USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > Royalston > Reflections on Royalston, Worcester County, Massachusetts, U.S.A > Part 11
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In 1866, Seth Newell Holman and his brother George W. Holman, who resided in Fitchburg, bought the steam-mill plant. It was stated that in consideration of the low price, which was said to have been $1,500, the purchasers were expected to put it in operation where it stood; and that Col. Whitney said that he would take it at that price and put it in operation, if the Holmans didn't.
But soon a gang of workmen arrived and pulled down the main build- ing, and it was taken to Fitchburg and set up at the corner of Main and North streets, where it served first as a piano factory, and later became a part of the plant of the Simonds Manufacturing Company, who made machine knives and all kinds of saws, including the mammoth circular saws and the endless band saws of which Mr. Rice prophesied in the old Sawyer shop. About 1905 the Simonds company moved into new build- ings, and the old building that came from Royalston was demolished.
The steam boilers and engine were taken to Fitchburg, and the tall chimney and engine-house were thrown down, and there were second-hand bricks for sale. Good old Leonard Wheeler, who always paid a boy as much as he would pay a man for the same work, bought a lot of them, and gave "us boys" easy money at the rate of $1.50 per thousand for scraping the mortar off the bricks.
How would the operation of this mill have affected the Center vil- lage? Of capacity to give employment to a hundred men and boys, it would have added several hundred to the population. Many new houses would have been required, more stores, more and better schools, proba- bly another church, and many more of the conveniences of civilized life that are made economically possible by collective, co-operative living.
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STORES AT THE CENTER.
The first settlers of Royalston had comparatively little need of stores from which to purchase supplies. Undoubtedly they anticipated their needs, and carried into the wilderness supplies of some of the things which they would have bought at intervals if handy to stores. But their life at the beginning was to be largely self-provident. They undoubtedly found it comparatively easy to raise large crops of vegeta- bles and cereals on the virgin soil; there was abundant food for animals which furnished milk and meat; fish and game were plentiful in the streams and the forests; sweetness flowed freely from numerous maple trees; they raised and spun and wove the flax and wool necessary for their clothing, and made it up at home; and the skins of animals were tanned at the neighborhood tannery and made into shoes at home.
There were a few almost indispensable articles, which were not home products, -like tea, tobacco, snuff, New England rum, Porto Rico molasses, and salt codfish,-for which they probably made excursions into territory that had been longer settled and where merchants had be- come established.
Later, when there were better roads, some of the farmers drove to Boston with loads of their products, and exchanged them in part or in full for store goods. My mother told me that her father, Russell Morse, made such trips; and his loads in going might contain, not only meats and vegetables in large quantities, but firkins of butter, cheeses, tubs of boiled-cider apple-sauce, barrels of cider, pillow-cases filled with dried apples, knit woolen stockings and mittens, and so forth. And the return loads would probably contain, besides goodly quantities of the "indis- pensable" articles mentioned above, goods for a best gown for "mother," whose labors had probably added as much as anybody's to the value of the marketed load.
Since I was assured by a veterinarian that a horse can stand a daily average of only 10 or 12 miles travel, I have wondered how long my for- bear would be away from home in making that round trip of 140 miles, or if he would have relays of fresh horses, like the stage-coaches.
It would be impossible for anyone to tell who started the "first store" in Royalston. It might have been a development, rather than a result of "malice aforethought." Perhaps some thrifty settler, on re- turning from Boston or some other market-place, brought home more of some of the indispensable articles than he needed, and traded them to some of the other settlers; and perhaps, finding his services appre- ciated to the extent of leaving him a little profit on the transactions, he gradually increased the scope of his operations, until he found himself a full-fledged merchant.
GODDARDS, PECK & PIERCE.
In Caswell's "History of Royalston," in the sketch of the Goddard family, referring to the children of Samuel Goddard, one of the early settlers in the west part of Royalston, it is stated that
"Henry lived to be 78 years of age and was always an invalid after he was 16 years old; the first part of his life he was a merchant, and kept store in a building erected about 1790 for that purpose. One Avery after- wards kept store in the same place. Subsequently Samuel and Henry Goddard, Squire Peck and one Pierce kept store in the middle of the town near the site of the Rufus Bullock residence. They were burned out."
And on page x of the appendix, in a sketch of Mary (Pierce) Turner, who was born in 1800, it is stated that
"She attended New Salem Academy when 14 years of age, and after several years of clerking in the store of her father, and teaching school, she returned to the academy for a later course of study."
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"Putting this and that together," it appears that the "one Pierce" who was associated with the invalid Henry Goddard and others in trade "near the site of the Rufus Bullock residence," was William Pierce, father of Mary, and that the store must have been in operation around 1815 and on, to enable her to do "clerking" as per the foregoing schedule.
We are informed that Henry Goddard, this same invalid Henry, "went to Belfast, Maine, in 1803," "lived in Belfast 30 years, " and "in 1836 he returned to Massachusetts," and "died of consumption in 1848."
It appears to be a reasonable supposition that having helped his partners in getting nicely started in that store on the Common not far from 1800, Henry's indomitable spirit led him to seek for pastures new, while his partners continued on Royalston Common and employed Mary about 1815.
ENTER RUFUS BULLOCK.
In the "Memorial," on page 139, in the story of Hon. Rufus Bullock, undoubtedly written by his friend and pastor, Rev. Ebenezer W. Bul- lard, we read:
"With small means he early laid the foundations of a good education, and became an acceptable school-teacher before reaching his majority. He made this his business, in winter, for some years, 'working out,' mainly at farming, during the other seasons. Two or three of his schools in Truro, on the Cape, extended through most of the year. From school- teaching he turned his attention to trade, attending store, as clerk, till he was induced to open a store on the Common, on his own account. The encouragement was such, that he concluded to settle down in life as a country merchant, at first, in a small way, but with principles, and in a spirit, that had in them the promise already of that industry and thrift which terminated only with his long and prosperous life."
And on page 151 of the "Memorial," we read in relation to Dr. Stephen Bacheller, Jr., that
"At the age of 22, he began the practice of his profession in Truro, on the Cape. This was in the autumn or winter of 1800. He remained at Truro three years; when, at the solicitation of his father, who began to feel some of the infirmities of age, he returned to his native town, and commenced business with him in 1803."
Now, "putting this and that together" again, we may well believe that Dr. Stephen, Jr.'s practice and young Bullock's school-teaching, both "in Truro, on the Cape," were simultaneous, and that it was not many years after their permanent return to Royalston when Rufus Bul- lock "turned his attention to trade, attending store, as clerk," probably in the emporium of Goddard, Peck & Pierce, near the site of his future residence; but we cannot vouch for that.
ENTER JOSEPH ESTABROOK.
Joseph Estabrook probably became a citizen of Royalston before 1800; he had become so acclimated that he could serve as Selectman in 1803, and as both Town Clerk and Selectman in 1804, 1805, 1808, 1809 and 1810. He opened a store, which became the post-office store, and which, although removed from the original location at 34C or 36C on our map, has now been in continuous operation for some 110 to 120 years. We may believe that its beginning was nearly coincident with that of the mart of Goddard, Peck & Pierce, on the opposite side of the Common. And that being the case, there appears to be no reason why Rufus Bullock might not have been clerk in the Estabrook store as well as in the other; perhaps he served in both.
Joseph Estabrook sold his store to Franklin Gregory about 1823, and turned his attention to raising cattle. Evidently he did not sell him the building in which the store was located, which also contained the Esta-
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brook residence, but probably he sold him the lot north of the store lot and the big barn lot, on which Gregory built the house and barn at the locations designated 42C and 46C on the map, and which probably was his home for the remainder of his life. Gregory had served an appren- ticeship in trade in Boston, and judging from the glowing accounts of his exploits he was the most progressive and successful merchant that the town ever had. He probably introduced the palmleaf hat business. One of his clerks from 1823 to 1830 was George C. Richardson, who be- came his partner from 1830 to 1835. Mr. Gregory died July 6, 1836.
Joseph Estabrook, son of the first proprietor, succeeded Franklin Gregory, following his death. He had probably served as clerk in the store; and Caswell says "he went to Worcester, where he was in mercan- tile business for a while with George C. Richardson."
Joseph Raymond was clerk in this store under the management of the first Joseph Estabrook, from 1818 to 1823, when he went to Temple- ton and was in trade there with a partner for 14 years. Returning to Royalston in 1838, he associated himself with the second Joseph Esta- brook, and they continued the business under the firm name of Esta- brook & Raymond until 1844, when Mr. Raymond retired from business.
Joseph Estabrook continued alone for a time, but about 1852 he took Charles H. Newton, who had been a clerk in the store, into partnership; the firm was listed as Estabrook & Newton in the "Massachusetts Regis- ter" for 1853. Joseph Estabrook retired about 1856, and Charles H. Newton took his brother Phinehas S. Newton as a partner, the firm name being C. H. Newton & Co. Estabrook had continued the palmleaf busi- ness begun by Gregory, and the Newtons took that over and expanded it quite extensively. (A story about the palmleaf industry is given on pages 82 to 86.)
In 1870 the Newtons sold the store to Obadiah Walker. Charles H. Newton removed to Fitchburg, and Phinehas S. Newton continued the palmleaf business. In 1872 Joseph Estabrook and Mrs. Clark wished to place a new residence on the site of the old Estabrook store and. resi- dence, and Mr. Walker removed his store and the post-office to the room in the town-house then known as Bullock hall, later removing to the new building connected with his residence, at 24C on the map. This has been the home of the post-office store to the present time. Mr. Walker sold to John L. King in 1881; King to Aurin C. Gordon in 1882; Gordon to George W. Blandin in 1885; and Blandin to Sumner C. French, the pres- ent proprietor, about 1890.
THE BULLOCK STORE.
We left Rufus Bullock "clerking," on page 90. Now we must try to locate him in his own store. The picture of the "Old Bullock Man- sion" in the Caswell book very plainly shows a comparatively low-studded two-story ell part, which I believe was originally quite a pretentious dwelling. I do not think it was moved back to admit the larger and more ostentatious building, but that building was put up right in the front yard, by somebody. On page 56 I have told a little story of how that big "mansion" was originally built three stories high, and was intended for a hotel, and was then cut down and padded up inside to suit Rufus Bul- lock's notions.
Now if Goddard, Peck & Pierce had a store in the vicinity of the site of the "mansion" during the first 15 or more years of the century, it is quite probable that the company or some member of it was responsible for that dwelling; but it may have had an entirely different origin. I have had in type some remarks to the effect that it might have been the original Rufus Bullock homestead; but I cannot conceive how such an extravagant and wasteful piece of work as that "mansion" could have become connected with anything belonging to Rufus Bullock. . Taking all
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the speculations into account, we may believe that after Goddard, Peck & Pierce were burned out, the man who wanted a hotel there acquired the dwelling and built the "mansion" in front of it; then, after Fales had failed in his hotel experiment, came Rufus Bullock's chance, and he bought the whole plant, high-studded "mansion," low-studded ell, wood- shed, hen-house and all, at one big bargain sale. Various reasons make it seem almost certain that the "mansion" was not built until about 1840, and Rufus Bullock had probably been in trade many years before that time, and had to go to South Royalston and invest some of his profits in the woolen mill, about 1825, long before the "mansion" was built.
The reader will notice in the picture on page 56 a low building and a two-story building between the "mansion" and the church; their loca- tions are approximately designated at 29C and 27C on the map on page 52. Perhaps Rufus Bullock started his store-keeping in one of those build- ings. From 1855 to 1873 sure, and probably years longer at both ends,
=
H.C.BARTLETT
SOUTH END OF COMMON, OCTOBER, 1873.
an old building stood back of the barn at 11C, the Dr. Bacheller place, and then the Chauncy Chase place. The building had been moved there. Now if that building had been located near where the town hall stands it might have been a good place for the first Bullock store.
The one thing we are sure of is that when Rufus Bullock came into possession of the "mansion" he moved the Bullock store into it, and there it stayed until it died. With the woolen mill at South Royalston on his hands, Rufus Bullock needed assistance in the store, and his brother Barnet became associated with him. Perhaps the clerks were all Bul- locks; for Rufus had three sons, one of whom was postmaster for five years, which may be mentioned again; and Barnet had five sons, three of whom would have been old enough to have assisted in the store; in fact, it is probable that there were more Bullock boys than were needed in the Bullock store, if we are to believe the story started in Crane's book and echoed in Caswell's, that Brigham Newton Bullock, second son of Barnet, was employed as clerk in Estabrook's store from 1847 to 1851.
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From my earliest remembrance a little sign in black and white, on the edge of the piazza, I think, bore the inscription, "B. Bullock." The "Massachusetts Register" for 1853 listed the firm as "B. Bullock & Co." The store was closed in 1856, probably. I remember that an auction sale was held in the store, some time after it was closed, which I as a boy un- derstood to be of goods from Lucas W. Partridge's store at South Roy- alston; but probably the sale was arranged to dispose of the "odds and ends" of the Bullock stock, with the other goods thrown in to liven it up. If the Bullock store was closed because the proprietors had made money enough, it was the only store on the Common that was closed for that reason.
THE SOUTH-END STORES.
The first building at the location designated 1C on the map was the first parsonage and the home of Rev. Joseph Lee for about half a cen-
SOUTH END OF COMMON, MAY, 1906.
tury, and of the last born two of his ten children, and the only ones to live to maturity, probably, -Thomas Jones Lee, born in 1785, and the last historical mention of whom is his resignation as deacon in 1827; and Lucy Lee, who was born in 1786 and died in 1840, at the age of nearly 54.
A good idea of the appearance of the house in those early days may be gained from the picture on the opposite page. Cut off the store part, replace the huge chimney top and the small lights of glass in the windows, and the house would present much the same appearance that it presented well nigh a century and a half ago; only we would have to ask David P. Foster, William Bailey Goddard and George W. Blandin to please drive on, leaving Anthony Donnelly with his shovel to dig in the parson's gar- den, which on page 53 we figured out as extending down to the wide part of the Common.
In 1870 the big chimney-top was reduced, leaving the big chimney inside, with its fireplaces in all the rooms; large lights of glass were sub- stituted for the little ones in the narrow windows; and other improve-
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ments made, more extensive than any for half a century before, making the house into two comfortable tenements.
All authorities unite in saying that a tavern was once kept in this building, but I have never caught anybody telling who kept that tavern. The statement that it was a place where the horses on stage-coaches running between Worcester and Keene were changed gets support from the fact that there was, at the point designated 5S on our map, a build- ing which had an open driveway, covered by a roof and connected with a stable, exactly adapted for a coach to drive under to change horses.
That the store was built on before the place ceased to be used as a tavern seems to be established by the presence of the hall over the store. All first-class taverns in those days had halls connected, where the peo- ple gathered betimes to enjoy themselves, dancing, perhaps, and drinking hot tea, cold lemonade, and other nice liquids. The Estabrook and the Bullock stores had halls over them, I think, and the buildings with which they were connected were both used or intended for tavern purposes.
Who first operated this store may be questioned. Perhaps it was William H. Emersen, who was probably in possession before 1850. The "Massachusetts Register" for 1853 gives the firm as Warren & Emerson. Warren does not seem to be prominent in the history of the town, and quite likely he was a resident only during the period of his partnership, and perhaps not that. Emerson was the son of Elias Emerson and grand- son of Joseph Emerson, one of the early settlers at the north part of the town. William H. Emerson, after retiring from the store, became a peddler, and followed that avocation until he met a tragic death in 1866.
On a map of Worcester county issued in 1857, opposite the location of the building appear the words, "R. Morse, store." But the words indi- cated ownership of the building only; Morse never kept goods for sale.
Sometime not much later than 1857 a "union" store was opened in the place, with Obadiah Walker as manager and salesman. Apparently this project was not a profitable success, as in the course of a year or two the unionists sold out their stock to Mr. Walker, who continued the busi- ness for a time. Mr. Walker had been deprived of one hand by an acci- dent before he became a merchant, and had been a peddler; he closed the store sometime after taking it over from the unionists, and resumed peddling; later he re-opened the store.
Obadiah Walker sold out to Franklin Richardson in 1864 or 1865; he sold, in 1866, to the firm of R. Morse, Jr. & Co., consisting of Russell Morse, Jr., and his son, Edwards Russell Morse. Russell Morse, Jr., died in 1867, and the business was continued by E. R. Morse until the au- tumn of 1868, when it was transferred to Hubert C. Bartlett, who had been clerk in the store for about six months; he closed out in 1873.
In 1874, as the location was wanted for the new parsonage of the First Congregational Church, shown in the picture on page 93, the build- ing was removed to the location designated at 12E on the map, and a store was kept in it by Joseph Walker until his death in 1888, and by his family after his decease. Then the building went into the possession of the proprietor of the post-office store, who has occupied the residence and used the store for storage.
Joseph E. P. Austin had a store at the location designated 8C on the Common, and he probably built the house at 2C, which was long known as the Austin house. The term of his operations is not easily stated. That oft-quoted account book of my father's has memoranda of dealings with Austin in 1837-8. "Hurd's History of Worcester County" states that Franklin E. Gregory, son of Franklin Gregory, (who was proprietor of the post-office store prior to his death in 1836,) was born in 1822, and at the age of 16, or in 1838, was clerk in the dry-goods store of J. E. P. Austin. Caswell's "Athol Past and Present" states that John Dwight Morton, who was born in Athol in 1830, served his first appreticeship in business in the store of Austin & Work, at Royalston, when 15 years of
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age, or in 1845, and remained 3 years, or until 1848. These items show the existence of the Austin store from 1837 to 1848, at least. Austin's partner, Work, makes no showing elsewhere in Royalston history; he might have been a descendant of Oliver or James Work, who held town offices before 1800. The Austin store was burned, and not rebuilt.
It is probable that four stores were in operation on Royalston Com- mon at the same time, in the vicinity of 1850.
THE MAILS AND THE POST-OFFICE.
Mr. Bullock, in his Centennial address, said: "Once a week our portly fellow-citizen of that time, Jonathan Pierce, drove the post and carried the mail between Worcester and Keene through Royalston, bringing to us the weekly papers, the regular politics, the more distant gossip, and helping us along generally in our conformity with the outside. world. This mission, commencing about the year 1800, he performed nearly a quarter of a century; and happy days they were."
Caswell gives the date of the establishment of the Royalston post- office as April 1, 1812, and Joseph Estabrook was the first post-master, the post-office being kept in his store. Stage-coaches were gradually put in operation over different routes, carrying both mails and passengers.
I have it on the authority of his daughter that Luke Beals, born in Royalston in 1801, was the first one to operate a stage line between Roy- alston and Worcester, in 1826, having been a post-rider earlier. Other Royalston men who had something to do with the operation of the stage- coaches and carrying the mails were Russell Wheeler, Jonas Forristall, George Whitney, and Benoni Ballou. Later, the celebrated Ginery Twichell line of stage-coaches served the town.
The rates of letter postage in those early days were gauged by the distance, being 614 and 121/2 cents, and so on, to fit the coins then in use. New York and Pennsylvania were then called western states, and what is now known as the Great West was then an almost unexplored wild.
Envelopes had not then been invented, and the postage rate was for one sheet of paper, which might be sealed, but must be so folded that the postal officials could see that it was only one sheet; which led to the use of large double sheets of foolscap paper for correspondence.
With the expansion of territory and the development of facilities, government established a monopoly of letter-carrying, increased the weight and distances, and reduced the rates, until now a 2-cent stamp will carry a 1-ounce letter almost from your door to the door of your cor- respondent in any part of the United States or its possessions or in either of several foreign lands. And as this 2-cent rate is practically double the cost of performing the service, HALF YOUR LETTER POSTAGE IS A TAX. so that government is now making an annual profit of some $75,000,000 on the letter mail, Congress would long since have reduced the letter rate to 1 cent, but CONF. CENT LETTER POSTAGE for the lying, bull-dozing tactics of a portion of our periodical press, which is receiving a subsidy about equal in amount to the profit on the letter mail, through ADDRESS NATIONAL ONE CENT LETTER POSTAGE ASSOCIATION CLEVELAND. a merely nominal charge for carrying its enormously profitable advertising publications. Until we are given the 1-cent letter rate, address the National 1-Cent Let- ter-Postage Association, Cleveland, Ohio, for particulars and information relating to ways to help get it.
After the opening of the Vermont and Massachusetts railroad in 1847 the mails were brought by train. George Whitney became station agent, or "depot master," as was the title in those days, at the Royalston sta- tion in South Royalston village, and also carried the mails between South Royalston and the Center. He employed "Uncle Ben" Wheeler to look after things at the depot, and continued his residence at the Center,
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