USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Shirley > History of the town of Shirley, Massachusetts, from its early settlement to A.D. 1882 > Part 2
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As the early proceedings of a newly organized branch of the body politic are interesting to the descend- ants of the actors, the records of the first town-meeting are here inserted entire.
The warrant for calling the meeting :-
"Middlesex, ss. To Nathaniel Harris, in Shirley, in the district of Groton, in said County of Middlesex. Greeting. By virtue of the power and authority given to me, the subscriber, by an act of the Great and General Court of Massachusetts Bay, in New England, for divid- ing the Town of Groton, and making a District by the name of Shirley, to call the first meeting of the inhabi- tants of said district. You are hereby required in his Majesty's name, to warn and give notice to all free holders and other inhabitants, qualified by law to vote in Town, District and Parish meetings, to assemble and meet at Mr. John Whitney's, in said Shirley, on the First day of March, next, at nine of the clock in the Forenoon.
First to choose a moderator to manage said meeting.
2ly To chuse all such officers for said district as other towns by law are enjoyned to chuse at their annual meeting.
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CIVIL HISTORY.
31y To conclude where the next district meeting shall be held, and make due return of your doings, herein, to myself, at or before nine of the clock of the above said day. Given under my hand and seal at Shirley this ninth day of February, A. D. 1753, in the 26th year of his Majesty's reign.
JOHN WHITNEY."
The proceedings of the meeting :-
"At a legal meeting of the inhabitants of Shirley, so called, begun and holden at the house of Mr. John Whit- ney, on the first day of March, 1752.
Mr. Jonathan Biglow was chosen Moderator for said meeting. Joseph Longley, was chosen Town Clerk.
Joseph Longley, Samuel Hazen,
Nathaniel Harris, Selectmen.
John Whitney, William Simonds,
Voted, that the selectmen serve as assessors for the year ensuing. Jonas Longley was then chosen Town Treasurer for said district.
Stephen Holden was chosen Constable.
Chose Samuel Hazen,
Seth Walker, Highway Surveyors. Hezekiah Sawtel.
Chose Robert Henry,
Amos Holden, Tything men.
Jonas Longley, Sealer of Weights and Measures.
And Stephen Holden was chosen Sealer of Leather.
Chose Philemon Holden, Fence Viewers.
and James Patterson,
Chose Nathaniel Harris, and Samuel Walker, Field Drivers.
Robert Henry was chosen to take care of the swine.
Chose Hezekiah Sawtel,
and Caleb Holden, Dear Reaves.
John Whitney was chosen Surveyor of Lumber.
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HISTORY OF SHIRLEY.
Nathan Smith was chosen Pound Keeper.
Voted, that the next district meeting be held at the house of Jonathan Moore."
In the above account both the arrangement and orthography have been mainly retained.
The house of Mr. John Whitney-where the first town meeting convened-was subsequently purchased by the town for a "work and almshouse." By this purchase it was expected that the building appropriated to the first public business in the town would be permanently devoted to a public use ; but, unfortunately, after a trial of some ten years, the town voted to dispose of the property, and it was again assigned to private purposes. The poor were thus left without an asylum, to the great regret of a large minority of the voters.
By the organization of the district its inhabitants, amounting in number, probably, to between three and four hundred, were liberated from a portion of the trials to which they had been long subjected. With very great inconvenience had they experienced the civil, social and religious privileges of incorporated communities. They had been compelled to travel from five to ten miles over unbeaten roads to attend town and religious meetings, to find a common school for the instruction of their children, and a place of burial for their dead. A portion of these privileges they could not have dispensed with if they would ; others of them they would not have dispensed with if they could. Their puritan ancestry had set up the school and the church, and they felt the need of both to sustain that liberty, to enjoy which they had taken up their abode in a wilderness. The mantle of this worthy parentage had fallen upon their New-England descend- ants, who had an inherent love for the sabbath and reverence for the sanctuary. They accordingly cheerfully „submitted to the great inconvenience just stated, of attending public worship, until they should be sufficiently numerous to bring about the change now so happily effected.
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Their trials, however, were not ended but only varied. They were equally great, though more endurable than they had been. They must now be subjected to the labor and expense of erecting a meeting-house and school-houses ; of supporting a minister and teachers ; which, for people in their straitened circumstances, re- quired great energy and self-sacrifice. Yet their venera- tion for God, and their love for the rising generation, impelled the effort, and assisted them to transmit to pos- terity, unimpaired, those institutions which they had received, a glorious legacy from their fathers.
CHAPTER II.
Soil and Productions-Roads-Rivers and Bridges.
Shirley is favorably located for the health of its inhabitants. It is situated about fifteen miles from the southern boundary of New Hampshire, in full view of the lofty hills that range along that part of the Granite State, whose refreshing breezes are an antidote to the fogs and unhealthy exhalations that arise from the low grounds and rivers by which the town is partially inter- sected and bounded.
The soil presents an undulated surface, and rises in some parts to considerable elevations, giving agreeable and healthy locations to settlements, furnishing a genial atmosphere for respiration, and presenting the eye with prospects of variegated richness and beauty. The hills are, however, of such gentle declivity as to render the surface favorable for the construction of roads, the loca- tion of farms, and the cultivation of the soil.
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HISTORY OF SHIRLEY.
The soil itself presents considerable variety. In certain parts of the town, particularly in the valley of Mulpus brook, are tracts of low swampy land, that natu- rally yield a coarse, unpalatable grass, of little value as fodder, and which if left without cultivation become cov- ered with a low brush-wood jungle that precludes the growth of useful vegetation. But when these swamps are cleared, drained and cultivated, they become prolific of valuable hay and other useful produce. Their surface is composed of thick beds of peat, which has been found on trial to make excellent fuel. If, then, the forests shall disappear, as one of the innovations of the times -of which there is too much probability-a substitute for wood may be obtained from the meadows.
There are upon the rivers large tracts of intervale land, that are usually overrun with water in the spring, and sometimes in autumn. These overflowings leave be- hind an annual tribute of sediment, by which the soil is rendered highly productive. Their crops are, however, exposed to unseasonable frosts and floods, by which they are liable to great injury, if not to total destruction. In favorable years, under the hand of skilful cultivation, these lands-easily tilled-yield large harvests of grass and grain, but are especially fitted to the growing of hops.
Within the town there are many acres of light, sandy soil, which will remunerate a fresh cultivation for one or two years, but which will not repay a continued tilth. When left, however, in a state of rest, it will gradually come into the production of pine trees-a wood that will not so well flourish on a richer soil-and if cultivated with the seed of pine will rapidly spread into a glowing forest. The casual observer might call these lands profit- less ; but the conviction of the faithful experimenter is that their products are among the most valuable that nature affords. With proper fertilizers a portion of sandy soil may, with advantage, be kept under tillage. And even whole farms of this description, with a plentiful supply of swamp muck at hand, have been made highly productive.
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CIVIL HISTORY.
There is still another variety of soil, more valuable than either described, which characterizes many of the farms within the town. Its natural productions are oak, walnut, chestnut, birch and maple timber; and its culti- vated produce consists of the cereals, including Indian corn, the esculent roots, and the various kinds of fruit- trees that thrive under a northern temperature. It is, however, still better adapted to grazing purposes and to the production of hay. This soil is filled with that species of stone called by geologists argillaceous slate, but of too coarse a quality either for building or other mechanical purposes. "The range of this slate commences in Boyls- ton, and runs through Lancaster, Harvard, Shirley and Pepperell. It is associated with the peculiar mica slate that contains the Worcester coal."* In Lancaster this slate has been found fit for rooting buildings, and has been quarried to some extent for this purpose. In Har- vard it has been wrought into cemetery monuments, into chimney ornaments, and into flagging stones. Its use, however, for these purposes has greatly diminished, since the discovery of other and better adapted materials.
The farms of Shirley are not under so high a state of cultivation as they should be, nor have their owners entered into the modern improvements of experimental tillage as much as might be profitable; and, yet, their success will bear a fair comparison with that of agri- culturists of neighboring towns. Though there is not a sufficiency of agricultural products within the town to meet the demands of its inhabitants, this is partly owing to the attention that is given to the cultivation of hops. This product, in some years, has amounted to fifty thous- and pounds. Its cultivation was commenced about 1825, and has been continued, with varied success, unto the present time (1872). Less encouragement has been given to its cultivation during a few of the last years, than at a former period, yet it promises to hold a respectable
*Hitchcock's State Geological Report, 1833, page 34.
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HISTORY OF SHIRLEY.
place among the products of the soil for all coming time. It goes to a foreign market, is disposed of in the mass for ready money, and has thus been made a source of consid- erable profit to the cultivator.
Since farmers have been able to avail themselves of railroad transportation they have sent their milk to Boston, for sale, rather than convert it into butter and cheese at home. They have been encouraged, by this traffic, to increase their dairies from time to time, and keep stock for milking purposes during both parts of the year. According to the statement of the contractor, the average amount of milk sent from Shirley, for the six years pre- vious to 1852, was 33,601 gallons per annum. At the present time (1872) it amounts to 80,000 gallons per annum. The present average monthly income to the town for the milk transported to Boston market cannot be less than $1200. The noble dairies of the town cannot be devoted to a more profitable use, especially when the great saving of kitchen labor is considered. As our neighbor- ing cities and large towns shall increase, a corresponding encouragement will be given to this branch of agricul- tural pursuit.
In a southern section of the town, horticulture has engaged a large attention, and immense quantities of garden seeds have been raised and annually scattered over the eastern states. The culture of the strawberry, and other garden fruits, has also been pursued of late years with remunerating success. In these ways the yeomanry of the town have been able to turn their industry to profit- able account. With yankee tact and skill they have managed their estates, and have been able to derive to themselves not merely the conveniences but also a large share of the luxuries of life.
Town highways have a practical interest that can scarcely be surpassed, yet they can contribute but little to the interest of general history, except as connected with something of a litigious or controversial character. Dur- ing the first half-century of the incorporation of this town
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CIVIL HISTORY.
its inhabitants entertained a very contracted view of the public wants on this subject. With scarcely an exception their roads were laid out but two "polls" wide. This might have been from a motive of economy, but it is more probable that they sought to avoid an error which had for a long time disturbed the peace of Groton, where the highways were originally laid out six rods wide. Encroachments were from time to time made upon lands that had been appropriated for public highways, by con- tiguous landholders-sometimes unintentionally, and at other times by design-which in the course of years caused serious difficulties, that had to be settled by town arbitration, or referred to the decision of jury courts.
To avoid this extreme the people of Shirley have erred in the opposite direction, and have subjected them- selves to many inconveniences which a more liberal policy would have prevented. The error has at length become apparent. All classes have become convinced of the need of reform, and within the last few years important steps have been taken in the way of straightening, widening and grading the highways. Local obstacles connected with private interest, such as buildings, trees, fields and fences, have retarded the march of improvement in this direction, and individual prejudice and public inability have retarded it still more. These are gradually yielding to a desire to secure the public interest, and to have such highways as shall best accommodate a travelling community, and such too as shall reflect honor upon the taste and enterprise of the town. Smooth roads, and roads of easy declivity, are a facility that adds much to the inherent and practical value of farms and manufactories, and when the public taste goes so far as to ornament highways with shade-trees the highest evidence is presented of the enlightenment of the people. Use and beauty are thus blended, giving strength to the hand and encouragement to the heart of life's workers; and the result proves how readily their highest temporal desires may be gratified, when the hands industriously execute what the head wisely proposes.
HISTORY OF SHIRLEY.
Shirley is a well watered territory. Its rivers and brooks so pervade the town as to leave but little to be de- sired in this direction. They fertilize the soil, giving life and verdure to vegetation, and assist in furnishing the cul- tivator with remunerating harvests. They also afford privileges for the use of power machinery, which have been improved much to the enhancement of the wealth and population of the town. And upon its manufacturing interests the future prosperity of the town will largely depend.
The first river in importance is the Nashua. This river washes the southeastern and eastern boundaries of the town, and forms the line between Shirley and Harvard and between Shirley and Ayer; the line of division passing along the centre of the stream.
The natural scenery through which the Nashua passes is truly beautiful. On the summit of its gentle banks are spread out rich tracts of alluvial soil, out of which, at unequal distances from each other, arise single trees and small groves of walnut, which yield fruit of an excellent quality and in full abundance. A single farmer has annually gathered from a dozen to an hundred bushels as the product of these trees. They also afford a most grateful shade for the cattle that graze about their neighborhood. Art could hardly prepare retreats of such picturesque beauty, nor has nature furnished many finer specimens of her own handy work.
The next river in importance is the Squannacook. This river flows into the Nashua, near the line between Groton and Ayer. It forms the northeastern boundary of Shirley, dividing it from Groton. The soil, productions; and portions of the scenery through which the Squanna- cook passes, are similar to what are found in the valley of the Nashua, and are subject to the same inconveniences from early frosts and unseasonable floods.
The Catacunemaug river comes next in order. It is formed by the junction of two streams, one of which rises in Lancaster and the other in Lunenburg. They unite as
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CIVIL HISTORY.
they enter the southern valley of the town, and in their course afford the best water-privileges in the neighbor- hood. This river terminates in the Nashua, on the south- eastern boundary of the town.
The course of the Catacunemaug is, for the most part, through a vale bordered by high hills. The soil, under proper tillage, is productive of grain and grass, yet is not so well adapted to fruit-growing as in some other parts of the town. Owing to the facilities which this stream pre- sents to the manufacturer, much the largest village in the town has grown up on its banks. The location of this village is such as to combine, especially in its summer appearance, the beauties of nature with the works of art.
The southern branch of the Catacunemaug was an object of rural interest to the late Mrs. Sarah C. Edgarton Mayo, who gave it the name which it now bears-"Bow Brook ;" and who sang its praises in a beautiful poem, published some thirty years since with other works by the same author.
The poem is too long for full insertion in these pages. The following extracts will, however, enable the reader, who shall visit the locality, to appreciate the significance of the description of the gifted writer whose childhood and girlhood were passed within sight of the placid stream :
"Far in a wild and tangled glen, Where purple Arethusas weep- A bower scarce trod by mortal men- A haunt where timid dryads sleep- A little dancing, prattling thing, Sweet Bow-Brook, tutor of my muse !
I've seen thy silver currents spring From fountains of Castalian dews.
" A wilder, or more sylvan spot, Ne'er wooed a poet's feet to roam : Not e'en Calypso's classic grot Would be so fit a fairy's home. 'The birchen boughs so interlaced, That scarce the vault of heaven is seen, With pendant vines are wildly graced- An arbor of transcendent green."
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HISTORY OF SHIRLEY.
" And beautiful as e'en thou art, They make thee labor at the wheel, To ply the shaft and swell the mart With products of the loom and reel. But much enraged at such constraint, Away thou'rt gliding, big with grief, To breathe thy piteous complaint To every sympathizing leaf."
" In olden days the Indian maid, With braided tresses sought thy bowers, And rifled every sunlit glade To wreathe her locks with scarlet flowers. Some chieftain of the forest wove The blushing card'nals o'er her brow, While by thy waves he breathed his love In many a deep and fervent vow.
"How oft, along thy verdant shore, I seek to find some lingering trace Of those who made, in days of yore, Thy banks their favorite hunting-place ;- Yet vain the search-no trace is found, To tell that ever dusky maid Or warrior chief hath trod the ground, Where now, perchance, their bones are laid.
"Upon thy bonny banks, sweet stream, My home succeeds the Indian brave's ; My infant eye first caught its beam, Reflected from thy clouded waves, And oft I tread the grassy slope, Which leads me to thy rose-bound shore, With ardent and increasing hope To catch some fragment of thy lore.
" When comes the holy hour to die, How sweet to rest beside thy wave ! How sweet beneath thy banks to lie, With violets waving o'er my grave! And yet I would not cast a shade Upon a spot so bright and glad ; A tomb would mar so fair a glade, And friends would find thy borders sad.
"Glide on, forever, warbling brook ! Earth has no voice more dear than thine- And often, in some flowery nook, I'll swell the lay with tones of mine. Beneath the arch of some green bough, Where mellow sunbeams softly glance, I'll cast the shadows from my brow, And read to thee some gay romance.
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" A few short years, or days may be, And thou wilt miss me from thy shore ; Yet earth will still be fair to thee, As e'er it was in days of yore. And I shall sit upon the bank Of that pure river of my God,
Where sin nor grief has ever drank, And no polluting foot hath trod."
There is one other stream worthy of note, which is called Mulpus Brook. Tradition saith that it derived its name from a Frenchman, by the name of Mulipus, who lived in Lunenburg, near its source. It pursues a winding course through the marshes and low lands of the valley, in the northern section of the town, until it reaches the Nashua which receives its waters. This stream has a few improved water-privileges which will be noticed in their places.
Where there are rivers there must be bridges. These form a large item of expense to the inhabitants of Shirley. The wants of the people demand three bridges for Mulpus Brook; seven for the Catacunemaug and its branches ; one for Squannacook, and two for the Nashua, besides many others for smaller streams. The bridge over Squan- nacook river is partially supported by Groton, and the two over Nashua river are sustained jointly by Shirley and Ayer.
The most expensive bridge that has devolved upon Shirley to sustain is that which spans the Nashua near Mitchell's woolen manufactory, formerly Page's mills. This bridge was originally located several rods up the river, and was erected and supported at the joint expense of Shirley and Harvard. Sometime previous to the year 1798, Mr. Joshua Longley had erected mills on the site of the present woolen manufactory just named, and he pro- posed to the town, about to build a new bridge, that, if that bridge could be located down near his mills, he would be at the entire expense of its erection beyond the sum of $250, which he asked the town to appropriate. Where- upon the town, by the following action, accepted the
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HISTORY OF SHIRLEY.
proposal of Mr. Longley. "Voted to give Joshua Long- ley $250, towards building a bridge across Nashua River, near where the said Longley has lately built mills, and he, the said Longley, is to build a bridge across said river." Mr. Longley built the bridge, but a very few rods below the Harvard line, and thus imposed upon his town the entire expense of its support for the space of eighty- two years! It seems that Mr. Longley thought only of his own accommodation, and the town thought only of a present saving of expense; while the town of Harvard could laugh over, and profit by, the folly of both parties. Since Mr. Longley's bridge-which did not last long- went to decay, three others have been erected in its place, and two of them at the entire cost of Shirley. Had it been situated six rods higher up the river, the public would have been equally as well accommodated, and Harvard would always have shared in the expense of its support.
By the town records it appears that the bridge erected by Mr. Longley, was so imperfectly constructed that it needed repairs within three years after its erection. The following is the action of the town on the subject .. "Voted to choose a committee to see to repairing the bridge or butment, on Nashua River, near Joshua Longley's new mills. Capt. John Edgarton, Nath! Day and Capt. Sam- uel Hazen jr. were chosen for said committee."
In 1842 a new truss bridge was thrown across the river at this place, which was roofed over for protection ; the cost of this structure amounted to $750 above the abutments. It was supposed that this bridge would accommodate the travelling public, with seasonable repairs by the town, for at least fifty years ; but such was its great length and its exposure to the strong winds of the river valley, that it was soon twisted from its designed position and became a subject of repair within two years. Though it lasted for the space of thirty years, it was never con- sidered sufficiently substantial for its exposed situation.
In 1871 the town of Ayer was incorporated, taking from Shirley all its territory on the east side of the Nashua
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CIVIL HISTORY.
river. At that time the bridge that united the two towns must be rebuilt, and after much unnecessary and expensive delay the work was entered upon late in the autumn, and was not completed till the close of the year. The cost of the structure was mutually borne by Shirley and Ayer, and it amounted to over $2000. Mr. B. F. Hartwell of Townsend contracted for the work above the abutments, which he executed to the satisfaction of his employers, and has given them a bridge that will probably far outlast the present century.
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CHAPTER III.
Mills, Manufactories and Manufactures.
The same wants that are common to humanity mani- fest themselves to wilderness settlers no less than to others, and the great trial of these settlers is, that they are without the facilities for supplying these wants. Art must supplement nature in providing the necessities of animal existence. Though the earth may produce the material out of which food and clothing are wrought, the prepara- tion of this material for its destined use is a work of human effort. When this work is divided into its appro- priate parts, and each part has its appropriate workers, the production of man's physical requirements is reduced to a system easy of operation ; but the new settler is without this system, and hence the trial of his position. He might bring along with him his farming implements, as he did, and cultivate his soil, after it was cleared for the purpose,- but he could not easily convert his grain products into meal, without the aid of a mill ; and there was none within the limits of the Groton territory during the first seventeen
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