USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > Lancaster > History of the town of Lancaster, Massachusetts : from the first settlement to the present time, 1643-1879 > Part 59
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" O Lord, give me no more by twos and threes, But one to time as often as you please."
Jonathan, jr., was the "immovable " man ; but in this re- gard was only a fair representative of the family, who were characterized by an ancient wit of the town as the " wilful Wilders." Firmness, tenacity, perseverance belong to them as a race. The late Henry Wilder was an intelligent and honorable man, but when his mind was made up, he could not be driven from his purpose.
The house passed from the Wilders into the hands of Da- vid Stewart, an intelligent but eccentric Scotchman, and a friend of Dr. Steuart Robertson. After him came Dr. Sied- hof, the German, who had a private school several years.
.
742
HISTORY OF LANCASTER.
The property came into possession of the state when the School for Girls was established.
The Wilder garrison was probably near the "Stillwell house," so called, or No. 3 of the school buildings, and marked No. 18 on the map. Here, as is believed, lived Col. Caleb and Judge Joseph Wilder, one or both, when engaged in the potash business. The great iron boiler used by them is now to be seen by all travelers from Lancaster to Bolton, in the shape of a watering trough, midway between the house of Jonathan Forbush and the meeting-house.
The Stillwell house was begun, as said above, by Levi, father of Sampson Wilder, in 1776. This house has a his- tory in connection with its successive inmates. Perhaps no one of these has been so widely or favorably known as the son of Levi, viz. : Sampson V. S. Wilder, who was at one time, consul general, and acting minister at Paris ; at an- other, one of the greatest business men and largest opera- tors in cotton in the country, and in the latter half of his life, very prominent in all moral and religious enterprises. But the interesting Memoir of his life and character, by his daughter, precludes the need of dwelling upon his career in this place.
The house begun by Levi Wilder, in the first year of the American revolution, was bought by a man named Carnes, an Englishman, who finished it. The house was spacious, and was well built of brick, with good finish inside. There were large barns, long since removed, and a farmer's house, not far from the mansion. The farm house, looking like an old- fashioned, neglected meeting-house, now stands on the south side of the street, and is numbered 8 in the Map of Villages. Carnes had a deer park, and kept a pack'of hounds. He lived in the style of a well-to-do Englishman, and was styled, in common parlance, "lord Carnes."
His successor was Sir Francis Searles, another English- man, who was a noted farmer and kept up the English style of living. Another Englishman, named Benjamin Lee, came
743
CLEVELAND .- HILLER .- SHALER.
after Sir Francis. Otis Hunt was the manager of the farm for the next owners, and lived in the farm house.
Early in this century two brothers by the name of Cleve- land, came from Salem, and took up their residence in the old mansion. William Cleveland was a respected citizen, and represented the town in the general court. Capt. Rich- ard J. Cleveland was the celebrated " captain Cleveland," who was in those times, known as one of the bravest and most enterprising officers that ever sailed from the port of Salem. He went to all parts of the world, engaged in mer- cantile business of every variety, made great ventures and gains, and met with ruinous losses. His Narrative in two volumes, went through several editions, and is still vital with interest. Miss Peabody, on a former page, speaks of him as a noble and chivalrous character. Here his three sons, all bright with promise, were educated for college, or for business. One of these sons fell from the tower of the brick church, and was taken up for dead, but recovered. This made a deep impression on the heart of the father, and in a letter written in his old age, in 1853, he refers to the event with the liveliest sensibility, and with touching gratitude to a kind and fatherly providence.
The brothers Cleveland married sisters, two daughters of Major Joseph Hiller, also of Salem. The major occupied the house, with the families of his daughters, several years. There was life in the mansion in those days, as has been well set forth in the letter of Miss Peabody. Study, the educa- tion of children, discussion of the best methods of training, reading the best authors, music, a hospitable table and enter- taining conversation, filled the day and evening.
Next the property came into the possession of William Shaler, Esq., a friend of the Clevelands. He had been con sul at Algiers, and had rendered a great service to our sailors who were exposed to the violence of the pirates on the Af- rican coast. He had also been consul at Havana, and was a man of extensive information and agreeable manners. At
744
HISTORY OF LANCASTER.
his decease the property fell to his sister who was generally styled madam Stillwell. She with her family occupied the house until it was purchased by the state. The fire which ruined the house, was set by two girls, members of the school, in the month of March, 1876. The blackened and broken walls make a grand ruin, but the grounds would be greatly improved by razing it to its foundations, and still more by erecting a new building.
While Mr. Shaler resided here, two other gentlemen, with consular title, became familiar with the scenery and the so- ciety of Lancaster. One was William Lee, Esq., of Boston, formerly consul at Bordeaux, who made his home in the town for a while. The other was Mr. Manners, then British con- sul at Boston, who sought a summer residence for his family, remarking that he was induced to locate in Lancaster, because his government had found that people did not die in this sa- lubrious place. He had in mind certain long-lived pension- ers of the British crown. Says a writer, supposed to have been the late Capt. George Thurston : " they passed several summers here in social intercourse and enjoyment, finding ample means for indulging in refined tastes and recreations. Delightful drives were daily enjoyed through the cool and shady groves which abound in the vicinity, and which were a constant theme of praise. The hills and woods were ranged for game, the Nashua river and our numerous well-stored ponds, were frequently laid under contribution to supply the tables with substantials for a chowder party of thirty or forty friends, who were gathered in a delightful grove on the mar- gin of some beautiful pond, to do justice to unsurpassed cook- ery, and sing the praises of old Lancaster, to whom nature has been so bountiful in her gifts."
All these worthy and interesting families seem to have been a transient colony, rather than a constituent part of the town. Though they mingled, to some extent, in local society, and felt an interest in civil and religious affairs, yet they took no root here, and they have no living representatives in the town.
745
THE WHITING FAMILY.
That brilliant society of men and women,-officials, sailors, teachers, scholars, authors,-have all passed away. Only a few still linger on earth, but several of them have made their names illustrious.
An ancient family, though not among the earliest, was that of Timothy Whiting, Esq. What his relationship to the Rev. John Whiting was, is not known. He came many years after the death of the minister, and yet a long time ago. His house stood on the corner now occupied by Joseph B. Moore, and was a tavern so far back that the mind of no Lancaster man runneth to the contrary. Mr. Whiting became conspic- uous in town affairs. Two of his sons were Timothy, jr., and John. The former lived in the hotel, and followed the call- ing of his father. He was also a prominent man in the town, and was a justice of the peace when the mere holding of the office was an honor. The other son, known as Gen. John Whiting, owned and occupied the house,-No. 10- where John A. Messenger now resides. Afterwards he be- came possessed of the property known as the Whiting place, next north of the house of Frederick Johnson, beyond the old brick-yard. It is numbered 1 as the first house in North Village, and is now owned by William A. Powers. Here grew up his family of sons and daughters, remarkable for beauty and accomplishments. One became Gen. Henry, and another Major Fabius Whiting, of the regular army. Caroline Lee, known as Mrs. Caroline Lee Hentz, was a very popular author, in her maturity. The family became widely scattered from Maine to Florida.
"They grew in beauty side by side, They filled one home with glee ; Their graves are severed, far and wide, By mount, and stream, and sea."
The last surviving son, Solon Whiting, Esq., has recently moved to Andover, and thus another old family ceases to have a representative where the name has been familiar more than a hundred and fifty years.
746
HISTORY OF LANCASTER.
The house and store of Moses Emerson, when he was flourishing as one of the most extensive traders in the coun- .. ty, was at No. 13, the last house on the north side of the road to Eastwood Cemetery. It is now occupied by Dea. Frederick Whitney, and belongs to the Industrial School. Mr. Emerson was a man of great size, growing corpulent with age. Retiring from mercantile business, he bought a farm of two or three hundred acres, including the old Allen place, now held by Mr. Currier, on the Clinton road. The romantic place at the bend of the river, called Emerson's Bank, was in his farm. He had four wives, two of whom were sisters of Moses Carleton. Sometimes he employed ten or a dozen men on his farm in the busy season of the year.
Emerson was preceded as a merchant on the Old Common by Oliver Carter, who built the house No. 13, which is one of the ancient houses of the town. He was a son of one of the Ephraim Carters, of whom there were several, named after the first settler bearing the name. Oliver married Emily Harrington, granddaughter of the minister. He did a large business at No. 13, and afterwards in the Whiting house, No. 10, where he used an L part for trading. Here he kept everything needful for starting a family in house- keeping, and for supplying the wants of a country neighbor- hood. The sons did honor to their parentage. Their names are Horatio, George, Timothy Harrington, Charles and Richard, some of whom are still living. During a large part of the eighteenth century, the name of Carter makes a con- spicuous figure in the annals of the town. The Carters were moderators, selectmen, delegates to the general court, and generally stood high in the records of town and church. The sons of Oliver Carter were engaged in the printing and publishing business here fifty years since. Other branches of the family will be noticed in our Walks.
Opposite the Emerson store lived Dea. Haven, at No. 1, and also Mr. Paul Faulkner, - at No. 4-father of Horace
747
KING .- ROBERTSON.
Faulkner, formerly of Clinton, but now residing in Groton. He still retains his connection with the Orthodox church in Lancaster, from cherished recollections of the past.
Capt. Orice King was another notable of the Old Com- mon. He was a sea captain, and a man of wealth and con- sequence. He lived on the old Pollard place, - No. 12- named from a respectable family which formerly resided there. His house was the one now occupied by the super- intendent of the Industrial School. Capt. King was a man of public spirit, and was held in esteem. One of the tombs in the cemetery bears his name.
The house numbered 11, and lately occupied by Rev. Marcus Ames, was formerly the Safford house, where lived Thomas Safford, grandfather of Charles Safford. He was a man of respectability, but was subject to fits of mental aberra- tion. Subsequently the house passed into the possession of David Steuart Robertson, whose remarkable monument and epitaph are noticed in the chapter about cemeteries. Mr. Robertson was a scholar, of gentlemanly manners and tastes. He was an ardent admirer of our republican institutions from principle, and his preference for them was, perhaps, increased by the fact that the law of entail, in the old country, gave the bulk of the family estate to his eldest brother. He inherited only from his mother. Though formed for society, and genial with particular friends, yet he lived a retired life. He had however a peculiar fondness for the company of young peo- ple, and delighted to form a party with boys and girls for a walk or a pic-nic. It is about thirty years since his sud- den death, but he is often mentioned kindly by surviving friends.
THE CENTER, OR NECK.
In early times the present center of the town was called the Neck. It did not become, in fact or name, the Center, until after the incorporation of Harvard, Bolton and Leo- minster. In 1743, the meeting-house on the Old Common
748
HISTORY OF LANCASTER.
was abandoned, and the fourth house of worship was erected on the brow of the hill, near the road, between the houses of A. E. Royce and Mrs. Abby Lane. It was not until the town was a hundred years old that the Center was establish- ed where it ought to have been fixed at the beginning. The Neck with its broad expanse between the north branch and the main river, is the place pointed out by nature, for the center of the region round about. The town has suffered much in all its material interests from the mutability of its center. If this had been fixed at the first settlement, the nucleus formed here would have grown, and have been able to give unity and stability to the town, without which no town can have influence with other towns, or harmony with itself. The main bond of union in Lancaster from the be- ginning till the decease of Dr. Thayer, was the First church and parish. Since then, as a general fact, the want of unity has been aggravated. Though there is little antagonism be- tween sects or villages, yet there is a failure to draw together in favor of any measure to promote the business interests of the town, or provide creditable edifices for the purposes of education. Formerly Lancaster had its judges, senators, sheriffs and a representative in congress ; but during forty years, with brief exceptions, the town has had no promi- nence in state or county. The same spirit that prevented the town becoming the center of a county, in the last cen- tury, and in this, discouraged the building of a great railway through the town to Boston, has hindered the development of natural advantages, and forced the enterprising youth to seek for business in other towns and states.
If, on the other hand, the center had been fixed in the beginning ; if the old Concord road had been kept up across the Nashua river and intervale direct to Bolton ; if the road which formerly went from the Sprague bridge, across the intervale, west by north, and over George hill, by Frank Taylor's, to Sterling and Leominster, had been continued ; if the meeting-house, stores and shops had been permanently
749
THE CENTER, OR NECK.
located ; if the offer of a shire or half-shire court-house had been accepted, the fortune of Lancaster would have been secured. Everything else would have followed as a natural consequence. Business of every kind would have increased, the great water power would have been utilized; railroads would have secured direct connections with marts of busi- ness in all directions, and a large and beautiful city would now cover this splendid site for a capital.
What is lost cannot be recovered, but even now, if a spirit of unity can be developed, and the minds of the people can be induced to combine in useful enterprises, Lancaster can at least keep pace with the growing towns in the vicinity. If not, it must, by degrees, take a lower relative rank, until its children can only take pride in its past history. These lines are not written for the sake of reproach, but in the hope that the inhabitants of the town may be awakened to the importance of uniting in every feasible measure to pro- mote all the interests of this fair and noble heritage.
But we must resume our walk, and for convenience, will begin at the minister's lot of land, which lay in front of Charles L. Wilder's house. It was bounded on the south by the North river, east by the Penacook, part of the way, and by Knight's pasture, west by the land of Richard Smith, and north by east, by the Concord road, or Willard Avenue. The west line-fence which was between the Rowlandson and Smith lots, stood where the present fence stands. In the minister's lot were thirty-nine acres ; thirteen of upland and twenty-six of intervale. The land on the north side of the road belonged to Ralph Houghton. The minister's son, Joseph, sold the land to Philip Goss of Boston, merchant, in 1687. The lot west belonged to Lawrence Waters, and reached to the North river, but he sold a part of it to good- man Hall, after having built a house upon it. The line be- tween Hall and Waters cannot be defined on paper, but Waters still held the part near the river, including the site of Mr. Vose, Mr. Symmes, and some others. Hall sold to
750
HISTORY OF LANCASTER.
Richard Smith; he to Mr. John Tinker, merchant, and he to Major Simon Willard when that Christian soldier settled in the town. In 1673, having moved to Nonacoicut, now Ayer, he sold to his son-in-law, Cyprian Stevens. Philip and John Goss were the next owners, in 1714; they sold the place the same year to Simon, son of Cyprian Stevens. The next purchaser was Simon Stone, who sold, in 1726, to Col. Samuel Willard, grandson of the valiant major. From that time till the death of the first wife of the late Henry Wilder, excepting the interval when the estate was confis- cated, this property has been in the possession of the Wil- lard family. Through Mr. Wilder it goes into the ownership of the New Jerusalem Society.
Nothing more needs to be said of the Willards who for- merly lived on the avenue, but a brief reference must be made to three of the children of Col. Abijah Willard, who occupied the homestead after the revolution, the property having been purchased of the government. These children were Samuel Willard, Mrs. Dea. Wales and Mrs. Anna Goodhue. The son was born in 1759, and died in this town in 1856, aged ninety-seven. The second, Elizabeth, the wife of Joseph Wales, was an excellent woman, whose memory is still fragrant, though she died in 1822. The youngest child was Anna, born August 20, 1763, and baptised the day following. In November, 1804, she was married to Hon. Benjamin Goodhue, a distinguished merchant of Salem, and one of the first senators in the congress of the United States. He was a man of high character and great influence. His death in 1814 was probably the occasion of her returning to Lancaster, where she lived to the great age of ninety-five years, less eighteen days. These three children of Abijah Willard were born in the house now occupied by Sewell Day. Two of them, Samuel and Anna, lived in the same house in their later years, and there breathed their last. It was written of Samuel Willard, in 1854, that though in his ninety-fifth year, he was in the " full enjoyment of his mental faculties." He
751
MRS. ANNA GOODHUE.
still wielded a "pen readily and with vigor," and sought enjoy- ment in society, reading or a game of whist. The same writer - Mr. George Thurston - speaks of Mrs. Goodhue in these words, when she was in her ninety-first year: "She retains her youthfulness, and all her faculties, except hear- ing, to a remarkable degree. Her beautiful auburn hair re- mains unsilvered ; she is still an interesting correspondent, and her chirography is round and fair, - almost unchanged in three quarters of a century. Her eyesight remains perfect, and the most exquisite specimens of her needle work and embroidery are not unfrequently presented to her friends." She was "always cheerful and fond of society," and in her conduct an "exemplification of all the Christian virtues."
Mrs. Goodhue is still remembered by many who knew her in her " green old age," and they all speak of her in terms of admiration. She is represented as a woman of great effi- ciency in her home, and in society. The poor found in her a sympathizing neighbor, and it was her pleasure to do kindly things for her friends. Joseph Willard, who was intimately acquainted with her, wrote in 1858, just after her decease, as follows : "her life was on the whole eminently happy. It was made so by a cheerful, affectionate temperament; by great good sense ; by unwavering Christian faith; never murmuring or complaining, but placing herself in position on the bright side of events ; always endeavoring to do her duty in her sphere, and seeking to promote the happiness of all with whom she was in any way connected. Hence she ac- quired 'troops of friends,' who were always welcome to her hospitable mansion, and never left without an increase of esteem and loving regard. Her presence was a benediction, while her winning smile revealed the beauty of the spirit within." It is pleasant to know that such women, - inherit- ing the strength and beauty, the brightness and sweetness of the old Puritan stock -once walked these streets, and looked upon this scenery. Though they pass on to brighter scenes, they leave a benediction to all coming time. The air seems
752
HISTORY OF LANCASTER.
more fragrant, the verdure more vivid, and the blue of the arch above us more full of the love of God.
It should be noted that the Willard house is not on the original lot of Mr. Rowlandson, as that was south or east of the road. Major Willard lived on what was the lot of Ed- ward Breck, and we may suppose that he bought it as a better site for a house than could be found on the south side of the street. The major had large possessions in other parts of the old and undivided town.
The Waters place lay along the east side of North river, above and below the Sprague bridge. His line on the east, ran from near the west line of the Henry Wilder garden, south by west to the river, which it reached' somewhere be- hind the house of James Chandler. We will not stop here except to pay a tribute of deserved respect to a citizen who came to Lancaster nearly a hundred and forty years after Waters began to plant and sow his beautiful intervale and upland. The Hon. John Sprague was a citizen of the town from September 1, 1770, to the time of his death, Septem- ber 21, 1800. He was born in Rochester, Plymouth county, July 2, 1740. His ancestry was highly respectable on the side of both father and mother. The latter was descended from Elizabeth, sister of admiral Penn, one of Cromwell's indomitable captains. Mr. Sprague graduated with honor, at Cambridge, in 1765. He taught for some months, and then studied physic with a view to the medical profession ; but in May, 1766, he entered as a clerk in the office of Col. James Putnam, an eminent lawyer, in Worcester. Two years later he was admitted an attorney of the court of common pleas. After a few years' experience in Newport, R. I., and Keene, N. H., he came to Lancaster in 1770, and entered into partnership with Abel Willard, Esq., a counsel- lor at law, of good repute in his profession, and as a peace- maker among his townsmen. In 1772 he was married to Katharine, ninth daughter of Richard Foster, Esq., sheriff of Middlesex county. By her he had one son and two daughters ..
753
JUDGE SPRAGUE.
His practice soon became extensive, but was broken up dur- ing the revolution, when private questions gave way to the mighty quarrel with the mother country. At this time he bought a small farm, and labored upon it with his own hands. He put off his " linen and ruffles and other appropriate ha- biliments, and assumed the garments of labor, which were then the checked shirt and trowsers." Such is the descrip- tion of Willard, from whom this notice is drawn. After the war legal business revived, and Mr. Sprague rose by degrees to the rank of one of the most " safe, discerning and upright counsellors" in the state. Though not eloquent, he was an impressive and convincing advocate. He divided the busi- ness, the profits and the honors of his profession with such lawyers as Gov. Strong and Judge Strong, of Northampton, and the first Levi Lincoln, of Worcester. His practice reached into New Hampshire as well as into Middlesex, Worcester and Hampshire counties.
In town affairs he took commendable interest, and was a safe adviser and faithful officer. He was frequently a mem- ber of the general court, in the house or the senate ; in 1786 he was chosen by the government as the law adviser of Gen. Lincoln, when sent with military force to suppress the Shay's rebellion ; and in 1788 was a member of the convention for ratifying the Constitution of the United States. The town was opposed to the Constitution, and through a committee iustructed him to vote against it, yet leaving him to act ac- cording to his discretion. But he looked at the subject with the eye of a statesman, rose above popular clamor and local prejudice, and gave his vote for the ratification, though only six other delegates from the county voted with him.
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