USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > Sutton > History of the town of Sutton, Massachusetts, from 1876 to 1950, Volume II > Part 59
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THE MANCHAUG MILLS Facts assembled by Att'y J. Fred Humes and G. L. Stockwell
In 1876, when the first volume of the History of Sutton was published, the Manchaug Mills were owned by the Manchaug Company, a corporation which included Lewis Dexter and B. B. and R. Knight. The Manchaug Company sold to B. B. and R. Knight, Inc., a Rhode Island corporation, on October 1, 1918. The Rhode Island corporation, October 1, 1920, sold to a Massachusetts corpora- tion of the same name. April 26, 1926, B. B. and R. Knight, Inc., which owned the three Manchaug mills and most of the village, became bankrupt. While the bankruptcy proceedings were pending, the Knight Finance Corporation was or- ganized and, on August 12, 1926, the Trustees in Bankruptcy conveyed to the new corporation all the real estate in Manchaug, formerly owned by the bank- rupt company.
In August 1927, the Knight Finance Corporation sold, by auction, the Num- ber One Mill and Number Two Mill and seventy-eight houses. No bid was made on Number Three Mill. The Number One Mill was sold to Consolidated Tex- tile Mills. They operated it a short time and then sold, by auction to Litchman and Brichell of Providence, R. I. The Town of Sutton took the Number One Mill on a tax title and sold it to Hayward-Schuster Woolen Co. They sold the main mill, in 1948, to Whitin Machine Co., who own it at the present time. The storehouse was retained by Hayward-Schuster Woolen Co. and they still own it.
The Number Two Mill was sold by auction, in 1927, to Uxbridge Realty Co. They, in turn, sold it to B. Cohen & Son of Chicago, in 1929. They had a rag- sorting business, obtaining clippings from large suit manufacturing establish- ments. The material came in huge bales, weighing from 600 pounds to half a ton. Tucker Dam went out, March 18, 1936, and washed away part of the Num- ber Two Mill and two bridges and spread the huge water-soaked bales of rags away down the course of the flood waters.
In 1938, the hurricane razed the rest of the mill. George Plante bought what was left of the ruins and the office building for non-payment of taxes which were assessed to Julius, Isadore and Philip Cohen. George Plante is the present owner. The office building is now the Manchaug Post Office.
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HISTORY of SUTTON
The Number Three Mill was sold by the Knight Finance Corporation to Waucantuck Mills, woolen manufacturers, October 17, 1927. They sold it to Louis Hvizdos, September 25, 1929. Hvizdos sold it to Salisbury Mills, Inc., fine woolen manufacturers. Salisbury Mills, Inc. sold the property to Winfield Schus- ter, May 8, 1935. Woolen material was manufactured there and the mill was completely repaired. Winfield Schuster sold the property to Manchaug Mills, Inc., July 15, 1935, and Manchaug Mills to H. T. Hayward Co., May 17, 1939. In 1944, the Hayward and Schuster Woolen Mills were consolidated and the Hayward-Schuster Woolen Mills, Inc. sold the wooden addition of Number Three Mill to Sarah L. Goldstein, on May 20, 1948. Number Three Mill, proper, was sold by Hayward-Schuster Woolen Mills, Inc. to Aveline Cavedon of North Smithfield, R. I. and Albert Messier of Woonsocket, June 15, 1948.
Subsequently, on May 31, 1949, Albert Messier sold his half interest in Num- ber Three Mill to Cossette Grise of Ware, and on June 2, 1949, Aveline Cave- don sold his half interest to Cossette Grise. Sarah L. Goldstein, who owned the wooden addition, also sold her property to Cossette Grise, September 22, 1949, making Cossette Grise sole owner of Number Three Mill and the wooden annex. Thousands of chickens are housed in this property at present.
WATER DISTRICT OF MANCHAUG Facts assembled by G. L. Stockwell
For many years the mill companies had provided a water supply for the mills and nearly all of the houses in Manchaug, the water coming principally from Stevens Pond. After most of the manufacturing left Manchaug, it became neces- sary to have new arrangements for the village supply of water.
At last, the Manchaug Water District was organized, June 14, 1949. It was voted to borrow $125,000 and to give notes for the amount. On August 27, 1949, three water commissioners were elected and the construction of a water main, with hydrants, was begun. This operation is practically complete and wells have been drilled. One well on the Bessette Heirs property is producing, by test, 300 gallons of water per minute.
MAIL SERVICE
The Sutton History of 1876 stated that Franklin Sibley "has been mail-carrier from West Sutton to Millbury for several years." Following his retirement, Charles F. Mack continued the service for three years in the 1880s until Bowers Davis took over for a longer period. Hollis Sherman, who lived on a little rise in the valley between West Sutton and Putnam Hill, next engaged in the work and was carrier for a number of years. Mr. Lemire succeeded him for a few years about 1897 and was followed by Walter I. Acker, employing Henry Balcome as substitute part of the time.
During these years, there was a Post Office in the store at West Sutton and at Sutton Center. The drivers made two round trips daily to Millbury from West Sutton via Sutton Center. In warm weather, they left West Sutton at 7 A.M.,
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stopping at the Center, to and from Millbury, returning about 11:30 A.M. Tak- ing a fresh pair of horses, they left around 1:30 P.M., following the same route and returning about 5:30 P.M. In the cool weather, they left at seven-thirty in the morning, returning near noon; leaving again at two in the afternoon, they returned at six in the evening. Should blizzards occur, as in March 1888, the drivers attempted but one trip a day, as there was no snow-shoveling equipment in those days; only man-power, which kept the shovelers busy and gave them heavy exercise on such occasions, to make the roads passable. The drivers had a good-sized bus or coach, so they were prepared for passengers, whom they charged a fee of thirty-five cents for a one-way trip; also they did any express work which, on occasion, came their way.
This Coach or "Stage," as it was called, was a most democratic conveyance, accommodating rich and poor alike in the days before the automobile. It afforded the passengers opportunities for discussion of the happenings of the day and for the exchange of local gossip. As it rocked and rumbled along over the country road, it also served to introduce informally many strangers and visitors coming to the town. Through its windows one often caught beautiful vistas of the countryside. It was a great convenience to travelers and was missed by many, after it was discontinued.
On Monday, June 4, 1900, the Government introduced the present method of delivering country mail-Rural Free Delivery. The Post Offices at West Sutton and Sutton Center were closed. A few days before this system was in force, the carrier, Joseph F. Jacques, who had been appointed to Route 2, which covered West Sutton, as a part of his scheduled route, went over his line of travel, calling on all the families to whom he would deliver mail, to obtain the names of the individuals in such families and thus familiarize himself with his future patrons. Arthur B. Putnam was appointed to Route 1.
The Worcester Telegram, May 25, 1900, published this item, "Carriers have qualified for the work in $500 bonds each. The salary of the men will be at the rate of $400 a year till July, and after that they live in hopes of $500. Jacques' route is scheduled at 22 miles, against 23 for Putnam."
Mr. Jacques continued on Route 2 until the fall of 1927, when he was trans- ferred to Millbury as carrier. C. Clarence Hutchinson then received the assign- ment which he still holds. Arthur Putnam served at odd periods covering many years. Others on Route 1 were Walter King, George Clark, Charles Harwood and Fayette King. Fred Cressey followed, in 1921, and left to become carrier in Millbury with Joseph Jacques, in 1927. James O. Dudley received the appoint- ment, Oct. 1, 1927, and has continued until the present. Francis H. King is his substitute. Each route now covers thirty-five miles.
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HISTORY of SUTTON
ENTRANCE TO CHASM
PURGATORY
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INDUSTRIES and RESERVATIONS
PURGATORY CHASM STATE RESERVATION
By John C. Dudley
Purgatory Chasm, with its rugged gorge and fantastic caves and crags, which has been so well described in Vol. I of the History of Sutton, has long held a fascination for local pleasure seekers.
This area, however, was in private hands, and could be reached only by the most primitive of roads, which conditions made its enjoyment by the general public out of the question.
Realizing these conditions, and also what a public asset was here, Mr. Herbert L. Ray, a member of the State Legislature, determined to make this area a pub- lic park.
So successful were his efforts, that the Purgatory Chasm State Reservation was established under the Acts of 1919, Chapter 327. This act created the Purgatory Chasm State Reservation Commission, consisting of three members, all of whom shall be residents of Worcester County, and to be appointed by the Governor. Mr. Ray served as a member of this commission, and as superintendent of the reservation until his death in 1941.
The commission was authorized to acquire land for the reservation, in the Town of Sutton, by purchase, gift or otherwise, and the title of said land was to be and remain in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. For the purpose of the Act, a state appropriation of $5000.00 was authorized .
It was provided that the Commission shall have the same powers to acquire land as those given to the Metropolitan Park Commission, "and shall be vested with full power and authority to care for; protect and maintain the same, in be- half of the Commonwealth."
The Act also provides that the necessary expense for the care and maintenance of the Reservation shall be assessed upon the County of Worcester.
The major part of the land in the new park was early acquired, at a nominal price, from the Whitin Machine Works, and some small parcels have been pur- chased from other owners.
The Whitin Machine Works donated an additional ten acres, in 1937, and, in 1950, Mr. and Mrs. John C. Dudley gave the seventy-acre "John H. Dudley Memorial Forest," in memory of their son, killed in action over Sicily, in 1943.
(A Memorial Trail has been laid out through the area, in honor of the other members of the crew who were killed while on the same mission: Captain Paul S. Julienne, New Orleans; 2nd Lieut. Louis G. White, Louisville, Kentucky; 2nd Lieut. Orval Graham, Oxford, Colorado; Sgt. Raymond G. Meyer, Springfield, New Jersey; T/Sgt. Marion E. Brown, Haxtun, Colorado; S/Sgt. Vern F. Fuka, Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin; S/Stg. Clifford Fitch, Syracuse, New York, killed on a previous mission; S/Sgt. John W. DeMille, Ashland, Oregon and the two living members of the crew who were hospitalized on the day of the fatal mis- sion, T/Sgt. Thomas Conlon of Manchester, Massachusetts and Captain Hyman Goldberg, Norwichtown, Connecticut.)
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HISTORY of SUTTON
CAVE
PURGATORY
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INDUSTRIES and RESERVATIONS
JOHN H DUDLEY MEMORIAL FOREST
THIS RECREATION AREA IS DEDICATED TO THE OUTDOOR LIFE OF THE AMERICAN BOY AND IS GIVEN BY HIS PARENTS IN MEMORY OF
S/SCT. JOHN HOLBROOK DUDLEY AERIAL GUNNER U. S. ARMY AIR FORCE BORN, MARCH 8, 1920 KILLED IN ACTION - SICILY MAY 10. 1943
TABLET JOHN H. DUDLEY FOREST
This area is dedicated to "The Outdoor Life of the American Boy," and is intended to be used primarily as a camping site and recreation ground for Boy Scout and other youth organizations.
Many gifts of equipment and objects of historic interest have been received from Sutton, Northbridge and Uxbridge residents.
Among such gifts are the old stone well curb from the site of the first Sutton Town Meeting, by Mr. Fred B. Clark, and the Indian mortar, from Lackey Dam, by the Whitin Machine Works. Also the Lockstone from the old Blackstone Canal, by Mrs. Caroline Molleur, and the ancient stone watering trough from the family of Mrs. Ethel Sherry. This watering trough is the handiwork of Erastus O. Benson, the builder of the triple arch stone bridge at Lackey Dam.
Outstanding among the donors, is the late commissioner Charles Roote of Uxbridge, whose liberality made possible the building of the stone rest rooms and numerous other improvements.
The Town of Sutton, Worcester County and the Commonwealth have co- operated in providing first-class roads leading to and from the reservation, and over these highways, annually come many thousands, to enjoy this recreation area.
The first board of Reservation Commissioners was made up of Josiah Lasell of Northbridge, Arthur E. Seagraves of Uxbridge and Herbert L. Ray of Sutton.
Present (1950) commissioners are: Chairman Anton G. Kesseli, Mrs. Frances S. Lasell and Mrs. Judith T. Dempsey. Other members who have served on this
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HISTORY of SUTTON
"THE PULPIT"
PURGATORY
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INDUSTRIES and RESERVATIONS
commission are Dr. William M. Johnson, Charles Roote, Dr. Couillard, Willard Burnap, Arthur W. Dempsey, John Whitin Lasell, John C. Dudley and Paul Whitin, 5th.
Captain Lasell, who had also served on the Wachusett Mountain Reservation Commission, resigned to enter the U. S. Army Air Force and was killed in Burma, December 1, 1943.
Following the death of Mr. Ray in 1941, Governor Saltonstall appointed John C. Dudley to serve on the Commission. Mr. Dudley served as Commissioner and Superintendent until 1943, when he resigned from the Commission, but con- tinued as superintendent until his retirement in 1949. He was succeeded by the present superintendent, Mr. E. Wesley Marble.
The Reservation contains 180 acres, and offers, in addition to its natural at- tractions, the facilities of playground equipment, fireplaces and picnic tables.
Three times tragedy has struck at visitors to this park. Once in 1876 when Mrs. George Prentice fell from the pinnacle known as "Lover's Leap," and again at the same spot in 1934, when Miss Thordis Tapper, an 18 year-old Worcester High School student, fell to instant death. In 1930, Simon Such of Northbridge, dead from a bullet wound, was found in a cave, his pistol lying be- side him.
The devastating hurricane of 1938 laid low most of the towering pines and hemlocks, but planned planting and natural seeding is restoring this beauty.
Early settlers found this area to be very attractive to great flocks of wild pigeons, which fed on the acorns of the chestnut oak, and unbelievable numbers of these birds were taken in pigeon-nets. The wild pigeon is gone, but the chest- nut oak still bears abundantly.
THE MERRILL POND SYSTEM
Some of the earliest settlers of the town of Sutton made their homes in what is now called the Eight Lots District. A tiny village, later called "Beanville," was built near a mill, close by the present Eight Lots schoolhouse. Jonathan Putnam is reported to have owned the grist and lumber mill and his power came from the water in several ponds, extending at least a mile behind his main dam. Very heavy and strong abutments, which have met the challenge of two hundred years of frost and heat, have stood as a monument to the skill and engineering ability of those early settlers. The circular wheel pit was made fifteen feet deep with a capstone, nine inches thick and eight feet long! No tractors in those days.
After the mill was abandoned, the ponds were used for raising meadow hay. Long ditches were dug the length of the area so the hay could be harvested more easily.
It was in the fall of 1868 that Rev. Fred N. Knapp with James W. and Henry S. Stockwell, as equal partners, bought the so-called Putnam water privilege and adjacent land for cranberry culture. The following spring they began to prepare the meadows for that purpose. The long ditches, which had been dug the length of the ponds for the meadow hay, were now useful, for the water could be raised
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HISTORY of SUTTON
ARTHUR C. MERRILL
to protect the cranberries on a frosty night and drawn off the next day. Volume I of the Sutton History tells us that Rev. Dr. Thomas Hill, President of Har- vard College, and Fred Law Olmstead of New York joined the company with equal interests. The organization was incorporated with Dr. Hill as president, Rev. Dr. Knapp as clerk and J. W. Stockwell as treasurer and business agent. The berries turned out to be of a very fine quality.
During the Civil War, cranberries had brought fabulous prices in camps and hospitals and, like the Eight Lots project, many other cranberry bogs had been started in other parts of the country so that there was overproduction and the resulting low price, making the Sutton business almost a non-money-making ven- ture. This caused the abandonment of the enterprise and a dissolution of the Company. James Stockwell then became the sole owner of the property and continued the business alone, for a time.
Arthur Merrill, scientific fish culturist and Superintendent of the Wilkinson- ville Fish Hatchery, had been raising trout for many years and had established several other fish hatcheries in the State.
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INDUSTRIES and RESERVATIONS
After World War I, the Department of Fisheries and Game decided to start a project of raising pond fish or species which could live in warmer water, un- like trout, which must have cold water conditions.
This type of fish culture was an entirely new venture and Supt. Merrill was consulted and later commissioned, to make the necessary experiments. He first sought and found what he thought was a suitable location-the Stockwell ponds. Mr. Stockwell was very co-operative and, in 1921, that property and real estate, up to eighty acres, in the vicinity, was acquired for the breeding of pond fish. Although the methods he knew best, for raising trout and bass, were not adapt- able for warm water fish, Mr. Merrill, in his quiet and scientific way, met the new challenge well. He sensed that the ditching for meadow hay and grading for cranberry culture made excellent conditions for breeding purposes for the warm water fish. One principal consideration was the good drainage for taking out the successive crops of fish. The old ponds were restored and tracts of land were added where suitable sites for dams would create good flowage, until a consider- able part of the Sucker Brook valley, extending from the Oxford Line almost to Lake Singletary, a distance of about two and a half miles, was occupied. Six ponds were completed, beginning with the Arnold Dam. Supt. Merrill super- vised a reforesting project, also, on the surrounding open land and, today, the trees in the area are a joy to behold.
This pond-fish enterprise is regarded as pioneer work in fish culture because there is no record that the same plan and methods had previously been carried out anywhere, and when the Civilian Conservation Corps was established for work in the State Forests, in 1933, Mr. Merrill's methods served as a pattern for an important part of that work. The construction of such ponds for fish-rearing, fishing and recreation was on the work program in State forests where suitable sites could be found. From 1933 to 1941, twenty-four principal and nine minor ponds were constructed in eighteen of the State Forests as a result of Supt. Merrill's experiments.
Among the species put into the Sutton ponds at first, were perch, pout and sunfish. Bluegills from Western Pennsylvania were later added.
In the Fall of the year, the ponds were lowered and the fish were directed through a large culvert into the old wheel pit, where the fish were sorted. They were then taken to the Wilkinsonville Hatchery and distributed to different ponds in the State. Mr. Michael O'Mara and Axel Loff were Mr. Merrill's assist- ants in this early project and Mr. O'Mara is now Superintendent of the two Sutton Hatcheries and still continues this pond fish work.
Mr. O'Mara states that, at present, the Merrill Pond System raises large mouth bass, pickerel, pouts and yellow perch. They are sorted around the middle of October when the water is about fifty degrees. Approximately 250,000 fish are distributed all over the State from Cape Cod to the Berkshires. The requests from clubs or citizens are sent to the main office of the Department of Fisheries and Game in Boston and orders for distribution are sent to Mr. O'Mara from there.
When the fish are sorted, about 50,000 fingerlings are returned to the ponds and the following year they have usually grown to seven or eight inches in length. The pickerel measure sixteen inches at the age of a year. Of course, enough fish are returned to the ponds for breeders, and for next year's finger- lings.
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HISTORY of SUTTON
At the Wilkinsonville Hatchery, 10,000 trout are distributed yearly. The brook, brown and rainbow varieties are raised and go to Central Worcester County, Essex and Middlesex Counties. There are three other hatcheries in Western Massachusetts, Palmer, Montagne and Sunderland and two on the Cape at Sand- wich and E. Sandwich.
Arthur Merrill, the first full-time employe of the Mass. Division of Fisheries and Game, retired, October 23, 1941, when he reached the age of seventy. He was known to thousands of Massachusetts fishermen, not only as a scientific expert, but as having a unique personality. He was a sensitive, unobtrusive gentle- man, quiet in speech and manner and an exceedingly intelligent student. He wrote informative articles as Assistant Editor of the "Voice of Sportsmen."
He had a great love for beauty. It was often expressed in his plantings of trees and flowers. As a hobby, he raised many seedlings and felt a keen delight when a neighbor would accept the gift of some of his choicest plants. At Easter, a large pot of daffodils, tulips and other colorful spring flowers gave testimony to his accurate planning during the preceding months.
Before coming to Massachusetts, Mr. Merrill was employed by the State of Maine for over ten years in fishculture on Atlantic and Landlock salmon. He was appointed Superintendent of the Sutton Fish Hatchery, the first of its kind, in 1898. The work was then largely in the experimental stage, and under his supervision, he saw the Hatchery grow and expand in activities. He himself be- came a respected consultant in all parts of the State and suppiled assistance and guidance in fish culture and gave advice concerning new-pond construction for stock purposes in Massachusetts until his retirement, in 1941. Mr. Merrill has recently died and a fitting tribute to his memory is the new name for the Eight Lots Ponds-The Merrill Pond System.
SUTTON CEMETERIES
The proprietors or owners of the tract of land, granted for the township of Sutton, early made provision for a burial ground as shown in their records of the year 1732:
"Voted that the six acres formerly appropriated by the Proprietors for build- ing the meeting-house thereon and for a training field and burying place bounded as followeth, viz. Southerly upon Mr. Hall's lott No. 18, Westerly on town road, Northerly upon the county road, and Easterly part upon the School lott and upon undivided land, should be put on record."
According to Mr. Humes, the tract was set apart probably as early as 1719, as the meeting house was built in that year. The town road mentioned was one that existed and was deeded to the owners of the present Hastings' property, below the cemetery, in 1793.
The Town Records of 1754 stated that a committee was appointed to "Let or Lease out ye Burying place to mr David Hall Jun. for a number of years." The "Burying place" referred to is described as that "near ye first parish Meeting- House, Containing by Istemation, Two acres, be ye Same more or less."
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INDUSTRIES and RESERVATIONS
The lease provided that "if ye s'd David Hall, his Heires and Assigns, shall for and during ye space of seventeen years from ye date hereof freely and with- out Molestation Injoye all ye priviledge of herbege and pasturidge of s'd Land not plowing any of It up, nor turning any Swine thare on, and alowing Liberty to all Persons to Bury thair Dead with in its Limets and that, In Consideration of ye afore s'd herbage and pasterage, ye s'd David Hall his heirs and assignes doth oblige himself to Inclose ye s'd Land with a good Stone wall four foot high, well proportioned; that is to say, to fence ye out-sides there-of bounding upon ye Training field or Road, with a good gate for passing and Repassing on funeral ocations. S'd gate to be Collored Read; and that ye s'd David Hall make one half of ye fence adjoyning to other Lands in good stone wall four feet high."
The above references show that the cemetery at Sutton Center was the first burial ground owned by the town.
LIST OF CEMETERIES IN SUTTON Prepared by John F. Freeland for the History
DISTRICT No. 1
Waters and Goffe Tomb. Near Whittier Farm. Town owned.
Burial Place on Sylvester Farm.
West Sutton Cemetery. Town owned. (Accepted, March 17, 1913.)
Quinn Burial Place. On Freeland Hill. Two graves. One inscription, A.D. 1848.
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