USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > Lancaster > History of the town of Lancaster, Massachusetts : from the first settlement to the present time, 1643-1879 > Part 26
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329
PROMINENT MEN.
the house. William Greenleaf lived in the " Mansion house." From 1782 onwards the following men were moderators.
Ebenezer Allen,
Josiah Wilder,
Cyrus Fairbank,
Peter Green,
Josiah Ballard,
Nathaniel Beaman,
Benjamin Houghton,
Timothy Whiting,
Michael Newhall,
Ephraim Carter,
Edward Heard, John Maynard,
John Whiting,
Samuel Ward,
Timothy Whiting, jr.,
James Carter,
Joseph Wales,
William Stedman,
Moses Sawyer,
John Sprague,
Merrick Rice.
Several of these men held different offices, and were prom- inent for a long series of years. Timothy Whiting, father and son, were in this class. They kept the tavern on the Old Common, where Joseph B. Moore now lives, and served the traveling public during two or three generations. They held the titles of captain and esquire, then more coveted and distinguished than at present. Gen. John Whiting, son of Timothy, senior, lived nearly opposite, not far east from the Old Common cemetery. Later his residence was near the old brickyard on the road to the North Village, where John Powers now lives. Gen. Whiting was held in high esteem, and filled many offices, but having joined the party of Mr. Jefferson, could not be elected to congress from a district where the federalists were in a large majority. Capt. John Maynard was much relied on in all town business, not only as moderator and selectman, but as chairman of committees to build bridges and care for schools. Merrick Rice was a law- yer, and a man of considerable property. He built the house now owned by Mrs. Elnina Green, for many years the finest mansion in the county. John Sprague, Esq., was also a law- yer, and a man of great ability. Michael Newhall was prom- inent during his generation. Dea. Wales and Capt. Ward were merchants, and their stores were equal to the most ex- tensive in the county of Worcester. The Carters were in all town offices, as were their ancestors and descendants in their time. William Stedman was high sheriff of the county, and represented the district in congress several terms.
330
HISTORY OF LANCASTER.
The town clerks from 1781 to the end of the century, were : Samuel Ward, seven years; Edward Heard, three years ; Joseph Wales and William Stedman, each four years. Peter Green was treasurer till 1790 ; Ebenezer Torrey to 1796, and John Maynard for the residue of the century.
The selectmen in this period of nineteen years were as fol- lows :
Nathaniel Beaman,
Ephraim Carter,
Jonathan Wilder,
Samuel Ward,
Jonathan Whitney,
Timothy Whiting, jr.,
Jonas Fairbank, jr.,
Michael Newhall,
Timothy Knight,
Moses Smith,
Benjamin Houghton,
Josiah Ballard,
James Carter, Daniel Stearns,
Eli Stearns,
Thomas Gates,
John Carter,
William Stedman,
John Whiting,
Merrick Rice,
Oliver Carter,
Asa Warner,
Joseph Wales,
Josiah Flagg,
John Thurston,
Joseph Carter,
Joseph White.
Moses Sawyer,
From this list some familiar names gradually disappeared, while others came into notice. The long line of Whites is renewed in the above Joseph, deacon and probably captain, like all his predecessors, whether John, Josiah or Joseph. The selectmen, or a part of them, frequently acted as the asses- sors for the same year. Among the assessors not in the above list of selectmen, were Benjamin Wyman, Josiah Bowers, John Sprague, Paul Willard and Jonas Lane.
The delegates to the general court, were Capt. Michael Newhall, three years, 1787-9 ; Ephraim Carter, 1790 ; Eph- raim Carter, jr., 1786, 1791-2 ; Hon. John Sprague, ten years, 1782-6, 1794-9. At the election in the spring of 1800, being in poor health, he declined a re-election, and Capt. Samuel Ward was chosen.
Probably there had been no period of equal duration, in the history of the town, when it was served in the various offices above named, and in other offices less responsible, yet important, with more ability and fidelity. The treasurers' books were kept, and the selectmen's accounts were present- ed, in the most approved method of the book-keeping of that
331
CARE FOR EDUCATION.
date. A committee was chosen, each year, to audit the ac- counts of the treasurer and selectmen, and they made a report to the town. The penmanship of the clerks was generally al- most as legible as print, and some of the clerks held an ele- gant pen.
After the settlement of Rev. Nathaniel Thayer, he was al- ways chairman of the school committee, and most of the visit- ing and examining of the schools was done by him. His as- sociates on the committee were among the best educated and most respectable men of the town. Here are the names of some of them. John Sprague, John Whiting, Timothy Whit- ing, jr., William Stedman, Samuel Ward, Eli Stearns, Joseph Wales, Ebenezer Torrey, John Maynard. A singing-school was kept every season under the direction of a special com- mittee. Another committee was always chosen to hire the Latin grammar-school master.
The preceding pages show whom the people " delighted to honor" in the affairs of the town, state and nation .. Our fathers, in the early days of the republic, held sound princi- ples of government, followed good methods of administra- tion, and elected honest men to office.
CHAPTER XVI.
DIVISION OF THE TOWN ; PARISH AFFAIRS ; THE POOR ; ROADS AND BRIDGES ; LOTTERY ; SCHOOLS ; ANNALS ; POPULA- TION AND WEALTH.
BEFORE the close of the war the town was shorn of its large proportions, but thereby came into better and more conven- ient form. In June, 1780, a petition came before the town from certain inhabitants living in the extreme south, asking to be set off to Shrewsbury. A part of them had already been joined to the north parish of Shrewsbury, (now included in the Boylstons,) though still belonging to Lancaster for all town purposes. The reasons given were that they " labored under many and great inconveniences by being obliged to travel many times in a year, a great distance, to transact the necessary business of the town ; " and " being also obliged to travel a great distance to attend public worship on Lord's day, and at other times." The line of division which they asked for, is mainly the north line of the Boylstons at present. These : are the names of the petitioners.
Aaron Sawyer,
Oliver Sawyer,
Josiah Bennet,
Nath. Sampson,
Silas Hastings, Wm. Dunsmore,
Frederick Albert,
Sam'l Bigsby, John Glazier,
Silas How, Micah Harthan, Phinehas Howe,
John Dunsmore,
Joseph Sawyer, Elijah Ball,
Jacob Winn,
Ezra Beaman,
Robert Anderson, jr.,
Hugh Moor,
Edmond Larkin,
Nath. Davenport.
Nath Hastings,
Levi Moor,
On the twenty-third of June the town took action, and this is the record : "Voted to see if the town would grant the pe-
332
333
INCORPORATION OF STERLING.
tition of Aaron Sawyer and others to be set off to the town of Shrewsbury, and it passed in the affirmative."
Matters had now reached such a pass that there was a gen- eral readiness to concur in the plan to transform the second precinct into a town. The wonder is that the separation had not been effected many years before. The township was very large and ill formed ; many of the inhabitants of the second precinct lived six, eight, ten miles from the meeting-house of the old town; those residing in the northeast corner of Lancaster had to travel ten or eleven miles when the town meetings were held in the meeting-house of the second pre- cinct ; there was clashing and division of interest in relation to schools, bridges and roads, and finally, there were inhabit- ants enough to form two respectable towns. It is not sur- prising therefore that a petition in favor of a division was signed by prominent inhabitants, as will be seen by the following names : Jonathan Kendal, Jonathan White, James Pratt, Gershem Flagg, Joseph Carter, Jonas Wyman, Jeremiah Haskell, Ephraim Carter, jr., Nath. Beaman, Daniel Rugg, jr., Timothy Whiting, Samuel Adams. The petition was brief, and in these words.
" We the subscribers petition to the selectmen of Lancas- ter, to call a town meeting forthwith, to see if the town will choose a committee to send to the general court to see if they will divide the town as the line now stands."
The town, September 25, voted to appoint a committee to go to the general court, and present the general wish that the town might be divided, according to the terms of the above petition. The men chosen were Capt. Ephraim Carter, jr., Capt. Benjamin Richardson and Mr. Thomas Brown.
The petition for the division of the town was granted by the general court, in April, 1781, with the following line be- tween Lancaster and Sterling. " Beginning upon the south east corner of Leominster, and from thence to run a line east twenty-one degrees south, one hundred and sixty perch ; and from thence to run south eight degrees west, two miles
334
HISTORY OF LANCASTER.
and an half, and twenty perch, which distance will be due west from Jonas Fairbank's house ; and from thence to run south eighteen degrees west, to a certain place called the foot of the Scar, and extending on south line until it shall strike the line of the town of Shrewsbury." The new town was named in honor of lord Sterling, a general in the army. The act of incorporation required that Sterling should pay its proportion of the " several taxes already assessed upon them " by the town of Lancaster; that the poor supported by the town of Lancaster, should be equally divided between the two towns ; and that all the town stock should be equally divided between the towns of Lancaster and Sterling. Josiah Wilder, Esq., of Lancaster, was empowered to issue a war- rant for the call of a town meeting for the organization of the new town.
By a resolve of the general court, passed May 2, Mr. Wil- der was empowered to issue a warrant to " some substantial freeholder in Lancaster," requiring him to warn a meeting of the " inhabitants of the town qualified to vote for the pur- pose of choosing town officers." The resolve confirmed the officers already chosen, sworn and residing in Lancaster, and the warrant was directed by Esq. Wilder to Samuel Ward, who issued a warrant for a town meeting, to be held in the meeting-house, on the nineteenth of May, when all vacancies in town offices caused by the separation of Sterling, were to be filled. This meeting was duly held, and the town was put in running order. Josiah Wilder, Esq., was chosen moder- ator; William Greenleaf, town clerk; Nathaniel Beaman, Moses Sawyer and Joseph Carter, selectmen. Dea. Cyrus Fairbank was already town treasurer and continued in office till Peter Green was chosen in June. Other vacancies were filled, and the old town, with large territory still remaining, started on a new career of growth till Clinton was set off in the year 1850. The two towns contained about the same number of inhabitants. Perhaps Lancaster had a few more than Sterling. By the census of 1790, the two towns con-
335
SALARY OF THE MINISTER.
tained 2880 inhabitants ; of these 1460 belonged to Lancas- ter, leaving 1420 to Sterling.
The division of the town was followed by a new arrange- ment of parish affairs. Before the second precinct was erected in 1743, the whole town was a parish, and all paro- chial business was done in town meeting. When Chocksett became a parish, the remaining part of the town was also made a parish, in connection with the first church, and for nearly forty years the first precinct provided for the support of pub- lic worship, appointed parish officers, and kept its own Rec- ords. These Records have not come under the eye of the writer, and it is not known that they are in existence. As soon as Sterling was incorporated, the first precinct became merged in the town of Lancaster, which henceforth acted as a parish, and in town meeting, annually raised the minister's salary ; and transacted all parochial affairs. Accordingly, at a meeting of the town on the eighteenth of June, 1781, it was voted to " pay the Rev. Timothy Harrington, the pres- ent year, so much money as shall make good the original contract ; and that he may in June draw on the treasurer half, or in December following, for the remaining part; and that the selectmen do estimate the draught from time to time, un- til he shall have received so much in real value as would have made his salary good, as if paid at the above time when stated in November." When settled in 1748, Mr. Harrington was offered £2000 for the purchase of a parsonage, and £480 old tenor, as an annual salary. He accepted the call on these terms. The salary, says Willard, ." was annually settled by the price of the principal articles of life, £480 old tenor, equal to £64 lawful money," or $213.33. For a few years the salary was as high as $300. The currency was so fluc- tuating, it was necessary to fix it by the price of the neces- sary articles of living. In 1783 the assessors were chosen a committee to settle with Mr. Harrington, and see what salary was due to him, and the treasurer was directed to give him a note of hand, with interest for the balance due to him. From
336
HISTORY OF LANCASTER.
this time forward parish business occupied but little of the time in town meeting, except at long intervals, when repairs were made on the house of worship; collectors were chosen to collect a minister's tax, and action was taken to supply the pulpit in Mr. Harrington's old age, as well as to settle his successor.
In August, 1785, Cyrus Fairbank, Timothy Whiting, jr., and Jonathan Whitney, were chosen a committee to inquire into the state of the meeting-house, and see " what repairs are necessary to be made, and make a calculation as near as they can of the sum it will cost." But before the meeting-house could be repaired, it was necessary to raise money to pay the expense. For this purpose it was voted to " sell the ground where the three hind seats on each side of the alley below were built, and the back seat round the galleries together with the ground where the long pews were built." Probably an in- creasing attendance made a demand for seats, and therefore parts of the floor below and in the galleries, which had been free, and perhaps but little occupied, had now a money value. A committee was appointed to sell the " ground," or room, by public auction. This having been done, the house was re- paired " so far as the pew ground money" went, in purchas- ing " clapboards, glass with new frames and sashes," and in building two new " porches, one on the south end, and one on the north end." The committee were Peter Green, Ephraim Carter and Cyrus Fairbank. The enlargement of seating room, made it necessary to reseat the house in part, and the town voted that the selectmen should seat the house " upon one poll, and real and personal estate."
At a meeting held October 15, 1787, the question came up whether two services should be held in winter, when it was voted that in the opinion of the town, the advanced age of the Rev. Mr. Harrington may render it injurious to his health to attend two services a day in the rigor of the three winter months ; therefore the town requests the Rev. Mr. Harring- ton, whenever he finds it inconvenient to perform two services
337
REPAIRING THE MEETING-HOUSE.
a day in those months, or at any other season, to signify the same to the congregation at the close of the first service. The deacons, Fairbank and Houghton, Ballard and Whiting were chosen a committee to " wait on the Rev. Mr. Harrington with a copy of the above vote."
The following extract from the Records will serve to show how the minister was paid, and the money value of several articles of produce, in old and in lawful money. "The arti- cles on which the Rev. Timothy Harrington's salary were stat- ed as sold in the months of November and December, 1788.
Rye at 28sh. old tenor,
£140- 0-0
Indian corn, 21sh. «
157-10-0
Beef, 1sh. 4d. · .
160- 0-0
Pork, 1sh. 6 3-4d.
95-15-0
Old tenor,
£553- 5-0
In lawful money, £73, 15, 4 ;" or nearly $250.00.
At the March meeting, 1789, it was voted "to hire preach- ing whenever Mr. Harrington's want of health should render him unable to preach," and deacons Fairbank and Houghton, with Israel Atherton, Esq., were chosen a committee for that purpose.
The roof of the meeting-house having been found " defective and leaky in every part to such a degree as to render it impos- sible to repair it to any good purpose without shingling," the committee on repairing the house were directed to shingle it.
The March meeting, 1791, directed the " old committee to complete the repairs of the inside of the meeting-house in the most prudent manner." In the May meeting the report of a committee appointed to sell " pew ground " was accepted, from which it appears that fifteen pews in the galleries had been sold, and paid for by notes of hand ; and that two pews had been set up where the women's stairs stood; and the same number where the men's stairs stood; and four others had been "taken off the body seats" on the men's and women's sides of the house. Thus twenty-three seats were made avail- able for revenue.
22
338
HISTORY OF LANCASTER.
The report of the committee for " hiring preaching the year past," presented to the March meeting, in 1792, shows that Messrs. Alden Bradford, afterwards Secretary of State, Thad- deus M. Harris, afterwards Rev. Dr. Harris of Dorchester, Joseph Davis, and Daniel C. Saunders, afterwards president of the college in Burlington, Vt., had preached here, and re- ccived about one hundred and five dollars therefor, besides board. At the same meeting, March 12, the town voted " that a colleague-during the life of the Rev. Timothy Harrington- be settled as soon as the minds of the inhabitants, and circum- stances of the town will permit ; and after to continue pastor and minister among us." And a committee of seven was chosen to treat with Mr. Harrington " touching his inclina- tion respecting such colleague; and also touching himself and the town ; and to supply the desk for the space of twelve weeks with persons as candidates for settlement." A highly respectable committee was raised for this delicate business, viz., John Sprague, Esq., Dea. John Whiting, Israel Ather- ton, Esq., Dea. Josiah Ballard, Capt. Samuel Ward, Capt. Ephraim Carter, jr., and Dea. Benjamin Houghton. This committee reported to a meeting held July 2, that they had conferred with Rev. T. Harrington " touching the several sub- jects, agreeably to their instructions," and had supplied the desk twelve Sabbaths. The committee were continued, and the town voted to "hear Mr. Thayer a further time."
On the fourteenth of August the town voted " to set apart Thursday, the sixth day of September, for a day of fasting and prayer, to prepare the town for settling a colleague " with Mr. Harrington ; and the committee were directed to wait on Mr. Harrington, and desire him to write to such of the neigh- boring ministers as he might choose, to join the town in keeping the fast, and some one to preach discourses suitable to the occasion.
Dea. Fairbank seems to have thought that the town had heard candidates enough, and on his motion, the town, on the last day of the year, voted that the town " decline, at
339
MR. THAYER AS COLLEAGUE.
present, employing any person to supply the desk in future, but those whom they had heard before." But those having "itching ears," at the next meeting, January 14, 1793, secured a reconsideration of the vote, and the way was opened for a new list. . The old committee were excused from further ser- vice, perhaps at their own request, and the following gentle- men were charged with the arduous service. Capt. James Carter, Capt. John Maynard, Mr. Jonas Fairbank, William Stedman, Esq., and Mr. Daniel Stearns.
At the April meeting two hundred pounds, lawful money, were raised for the " purpose of discharging the parson's sal- ary, and supplying the desk " for the current year.
However, the " minds of the town " seem soon to have been united, and the church gave Mr. Nathaniel Thayer a call to settle in the gospel ministry as a colleague with Mr. Harring- ton, during the life of the latter, and after his decease, if Mr. Thayer should survive him. The town, at a meeting held June 3, voted " unanimously, that Mr. Nathaniel Thayer be settled with us as colleague with the Rev. Mr. Harrington, during the life of Mr. Harrington ; and our minister if he survives Mr. Harrington, should Mr. Thayer agree to settle as our minister as above expressed."
The following committee of fifteen was chosen by the town to consult with Mr. Thayer in regard to terms of settlement, and report in the afternoon : John Sprague, William Sted- man, Israel Atherton, Josiah Ballard, Ebenezer Allen, Moses Sawyer, Ebenezer Torrey, Jonathan Wilder, Jonas Fairbank, Ephraim Carter, jr., Joseph Wales, Cyrus Fairbank, Eli Stearns, Timothy Whiting, jr., and Benjamin Houghton. The committee reported " that the sum of two hundred pounds be given him as a settlement ; the sum of ninety pounds annually during the life of Mr. Harrington, as salary ; and after the decease of Rev. Mr. Harrington,the sum of one hundred and twenty pounds annually as salary." The report of the committee was accepted, and a committee of three was raised, to join with a committee of the church, to present Mr. Thayer
340
HISTORY OF LANCASTER.
the " doings of the church and town relative to his settling in the work of the gospel ministry, in this place, and to request his consideration thereof and answer thereto." The committee were John Sprague, William Stedman and Israel Atherton, esquires. Mr. Thayer accepted the call in a letter which will be given in connection with the history of the church, in the next chapter.
The settling of a minister, in former times, was a memo- rable event, and it will be interesting in all time to come, to read the proceedings of the town on the occasion of Mr. Thayer's settlement. The whole action of the town evinces a high estimate of the Christian ministry ; a delicate and rev- erent regard for the feelings of their aged minister; a suit- able appreciation of their new choice, and the proper self- respect of an intelligent community. In these days, when ministers " come as visions ; so depart ;" when they are called in a hurry, and sometimes thrust out without ceremony, it is refreshing to recall the more dignified, kindly and respectable methods of our fathers.
A meeting to make preparation for the ordination was held on the twenty-sixth of August, when Mr. Thayer was "re- quested to address the Throne of Grace. Which being done, it was voted that Mr. Thayer " have the thanks of the town for his petition, etc. for the Divine Blessing." A committee of five was chosen to confer with the pastor elect on " such time and modes of payment of his settlement and salary as may be best adapted to his circumstances, and the convenience and interest of the town." The committee were Israel Atherton, Samuel Ward, Ebenezer Torrey, Timothy Whiting, jr., Eph- raim Carter, jr. Another committee of five was raised, viz., John Whiting, Benjamin Houghton, Josiah Ballard, Cyrus Fairbank and Ebenezer Allen, all but the last deacons, to con- fer with Messrs. Harrington and Thayer on the time and man- ner of conducting the solemnity, [of ordination, ] and transact any " other matter or thing that might be thought necessary for a decent and happy performance and conclusion of the whole subject."
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PREPARING FOR ORDINATION.
Then a committee of three was elected by ballot for the purpose of contracting with some person or persons to make provision for the ordination of Mr. Nathaniel Thayer, upon such terms and in such manner as they shall judge will be most for the honor and interest of the town. Eli Stearns, Oliver Carter, Joseph Wales were the committee.
The same meeting authorized the sale of one of the best long seats on each side of the middle aisle for pews, and thus raise money to pay for repairs. The committee for repairing the meeting-house were then " directed to plaster or white- wash, and support the floors and galleries " in such manner as might be suitable and safe for the ordination services. A crowd was always expected on such occasions. Not only the town's folk, but people from all adjacent towns were accus- tomed to attend. And they were always treated with the greatest hospitality, every family keeping open house for vis- itors.
A vote was then passed directing the selectmen to make such repairs in the pulpit as " would be for the convenience of Mr. Thayer." Wednesday, the ninth of October, was fixed upon as the day of ordination. This was more than a year after the candidate first preached in the place.
There was another meeting on the sixteenth of September, when the committee on repairs were instructed to "paint the front-work of the galleries, the pulpit, and the deacons' seat." The same day the committee on providing for the ordination, were " authorized to assign seats for the church, council, and singers, and to appoint suitable persons to guard the same, and the door, and preserve due order in and about the meet- ing-house on the day of ordination."
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