USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > Lancaster > History of the town of Lancaster, Massachusetts : from the first settlement to the present time, 1643-1879 > Part 56
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Washburn, Edward R .; I; September 1, 1862; first lieutenant; he was promoted as captain, November 8, 1862. The upper part of his left thigh was fractured by a musket ball and buck shot in the assault on Port Hudson, June 14, 1863. The bone was much shattered; but his courage did not fail, and he resolutely determined to preserve his limb and his own life. Notwithstanding the great heat of July, he succeeded, and was finally con- veyed to his home in Lancaster, where he, to all appearance, fully recover- ed, with about one inch shortening of the limb. His life was doubtless prolonged by his own resolution, for, says Dr. Thompson, " if he had doubted," he would soon have died. The wound, however, proved too serious for human skill or will. In August, 1864, he began to have trouble with his limb, this increased, abscess formed, irritative fever supervened, and he died at his mother's residence, September 5, 1864. He was a brave and noble officer, kind and attentive to his men, and ever commanded the respect and esteem of his company, associates and friends.
Whitney, Edmund C .; I; September 6, 1862; corporal October 18. He was detailed for service in commissary department on board ship Montebello, December 16; reported for duty March 16, 1863 ; promoted ser- geant in June, and second lieutenant, August 13, 1863. He was in the battles of Fort Brisland and Port Hudson.
Many of the following were strangers to the town, but were hired by the committee of the town to fill the quota.
SECOND MASSACHUSETTS CAVALRY .- Goodwin, John.
THIRD MASSACHUSETTS CAVALRY .- Bergman, Albert. SECOND UNION INFANTRY .- Clinton, Joseph ; Zahn, Peter. FIFTEENTH UNION INFANTRY .- Copeland, Joseph. TWENTY-SIXTH UNION INFANTRY .- Souvenir, Charles L.
TWENTY-EIGHTH UNION INFANTRY .- Smith, John.
712
HISTORY OF LANCASTER.
THIRTY-THIRD UNION INFANTRY .- Dupee, John.
THIRTY-FIFTH UNION INFANTRY .- Krum, John ; Mayo, John ; Pierre, Edward ; Watson, George.
FIFTY-SEVENTH UNION INFANTRY .- Leroy, Frank B .; Puffer, Charles; Sykes, Edwin.
FIRST UNION CAVALRY .- Washburn, Col. Francis. [See next chapter. ]
SECOND UNION CAVALRY .- Bell, John ; Coyle, John ; Langley, James ; Monyer, John ; Ross, William.
ELEVENTH BATTERY .- Fox, Thomas ; Tooley, John ; Valds, John.
THIRTEENTH BATTERY .- Davis, George W .; Smith, William.
SECOND HEAVY ARTILLERY .- Kern, John; Miller, Frank ; Neu, Louis ; Tracey, David H.
THIRD HEAVY ARTILLERY .- McCarron, William.
ENGINEER CORPS .- Elder, Henry H.
RECRUITS.
Several, if not all, of the following, had served faithfully, but re-enlisted.
Blood, Charles E .; Bridge, James A .; Day, Joseph N .; Farnsworth, George W .; Haynes, John C .; Ollis, John; Parker, Leonard H .; Shorey, Patrick; Wilder, J. Prescott; Wiley, George E .; Verett, John.
UNITED STATES NAVY.
Barnes, Frank Wallace. Having enlisted among the volunteers, and not finding immediate service, Barnes entered the navy, and was in active service about one year. He sailed with Capt. Harrison, in the Minnesota, to Hampton Roads, 1862, blockading ; off Wilmington, 1863.
Gould, John. Nothing has been learned of the service rendcred by Gould.
Mackrill, Ephraim, like his brother, in the following notice, was faith- ful to the flag of his country, and encountered perils in her service.
Mackrill, William. Shipped August 12, 1862, at Charlestown, on gun- boat Isaac P. Smith, Capt. Conover. Captured in Stone River, S. C., February 1, 1863, when nine were killed and twenty-five wounded. He was in prison at Charleston and Richmond till March 1; sent to Norfolk hospital, and discharged, August 13, 1863.
DRAFTED MEN WHO FURNISHED SUBSTITUTES.
Brewer, Miron H .; Carter, O. W .; Cutting, H. C .; Dodge, George E. P .; Harris. Josiah ; Hosmer, E. W .; Howe, Eli E .; Humphrey, Horatio D .; Stowe, Henry; Wilder, Charles L. jr.
713
SOLDIERS IN REGIMENTS OF OTHER STATES.
STATE RECRUITS.
There were five of these men credited to Lancaster in the navy, and two in the regular army. Their names and resi- dences are not known.
The names of the following soldiers are found in the rolls of regiments belonging to other states, but they belonged to Lancaster, made a part of its quota, and did honor to the town.
THIRTEENTH ILLINOIS REGIMENT.
Nourse, Henry S., October 23, 1861, joined the fifty-fifth Illinois volun- teers, and at the outset acted as regimental clerk and drillmaster. Here follows his subsequent record. March 1, 1862, adjutant of the regiment; commissioned as captain company K to date from December 19, 1862. The regiment was one of those composing Gen. W. T. Sherman's original division, and attached to the fifteenth army corps, followed his fortunes during the war. It was engaged in over forty battles and skirmishes, and in the sieges of Corinth, Vicksburg, Jackson, Atlanta and Savannah. It first met the enemy in battle at Shiloh, April 6 and 7, 1862, and out of six hundred and fifty men actually engaged, the regiment lost two hundred and seventy-three by casualties of war ; eighty were killed or mortally wounded in the battle. Eight officers were wounded and two killed, out of a total of thirty-six.
The more important battle experiences of major Nourse, after Shiloh, were the following. Battle of Russel's House ; Siege of Corinth ; battles and assaults about Chickasaw Bayou, in 1862. These in 1863 : battle of Arkansas Port ; Champion Hill ; assault upon Fort Pemberton ; general assault upon works at Vicksburg ; siege of Vicksburg ; siege of Jackson ; battle of Mission Ridge ; Chattanooga. In 1864 were the following actions. June 27, assault upon fortifications at Kenesaw Mountain. After this date he was acting Major, the commanding officer having been killed in action. Battle of Atlanta ; Ezra Chapel ; assault upon fortified picket line before Atlanta ; siege of Atlanta ; battle of Jonesboro. After this he was senior officer commanding the regiment. March through Georgia ; assault upon Fort Mc Allister ; siege and capture of Savannah. November 4, ap- pointed commissary of musters, seventeenth army corps.
In the early part of 1865 the army marched northward, and on the twentieth of March fought its last battle at Bentonville, N. C. After the surrender of Lee, rather than be mustered in as Lieut .- Colonel, and return to Illinois, Mr. Nourse came directly home, his term of service having ex- pired a month before. Thus terminated a military career full of most faithful and honorable service.
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HISTORY OF LANCASTER.
Thurston, George L., captain of company B, fifteenth Illinois volun- teers. Thurston in his boyhood had great fondness and aptitude for the military. He was captain of a company of his playmates. In after years he belonged to various military organizations; among others, the Boston Tigers. He was captain of the Clinton company when he left Lancaster for Chicago a short time before the war. By desire of Col. David Stuart he was appointed adjutant of the Illinois fifty-fifth, October 31, 1861. On the first of March, 1862, he was appointed captain. Nothing less than the purest patriotism influenced him to enter the army, for his health was very frail, and a wife and young child claimed his care and support. At Shiloh, on the first day, his company, advanced as skirmishers, met the first onset of the enemy, and checked their advance so as to enable the regiment to occupy a strong position, whence the overwhelming forces of the rebels did not drive it until ammunition failed and night came on to cover the combat- ants. Capt. Thurston, far from well, led his company through the day, and lay with his men on the field through the drenching rain of the night. He was at the head of his command the next morning, but fatigue, expo- sure, and the loss of food and sleep during thirty hours were too much for his feeble frame, though his will remained undaunted. He was seen to stagger, and was helped fainting to the rear. From this shock he never recovered, but remained with his regiment until he received leave of ab- sence from Gen. Grant, July 1, 1862, given on surgeon's certificate "that such absence is necessary to save his life." His comrades feared he would never reach the North alive. Arriving in Chicago, the tender care of friends gave him strength to reach home at last, where he gradually sank and ended his warfare, December 15, 1862. The foregoing has been chiefly made up from notes by his friend, Mr. Nourse. It should be added that captain Thurston was not only held in high esteem by his friends, but that feeling tributes to his memory came from different organizations of which he was a highly respected member.
EIGHTH NEW HAMPSHIRE .- Bancroft, Frank C.
THIRTEENTH NEW HAMPSHIRE .-- Carr, William D.
ELEVENTH RHODE ISLAND .- Wiley, Charles T.
SIXTIETH NEW YORK .- Kelley, Martin.
NEW YORK TAMMANY .- Finnesey, James.
MISCELLANEOUS.
Thomas A. G. Hunting had two sons in the war. As the family moved into Lancaster about the time of the outbreak of the rebellion, the sons seem not to have been properly recognized in this town, or the town from which they came. One of these was Joseph W. Hunting, aged 22, who enlisted in company B, sixteenth regiment, July 2, 1861. He left at the expiration of his term of service, July 27, 1864. Since died.
715
SOLDIERS WHO DIED IN THE WAR.
Albert C. Hunting, aged 19, company B, sixteenth regiment ; enlisted July 2, 1861. He was killed at Fair Oaks, June 25, 1862. [Both credit- ed to Holliston, also.]
Henry T. Taylor, company A, fifteenth regiment ; enlisted July 12, 1861. Disability, April 25, 1862. His eyesight was injured by a bursting shell which filled his face with earth. He was in the battle at Ball's Bluff, and swam the river. [Credited to Leominster.]
The following names are on the marble tablet at the rear of the Library Room in Memorial Hall. The date of the decease and the age of each soldier are given.
GEORGE WRIGHT CUTLER, OCTOBER 21, 1861. 23. WALTER RAYMOND LAWRENCE, OCTOBER 21, 1861. 28. JAMES GARDNER WARNER, OCTOBER 21, 1861. 31.
LUTHER GRAY TURNER, NOVEMBER 1, 1861. 24. FRANKLIN HAWKES FARNSWORTH, MAY 31, 1862. 19.
JAMES BURKE, SEPTEMBER 1, 1862. 26. ROBERT ROBERTS MOSES, OCTOBER 3, 1862. 26. EBENEZER WATERS RICHARDS, DECEMBER 13, 1862. 37. GEORGE LEE THURSTON, DECEMBER 15, 1862. 31. HENRY MAYNARD PUTNEY, APRIL 26, 1863. 20. DAVID WILDER JONES, MAY 3, 1863. 46. JAMES DILLON, MAY 10, 1863. 26.
CHARLES TIMOTHY FAIRBANKS, JUNE 19, 1863. 27.
HENRY ALBERT CUTLER, JULY 4, 1863. 19. OSCAR FRARY, JULY 28, 1863. 27.
STEPHEN ADAMS KEYES, AUGUST 10, 1863. 19. WALTER ANDREW BROOKS, AUGUST 22, 1863. 20.
JOHN PATRICK WISE, MARCH 15, 1864. 19. JOHN CHICKERING HAYNES, MARCH 19, 1864. 30. STEPHEN WESLEY GRAY, APRIL 4, 1864. 32. JAMES ANDREW BRIDGE, MAY 15, 1864. 21.
HENRY JACKSON PARKER, MAY 15, 1864. 28. SUMNER RUSSELL KILBURN, MAY 16, 1864. 21. SOLON WHITING CHAPLIN, JUNE 5, 1864. 40. WILLIAM DUSTIN CARR, JUNE 20, 1864. 40. SAMUEL MIRICK BOWMAN, JULY 26, 1864. 28. CALEB WOOD SWEET, AUGUST 3, 1864. 23.
EDWARD RICHMOND WASHBURN, SEPTEMBER 5, 1864. 28. HORATIO ELISHA TURNER, SEPTEMBER 8, 1864. 20.
716
HISTORY OF LANCASTER.
WILLIAM SCHUMACHER, SEPTEMBER 13, 1864. 22. FREDERICK FORDYCE NOURSE, SEPTEMBER 13, 1864. 22. GEORGE WALTON DIVOLL, SEPTEMBER 21, 1864. 37. JOHN LOUIS MOEGLIN, SEPTEMBER 28, 1864. 53.
OREN HODGMAN, SEPTEMBER 30, 1864. 21. LUKE OLLIS, OCTOBER 13, 1864. 21.
FORDYCE HORAN, NOVEMBER 9, 1864. 21.
FRANCIS HENRY FAIRBANKS, JANUARY 4, 1865. 30.
EDWARD RUSSELL JOSLYN, APRIL 10, 1865. 21. FRANCIS WASHBURN, APRIL 22, 1865. 26.
The above is a brief and imperfect sketch of the services of the Lancaster volunteers engaged in suppressing rebellion, and making liberty the right of every person born or living in the United States. No one can regret the defects and omissions so much as the author, as no one else can have any adequate idea of the difficulties which must be encountered, and the labor and pains expended in trying to make the re- sult approach to accuracy and fairness. The soldiers were actuated by a patriotic spirit, they endured almost incredible hardships, and they achieved grand results. Many gave their lives for the cause in which they were engaged ; many more received wounds or suffered disabilities from which they never recovered, and all, with exceptions too few to be noticed, marched under the flag until their duty was done. They are held in honor, and their names will go down to distant gen- erations as the heroes of the great era of union and freedom.
THE COST OF THE WAR.
Under this head will be included the sums expended by the town, and by citizens of the town, in carrying on the war from the beginning to the end. The statement will embrace bounties, state aid to volunteers and their families, military expenses, and voluntary subscriptions to supply arms, cloth- ing, and many things conducive to the health and comfort of soldiers in camp or in the field. The total amount found in the books of the selectmen from 1861 to 1866, is eighteen
717
COST OF THE WAR.
thousand seven hundred and nineteen dollars and seventy- cents. This includes two thousand dollars which was reim- bursed to citizens who had subscribed that sum for war pur- poses.
The amount raised by the men of the town, by subscrip- tion, exclusive of the above sum reimbursed, is believed by those who were conversant with matters at the time, to have. been between two thousand five hundred and three thousand dollars. These amounts are generally understated, because many gifts are made to soldiers which are never reported. It will be safe to say three thousand dollars. To this must be added the benefactions of the ladies, which, as we have seen were four thousand five hundred and forty-four dollars and eighty-two cents. Putting the whole in figures, the statement is as follows.
Expenses paid by the town, . $18,719 70
Contributions by citizens, mostly in money, 3,000 00
Gifts by the ladies, 4,544 82
Total, $26,264 52
The money and other valuables given by the ladies for the. benefit of the Freedmen, is not included in this statement.
What was done by the town and by individuals in honor of the soldiers, in the erection of Memorial Hall, has been recited already. Since the war closed, the town has been paying, annually, five hundred dollars, more or less, as state aid to the families of soldiers. This is really a town charge, because the state treasury is replenished by the taxes of the town. In addition, the people of this town, ever since the outbreak of the rebellion, have been paying their proportion of the interest on the public debt, either through the internal revenue or the custom house. The amount is large, though it cannot be accurately stated. With a great price was our. national unity, and the freedom of all our people secured, but the cost, in money, was but a trifle in comparison with their worth.
C
718
HISTORY OF LANCASTER.
DEATH OF PRESIDENT LINCOLN.
Just as the nation was beginning to rejoice in the prospect of the immediate suppression of the rebellion, came the over- whelming intelligence that Abraham Lincoln had been assas- sinated. Never was a people so suddenly and cruelly turned from the height of joy to the depth of grief. The people of Lancaster shared in the general sorrow, and joined in the services of the national day of fasting, and the universal funeral solemnities, at the times fixed by national authority. The town also in its corporate capacity put on record its sense of the great calamity. At a legal meeting held May 20, 1865, the Rev. Mr. Bartol offered a series of resolutions, two of which were as follows.
" Whereas, on the fifteenth day of April, 1865, Abraham Lincoln, the venerated and beloved president of the United States, was by an assassin, suddenly assaulted and slain, the blow by which he fell being aimed not only at his life, but, through him, at the life of the nation :
"Therefore, we, the citizens of Lancaster, assembled ac- cording to warrant, in our usual place of public meeting, for the purpose of expressing our sense of this calamity to us in common with all the people of the land in which we live, do hereby declare that while we recognize in this event an appaling crime which has filled us with a grief, astonishment and indignation we cannot describe, we also acknowledge it to be one of those visitations permitted by the Supreme Disposer, before which we bow in awe, with the prayer that it be overruled to the good of our whole country.
" Resolved, that in recording our tribute to the memory of the late president with profound sorrow for his loss, we do all, beyond all party prepossessions, own and bless in him an unselfishness of disposition and singleness of purpose, a gentleness, humanity and benevolence under great provoca- tion, with an honesty of intention, an ardent patriotism, a fidelity to duty, and a growing mastery of the circumstances
719
GENERAL GRIEF.
of his position, which enabled him, with the blessing and fa- vor of God, to fulfill and bring to a successful completion, a work almost unprecedented for difficulty ; that in his remo- val at the moment in which his labors were being crowned with the triumph of the national authority and the evident approach of the blessings of peace, we see the completion of a career which the nation will ever look back to with thank- fulness, and hold in tender and affectionate remembrance."
The meeting was fully attended, and the resolutions were adopted with entire and emphatic unanimity, while solemnity and sadness sat on every countenance. What was expressed in public meeting, was felt in every home and heart through- out the town. The common grief added a new fervor to the services of the sanctuary on the Sabbath, and inspired the people to look, in the day of their calamity, to the God of their fathers.
CHAPTER XXVII.
WALKS ABOUT TOWN ..
THE design of this chapter is to gather up some items of interest which could not be easily interwoven with the pre- ceding narrative. The subjects will be partly biographical and partly genealogical, with such anecdotes and incidents as may be associated with places and persons.
Before proceeding, attention will be called to a point or two of some interest, such as the distribution of the early families in the town, and the incoming of persons of foreign birth during the last thirty years.
It might be supposed, at first thought, that the members of a family whose ancestors came into the town more than two hundred years ago, would be, by degrees, dispersed over the township; but this seldom appears to be the fact. The children live near the old homestead, or remove to other towns or states. The original proprietors of Lancaster ob- tained six or seven divisions of land, by lot, and in time, these fell to their children, but in most cases the children took the lots which lay in the towns which have been formed out of the mother town. Within the limits of the town, the families generally have been confined to narrow sections. For example, Major Willard had his home on what may well be called Willard Avenue, where Sewall Day now lives. His grandson Samuel occupied the same site, and probably built the present house. Three of Col. Samuel's sons lived on the avenue, one of whom, Col. Abijah, lived in the same house, as did his son, Samuel, and daughter, Mrs. Goodhue. The descendants of Henry Willard, son of the Major, have
720
721
LOCATION OF EARLY FAMILIES.
lived on the Harvard road, from the place of Warren Willard towards Still river bridge, and in the northeast corner of the town, more than a hundred and fifty years ; but none of the name, so far as appears in records and on old maps, have ever lived in other parts of the town.
Thomas Wilder bought the Wheeler place in the middle of the eastern base of George hill, and resided there. Two of his sons had homes on the Old Common, and a few de- scendants have lived in the southeastern part of the Center, but the Wilder family has been mainly confined to George hill, which they almost peopled, at one time, and the south- ern part of Clinton. A few have lived in South Lancaster.
John Prescott's descendants held the old place in South Lancaster, through several generations, but what is now Clinton soon became his headquarters, nor has the family, unless in rare instances, been found in other parts of the town. The same has been true of the Sawyers, who early intermarried with the Prescotts. The Sawyers took a bend towards Deers Horns as well as Clinton. Here and there one may have purchased in other localities, as the late Ezra Sawyer, father of Hon. Edmund Sawyer, of Easthampton, whose home was next to the Center railroad station. The Fairbank family, also connected by marriage, with that of John Prescott, took a similar direction. The name is not found, with few exceptions, in any other part of the town.
The Rugg family has been located more widely. The first of the name had a lot in South Lancaster, near where Alfred Heald now lives ; and some of the descendants have been in the neighborhood till recent times. Others have lived on George hill, and on the Greenway road, and several families have had their homes on the pleasant plain east of Canoe brook, and both sides of the upper end of Ponakin brook. The Carter and Fletcher families once occupied nearly all of George hill north of the road which goes over the hill from the brick school-house, and some of them lived on that road, where they were wedged in by Wilders; but 46
·
722
HISTORY OF LANCASTER.
neither of these families have lived, to any great extent, in the Center, the Old Common, the North Village, or the northern section of the town. They slid down hill, gradually, to South Lancaster and Clinton. Dr. Carter lived at the pres- ent town farm, and Sewell Carter kept store in the North Village, as Joseph and Gardner Wilder lived on Ballard hill, but these were exceptions to a general fact. In like manner, the Phelps, Wyman, Whitney, Damon, Farwell and other families, have been confined, to a great extent, to the vicinity of their original homestead.
The Houghton family is a noticeable example. Ralph Houghton held nearly all the land between Willard avenue and the new road from the Orthodox church to the Neck road or Eastern avenue ; but this estate went into the hands of the Glazier family. John Houghton, his cousin, lived on the west side of Wattoquaddoc hill in Bolton, but moved to the Old Common, where his family resided during one or two generations. Neither branch of the family spread in Lancaster, with here and there an exception. The Hough- tons now living here, -Silas and Edward-of the same old stock, came from other towns. Cases might be multiplied, but these are sufficient to exemplify a general fact.
In regard to in-coming of persons of foreign birth, it may be said that some of this class have come hither in every generation, not only from Great Britain and Ireland, but from Canada, France and Germany. The number, however, was small previous to about thirty years ago, when the build- ing of the Worcester and Nashua railroad brought many upon the line as laborers, some of whom chose to abide here. Since then there has been a considerable increase of this class of our population. The opportunity to work in the factories, mills and shops at Ponakin, South Lancaster and Clinton, has also induced others to come hither, some of whom have become permanent residents and industrious citizens. ·
723
FOREIGN-BORN FAMILIES.
In 1855, when Dea. Charles Wyman took the census of the town, under the state law, he reported the whole popu- lation to be 1729. Of these 814 were males and 915 were females. Those of foreign birth were 248, or a little more than one in seven. About 194 of the foreign born were from Ireland, and the remaining 54, were from several coun- tries.
On the list of voters in the town, in the autumn of 1878, were the names of three hundred and seventy-five men. About sixty of these were foreign born, something less than one in six of all the voters. Not far from fifty of these voters are from Ireland, and the remaining ten or twelve are of other nationalities.
Judging from the number of male heads of families the increase has not been large in proportion in thirty-three years ; but one or two facts should be noted. By the cessa- tion of business at Ponakin and South Lancaster mills, there has been a decrease of foreign-born families, within a few years past. The other fact, and a most significant one is this. The children of foreign-born parents are numerous. In the two northern schools, Nos. 1 and 3, nearly all the children are of American parentage. All the other schools have a large infusion of the foreign-parentage element. In No. 7, or George hill school, not far from one-half belong to either class. At South Lancaster the primary school has had a large majority of children of Irish, French and other foreign parentage, several terms, within a few years past. In the upper room the division is more nearly even. At Deers Horns, the aggregate of children from Scotch, French and Irish parents includes the larger part of the school. In the primary and grammar schools at the Center the number of each class is about even. In the high school the number of foreign-born parentage is not far from one-fifth; but the proportion is constantly increasing. However, the scholars in all our schools are, almost without exception, natives of the soil, and heirs to all the blessings of our unrivalled privi-
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