USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > Paxton > The history of Paxton, Massachusetts > Part 2
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The original growth of forest trees here must have been quite large and very general. At the present time pine and hemlock predominate, though there are samples of about every other sort of timber found in New England. As an illustration of the size of some of the earlier timber, it may be interesting to note
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that this sketch is penned on a table made of a single pine board, three and a half feet in width, manufac- tured from a tree cut in this town some fifty years ago. The older growth of wood disappeared long since, and at the present time the second growth has about all been removed, and yet it would be difficult to say whether there is, or is not, as much land given up to the growth of forest trees as at any time within the past hundred or more years.
Among the early settlers in what is now Paxton, the names of Josiah Livermore and his brother, Jason Livermore, appear. This was about 1748. They came from the town of Weston, and settled in what is now the southwestern part of this town, on lands considerably improved. About the same time came Abijah Bemis, and from the same town, or Waltham. There were also living near the Livermores : William Thompson, James Thompson, James Bemis, William Wicker, Jacob Wicker, John Wicker, Isaac and Ezekiel Bellows.
Captain Ralph Earle, an early settler, owned and lived on the farm which once belonged to the late Joseph Penniman ; and his was one of the first fifty families which settled in Leicester, and he was one of the grantees named in the deed of the proprietors of Lei- cester, and was assigned to Lot No. 47. On the other hand, in the Rutland portion of the new town, Seth Metcalf made an early settlement, as did Phineas Moore, who lived on the Rutland road, a mile or so north of the present meeting-house, and, by the way, it is proper to say that the line dividing the towns of Leicester and Rutland ran east and west, by the 2
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present north side of the meeting-house as it now stands. Others of the early settlers were : John Snow, David Davis, Benjamin Sweetser, Samuel Moore, Jonathan Witt and Oliver Witt.
We have seen that the act of incorporation of the " District of Paxton " transpired on the 12th of Feb- ruary, 1765. Very speedily "a warrant," dated the 25th of February, 1765, was issued by John Murray, of Rutland, a justice of the peace, the same being addressed to Phineas Moore, "one of the principal inhabitants" residing within the new district, re- quiring him to warn a meeting of the inhabitants for the choice of officers. We append a copy of the first warrant calling the first district meeting :
Worcester ss. To Mr. Phineas Moore of Paxton in the county of Worcester and one of the principal Inhabitants of Said District. Greet- ing-Whereas I the subscriber am Impowered by an act of this Province to call a meeting of the Inhabitants of the District of Paxton to Choose Town Officers &c.
[SEAL] These are therefore on his Majestys name to Require you forthwith to Warn and Notify tho Said Inhabitants of Paxton Qualified to Vote in Town Affairs to meet at the House of Mr. Jno. Snowe Inn- holder in Sald Paxton on Monday the Eleventh Day of March Next at nine of the Clock in the forenoon then and there to Choose a Moderater, District Clerk, Selectinen, assessor, warden, Constables, Surveyors of highways, Tythingmen, Fenceviewers, Scalers of Leather, Sealers of weights and measures, Sealers of Boards, and Shingles, and all other ordinary Town Officers as Towns Choose in the month of March annually ; hereof Fall not and make Due Return hereof with your Doings hereon unto me at or before the Sald meeting. Given under my hand and Seal at Rutland in Said County this 25th Day of Feb. 1765 and in the fifth year of his Majesty's Reign.
JNO. MURRAY, Jus. of the Pcaco.
This first town-meeting was at the house of one Jolın Snow, who kept a tavern or hotel, and who lived just east of the present village, on the Holden
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road, on the place known to the present inhabitants of Paxton as the old Colonel Snow or Bellows place. This place has now no farm buildings upon it, they having been destroyed by an incendiary fire about ten years since.
The meeting was held on March 11, 1765. Captain Samuel Brown was chosen moderator, and Ephraim Moore district clerk, and the following district officers elected, namely: Selectmen, Oliver Witt, Ephraim Moore, Samuel Brown, Timothy Barrett, Abraham Smith ; Clerk, Ephraim Moore ; Treasurer, Ephraim Moore; Wardens, William Thompson, Jr., Jonathan Knight ; Assessors, Oliver Witt, Ephraim Moore, Aa- ron Hunt; Constable, John Livermore ; Surveyors of Highways, Abner Moore, Ebenezer Hunt, Jr., Elijah Howe, Thomas Cutler; Sealer of Weights, etc., Captain Samuel Brown ; Tything-men, Samuel Man, Ralph Earle ; Hog-reeves, Jonathan Morse, William Martin; Deer-reeves, James Ames, William Whita- ker; Pound-keeper, Jonathan Knight; together with other officers, such as measurers of boards and shingles, etc.
They probably had a jollification at the close of this meeting. Remembering that in those early days the inhabitants had no town halls, either old or new, in which to meet, their next best place was at some public house, or tavern, as they were then called, and we have seen that they first gathered at an inn. In those they found good cheer, even if the accommoda- tions were circumscribed. Here, too, the old-time flip-mug, or glass, served for the whole company, and was frequently replenished, as everybody in those
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days indulged, more or less, in the "flowing bowl." It is sometimes asserted in these days that temper- ance has not made any progress, but in these century mile-stones we can note a world of advancement. Why, a hundred years ago the clergy, as well as the people, partook of the ardent, even at the laying of the corner-stones and dedication of church edifices, and also after the Sabbath sermon all would repair to the nearest tavern for " refreshment." Now, in New England these things have all passed away, so far as the publie eye or public approval is concerned. Strange to say, however, the people did not lack for piety in those sturdy days, for among the very first things done, of note, by this district of Paxton was to provide by vote for the building of a " meeting- house."
At the next district meeting, held on April 1, 1765, "it was put to vote to see if the district will Build a Meeting House in said Paxton and of what dimen - sions they will Build it, also to see if the district will agree upon some place for to Sett Said meeting House on." It was also voted " to build a house of worship fifty feet in length and forty in width with twenty two foot posts and to set the house at the Gate behind John Snow's farm in Mr. Maynard's pasture."1 In the following autumn a grant was made of £13 6s. 8d. for the support of the gospel during the winter. In
1 During the year a good deal of dissatisfaction was manifested about the location, and several efforts were made, at subsequent meetings, to change the decision, and we believe it was finally located on land of Seth Snow, who subsequently gave the town the lund around it for a town " common."
.
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the following spring (March 3, 1766), the sum of £250 was voted " for a meeting house and a meeting house place." When the building had advanced to the point of raising the frame there was a general turn- out of the citizens interested, and the records say a supper was provided for the occasion. The building was so far completed by the end of the year that its use commenced. Its appearance has been described by Mr. Livermore,1 in his Centennial address, as " a plain, square structure, standing in the middle of the Common in primitive simplicity, without dome or spire, destitute of external ornament and internal embellishments, its prominent sounding-board above, and its deacon seat and its semi-circular communion table at the base of the pulpit; its uncarpeted aisles and pen-like pews, with their uncushioned and hinged seats, to be turned up and let down at the rising and sitting of their occupants, with a clatter sufficient to have awakened a Rip Van Winkle ; its negro seats in the rear of the front gallery and the old people's in front of the pulpit, for the use of the deaf; its two corner pews perched aloft over the gallery stairs.
" ' Through which, and the scuttles above, were the ways To the attic, the arsenal of those early days.'"
Thus did the inhabitants of this new district of Paxton keep faith with the General Court. They had asked to be set up in housekeeping, and gave as a reason that it was burdensome and extremely in- convenient for them to go so many miles to attend
1 George W. Livermore, of Cambridge, a native of Paxton, delivered the Centennial address in 1865.
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upon church service, and it cannot be denied that they were sincere and honest in their request. They had, indeed, other and important reasons for separa- tion, but the foregoing was the chief one given.
One writer says that there was an attempt to form at first an Episcopal Church, but it failed, and had the effect to put off the formation of any other till September 3, 1767, when the present Congregational Church was organized, and the meeting-house com- pleted during this year.
Regular preaching heretofore had not been estab- lished, but yet services had been held by the Rev. Henry Carver and by Rev. Mr. Steward, who also taught school here at this early date in the history of Paxton.
The names of those subscribing to the covenant at the time of organization were Phineas Moore, John Snow, Jason Livermore, David Davis, Benjamin Sweetser, Silas Bigelow, Samuel Man, Oliver Witt, Stephen Barrett and Samuel Brown.
In the early part of 1767 a committee was ap- pointed to secure a permanent pastor, and they sub- sequently reported ,in favor of the Rev. Silas Bige- low. On May 14, 1767, the district voted him the sum of £133 6s. 8d., as a settlement grant, and also voted a yearly salary of £53 68. Sd. for the first four years, and £66 138. 4d. as long as he shall continue his relations as a minister.
In response to the call of the parish and district of Paxton to become their settled pastor, the Rev. Silas Bigelow returned the following answer, viz .:
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To ye Inhabitants of ye District of Paxton, Christian Friends and Breth- ren :
I have taken very serious Notice of ye Sovereign Hand of Divine Providence in Conducting me to you, and would in some suitable and Grateful manner attend to ye kind acceptance my labours have met with among you ; and ye Regard which you have manifested to me (how unworthy so ever) in Electing me to be your Pastor. I observe ye Degree of unanimity and undeserved Affection with which you have Done this, and I can't but be apprehensive of Harmony and unanimity afford some of ye Best encouragements to hope for success, and yt ye Great End of ye Gospel ministry may be obtained in the Conversion of Souls to God and ye edifying of Saints in Faith and Comfort to Salva- tion. Nor would I fail to take Due Notice also of ye Provision which you Have made for my Settlement and Support among you ; and it is Fit you should give Praise to God who both enabled you to maintain ye gos- pel and ye ordinences thereof, and so far inclined your hearts thereto ; At ye same time I am obliged to appraise you (not, I hope, From any avoricious Disposition, nor Because I would rather seek yours than you, but because I would fain Promote your real Benefit and highest welfare) that after Taking ye Best Advice I can get, not merely From those in Ministerial life, but From others in Civil Character, I fear I shall not be able (from The Support you have offered) to answer your expectations from me in ye office I must Bear, nor to sustain the Dignity and Dis- charge the duties thereof. But having sought earnestly to ye God of all Wisdom and Grace for Direction in the most weighty and important affair ; Consulted such as are esteemed Respectable for their Capacity and Integrity, and Deliberately considered everything as well as I could within myself, I accept of your Call, Determining by the Grace of God to Devote myself to ye work of ye Gospel Ministry among you ; not Doubting your Readiness to Do what you can to free me from ye unnecessary cares and Incumbrances of Life; yt so I may more fully give up myself to this Great and arduous work. Concluding with Rom. 15: 30 and 32. Now I Beseech you, Brethren ; for ye Lord Jesus' sake and for ye love of ye spirit yt ye strive together with me in your prayers to God for me ; That I may come unto you with Joy by ye will of God, and may with you be refreshed, So Prays your Friend and Servant in the Gospel of Christ.
Paxton, June 25, 1767.
SILAS BIGELOW.
Mr. Bigelow was ordained on October 21, 1767. His pastoral labors were comparatively of brief
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duration, since his decease occurred on November 16, 1769, at the age of thirty years. He was buried in the public cemetery, near the southeast corner and but a few paces from the present meeting- house. All accounts agree that this first pastor was a devoted minister of the Gospel; a man of unusual intellectual endowments, coupled with great dignity of manner, and he was also a man much esteemed for his high Christian character and greatly beloved by all of the parish over which he had so briefly presided. 1
Under his ministry the kindliest of feeling had sprung up among all the members of the society, and had his valuable life been spared to this people, much greater good must have been accomplished. The Rev. Mr. Bigelow was from the vicinity of Concord, it is believed; of his early education we have no present data. He was of a family, how- ever, quite celebrated for their learning and prom- inence in public affairs.
He lived on the western slope of Asnebumskit, on what is now known, and has been these many
1 The undersigned met on Nov. 9, 1767, and made cholce of pews in the completed church. The prices they were to pay ranged from four- teen to twenty-two dollars. The district voted to give them the prefer- ence as to choice, since they were the heaviest tax-payerson real estate. The district also voted to give them deeds of the pews.
Capt. Oliver Witt, Timothy Barrett, Abraham Smith, Capt. Ephraim Moore, Hezekiah Newton, Capt. Samuel Brown, Jonathan Smith, Klijah How, Jeremiah Newton, Jonathan Knight, Samuel Man, Ebenezer Hunt, Jr., James McKennen, Capt. Ralph Earle, Paul How, Phineas Moore, Jacob Sweeter, Ebenezer Hunt, Abijah Bemls, Peter Moore, Abner Morse, David Davis, William Whitaker, William Thompson, Seth Snow.
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years, as the "old Bigelow place." His first wife was from Lexington. There is one memento of this family still preserved. It is an antique clock, one of the well-known "grandfather's clocks," so- called, reaching from floor to ceiling, It was a bridal present from her parents in Lexington, where the clock was made, as indicated on its face. It remained in the family several generations and on the farm more than one hundred years, and is now in the possession of the wife of the writer (a descendant), and is doing duty as faithfully as when first set in motion by the hand of the bride, a century and more since. His second wife was a Mrs. Sarah Hall, of Sutton ; intentions of the marriage were pub- lished September 22, 1769, as shown by the records.
On November 28, 1770, the Rev. Alexander Thayer 1 was ordained as the successor of Rev. Silas Bigelow. His pastorate continued for nearly twelve years. He was dismissed on August 14, 1782. His relations with the church during the last half of his ministry were anything but agreeable. He was suspected of being a loyalist. "This suspicion (says one writer), whether well or ill-founded, was sufficient to create a degree of coldness, and, in some instances, a fixed dislike, espe- cially among those, who, from other causes, had be- come disaffected." It is reported that his salary was another cause of trouble, he complaining that the currency had much depreciated, and that he was justly entitled to a grant to make it equivalent to what it was when first settled, and it is not un-
1 He married Miss Abigal Goulding, of Holliston, in 1773.
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likely, from a review of the whole matter, there was really just ground for complaint upon both sides, and entire condemnation of either party would be very unjust.
The Rev. John Foster' followed Mr. Thayer. He found the church divided and inharmonious. He en- deavored to reconcile them, but was unfortunate in being a positive man, and in expressions was perhaps injudicious.
At all events the old troubles were not healed, but broke out afresh, when it was proposed to settle him. The first council refused to grant a settlement, but a short time afterwards a new council, composed of different members from the first, voted to ordain and settle him, which was accordingly done on September 8, 1785. He was dismissed in 1789. During his pas- torate there was a secession of about twenty, who formed a new church, and so continued till 1793, when a reunion occurred.
Mr. Livermore relates several anecdotes of Mr. Foster, one of which will interest the general reader. " In those days, when capital punishment was to be in . flicted it was the law that public religious exercises should be held, and the criminal had the privilege of selecting the preacher. Mr. Foster was selected, and at the appointed hour the house was crowded, and in the audience were many clergymen. Mr. Foster being selected only to preach, asked the first minister he saw to offer prayer. The invitation was declined, and
I He was married in September, 1785, to Mrs. Eunice Stearns, of Hol- den.
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several others were similarly invited and all declined, whereupon Mr. Foster stepped to his place, with the remark in an undertone, though loud enough in the general hush of the occasion to be heard by all, 'Thank God, I can pray as well as preach.' It is reported that his prayer was so soul-stirring and sin- cere that all were moved to tears, and many wept aloud."
Mr. Foster is reported to have been a man of bril- liant attainments, and a very eloquent preacher, but possessed some other qualities that neutralized greatly these gifts. The Rev. Daniel Grosvenor was installed on the 5th November, 1794, as the successor of Mr. Foster. He came to this people from a church in Grafton, where he had been pastor. There was, for a season, quiet and considerable religious interest mani- fested under this affable and able pastor. But the old trouble would not wholly down, but, ghost-like, came to the surface.
Mr. Grosvenor's health was poor at best, and he felt unequal to the task of reconciling the factions, and finally asked to be dismissed, which was granted on November 17, 1802.
One proof that the old troubles were the causes of the unhappy condition of things at the time, and prior to the retirement of Mr. Grosvenor, is that they continued to be a disturbed church for several years after he left, and some years came and went before a pastor was again settled over themn.
Mr. Grosvenor lived a half mile northeast of the church on the Holden road, where Peter Daw now lives.
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In 1808, February 17th, the Rev. Gaius Conant was ordained, and he remained with the society for many years. He lived and died in the square-roofed house now occupied by Deacon Levi Smith, situated about half a mile due east from the church. He was dis- missed September 21, 1831, and the same council ordained the Rev. Moses Winch. It was in 1830 that the Congregational Society was organized separately from the town. Mr. Winch's ministry must have been n very quiet one, and without any very disturb- ing circumstances, since very little is said respecting his stay here. He was discharged in 1834, August 28th.
The Rev. James D. Farnsworth succeeded Mr. Winch and was ordained on the 30th of April, 1835, and continued his labors till May 7, A.D. 1840. He was succeeded by the Rev. William Phipps, A.M., who was ordained November 11, A. D. 1840. Some- thing more than a passing notice should be given this eminently gifted divine. He was for more than twenty-eight years connected with the history of the Congregational Church in this town. He was born in Franklin, this State, on October 31, 1812. He was the son of William and Fannie (Moulton) Phipps, with a line of ancestry traceable back to old England; to the father of Sir William Phipps, one of the early Governors of Massachusetts Colony. He was a quiet, gentle man, and true, yet did not lack force or brav- ery. He was resolute for worthy ends, and brave in self-denial. He early learned the trade of a cabinet- maker in his father's shop, which trade, in those days, meant quite as much an ability to manufacture a vio-
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lin as a bureau, and as an illustration of his mechani- cal genius in this direction, it is told that he made in the days of his apprenticeship a fine bass-viol, with five strings, on which he was wont to play as an accompaniment to his vocal songs. He was a great lover of music and possessed a fine, rich, bass-tone voice, and always sang with an enthusiasm never to be forgotten by sympathetic hearers. He found his trade especially useful to a " country minister " in a small place, and on a small salary, since many of the things he needed he either had to make or go without. His inventive faculty was by no means in- considerable. He constructed models of an improved school-room, a turret wind-mill, a drawing globe, a seed-sower, an upright piano and other useful and fancy things. He was a natural student, ever fond of the companionship of good books, and was diligent in everything. He attended Day's Academy in Wrentham; from there he entered Amherst, and grad- uated in the class of 1837. On leaving college he taught, as principal, in the academy at Edgartown, for one year. He married, in 1837, Miss Mary C. Partridge, of Franklin, who still survives at the age of eighty-eight. They had seven children, of whom five are living-two sons and three daughters. The sons, George G. and William H., have taken up the profession of their father. The former is settled at Newton Highlands, while the latter is preaching in Prospect, Conn. Mr.Phipps was first settled in this town. He was an earnest preacher and profoundly interested in all good works. He served for very many years as the head of the School Committee, and his school
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reports are good reading to-day, and display much thought, earnestly and gracefully expressed. He was wont to do anything he had in hand with "all his might," whether tuning a piano, or raising the finest vegetable in town. Those, whether in the church or out who became intimate, were not the ones to turn from him, for they best realized his largeness of heart and generosity of spirit.
But few of his sermons were ever published, barring a few Thankgiving discourses, fugitive pieces in var- ious newspapers and a number of musical composi- tions.
Of the latter, it was as easy for him to write the poetical stanzas as the melodies that floated then. Had he been more favorably situated, as to leisure and means, he might readily have made his mark as an inventor or author, but he preferred to remain where he felt an all-wise Providence had placed him. His mark was, however, made honestly and deeply on the generation of youth that grew up under his long and faithful ministry here.
In 1869 he accepted a call to Plainfield, Conn., and was there installed June 9th. He died on June 18, 1876.
The Rev. Thomas L. Ellis succeeded Mr. Phipps, and was installed November 26, 1871. He died, after a brief pastorate, on November 12, 1873. He was followed by the Rev. Francis J. Fairbanks. He was hired in the early part of 1874, and continued his labors here till October, 1877. He was a well-educated man, and devoted in his work. The Rev. Otis Cole, a Methodist divine, was next hired by this society, and
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commenced his labors on January 1, 1878, and con- tinued for two years, when he removed to New Hamp- shire. He was a man of great simplicity, and yet of very great power as a preacher and much beloved by all, both by those in and out of the church. The following summer the society engaged Mr. John E. Dodge, who was licensed to preach. He filled the pulpit for several years and was then ordained and settled, continuing his labors a couple of years there- after. In June, 1887, he asked for a dismissal, having been called to the church in Sterling. Both Mr. and Mrs. Dodge were earnest in their labors in behalf of the church and community.
The Rev. Alpha Morton succeeded to the pastorate. He was engaged in June, 1887, and still continues his active labors with this people. He is an able man and of the highest character.
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