenes inspire; new people meet; New faces smile ; new voices greet.
Though century in Thy life is small, Great God! Thy goodness erowns it all; Thy glory in this span appears; We praise Thee for a HUNDRED YEARS.
The President of the day, Henry M. Greene, Esq., then wel- comed the assembly in the following words : -
FRIENDS AND FELLOW CITIZENS : By acceding to the request of the committee having the proceedings of the day in charge, it becomes my pleasant duty to address you with words of welcome. Before doing so, please allow me to indulge in a few preliminary remarks.
We are assembled at this time to celebrate the one-hundredth return of the day when the Great and General Court of Massachu- setts (recently His Majesty's Province of the Massachusetts Bay) endowed the West Precinct of Wrentham with the privileges and immunities of a town, and was pleased to bestow upon it the hon- ored name of Franklin. It will be remembered that our munici- pal birthday occurred during the stormy days of the Revolution. when the struggle for independence hung trembling in the balance. Through the abiding faith of our patriotie ancestors in the justness of their cause, and their unyielding persistence in its defense, bet- ter councils prevailed in the mother country, and the United States became one of the family of nations.
During the first century of our corporate life - the century now closed - what wonderful changes have occurred in our country. We have passed through another war with Great Britain, and also that other war which was proclaimed to "exist by the aet of Mexico." We have come out unscathed in our national life from the perils of a gigantic rebellion, that has no parallel to its pro- portions in the history of the world. In population we have in- creased from 3.000.000 to 40.000.000 of people. It is well, too, to bear in mind the wonderful and beneficent advance that has been made during this period in the interests of civilization and peace ; the steamboat of Fulton, without which the mighty current of the Mississippi could never have been stemmed. nor a passage made between Boston and Liverpool in seven days instead of forty ; the railroad, while furnishing unlimited aid to commerce, assures the unity and permanence of the Republic through all time to come by its omnipresent and irrefragable network of steel and iron ; the telegraph, annihilating both time and distance, furnishing the news of yesterday in advance to the morning papers from the
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uttermost parts of the earth ; the telephone, now in the infancy of its invention, in its perfection it may surpass the telegraph ; the phonograph, registering and preserving the spoken words, with all their infinite variety of tone and expression, to reproduce them at will at any time in the future - a hundred or even a thousand years hence.
But while we recount the wonderful changes which have been so beneficial to our nation and the world at large, we do not forget the changes that have occurred within our own particular borders. There was a time when the Sunday worshipers could be comfort- ably seated in one church. Now, within view from the mansion of its late reverend and Christian minister. Dr. Emmons, five spires point their way heavenward. The noon-house, with its hole in the roof for the exit of gas and smoke and its capacious brick hearth in the center for charcoal, has given way for the more com- fortable stove or furnace in the church. It was not till the early part of the last century that " the deacon's one-horse shay" made its appearance. Before that time our grandmothers went to meet- ing and to the store and even made more lengthy journeys on horseback, seated upon pillions behind their husbands. The iron plow has fought its way to public favor, in spite of the opposition of the farmers of the last generation. The jenny has banished our grandmother's spinning-wheels to the garret, where they are now preserved as the curious relics of a by-gone age. Instead of consuming two or more days in going to Boston or Providence, we take the railroad to either city in the morning, transact our busi- ness, and get home before sunset.
Fearing that I am wearying your patience and that peradven- ture I may have intruded upon the field. if not upon the allotted time of the orator of the day. Iwill not detain you longer from the intellectual repast which has mainly induced your attendance upon this centennial of the incorporation of our goodly town.
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