USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > Holden > The history of Holden, Massachusetts. 1684-1894 > Part 26
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November 8th, 1877, he married Dora L. Howe, youngest daughter of Deacon William and Mary Ann Jefferson Howe. Their children are :
William Howe, born September 28th, 1879.
Blanche Louise, born July 11th, 1881. Helen Goulding, born November 7th, 1883. Waterman Goulding, born November 16th, 1890.
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PERSONAL NOTICES.
REV. GEORGE WATERS.
1
The Rev. George Waters was born in Thompson, Conn., February 12th, 1800. Having obtained such an education as fitted him to teach in the common schools of that time, he taught sixteen winters, beginning when fifteen years old. In his earlier life he married and settled in Woodstock, Conn., and was a member and deacon of the Congregational Church at " Muddy Brook " in that town. Under the influence of the famous Dr. Isaac Backus, his doctrinal views changed, and in 1830 he became a member of the Baptist Church in Webster, and two months later he was chosen deacon. After a full course at the Newton Theological Institution, 1831 to 1834, he was ordained pastor at Holden, September 25th, 1834. He was later pastor at Sterling, 1838 to 1841, and at Amherst 1843 to 1847. On account of bronchial trouble he gave up pastoral work for a time, and served, 1841 to 1843, as financial agent of the Manual Labor High School, now Worcester Academy. For the same reason, in 1847, he finally relin- quished pastoral labor. Afterward he removed to Plainfield, N. J., where he died, April 10th, 1865.
Mr. Waters was an earnest man, a faithful pastor, an ever welcome friend and visitor. His religious views were pro- nounced and tenaciously held ; his social and political opinions were no less positive. In days when Abolitionists were un- popular, he was Vice President of the Massachusetts Abolition Society.
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HISTORY OF HOLDEN.
REV. WOODMAN HARRISON WATSON.
The Rev. Woodman Harrison Watson was born in Litchfield, Me., June 14th, 1813. He studied for five years at the Literary and Theological Institution at Thomaston, Me. He was or- dained pastor of the Baptist Church in Holden, June 21st, 1843, where his pastorate continued till April 16th, 1847. His later pastorates were, at New Gloucester, Me .. from 1847 to 1848; at Natick from 1848 to 1853; at West Acton from 1853 to 1860 ; at Newport, N. H., from 1860 to 1861; at Leominster from 1861 to 1864; at South Hanson from 1865 to 1867 ; and at Fayville from 1867 to 1869. This was his last settlement, though he continued to supply vacant churches for some years as opportunity offered. He died in Southboro, September 26th, 1892.
Mr. Watson had a clear and strong sense of what is just and true, and was fearless in the expression of it. As a preacher, his style was crisp, bright and forcible. His pastorates were marked, in more than one instance, by relief from oppressive financial burdens.
CAPTAIN GEORGE WEBB.
George Webb was born in or near the town of Barnstable. At the age of eighteen he served as a soldier in the French war. He was one of the first to enlist in the struggle for indepen- dence, receiving a commission as captain of light infantry, and served with credit throughout the whole war, till its triumphant conclusion. Captain Webb was a man of more than ordinary enterprise and courage. A complimentary letter from Lafay- ette has already been given, on page 30, and Captain Webb was the submarine navigator who attached the American torpedo to the bottom of a British seventy-four-gun ship. His name appears as a member of the Order of the Cincinnati.
REV. LESTER WILLIAMS.
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PERSONAL NOTICES.
Early in the Revolutionary War he removed his family to Holden, and after the war he spent the rest of his life here, very highly respected. At the age of seventy he made a public profession of religion. His death occurred August 25th, 1825, in the eighty-sixth year of his age.
REV. LESTER WILLIAMS.
The Rev. Lester Williams, son of Lester and Cynthia B. Williams, was born in West Springfield, July 24th, 1823 ; fitted for college with Rev. Sanford Lawton of Springfield ; was graduated from Amherst College in the class of 1844; studied law in Springfield with E. D. Beach ; was admitted to the bar, October, 1846; practiced law in Knoxville, Tenn., 1846 to 1848 ; was a Baptist preacher in Tennessee, 1848 to 1850 : took a partial course in theology ; was ordained at Russell, in August, 1851 ; was pastor there three years; at West Townsend six years, teaching also one year ; at Holden six years ; at Oswego, N. Y., four years, and at Fredonia, N. Y., seven years. He was also Superintendent of the Colored Refugee Home, Camp Nelson, Ky., 1866, and Chaplain of the Mississippi Consti- tutional Convention, 1868. His last five years were passed at West Springfield. During these years he was occupied in caring for his widowed mother and in managing his father's estate ; in preaching as supply for neighboring churches; in serving the town on the school board ; and officiating during the last year as chaplain of the Hampden County jail. He died October 24th, 1885. His death was the result of accident. Crossing a dry railroad bridge, he was struck by a switch en- gine and thrown to the pit below, receiving injuries which he survived only eight days.
He married, September 26th, 1848, Frances L., daughter of William Clough, who died in Holden, September 7th, 1861 ; and October 9th, 1862, Ann E., daughter of Waterman G. Warren.
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HISTORY OF HOLDEN.
Mr. Williams was unusually tall, erect in carriage, and dig- nified in manner. " He was a man of vigorous mind, original thought and effective address. His preaching had characteris- tics peculiar to itself. He never travelled in any beaten path, but in his unfolding of the Scripture generally brought forth something unobserved by others. If occasionally his labored thinking could not find clear expression to convey his mind to another, yet for the most part he exhibited the power of a logi- cal and instructive teacher. At times he 'rose into flights of most impressive eloquence and stirred the hearts of his hearers with most penetrating force. He was a man of sobriety and dignity and worth, a man to be respected in every relation of life. He had clean lips and hands and heart, and was a lover of all good men."' He " was a true and steadfast friend, a wise and valued counselor, a sympathetic and faithful, spiritual guide and instructor ; . whose broad catholic im- pulses, whose ready and constant charities, whose pure and consistent life had won . . respect and love. In his official and public labors there was ever shown an unswerving loyalty to the distinctive principles of our faith, a fearless and untiring advocacy of the great reforms of our times, and a pro- found and conscientious devotion to the special work of the sacred office to which he was called." 2
1 Minutes of Massachusetts Conference of Baptist ministers, 1886.
2 From resolutions adopted by the Fredonia Baptist Church and Congre- gation.
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PERSONAL NOTICES.
JUDAH WRIGHT.
At the Centennial Celebration of the town, a hymn was sung, " composed by Mr. Judah Wright, a citizen of Holden, nearly seventy years of age, and blind from his infancy." He was born in Holden, April Ist, 1774, his father then living on the place later owned by Timothy Parker. He became blind from cataract while still an infant. His father died when he was about twelve years old. From early life he supported him- self, and for many years, his mother as well, by making baskets and bottoming chairs.
He was endowed by nature with excellent mental powers, and he always showed an intense desire to acquire knowledge. The years between 1801 and 1806 he often humorously styled his " Collegiate Course," as during this period he often visited the family of the Rev. Mr. Avery, and received much assist- ance from his daughters. Many others at different times read to him, or acted as his amanuenses. For nineteen years Major Paul Davis was accustomed to read the Massachusetts Spy to him, and it is said that not nineteen weeks were omitted dur- ing all that time. He thus became, by common consent, one of the best informed men in the town. His knowledge of his- tory was both extensive and exact, and few were so well acquainted with the occurences of the day. He died February 17th, 1844.
He was accustomed, frequently, to arrange his thoughts in rhyme. In 1812, he published a pamphlet entitled " Poems Upon Various Subjects," and in 1823, another, entitled " Alonzo's Dream : or an Allegorical Representation of the Light in which Faults and Misfortunes are Frequently Viewed by the Unthinking Part of Mankind." This "Dream " was in prose, but to it were appended two poems, the first of which follows :
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HISTORY OF HOLDEN.
THE BLIND MAN.
Though darkness still attends me, It aids internal sight, And from such scenes defends me As blush to seek the light.
No villain's smiles deceive me ; No gilded fop offends ; No weeping object grieves me ; Kind darkness me befriends.
Who painted vice desires, Is blind, whate'er he thinks ;
Who virtue not admires, Is either blind or winks.
Then hence these useless railings ! I know no reason why- Mankind to their own failings Are all as blind as I.
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CHAPTER XIV.
LIFE AND DEATH.
HEALTHFULNESS. - GOLDEN WEDDINGS. - PHYSICIANS. - EPI- DEMICS. - LONGEVITY .- DEATH RATE .- CEMETERIES.
OT many towns in the Commonwealth, if any, enjoy greater advantages for healthfulness than does Holden. Elevated so that it is swept by life-giving breezes, having no miasmatic marshes within its borders, with a water supply of the purest, there is every reason for expecting the dwellers here to be sturdy and long-lived. As might then be foreseen, the statistics of the Commonwealth show, that, of all the towns in which the circumstances of life and occupation are similar, scarcely any, if indeed a single one, surpasses Holden in the longevity and healthfulness of its inhabitants.
A number of tests, besides the mere comparison of death rates, might be used to substantiate the above claim. One has but to become familiar, even superficially, with the life of the town to remark the unusual number of hale and hearty men, who, though already past three-score and ten, and even in many instances past four-score, are still active both in the manage- ment of their own business, and also in the public affairs of church and town.
It is further interesting to note how often in the last quarter- century there have come in town opportunities to celebrate " Golden Weddings." It is not to be presumed that the follow- ing list is complete, but it is certainly remembered that the
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HISTORY OF HOLDEN.
fiftieth anniversary of marriage was in these cases at least,1 more or less formally commemorated.
David Clapp and Nancy Davis ; November 28th, 1866.
Moses N. Seaver and Roxana Almer ; December 2d, 1874.
Lyman Bryant and Mary Merrifield ; April 26th, 1876. John Richardson and Sarah Chaffin ; November 27th, 1876. Daniel Knowlton and Lucy M. Dodd ; March 8th, 1877.
Lorenzo D. Newton and Sally L. Fessenden ; April 22d, 1878.
Jonathan M. Dodd and Abigail S. Kendall ; September 2d, 1879.
Winslow Fairbanks and Maria Knowlton ; October 13th, 1879.
Waterman G. Warren and Mary Eddy ; April 22d, 1880.
Charles Turner and Angelina Smith ; July 24th, 1881.
James S. Bassett and Philena A. Cummings ; February 28th, 1888.
Thorret Smith and Caroline D. H. Gilbert ; June 18th, 1889.
John Adams and Electa Elmer ; October 16th, 1889.
Samuel Turner and Nancy J. Howe ; April 7th, 1892.
Nearly fifty years passed after the settlement of Holden before any physician permanently located here. The first phy- sician in town was Dr. Isaac Chenery, of whom a sketch has already been given. Dr. Thaddeus Chenery, son of the pre- ceding, was born in Holden, April 27th, 1769. After prac- tising a short time with his father, he removed to Boylston, where he remained, excepting six years spent in Lancaster, until, soon after the death of his father, he returned to this town, where he continued to practise until his death, Septem- ber 25th, 1856.
1 It may also be noted that Moses Winn and Lucinda Drake, his wife, were making preparations for the celebration of their Golden Wedding, to occur in September, 1880, when, August 19th of that year, he was accident- ally killed. September 4th, 1892, Willard Allen and Sarah S. Savage cele- brated their Golden Wedding in Worcester, where they were residing at the time, though for more than forty years, till 1873, they had lived in Holden. Archelaus and Laura Putnam had, at the time of her death, been married fifty-nine years, but their fiftieth anniversary was not celebrated.
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LIFE AND DEATH.
Several others, Moses Wheeler, Aaron Hubbard, both natives of Holden, John Smith, and his son, John M. Smith, Aaron G. Babcock, Warren Partridge and A. G. Skinner are recorded by Dr. Damon as having practised in town for a longer or shorter time, and he then adds : " Some other Physicians have come and gone." 1
George Estabrook, M. D., was born in Rutland August 26th, 1795, studied with Dr. McFarland of Rutland, practised in Holden and Rutland for many years, and died in Rutland, of heart disease, February 18th, 1845.
Augustus Robbins, M. D., a native of the town of Harvard, who received his degree from the Harvard Medical School, began practice in Holden, June 20th, 1837, and continued here until 1848, when he removed to Brooklyn, N. Y., where he soon after died.
Dr. David Davis, a son of Elnathan Davis, and grandson of Captain James Davis, was born in Holden in 1802. He re- ceived his medical degree at New Haven in 1824, and spent all his professional life in this town, except an absence of two years in New York City between the years 1835 and 1837. He died September 15th, 1857. Not only on account of his professional skill, but in every other way as well, he deserved and received for many years high honor from his fellow citizens.
Dr. Albert D. Smith, a young and highly respected physician, settled in town in 1853, and died September 28th, 1858, at the age of thirty-four.
Joseph Thomas Odiorne West, M. D., practised medicine in Holden for some years previous to 1853. He then removed to the state of New York for a short time, and settled in Prince- ton in 1854, where he died January 28th, 1887.
Sketches of Drs. Ames, Robinson, Rood and Stickney have already been given among the Personal Notices.
Early in its history, Holden was twice visited with epidemics, which, from their virulence and fatality, almost deserved the
! . Damon History, p. 134.
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HISTORY OF HOLDEN.
name of pestilences. In his historical sermon, Rev. Mr. Davis said :
" There was a remarkable sickness about seven years after my settlement : Twenty two persons died. And about six years after, the year after the great earthquake, a raging distemper carried off about forty five persons in a short time, mostly younger persons and children." 1
The latter epidemic was thus described at the time :
" The Distemper is a Dysentery, or Bloody-Flux. And when malignant, is commonly attended with Vomiting, high Fever, extream Pain : and sometimes with visible Canker .- When the Patient appeared with high Symptoms of the Distemper at first, he often died in 3 or 4 days : Others, and especially those less vio- lently seiz'd, lived 8 or 10 Days, or more. Much Vomiting a bad Symptom : and cold Hands and great Restlessness commonly fatal : Tho' many died without all, if not without any, of these Symptoms in a high Degree."
"In this Parish have been buried 42 in about seven weeks. A Mortality, which in less than three Years wou'd have buried the whole Parish, (which consisted of near 800 Souls), allowing for the probable Increase in the mean Time. The Proportion of the Dead to the Living is as I to 19, nearly. In the little Town of Holden, where the sickness first began, which, the 20th of October, had buried 40, the Proportion is much greater. In Old Rutland, at the same Time, had died 45. In the North Parish in Shrews- bury upwards of 20. And in more distant Places less, in Proportion to the number of People." 2
There is no record of the prevalence in Holden of the " spot- ted fever", which raged so fearfully in many communities early in the present century. While from neighboring towns notices in the newspapers are continually recurring, phrased " Died from the prevailing fever ", this form has been noted in only a single instance from this town.
1 Mr. Davis' Sermon, p. 21.
2 " A Discourse Delivered Lord's-Day October 31, 1756, At the West Parish in Lancaster : On Occasion of the late Mortality in that and the neighboring Places. . By John Mellen, A. M. Pastor of the Church of Christ there," pp. 30, 31.
339
LIFE AND DEATH.
While the almost world wide distemper, particularly desig- nated as la grippe or "the grip", which prevailed during the winters of 1889-90, 1890-91, and 1891-2, was no more preva- lent here than elsewhere, in fact less prevalent than in most places, the fact of its occurrence ought to be recorded, that the memory of it may not be lost, as is practically the case with previous visitations. Especially during the last-named winter a great share of the inhabitants were at once prostrated by it, or at least weakened, and it occasioned, either directly or indi- rectly, an unusual number of deaths of elderly persons.
From the records of Dr. Bardwell, Dr. Paine, and the Town Clerk it appears that since 1825 no less than two hundred and twenty persons have died at the age of eighty or more, and it is possible that in some of the earlier years the records are incomplete. The ages of these persons at the time of their deaths were as follows : at eighty, thirty-one ; at eighty-one, nineteen ; at eighty-two, twenty-two; at eighty-three, twenty- one; at eighty-four, eighteen ; at eighty-five, seventeen ; at eighty-six, sixteen ; at eighty-seven, eighteen ; at eighty-eight, seven ; at eighty-nine, fifteen ; at ninety, nine ; at ninety one, seven ; at ninety-two, seven ; at ninety-three, five ; at ninety- four, two ; at ninety-five, one ; at ninety-seven, four ; at ninety- nine, one.
The names, ages and dates of death of those who had reached ninety years are as follows :
Sarah Davis, ninety-seven ; July 11th, 1825.
Sarah Newell, ninety ; January 10th, 1834.
Joseph Howard, ninety-three ; November 21st, 1836.
Jeremiah Blake, ninety ; January 23d, 1837. John Potter, ninety-two ; October 6th, 1843. Ruth Fisk, ninety-three; June 29th, 1846. Susannah Mann, ninety ; August 12th, 1848. Lucy Walker, ninety-three; January 21st, 1849. William Drury, ninety-two ; January 20th, 1850. Hannah Rogers, ninety-one; May 14th, 1851. Sarah Smith, ninety ; February 29th, 1852.
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HISTORY OF HOLDEN.
Isaac Leland, ninety-four ; December 17th, 1852. Hannah Chaffin, ninety-one; November 17th, 1856. Judith B. Holbrook, ninety-five ; December 6th, 1856. Hannah Pierce, ninety-seven ; November 13th, 1857. Mary Burns, ninety ; September 13th, 1865. Sarah H. Goulding, ninety ; November 30th, 1866. Hannah Bullard, ninety-two; April 29th, 1868. Silas Flagg, ninety-two; June 6th, 1870.
Abigail H. White, ninety-two; June 20th, 1870. Sarah Fales, ninety-seven; March 11th, 1872. William Croxford, ninety-two; October 5th, 1873.
Huldah Ball, ninety ; April 2d, 1876.
Hannah Marsh, ninety-one; April 28th, 1877. Nathan Chase, ninety-one ; August 6th, 1877. Samuel Fisk,1 ninety-three ; June 29th, 1878. Ebenezer Wilson, ninety ; February 14th, 1883.
Araminta Osborn, ninety-three ; May 13th, 1883. Mary W. Flagg, ninety-seven ; October 3d, 1886.
Elizabeth B. Black, ninety-nine ; January 25th, 1888. Elizabeth Osborn, ninety-two; December Ist, 1888.
Nancy F. Mason, ninety ; April 29th, 1889.
Eunice C. Hubbard, ninety-four ; February 9th, 1891. Anna Bullard, ninety-one ; March 8th, 1891.
Lyman Bryant, ninety-one ; June 9th, 1891. Salmon Putnam, ninety-one ; January 2Ist, 1892.
The yearly number of deaths in town, from 1845 to 1891, averaged almost precisely thirty-six. The greatest number of deaths in any of these years was in 1891, when forty-eight deaths were reported. In 1854, 1855 and 1890, forty-five deaths are recorded. The least number of deaths for any year was in 1853, when there were only twenty-six, and for three consecutive months, October, November and December, there was not a death in the whole town. In 1851, 1869 and 1886, there were but twenty-seven deaths.
1 Mr. Fisk, when a boy, went to meeting in the original meeting-house, remembered the raising of its successor, and finally attended service for some time in the renovated structure.
341
LIFE AND DEATH.
+
The town purchased a hearse for public use at a quite early date. April 6th, 1795, it was voted to procure "a carriage to carry the dead," and since then it has been renovated or replaced from time to time as occasion has required. For many years it was the custom that coffins should be furnished by the undertaker at public expense, in part at least.
Lyman Bryant was appointed town undertaker in April, 1841, and he served in that position until April, 1873. Dur- ing this period, there were one thousand and eighty-five deaths or funerals. In his old age, Mr. Bryant used often to claim that he had buried nine hundred and ninety-nine persons.
The first cemetery lay opposite the present Common. In the warrant for the town meeting held March 7th, 1742, there was an article reading, "To see if the Town will clear up its burial place," but no action was recorded. May 24th, the next year, it was "Voted, that mr Samuel Thomson be the person to procuer an acer of Land on ye South west Side of ye highway tordes Rutland takeing ye Land on which we have buried on as a bureing place for ye Town." This sufficed for the needs of the people for a long time, but in 1826 the follow- ing record appears : " Voted a Committee to buy a spot or spots of Land for a graveyard and prepare it in a suitable manner for the purpose of burying our dead at the expense of the town," and in August, the sum of four hundred dollars was appropriated to defray the costs of this action. Again a spot insufficient in size for the needs of the town was procured, and in less than thirty years a new cemetery was demanded. This time private enterprise forestalled the necessity of corporate action. The new cemetery bears the name, "Grove Cemetery." It lies west of the Center and north of the main street. Already spacious, it is capable of indefinite expansion, as con- tinuing needs may require. A burial place for the use of the members of St. Mary's Parish was consecrated in the imme- diate vicinity of their former church, and close to Grove Cemetery.
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HISTORY OF HOLDEN.
Grove Cemetery was formally consecrated to its sacred pur- poses August 24th, 1854. The Order of Exercises was as follows :
Invocation and Reading of the Scriptures, by Rev. T. C. Tingley.
Singing of Hymn written by Miss Sarah C. Paine.
Prayer, by the Rev. Elnathan Davis.
Singing of Hymn written by Mrs. D. Walker. Addresses by William P. Paine, D. D., the Hon. Isaac Davis, and the Rev. Elnathan Davis.
Prayer, by the Rev. Ezra Crowell.
Singing of Hymn written by the Rev. Elnathan Davis. Benediction.
The hymn by Miss Paine read as follows :
Assembled in this sacred place, Where mingle joy and gloom, Impart, O Lord, that fervent grace Which triumphs o'er the tomb.
We come to consecrate this ground To slumbers calm and deep, To holy silence, rest profound, To quiet, tranquil sleep.
Ye who will slumber in this shade, How sweet will be your rest ; Beneath the waving pine tree laid, Naught shall your sleep molest.
But not alone unto the dead This place will sacred be ; The living oft these paths will tread With tear-drops gushing free.
But, oh ! not long this spot shall be A resting place and home ; The threshold of eternity Hath this abode become.
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LIFE AND DEATH.
The tomb shall soon its treasures yield, And death itself shall die, And slumberers in this rural field Shall wake to life on high.
The following was the hymn by the Rev. Mr. Davis, which was sung on this occasion :
Unbar thy massive gate, Pale city of the dead ! A throng of way-worn pilgrims wait Thy silent paths to tread.
On to thy bound they press- The strong, the wise, the fair, The infant with its golden tress, Age with its silvery hair.
Oh ! as with prayer and hymn, The living come to lay Within thy chambers, cold and dim, Their cherished dead away,
Faith, 'mid the deepening gloom, Bid thy mild radiance shine, Pointing the mourner from the tomb Up to a world divine !
Unbar thy portal then, Home for the homeless made, And bid the weary sons of men Rest in thy peaceful shade.
The cemetery is under the care and control of a corporation styled, The Grove Cemetery Corporation in Holden. The present officers are : President, Levi H. Howe ; Secretary, Isaac Damon ; Trustees, Henry W. Warren, Emory Rogers, George S. Graham, George Bascom, Phineas R. Newell, together with the President and Secretary.
The part of the cemetery thus far prepared for use, consists of parallel ridges between which lie valleys of different
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