USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > Holden > The history of Holden, Massachusetts. 1684-1894 > Part 11
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The sanctuary is handsomely and effctively designed. It is in shape a hexagon from each corner of which rises a slender column with carved capital supporting an elaborate cornice, the whole forming a very pleasing setting for the handsome high altar constructed with dome and lateral wings suited to the design of the church. At the west end is a gallery for the choir and organ. The whole interior is frescoed in deep, rich colors. The dome of the chancel is effectively shaded from old gold to blue, while the windows are handsomely finished with artistic stained glass. The building is heated by steam and lighted by gas made on the premises.
The church has a seating capacity of about five hundred, which can easily be increased to seven hundred. It is pleas- ing and appropriate in design, being in style an adaptation of a Roman basilica. The architect was Mr. Stephen C. Earle of Worcester. Waldo E. Austin of Holden, was the builder. Thomas Hennessy did the grading and the mason work.
The cost of the building, with all its furnishings, was $ 16,000. Hon. Martin V. B. Jefferson generously contributed $500 to the building fund. The large transept windows were the gifts respectively of the men and of the women of the parish. Other windows were the individual gifts of James Prendergast, John P. Spring, Arthur McDonald, Edward Rivers, William Moore, Thomas Hennessey, Dennis Harrington, Patrick Griffin and Joseph Guyotte.
The dedication took place June 28th, 1891. Splendid weather favored the ceremony, which was largely attended by many who were not members of the Church.
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HISTORY OF HOLDEN.
The services began at 10.30 o'clock with the usual solemn dedicatory exercises, the bishop and assisting clergy marching in solemn procession around the exterior of the building, recit- ing prayers and sprinkling holy water, followed by solemn high mass. This was sung by the following clergymen : Celebrant, Rev. Michael A. O'Kane, S. J., President of Holy Cross College; deacon, Rev. Daniel F. Feehan of St. Bernard's, Fitchburg ; sub-deacon, Rev. Eugene F. Brosnahan of St. Anne's ; master of ceremonies, Rev. John F. Redican of Cordaville.
The music of the mass was especially fine, members of St. Anne's, St. Stephen's and Immaculate Conception choirs assis- ting the local choir.
After the gospel the sermon of the day was preached by Very Rev. John J. Power, D. D., V. G., of St. Paul's, Worcester. Father Power spoke in substance as follows :
" I congratulate you on this auspicious occasion which marks the success of your undertaking, the completion of your beautiful church. You have reason to be proud of such an edifice. Your pastor also, who has labored so diligently to bring this work to a successful issue, has reason to feel proud, and I congratulate him on what he has accomplished. But now that the worry, the labor, the sacrifice involved in the erection of this edifice are happily passed, the question properly arises, what is the motive that impelled you to undergo them? Why have you built this church? You will answer, to advance the glory of God, to erect a temple to the Most High, from which sacrifice, praise and prayer shall ascend as pleasing incense before His throne.
"But how do you know that your action is pleasing to God? How do you know that the faith which inspires your action is divine ? For, remember, it is not enough for us to know that as children of Catholic parents we were born into the Church. We must have reason for the faith that is in us. We must demonstrate our claim to the possession of God's revelation. God requires of us the homage of the mind and soul as well as of the heart. That our faith may be acceptable to Him it must be based upon our intelligent conception of its requirements. Without this intelligence the prac- tice of our religion would be merely mechanical routine."
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HISTORY OF THE CHURCHES.
" After all, then, it is not so much important that you build a church of stone or wood, ornamented with the work of the sculptor or the architect, as it is that you make yourselves the temples of the Holy Ghost, adorned with those virtues pleasing to the Almighty. You are the living material of God's Church. You are the Church of God. Be then Catholics not in name merely, but in fact and deed. Be sincere, be honest, be consistent in the profession of your faith. Let not your lives bring scandal on your religion."
Father Power then urged the study and practice of true religion. He counselled all families to have in their homes the Catechism, the Bible, and the works of Thomas A'Kempis.
At the post communion, Rt. Rev. Bishop O'Reilly made a brief address of congratulation to the parishioners on the ac- quisition of their new and handsome church, contrasting the small beginnings, as he remembered them from his early visits, with what he now saw.
The number of souls in the parish at present, 1892, is about nine hundred.
METHODIST EPISCOPAL meetings were held in town for many years. In the Minutes of the Methodist Episcopal Con- ferences, the name of Holden appears from 1841 to 1854. From 1841 to 1849, Holden is associated with Rutland, and Rev. Messrs. Charles H. Ainsworth, 1841-3 ; John M. Merrill, 1843-5; N. J. Merrill, 1845-6; Horace Moulton, 1846-7 ; Simon Putnam, 1847-8, and W. F. Lecount, 1848-9, served upon this circuit. For the year 1849-50, it was arranged that Holden should be supplied separately, but the name of the sup- ply is not given. In 1850-1, it is again united with Rutland, and Rev. D. K. Merrill was appointed to the charge. In 1851-2, Holden is again separated from Rutland, and left as a mission "to be supplied." In 1852-3, Rev. Simon Putnam was appointed to " Princeton and Holden." In 1853-4, Holden is joined to Oakdale. In 1854 and there- after, the charge is styled simply Oakdale. There have been Methodists in town ever since, but they have usually held membership at Oakdale. In addition to the names above men-
*
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HISTORY OF HOLDEN.
tioned, Rev. Messrs. Bayliss, Cook, Mackay, Munger, and Shedd are remembered by individuals as having labored here.
Among the leading workers of the denomination in town were John and Simon Abbott, John Bacon, Preston Bassett, Lemuel Fales, Simon Hubbard, and Aaron H. Rogers. No church edifice was ever erected or attempted. Meetings were held at the town hall, and in private houses at Quinapoxet, Unionville and Jefferson. A Sunday School and weekly prayer-meetings and class-meetings were sustained for many years, and many souls were helped into the divine life and in it by these patient endeavors of Christian workers.
UNIVERSALIST sentiment gained a foothold here as early as 1838, when the Congregational Church took up labor with Joel Blake for holding such views. Public services were held in the town hall in 1843, 1846, 1848, 1851 and 1853. Among others, Rev. Hosea Ballou sometimes came here to speak. These were merely occasional services, as no formal organiza- tion was ever made, though such sentiments have continued to be held and professed by individuals. Among the prominent adherents to Universalist views have been Asahel Clapp, Levi Smith, Levi Smith, Jr. and, Charles Turner.
ADVENT meetings were begun in about the year 1840, and were continued with more or less of regularity for nearly ten years. After being suspended for a time, they were resumed about 1857, and continued nearly twenty years. Many differ- ent preachers spoke here from time to time. Rev. Ezra T. Crowell was the only minister of this denomination who ever resided in town. Among others, the ministrations of Rev. Messrs. Miles Grant, William N. Pile, Horace Hastings and Thomas M. Preble are remembered.
There was no formal organization; a Sunday School, how- ever, was held whenever there was preaching. John Richard- son, Nathan Howe, Moses Smith, Dana Newton, Timothy Parker, Henry Parker and Howard Holden were among the leading men here of this denomination. Their work resulted
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HISTORY OF THE CHURCHES.
in some conversions and baptisms, and the meetings were very interesting to the participants.
A CHAPEL was built at Jefferson in 1884, for the conven- ience of those living in the vicinity, at a cost of not less than $1,200. It was dedicated January 5th, 1885, Rev. George S. Dodge preaching on the occasion. For the control of the building, a society was organized under the name of "The Union Evangelical Society". Meetings on Sunday afternoons and on week evenings have since been regularly held.
SONS AND DAUGHTERS of the churches and the town, a goodly company, have gone out to labor in the gospel in this and other lands. The following who have resided in Holden, have entered the Christian ministry : Henry W., Baumann, John F. Bigelow, D. D., Charles Brooks, Joseph Cheney, Samuel C. Damon, D. D., George Darling, Samuel G. Darling, Elnathan Davis, Jonathan Fisher, John P. Foster, Samuel Willis Hamblen, Charles W. Holbrook, William Howe, D. D., William M. Hubbard, Albert C. Johnson, Abel Manning, James W. Mclaughlin, John R. Murphy, Cyrus W. Perry, James M. Prendergast, Merrill Richardson, D. D., Adoniram J. Walker, Hervey D. Walker, John Walker, William S. Wal- ker, Albert Weeks, Abraham Wheeler and Moses Winch.
Dea. Isaac Fisk was born in Holden, in 1790, and was a blacksmith by trade. After the death of his wife, Nancy, daughter of Ethan Davis, who was born June 14th, 1793, and died August 8th, 1813, he went out as a lay missionary among the Choctaw Indians. Arriving at his field in 1819, he sur- vived but a single year, dying in 1820.
Mrs. Isabella G. Davis Clarke was born in Holden July Ist, 1828, married Rev. James F. Clarke, April 14th, 1859, and has labored in missionary work, at Philippopolis, Turkey, from 1859 to 1870, since then at Samokov, Bulgaria.
Mrs. Myra Fairbanks Eells went to the Pacific coast as a missionary among the Spokane Indians. She was born in Holden, May 26th, 1805, made a public profession of religion
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HISTORY OF HOLDEN.
at the age of thirteen, and the day after her marriage to Rev. Cushing Eells, which took place March 5th, 1838, started on her long journey. At that time, "it took nearly six months to make the trip, most of the time on horseback, and
but one company of white women, two in number, had ever made the journey. For ten years she remained with the Indians in the Eastern part of this Territory [now the State of Washington]-as long as she could on account of Indian troubles."" She died August 9th, 1878.
Edward Bailey, born in Holden, February 14th, 1814, and his wife, Caroline Hubbard Bailey, born in Holden, August 13th, 1814, sailed for the Sandwich Islands, December 14th, 1836, where he served for many years as a teacher in the em- ploy of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions.
Samuel C. Damon, D. D., sailed March 10, 1842, from New York for Honolulu, where he spent his life as chaplain of the American Seaman's Friend Society.
Mrs. Eliza Ann Abbott Goddard, born in Holden, January 3d, 1817, married Rev. Josiah Goddard, in 1838, reached Siam 1840, and resided at Bangkok until 1848, when Mr. Goddard's health required a removal to Ningpo, China, which was there- after the seat of their missionary labors until Mr. Goddard's death in 1854.
Mrs. Abigail P. Davis Goodell, a grand-daughter of the first pastor of the town, married, November 9th, 1822, William Goodell, D. D., the eminent missionary of the American Board, and spent her life laboring in Turkey till 1865, when, the infirmities of years affecting her husband, they returned to this country, to spend the evening of life in their native land.
Mrs. Hannah Davis Grout, born in Holden, February 26th, 1805, married Rev. Aldin Grout, November 17th, 1834. They sailed December 3d for the Zulu mission, in South Africa, but war among some of the native tribes prevented their pur- suing their journey, and they landed at Algoa Bay, and pro-
1 Address, by her son, Rev. Myron Eells, on the occasion of her death.
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HISTORY OF THE CHURCHES.
ceeding to Bethelsdorp, seven miles distant, took houses tem- porarily on an English mission station. While awaiting the removal of the obstructions in their way, pulmonary disease ended her life, February 24th, 1836.
Mrs. Charlotte Bailey Grout, was born in Holden, June 2 Ist, 18II, and married Rev. Aldin Grout November 23d, 1838. They sailed for South Africa March 7th, 1840, reaching Cape Town May 12th, Natal soon after, and the Zulu Country the next year. Later, however, it became advisable to make Natal the seat of their missionary labors, where they toiled, with the exception of a return to Holden in 1857, for a visit of eighteen months, until 1870, when they finally returned to this country, making their home in Springfield.
Rev. Samuel W. Hamblen, was born at Centre Lovell, Me., September 12th, 1862, fitted for college at Worcester Academy, and was graduated from Brown University in 1886, and from the Newton Theological Institution in 1889. He was ordained September 26th, 1889, at North Berwick, Me., whither his father had removed from Holden, and started for Japan in October of the same year. The seat of his missionary labors is Sendai, Japan.
CHAPTER VIII.
SCHOOLS AND LIBRARY.
FIRST SCHOOLS AND SCHOOL HOUSES. - COMMITTEES AND SU- PERINTENDENTS. - SELECT SCHOOLS. - HIGH SCHOOL. - COLLEGE GRADUATES. - HOLDEN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION. GALE FREE LIBRARY.
T THE first meeting of the town held for the trans- action of business, it was voted to have a reading and writing school. What measures were taken for the carrying of that vote into effect are not
recorded. At a special town meeting held May 11th, 1752, the following votes were passed in reference to a school :
" voted that the Town are of the min to provid a writing and reading chool master
" Voted that the School shall be keept this year three mounths at Mr Joseph Hubburd's House and the other three mounth at ye House of Levnt Cyprian Stevens and that the first three mounth in the next year shall be keept in the Center of the Town near the meeting- house and that the next three mounths shall be keept at ye House of mr Jonathan Lovel and the next three mounths shall be kept at the House of Lent Richard Flagg. further voted . . to choose a committee of three men to provid a master to keep said school. Mesrs Capt John Biglo Isarieal Davis and Samuel Hubbuard chosen and voted to be a committee to provid a School-master to keep ye School as above mentioned."
Curiously enough the original order of the committee and receipt of the school teacher for that very year have been pre- served. They read thus :
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SCHOOLS AND LIBRARY.
" To Mr Joseph Hubbard Treasurer for the town of Holden Sir Pursuant to an order from the Selectmen of this town to you to pay unto us the money due for teaching the School these are therefore to desire you to pay unto John Young the Sum of three pounds twelve shillings lawful money of this Provance and his Receit Shall be your discharge for so much given under our hands this 2d day of May 1753.
JOHN BIGLO Comtee For the SAMUEL HUBBURD & Town of Holden for ISRAEL DAVIS - the School"
" These are to Certify whom it may concern that when I kept School at Lieunt Steeven's in Holden my wages was one pound four shillings pr month for three months which was three pounds twelve shillings in all of which Mr Jotham Biglo paid me two pounds given under my hand this 12th of Novbr. 1754.
JOHN YOUNG."
In 1753, twelve pounds were appropriated for the schools, and it was voted that the school be kept that year in three places, at the center, at the east end and at the west end of the town, and that the families at the north end of the town, three in number, and at the south end of the town, four in number, . be allowed to draw their proportion of money, for time past as well as that year, out of the town treasury to provide schooling among themselves. The same year it was voted to build a school-house at the center, and in 1754 it was refused to recon- sider the vote. It is, however, uncertain whether the school- house was actually built. In 1758 no less than sixty pounds was raised for the school. In 1761 it was further voted to go on and finish the school-house according to the old vote. May 19th, 1760, the easterly part of the town was given liberty to build a school-house for themselves, and released or exempted from building any other in town. In 1774, thirty pounds, exclusive of the lime lot, were voted for schools, ten pounds being voted the same year for necessary charges and eighty pounds for the support of the gospel. The rate at which it was laid out may be gathered from the following order :
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HISTORY OF HOLDEN.
" Dea. Hubburd and Cap Amos Heywood they Being a commitv for the Lime Lot money Pleas to Pay amos Heywood Jr four Pounds one Shiling & two Pence for keeping a School in the west End of the Town and Bording him Selfe three weeks & a half it being in full. and his Endorse shall be your Discharge
Holden march 28th 1774
JOHN CHILD BENJN MEAD JAMES DAVIS JONA RICE PAUL RAYMOND
Selectmen of Holden"
In the course of the first half century of town history, the district system was practically introduced, though near that time the Selectmen were authorized to engage school-masters. There were no school-mistresses in those days, as is shown by the following record, bearing the date of May 22d, 1772, " Put to Vote to see if ye town would grant any of the School Money to a woman school & it passed in the Negative." The districts of those days bore the name of "squadrons." In 1793, the sum of $400 was raised for the building of school- houses upon certain conditions. The records of the special town meeting, held by adjournment March 18th, 1793, read thus :
" To see if the Town will vote to raise any sum or sums of money to build school-houses in said Town and have it assessed into a tax for that purpose, upon the following Conditions (Viz) that if any of the squadrons in said Town think they need a house, and have a mind to build one, may have the benifit of the above mentioned assesment, for that purpose .- at the same time giving full liberty to any one or more squadrons that think they need not a school house and chuse rather to keep their school in some convenient Dwelling house, they may have Liberty therefor, and likewise to call upon the selectmen for orders to sink their Rate that shall be made for that purpose, upon the following Conditions (viz) that if ever hereafter any of the above mentioned squadrons so Refusing or neglecting to build a House by sd Tax, should think they need a school house and agree to build one, that they shall do it within themselves with out applying to the Town for any assistance only their proportion of tax arising from the Nonrisedents that shall be assessed to their squadron
1
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SCHOOLS AND LIBRARY.
"N. B. the selectmen to be oblig'd to give orders to the squadrons Refusing or Neglecting as above said to build a house by the assessment as above mentioned-Each squadron that builds a house to have a right to their own money and no other
" Voted to raise £400 to build school houses in said Town upon the above mentioned Conditions-said money Voted to be assessed by the next Valuation."
That the eastern district or squadron accepted these terms, we are assured by an old statement of account which has been preserved, and contains some items not considered absolutely essential for the proper construction of school-houses now- a-days. What would the tax payers of the present day think of such items as the following, which excited no comment in 1793 ?
" Holden Octr 25th 1793
Messrs WEBB, DRURY & DODDS School Committe for the Eastern District
To Aaron White
Drs
To I Galln NE Rum & 11/2 Sugar @ 5/2 £0 .. 5 .. 2
26 To I M Iod Nails @ 8/ 0 .. 8 .. 0
Nov 8 To 1/2 M Iod Nails & 14 M 20d Do @ 7/ 0 .. 7 .. 0 13 To I Qt NE Rum @ 1/ O .. I .. 0"
In 1791 the sum of seventy pounds was raised for the sup- port of schools. In 1841 $800 was similarly appropriated. In 1838, it had been voted that the several districts might choose their own prudential committees, and they had already gained the right to contract with their own teachers. It was customary that the selectmen and assessors should divide the money among the several districts, the usual custom being " half on the pay and half on the scholar". The rule was this :- " One-half in proportion to the amount of tax assessed in each district, and the other half in proportion to the number of persons between the ages of three and twenty-one ;" a lim- ited discretion in favor of the smaller districts being also sometimes allowed. A division into districts had prevailed for a long time, but in 1838, the whole matter of the distribution
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:
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HISTORY OF HOLDEN.
into districts was referred to a special committee, who redi- vided the town into twelve districts, a partition, which stood substantially unchanged until the district system was abolished in 1869.
The first committee to visit the schools was chosen at the annual meeting in 1825. Thereafter it became a regular insti- tution. The first committee consisted of Rev. Horatio Bardwell, Rev. John Walker, Col. Samuel Damon, George Estabrook, M. D., and Dennis Davis, Esq. It was the usual custom to put the pastors of the churches at the head of this committee, and Dr. Paine served in this office for more than thirty years.
The districts became steadily more and more independent of each other, so that after a time it was the exception that the town elected the prudential committee for any district. Indeed after the districts were abolished by act of Legislature the town persisted for a time in choosing twelve men, one to repre- sent each of the old districts. In 1869 the town purchased the school houses from the districts at their value as appraised by three men out of town, the total cost to the town being $8,762. It was not till 1877, that the school committee was reduced to three members, and it has varied since between three and six members. In 1872, the town authorized the committee to elect a Superintendent of Schools, and William C. Metcalf was chosen and served during that school year. The next year James T. Rood, M. D. filled the same office. Clifford W. Stickney, M. D. was chosen Superintendent in 1883, and served the three years next ensuing. In 1890, Hol- den united with Leicester to take advantage of the new law of the state, and secured Charles E. Stevens to give his whole time to the schools of the two towns. He continued to fill the position till June, 1892. Benjamin F. Robinson has become his successor.
The care of their schools has always been important in the eyes of the citizens of Holden. They were never more earnest in their devotion to this object than at present. The expendi- tures for school purposes for the last fiscal year amounted to $7,964, 12. For three years out of the last four, according to
SCHOOL HOUSE, JEFFERSON.
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SCHOOLS AND LIBRARY.
the State Board of Education, Holden has stood among the first in the Commonwealth, and the very first in all Worcester County in the percentage of taxable property devoted to school purposes.
To narrate the story of the school-houses in every district would be unprofitable, but the late history of the school-houses at Jefferson deserves record. In 1873, the town built a large, two-room building at a cost of $4,000. The growth of the villages rendering this inadequate, in 1885, a four-room build- ing was erected at a cost of $4,312.48. June 4th, 1891, this was destroyed by fire. A six-room building was as speedily as possible put up on the same site, and opened for use February Ist, 1892. This school-house was built from plans furnished by Messrs. Barker & Nourse. It is fitted with the best modern appliances for heating and ventilation, and the furniture is throughout of the best and most approved patterns. The whole cost was $10,500, of which less than $5,000 was received as insurance on the old building.
For many years a select school was kept in town every fall, the teacher in charge receiving tuition fees and paying all expenses. Among those mentioned by Dr. Damon as having taught before 1841, were Edward P. Humphrey, Aldin Grout, William Howe, Merrill Richardson, and Samuel C. Damon. Since that time Messrs. David Burt, James F. Clark, Joseph W. Cross, Jr., John B. Goodwin, Reuben Holmes, Charles G. Keyes, Sylvanus B. Roel, and Charles P. Wyman are remem- bered as having taught. Miss Nancy Perry taught the last term of such schools in 1868.
In their annual report for the year ending March Ist, 1880, the school committee recommended the establishment of a High School, and the town accordingly authorized it. The school was opened in the spring of 1880, under Miss Cornelia M. Thurston, who remained but a single term. In September, 1880, Mr. Alonzo K. Learned began his duties as principal, a relation which still continues unbroken. During these years more than five hundred pupils have come under his instructions. He has been assisted by Miss Eudora F. Hayes, one term ;
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