USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > Royalston > Reflections on Royalston, Worcester County, Massachusetts, U.S.A > Part 18
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My remuneration for such service as I rendered was $13.00 per month of 26 working days, from which was deducted $7.50 for 30 days board at the mill boarding-house, at the rate of $1.75 per week, leaving me $5.50 to carry home. Although I was a growing boy of 13 years, and perhaps capable of eating as much as some of the men ate, and while I ate at the men's table, I was charged only $1.75 per week, the price charged the women folks, while the men were charged $2.25 per week.
The typical mill boarding-house food was formerly represented as consisting largely of salt codfish, beans, corned beef and cabbage, hash, and other delicacies calculated to furnish a maximum amount of strength for toil at a minimum cost. Such a representation would not apply to the South Royalston mill boarding-house in 1861. Roasts, steaks, fresh vegetables of various kinds, hot biscuits, and butter that was above sus- picion, with excellent bread and pastry, were common on the board, and in abundance, with someone ready to replenish the supply if necessary. Friday was fish day, with a plenty of excellent fresh fish for Catholics and others, and fresh meats for those who did not care for the fish.
Col. Whitney liked a plenty of good food, and probably he liked to have his "help" well fed. When he dined at South Royalston it was usually at the boarding-house; but not at the men's table; he was served in the women's dining-room.
It seems hardly probable that the amount charged for the board was enough to cover the cost of the raw materials for the food and the labor of preparing and serving it and leave an adequate return for the use of the house and its equipment. It is possible that the management consid- ered it as good business to keep the "help" contented with good board at a low charge, as they would be less liable to wish to go elsewhere for higher wages.
I do not know where I would have "landed" or how much shorter my life might have been if I had continued at the mill work. But I do know that my half-year in the mill was in many respects the most barren in my life. There was I, an adolescent boy of 13 years, confined in the mill from 5 o'clock in the morning until nearly bedtime at night, with
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the eating of "three square meals a day" as almost my only recreation; no gossipy neighbor, no amusements or entertainments, no reading,- nothing to do but to go to my sleeping-room and to bed. Most of the men boarders sat out on the logs in the mill-yard and smoked their pipes and talked until their early bedtime. One fellow, a smallish, middle-aged man with womanish instincts, who occupied the room adjoining mine, did not smoke and kept pretty well in his room outside of working hours. I was in his room once and have recollection of books and pictures, and there might have been flowers.
I remember that at one time I had a few sheets of writing-paper and a pencil and began writing a "story," which was never finished. One night I attended the "orthodox" prayer-meeting in a room in the attic of the church, over the auditorium. One night I went into the water with other boys, and one night I went with an acquaintance to Deacon Jones' cider-mill to steal a drink of sweet cider. One afternoon the mill was shut down so that the "help" might attend a war meeting at the Center; I walked the 8 miles up and back, and marched while there. I had a "vacation" of one week, which was spent in visiting with others among my step-father's relatives in New Hampshire.
I walked to my home at the Center every Saturday night and walked back to South Royalston every Sunday night, with the exception of one or two weeks late in the season.
With these few diversions my life during that half-year was much like that of an animal, spent in working, eating and sleeping, with the difference that the animal had to be led or driven to his toil, while I went to mine without being led or driven.
I am glad that children cannot now be employed in mills at the age at which I was employed, and that the length of a day's work has been greatly reduced. If all who are able to work should do their share, few would be required to work long hours.
For a part of the time I had as a room-mate a man of a somewhat different cast from the other help; and although we occupied the same bed each night, I never really got acquainted with him. He was a wool- sorter at the mill, and had the reputation of being an expert and of drawing big pay; and his address and dress confirmed that distinction. He did not go to work until after breakfast, so that when I arose at 4.45 I left him in bed; and his day's work ended earlier than mine, so that he had time to dress up before supper, and so to go out after supper; and I was usually in bed and asleep when he came in, so that the only times we were in the room together were when I was asleep. Circumstances brought him into the following story.
HOW COL. GEORGE WHITNEY WAS ROBBED.
For something like a half a century Col. George Whitney's business interests were substantially all at South Royalston, while his home was at the Center, 4 miles distant. Occasionally a rumor would be circulated to the effect that he contemplated removing his home to South Royals- ton; but it never came to pass. For something like 13 years after the opening of the railroad Col. Whitney carried the mails almost daily be- tween South Royalston and the Center, while also holding the position of station agent (see page 95). He had during that time acquired an inter- est in the chair shop and saw-mill (pages 66 and 139). After he added the woolen mill in 1858 (page 138) he dropped the mail-carrying (page 96), and his trips between his home and South Royalston were made at differ- ent hours, and frequently his trips home were not made until after the arrival of the evening trains.
He carried, under the seat of his open-back buggy, a small trunk, which served as a receptacle for business documents, freight bills for the merchants and others at the Center, and sometimes cash and other arti- cles of value, too bulky for his pockets.
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One evening in the autumn of 1861 Col. Whitney got off the train from Athol. Following his usual custom, probably, he entered the little office room which he kept in the station, donned his riding garments, packed his little trunk and carried it out to the stable near the depot in which he kept his horse, placed the trunk under the seat of his buggy, harnessed the horse to the buggy, backed him out of the stable, closed the door, got into the buggy, lighted a cigar, and the horse took him to his home at the Center, with the tired Colonel napping a part of the way, ~ quite likely. Arrived at his home, he drove into the barn, unharnessed his horse, and after having fed the horse and fixed him for the night, reached under the buggy seat to get the little trunk to carry it into the house, where he could care for its contents.
But the little trunk was not under the seat nor anywhere in the buggy. Then came a time of retrospection and deliberation, probably, as to whether he had left the trunk at South Royalston, or had lost it on his way home. No telephones at that time, and the telegraph was never extended to the Center. There was no way to communicate with anyone at South Royalston, so he harnessed his horse and drove down.
He found no trace of the trunk where he might have left it, and it was not found on the road; suspicion that it had been stolen from him while riding to the Center was confirmed a little later when the trunk and the papers which would have been worse than valueless in the pos- session of the thief, were found behind a pile of lumber in Dea. Luther Harrington's shed; but $300 in money, which Col. Whitney had brought from an Athol bank for Town Treasurer Leonard Wheeler, was not there.
Who was the thief? No one was ever apprehended. Perhaps sev- eral were suspected. Almost any person familiar with Col. Whitney's habits in going to the Center might have accomplished the deed. The thief might have wondered about the little trunk and have explored the road over which it was carried; and then, on the night in question, if he had noted the transfer of the package of money from Col. Whitney's pocket to the trunk, he might have decided that it would be a good time to try to gratify his curiosity regarding the contents of the trunk; and then he might have gone up the road and have found some secluded place from which in the darkness he could step out and follow the buggy and "lift" the little trunk; if he touched the buggy the horse might have sensed it and have given a little start, which would have taken the at- tention of the driver, leaving the culprit behind with the trunk.
I could have stolen that trunk; but I do not think that I was sus- pected of having stolen it. However, suspicion came very near to me, for they considered my room-mate and bed-fellow, the wool-sorter, men- tioned in the previous story. Superintendent Roby R. Safford inter- viewed me to learn if I could recall anything in the wool-sorter's doings that might indicate that he was the robber; but I had nothing worth mentioning. My mind was too stolid, from the long hours of labor and the over-feeding, to allow me to grab at the idea of becoming an amateur detective; and I have no recollection that I devoted a moment's time to a consideration of my room-mate or his doings or belongings with rela- tion to his probable connection with the robbery. He and I went about our own affairs exactly as we had gone before, and I doubt if the merest mention of the affair ever passed between us, although it was a village sensation, and people in general were talking about it.
A few weeks after the robbery the wool-sorter resigned his position and went away. The general opinion seemed to be that he was the rob- ber; but so well did he play his part that nothing developed that could be considered as evidence of his guilt.
CONSULT THE ALPHABETICAL INDEX.
By reference to the alphabetical index in the front part of this work the reader will find many interesting passages which perhaps otherwise might be overlooked.
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NATURE'S EMBELLISHMENTS.
Royalston, in common with many New England towns, has a goodly number of geographical, geological, hydrographical, hydrogeological, metallurgical and other peculiarities and variations from the ordinary which are matters of considerable interest.
Nature gave the town a "back-bone" in the form of a ridge of ledgy hills, extending through the middle of the town from its northern limits well down toward its southern extreme, adjoining Athol; here a drop lets Lawrence Brook through from the east to the west side of the ridge, which is continued in Athol as Chestnut Hill. Royalston Common stands on this ridge.
There are points on this ridge at the north part of the town from which a large section of the west part of the town can be seen, "looked down upon," as it were, and many places seem "almost within a stone's throw." But the only way those places which seem to be so near can be reached by highway from that north part of the town, is to go to the Common and then by the west road down Jacobs Hill, making the dis- tance to the nearest places some 3 or 4 miles, and to others 5 to 8 miles.
This Jacobs Hill road must have been one of the earliest laid out, for without it communication between the west part and the Center and other parts of the town must have been extremely difficult. And it is recorded that Simeon Chamberlain began teaching school in December, 1772, at Dea. Isaac Estey's, who "settled the first place west of the Common, near the foot of Jacobs Hill." (See page 98.)
Another road, connecting a portion of the west part of the town with the Center and other parts, leads from the Athol road just before it crosses Lawrence Brook, nearly two miles south from the Center; this road takes in the very steep Doane Hill, corresponding with the Doane Falls on Lawrence Brook. These two roads, the Jacobs Hill road and the Doane Hill road, are the only avenues of communication between nearly one-half of the territory of the town, known as the west part, and the other parts, on the ridge and to the east of it.
Lawrence Brook runs through the valley east of the ridge, breaks through the ridge at a low point in the Doane Falls section, and goes on to join Tully Brook, which joins Millers River in Athol. Lawrence Brook was probably named in honor of William Lawrence, who had a hand in the land deal with the Proprietors.
Tully Brook, east branch, flows through the valley west of the ridge; at one point it spreads so wide that it is called Long Pond; it takes in Lawrence Brook, which has crossed the ridge, and they go on to Millers River, in Athol. The name Tully, as applied to the brook and the moun- tain, in Orange, was, perchance, that of an Indian's dog, drowned in a scrimmage with a deer; or, perhaps, the name of a family or individual residing in the vicinity or having an interest there.
The west branch of the Tully runs down through the Forbes Falls section at the north-west part of the town, and on down through Orange to the parent brook in Athol.
Priest Brook, which flows across the north-easterly part of the town, and thence to Millers River in Winchendon, got its name from Joseph Priest, who was granted a strip of 300 acres of land in that vicinity, "as a recognition of his lyoalty," etc. (See page 39.)
Beaver Brook is tributary to Lawrence Brook at the east side, and Boyce Brook empties into Long Pond at the west.
Millers River runs through the extreme south-eastern part of the town, at South Royalston, and although its course in the town is short in comparison with the other streams, it furnishes more water power than all of the others combined, by reason of its size.
The story of the development of business on these streams is told under the caption of "Saw-mills and Grist-mills," beginning on page 61, and in other following articles.
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Perhaps some readers may recall that on page 124 it is recorded that Prof. Edward Hitchcock, of Amherst College, delivered "three good dis- courses" in Royalston, May 27, 1838, and that it was suggested that that was probably the occasion when Prof. Hitchcock was in Royalston gathering material for his work on "The Geology of Massachusetts," published in 1841. In this work, his description of the waterfalls is prob- ably a better one than any writer of the present time can give. He wrote:
"There are at least three waterfalls connected with deep gorges in Royalston, that are well worth the attention of those who are fond of wild natural scenery. About a mile west of the meeting-house and cen- ter of the town, is a deep valley running north and south, nearly across the town. Near the meeting-house is a pond [Little Pond] which empties itself into this valley by plunging rapidly down a steep declivity, which must be 800 or 1,000 feet high. It then empties into another large pond [Long Pond], or rather a remarkable expansion of a small tributary of Millers River. At one part of the descent of the brook above named, it falls at least 200 feet by several leaps within a distance of a few rods, forming several very beautiful cascades. There the original forests have not been disturbed. The trees overhang the murmuring waters, half concealing the stream, while broken trees are plunged across it in all positions.'
This Little Pond, "near the meeting-house" on the Common, ex- cites curiosity as to its source of supply, as no brooks empty into it and the water-shed draining into it is limited in territory. It seems proba- ble that some natural breaking-up of the crust left this cavity, and that it is filled mainly by water seeping through the fissures in the ledges of the higher ridge at the north.
It seems reasonable to suppose that the water secured through the artesian wells driven around the Common in recent years may come from substantially the same sources as that which fills Little Pond; that pond may be something like a natural artesian well.
In 1838, when Prof. Hitchcock described this waterfall, the flow of water from Little Pond went on in the natural way. But a little later, when Joseph Sawyer diverted the flow to a canal to carry it to his furni- ture shop for power purposes, as mentioned on page 74 and on, he closed the natural outlet, in order to retain the water at as high a point as pos- sible, which spoiled much of the beauty seen by Prof. Hitchcock. The waterfall was not often mentioned or visited in my younger days.
A writer in the Memorial, in 1865, after mentioning the fact that the water-powers of the furniture shop and the carriage manufactory were out of use, said: "We see no good reason why the natural outlet of Little Pond should not be reopened, and its waters, no longer in bondage to man, allowed to run singing along in their primeval and romantic channel, down to Long Pond and the classic Tully. And we should like to see the now useless, unseemly and unhealthy canal filled up."
Whether Joseph Sawyer "and his heirs and assigns forever" had any perpetual right of way for that canal may not be told; but it is probable that it was gradually filled up by the owners of the land through which it passed; and I never learned that anything was done about opening the natural outlet that had been closed, but the barrier may have broken away from the weakness of age and the action of the water.
Along in some of the years between 1850 and 1860 a row-boat of fair proportions was in commission on Little Pond. It might have been built and launched at an earlier time, by the fellows at the furniture shop; but in the years mentioned it was captained and manned by boys from the Frye, Wheeler, Pierce and Bullock families, and probably others, who gallantly took high-school girls and others on limited trips. The boat was of a flat-bottom, raft-like construction, which would not easily upset; and so long as it did not leak in water faster than it could be
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bailed out it was passably safe; but the pond had a muddy and rooty bottom, and with a load spilled into it probably not all would have es- caped drowning.
Relating to a second notable waterfall, known as Forbes Falls, and which Prof. Hitchcock christened "The Royal Cascade," he wrote:
"In the extreme north-west part of the town, on the farm of Calvin Forbes, a gorge and cascade exist of still greater interest; one of the finest, indeed, in the state. The stream is not more than 10 feet wide at the spot, but it descends 45 feet at a single leap into a large basin, which from its top has been excavated by the erosion [wearing away] of the waters. The sides, to the height of 50 or 60 feet, are formed of solid rocks; now retreating and now projecting: crowned at the summit with trees. Many of these lean over the gulf or have fallen across it; so that upon the whole, the scene is one of great wildness and interest. * * It
FORBES FALLS (THE ROYAL CASCADE), 1870.
certainly deserves a name; and until a better one shall be proposed, I would suggest that of 'The Royal Cascade;' partly in reference to the name of the town in which it is situated, and partly in reference to its royal character."
Sometime previous to 1870 the owner of this Forbes Falls property erected a flight of stairs from the foot to the top of the falls, and pro- vided seats, tables, swings and other accessories of picnic grounds, and the place became a resort for recreationists, parties sometimes going there from Winchendon, Athol, and other far-away places, in spite of the distance and hard roads. But it was improbable that the proprietor could get enough out of his desultory visitors to compensate him for his outlay in maintaining such conditions, especially the stairs, which, in order to withstand the overloading by reckless pleasure seekers, would need constant and thorough inspection and repairs to ensure safety.
I. have a photographic stereoscopic view of the stairs with 15 or more people standing on them, and several others of the falls, which, together
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with the view here shown, were taken about 1870, by a Keene artist, and which became part of a series of stereoscopic views of Royalston of my publication in 1873. I regret that the exorbitant war-time price for good half-tones prevents the reproduction of more of the views of this interesting locality here.
Concerning the third important waterfall, now called Doane Falls, and for which he suggested the name, "The Republican Cascade," Prof. Hitchcock wrote:
"Two miles south of Royalston Center, on the road leading to Athol, is another cascade on a larger stream. Its width, indeed, must be as much as 25 feet, and its depth considerable. In a short distance here the
DOANE FALLS (THE REPUBLICAN CASCADE), 1906.
water descends, at several successive leaps, as much as 200 feet, between high walls of gneiss and granite. Toward the upper part of the descent, several mills are erected; but a small part only of the water power is employed. Below the mills the stream passes into the woods; and toward the lowest part of the descent, we get a single view of two falls of about 25 feet each. *
* There is more of beauty and less of wildness at this spot than at 'The Royal Cascade.' This stream also has been, and still more extensively can be, applied to useful purposes. Perhaps, therefore, considering the character of our political institutions, and our well known reputation for utilitarian tendencies, this, rather in contrast to 'The Royal Cascade,' may be denominated 'The Republican Cascade.' But if I can induce persons of taste and leisure to visit it, I care but little for the name."
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PD
DOANE FALLS, 1873.
The upper picture shows, at the extreme top, the edge of the bridge crossing Lawrence Brook on the Athol road, and a little lower down, at the right, may be seen a portion of the lower part of the old saw-mill. The waterfall in the center flows over the dam which furnished power for the saw-mill.
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The lower picture, I am sure, represents the same falls seen in the view on the opposite page, from a different angle; and as there was a difference of 33 years between the times when the two pictures were taken, nature had time to make changes in the settings. It is obvious that the 1906 view was taken while the foli- age was heavy and green, taking dark; the 1873 views were taken in October,
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when the foliage was scant, and the trunks of the trees, white birches, perhaps, took light. The difference in the sunlight also had an effect on the lighting.
It is probable that both the 1906 picture and the lower 1873 picture show the "two falls of about 25 feet each," mentioned by Prof. Hitchcock.
Readers who have access to Prof. Hitchcock's works on "The Geology of Massachusetts" may be interested in looking up his pictures of Royalston Falls, made from pencil drawings and printed from wood-cuts, -quite in contrast with those shown here, made from photographs and printed from half-tones.
NATURE'S ADORNMENTS AS SEEN BY THE PARSON.
No finer description of Royalston's scenery and outlook could be given than the following, in the 1865 Memorial, - undoubtedly the work of Rev. Ebenezer W. Bullard:
"Few towns can boast greater or more interesting natural scenery than Roy- alston. High and rugged hills, noble swells of excellent land, and intersecting valleys, make up the general contour. Overlooking the surrounding country by its general elevation, it has also commanding eminences from which the eye takes in wider sweeps of vision, while it looks down on nearer objects of interest,-the clustering hamlets, and isolated farmhouses, the orchards, groves and woodlands, the shimmering ponds, and the meandering water-courses. From several of these eminences both the Monadnock and the Wachusett stand out in bold relief. Our horizon is bounded on the east and north-east by the high hills in Ashburnham, Rindge and New Ipswich, and on the west and north-west by the distant Green Mountain range.
"Among the points affording extended and beautiful prospects may be men- tioned Frye's hill, north of the Common; the highlands west of the north road leading to Fitzwilliam, sometimes called the 'backbone' of Royalston; the south pasture on the farm of Mr. John Pierce, overlooking South Royalston, and the Jacobs Hill, as the road from the Center turns abruptly to the north.
"The view from this last point is very fine. It looks out westwardly upon Long Pond, Tully River and another smaller stream, both of which come down from the wooded lands to the north, and run tortuously through the meadows at your feet into Long Pond. In front of you, and beyond the meadows and pond, the country rises rapidly, with broken face, to the west and north, till it meets the line of the horizon. It is a lovely landscape, whether in spring, summer or autumn; but splendid when the tints of the latter season are out in their glory,- so great is the variety of foliage, so artistic the blending of the many hues, and so grand the amphitheater in which the whole is displayed. Sometimes, too, when the winter is coronated, and copse and woodland pendant with crystal ice, and the sun flashing upon it all, the scene is truly magnificent."
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