History of the town of Milford, Worcester county, Massachusetts, from its first settlement to 1881, Part 33

Author: Ballou, Adin, 1803-1890
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Boston : Rand, Avery, & co.
Number of Pages: 1328

USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > Milford > History of the town of Milford, Worcester county, Massachusetts, from its first settlement to 1881 > Part 33

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This constitution sufficiently explains the origin and character of the parish. It was formally sanctioned by the community at a regu- lar meeting, held Jan. 8, 1868, by the following recorded vote : -

" Whereas the inhabitants of Hopedale have recently formed a Liberal Christian Society, entitled the Hopedale Parish, under a constitution which

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THE COMMUNITY SANCTIONS THE PARISH.

declares the same to be in general harmony with this Community, particu- larly in respect to supporting public worship, religions meetings, the Sunday school, sacred music, and other instrumentalities for the promotion of moral order in the neighborhood ; and whereas said constitution pledges it to exercise all its powers, rights, and privileges in friendly concurrence and co-operation with this Community, in the respects aforesaid, and never to make any constitutional changes unfriendly to our organization ; and whereas, with the general consent of our resident members, who are also members of said parish, it has accepted the responsibility of managing the principal parochial affairs heretofore managed by this Community, - all of which fully appears on the parish records: now, therefore, be it

" Resolved and declared by the Hopedale Community, in regular meeting assembled, that we fully assent to, approve of, and sanction the formation, organization, proceedings, and measures thus far, of said Hopedale Parish.

" And be it further resolved and declared, that, so long as the Hopedale Parish shall discharge the parochial responsibilities it has accepted, in gen- eral harmony with the fundamental principles of this Community, and according to its pledges, this Community will not interfere with its man- agement of parochial affairs, but quietly acquiesce in the same: provided, nevertheless, that nothing herein contained shall in any wise debar this Com- munity from exercising its right to advise or remonstrate, as a co-ordinate body, with said parish in respect to any future measure which may be deemed to require Community interference."

No occasion arose for remonstrance against parish proceedings ; and on the fifteenth day of Dec., 1873, the community trustees trans- ferred, by legal conveyance, all their right, title, interest, and con- trol in, unto, and over Community Square, the meeting-house thereon standing, and the Hopedale Cemetery, to the parish. On the seventh day of Dec., 1875, the said trustees formally transferred to the parish the bulk of the Soward Fund, so called, which was donated to them in trust several years before to promote the mental and moral im- provement of the young in the community. The sum thus transferred was $800, and on the specific condition that only the annual income thereof should be expended in aid of the Hopedale Sunday-school library.

Immediately after the organization of the parish, the writer was called to officiate as its regular minister and pastor, with the tender of $800 per annum, payable quarterly. He accepted ; and the rela- tionship continued, by mutual consent, on the same terms, to the time of this writing, - April, 1879.

The circumstances of both parties have been somewhat peculiar. The parish has had no definite creed, declaration of principles, or church covenant. As a parish it professes nothing but what is said

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HISTORY OF MILFORD.

or implied in its constitution. It has always hitherto been compara- tively small, - never numbering over one hundred and twenty voting members, and these entertaining a variety of divergent opinions on religious and ethical subjects. At the same time the village became populated with many strangers to the old community, whose predi- lections were for the religions institutions in Milford Centre, or averse, for other reasons, to uniting with the parish in its Sunday meetings. Dissent or indifference has thrown the burden of sustaining parish maintenance mainly on a few members. These, however, have been able, willing, and determined supporters ; though they have never attempted to proselyte, or persuade the reluctant to join them. On my part, I was a sort of minister-at-large to a wide-spread, unorgan- ized parish, to whom I ministered at funerals and on divers occa- sions. My creed and ethics had long been definitely proclaimed, and I was inflexibly attached to my platform of doctrines and duties. I had failed to hold the Hopedale Community together around my standard, and was half spoiled for devotedly working on a lower plane. It would have been useless to ask me to change my preaeh- ing or practice in any essential respect. Meantime I was growing older every day, and must be made the best of as I was. Happily my supporters were as willing to let me preach and practise my honest convictions as they were determined to follow their own, however they might differ from mine. There was no hostility on account of our dif- ferences. There were important points of agreement, as well as dis- agreement ; and both parties maintained their rights under a mutual good understanding. I never had cause to complain that I was not duly respected, and even reverenced, by my parishioners ; and I be- lieve that most of them have felt that I was true to the standard of righteousness taught and exemplified by Christ, which, nevertheless, they deemed impracticable in the present stage of human develop- ment. Under such circumstances, it has been all but impossible for me to accomplish mueh for my own ideal, or to do as much for the building up of the parish as I might have done if I had never risen above the old social and pastoral ideal. In that case I might have strenuously and successfully insisted on the establishment of a church, distinct from the congregation, -one of the ordinary type, observant of the sacraments ; also prayer and conference meetings for special religious culture, which, properly conducted, I dcem very useful. But these have not been established ; and the field has been partly left to our Evangelical friends, who have sown and reaped therein with com- mendable zeal and some success. The Sunday school has been our chief religious instrumentality outside of public worship and the pul-

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PECULIAR RELATIONSHIPS.

pit. This has always been comparatively prosperous. Social enter- tainments and incidental gatherings of various interest have had their place. In 1873, at the age of seventy years, I tendered my resigna- tion as pastor, thereby giving the parish full opportunity to fill my position with a younger man, who might be better adapted to interest the people, and build up the parochial edifice. The resignation was met with so strong a remonstrance, and so unanimous a request for its withdrawal, that I recalled it, and so continued in my ministry for seven years longer, finally closing my pastorate April 25, 1880.

Although our religious society was and is denominated ecclesiasti- cally Independent, we joined the " Worcester County Conference of Congregational (Unitarian) and other Christian Societies," Dec. 15, 1868. I had been a Unitarian, of what I believed to be the New Testament pattern, from my youth up ; and all my parishioners were more or less of the same general persuasion. We received fraternal intimations beforehand that we should be cordially welcomed, on application, into the conference ; and so we were. No compromises of peculiar faith and practice were required on either side, and no objectionable obligations assumed. The connection has been mutu- ally pleasant to the parties, and, I trust, morally profitable. Mean- time we have endeavored to live on friendly and peaceable terms with our co-religionists and non-religionists of all denominations, freely according to them every right which we claimed for ourselves.

Since my resignation, April 23, 1880, the Hopedale pulpit has been supplied by numerous clergymen, but latterly largely by Rev. A. S. Garver, an eminently worthy man and acceptable preacher. At a regular parish meeting, held April 14, 1881, Rev. Mr. Garver was unanimously called to the pastorate, as my successor, on an annual salary of fifteen hundred dollars.

I close by subjoining the names of the principal parish officers who have served since organization : to wit, as Executive Committee, Almon Thwing, Anna T. Draper, Warren W. Dutcher, Joseph B. Bancroft, Nathan Chapman, William H. Humphrey, Frederick S. Cox, Delano Patrick, Frank J. Dutcher, and George O. Hatch ; as Clerk, Sarah J. Hatch, Anna Thwing, Frank J. Dutcher, Anna M. Bancroft ; as Treasurer, William F. Draper, Eben D. Bancroft ; as Trustees, William H. Humphrey, William F. Draper, Almon Thwing ; as Collector, George O. Hatch, Edward S. Stimpson ; as Super- intendent of Sunday School, William F. Draper, Walter E. Knight ; as Librarian, Frank J. Dutcher ; as Sexton, John S. Eaton, James D. Draper. Number of volumes in sunday school library, 900; average Sunday-school attendance, 75; seating capacity of the church, 350;

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HISTORY OF MILFORD.

audiences, from 75 to 150. Latterly a promising increase in all departments of parish interest.

VII. MISCELLANIES.

The Unitarians. - A Unitarian society was organized in the Centre about the year 1865, and continued to meet regularly for public worship in a hired hall for some two years. Rev. Daniel Bowen, now in Florida, was their pastor. I have tried unsuccessfully to find the records of that society, and by other means to ascertain the particulars of its organization, numbers, officers, and operations. No one of whom I have inquired seems able to give me any exact information, or to refer me to sources of authentic intelligence. I had some acquaintance with Mr. Bowen, who always appeared to be an intelligent and exemplary man. His leading parishioners are old and worthy friends of mine ; and perhaps if I had more generally and persistently pushed my inquiries among them, I could have made this account of their society more satisfactory. Their numbers and financial strength seem not to have been adequate to the permanent maintenance of their organization. It therefore soon became defunct, and there are no present hopeful indications of its resurrection.

The Spiritualists. - There have been, and still are, many believers in modern Spiritualism among us; but no permanently organized society exists within our limits. Several temporary organizations - designed mainly to secure series of lectures, or circle séances - have successively arisen and passed away. I am not aware that any such are now operative; though I presume private circles are held with more or less frequency, and public lectures are expected in the future, as circumstances may favor. Within the past twenty-five years numerous discourses from eminent speakers, both trance and normal, have called out large congregations ; and during several seasons con- tinnous regular meetings have been sustained for months in succession. But organization does not suit the genius of modern Spiritualism, and is not likely to prevail at present, if ever, anywhere under its inspirations. Individualism, and the largest liberty, seem to be so fondly cherished by its adherents generally, and they hold so many discordant views of truth and duty, that permanent organization is neither practicable nor desirable with the majority of them. Mean- time, religionists of all denominations have already absorbed, or will ultimately absorb, a large portion of the truth and good embraced in both ancient and modern Spiritualism, and incorporate it with the life of their own organizations.

I conclude this chapter with the just and commendatory remark,

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THIS CHAPTER CONCLUDED.

that though the creeds, ceremonials, ecclesiasticisms, beliefs, and unbeliefs of our people are so widely divergent, and though so many of us are inflexibly set in the way of our honest convictions, there is not a population of the same size in the wide world more mutually tolerant of differences, or more willing to think and let think peaceably, than the inhabitants of this municipality.

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HISTORY OF MILFORD.

CHAPTER XI.

PAUPERISM, BOARD OF HEALTH, AND FIRE-DEPARTMENT.

Maintenance and Management of the Poor till 1825. - Reference to Chap. VI., where the Subject was opened. - Early Agreements and Settlements with Mendon. -- Approximate Conjectural Estimates of Numbers and Cost for many Years. - The Vendue Custom, its Abuses and Supersession. - The Contract System, its Abuses and Peculiarities. - The Town decides to buy a Farm, and establish an Asylum, and does so in 1825.

Management and Operations since 1825. - Historic and Statistical Statements, exhibiting the more Important Facts relating to the Support of our Poor, in and out of the Asylum, as derived from Annual Reports by the Selectmen and Overseers of the Poor, especially their Printed Reports; closing with a List of Superintendents and Matrons of the Establishment.

History and Statistics of the Board of Health. - Its Organization in 1859. - Rules and Regulations then adopted. - Names and Doings of its Members briefly given, so far as ascertainable, to 1879.

History and Statistics of our Fire-Department. - First Fire-Engines in Milford, 1831. - First Volunteer Engine Co. - Subject first acted on by the Town in 1837. -Two Engine Co.'s in 1839. - Town Encouragements and Action. - Annual Expenses down to 1855. - Organization of the Fire-Department: Rules and Regulations. - Tabulation of the Principal Facts and Statistics, down to 1881, compiled from Annual Reports. - Names of Engineers and their Officers.

MAINTENANCE AND MANAGEMENT OF THE POOR TILL 1825. T' THE reader is referred to page 96, Chap. VI., for the commence- ment of this subject. The substance of what was there stated is, that our early townsmen had a great dread of pauperism in the meagreness of their taxable resources ; that their burdens of this nature were probably much heavier than ours, in proportion to muni- cipal ability ; that they availed themselves of the stringent laws then in force against gaining new inhabitancy, by passing certain votes, under which all comers into our territory since 1767 were warned out of town ; that the method of maintaining the poor was then such as gener- ally prevailed in New England, which was, venduing them, to be kept by the lowest bidder, or letting them out under special contract, to be boarded, etc., or making small stipends to their family relatives for taking care of such as were only partially chargeable for public sup- port ; that, consequently, some fared passably well, and others deplor- ably ill, according to the moral character of their keepers ; that once or twice the Town hired a workhouse, and put the poor in charge of

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EARLY STATUS OF OUR POOR.

an overseer ; and that various projects were proposed about purchasing a poor-farm, building an asylum, etc., none of which then proved practicable.

According to the agreements and settlements made with mother Mendon, our town was bound to maintain all the poor properly belong- ing on its territory before incorporation, and all such as should be sent back from other towns for support that had ever belonged here. This occasioned afterwards some disputes between the two towns as to where certain families and persons, sent back for maintenance, did really belong. But such disputes were, I believe, all amicably settled. The recorded settlement of Mar. 26, 1781, purports that the joint committee of the two towns had "committed a written Division of Said Poor," etc., " unto the Town Clerks of Said Mendon and Milford to be Recorded." I have sought, but never found, in either town-clerk's office, this record of the division of the poor. I regret this ; for it deprives me of the important fact, how many poor Milford actually started with. Nor have I been able to find any record or document in our archives whereby to ascertain this fact. Indeed, there are very few records or memoranda extant relating to our town's poor, until the year 1794, and thereafter : during over thirty years, my chief reliance for information has been the selectmen's order-books, containing also certain records of contracts about keep- ing poor persons.

The following report of a joint committee, bearing date Jan. 18, 1785, shows how matters stood between the two towns at that time : -

"The Committees, appointed by the Towns of Mendon and Milford to Settle all disputes between Said Towns respecting the Poor that have been brought back to Said Towns from other Towns, have agreed that the Town of Mendon should take and maintain Luther Easling, Son of Rhoda Easling, as their Poor, and pay to the Town of Milford forty-five Shillings, and acquit the Town of Milford from all the Charges the Said Town of Mendon has been at in Supporting and transporting the Said. Rhoda Easling and her Children at any time before this Date: and the Town of Milford to take the Daughter or other Child of the Sd. Rhoda Easling and Support it as their poor, and to acquit the Town of Mendon from all Cost and Charges they have been at in Supporting and transporting the Said Rhoda Easling and Children at any time before this date: and that Priscilla Dolbear, Daughter of David Dolbear, be Supported by the Said Town of Milford, and Hannah Arnold and Abigail Hewes be Supported by the Town of Mendon. And it is the opinion of your Committee, that the original agreement, made between the Towns before the Town of Milford was set off, be and remain in full force, with this explanation thereon; that is to say, that all persons brought

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HISTORY OF MILFORD.

back to Either of Said Towns, those born in Either Town shall return to the Town in which they were born - and those brought back which have otherwise gained a residence in Either of Said Towns, then they Shall return to the Town in which they last gained a lawful residence, and to be accord- ingly maintained; and also all Persons, old and young, Shall be Supported in and by the Town in which they then lived as their Home at the time when the Town of Milford was set off into a Separate Town.

" [For Milford] SETH NELSON, [For Mendon ] PETER PENNIMAN, JOHN TYLER,

SAMUEL WARREN, SAMUEL JONES. BENJAMIN READ."

Previous to the year 1794, Milford warned out of town about fifty families that had settled on its territory since 1767, and probably in all, not fewer than two hundred and twenty-five persons. Formal process was served on all these families, regardless of their standing. A small proportion of them were very likely to become paupers, and many of them became families of eminently respectable rank in town. How many of them actually left town, I find no data to show. I pre- sume to guess the number was very small. But the legal warning quieted all apprehensions of danger for the time, and not long after- wards ceased to be of any serions importance. As to the number of town's poor before 1794, it can only be conjectured approximately. I think it must have been nearly one per cent of the population ; beginning perhaps with seven persons in 1780, and rising to eight in 1790, besides a few others each year slightly relieved. In 1794 my rather imperfect data seem to indicate certainly nine proper paupers, maintained at the cost of about $2.50, or an average of about fifty cents each, per week, excluding clothing, doctor's bills, and other inci- dentals. In 1805, out of a population of nine hundred and fifty I esti- mate probably twelve to have been fully or partially provided for, at an expense of about $3.75, or seventy-two cents each, per week. My data do not warrant pretensions to exact accuracy. In 1815, popula- tion one thousand or thereabouts, I find some fifteen names of town's poor, supported at a total cost of over $6.50, or an average of over seventy cents each, per week. Between 1805 and 1815 considerable amelioration was effected in the treatment of the poor. In 1806 Arial Bragg, afterwards familiarly known among us as Col. Bragg, led off, and so strenuously insisted on the abolition of the old vendue custom of letting out the town paupers to be kept by the lowest bidders, that a formal vote was passed to that effect. It was a custom that reduced the cost of providing for the poor to the lowest terms, but was fraught everywhere with lamentable abuses. Col. Bragg had tasted in early life of its privations, and witnessed them

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THE TOWN ASYLUM ESTABLISHED.

in the experience of others with sympathetic abhorrence. Happily he moved a goodly majority of his townsmen to unite with him in crushing out this abomination. It was partially and temporarily revived afterwards, but the public sentiment against it had become so strong, that it soon died out in our town ; and thenceforth our poor have been treated with increasing humane consideration, till now they are far better provided for in our asylum, as to the substantial com- forts of life, than hundreds in their family homes.

In 1825 the Town took the important step of purchasing a farm and establishing an asylum for their poor. After considerable agitation of the subject, and a favorable report by a special committee of in- quiry, the question came legally before the Town, Feb. 7, 1825, and was decided in the affirmative by a yea and nay vote, - seventy-six to fifty-two. "Voted to purchase a farm for an establishment for the poor of said town." Chose Pearley Hunt, John Claflin, and Esek Greene " a committee for the above-mentioned purpose." "Voted that the Selectmen give security, in behalf of the Town, for the pay- ment of the farm which the Committee shall purchase." "Voted that the Committee shall agree with an Overseer, and make such other arrangements as are necessary to carry the foregoing into effect." (Town Records, vol. ii., pp. 423, 424.) The farm, ever since occupied, was purchased of Amariah Daniels for $3,500, and con- veyed by him to the then selectmen in a deed bearing date Feb. 17, 1825 ; which will be found specified among the deeds to and from the inhabitants of Milford in Chap. XII. The new establishment was forthwith opened under the superintendence of John Stearns. For the year ending March 4, 1825, the town maintained, as nearly as I can ascertain from the Selectmen's orders, over twenty out of a pop- ulation of about twelve hundred, at a cost of perhaps $1,150, avera- ging (if but twenty persons), about $1.10} each per week. Thus, on the basis of my estimates, the Town had paid out, during the forty- five years of its existence down to the spring of 1825, a total for the maintenance of its poor, of not less than $25,000, or perhaps $30,000. These, however, are too largely guess-work estimates to be critically trusted. But, before I come to the more reliable data and figures of subsequent times, I will present a few incidental curiosities of the period I have been traversing.

Among the curiosities alluded to were the devices made use of for preventing and curtailing pauper expenses. Of course, whenever the burden could be thrown on other towns, with or without a lawsuit, it was done, as was the common practice of their neighbors. Here is a specimen of shrewdness : Mar. 30, 1790, " Voted to leave it with

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HISTORY OF MILFORD.

the Selectmen to provide a man and team to move Paul Lesure and his family to Partridgefield on the cost of the Town." This was a two-edged kind of charity. Still earlier, "Voted that the family that was sent from Sutton to Mendon to be supported, return to Sutton again." I infer that Mendon had signified to Milford that this was a case for the latter to look after. The form of the vote exhibits cool wit ; inasmuch as the poor family was left to take all the responsibility of returning to Sutton. When a family possessing a small homestead was in danger of becoming chargeable, the Town would loan them money enough to keep them from absolute want, and take a mortgage of the premises. In other cases humble abodes were bought or built for needy families to live in and pick up a scanty support with the least possible additional aid. There was nothing unnatural or very objectionable in such methods. It was felt to be dictated by a necessary and wise municipal economy. But when the vendue custom flourished, there arose some scandalous cases, as in most other towns. Nor did such cases wholly cease for some time after the town voted to abolish that barbaric custom. Still the poor were let out to be kept by contractors, - an individual here, a family there, and a group yonder, - so long as the town had no common asylum. When they were under the care of family relatives or humane contractors, there was little just complaint. But in some other cases stinginess and negligence produced their cruel fruits. These were semi-starvation and filth. Yet they were not always published till the sufferers fell into better hands. So late as Feb- ruary, 1812, our oldest extant selectmen's record of orders contains the following unsavory entries, -

" Also one order to Seth Albee, for Cleaning the wid. Grace Adams of lice, etc., $6 17." " Also one order to Ruth Albee, of five Dollars and Sixty- seven cents, for Cleaning Rachel Kilborn of lice, etc., $5.67."

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History of the town of Milford, Worcester county, Massachusetts, from its first settlement to 1881, Part 33

Author: Ballou, Adin, 1803-1890 Publication date: 1882 Publisher: Boston : Rand, Avery, & co. Number of Pages: 1328

Author: Ballou, Adin, 1803-1890
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Boston : Rand, Avery, & co.
Number of Pages: 1328