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 4
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Besides being used for the annual cattle show, the Common was the parade ground for the militia ; here they were reviewed, and salutes were fired from the town guns by Isaac Bartlett, the old gunner, for want of an organized artillery company. It was quite the thing at that day for the military companies to march up and down Main street, firing salutes at different points in the street ; and I do not remember that any but ladies and timid children ob- jected. On Fast days it was the custom to have games of round ball on the Common, which attracted crowds of spectators, and to my mind were much more exciting than our modern base ball. Foot ball and cricket, too, were often played here. A local cricket club was organized twenty-five or thirty years ago, and used the Common for their practice games.
As long ago as 1839 and 40 the Common was often used for tent shows, mostly those having on exhibition wild animals, or mammoth horses and cattle. One of the first shows I remember upon the Common, was about 1839, when the first Giraffe or Cameleopard ever brought alive to America was exhibited, with the Ibex, "the dark-eyed Gazelle" and other tropical animals. In these early days, such a thing as a circus was not countenanced by the fathers of the town ; and those who wished to indulge their taste for the equestrian arena, were obliged to go either to Millbury or Holden, the selectmen of those towns probably not being afraid of such an unusual exhibition harming their constituents. One of the first circuses that I can remember as licensed to exhibit here,
38
was that of Rockwell & Stone, who set up their tents on the grounds now occupied by Rogers's block and the Baptist church on Pleas- ant street ; and evidently with a desire to show the good people of Worcester that no harm could come of it, they invited all the clergy- men of the town to attend the show, and distributed a pamphlet setting forth the wonders of the arena, and the strictly moral tone of the exhibition.
At the period of which I am speaking, it was customary for the smaller shows to have their headquarters at one of the taverns, and give exhibitions either in some room or in a tent in the yard out- side. In 1840 the Spy announces that Mons. Behin, the Belgian Giant, "the tallest, strongest and best proportioned man in the world," will be at the United States Hotel, for one day and eve- ning only, on his way to Boston .* In 1838 the celebrated Siamese Twins were on exhibition at the Central Hotel ; and about the same time, a mastodon, one of the first discovered in the country, was exhibited at the same place.
In connection with the subject of shows and exhibitions, I will mention an unusual incident which occurred at Worcester in the summer of 1843, and of which the newspapers of the day seem to have made no mention. The reporter of that period is not to be compared with the one of to-day in furnishing to newspaper read- ers local items which, if not of special interest at the time, would prove of historical value years after. It is, therefore, rather dis- . appointing to find so little in the newspapers to refresh one's mem- ory, as to occurrences that at the time created great excitement in the town.
In July of 1843, the Spy contained an advertisement, with a cut of a buffalo at its head, announcing to the people of Worcester that there would be an exhibition in the rear of the Central Hotel, of a herd of fifteen buffaloes, "captured in the Rocky Mountains." .
* "Mons. Behin" was afterwards on exhibition at Concert Hall, Boston, in connection with Harrington's Dioramas; and on a play-bill, now before me, announcing his appearance there, is a rough wood cut entitled a "Sketch of Mons. Behin as he appeared at the Bowery Theater when struggling with twelve men in the Giant of Palestine."
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The public were also informed that "no danger need be appre- hended, as they are perfectly tame, docile, and harmless"; also that, "as the expense of capturing and driving them from the mountains. is really enormous, a similar herd will probably never again be seen in this portion of America." I am quite sure there has never been such an exhibition in Worcester since, nor is there likely to be in the future, as that most unwillingly given to our cit- izens during the week advertised for this show.
Briefly stated, the story current at the time was, that sometime during the night, or in the early morning of one of the days of ex- hibition, the ropes holding up the tent in which the buffaloes were shown, were cut by some evil disposed persons, who may have been thirsting for a genuine buffalo hunt, and the whole herd let loose in our streets. Of course everybody who was aware of the escape of the wild beasts became excited, and men and boys joined in the chase with the enraged owners, who were mounted on horse- back. The herd were soon separated, some going towards Holden, where they were afterwards captured ; and some went up Main street, towards Leicester, one or two of them being taken in the pasture about opposite the present residence of Mr. T. H. Dodge. One I remember as being chased by a crowd of men and boys, from Front street across to Mechanic street, and down what is now Union street, till finally the poor animal, excited almost to mad- ness, leaped over a stone wall, six or seven feet high, which formed part of the foundation of Howe & Goddard's (now Rice, Barton & Fales's) machine shop, then in process of erection, and here he was easily captured. It was two or three days before they were all secured ; and the excitement of a veritable buffalo hunt in Worcester was one that the participants and lookers-on would not soon forget ; and, as the advertisement set forth, "will probably never again be seen in this part of America."
Trusting you will pardon this digression, we will now return to the description of the Common and its surroundings. Just north of the school house, with an entrance facing the Baptist church, was the town pound, an enclosure with a stone wall eight or nine feet in height, where the field drivers took stray cattle and swine found
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running at large. After the hearse house and other buildings were removed from the center of the Common, two of them were placed on the east end of the burial ground facing the square, and were there used for similar purposes. When the brick school house was erected on the Common, a little southeast of the Soldiers' Monu- ment, a room was provided, on the east end, for the hook and ladder company.
In my boyhood days Salern square was known as "Baptist Hill" from the church of that denomination being located there. The hill was cut down some years ago, but was formerly quite steep, and afforded the boys of the neighborhood an excellent coasting place, and with no fears that a city marshal or policeman would in- terfere with the sport. The first Baptist meeting house, dedicated in 1813, was burnt in 1836 ; and that fire is one of the earliest recollections of my youth ; living as I did at that time, in close proximity to it, a very vivid impression was made on my mind. The Spy, in its report of the fire, says : "Not a single article was saved. . . . The pulpit was furnished with a pair of very valuable lamps, and the congregation had recently supplied themselves with new copies of Winchell's Watts's Songs and Hymns." The cattle pens of the Agricultural Society, which were stored in the base- ment, were also destroyed .*
Going back to Main street, and taking the north side of Front street under consideration, we should find under the "Old Com- pound " building, with an entrance on Front street, an eating house, kept in 1841-2 by Mr. Mentzer, who probably opened there after being burnt out on Mechanic street ; he was succeeded by George Geer in 1842-3. The first building facing Front street was occu- pied in 1840 by A. Gleason & Co., the firm consisting of Austin Gleason and Stephen Taft, who, in April, 1839, formed a copart- nership for carrying on the West India goods and grocery business. After the retirement of Mr. Gleason, in 1841, Mr. Taft carried on the business for several years, afterwards moving to the block at the corner of Front and Trumbull streets, taking his son into partner- ship, who still continues there.
* Rev. Samuel B. Swaim was pastor of the first Baptist church in 1840.
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Other occupants of stores on Front street, between Main street and the Norwich railroad, from 1839 to 1843, were Angier (C. W.) & Johnson, and Charles Boardman, in the grocery business ; Cha- pin (G. E.) & Rogers (T. M.) (up stairs in the same building with Boardman), and Hiram French, in the boot and shoe trade ; Watson & Nutting, and S. V. Stone, bakers. A Mr. G. Spaulding also had a grocery store here about this time. In the store next to the railroad, Lucius Beach was in the wool business ; and later, Aaron Billings' in the stove and tinware business. This was the store owned and occupied for many years by Sumner Pratt, and lately removed to make way for the present handsome brick block built by him.
About 1840 Aaron Howe, who had been landlord of the old Eaton tavern on Front street, kept a fish market in the basement of one of the stores opposite the Town Hall. Henry W. Miller, as early as 1827, was in the chair and furniture business in one of the old buildings opposite the Town Hall, with a workshop in the rear of the stores, Smith Kendall (chair painter) representing him in the business. Samuel Harrington, town undertaker, and E. G. Partridge, manufacturer of furniture, were other occupants of stores between Main street and the railroad .*
Crossing the railroad we come to the house occupied for about forty years by the late Osgood Bradley. This house was built by- William Hovey, and occupied in 1829 by the late Rejoice Newton. Some years later it came into the possession of Francis T. Merrick, and was used as a boarding house by a Peter Richardson. The last occupant before Mr. Bradley moved there from Grafton street was Richard Kimball, who also kept a boarding house.
The next building beyond the Bradley house was that of the Union Church, completed in 1836, and dedicated July 6th of that year ;; and at the time of which I am speaking was under the
* Mr. Harrington was up stairs in the building next west of the Sumner Pratt store.
t At the dedication of the Union Church Rev. John Nelson, of Leicester, preached the sermon, and the dedicatory prayer was by Rev. George Allen. This building was lately taken down, and the present improved and more or- namental edifice erected in its place.
42
charge of Rev. Elam Smalley. Otis Corbett had lived in a house standing on this spot, which I think was moved back to Carlton street before the erection of the church building, and occupied by John Simmons, carpenter.
Crossing Short street, now called Carlton street, was an open lot, from which some years earlier, the Dr. Benjamin Chapin house had been removed to the east corner of Carlton and Mechanic streets. (This house, while on Front street, had been occupied by Dr. Chapin and the late Anthony Chase ; and after its removal to Mechanic street, Joseph Pratt, S. B. Church, the printer, and others lived there.) In the next, a double brick house, lived Austin Denny 'and Moses Spooner. Earlier Thomas Kinnicutt, Levi A. Dowley, Dr. William Workman and Rev. Elam Smalley were occupants of the block ; and later it came into the possession of S. R. Leland, who converted it into stores.
Among the occupants of the next house, at the west corner of Bigelow court, I remember Joseph T. Turner, a noted wag and story-teller of forty years ago. Smith Kendall, chair painter, also lived there ; and somewhat later than the period of which I am writing, a family of Geers. At the end of Bigelow court, where the headquarters of the Fire Department now are, was, as early as 1836, a little wooden building in which Miss Thankful Hersey kept an infant school for the boys and girls of the neighborhood, and here the writer was taught the rudiments, in other words his A B C.
At the east corner of the court and Front street was the one- story wooden building used as an office by Abijah Bigelow, coun- sellor at law. Then came his garden, with its flowers, fruit trees and vegetables, extending back to Mechanic street ; and on the corner of Church street was his dwelling house, afterwards used as our city hospital. The grounds of Mr. Bigelow, on Front street, are now covered by the fine blocks of Jonas G. Clark and David . Whitcomb. On the north side of Front street, extending from about where Leland's block stands, to Church street, was a double row of trees ; among those of the inner row were pear and cherry trees, but, as can easily be imagined, the fruit seldom came to ma- turity, the temptation being too strong for the average boy of that day to allow it to remain long enough.
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Just east of Salem square, at the corner of Trumbull street, and about where the Waverly House now is, was a tavern kept in 1843 by a Mrs. John Bradley. It was for many years known as the Eaton Tavern, having been owned and kept for a long time by Nathaniel Eaton. The building, which was originally the Palmer Goulding house, was bought about 1819 by Amos Smith, who turned the house into a tavern, and was its landlord .* I first remember it as kept by Aaron Howe, who was there in 1839 ; he had the reputa- tion of getting up good game suppers, and not many years ago was keeping an eating saloon in Springfield, Mass. The barn con- nected with the tavern was west of the house, on Salem square, having an entrance both on the east and west, so that a carriage or a load of hay could be driven directly through it. Just back of the barn, towards the Baptist church, and extending nearly to it, was a large yard with a stone wall around it, for the use of dealers in swine or cattle, who often used to come from quite a distance with large droves which they offered for sale.
If time would permit, other places of interest further down Front street might be mentioned ; but I have already tried your patience, and will bring these recollections to a close. If we should con- tinue our walk through Church street to Mechanic street, we should pass on the right Mr. T. W. Bancroft's barn, which in my younger days was the rendezvous for the "Boys' Company," then one of the institutions of the town. They used to appear in blue jackets and pants, carrying wooden spears painted green, the officers with old militia swords. Among the officers of the company I can recall only the names of Edward Bancroft (brother of Rev. Dr. Lucius Bancroft), Caleb Newcomb, Jr., George Butman and Samuel Jen- nison, Jr. The next house, which is still standing, was built, I think, by a Mr. Kimberly, and occupied in 1840 by Gardiner Paine. On the corner of Church and Mechanic streets, was, and is now, a brick house occupied for many years by our venerable fellow citizen, Deacon Daniel Goddard .;
* This is on the authority of a son of Amos Smith.
t Since the reading of this paper Deacon Daniel Goddard has died, [Nov. 16, 1884,] at nearly ninety years of age.
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Crossing Mechanic street, and going down what is now Union street, passing on our left at the corner, the block occupied a little earlier than the time of which I am writing, by Col. Calvin Foster (in the east end), we should have soon found ourselves under the bridge of the Boston and Worcester railroad, and then in the mead- ow beyond. This meadow was often covered with water, and at all times, except in the dryest of weather, was wet and boggy. Ditches crossed it, running from the rear of Nahum Parker's stable on the west, to the Blackstone canal or Mill brook on the east. In these the boys used to catch frogs and turtles, and in the winter the whole meadow was often flooded, making a good place for skating .*
I had intended to give a full list of the occupants of build- ings on Mechanic street, but time will permit only a brief men- tion. On the north side of the street, starting from Main street, passing Whiting's carriage shop and the stable once occupied by E. M. Stockwell, we should first come to the shop occupied by Benjamin Goddard, carriage maker, and Tower & Raymond, car- penters ; then to a small, one-story building about where the track of the Norwich railroad was, occupied by one Dalrymple.
Next were the houses of Maj. S. Graves, Thomas B. Eaton (town undertaker), Theo. B. Western (sign and ornamental paint- er), who lived in a small cottage house afterwards occupied by Charles Nudd and a Mrs. Geer. In the two-tenement wooden house, still standing, lived William Duncan, Amherst Eaton, and Levi Coes ; and in the brick block next east, were Peter Kendall (mason), and Tilly Raymond (carpenter). The west end of the double wooden house, at the corner of Union and Mechanic streets, if I remember right, was occupied about the year 1840 by George E. Wyman, and a little later by Gill Bartlett (who kept a boarding house) ; and the east end by David Flagg, (some years earlier by Calvin Foster).
Crossing the street, and near the corner of Church street, was the double wooden house occupied by S. N. Whitney and Baxter
* On the left, going down what is now Union street, and just before reaching the bridge of the Boston and Worcester railroad, was a "frog pond " cover- ing about half an acre, which was a great source of enjoyment to the boys of the neighborhood, both summer and winter.
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Barnes (father of Walter H. Barnes of the Boston and Albany rail- road). Next, going towards Main street, after passing the rear of Abijah Bigelow's garden, were the houses occupied by George Ed- wards, Charles Stiles and C. C. Coleman (the last two living in the same house) ; and the block at the corner of Carlton street, before spoken of. On the west side of Carlton street was the brick block occupied by A. P. Lesure (tailor), and John C. Green- leaf (baker), the latter now living at Rutland, Mass. Then came Samuel Boyden's blacksmith shop, next, just west of the Norwich and Worcester railroad location, a stable, occupied about this period by George Jones and Luther Gunn ; and adjoining the United States Hotel land was a wooden house, occupied by Mr. Bemis (father of Mr. Elias T. Bemis of the Spy), and later by Augustus Waters, (harness maker).
Trusting that these random recollections may prove of some little use to the future historian of our city (who, I have no doubt, will be a member of The Worcester Society of Antiquity), and that they have not been without interest to those who have so kindly listened to them, I will close, thanking you for your patient atten- tion.
NOTE. From time to time there have appeared in the daily papers, or in reminiscences read before some of our local societies, notices of Worcester and its citizens, some of which have been consulted in preparing these recol- lections. Among these the following are mentioned as of similar character to this publication, and which will be of interest to those who desire to learn more of Worcester and its business men in the past.
"CARL'S TOUR IN WORCESTER," a series of twenty articles printed in the Worcester Palladium in 1855, and reprinted in that paper in 1857 and 1874. They were prepared largely by the late Clarendon Wheelock, under the su- pervision of the late J. S. C. Knowlton.
REMINISCENCES OF THE ORIGINAL ASSOCIATES AND PAST MEMBERS OF THE WORCESTER FIRE SOCIETY. Read to the Society at various times by Levi Lincoln, Isaac Davis and Benjamin F. Thomas. Printed in 1870 and 1874.
BUSINESS MEN OF WORCESTER FIFTY YEARS AGO. Nine articles published in the Daily Spy in 1870 by Caleb A. . Wall.
NOTES, HISTORICAL AND CHRONOLOGICAL, ON THE TOWN OF WORCESTER. By Nathaniel Paine.
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THE LUMBER BUSINESS OF WORCESTER. Read before The Worcester So- ciety of Antiquity in 1878 by Ellery B. Crane.
THE TRADE OF WORCESTER DURING THE PRESENT CENTURY. Read before The Worcester Society of Antiquity in 1880 by Henry H. Chamberlin.
GLEANINGS FROM THE SOURCES OF HISTORY OF THE SECOND PARISH OF WORCESTER. By Samuel S. Green.
THE WORCESTER BOOK : A DIARY OF NOTEWORTHY EVENTS IN WORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS, from 1657 to 1883. By Franklin P. Rice.
.
-
A ROUGH DIAGRAM OF THE COMMON AND ADJACENT STREETS, WORCESTER, MASS.
1839-43.
Mechanic SI Burying Ground.
+
0
26
Spring St.
29
RR bridge.
2.4
22
Claire.
Tavern
Baptistchurch
25
15
Warden
Il Union St.
ChurchSt
Shop
Frog Point.
12 14 16 18 2022
23 25
Band'S
Trees. 12
Baptist Hill
Salem St.
-
cours.
-
Burying
Harrington
E
10
Short St.
Compton.
Portland St.
1 9
WRR
il
Sweetser 1840 Morre 1842
Denuy
Block
,
Hall.
Old South all Church.
Hotel
0
0
211 213
285 219 223
Pussop
Main St
CAllen.
006 208 210 212
214216 218
220
120
D
Pearl St.
D
Chandler 175.
Chase
230
C
PleasantSt
Fountain.
"'222
Davis CE
226
Nobility Hill.
225
South- 250 EN BOWEN Benis.
5
0
MTown
Stable Stable
2
Show Pelos
uGan
D HOWe
Hook. Laddar
-
3
Front St.
Tomb.
-
0
9 Mechanic St.
721
School
Bigelowd
·
Houses
10
Ground
Hearse
7
0
Union Church
Cattle
Road
shop
Stable
4 ...
6
ـوـ 8 9
" Luong.
Trumbull St.
16
18 20
Mead, wo Land
IBurr, 1730
[The Isaac Burr house shown on diagram, should have been represented nearer Main St., about opposite the entrance to Judge Paine's yard.]
PARTIAL LIST OF OCCUPANTS OF BUILDINGS ON MAIN, FRONT AND MECHANIC STREETS, SHOWN ON THE DIAGRAM.
MAIN STREET.
Merrick & Dowley, .... 1836.
. No. 206.
Newcomb & Brown, ... 1837. C. Neweomb & Co ..... 1838. Newcomb & Bowen, .. . 1838. C. Foster & Co., ........ 1840. Stephen Bartlett (up stairs). Heywood, Paine & Paine. Daniel Heywood, ...... 1839. 1 E. F. Dixie. George Bowen.
210 Nathaniel Paine.
212. N. Paine's Office.
214. f James Shepard & Son.
216. < L. A. Dowley.
218.
220. W. A. Draper & Co. 222. Isaac Davis.
C. Newcomb, 1837.
224. § Chandler House. .. .. . 1750.
219.
221.
223.
John Coe, . .1840. C. B. Robbins, 1844.
S. P. Champney, . 1844.
-
Joseph Sargent.
228. Anthony Chase.
230. Geo. T. Riee.
FRONT STREET.
No. 1. 5 A. Gleason & Co., ...... 1839. S. Taft, .. .1840.
No. 8.
9.
Thos. Kinnieutt. L. A. Dowley. Wm. Workman. Elam Smalley.
4. Aaron Billings.
Denny.
5. Sumner Pratt.
10. 3 J. T. Turner. Geo. Geer.
Lucius Beach.
11. A. Bigelow's Office. 12. Abijah Bigelow. 13. T. W. Bancroft. 14. Samuel Hathaway.
15. A. Howe's Tavern.
16. - Hubbard.
18. Ephm. Morse. 20. E. G. Partridge, (house).
MECHANIC STREET.
No.
2. Į Benj. Goddard. " Tower & Raymond.
No.
1. Wm. C. Whiting. 3. Į N. T. Bemis, .1839.
[ A. Waters, . . 1843.
4. Winslow Dalrymple, . . 1835. 6. S. Graves. 8. T. B. Eaton.
5. Stable.
(Theo. B. Western.
9. S. Boyden's Shop.
10. & Mrs. Geer. Charles Nudd.
11. J. C. Greenleaf.
13. A. P. Lesure. [?]
(W. Dunean.
( Jos. Pratt.
14.1 Amherst Eaton. Levi Coes.
15.
Mrs. Munroe.
17.
-
S. D.Church.
16. f Peter Kendall. 18. ¿ T. Raymond.
[ C. Stiles. 19. C. C. Coleman.
20. 22.
C. Foster. D. Flagg G. E. Wyman. Theo. Brown. [ G. Bartlett.
No. 211. Stage Office.
213. United States Hotel.
C. C. Baldwin, .1827.
John Birney, .1837.
215. W. D. Lewis, 1838.
217. Lakin & Stone,. 1839. J. P. Southgate, .1842. S. Billings, . 1843.
John Weiss, 1838.
Jere. Bond, .1839.
Ira M. Barton. .. .... 1834.
{ Edw. Denny. 226. < T. W. Hammond.
A. Denny. Moses Spooner. S. R. Leland.
2.
3.
Charles Boardman, .. . . 1840. Smith Kendall. Chapin & Rogers. E. G. Partridge. S. V. Stone.
Richard Kimball.
6. Osgood Bradley.
7. Union Church.
7. Stable & Luther Gunn. ' Geo. Jones.
12.
21. Geo. Edwards. 23. [ Baxter Barnes. 25. [ S. N. Whitney. 27. Eller L. Goddard. 29. Oliver Eager.
208.
1
1297
-
. .
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