USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > Lancaster > History of the town of Lancaster, Massachusetts : from the first settlement to the present time, 1643-1879 > Part 60
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In the same year he was appointed sheriff of the county, but having reduced the administration of the office, (which had become subject to irregularities,) to order and system, he resigned in 1792. Renewing and enlarging his practice, he was appointed chief justice of the court of common pleas for Worcester county in 1798, in which station he presided with honor to the time of his decease.
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HISTORY OF LANCASTER.
Though a lawyer, he was not a fomenter of litigation ; but rather a lover of peace. In him was mingled a high sense of justice and a happy faculty for reconciling jarring incli- nations and discordant wills. On this account he was often employed as a referee or arbitrator, before he was elevated to the bench.
In his time there were no law schools, and candidates for the bar studied under the eye of eminent practitioners. Judge Sprague had many such young gentlemen in his office in the course of his public life. It may be safely said that no citi- zen of Lancaster, in all its generations, has surpassed Judge Sprague in the combination of elements which make a great, useful and honorable man.
The words of Willard may be quoted in conclusion. "In his domestic relations he was faithful and affectionate ; a good neighbor, unostentatious in his professions of friendship, but manifested his sincerity by kindness and beneficence, and untiring efforts to do good. He was a lover of order, and ready at all times to promote the interest and honor of the town. His charities, hospitality and benevolence are by many still remembered. The writer - Mr. W .- of this memoir, who was his neighbor, and by his desire by his bed- side the last twenty-four hours of his life, witnessed his calmness and resignation at the approach of death, and his faith in Him who giveth the victory." On his grave-stone are the words of the Saviour : "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God."
The house occupied by his grandson, Mr. Vose, - No. 65 - and for several years till recently, by Rev. Alfred Emer- son, who married a granddaughter, was built for Judge Sprague by Eli Stearns and Jonathan Whitney, thorough- bred carpenters. It is perhaps the finest specimen of the better kind of dwellings erected here towards the end of the last century. It is well built and very spacious, with considerable of the old-fashioned carving which adds so much to the amenity of ancient interiors. Dr. Dwight, president
755
FINE OLD HOUSES.
of Yale College, in his travels through New England, went through this town near the opening of this century, and he probably had in his mind such people as Judge Sprague, Mrs. Goodhue, Dr. Thayer, Capt. Ward, and others of that stamp, and such mansions as the houses of Levi Wilder, and the Stillwell house on the Old Common; the houses of Daniel Bemis, built by Judge Sprague, and sold to Hon. Daniel Waldo, of Worcester, who lived here a few years, Mrs. Goodhue, Mrs. Carleton, Major Rice,-Mrs. Greene's-and Judge Sprague in the Center, and those of Dr. Thayer, Capt. Ward, and one now gone, Dr. Atherton, in South Lancaster, when he wrote as follows : "Lancaster is a beautiful town- ship. The surface is extremely pleasant, and even elegant. It consists of hills, valleys, and plains, finely insterspersed with groves and orchards, and a succession of intervales. The houses in Lancaster are, in many instances, very good ; and appear obviously to be the habitations of gentlemen. A greater degree of taste is conspicuous than in various other places, where the buildings are equally expensive. A number of polished people have always resided here; and the inhabitants at large have been distinguished for industry, sobriety and good order."
The house of Mr. Royce, though recent, stands on an ancient site, and an old well was found on the premises when the house was erected, in 1833. Richard Linton was probably the first owner, because his lot extended from the road which was then west of the present house, to the Pena- cook river, before it was divided in half with Ralph Hough- ton. There is reason to believe that Robert Breck, whose lot extended along the road west of the town hall, was the next owner. The horse sheds behind the meeting-house, reached from the house of Mr. Royce, along the bank, to the house of Mrs. Lane, and perhaps beyond. The Royce house was built by Elias Danforth. He sold to Capt. John H. Shaw, a retired ship-master who became a public-spirited citizen. He was a man of intelligence and pleasant manners,
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HISTORY OF LANCASTER.
but being a democrat, and finding the whiggish temper of the place too hot for him, sought more congenial society. George Dodge, the merchant, came next, and with his family, filled the house with life. More recently Gen. Joseph Stevens purchased the house and farm, and made it the abode of taste and hospitality. Mr. Royce came into possession two or three years since. It has been the summer home, the last two years, of Mrs. Bishop Eastburn.
The origin of Mrs. Carleton's house has not been traced by the writer. It is certainly very ancient, though well pre- served. It was an old house when Mr. Thayer moved into . it, about the time of his settlement in 1793. Moses Smith, Esq., lived here at one time. It has been occupied by Mr. Tidd, Mr. Carleton, and Mrs. Carleton, the widow of both, a long term of years.
The "Homer house," so called, and by several other names,-No. 126-now owned by Mrs. Elmina Greene, was erected near the beginning of the century. Major Rice, a lawyer, built and occupied it, but failing to persuade the young lady for whom it was made, to grace it as his wife, he finally sold it and left town. The house was considered the best in the county, as before stated, and is still in good condition. It has had many owners, and more occupants. A Mr. Pickman, of Salem, bought it, and his son Gayton occupied it. Hon. James G. Carter dwelt there many years, when it was owned by his father-in-law, Rev. Asa Packard. Dinner parties and musical parties were entertained there in those days. The arched " blue room " was called the music room. Peter T. Homer, of Boston, was another owner, who occupied it several years. Jonathan Forbush then purchas- ed it, but still resided at his mansion in Bolton. Among his tenants were Rev. Messrs. Lawrence, Bartol, Leavitt, Marvin and Dr. H. C. Kendrick.
Another occupant was Solomon Carter, son of one of the Ephraim Carters. The father lived at the Frank Taylor place, where a tannery was once worked by a Carter in early times.
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CARTER. - GREENE.
The children of this Solomon, who lived in the Homer house, and at other places, were Solomon, of Boston, William, of Chicago, George P., of Cambridge, and James Cooledge, of New York, a lawyer who has achieved wealth and eminence in his profession. The daughters were Elizabeth and Mar- tha, wives of Dr. Wellington, of Cambridge, and Mrs. Abby Lane. Their mother was a sister of the late Dea. Samuel White, and Rev. James C. White, a minister of ability and earnest devotion to his work, now residing in Cincinnati. She is spoken of as an " excellent woman." The father was kind to everybody, but not attentive to his own interests. Such men do not accumulate property, but are held in kind remem- brance.
The Hon. James G. Carter has been referred to so often in the course of this work as to anticipate what might find a place in a regular biography. He was a man of good educa- tion, and great versatility. He seemed qualified to serve the public in many ways, and was much in public life. There was scarcely any position in the state which, at one time, did not seem within his reach. But the commonwealth has more men of mark than places, and the ablest do not always reach the highest posts. Mr. Carter left Lancaster about 1849, and when fortune appeared to be smiling upon him benignantly, he suddenly died in Chicago.
We pass the house of Rev. Mr. Bartol, only stopping to say that the plan of it is a work of genius, and come to the " old Wrifford house,"- No. 130-back of the house of Frank P. Breed. In ancient times the road ran there, and there were houses at Nos. 135 and 137. Wrifford was a famous writing master, and for a long time his system was in vogue. The house was removed many years ago to Greenbush, where it is. now occupied by Michael Burke. Many families have lived in the house of Mr. Breed,-No. 129-but it was longest in possession of the late Ezra Greene, and after his death, of Mrs. Elmina M. Greene and her family.
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HISTORY OF LANCASTER.
No. 137, now the barn of William H. McNeil, was once a tavern, and long time a private dwelling. Here lived Peter Green, town treasurer many years, and a man of sense and humor. At one time, before Sterling was set off, the people in that part of the town, among other eccentric things, ral- lied at a town meeting, and voted that the minister, Mr. Harrington, should preach three or four Sundays in succession there, leaving the meeting-house here to be closed. Peter Green had not heard of this until the pastor announced from the pulpit, when he spoke so as to be heard by those around him : " Ah, ha ! that's right ; they need preaching over there, give it to 'em hot." After Green, but in what order need not be stated, came Dr. Manning and Dr. Peabody, father of the three celebrated daughters. They were here in 1820, and a year or two afterwards.
The house of Frederick Johnson,-138 - is ancient, and probably was built by a Joslyn of the second or third gen- eration. Jacob Sweetser, a man of property and standing, owned the place in the early part of the century ; he was succeeded by Capt. Thomas B. Warren, who set up a bakery between the house and road, nearly forty years since.
Passing over to Lane's crossing we are at the lower end of "Phelps' street," as the Harvard road was sometimes called, because several families of that name lived on the road from the corner to the top of Ponakin hill. The Lanes, Dea. Jonas, and his son, Capt. Anthony,- Nos. 25 and 31-gave an importance to the locality during two generations. They were both men of enterprise and influence, in town, parish and church affairs. Across the railroad, at No. 30, the house of Emery White, we find one of the oldest buildings in the town, though the date of its erection cannot be fixed. It has the appearance of great age, and Mr. White remembers a woman who was very aged, when he was a boy, who said that it was an old house when she was a girl. Eighty or ninety years ago it was occupied by Robert Townsend, a shrewd but eccentric man, of whom many anecdotes were formerly told.
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VERY ANCIENT HOUSE.
He had a brick-yard, and built the Lancaster House. He was deputy sheriff at one time, and held other employments. One of his interesting daughters became the wife of Mr. Whitney, the schoolmaster so kindly mentioned on a former page by Rev. Mr. Beman. He was the father of the Hon. Giles H. Whitney, of Winchendon.
The house of Samuel R. Damon is not one of the very ancient ones of the town, and yet it is old, as it was built by Eli Stearns, an active man here seventy or eighty years since. As he was a carpenter who had served a seven years apprentice- ship, and knew the whole trade, it is easy to believe that he made thorough work in a house erected for his own habita- tion. Mr. Stearns filled a prominent place in town and par- ish, besides his figure as a man of business.
The house of Nathaniel C. Hawkins, - 16 - is among the most ancient in the town. Willam S. Locke, who was born in the house the year his father Major Jonathan Locke moved into the town, thinks that this is the oldest, and even conjectures that it was built before the massacre, and was the solitary dwelling left by the Indians, where Mr. Hoar, Mrs. Rowlandson and two Indians staid over night, after her ransom. Her words are : "about the sun's going down, Mr. Hoar, myself and the two Indians came to Lancaster, and a solemn sight it was to me. There had I lived many com- fortable years among my relations and neighbors, and now not one Christian to be seen, or one house left standing. We went on to a farm house that was yet standing, where we lay all night ; and a comfortable lodging we had, though nothing but straw to lie on. The Lord preserved us in safety that night, and raised us up again in the morning, and carried us along, that before noon we came to Concord." The position of the " farm house " well suits the words, be- cause it is hardly supposable that if it had been east of the river, she would have spoken of it in such terms. In old times there was a rope hanging from the roof-tree, and reaching to a well in the cellar, enabling the family to get
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HISTORY OF LANCASTER.
water if besieged by an enemy. These are plausible reasons for thinking that the house may be the lone survivor of all that stood here in June, 1676 ; but on the other hand, it is quite difficult to believe that tradition, and even authentic history would not have preserved the fact.
However the house is very old, and yet is in good repair. It has passed through many hands, and may outlast many recent and more showy dwellings. The builder and first owner is not known. As John White and his immediate successors were the very early proprietors, it is at least sup- posable that it was erected by one of the family. This supposition is strengthened by the fact that a blacksmith shop was once on the land northeast of the house. One or more of the early Whites carried on the trade. It is true that William and John Lewis, at first, owned the two lots next north of John White's, but in time he became owner of these and several others farther north.
But leaving conjecture it is known that the house was used as a tavern far back in the last century, and probably at an earlier date. All travel from the north and west, in those times, went down the Neck road to the crossing of the Penacook, and thence to Groton, or to Bolton, Concord, and so on to Boston. The road was a thoroughfare down to the close of the eighteenth century, and the old tavern was the home of old-time travelers. Families by the name of Jones, Hildreth, and others have lived here, and the bridge below the house went by their names, as well as by the name of White, earlier, and of Locke and Hawkins, in recent years.
On the west side of the road, at No. 14, is the Wyman place, where Nathaniel Wyman settled when he came from Woburn to Lancaster in 1742. He was son of Benjamin and grandson of Francis Wyman. The latter died in 1699, aged 82 ; hence it is inferred that he was born in England. His great grandson Nathaniel, was born, January 26, 1719, the tenth in a family of fifteen children. One of his sons
761
WYMAN. - WHITE.
named Benjamin, was born, September 21, 1765, in Lancas- ter. He lived to 1826, and was for many years in public service as clerk, treasurer, assessor, selectman, representa- tive and deacon of the First church. Besides farming, he did much work as a surveyor, though not a man of robust constitution. He seems to have been held in high esteem. His sons Charles and Nathaniel have perpetuated the family name in the town. The former was deacon of the Evangeli- cal church from its formation till his death in 1871. The house and land now occupied by his widow, and his son Benjamin F., was once a part of the John White estate. The house is an excellent specimen of the country architec- ture of the middle of the last century. The barn has an interest from the fact that much of its frame was taken from meeting-house No. 3, which stood on the Old Common, and was left in 1743.
We next come to the John White place, No. 13, where Edward Houghton now resides. This has been the property of the family from 1653 to the decease of the late Dea. Samuel F. White. His widow married the late Dea. Peter Osgood, whose daughter is the wife of Mr. Houghton. The present house is recent, the former one having been destroy- ed by fire, as the earliest one was by the Indians. " Here the first John White lived till two or three years before the destruction of the town. His son Josiah, deacon and cap- tain, probably succeeded his father, though his son, Josiah, jr., also a deacon, was on the south side in 1705, and joined in the petition to the general court in favor of locating the third meeting-house on the old site.
John White, the famous captain, who died in 1725, was the brother or son of the preceding, and occupied the home- stead of the family. He died in the prime of life, leaving several children. In 1724 he purchased a lot of land at the north end of Pine hill, of John Goodman, of Hadley. He was a blacksmith as well as a farmer, and a man of energy and character. A road extended from the White place over
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HISTORY OF LANCASTER.
Wheelock hill, and the whole length of Pine hill, to the Dyer place. Doubtless one of the sons of captain John White took up his abode on the south side of the road,- nearly opposite Dyer's - where the old cellar is still to be seen, because in later times there were in that neighborhood, three Whites, styled John, John, jr., and John, 3d. I find in 1788, one John White bought a small parcel of intervale of Dorothy, wife of Phinehas Ward. She was granddaughter of Eunice White, widow of Capt. John White, who died in 1725.
Dea. Josiah White, last mentioned, resigned in 1749, on ac- count of age, but continued in the office of treasurer till 1766, when Dea. Joseph White was chosen treasurer of the church. His son Joseph became deacon in 1802, though modestly reluctant. In 1839 his son Samuel F. White was elected to the same office, and held it worthily about a quar- ter of a century. The latter had two brothers in the minis- try ; the former, Rev. William H. White, Unitarian pastor at Littleton, deceased ; and Rev. James C. White, Ortho- dox Congregationalist, still living. The family of the original John White of Lancaster is scattered abroad in the land, far and wide, and a full genealogy of it would fill a re- spectable volume. His descendants have almost uniformly held a respectable position in society, and in the church. Some have risen to distinction in military and civil life. The Hon. Joseph White, late Secretary of the Board of Educa- tion, is in the line of succession. The only living male rep- resentative of the family, bearing the name, in Lancaster, is Emery II. White. The late deacon Samuel had several sons and daughters, none of whom reside here.
Next came the Atherton lot, twenty rods wide; next to that the three lots of Ralph Houghton, sixty rods wide, and reaching to the Concord road, or Willard Avenue. All this property was afterwards owned by the Glasier family. Then the Whitneys, father and son, lived on opposite sides of the Neck road, where now reside Mrs. Frost and Mr. Avery.
763
DR. CALVIN CARTER.
The exact site of the Houghton house cannot be designated.
The house close by the river, with its magnificent elms, now occupied by Daniel Bemis, was built by Judge Sprague, and sold to Daniel Waldo, of Worcester, who lived here for a time. The next house west was ancient, and might have been the residence of the Houghton family after the rebuild- ing in 1680, but of this there is no proof. It ceased to be many years since. It was occupied, in succession, by Abel Wilder, Ebenezer Torrey and Davis Whitman, the last two retired merchants from Boston.
A word must be said of the " Mansion House," so called, on account of its successive inmates. It was built by Aaron Willard, a carpenter. Perhaps it was occupied by him, though that is doubtful. Col. Levi Willard, merchant, lived here, as is believed. After him, with perhaps intervening tenants, came Gen. Greenleaf, proprietor of the mills at Pon- akin, and Dr. Greenleaf ; the Hon. William Stedman, sheriff, and representative in congress, several sessions ; Mrs. South- wick, who had a boarding school, taught chiefly by Miss Everett, a daughter of Oliver Everett, and assisted by Mrs. S.'s daughter. More recently the Rev. M. C. Stebbins, and William A. Kilbourn, A. M., have, in succession, used it for a boarding school, for which purpose, on account of its di- mensions and location, it is well adapted.
Directly opposite the Mansion House, at Mr. Stowell's, - No. 60-lived Calvin Carter, M. D. He was son to Dr. James Carter, and of the same stock as all the other Carters in the town. He was a widely known and successful physi- cian and surgeon, in his day. Forty years ago his practice extended through the northern and central parts of Wor- cester county, and far into Middlesex. He was a man of ec- centric genius, and though a scientific physician, cared little for professional etiquette. He did not refuse to consult with empyrics, though he would have his own way, or drop the case. Hence he was not in favor with the faculty, and his students, however well started in their medical education, could not
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HISTORY OF LANCASTER.
get advanced standing when they entered the medical school in Boston. This broke up his school here, which was in the present almshouse. He was sometimes rough and brusque in demeanor, but could be gentle in the sick room, and the touch of his hand was soft as that of a lady. There was no end to his jokes and pleasantry. Though not regardless of religion, yet he was rarely seen in the house of worship; yet occasionally, on stormy days, when but few were present, he would be seen in the church, and also in the chapel in the evening. Once when a good man had led in prayer, he said to Rev. Charles Packard, " Well, if I could not pray better than brother - I would not try." He was courteous and re- spectful to the clergy, and faithful to his patients, but not always choice in his language, or master of his temper. He loved company, and was very entertaining to those seated round his hearth or his hospitable table. His sagacity in diagnosis was rarely at fault, and his skill in treament, wheth- er as physician or surgeon, placed him high in professional standing.
Behind the Mansion House, in the lane, still lives Dr. Right Cummings, who began practice here more than fifty years ago, and continued in it till a few years since. He has survived wife and child, both long since dead, and now feels the infirmities of extreme old age. The skill and prudence of earlier secured the comforts of the later years of his life.
Before leaving the Center, a word must be said in regard to one whose name has already been mentioned with rever- erence and esteem, the late Prof. William Russell. His em- inence as a scholar and educator has been recognized in all circles of education. It was his felicity, not merely to teach, but to teach those who were to become teachers. His con- nection with Normal Schools and Teachers' Institutes, ena- bled him to exert a powerful influence for good over thou- sands who have been employed in schools of every grade, and who have been made better by his instructions and ex- ample. Perhaps in no way was his life made a blessing to
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NORTH VILLAGE.
the world more than by his elocutionary training in colleges and theological seminaries. The effectiveness of a large number of ministers in the pulpit has been vastly increased by his labors.
But his friends will remember him as a man; a large- hearted, exquisitely cultivated, high-toned Christian gentle- man. It was his intention, in college days, to become a missionary to India, but the state of his health caused a change in his plans of life. But though the form of his labors and the sphere of his influence were altered, he was essentially a missionary from Scotland to America, and his genial pres- ence was felt far and wide in the land of his adoption. In all places he was respected and loved by old and young. In advanced life there seemed to be a halo about his person, and his presence was a benediction. The little side street some- times called Russell Court, where he and his accomplished family made their home several years before his decease, is a shrine hallowed in the memory of many a grateful pupil and friend.
NORTH VILLAGE.
Though Mordecai McLoud had his lot and home, before the massacre, at the east end of the North Village, and John Bennett, supposed grandson of Richard Linton, owned the place at the west end, nearest the bridge, after the rebuild- ing, yet this did not become a village till more than a hundred years had passed. It is not known when it was first styled " the Village," but probably not before the coming of Major Jacob Fisher, and some of his contemporaries, whose mechan- ical skill and energy created business in. the locality. By degrees families moved in who made a lively neighborhood, but the fact of its situation on the great road to Boston, brought travelers who needed entertainment. The taverns were supported by the traveling public, with the help of the men of the vicinity who, far more than now, patronized the bar, with its rum, brandy and toddy. Blacksmiths, harness
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HISTORY OF LANCASTER.
makers, wagon makers and painters found steady employ- ment. Other business followed, and the street was cheerful with the sound of prosperous labor. The only anecdotes which have come down to us from the past of the Village, are connected with the taverns. One or two may be admis- sible, as they are free from the profanity and vulgarity which exclude many stories of old times from the printed page. Yet these exhibit, quite clearly enough, the rough " horse play " of former days.
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