USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > Worcester > Random recollections of Worcester, Mass., 1839-1843. Being remarks made at a meeting of the Worcester Society of Antiquity held June 3rd, 1884 > Part 3
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On the corner of Main and Pleasant streets was the estate of Nathaniel Paine, Judge of Probate for the County of Worcester thirty-five years. The house, which was removed in 1843-4 to Salem street, where it now is, was a large square building, shingled on the outside, the front door being in the center. At the rear was a long extension, in which was an old-time kitchen, a large open fire place with its iron crane being conspicuous therein ; back of this came the wash room, etc. In the rear of this was the wood- shed, long enough, I should think, to make a good bowling alley, then came the corn and grain house, and on the south side next to Pleasant street, the barn, which was about where the Second Baptist Church now stands. Back of this was the orchard and vegetable garden, extending nearly up to Chestnut street. The house was surrounded by shade trees ; in front, I remember, were large butternuts, and on the south side, two immense mulberry trees, while on Pleasant street, along the whole line of the lot, were
* This was the first complete iron front building erected in New England.
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buttonwoods. On the corner was a small one-story building, used as an office by Judge Paine, which after his death was for a short time occupied by a William Jones as a barber's shop. It was on Judge Paine's garden fence, on Pleasant street, that, fifty or sixty years ago, the old Fire Society kept one of their long ladders for use in case of fire. These ladders were occasionally borrowed by builders when any especially high building was to be constructed, as was the case when the first Worcester Bank block on Main street was erected in 1804 .*
My remembrance of my grandfather, though somewhat indistinct, is, that he was quite tall and very straight, of a florid complexion, and rather a stern and dignified appearance. He used to wear a long white neck handkerchief wound several times about his neck, and a long, light colored surtout with two or three capes, all of which was very impressive to my youthful mind.
I have already spoken of the American Temperance House at the north corner of Main and Foster streets. Near the south corner we should have found a two-story wooden building, (formerly owned and occupied by John W. Stiles as a dwelling house) with an ell part projecting out to Foster street. In this ell part, with an entrance from Foster street, were rooms up stairs occupied in 1839- 40 by Jabez Bigelow, wire worker and weaver, who was afterwards in this part of the building on Norwich street, to which place it was removed when the erection of the Universalist church was decided upon. It now forms a part of the building occupied by George H. Clark and Henry W. Eddy. Mr. Samuel Wilmarth, one of the first engineers of the Boston and Worcester railroad, also lived for some time in the second story of the Stiles house. There were two stores in this building, with entrances on Main street, the first being occupied by Henry Scott, the colored barber ; and in 1839- 40 Nathan Harkness (for many years City bill poster) kept a cake and confectionery store in the south side. This last named store was, a year or two later, occupied by Simeon Thompson as a news-
* The Paine house was occupied for a short time after Mr. Charles Paine (son of the Judge) left it in 1841, by Joseph Lovell and Charles H. Rice.
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paper agency, and for the sale of fruit and confectionery .* Here he sold the Olive Branch, Boston Notion, Brother Jonathan, Yankee Nation and other papers whose names were familiar forty years ago. Mr. A. M. Driscoll, in the watchmaking and jewelry business, was for a year or two in the store with Mr. Thompson.
Next south, across the passage way to the depot, was the hat and cap store of Levi Clapp, it being on the same spot as that now occupied by his son, F. A. Clapp, who continues the business. In this building was also the store of Charles C. Clapp (shoe findings), and S. P. Fitch, who had bought out James H. Wall, in the boot and shoe business. The next building, a small wooden one, was occupied about 1840 by James H. Wall for a short time, and then by William Coe, the druggist, who had removed from the opposite side of the street. In the second story of this store was John Warden, the tailor, about 1840-41.
Across another passage way to the depot, was the grocery store of E. F. Dixie (previously occupied by Benj. Butman in the same business) ; he was succeeded in this store by Caleb Newcomb, in the hardware, stove and tinware trade. The next store south on Main street was, in 1838, occupied by H. Sabin, Jr., in the crock- ery and glass ware trade. He was succeeded, in January, 1839, by Leonard (S. S.) & Tyler (J. B.), hatters, who, in February, 1840, dissolved partnership, J. B. Tyler & Co. continuing the busi- ness, the company being J. H. Knights. Mr. Leonard had started his Boston and Worcester express in August, 1840, with his head- quarters in the store of J. B. Tyler & Co. ; and his son, Gen.S. H. Leonard, sold papers and periodicals at the same place.
Next was a passage way leading to the livery stable of Nahum Parker, and then a small wooden building erected by E. F. Dixie, where in 1840-41 Lakin & Bemis manufactured and sold boots and shoes. On the corner of Main and Mechanic streets was a two-story wooden building, known as the Denny house ; this was occupied at the time of the fire of May 30, 1841, which de- stroyed this and the next two buildings north, by Francis W. Eaton
* Mr. Thompson had previously been in a store near the Central Exchange, and was agent for Harnden & Co.'s Express.
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& Co.,* tailors, and J. P. Southgate & Co.'s shoe and leather store, the company being Solomon Trask. Blanchard & Lesure, tailors, were in the north store of this building early in 1840. In May, 1838, Mr. Southgate and James H. Wall formed a copartnership and had a store in this building ; they were succeeded there in February, 1839, by W. D. Lewis, merchant tailor. At the time of the fire, a Mr. Mentzer had a victualling cellar in the basement, which two years earlier had been occupied by Mr. A. Thompson, who, in the Spy of December, 1839, advertises that he has taken the cellar at the corner of Main and Mechanic streets, "where may be found at all times, lots of stuff to gratify the taste of the epicure, and give vigor to the faint and weary." What this "stuff" was we are left to im- agine, but the eleven o'clock callers of that day could have prob- ably spoken from experience.
The fire of 1841 was a destructive one, and besides the build- ings I have named as burnt, that of Mr. Dixie very narrowly es- caped. Our highly esteemed fellow citizen, Henry W. Miller, was Chief Engineer of the Fire Department at the time of this fire, and the late Osgood Bradley was one of his assistants. A new block was erected on the corner by George Bowen, which was also de- stroyed by fire in May, 1844, the occupants then being E. H. Bowen & Co., Perkins & Flanders, Lakin & Bemis, A. P. Lesure, and Tenney (J. A.) & Rice (Charles), the last named firm having a restaurant in the basement of the north store.
At the south corner of Mechanic street we should find a small, one-story wooden building, used for many years as a stage office, occupied by Simeon Burt, Alvan Allen, and others interested in staging fifty years ago. After the Central Exchange was burnt in 1843, the Post Office, then under the care of Maturin L. Fisher, was for a time in this building ; and still later L. L. Mason kept a jewelry store there.
The United States Hotel, which formerly stood where Clark's Block now is, was built about 1818 by William Hovey, inventor and manufacturer of the straw and hay cutters much in use thirty
* F. W. Eaton & Co. succeeded in March, 1841, Lesure & Wygant, in the store four doors north of the United States Hotel.
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or forty years ago. It was at first called the Worcester Hotel, and in 1820 was kept by Oliver Eager. In 1827 the late George T. Rice purchased it, and it was afterwards known as the United States Hotel. In 1840 and a few years after the landlord was William C. Clark.
It was on this spot that the first tavern, after the final settlement of the town, was built by Capt. Moses Rice, the land having been set off to him by the "Proprietors," and a plan of it can be seen in the volume of the "Proprietors' Records" recently published by the Society of Antiquity. In September, 1742, the property came into the hands of Col. John Chandler, known afterwards as the "Honest Refugee." He resided here until about the time of the Revolution, when the property was confiscated, Col. Chandler be- ing a pronounced Tory, and having gone to England about the breaking out of the war. It was afterwards assigned to Mrs. Chand- ler as her dower, she remaining at home instead of accompanying her husband. In 1803 it became the property of Capt. Ephraim Mower, who had kept it as a hotel since 1791 ; and as I have stated, it became in 1818 the property of William Hovey.
Crossing the driveway to the stables of the hotel, we come to the two-story wooden building, in the second story of which, as early as 1827, Christopher Columbus Baldwin had an office. He was librarian of the American Antiquarian Society from 1831 to 1835, and in 1829 editor of the National Ægis. The first store in this building, going south, was, in 1837, occupied by John Birney, in the tailoring and clothing business, who, in December of that year, was succeeded by W. D. Lewis. In 1839 Lakin & Stone, boot and shoe manufacturers, were in this building, and in 1842-3 J. P. Southgate was carrying on the shoe findings business here ; at the same time Mr. Charles Rice was keeping a restaurant in the basement. In 1843 the south store was occupied by S. Bill- ings, dealer in hats and caps .*
Next was the low wooden building, with several stores, known as the "Old Compound." There were so frequent changes in the
* Leonard Brigham (E. L. Brigham), merchant tailor, occupied the first store south from the hotel in 1835, and about the same time Henry Scott, the barber, had a room up stairs in the same building.
CHE.BANDWIN
WORCESTER HOTEL, 1820, UNITED STATES HOTEL, 1827.
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occupants of this building between 1836 and 1843, that it is diffi- cult to give with accuracy the dates of occupancy. Among the earliest in business here may be mentioned C. Newcomb & Co. (stoves and hardware), who were in the corner store, and John Weiss, the barber. The latter I well remember as a quiet, pleasant old gentleman, who always had a kind word for his patrons, par- ticularly for the boys who came to have their hair cut. In 1839 Jeremiah Bond was in the corner store, having removed from the one two or three doors north ; and in 1840 John Coe, the apothe- cary, occupied the same store. In 1844 Clough, the colored bar- ber, had his shop in the building, as did C. B. Robbins (boots and shoes), and S. P. Champney (jeweler).
On the west side of Main street, at the south corner of Pleasant, was the West India goods and grocery store of James Shepard & Son ; they had moved from the south store in the same block, and Mr. Shepard, senior, had some years before had a store in the base- ment of the Town Hall. L. A. Dowley also carried on the shoe and leather business in this block, and there was a third store in the block, but who the occupants were in 1840 I do not remember. Just beyond, and nearly opposite the Town Hall, was a small, one- story building, in which W. A. Draper & Co. (Otis Corbett) dealt in leather and hides .*
The Isaac Davis house and grounds, opposite the Old South Church, you are all probably familiar with, as the house was re- moved only a few years ago, to make room for business blocks. The garden of Col. Davis, with trees, shrubs and flowers, made the place very attractive. Back of the house, and not far from the present location of the Fire Patrol, was a greenhouse filled with beautiful flowers. This, with the fountain in the garden on the north side of the house, were considered, forty years ago, as novel- ties ; the fountain was the only one that I can remember as in the town at that time. Col. Davis purchased the lot on which he built his house, of Benjamin Butman in 1836, for about $5000.
On the site now covered by the stone front block of Mr. R. C.
* The parsonage house of the Rev. Isaac Burr, the second minister of the Old South Church, was on the south corner of Main and Pleasant streets, about one hundred years earlier than the time of which I am speaking.
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Taylor, was the residence of the late Judge Ira M. Barton. This was one of the ancient mansions of the town, having been built, it is supposed, about the year 1750, by Sheriff Gardiner Chandler,* at which time the estate comprised several acres of land. Sheriff Chandler bought this land of Daniel Ward in May, 1750, for £326. 13. 4, and built his house a little north of Mr. Ward's old residence. After Sheriff Chandler's death the property came into the posses- sion of his son, Gardiner Leonard Chandler, and he, in September, 1800, sold the house, barn, and thirty-one and one-half acres of land, to Jotham Bush for $5,500. In 1805 it was conveyed to John Bush, Jr., and in 1818 Richard, son of the last named, sold it for $9000 to Benjamin Butman, who lived here for a few years, and in 1827 sold the house and ground immediately about it to Calvin Willard,t for twenty years High Sheriff of Worcester County, who lived there three or four years.
In 1831 Mr. Willard conveyed the property to eleven gentlemen of Worcester,¿ who purchased it, as I have been informed, for the purpose of establishing in the mansion a first class private school for the education of young ladies. In 1832 a Mrs. Wells opened a boarding school for young ladies in the house, and subsequently John Wright carried it on for a few years. Mr. Wright will be re- membered as the successor of Charles Thurber, teacher of the Latin grammar school on Thomas street.
The Chandler mansion, which stood at the foot of what was
* Sheriff Chandler was a son of Hon. John Chandler, who came to Wor- cester from Woodstock at the time the County was established.
t Sheriff Willard is remembered as a gentleman of the old school, very dignified, polite and courteous to all, who died in September, 1867, honored and respected by the community in which he had so long resided. He seemed to add a special dignity to the Court as he ushered them to the Bench, dressed in his blue coat with gilt buttons, a buff vest, ruffled shirt, and his sword of . office buckled about his waist.
# The gentlemen who purchased the property of Sheriff Willard were Re- joice Newton, Levi Lincoln, John Davis, Isaac Davis, Pliny Merrick, George T. Rice, Abijah Bigelow, Benjamin Butman, Thomas Kinnicutt, Alfred D. Foster and Simeon Burt. Mr. Foster soon sold out his interest to one of the other owners.
DEL
PARSONAGE HOUSE OF REV. ISAAC BURR, CORNER OF MAIN AND PLEASANT STREETS, 1740.
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known as Nobility hill, came into the possession of the late Judge Barton in 1834, and he resided there until his death in 1867. In a large room in the three-story ell on the north side, there used to be, as I am informed by Mr. William S. Barton, a fine piece of wood carving over the mantle, representing the lion and unicorn. The wood cut illustration of the Chandler or Barton house, here given, is from a photograph taken a short time before it was demolished, and gives a good idea of its appearance at that time. In the yard in front, and also on Main street, were tall buttonwood trees planted by Sheriff Chandler, which, with the shrubbery, made it one of the most attractive old-time mansions and grounds in town. The artist who copied the photograph has made the barn of Col. Isaac Davis, just north of the house, appear as an ell, and has also neglected to indicate the low windows in the third story of the true ell.
It was not my intention in this paper to speak of any buildings on Main street south of Park street, but I will mention the house of the late Judge Charles Allen, which was on the south corner of Park street, with its garden extending for some distance on Main street, and back to the Norwich and Worcester railroad. On the opposite side of Main street, and extending nearly to Austin street, was "Nobility Hill"; among the residents there were Edward Denney (in the Dr. Sargent house), Anthony Chase (1843), and George T. Rice.
Of the Old South Church, built in 1763, it is not necessary to say much, as its history is well known to you all, and is often re- ferred to in the publications of this Society. In the early days of the town this church was used not only for religious services but as a place for town meetings, for the annual elections, and any business requiring the action or approval of the citizens. The Declaration of Independence was first publicly read in Massa- chusetts from the roof of the west porch of this church, the reader being Isaiah Thomas, the patriotic editor of the Massachusetts Spy ; and it was in the Spy that the Declaration was printed. July 17, 1 776, for the first time in a New England newspaper. Various changes have been made in the appearance of this ancient edifice since its erection, both in its exterior and interior ; but I think that
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the members of this Society will agree with me in thinking that it is a great pity this historic building of our city could not have been allowed to retain more of its old-time beauty and simplicity.
The Town Hall, as originally erected in 1824-5, was a miich smaller building than it now is, it having been enlarged by an addi- tion to the east end about the year 1841. In this year there were three entrance doors in front, there having been but two originally. Some years later, in order to make more room for offices, one of the stairways was removed, and at the same time the doors on each side of the center were given up .* The lower story, over the present police office and lockup, was arranged for two small halls, known as the east and west town halls, and were used for meetings of societies and political gatherings, and also rented for exhibitions and various other purposes. After the enlargement of the building, the upper hall was for several years used by the town for elections and other municipal purposes. For many years the lectures of the Worcester Lyceum were given in this hall. Here, too, in 1851, Jenny Lind sang before one of the largest audiences ever gathered within its walls ; and the first concerts of the famous Germania Band in Worcester were given there, the popular director of our Musical Festivals, Carl Zerrahn, being the flutist, and William Schultze, first violin.
The east and west town halls were used at the time of the an- nual cattle show for the exhibition of dairy products, needle work, and other useful and fancy articles which made up the indoor ex- hibition of that day. In the basement of the building, now used for police purposes, were three stores, occupied at various times by L. Burnet & Co. (G. Paine), Horace Ayres and James Shep- ard, in the grocery business ; and Joseph Converse, Leonard White, butchers, and others. At the east end, with an entrance from the Common, was the engine house of Company No. 4, known as the. "Torrent."
In the upper hall, the speaker's desk was, for several years after
* The corner stone of the Town Hall was laid August 2, 1824, with masonic ceremonies; and the dedication took place May 2, 1825, with an address by Hon. John Davis.
1415203
VIEW OF MAIN STREET, LOOKING NORTH,
SHOWING PART OF "NOBILITY HILL," 1840.
C.F.JEWETT=CO.
OLD SOUTH CHURCH, 1763.
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the enlargement of the building, on the north side ; three rows of benches, one raised above the other, extended round three sides of the room. The platform was afterwards removed to the east end, the gallery there being taken away to make room for it. The Worcester Guards at one time had their armory in the attic at the west front of the building. On Clarendon Harris's map of the town, published in 1829, is a cut showing the Town Hall as it was when first built ; another cut, published a few years ago, shows its ap- pearance before the town pump and the large elm trees at the head of Front street were removed. It was under these trees that blind Dexter, the showman, used to station his exhibition wagon, with its wonderful collection of waxworks, which if Dickens had seen, miglit have given him material for additions to his account of the famous collection of Mrs. Jarley. Mr. Dexter I remember as a very cor- pulent man, walking with difficulty and totally blind ; but notwith- standing his infirmity, he was not easily deceived by the street gamins of that day, when they undertook to palm off on him a counterfeit coin, or a ten cent piece instead of a ninepence, the reg- ular price of admission. Those of you, who as boys saw the van which carried the show, looking very much like the traveling da- guerreotype palace of our day, will undoubtedly recall it, and the enjoyment you derived from seeing the "lifelike" representations of Washington, Gen. Jackson, or the blood-curdling murder of Jane M'Crea by the Indians, on exhibition inside.
The Common, as you know, was originally much larger than it now is, extending as far north on Main street as Mechanic street, but was reduced to its present limits long previous to the time of which I am speaking. About 1840 or a little earlier, it presented a very different appearance from what it does to-day; then two streets ran diagonally across it, one from Front to Park street, with a guide-board at the westerly end informing the traveler that it was the road to Millbury and Sutton ; the other was from the west end of Park street to Front street, near the present site of the Sol- diers' Monument. Near the site of the Bigelow monument, and fronting west, was the gun house for the keeping of the cannon be- longing to the town ; also the hearse house, and hook and ladder company's quarters. These buildings were afterwards moved to the east side of the burial ground, fronting Salem square.
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The burial ground, situated at the east end of the Common, surrounded by a low stone wall, had an entrance on the west end ; and on the north side were the tombs of the Wheeler and Dix families. This old ground was given up for burial purposes many years ago, and those grave stones which were not removed were laid flat and covered with earth and sods. A member of this Society, with praiseworthy forethought, had copied the inscriptions from the old stones in the enclosure, and preserved them in printed form .* These inscriptions have since been republished by this Society, with historical notes, and inscriptions from the burial ground on Mechanic street. A plan of the ground was also made by order of the city authorities, and deposited in the office of the City Clerk.
On the southeast corner of the Common there stood for many years, a one-story wooden school house, with a cupola and bell, which was used when I was a school boy, for the South Boys' Pri- mary School, then under the charge of Miss Caroline Corbett, daughter of the late Otis Corbett. At one time it was used for the evening school for apprentices, which was afterwards kept in the lower town hall.
Our present efficient Chairman of the Commission on Public Gounds would have been horrified at the uses made of the Com- mon forty or more years ago, for it was here that the county cattle shows were held. Four rows of pens for the exhibition of cattle, swine and sheep, were put up on the north side, near Front street, and extending from the Norwich railroad track nearly to where the Soldiers' Monument now is. The rest of the Common was given up to booths for the sale of refreshments of various kinds ; and auctioneers' wagons, from which they sold whips, dry goods, soap and cheap jewelry. Cheap jacks traveled about the Common and streets adjacent, selling toothache drops, razors, gilt rings, and nu- merous articles to tempt the rural visitor. Often there would be tents pitched on the Common for the exhibition of monstrosities of various kinds, such as a two-headed calf, a mammoth horse
* Epitaphs from the Cemetery on Worcester Common, with Occasional Notes, References, and an Index. By W. S. Barton. Worcester, 1848. Pp. 36.
TOWN HALL, 1840.
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or ox, fat girls, etc. Across Front street, west of where the track of the Norwich railroad used to be, was an open space extending to Mechanic street, which was filled with stands for the sale of sheet gingerbread, cake, pies and confectionery, sweet cider and root beer. Here would be heard the loud call of the hot oyster man, to "walk up, tumble up, any way to get up, and buy a bowl of hot oysters,"-very hot indeed, but with very few oysters.
At the east end of the Common, now "Salem Square" (then known as "Baptist Hill"), the trial of working oxen took place. Carts filled with stone were drawn and backed, up and down the hill, amid the plaudits of the crowd, and the efforts of the marshals to keep the lookers-on outside the line.
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