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 28
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 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70
In 1827 Obed Taylor put up a building on this corner and opened a store, but did not oceupy it long, and it was sold and moved away.
The house where Mason W. Morse lives was built by Dea. Wm. Batcheller. Jason Morse married a daughter of Elder Samuel Waters and bought the place of Deacon Batcheller.
Mr. Morse fell in the street near his house and died instantly. His wife died in 1877. Harriet Morse married
358
HOMES OF THE
Josiah Brown, a son of the Rev. Parley Brown of East Douglas. He was an architect and engineer, and at one time had charge at the Hoosac Tunnel bore, under the Shanleys.
Jonas Batcheller built his house in 1840. Orlando, his son, joined the army in the late war and was killed at the battle of Antietam, Sept. 17, 1862. He was a member of the fifteenth regiment, and one of the many from this part of the town who laid down their lives for their country.
RESIDENCE OF JONAS BATCHELLER.
Origen, brother of Jouas Batcheller, was a superior scholar, though he never enjoyed the advantages of a collegiate education. He was the editor of the Anti-Universalist, published at Providence, R. I. He is spoken of as a devoted Christian and very tenacious of the Orthodox faith. He was often engaged in controversy with the enemies of Christianity in this country and in Europe.
He was the author of several pamphlets in which, with earnestness and ability, he gave his views of the doctrines of grace as revealed in the Word of God.
The Howard place, where Mrs. Clarissa Williams, widow of Alpheus Williams lives, belonged to James Howard, her
359
TOWN OF SUTTON.
father, who had a large family of children, among whom was a son, whose name was Jonathan, and he had a son, who is the author of the book entitled, " The Bruised Reed."
George Case married a daughter of Mrs. Williams, who built a house near by, which was burned about 1858.
Cyrel Williams, son of Alpheus and Clarissa Williams, who now lives in the State of New York, was the owner and builder of the house near the cemetery, where Mrs. Glover lives, which is now owned by Ezekiel Thayer of East Douglas. The house is comparatively new, and took the place of the one which was considered old fifty years ago, and occupied by a family of the name of Blackmar. Among the children of this family were Rhoda, Deborah, and one or two others. Fifty years ago there was another house on the opposite side of the road.
The house where George Thompson lives was built by Russell Titus about the year 1835. It was made up from one or two small buildings which were moved together, and with some slight additions fitted up for a tenement.
Geo. Thompson married a daughter of Daniel Stockwell.
On the opposite side of the road is a house which was built by Josiah Hewett in 1849, and sold to Henry Marshall, who died here in 1876.
The next house, called the Titus house, was built by Rus- sell Titus in 1848. Mr. Titus carried on the butchering business here for a few years. He married Martha, daughter of Hammond and Lydia Hewett, and they had two daugh- ters, one of whom married Noel Clark of Uxbridge. Mr. Titus was captain of a canal boat on the Blackstone canal in 1830 or 1831.
This is the last house in Sutton on the road leading from the corner to East Douglas.
The house where `Orison, son of Hammond and Lydia Hewett lives, is the homestead built by Hammond Hewett sixty years ago. He married Lydia Pierce of Millbury, and they have had five children : Orison, Josiah, Moses, Martha and Rebeckah.
Hammond is the son of William Hewett, and brother of Eli, late of Northbridge.
360
HOMES OF THE
The last place on this road is the Alpheus Rawson place, so called forty years ago. Mr. Rawson bought it of Wel- come Whipple sixty-five years since.
Mrs. Jonathan (Whipple) Sprague was born here, but it is not positively known whether any more of Mr. W.'s children were born here. It is now in the hands of some French Canadian families.
CEMETERY.
The original cemetery in this district was set apart as a place of burial by Deacon William Batcheller, son of Rev. William. The first body buried was that of his brother Moses, who died Sept. 4, 1803, in the twenty-first year of his age. His monument has upon it the following epitaph :
" A burying-place by me's begun, Father and Mother view your son. Brethering and sister's view me too, Pale death has taken me from you. My wife and children on earth I leave, In faith that Christ will me receive, Praying that you may likewise be, Prepar'd for death to follow me."
UNION DISTRICT, No. 8.
The old house, as seen in the engraving, was built by William Davenport in 1767, and remains as first built, no part having been burnt or destroyed. The farm consisted of one hundred and seventy acres of land, received from his father, William, senior, who lived in a house that stood where Mr. Barney Hewett's now stands. William Daven- port, jr., sold his farm to a Mr. Clark and moved to Peters- ham in 1800.
Samuel Carpenter was the purchaser of a small part of the estate. He was a plow-maker by trade. The shed attached to the house was formerly used as a corn-barn. Mr. Carpenter moved it to its present location, and used it in the manufacture of wooden plows, in which business he employed several workmen. William Davenport built a saw-mill and grist-mill soon after locating on this place, perhaps as early as 1766. These stood until about 1824, when
361
TOWN OF SUTTON.
the saw-mill was taken down by Joel Lackey, then in pos- session of the place. The grist-mill was carried away by a freshet in 1838.
Mr. Lackey erected a building for the manufacture of scythes on the stream below the mills, and made scythes for a few years, then, in company with George B. Nolen, engaged in the manufacture of gun-barrels.
He sold out to Mr. Nolen in 1834. Amos Burdon is the present owner of the property.
.
DAVENPORT HOUSE, SOUTH SUTTON.
George B. Nolen married in 1826 Olive Crossman, second daughter of Stephen. Their eldest son, Horace Whipple, died in North Carolina during the war of the rebellion.
George Augustus, their second son, born Jan. 7, 1831, attended school at the brick school-house; then at Leicester, Wilbraham and Westfield, where he fitted for college. He entered Yale College in 1853, and graduated in 1857 with honor, having taken most of the prizes offered in mathematics and Eng- lish composition.
A few weeks before graduation he entered Major Skinner's school in New Haven as teacher, where he remained until Mr. Skinner's death in 1859. We quote the following from the "Obituary Record of. Graduates of Yale College."
"PRESENTED AT THE MEETING OF THE ALUMNI, JUNE 28, 1876. CLASS OF 1857.
" George Augustus Nolen was born in Sutton, Mass., Jan. 9, 1831.
"He remained in New Haven as a graduate student, until he accepted a tutorship in the college in the summer of 1860. He resigned this office in 1865, when he was appointed assistant examiner in the United States patent office.
46
362
HOMES OF THE
He entered on his duties in Jan. 1866, and at the time of his death held the position of examiner-in-chief, having been appointed to that rank by Presi- dent Grant in April 1875.
" A few weeks after this appointment he was attacked with consumption, which first manifested itself by a violent hemorrhage of the lungs on the 13th of May. He failed steadily and rapidly, and died in Washington, Aug. 17th. His wife, who had been struggling with the same disease for three years, survived him but a few hours. They left one son. In ability, integrity and courtesy no one in the patent office was his superior."
Mr. Nolen's daughters were Sabra W. and Olivia R. Sabra W. married Joseph E. Waite, Esq., now a merchant in West Brookfield.
Olivia R. married George W. Sargent of North Brook- field.
Alfred Eugene, born Dec. 25, 1845, graduated at Yale, class of 1867; was teacher for a year in the high school at Norwich, Vermont; for three years principal of the high school at Wethersfield, Connecticut, when he returned to New Haven to resume his studies, and for a year or two gave private instruction to students ; but his health failing he went to Washington, D. C., with his brother. In 1875 he came to West Brookfield with his health much impaired ; but after a year, had sufficiently recovered to be able to accept a position as principal of the high school at Winchendon. He is now principal of the high school in Brookfield.
Mr. Nolen's wife died in West Warren, June 25, 1850, when he returned to Sutton, and in 1852 married Clara Kingsbury.
The house where Amos Burdon now lives was built by himself in 1848. The barn on this place was struck by lightning the first of July, 1866, and burned with two horses. Mr. Burdon subsequently erected a fine barn on the same spot.
The old gun-shops are standing here at the dam. In 1841 Benjamin Martin commenced the manufacture of plows at this place, and for five years employed several hands. His " Eagle Plows " were in great favor among the farmers in all this part of the country and the bordering towns in Rhode Island. The works were moved to Waterford.
After Mr. Burdon bought these shops he put in saw and shingle mills, and run them for a few years; but they are not used now, though the machinery remains. Mr. Burdon came into possession of this property soon after the freshet which carried away the grist-mill.
363
TOWN OF SUTTON.
There is a beaver dam in the pond, and it is said that beavers were abundant when the town was first settled.
The house near the outlet of Swan Pond was built in 1810 by Caleb Hicks, and is now owned by George C. Allen.
The house occupied by Charles Britton was built by Joel Lackey in 1818, and sold to Alpheus Crossman.
The house where Mr. Burroughs lives was built by Geo. Dorr about 1850. Mr. Dorr moved to Lacrosse, Wisconsin. George Dorr was the son of Henry Dorr, and married a daughter of Daniel Cole.
The house where Philander Hewett lives was built by William Davenport, and his son Aaron received it from his father ; but exchanged with Jonathan Carpenter in 1835. Mr. Hewett bought it of Aaron Wakefield about 1863.
The Valentine G. Hewett place, which is in the hands of the administrators, was prior to 1810 the old school-house. William Crossman bought it, and moved it from above the George Allen place, and repaired it for his father and mother - (see genealogy) - and they lived there until his death.
Samuel Crossman had one son and two daughters by his first wife. His son Samuel enlisted in the ninth regiment, called the " bloody ninth," in the war of 1812, and was at the battle of Chippewa and Lundy's Lane, was wounded and drew a pension till the time of his death in 1870. He died in Pennsylvania.
Samuel Crossman, senior, was a soldier in the revolution, and drew a pension.
William Crossman taught school in his early days, and then kept a country store on Putnam Hill, and in East Douglas in company with Sumner Cole. He was the first postmaster of East Douglas; kept a hotel in Webster, Albany, N. Y., and Springfield, from which place he was sent to the legislature. During President Pierce's administration he was a custom-house officer. He died in Brookfield, Sept. 22, 1873, and was buried in the Howard cemetery.
The brick school-house was built in the fall of 1822, and known as the Union school-house, a part of the district
364
HOMES OF THE
being in Northbridge. Extensive repairs have been made on this house and new furniture put in. It is now one of the best in town.
Willis Thayer built the house where Barnabas Hewett lives. Mr. Hewett bought it in 1856. George Reynolds and Jonathan Sprague carried on the manufacture of broad axes here for a few years, and lived in this house. Colonel Homer B. Sprague was born here.
The trip-hammer shop has been torn down, but the saw-mill still stands, and is owned by Benjamin Burt of Woonsocket, Rhode Island.
Barnabas Hewett is the son of Timothy, and married Eliza Hewett for his first wife and had three sons, Welcome, Philander and Warren. His second wife was Miss Brigham.
Jehu Bartlett, who came from Cumberland, R. I., in 1780, once owned the place where George C. Allen lives. John Allen, who came from Mount Holly, Vt., about 1810, seems to have been the next owner. He thoroughly repaired the house, built on the ell, built also a, cider-mill, a barn, a car- penter's and blacksmith's shop. He was a carpenter by trade. John Allen had a son George, who was the father of George C .. the present owner.
The house where Amory D. Lackey lives was built by William Houghton in 1818. Mr. Houghton was a blacksmith by trade, and occupied the shop just below the dam, which was afterward a scythe manufactory. It was torn down several years ago. Amory D. Lackey married Lydia, daughter of Salmon Burdon, in 1838, and had one daughter, who.mar- ried Henry Parkhurst of Uxbridge.
The house where Deacon Salmon Burdon lived and died was built by him in 1813. The old house stood within a few feet of the present structure. John Burdon, father of Salmon, owned the farm and died here.
John Vant built the house where George W. Fletcher now lives, but nothing farther is known of him. Mr. Fletcher bought the place of Newel Lackey about 1858. He came from Northbridge.
Mr. Casey owns the house built by Augustus Thayer about 1840. After his death Rufus Young bought the place,
365
TOWN OF SUTTON.
enlarged the house and built the barn. Mr. Young married Lydia Ballou. He died here in 1857.
The house owned by Jonas Batcheller and let as a tene- ment, called the Young or Waterman place, was built by Thomas Axtell, who had the initials of his name put on the chimney, where they are distinctly seen at the present time. Mr. Angel bought the place, and in connection with his son- in-law, Captain Young, carried on the farm. Captain Young followed a sea-faring life for a number of years after being married. His children were Joseph, Julia, Mary, Abigail, Rufus Smith and Lucinda.
Joseph married Miss Euphemia Taft and had two children : William and Mary. Julia married Knight Waterman and had three daughters : Susan, Amanda and Nettie, and a son, Oscar. Mary married Jonas Batcheller. See genealogy.
The house owned by Horace W. Chamberlain was built by Deacon Reuben Tisdale. Mr. Crossman says of Deacon Tisdale, " He was treasurer of the town, and ran away with the town's money and Deacon William Batcheller's wife." Soon after Mr. Tisdale left, Welcome and John Whipple bought the place. Deacon John Whipple moved from Petersham and opened a public house, which he kept until about 1825. Deacon John Whipple was born in Cumberland February 12, 1748 ; married May 24, 1770; Eunice Ellis, born May 9, 1751. Children : Welcome, born Sept. 12, 1772; Olive, July 12, 1775; Jabez, March 15, 1779; Nancy, April 27, 1781 ; John, Dec. 31, 1783 ; Martin, April 17, 1786. Welcome married Amy Whipple. Jabez settled in New Salem and married. John married Patty Sibley, daughter of Nathan. Nancy married Nahum Prentice. Olive married Stephen Crossman. Welcome Whipple, Esq. came here to take care of the farm and his father and mother about 1825 or 1826, and remained here until his death. His children were: Milton D., Cullen, Justin, Virgil, Mary Ann, Homer and Ardalisa. Some of these Whipples were great inventors. Cullen was engaged at the screw factory in Providence for several years.
Jonathan Sprague, who married Mary A. Whipple, Oct. 26, 1826, took the farm in 1843 and cared for his wife's
366
HOMES OF THE
father and mother until their death. In 1867 Mr. Chamber- lain bought it and removed from Whitin's here. The small house just below Mr. Chamberlain's, and owned by him, was built by Willis Thayer. Stephen Drake lived here for a few years ; also his brother, Albee, who moved to New York state.
Mrs. Hilton built the house where she resides, in 1877. The house on the same spot put up by William Norbury was burned in March 1876. The old house, which had been occupied by Noah Crossman for many years, was torn down in 1832. Mr. Crossman and wife both died here.
On the place near the woods stood an old house which was taken down by A. J. Bryant in 1868. The barn is standing and is owned by Lewis Hopkins of Linwood. In 1778 and '79 Elijah Crossman lived in the house, and in 1784 moved to a house then standing a few rods east of where George Fletcher lives, the cellar hole of which is still to be seen, though trees of a large growth cover the whole ground. After Elijah left the place, Noah, a brother, occupied it. He made wooden ware and measures. The old kettle and steam box he used for steaming and bending the wood for measures were here a few years ago.
Subsequently Luther Crossman, a son of Noah, lived here for many years.
The house off the road was occupied by Samuel Crossman in 1780, but who built it is not known. In 1828 John Allen lived in this house, and a few years later Mr. Edward Norbury owned it, and lived here until he went to Illinois with ยท his son in 1875.
The house where Mrs. Nelson Fairbanks lives was built by Joshua Lackey in 1812. He also built a saw-mill on the south side of the river. About the same time Matthew Lackey, a brother, built on the north side and put in a grist- mill and a carding machine, which was the only one in this region for many years. Every vestige of the mill is gone, and Whitin's reservoir covers the ruins.
Just a little north of the place where those old mills stood are two old houses, in one of which Mr. Nelson Nicholas lives. The other, or what there is left of it, is owned by
367
TOWN OF SUTTON.
Mr. Prescott. The main part of the house was burned in 1876. This place belonged to Stephen Cole, the blind basket-maker.
OLD STONE DISTRICT, NO. 9.
Benjamin Wakefield first settled on the Samuel Hall place. He was followed by Mr. Joseph Mosely. Enos Armsby and his son Silas were the next owners. They built the small
THE OLD STONE SCHOOL HOUSE.
house south of the road. Silas Armsby enlarged and repaired the Mosely house, soon after the central turnpike was built, with the intention of keeping tavern, but sold to Asa Hall, who carried on the brush-making business there several years. After the death of his wife he transferred the place to his son Samuel, the present owner. Asa Hall married for his first wife Alethina Parkman. Miss Sarah Parkman, her sister, a wealthy and benevolent lady, lived here several years.
368
HOMES OF THE
Mr. Silas Armsby had one son, James H., and five daugh- ters : one married a Davis ; one married Silas Dudley, and lives in Mendon; one married Dr. Alden March, the cele- brated surgeon of Albany.
James H. Armsby went to Albany and studied medicine and surgery with his brother-in-law March. He went into the study of anatomy with a minute- ness that astonished his fellow students; for, while they were satisfied with the ordinary hackings of the dissecting-room, he worked a whole month industriously upon a single finger, determined to know the mechanism of the human system to a microscopic nicety.
He was connected with the medical college in Albany for twenty-five years. He died there, highly distinguished and much lamented, Dec. 3, 1875.
He was born in this house Dec. 31, 1809. Remembering his native town, he made several valuable donations to the Sutton library.
Enos and Silas Armsby came to Sutton from Leicester. They were proba- bly natives of Medfield or Franklin.
Mr. Silas Armsby was a member of the first Baptist church, and a constant attendant. He died in Mendon, aged eighty-two. His wife died two years later at the same age.
From an obituary of Dr. Armsby, published in the Albany Evening Journal the day of his death, we make the following extracts :
"Dr. Armsby's early years were spent on his father's farm (in Sutton). His only educational advantages were derived from the public schools of his native town, and from a brief period in the Worcester and Monson Academies. But his love of study was gratified by the facilities afforded by the Public Library of his native town .*
"In 1830, when in his twenty-first year, he came to this city and entered as a student with Dr. Alden March, who was then in active practice and the foremost physician and surgeon of the city. He was an earnest student, and gave early indications of the eminent talent and skill which have marked his professional life.
"His first public service was the circulation of a petition while yet a stu- dent, for the establishment of a hospital and medical college in Albany, and from that day to this he has never wearied in his efforts to advance the educa- tional, religious and benevolent interests of his adopted home. As a student he evinced special fondness for anatomical and physiological studies, and manifested great skill in the preparation and arrangement of anatomical specimens ; so much so that Dr. March made him his chief assistant during his term of study, and he occasionally supplied his place in the lecture room.
"In 1832 he was made the resident physician of the cholera hospital, and took part in the post mortem examination of the first cholera patient that died of the disease in this city, making careful dissections of the parts most involved in the disease, specimens of which are still preserved in the college museum.
"After graduating at the Vermont Academy of Medicine in 1833, with the highest honors of his class, he became teacher in a private medical school in this city. This school, in which he was associated with the late Dr. March, was known as ' March and Armsby's School,' and was continued until the
* Library of district school.
369
TOWN OF SUTTON ..
foundation of the Albany Medical College. Within a year of his graduation. the Vermont Academy recalled her student and made him professor of anat- omy and physiology.
" After the establishment of the Albany Medical College he devoted himself heart and soul to its interests, taking up his residence in the building; and soon after resigning his Vermont professorship, gave his entire time to the arrangement of the museum and the manifold details of organization. We need scarcely add that during all the succeeding years of the institution he remained its steadfast friend, ever laboring. with unflagging zeal for its advancement. In 1839 he made his first visit to Europe, and inspected all the leading medical institutions, hospitals and museums of the old world. He brought back with him a choice collection of specimens, with which he enriched the college. He made a second visit of a similar nature to Europe in 1845. In 1841 he opened an office in this city, dividing his time with his duties at the college.
"Dr. Armsby was a warm and intelligent friend of art in all its manifesta- tions, and in him the brotherhood of artists always had a sympathetic friend.
" His connection with the Albany hospital was whole hearted. From the time it was opened in 1848 until his death, he was its untiring friend in season and out of season. The largest portion of the funds that have been raised for its support were secured through his personal efforts. His efforts to secure the necessary endowments, and the events which attended and followed the inauguration, when Edward Everett delivered his great oration, are familiar to all our citizens and need not be rehearsed here.
"In 1861 Dr. Armsby was appointed United States consul at Naples, a position which he filled with honor to himself and the government. It is interesting to note he gave the first popular scientific lecture ever delivered in Naples.
"Dr. Armsby was married in 1841 to Anna L. Hawley, daughter of the late Hon. Gideon Hawley, by whom he had one son and one daughter. The wife and daughter died in 1846, and six years later the doctor married Miss Sarah Winne. She and one son, Gideon, survive him. Dr. Armsby was the frequent recipient of honorary degrees from our American colleges and other institu- tions of learning. In 1841 Rutgers gave him her A. M., and in the same year the Yale National Historical Society made him an honorary member. In 1836 he was elected member of the National Historical Society of New Orleans, and about the same time Rochester University conferred on him the degree of master of arts.
" In his address to the American Association for the Advancement of Science, in this city, in 1855, Dr. B. A. Gould spoke truthfully of Dr. Armsby when he said :
"And now I come to a name whose sympathetic influence calls up all the generous feelings of the heart - a name which I cannot lightly utter, for it belongs to a man whom to know is to love, and to mention is to praise. It is his whose agency is evident in all good works, whose thoughtfulness is coll- spicuous in all kindly action, to whom is in great part due the establishment of many a noble institution in this city of his adoption and his love, forming an imperishable monument of his public spirit ; his whose efforts were among the most untiring in behalf of the university; his whose mild and gentle persuasiveness, whose modest, retiring, disinterested zeal conferred on this association a priceless boon; when, under the form of asking one, he per- suaded it to disregard all precedents by returning, after the expiration of a
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.