USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > Sutton > History of the town of Sutton, Massachusetts, from 1704 to 1876, including Grafton until 1735, Millbury until 1813 and parts of Northbridge, Upton and Auburn > Part 21
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for several years a noted parade horse, which he let to dif- ferent officers for military musters in diverse parts of the state. His saddle was trimmed with silver plating and the housing was leopard skin. The horse and his caparison were quite a noted institution in those days of military training and pompous emulation. Mrs. Russell carried on millinery and mantua-making. Dr. James M. Newell and Dr. S. O. Brown also occupied this place.
Mrs. Sibley, the present owner, is some eighty-five years of age, but quite active, and furnishes some interesting items for this history ; she is one of the best of women.
Dr. Newell entered the union service as a surgeon, and was drowned while trying to save the life of a young lady. He was a young man of great promise. He married Miss Fannie Bates, but had no children.
The next house, supposed to have been built by Gibbs Sibley, was owned by him for several years, next by Elisha Hale and now by Mrs. Lavina Burdon.
Mr. Sibley married a Rice, daughter of Asahel Rice and sister to the wife of Hon. Jonas Sibley. They had some very beautiful daughters. Martha married Charles Sabin. Jane married Sir Curtis Miranda Lampson, Bart., a son of Mr. Wm. Lampson of New Haven, Vermont, born in 1806. They were married in New York in 1827. When the Atlantic cable was finished in 1866, he was offered and accepted a baronetey in acknowledgement of his great services in push- ing that enterprise through to completion. Mr. Peabody, his partner, declined a like honor.
Sir Curtis Lampson has two sons and two daughters. One of the latter, a lady of marked ability and culture, was mar- ried three years ago to a Mr. Frederick Lockyer, a well known British man of letters and of the world, whose " Vers de Societe" have been republished in this country. Mr. Lockyer has made his mark in prose as well as in verse, as a contributor to Blackwood's and other leading British magazines. Sir Curtis and Lady Lampson have a seat at Rawfaut in Sussex, England. Some of these items are from an account of their golden wedding as published in the New York World. He is now a naturalized British subject.
TOWN OF SUTTON. 273
Elisha Hale was one of the best boot and shoe makers in the country. He did custom work only, and many of his cus- tomers have made one pair of his boots serve for handsome ones at least twenty years. His wife used to comb the flax and spin his thread and bind his shoes as no other woman in town could do. Mr. Oliver Hall made him a hatchel of darning needles set in brass with which to hatchel his flax. A common hatchel was made of spikes set in wood. He was an honest man and held many offices. They had no children.
The next house was originally the Methodist church, built on the common in 1854. The first preacher was Rev. John W. Lee, the next was John H. Gaylord, the next Rodney Gage, the next Newell S. Spaulding, then Mr. Brown, then William A. Clapp, then J. J. Woodbury, Charles S. McReading, Horace Moulton, and last Dr. S. O. Brown. Many persons were led to hope in redeeming grace through the influence of this church, and several of the most worthy members of the Congregational church connect their con- viction and conversion with its influence. Among the con- verts were the late Sumner Putnam, and Deacon John Marble, both of whom united with the Congregational Church.
When the war broke out the Rev. J. W. Lee enlisted, took a captain's commission and served three years ; he is now engaged in the custom house at Boston.
Rev. Charles S. McReading entered the United States navy. In his diary, of date Saturday, Dec. 28, 1861, he writes :
"A cold, bleak day it was. An ugly, purchased propeller with Uncle Sam's guns lay at the Brooklyn navy yard awaiting her commission and crew. The crew came over the rail with hammocks and bags, various in looks and grades, from the old man-of-war's man, wrinkled with the stern duties of sea life, to the boy or landsman, who were now to enter upon active duty. The crew and officers are mustered on the main deck, the stars and stripes are run up to the mizzen peak, the pennant to the main, and we receive the crew and the ship. We, that is the ship, is a purchased vessel, nothing more of war about her but her guns. Stood watch that night for the first time in six years. Cold, bitter cold !"
He was commissioned acting master's mate by Secretary Gideon Wells, Nov. 16, 1861. He left the pulpit here to fill that office. Sunday, January 19th, he
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writes fifteen miles from Savannah a long account of preparations for conflict, closing as follows: "War brings with it as necessary evil the unavoidable breaking over of rules such as govern moral and social life. With an enemy in full view we must be prepared. So the closing part of the Sabbath day, that day which Beecher says should be a golden milestone on the road to heaven, is employed in preparing muskets and swords for a night attack. The night was glorious! The stars in heaven sang the majesty and beauty of God's bounty." The name of the vessel on which he served was the Nor- wich. After his return he had several appointments. He preached three years at Nantucket, where he saved several persons from drowning by the skillful management of his sail-boat. He was quite a genius and an eloquent preacher. But, sad to say, he finally became discouraged and insane, so as to commit suicide while stationed at Middleborough, Massachusetts.
The Rev. N. S. Spaulding, son of Royal, son of Benja- min, son of Benjamin, son of Edward, son of Benjamin, son of Edward, was born in Moretown, Vermont, Dec. 3, 1799. He married Laura J. McGinley ; they have had two sons, and one daughter, who married Gardner Hall, April 5, 1859, at Charlton. Rev. Mr. Spaulding has held some of the most important appointments in the conference, and was quite a successful preacher. He now resides in Ocean Grove, New Jersey. The other men stationed here were all very good men. But their church was mortgaged, and being too much embarrassed to redeem it, it was sold at auction and bought by Stephen B. Holbrook, the present owner, who fitted it up for a dwelling house and store. It has a large fountain in the upper part, and hot and cold water is distributed all over the house. It is one of the most desirable residences in town, and is occupied by Mr. Holbrook and his son, Lieutenant Wilder S. Holbrook, the present postmaster. The post office is kept in this building. S. B. Holbrook was born in Smithfield, Rhode Island ; he has been engaged in several different places as a manufac- turer of cotton goods. He married Hannah Sutton ; they have had one son and two daughters. Lieutenant Wilder S. Holbrook was in the United States service during the war ; he was badly wounded, and is a pensioner. He married Jennie M. Paine and has two daughters. * Flora married D. M. Daniels and left one son, Walter H. Hattie A. gradu- ated at the Springfield high school, where she gave the valedictory. She is now an assistant and popular teacher in the Millbury high school.
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Mr. William King, one of the first settlers, owned the land where Philip Chase built the tavern, a history of which has been given by one of his descendants, who furnishes the plate.
Fifty years ago a shed ran out on the west end towards the road ; on it was a large martin-house, filled in summer by those chattering birds now almost extinct ; at the south end of the sheds stood a store kept by various parties ; among them were Daniel Hovey, Reuben F. Chase, Sumner Cole, Daniel Aldrich, Captain John Marble, Jonas A. Hovey, and last of all S. J. Woodbury. The sheds were taken down and the store was moved up to the house, where it served as a bar-room. Luther Whiting moved it and built a broad portico on the south side and east end.
Paul Whiting, familiarly called "Pa Whiting," kept tav- ern here several years; after his death his brother, known as Uncle Joe, continued the business. Widow P. Whiting and her son succeeded him.
Mrs. Whiting was one of the best of women, a member of the Congregational church and one of its most constant attendants. After she left the tavern, she lived with her son-in-law, Dea. Sumner B. King ;
In stormy weather she would put on a pair of his boots and wade in the snow to church, perhaps to be the only lady there. No weather kept her from what she considered to be her duty. On the night of Nov. 27, 1853, she was left alone in the house now owned by Capt. Luther Little, while the deacon and his wife went to meeting. She, as was her custom on sabbath evening, commenced reading her bible, when she fell asleep, and her cap coming in contact with the light took fire, and she was burned to death. She was found dead when the deacon and his wife reached home. She evidently went to the pump in the kitchen to put out the fire, where she fell and set the floor on fire, on which she literally roasted. Mr. Lyman said in his funeral discourse that the aged saint "had been translated to heaven in a chariot of fire."
She was kind to every one and especially forgiving to her impetuous son. She had one son and three daughters. One daughter married Nathaniel Woodbury ; the other two were the wives of Deacon Sumner B. King. Mrs. Whiting was eighty-three years old when she died.
Luther married Miss Abigail Mellen and had two sons and . one daughter. Joseph was a newspaper correspondent and
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reporter. He was born in this house and left one son. Samuel, born in the house where S. Dexter King now lives, graduated at Trinity College, Hartford, studied theology at Newton, and was for several years a missionary at Assam.
He has returned and is now a Baptist clergyman in New Haven, Connecticut. He has no children, but adopted the son of his brother. He is a scholar and a very worthy man .* The daughter, Miss Abbie Whiting, married a Mr. Hervey and went to Providence. She has had five daughters and a
son. Her husband is dead, and she has been a popular teacher there. One of her daughters is also a teacher. This house has been kept by many different persons. Capt. Peter Putnam kept it in 1839 and one of his daughters, Sarah, was born here. It was kept as a temperance house in 1842 by John C. Woodbury, and on the fourth of July of that year there was a celebration here for his benefit, he providing the dinner; a booth was built on the common and an oration was delivered by the great poet and orator, Rev. John Pierpont.
THE OLD SUTTON TAVERN.
This building, one of the most ancient landmarks of Sutton, known in early times as the "Plank Tavern," and in later years as the old Sutton Tavern, was built about the year 1727, by Philip Chase, whose grandfather, Aquila Chase, born Aug. 14, 1580, in Hendrich, Chesham Parish, England, was one of the first settlers or grantees of Hampton, 1639-40 (see Genealogy). Philip Chase, shortly after his marriage, moved to Worcester, where he purchased land upon which a portion of the city now stands. From thence in 1724 he moved into Sutton. After his death his son Follansbee came into possession of the tavern, paying the other heirs their portion.
At the decease of Follansbee it came into possession of Thomas Follansbee Chase, who occupied it as a residence until the year 1800, when he removed to Paris, Maine. The tavern in its construction differed from the ordinary buildings of the period.
* Since died. See sketch from the Watchman and Reflector, a few pages in advance.
SUTTON TAVERN
--
ZER OGLAS PHILA
THE " OLD SUTTON TAVERN." From a painting by Theodore L. Chase, Phila.
,
·
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As will be seen by the engraving, that represents it as it originally appeared, the siding consists of thick oak planks nailed perpendicularly to the frame, and at each of the upper corners the planking is placed diagonally, for the purpose of giving additional strength in bracing the building. The clapboards were not added until a later period. They were cloven by hand and fastened by hand-made nails,* cut nails being then unknown.
The chimney was massive in size, and the fire-places throughout the building were of ample dimensions. The foundation of the chimney, laid with huge stones, occupied nearly one-third of the cellar. The interior was double- lathed and plastered, rendering it a remarkably warm house in coldest weather.
The windows had glass 6x8 inches, and the sash were of unequal size, the upper ones containing eight lights and the lower ones twelve. The building was owned by different members of the Chase family upward of three-quarters of a
.
Thomas Follansbee Chase,
* About the time of the close of the revolutionary war two brothers of the name of Wilkinson, who had iron works in Cumberland, R. I., cut a lot of nails from some old barrel hoops, "Spanish hoops," as they were called, and these are supposed to have been the first cut nails ever made.
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century. The portrait is from a silhouette likeness of Thomas Follansbee Chase, the last one of the family to whom it belonged. He sold it to Paul and Luther Whiting, from whom it passed into the possession of M. M. Hovey, and from him was purchased by the present owner, Mr. S. B. Holbrook, who has recently removed the building a short distance to the rear of its original location. Tradition tells us that the old tavern was a noted gathering place previous to and during the war for independence, but history supplies little information respecting the scenes and incidents that transpired there .*
The next building opposite is the brick block. It was built in 1839 by Simon Tenney, and perhaps his brother, B. F. Tenney. It was opened as a store by S. Tenney & Co. in September of that year; the members of the firm were Simon Tenney and Joseph A. Veazie.
The latter made the first trade when the store was opened; it was a stick of candy sold to Willis Hall. While he was putting up the candy a lady came in and bought one dollar and fifty cents worth of goods. This was the small beginning of a large and successful business. Mr. Veazie was a large man, weighing some two hundred and fifty pounds. He had been an apothecary in Boston. His father was quite wealthy, and his sister had married B. F. Tenney, then a merchant in Boston; so making the acquaintance of Simon, he conceived the idea of leaving Boston and coming here, which he did, and bought in with Mr. Tenney, who was trading in the store built by S. J. Wood- bury.
Being left alone in the store he made his first sale, of which he gave his partner the following account: "Sim, I have made my debut! Soon after you left, there came in the greenest looking chap that I ever saw; his coat sleeves reached about half way from his elbow to his hand, and, after looking me over as he would an elephant, run his arm down his pantaloons pocket and pulled out a hen's egg, saying, 'I want to get that are's worth of terbacker ;' then he went for another egg in the same place, saying as he brought it forth, 'I want that are's worth of yarler snuff ;' so I gave him his tobacco and snuff and he left." Veazie was too large for country trade, so he sold to Mr. Gard- ner Hall and returned to Boston, where he became a real estate broker and failed for five hundred thousand dollars under the pressreu of the times.
He died there soon after ; he married a Miss Rogers, a beau- tiful woman and had children ; his first son was born in the house where Mr. Mills now lives. After Veazie left, in con- nection with the store the shoe business was carried on by
* From data furnished by Theodore L. Chase of Philadelphia.
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Messrs. Tenney and Hall. They manufactured mostly kip brogans, and had one or two custom boot and shoe makers working in the building. D. A. Tenney was foreman in the cutting-room. The business was quite extensive. Cassi- meres were taken of Mills and Hunting, then running the Singletary factory, in exchange for goods, they sending their workmen up with orders very frequently ; they also bought wood and other articles of the farmers and paid for them in orders on this store. The firm also exchanged their goods for other goods in Boston. Tailors were likewise employed to make clothing to order. There was no ready-made clothing in the market then. Arrangements similar to those entered into with Mills and Hunting were made with the Sutton Woolen Mills for their broadcloths, and their help brought orders for goods. Capt. Asa Woodbury, or Woodbury and Boyden made nice jeans, which were bought and paid for in goods upon their orders. N. G. King and Capt. Amasa Wood, shoe manufacturers, also sent in their orders. The farmers then made cheese and sold much of it at this store. The Sutton Flour Mill was running then, and their " family flour," put up in half and quarter barrel bags, made of drill- ing, was here sold in large quantities. The manufacture of bags was also quite a business.
After a partnership of two years Mr. Hall disposed of his interest to Mr. Tenney. Gibbs Lilley then went into com- pany with him, moving his stock from the other store into the brick building, making one of the largest stocks to be found in a country store. Mr. Lilley soon bought out the entire stock, taking it to Michigan City, Indiana, where he carried on trade some time. After he left, Messrs. Tenney and Veazie manufactured brogans awhile. Since then B. L. Batcheller has manufactured in the building. John Allen, Mr. Greenwood, Baker and Putnam, Baker and Howard, Chase and Sibley, N. G. King, Loren C. Howard, Wilder S. Holbrook, Mr. Aldrich, L. W. Howard and others have kept the store. John P. Putnam and D. A. Tenney made harnesses in the lower part of the building for some time. That shop is now occupied by Hoyle, Barton and others, who are shoemakers. The tenement was first occupied by
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Mr. G. Hall. He was married there by Rev. H. A. Tracy, to Catharine B. Woodbury, Sept. 19, 1841. It was next occupied by Mr. Simon Tenney. His son Daniel died here. It has since been occupied as a tenement by many different families ; among them were Salem Chamberlain, then town clerk, Rev. Dr. John R. Smith, one of whose children was born here. It is now occupied by Charles H. Barton, son of Hudson, son of Capt. Reuben. His mother was Lucy B. Marble, daughter of Capt. Samuel, son of Major Alpheus, · son of Enoch, son of Freegrace, son of Samuel. He married Catherine H. Carlton, daughter of Deacon Silas G., son of Silas, son of Benjamin. They have two children-William Herbert and Nellie Agnes.
The room now occupied by the selectmen was first used as a lawyer's office by Edward Clarke, Esq. The room used for the Sutton Library was the office of Dr. Nehemiah C. Sibley, a skillful physician. He was cousin to the late Gov. H. H. Sibley of Minnesota, and son of Capt. Nathaniel, son of Reuben, son of Jonathan, son of Joseph, son of Joseph, son of John. The front room of the second story has been used as a tailor's shop by different parties. Dr. Shurtleff occupied it at the time of Dr. D. E. Hall's death. He soon after left town, and now practices in Sterling, Mass.
In the upper part of the building is a hall known as Washington Hall. The Methodists held their meeting there one year before they built their church. It has been used for lyceums, exhibitions, etc. The Walden brothers started the boot business here, but the great Boston fire failed them and they left.
On the site where the brick block now stands, once stood an old wooden building, which was burned in 1837. We can not learn who built it. Elijah Putnam, it is said, traded there, and his brother-in-law, Abner Brown, lived there. Elijah died single and was succeeded by his brother, Captain Israel Putnam, who lived in the house. Some of his chil- dren were born here. The business was continued by Put- nam and March - Jacob March, the father of Mrs. Tracy - then. by March and Chase, then by Chase and Lilley, and after the death of Nehemiah Chase, by Gibbs Lilley, until the store was burned.
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The trade in that old store was very different from the trade of the present time, and the traders there all became rich. They took in farmers' produce, and sent a team to Boston every week. It was no unusual sight to see several whole hogs on the counter at a time. They bought beef, pork, butter, cheese, grain, poultry, eggs, wool, feathers, flax, and in fine any thing that the farmers then raised. Farming was a business. The farmers of New England then sup- plied the Boston market, and Sutton did her part. The railroads had not then injured farming interests in the eastern states. There were three taverns then in this district, filled every night with lodgers, and their stables with horses. The old church stood nearly opposite this store. It had no fire- place-it was before the day of stoves-yet the people attended church more then than now. The women used to carry foot-stoves, filled with coals in the forenoon from their own fire-places ; then at noon-time they would replenish them from the friendly hearths around the church, and no one suffered from cold. The male members used to come into the old store, and get their "flip" or "gin slings," and then return to the afternoon service. March and Chase kept all kinds of liquors. The farmers used rum freely in hay- time, and in fact it seemed to be regarded as the inspirer of power to swing the scythe, that then cut their grass, which is now principally mowed by horse-power. At the com- mencement of haying most of the farmers had their fifteen gallon kegs filled, and it was nothing strange for March and Chase to draw off a pipe of New England rum in one week. It was sold then for less than the tax on it now. In some of the customs of that day there has been great improvement.
Where Mrs. Nancy P. Hall now lives there once stood a large, old-fashioned house, with a long roof on the back side. It is not known who built the house; but a Mr. Houghton, who came from Boston, lived there several years ; he was a tall, slim, straight, gentlemanly-looking man, and kept a small store of Yankee notions in the house. He had a son, John, who went to New Orleans ; he had also several daughters. His wife died here, and while they were arrang- ing for some one to watch with the corpse, the oldest
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daughter made the remark that she did not think mother would run away if they did not have a watcher. Afterward Mr. Houghton returned to Boston. It has since been owned and occupied by Gibbs Sibley, Moses L. Morse, Dr. David March, Nehemiah Chase, Edward Clark, Esq., Simon Tenney and Silence Putnam, who took down the old house and built the present_beautiful one in 1855. She leased it to Dr. David E. Hall and wife during their lives. She occupied it with them until her death in 1862. She gave the place then by will to the first Congregational society in Sutton. She left some ten thousand to various religious charities. John Allen lived in the old house while engaged in the store. It then belonged to Simon Tenney. Mr. Allen was a very worthy man. He married a Miss Maynard, a popular teacher. One or two of their children were born here, and little Johnnie died here. Mr. A. now lives in Gardner, Massachusetts.
Mr. Philander Derby, now one of the richest men in Gardner, was once the hired man of James Phelps, and worked on his beautiful farm at West Sutton. He gave five thousand dollars a few weeks since towards building a new church. He made his money there by manufacturing chairs.
We give a brief sketch of Dr. David March, furnished by Rev. H. A. Tracy, and also of his distinguished brother Alden. David had three lovely daughters. One, Catherine M., married a Mr. Clarke, a wealthy merchant, and now lives in Framingham. Emily married Mr. Estey, a late member of Congress. Augusta remained single.
DAVID MARCH, M. D.
David March, M. D., born in Sutton, Jan. 29, 1785, was the son of Jacob March and Eleanor Moore, daughter of David Moore.
He spent his childhood and youth upon his father's farm, afterwards called the Samuel March farm. Being of a delicate constitution, the family decided that he must be educated, and through the aid of his father and brothers he obtained a classical and medical education at Brown University, and received the degree of M. D. in 1812.
He immediately entered the army as assistant surgeon, and was commis- sioned surgeon's mate, March 1, 1813, and stationed at Sackett's Harbor and
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Watertown, New York. Here he spent, chiefly in the hospitals connected with the army, some two years or more, distinguishing himself in several surgical operations. Thus early in his career he gave promise of what he might have become if opportunity had favored him as subsequently it favored his younger brother, Alden. He commenced the practice of medi- cine in Sutton, in 1815, in connection with Dr. Stephen Monroe, whose youngest daughter Catherine he married the same year. Here he continued to reside and practice his profession till his death, May 13, 1829.
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