USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > Princeton > History of the town of Princeton in the county of Worcester and commonwealth of Massachusetts, 1759-1915, Volume I > Part 9
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33
The Petition of Princetown, in the County of Worcester, humbly shews, That said place composed of Province Land and other Lands, and Farms which never before belonged to any Town or District to the Amount of near eight thousand acres, together with a part of the original grant of twelve miles square to the Proprietors of Rutland, which part was never incorporated into the Town of Rutland, or any other Town, as many of this Honorable Court are well Knowing, was in the year 1760 (1759) erected into a Dis- trict by the name of Princetown, and was not annexed to any Town to join with them in the choice of Representative and never can join in any, without being subject to greater difficulties, than any District lately made by reason of the distance, and badness of the Roads.
Your Petitioners therefore humbly pray (seeing said District was composed of lands, which never before be- longed to any town or District) you would out of your wonted goodness erect said place into a Town, with all the powers and privileges which are enjoyed by other towns in this province.
And as in Duty bound will ever pray.
Boaz Moore Caleb Mirick Joseph Sargent Ebenezer Jones
Committee
The result of this petition was the passage of an act, which is summarized.
105
Incorporation
By this act all the unincorporated lands adjoining were included within the bounds of the new town. This was more than was asked for or desired, as it brought into the town limits the undesirable lands " (chefly uninhabitable)" on the north as far as Lunenburg, entailing upon the town additional expense for maintenance of roads, etc. Whether this clause in the act was unintentional or the result of some treachery on the part of owners of that unproductive territory, cannot now be determined.
The Town expressed its opinion of this matter by de- claring by vote in October, 1771, "that it is a hardship both to the towns and the farms lately laid to it, that they should be annexed, inasmuch as they are in no way accommodated to it and that it is impracticable they should receive privileges that they be not rated." In May, 1772, a Committee was chosen to petition to the General Court " to take off the farms lately annexed " which was done.
" A Petition of the Town of Princeton, in the County of Worcester, was presented by their Committee to the General Court at their last Session Shewing that in April, 1771, that Place, which before was a District, was erected in a Town, and all adjoining Lands which belonged to no other Town or District were annexed, unpetitioned for, which brings the Town into a very irregular Form; a Strip of Land extended to a great Distance from the Center where the Meeting-house stands; that all and every Part of said Lands is nearer and Roads may be made with less Expense to some other Town or District than to Princeton; That the Town is new & almost in its infancy, have been and are necessarily obliged to be at great Expense in finish- ing their Meeting-House and making new Roads; That there are but few Inhabitants on this adjoining Land, all of whom usually attend Public Worship; and before their Union with that Town paid Province Taxes to some other Town and have never paid any there to this day; That the Town of Princeton, in addition to all the Burdens of Settling a minister, building a Meeting-House and making
106
History of Princeton
new Roads must expend Hundreds or Thousands of Pounds to make Roads through this Part, of which the Settlers can bear but a very small Proportion; one Road in particular lately laid out from Westminster to Leominster through said land must cost Eighty or hundred Pounds lawful money to make it passable, and people must be called from the middle and extreme Parts of the Town, and thereby be obliged to travel ten or twelve miles to work on said Road; Being subject to so many Difficulties, which in Process of Time may be encreased by causing a Removal of the Meeting-House. They therefore pray the said Lands may be disannexed.
Several Inhabitants of the said Lands, join with the above Petitioners, as they can be better accommodated at some other Town or District.1
The petition was granted and an act passed Mch. 6, 1773, by which the bounds of the town became identical with those of the District in 1759.
Boundaries. No change in the town lines was made until 1810, when a tract of some 490 acres in Hubbardston on the westerly side of the town was annexed to Princeton. An attempt made in 1793 by Solomon Rolph and others to accomplish this failed, but in 1809 Abner Allen, Abra- ham Cutting and a few others renewed the petition desiring better accommodations both " civil and Sacred " (Petition dated May 28, 1809) especially in the winter season. They represented that they were located some five and three quarters miles from Hubbardston meeting-house, and that it would be for their decided advantage if the Brattle farm " or Great Farm No. I " was annexed to Princeton, there being a good road to the latter town and the distance to the meeting-house was but two and three quarters miles.
Notwithstanding the protest of the town of Hubbardston the act of annexation was passed Feb. 16, 1810.
This tract comprised one of the original divisions of
1 Mass. Gazette, Sept. 3, 1772.
107
Incorporation
Rutland " North East Quarter." Its addition to Princeton makes the line of the town very noticeable for its irregu- larity.
No Town. The annexation of " No Town " to Princeton followed in 1838. By this name a tract of land lying between Fitchburg, Westminster, Leominster and Prince- ton was for many years known.
All of this, comprising nearly five thousand acres, was included in one of the plans submitted in 1759 to the General Court at the time the question of incorporation of the town was agitated. In the section relating to Gardner's farms, mention is made of some of the early inhabitants in the westerly part of it.
By the act of incorporation in 1771 this whole territory was actually included in Princeton, but in 1773 was set off.
In 1837 Commissioners were appointed by the General Court to view all the unincorporated lands in the state and " make arrangements for their incorporation or annexation to the adjoining towns " &c. Their report is printed in Senate Document No. 12 of the year 1838. In relation to this tract it is stated that there were eight dwellings on it " containing in 1831 sixty-four inhabitants, but no mill, school-house or public road, the location, the unevenness of surface and quality of soil is such that its population will never be much increased, and can never possess resources of any kind sufficient for a town." The Com- missioners proposed an equitable division of the tract, by the annexation of 1475 acres to Princeton, 1307 acres to Westminster and the remainder 2100 acres to Leominster.
This recommendation was adopted and acts in accordance therewith passed by the Legislature, April 4, 1838. The plans for the whole tract were drawn by Capt. Caleb Dana of Princeton. That portion annexed to Princeton con- tained 1462 acres of which 800 were woodland, and upon the tract there were four dwelling houses and one shingle mill.
108
History of Princeton
The line dividing Westminster and Princeton was changed by an act of the Legislature, April 19, 1870, which annexed to this town a small strip of land previously be- longing to Westminster.
This was done to accommodate one man, and although the people of this town did not approve of it they unin- tentionally let the bill pass without remonstrance.
? THOMAS PRINCE
!
CHAPTER VI
THE REVEREND THOMAS PRINCE
Town Name. It is safe to say that the residents of Princeton have not been familiar with the character, social standing and even greatness of the Rev. Thomas Prince whose name the town bears, and who was in many respects a remarkable man.
Birth. Born in Sandwich, Massachusetts, May 15, 1687, he was graduated at Harvard College in 1707. For several years after graduation he travelled extensively abroad, visiting among other places, London, Amsterdam and the Barbadoes.
While in London he preached in several churches and was invited by one or more to settle with them, and he did settle at Coombs, but his love for his native land led him to decline all invitations to remain permanently abroad, and in the year 1717 he returned to Boston.
The Old South Church. His fame as a preacher had preceded him, and he was at once desired by the members of the Old South Church to become the colleague of the pastor, Rev. Dr. Sewall, and a call resulted in his accept- ance in 1718, and in this relation he remained forty years until his death. It is recorded that in September, 1717, he preached a Thanksgiving Sermon at the " Thursday Lec- ture " in the hearing of " a multitudinous auditory, many belonging to the adjacent towns being present."
Ordination. He was ordained Oct. 1, 1718, the sermon being preached by Mr. Prince himself and it is said to have been "a wonderful production." Judge Sewall records of this service "Sang the Chariots of God are twenty thousand." "Entertainment was at Dr. Sewall's house, was very plentiful and splendid." (The charge on the Deacons' books for wine used on this occasion was £5,17,3.)
109
IIO
History of Princeton
Salary. At the time of the marriage of Mr. Prince to Miss Deborah Denny, Oct. 30, 1719, the church voted that " Three Pounds five shillings per week be allowed and paid to Mr. Thomas Prince our Rev'd Pastor from the time of his marriage," and that " he be desired by the Committee to remove into one of the ministerial houses of the Church as soon as may be." The salary thus voted was not a meager stipend for the time.
At first he appears to have occupied the old parsonage which was formerly the residence of Madam Norton and Governor Winthrop.
Residences in Boston. In a preface to the second edition of his " Chronology " Mr. Prince refers to a valuable journal of events relating to the Massachusetts Colony " All wrote with the said Governor Winthrop's own hand who deceased in this very house I dwell in." This house was on the main highway, now Washington Street, opposite School Street. It was destroyed and used for firewood by the British troops during the winter of 1775.
Mr. and Mrs. Prince afterwards occupied another " Ministerial house" built on Milk Street in the rear of the meeting house. It was probably in this latter house that he died. The church appears to have had at differ- ent periods three or four parsonages.
Plan for the Day. Mr. Prince commenced with a well- regulated household, as is shown by a manuscript found among his papers giving his plan for each day's duties, in the carrying out of which it is presumed Deborah ac- quiesced.
1719 Oct. 30 I marry.
We begin to keep house. My proposed order:
I At 5 get up and go into my Study.
2 Pray and read in the Orig. Bible till 6 and then call up the Family.
3 At 61/2 Go to Family Prayers and only the Porringer of Chocolat for Breakfast.
1
III
The Reverend Thomas Prince
4 At 7 go into my study till 1212 and then do something about the House till I to dinner.
5 Dinner at I.
6 At 2 Dress and go about till Candle Light, Except Wednes- day, after Dinner, do something about the House: Satur- day after Dinner visit Dr. Sewall's till 212 and then Home.
7 At Candle Light and Study to 91/2 at 91/2 go to Family Prayers and so to Bed: N. B. I eat no supper.
Quality as a Minister. With a pleasing personality he was a favorite with young and old, being in private con- versation both interesting and instructive. He was a tender and faithful pastor and is said by one to have preached as one that felt "the Divine Excellency and importance of the Word of God which he preached to others."
During his pastorate there was great religious prosperity. At the time of Whitfield's visit to Boston, he welcomed him and joined and rejoiced in his great work.
One notable incident in his pulpit ministrations in 1746 is related. A French fleet consisting of forty ships of war under the Duc D'Aulney sailed from Nova Scotia with designs for the destruction of New England. Meanwhile a day of fasting and prayer was appointed to be observed in all the churches, if by any means a gracious Providence in His own chosen way might avert the threatened calamity. While Mr. Prince was officiating on this occasion in his own church, and was in the midst of a fervent prayer for divine interposition, though the day up to that time had been perfectly calm, there came a sudden gust of wind, so violent as to cause a loud clattering of the windows. He instantly paused in his prayer, looked around upon his congregation with a countenance illumined with hope, and then pro- ceeded to ask God that the wind " might frustrate the object of our enemies and be the means of saving our country." A tempest ensued in which the greater part of the French fleet was destroyed. The General commanding surrendered, many died of disease, thousands perished in the ocean, and the enterprise was abandoned.
II2
History of Princeton
Literary Ability. Of his literary abilities much has been written, - " his industry was perfectly exhaustive." In early life he showed a marked inclination to collect and preserve historical material, which found its culmination in the preparation and publication of the New England Chronology by which he is perhaps best known, and " than which there is none more valuable." He shared with the Mathers the reputation of being the most learned man in New England in the Eighteenth Century, but surpassed all the Mathers in the method, accuracy and usefulness of his writings. Dr. Chauncey said of him, " He possessed all the intellectual powers in a degree far beyond what is common. I do not know of anyone that had more learning among us, excepting Dr. Cotton Mather." Others say, " an assiduous annalist whose service in perpetuating evidence relating to our early history exceeds all others since the first generation." "Nothing came from his pen that does not now possess historical value. His occasional papers are all luminous with the spirit and life of the time."
Publications. In addition to his ordinary pulpit minis- trations he delivered many sermons upon public events, and funeral discourses portraying the life and character of men and women whose memory was worth preserving. It is stated that at least fifty of these public addresses and sermons were printed. Many are found in our libraries to-day.
Earthquakes and Lightning Rods. Among other publi- cations Mr. Prince published in 1727 a Sermon entitled " Earthquakes the Works of God and Tokens of His Just Displeasure," of which in 1755 he issued a reprint with an " appendix concerning the Operation of God in Earth- quakes by means of the Electrical Substance." He was opposed to the use of the lightning rod, regarding all such attempts to escape the wrath of the Almighty as question- able devices. His warning against the lightning rod is stated in these words; - " the more points of Iron are erected round the Earth, to draw the Electrical Substance out of the Air, the more the Earth must needs be charged
II3
The Reverend Thomas Prince
with it. And therefore it seems worthy of Consideration whether any part of the Earth, being fuller of this terrible Substance, may not be exposed to more shocking Earth- quakes. In Boston are more erected than anywhere else in New England; and Boston seems to be more dreadfully Shaken, - O, there is no getting out of the mighty Hand of God. If we still think to avoid it in the Air we cannot in the Earth; yea, it may grow more fatal." (Extract from " The Old Farmer and his Almanac," page 301.)
Prof. John Winthrop published a pamphlet taking issue with Mr. Prince and severely criticizing his statement.
Psalms. Mr. Prince also prepared a revision of the New England version of the Psalms which was used for the first time by the Old South Church on the Sabbath following his death.
Rutland Lands. The first evidence discovered of Mr. Prince's interest in Rutland lands is shown in a conveyance to him by the heirs of Cyprian Stevens, in the year 1727, for £120 current money, of one-half of a share, that is, one sixty-sixth part of the tract known as the Township of Rut- land, which originally was twelve miles square, or 92,160 acres. Six miles square had been set off for the town of Rutland with some other concessions or grants. This deed was not recorded until the year 1734. (In examination of old deeds one finds evidence that often the recording is delayed until some one is ready to go to the shire town, and then perhaps half a dozen deeds will be entered for record the same day from the same locality.)
Mr. Prince was one of the ten signers of a call issued Oct. 4, 1733. This was published in a Boston paper. The meeting was held Nov. 7 in Boston at the Royal Exchange Tavern on King St.
At this meeting thirteen persons were present including Mr. Prince. Among the number were prominent business men of Boston, many of them members or attendants at the Old South Church. Such names appear as Penn Townsend, Adam Winthrop, Francis Brinley, John Jeffries, Thomas Fitch and Jonas Clark. Of the eleven and one-
II4
History of Princeton
half shares represented at the meeting Mr. Prince was credited with three shares (or one-eleventh of the whole) and his share of the tax subsequently levied was 30€. Nothing appears in print or among the few remaining Prince Manuscripts to suggest what led him to purchase so large an interest in this tract of land, as there was no present, or seemingly prospective, value to the larger part of it. But he certainly could not be called a " promoter " in the modern use of the word, as he retained his holdings, and at the time of his death is said to have possessed some three thousand acres all together. There is no evidence that he realized any financial gain from his possessions, nor did his widow or daughter profit much thereby.
Among his associates Mr. Prince quickly assumed a prominent place, and it was not long before he was engaged in plotting out the divisions of the tract, - East and West Wings, North West Quarter, North East Quarter. At least one of these plans bearing the signature of Mr. Prince and the Committee of the Proprietors has been preserved. The original plan of the East Wing long ago disappeared, but fortunately a small copy was found by the writer a few years ago among papers at Rutland.
Although not the Clerk of the Proprietors nor their Treasurer, there is evidence that he performed a part, if not the principal part, of the duties of both these officers.
One can trace his probable route as he left his home in Boston for one of his trips to the interior. He would pass perhaps through Cambridge and Waltham to Sudbury where he could greet his brother minister and perhaps be entertained over night. In the morning he would follow the old travelled road to Lancaster, at that period a fre- quently used country road. At Lancaster he would find another brother in the ministry, a college friend whose entertainment he might prefer to the inn. From Lancaster he would pass through Chocksett, now Sterling, then into the path used by occasional travellers in that direction. By this time he would find dwellings few and far between, especially when he reached the area now included in our
II5
The Reverend Thomas Prince
town.1 From this point doubtless the road was very rough and as there was no settlement or even occasional houses he had to depend upon his own resources for rest and refreshment. If he desired to survey his own possessions in Lot A which included a part of Little Wachusett, the prospect must certainly have been discouraging.
Gift for Services. The proprietors recognized the value of Mr. Prince's services and in 1734 voted " that 63 acres on the Southerly part of the 72 acres of land in Lot A, not having been set off to any of the proprietors by reason of the Brokenness of it be granted to the Rev. Thos. Prince in consideration of the great care and labour he had taken in conveyancing divisions above named." In the prosecu- tion of this work he must frequently have taken a journey alone or accompanied by a Surveyor or one of the pro- prietors.
Death. The last meeting of the Proprietors attended by Mr. Prince was held on the 15th of August, 1758. After a long illness during which he said he was " weary of this life " he passed away on Sunday, Oct. 22, 1758.2
His last prayer is reported as being a petition " that an open and abundant entrance might be ministered to him into God's heavenly kingdom."
Mr. Prince was doubtless buried in a tomb in the Granary Burial Ground, - a tomb belonging to the Old South Church, - and a marker at this spot now bears his name.
The preamble to his will, dictated of course by himself, shows the greatness of his faith, and is worthy of being put into print.
1 There was no tavern in this locality until 1742 when one was established on what is now called the Houghton Road. This spot is now marked by a boulder.
2 "The Old South Church," by Hill, Vol. 2 : 40.
Sunday between five and six o'clock in the afternoon, the Rev'd Mr. Prince departed this life after a month's languishment to the inexpressible sorrow of his Church and Congregation over whom he had been ordained pastor forty years the Ist. day of the month on which he died, which was Oct. 22, 1758, his funeral was attended the Saturday following at the expense of his Church, who have a just sense of his worth and of their own irreparable loss in his death. (Fleet.)
II6
History of Princeton
Preamble to Will. "First and primarily I do hereby commit both my soul and body into the merciful hands of God my Creator preserver, continual benefactor and redeemer (trusting) that of his infinite goodness through Christ he will forgive me save me make my imperfect spirit perfect in holiness receive it to Glory in the day of Christ's second appearance and raise my body, form it a perfect and glorious structure, unite my body and soul again and acquit and justify me in the public judg- ment and then carry me up to live with Him in Heaven forever."
The will devises his real estate to his wife and daughter Sarah who afterwards married Moses Gill. (His only son Thomas had previously died a young man. He had how- ever given evidence of marked literary ability.)
Lands in Boston, Plymouth Co., Worcester Co., Hamp- shire Co., besides those in the several divisions of Rutland district are named. A portion of this had been given to him, and probably some tracts came through his wife's family, but he purchased the larger portion of it, and his sales were few indeed. Unfortunately no inventory of the estate appears on record or on file. Certainly a record of his personal property would be extremely interesting today.
The property left by his father may have enabled him to gratify his desire to acquire real estate, and also to publish so much historical and religious matter.
There is a portrait of Prince in the Massachusetts Historical Society and a replica is with the American Antiquarian Society of Worcester.1
P. Pelham fecit.
Thomas Prince, A. M./ Quintus Eclesiae Australis Bos- tonii Novangelorum Pastor E. Collegii Harvardini/ Canto- brigiae Curatoribus, Samuelis Armigeni Fileus et Thomas A. M. denoti Pater/ Painted for and sold by J. Buck at the Spectacles in Queen St., Boston.
1 Jno. Greenwood Pinx.
II7
The Reverend Thomas Prince
Translation
John Greenwood painted (it) P. Pelham made (it) Thomas Prince A. M. Fifth pastor of the South Church of Boston of New England, one of the Trustees of Harvard College at Cambridge, son of Samuel Esq. and father of Thomas Master of Arts deceased.
Prince Library. We are indebted to Mr. Prince not only for his historical writings which furnish the basis for much of our local history in New England, but also for the invaluable collection of books, pamphlets, and MSS, which he bequeathed to the South Church, and which will stand for all time as a monument to his name and scholarship.
This collection he began to form even in his boyhood. One book shows that it was given to him by his mother in 1697, when he was ten years old; another bears date of possession, Harwich, 1701.
The purpose to collect seems to have become a settled one with him upon his entering college in 1703, his object being the illustration of the history of New England.
It was, therefore, at the time of his matriculation in the sixteenth year of his age, that Prince systematically laid the foundation of a collection of books and manuscripts, a large share of which relate to the civil and religious history of New England, and which, with unfailing zeal and under the most favorable circumstances, in this country and in Europe, he cherished and enriched during his long life. At the time of his death the New England Library (as he called it), we may well believe, was the most extensive of its kind that had ever been formed. During the period of our Colonial history, the Mather family and Governor Hutchin- son are alone to be compared with Prince as collectors of books and manuscripts. Their labors in this direction avail us little now, for the governor's collection was scat- tered by a mob, while the Mather' has been gradually dispersed.1
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.