USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Sudbury > The history of Sudbury, Massachusetts, 1638-1889 > Part 51
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HISTORY OF SUDBURY.
from the so-called "Irish Charity Fund," and valued at 18d. per ball. Malt liquors were extensively used, and malt was long considered quite a useful commodity. About 1688, when Deacon John Haines made a contract for building a new meeting-house, he was to receive for the work in " country pay at country price, merchantable Indian corn, Peas, Beef, Pork and Malt." There was an old malt house at South Sudbury owned by James Thompson. When it was demol- ished, which was about the middle of the century, it was much dilapidated, as if it had not been used for many years. This indicates the disuse of malt liquor in Sudbury from early in the century. But a drink largely made use of, be- cause cheap and easily manufactured, was cider. The cider mills were in various parts of the town. The effect of cider drinking in North Sudbury has been so forcibly set forth by Mr. John Maynard that we quote his words : -
" In 1830, in that half of the town north of the road from Wayland to Hudson, there were 12 cider mills owned by farmers who ground their own apples and allowed their neighbors the use of the mills for 8 cents per barrel of 32 galls. The amount of cider made there was much less than 50 years previously. Old orchards had decayed and new ones bore grafted fruit for the market. The price was very low because the use of cider as a daily drink had been super- seded largely by that of cheap New England rum - a change for the better somewhat, as temperate people limited them- selves to 3 glasses or less per day instead of the unlimited use of cider ... Within the territory above named are now only two mills making together only about 100 barrels yearly and that for vinegar. Orchards now produce grafted fruit, and the windfall, bruised and refuse apples are sold to large mills at Sherborn, Maynard and S. Acton, for about 25 cents per barrel of 2} bushels. The product is not so strong as that made formerly from sound ripe natural fruit. New England families, one hundred years ago, larger than at present, would use both in city and country 200, 400, and sometimes more gallons of cider yearly. The mug was inva- riably on the table at meal times, always on the sideboard,
-
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HISTORY OF SUDBURY.
and too often those who went to the cellar for a supply " drank at the tap.' Old people of intelligence who lived to see the dawn of total abstinence have expressed the opinion that much of the rheumatism, inveterate sores, and other complaints of former days was chargeable to the cider mug. Every one who called, from the minister to the tramp, was offered the common drink with the apology if it was very sour as it sometimes was in the spring ' it is pretty hard,' to which custom required the response, 'it is harder where there is none,' an assertion that often had more of politeness than truth. Many men and some women kept more or less ' boozy' week after week, and it is a question whether the larger percentage of stupid and stammering children born then, compared with those of the present time was not due to the excessive use of cider by parents."
That the custom of drinking any kind of spirituous liquor was exceedingly pernicious, notwithstanding what some have said of the quality of it in those days, is very evident. The testimony is that the tavern bars were a nuisance. Says the writer just quoted concerning them, -
" One of the incidental benefits of railroads has been the discontinuance of the old country and village taverns. They were a public necessity, were licensed for the 'public good,' kept by respectable people, afforded good accommodations for man and beast at moderate rates, but the profits came from the sale of liquors at the bar which was open seven days in the week day and night, and few landlords were willing to admit that a man unless he was furiously or beastly drunk had taken too much, until he had no money to pay for more. The taverns were nuisances to the neighborhoods where they were located, and like the modern saloons, nurseries of drunkenness and pauperism. The taverns of Sudbury were as good as the average elsewhere and probably no better."
Such is the strong language of one of Sudbury's promi- nent citizens, with regard to the former use of both fer- mented and spirituous liquors. The estimate as here given we believe facts will generally confirm. There were drunk-
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HISTORY OF SUDBURY.
ards in those days, and sad havoc was made in the town, in the church, and in many families by intemperance. Not only was the practice of moderate drinking well nigh uni- versal, but it was considered respectable. What every- body did was supposed to be right, and that almost every- body used intoxicants is indicated by a statement made to the writer by an inhabitant of Sudbury nearly seventy years old. He said that when he was a boy he did not know of a person in the place (South Sudbury ) but what used it; and that there were three places in that small village where they could get it. He said it was not considered a disgrace to drink, but it was considered a great disgrace to get drunk, and that any one who got so was held up as a warning to others. He also said it was considered no disgrace on a holi- day to get a little lively. That it was not considered disgrace- ful to use liquor as a beverage is evident from the open and commonplace manner of the sales. It was not by any means confined to the taverns, but was a commodity that passed over the counter of the grocery as well. On a Saturday night the staid villager would go to the store to get the sup- ply of new rum as naturally as of molasses or salt. As indi- cating the commonplace way in which malt was bought and sold, we give the following from a credit page in an account book of James Thomson, a carpenter and wheelwright, who kept the malt house in South Sudbury : -
Credit to Jonas Holden Jur
by one pint of Rum 0- 0- 4.
Septr 12th 1789 by one Mugg of Flip 0- 0- 8.
Sept™ 1789 to two half Muggs of Flip 0- 0- S.
Octr to one half Mugg of Flip to Flag 0- 0- 4.
Novr to one Pint of West India Rum 0 - 0- 7.
June. 8. 1780 by one quart W : Rum 0- 0- 7
Octr 5. 1790 by 71£ of Beef at 2d 0-11 - 10.
Novr 1790 by half pound of Butter 0- 0- 5.
Jany 1791 by 171b of Cheese at 12 0- 2-10.
Jany 13th 1791 by one Bushil of Indian corn 0- 2- S.
July 1791 by fustian for the foreparts of a Jacket
Dec. 8 to his house to Concord 0- 1- 4
Not only did each householder provide liquor for himself and family, but custom required that callers, not excepting
..
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HISTORY OF SUDBURY.
the doctor and the minister even, be furnished with flip, and the more distinguished the guest, the more indispensable the article. Traders, under certain circumstances, were expected to extend the same courtesy.
Captain Kidder told the writer the story that a customer once came to his shop, and he mixed a mug of flip, supposing he had prepared enough for them both, and passed it to him ; he took it, and, placing it to his lips, drank the entire con- tents without stopping. When the captain took the mug from his hand and saw it was empty, he said, " Won't you have a little more ?" "Oh, no," said the man, "I never drink to excess."
But better times at length dawned on the town. With the early agitation of the subject of temperance in the land, Sud- bury began to make progress. Here and there, an enter- prising person thought work could be done without the use of intoxicants. One of the first to believe this in the early part of the present century was Deacon Levi Dakin, who had a barn raised without furnishing rum on the occasion. Another early advocate of the temperance reform was Dr. Levi Goodenough, who would not provide any intoxicating liquor to those whom he employed. Other pioneer advo- cates were Deacon Martin Brown, Nahum Thompson, Esq., Edward and Howe Brown, Abel and Joseph Richardson and Deacon Gardner Hunt. Rev. Rufus Hurlbut was one of the early reformers in his profession, and Charles Gerry was the first selectman in Sudbury to refuse a liquor license. Before the reform set in it was the custom at " Kidder's shop," at a given time each day, for an apprentice to go to the grocery opposite and get some rum for " black strap," - a concoc- tion of New England rum and molasses. One of the ap- prentices, Ira B. Draper of Wayland, then quite young, con- cluded that it was a poor practice for him to indulge in ; he therefore refused to go for the liquor. The example was followed by others, and soon a large share of his fellow workmen found they could get along without their daily potation of " black strap."
About 1835-40, when there was an agitation of this sub- ject in the country, temperance meetings were held at
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HISTORY OF SUDBURY.
the centre of the town on Sunday evenings, probably in the porch of the Old Parish Meeting-house, where evening meetings were sometimes held. Besides these meetings, an occasional lecture was given on the subject. Soon temper- ance societies began to be formed ; one of which was the " Cold Water Army," an organization for the children formed about 1841. This society adopted a pledge, and at times formed processions and marched with banners. Very soon liquor ceased to be sold at the South Sudbury grocery store, and it was left for the old tavern stand to be the sole place for the retail of the stronger stimulants for that part of the town. With the lessening of places for the sale, and the growth of a better sentiment, the community became more abstemious, the example of one person was followed by another, until by about the middle of the present century the entire drinking customs of society thereabouts were changed. But even after that time liquor was sold at the taverns. At South Sudbury the bar-room was still open to the traveler and the occasional call of a villager; but one by one the taverns were closed, and drunkenness grew less and less, until at the present time this may be considered a strong prohibitory town.
CHAPTER XXXV.
COLLEGE GRADUATES AND PROFESSIONAL MEN.
List of Graduates before 1800. - Biographical Sketches of College Graduates and Professional Men since 1800.
" Not many lives, but only one have we ; One, only one. How sacred should that one life ever be, - Day after day filled up with blesséd toil, Hour after hour still bringing in new spoil."
THE following is a list of college graduates prior to 1800. The names of those who graduated before 1776, are taken from a sketch of Sudbury supposed to have been written by Dr. Israel Loring.
HARVARD COLLEGE GRADUATES BEFORE 1800.
Samuel Jennison
1720
Gideon Richardson 1749
Noyes Parris
1721
Samuel Baldwin 1752
William Brintnall
1721
Jude Damon 1776
Thomas Frink
1722
Aaron Smith
1777
John Loring
1729
Ephraim Smith
1777
Jonathan Loring
1738
Reuben Puffer
1778
William Cooke
1748
Jacob Bigelow
William Baldwin
A
1748
The following are biographical sketches of college gradu- ates and professional men since 1800, so far as we have information.
GEORGE H. BARTON.
George H. Barton, son of George W. and Mary S. (Hunt) Barton, was born at Sudbury, July 8, 1852. At the age of seventeen he attended the academy at Chester, Vt., after- wards, S. P. Frost's private school, Maynard, and the high
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HISTORY OF SUDBURY.
school of the same town. After a somewhat rough experi- ence carpentering, blacksmithing, etc., he entered the Warren Scientific Academy in Woburn, and, at the age of twenty- four, entered the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and graduated with the class of '80. In 1881, he taught in the Drawing Department of the Institute. He was offered and declined a position on Charnay's Expedition to Yucatan and Central America. He soon after accepted an offer from the Hawaiian Government survey, and left Boston for Hono- lulu Aug. 9, 1881. After remaining in this survey about two years, he received an appointment in the Geological Department of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, which he accepted and still retains.
FRANCIS F. BROWN, M. D.
Francis Frederick Brown, son of Edward and Abigail (Rogers) Brown, was born in Sudbury, Ang. 12, 1834. He studied at Warren Academy, Woburn, and in 1851 entered Amherst College, where he graduated in 1855. He studied medicine at the Harvard and Berkshire Medical Schools, graduating at the latter in 1862. Subsequently he served as assistant surgeon of the Forty-eighth Regiment M. V. M., until it was mustered out Sept. 3, 1863. He settled in Reading in 1864, where he still resides and follows his pro- fession. June 7, 1865, he married Emma Mary Clapp of Dorchester, and has had six children.
E. R. CUTLER, M. D.
Edward Roland Cutler, son of Roland Cutler, was born in Boston Jan. 15, 1841. In his early life his parents removed to Sudbury. He attended Wadsworth Academy at South Sudbury and entered Williams College in 1858. He gradu- ated at the Harvard Medical School in 1863, having spent a year at Rainsford Island Hospital, Boston Harbor. He entered the United States service as assistant surgeon of the First Heavy Artillery, formerly the Fourteenth Infantry. In 1864, he became surgeon of the regiment, and served in that capacity till the close of the war. He practiced medicine
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HISTORY OF SUDBURY.
for a time at Hartford, Conn. ; spent three years in medical study abroad, mostly in Vienna ; and, Jan. 1, 1870, settled in Waltham, where he now resides. He married Melvina A., daughter of Samuel B. Rogers of Sudbury, and has had seven children.
JOSEPH CUTLER, ESQ.
Joseph Cutler, son of Christopher G. Cutler and great- grandson of Gen. John Nixon, was born at South Sudbury, Dec. 9, 1815. He entered Amherst College at the age of nineteen, from which he graduated in 1840. He studied at the Harvard Law School and began the practice of his pro- fession in Boston. As a lawyer, he was especially able in matters of real estate. He acted for many years as counsel for the Cambridge Savings Bank. He was the author of the celebrated compendium entitled, "The Insolvent Laws of Massachusetts," three editions of which were published prior to the United States Bankrupt Law, and the fourth edition of which was revised and enlarged by him after its repeal. Said the " Boston Advertiser," "his memory will be fondly cherished as of an excellent lawyer and an honest man, as approximating closely to the highest standard in every de- partment of life and duty, and as, if not one of the world's most famous, one of its worthiest and best."
HON. CHARLES F. GERRY.
Charles Frederick Gerry, son of Charles and Orisa Gerry, was born at Sudbury, June 3, 1823. He graduated at the Wesleyan University, Middletown, Conn., and soon after be- came a teacher in the Boston Mercantile Academy, and later, in the Fort Hill School, Boston. Subsequently, he engaged in the insurance business, and for a time lived at Hyde Park, being its first representative to the Legislature in 1877, and for some years President of its Savings Bank. In the midst of a busy life, he has been a frequent contributor to peri- odical literature, and some of his productions have been selected for school text-books, and some set to music of dis- tinguished composers. In 1888, Lee & Shepard published his book of poems, entitled " Meadow Melodies." From
USGNANT-TO BOSTON
RESIDENCE OF HON. C. F. GERRY, Sudbury Centre.
3
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HISTORY OF SUDBURY.
Hyde Park he removed to Sudbury, from which place he went to the Legislature, serving one term in the House and two terms in the Senate, being chairman during the second term of the joint committees on Education, the State Library and Parishes and Religious Societies. He married Martha A. Clough of Canterbury, N. H., who was a literary lady of wide reputation and for some years had charge of the edi- torial columns of the " Boston Olive Branch." Mr. Gerry has four children, -Charles C., Eleanor M., Frank F. and Gilbert H.
ADONIRAM J. GOODENOUGH.
Adoniram Judson Goodenough, son of Dr. Levi and Cyn- thia (Rice) Goodenough, was born at Sudbury Aug. 6, 1833. He finished his academic studies at Warren Academy, Woburn. He entered Amherst College where he graduated in 1854. He began the study of medicine, but weakness of the eyes compelled him to abandon it. He spent several years in the South engaged in business, and returned North in 1863. His later life has been spent at Providence, R. I., where he still resides.
GEORGE M. HOWE, M. D.
George M. Howe, son of Buckley and Sally Howe, was born in Sudbury, July 2, 1824. After attending the Fram- ingham, Leicester and East Hampton Academies, he entered Union College, but was prevented by ill health from com- pleting his collegiate course. He pursued his professional studies at the Harvard Medical School, and settled as a physician in the town of Harvard where he practiced about ten years ; he then went to Framingham, where he continued in his profession till his death which occurred Sept. 16, 1882. He was married at Harvard, Jan. 17, 1855, to Harriet M., daughter of Rev. James Howe of Pepperell, and had five children. Dr. Howe was a skillful physician, courteous and gentle in disposition and much esteemed by the community. In the words of an obituary notice of him, "he was laid away for his final rest on a bright, warm, autumnal day amid the smiles of nature and the tears of his friends.
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HISTORY OF SUDBURY.
ALFRED S. HUDSON.
Alfred Sereno Hudson, son of Martin N. and Maria (Read) Hudson, was born at South Sudbury, Nov. 20, 1839. He studied at Wadsworth Academy, and entered Williams Col- lege in 1860, at which institution he graduated in 1864. The same year he entered the service of the United States Sanitary Commission, and was stationed for a time near Petersburg, Va., during its siege. Upon his return he en- tered the Theological Seminary at Andover, at which he graduated with the class of '67. Sept. 26, 1867, he married Miss L. R. Draper of Wayland. He was ordained and in- stalled pastor of the Congregational Church, Burlington, Dec. 19, 1867, where he remained six years. Subsequently he was acting pastor of the Congregational Church at Eas- ton. In 1876 he went to Malden where he remained six years ; there he had charge of the Congregational Churches in Maplewood and Linden, both of which erected meeting- houses during his pastorate. Nov. 1, 1883, he became acting pastor of the First Congregational Church at Ayer, which position he still occupies.
EDWARD B. HUNT.
Edward Brown Hunt, son of Emory and Alice How (Brown) Hunt, was born in South Sudbury, Feb. 19, 1855. He fitted for college at the Boston Latin School, entered Harvard College in 1874 and graduated in 1878. He taught school at Newburyport three years, and has been in the Boston Public Library since 1883.
EDWIN HUNT.
Edwin Hunt, son of Sewall and Sophia (Puffer) Hunt, was born at Sudbury in 1837. At the age of fifteen he entered the High School, Concord, where he fitted for col- lege. Two years later he entered Amherst College and graduated in 1858. He chose teaching as his profession, and taught a select school in Enfield, Haydenville, and Sherborn, and Wadsworth Academy. He served in the United States Sanitary Commission until obliged to leave on account of ill
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HISTORY OF SUDBURY.
health. Resuming his profession, he became assistant pre- ceptor at North Bridgewater, after which he accepted the position of instructor of natural science in the Free Academy at Utica, N. Y. He was especially interested in the depart- ment of botany, the study of which he had pursued through a large part of his professional life. He was a successful collector of specimens and possessed an extensive herbarium. For researches in natural science he received the degree of Ph.D. He was re-elected to his position in the Academy till failing health obliged him to withdraw. He died May 24, 1880, beloved by his pupils, trusted in his profession, and respected by all. He married Mary A., daughter of Edward Brown of Sudbury, and left several children.
OTIS E. HUNT, M. D.
Otis Eugene Hunt, son of Joseph Goodnow Hunt and Lucy Howe Hunt, was born in South Sudbury, July 7, 1822. He fitted for college at the Holliston Academy, Wayland High School and Wilbraham Academy. He entered the Wesleyan University, Middletown, Conn., in 1844, but ill health compelled him to leave at the expiration of nine months. He afterwards studied medicine with Dr. Levi Goodenough of Sudbury, and in the Boylston Medical School, Boston, and graduated at the Berkshire Medical College in 1848. He began the practice of medicine and surgery in Weston, where he remained sixteen years. He then moved to Waltham and afterwards to Newtonville, where he now resides. He has been one of the leading phy- sicians in Middlesex County, and was the first to administer sulphuric ether as an anesthetic in the towns of Sudbury, Wayland and Weston. He married Aroline E., daughter of Nahum and Abigail Thompson of Sudbury, Oct. 9, 1849, and has two children, Nina Maria and William O.
SERENO D. HUNT.
Sereno D. Hunt, son of Sewall and Sophia (Puffer) Hunt, is a native of Sudbury. He early attended a select school at Sudbury Centre, taught by Dr. E. O. Haven. He after-
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HISTORY OF SUDBURY.
wards attended the academies at Framingham and Derry, N. H. He was the first principal of the high school in Concord, Mass., and for ten years taught a select school at North Bridgewater. In 1865, he became the preceptor of the Norfolk County Academy, Milton, Mass., and subse- quently principal of the high school in the same town, which position he held till 1877.
HERBERT S. JONES, M. D.
Herbert Samuel Jones, son of William P. and Catherine A. (Brown) Jones, was born at South Sudbury, Nov. 5, 1851. He entered Williston Seminary, Easthampton, 1873, and Yale College in 1875. In 1885, he entered the New York Homoeopathic Medical College, and graduated in 1888. The same year he entered upon the practice of medicine in Elizabethport, N. J., where he now lives. He married Evelyn Wilson of Roselle, N. J., in 1887.
JOHN L. O'NEIL, ESQ.
John L. O'Neil is son of John and Julia O Neil, who went to Sudbury in 1863. He studied law for a time in the office of IIon. William F. Courtney of Lowell, after which he graduated at the Harvard Law School, and was admitted to the bar in 1882. In 1884, he began the practice of his pro- fession in Chelsea, where he still resides.
HARRIET M. PRATT.
Harrict M. Pratt, a daughter of Nathan L. and Harriet Hunt Pratt, was born in Sudbury. After a course of study at the Framingham High School, she entered Smith College, Northampton, from which she graduated in 1881.
LUTHER PUFFER.
Luther Puffer, son of Samuel, was born in North Sudbury, Sept. 11, 1833. In 1850, at the age of seventeen, he en- tered the sophomore class at Bowdoin College, and graduated in 1853, delivering the salutatory oration. He began the
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HISTORY OF SUDBURY.
study of law in Andover, N. H., and died Oct. 27, 1854. He was a person of fine ability and excellent character, and his early death ended a career which gave promise of great use- fulness.
HOMER ROGERS.
Homer Rogers, son of Walter and Emily Rogers, was born at South Sudbury, Oct. 11, 1840. He studied at Wads- worth Academy, entered Williams College in 1858, and graduated in 1862. Soon after leaving college he enlisted in Company F, Forty-fifth Regiment, M. V. M. At the ex- piration of his term of service he taught school one year in Douse Academy, Sherborn, and from 1864-6 in Natick High School, since which time he has been engaged in business. Jan. 15, 1868, he married Ellen E. Perry of South Natiek, and has seven children. His present residence is Boston. In 1888 and 1889 he was elected alderman and is at present chairman of the Board.
HENRY SHAW, M. D.
Henry Shaw, son of Rev. Linus H. and Louisa A. Shaw, was born at Raynham, Sept. 12, 1829. In 1851, he began the study of medicine and graduated at Harvard Medical School in 1854. For a time he practiced his profession in Upton and Leominster, and in 1861-2 he went from the former town as a representative to the Legislature. He was subsequently sent by Governor Andrew to Newbern, N. C., on a service connected with the care of the Massachusetts troops in that vicinity. July, 1862, he received a com- mission as acting assistant surgeon in the navy, and served in all the blockading squadrons from Mobile to Wilmington. In 1865, he was promoted to the next higher rank in the medical corps. Leaving the United States service in 1866, he practiced medicine for a time in Bedford. In 1872, he be- came a visitor in connection with the State Board of Chari- ties. He married, in Sudbury, Jane M. Taft of Upton, October, 1855, and has five children. He resides in Charles- town.
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HISTORY OF SUDBURY.
JOSEPH A. SHAW.
Joseph Alden Shaw, son of Rev. Linus Hall and Louisa Alden (Jones) Shaw, was born in Athol, Jan. 4, 1836. He went to Sudbury in 1845, and in 1853 attended Phillips Academy at Exeter, N. H., and graduated July, 1855, in the advanced class. The same year he entered the sophomore class at Harvard College and graduated in 1858. While at college he received a Dexter prize from the Hopkins fund, " for remarkable diligence in his studies." In 1858, he be- came principal of the New Salem Academy, which position he held six years. For sixteen years he has been a teacher in the Highland Military Academy, Worcester, Mass., of which he is at present the head master. He is a member of the American Philological Association, and a contributor to the periodicals of the day on the subject of philology. In 1863, he married Eliza Antoinette Thompson of New Salem. He has two children.
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