USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > Westborough > The history of Westborough, Massachusetts. Part I. The early history. By Heman Packard De Forest. Part II. The later history. By Edward Craig Bates > Part 27
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It will be remembered, from the statistics of 1837, that bricks were then manufactured in Westborough to the value of $1,160. They were made at the brick-yard now owned by Stephen A. Gilmore, which had just been started by Abijah Wood. Work was carried on at intervals until 1869, when the yard was leased for the purpose of making brick to build Post-Office Block. The business has since been conducted more regularly by the Gilmores, who have made from one million and a half to two million bricks per year, and employed from twenty to thirty men.
The box-factory and lumber-yard of C. Whitney & Co., where fifteen men are now employed, was started by Mr. Whitney in 1873. The first location was on the site of the Whitney House; but in 1875 a box-shop was erected near the present one. Frank V. Bartlett and George L. Smith, who became members of the firm in 1883, have car- ried on the business since Mr. Whitney's death in 1889.
367
MANUFACTURES.
The firm handles each year three million feet of box boards, and a million feet of building lumber.
The straw sewing-machine invented by S. S. Turner led, in 1869, to the incorporation of a company with capital of $300,000. Mr. Turner and Willard Comey were the West- borough men prominent in the enterprise. In 1871 the com- pany built the shop near the railroad at the head of Summer Street, and manufactured for a short time. The invention of a superior machine put an end to the business.
An industry which still exists, but was formerly more flourishing, is the manufacture of trellises. Benjamin B. Nourse began the business about twenty-five years ago. His shop was over D. S. Dunlap & Son's present store. George K. White became a partner in 1866, and the firm of Nourse, White, & Co. continued the industry. In 1870, their business having outgrown the old shop, Mr. Nourse's present shop on Summer Street was erected. In 1871 the firm employed fifteen men. Their specialties were Nourse's Folding Plant Stand and Wardian Flower Cases, which in 1870 were awarded high honor at the Cincinnati Indus- trial Exposition. The business is now carried on at Mr. Nourse's shop by P. A. Angier & Co.
The manufacture of bicycles was begun in the spring of 1889. The White Cycle Company, incorporated under the laws of Maine, with a capital of $150,000, has a large number of Westborough citizens among its stockholders. It has a new and excellent shop on Beach Street, where ninety men are now employed. The president of the com- pany, and inventor of the " Broncho " bicycle, is Frederick White. The other officers are Frank F. Denfeld, vice- president; George O. Brigham, treasurer; Frank E. Peck, secretary ; Frederick White, Frank E. Peck, Frank F. Den- feld, Frank W. Forbes, Emerson Law, William A. Reed,
368
LATER HISTORY OF WESTBOROUGH.
and Murray V. Livingston, directors. At present the company's works are leased to Murray V. Livingston, of Boston. The " Broncho" is a chainless " safety " bicycle, and its ingenious construction has won high praise from both English and American wheelmen.
Since December, 1889, the old sleigh-shop at the head of Summer Street has been converted into a factory for the manufacture of pianos. It is occupied by the Leicester Piano Company, which was incorporated under the laws of Michigan in 1880. Its capital stock is $150,000. The officers of the company are G. V. Leicester, president ; W. W. Johnson, vice-president; J. A. Trowbridge, trea- surer; and William J. Gray, secretary and assistant trea- surer. The business at present employs fifteen men.
The total value of Westborough's manufactured prod- ucts in 1885 was $2,004,887. Ranking sixty-fourth among the towns and cities of Massachusetts in population, and -
fiftieth in the value of agricultural products, this town stood sixty-second in the value of manufactured goods. The following table shows its standing among the ten principal manufacturing towns and cities of Worcester County : -
Number of Establish- ments.
Amount of Capital invested.
Value of Stock used.
Value of Goods made and Work done.
Number of Persons employed.
Total Wages paid.
Worcester
$ 772 18,344,408
$ $ 1 5,016,756 28,699,524
18,454
$ 7,060,755
Fitchburg
202
5,477,446
3,658,502
6,231,866
3 396
1,271,329
Spencer
84
1, 580,794
2,422,788
3,627,467
2,234
694,908
Clinton
93
5,547,145
1,949,713
3,624,663
3,3c8
1,070,933
Blackstone
31
2,052,565
2,361,676
3,422,522
1,930
690,700
Webster
52
1,408,628
2,122,413
2,888,063
1,718
484,203
Milford Gardner
68
2,487,051
914,005
2,046,343
2,009
707,145
Westborough Southbridge
53
874,635
1,355,337
2,004,887
1,827
474,345
74
2,61 5,056
1,061,416
1,968,107
1,956
626,655
1 36
1,143,534
1,213,693
2,289,030
1,882
599,852.
W. R. Gould
369
OCCUPATIONS.
This review of Westborough industries roughly indicates the occupations of the people. A more exact classification, given in the census of 1885, is as follows : -
POPULATION OF WESTBOROUGH, MAY 1, 1885, - 4,880.
OCCUPATIONS.
Males, 2,299.
Clergymen
12
Merchants and Dealers.
54
At home
238
Teamsters
23
Females, 2,581.
Farmers
I36
Teachers 27
Farm Laborers 202
Housewives
93I
Boot and Shoe makers
355
Housework
346
Box-makers
22
Servants (in families) 103
Carpenters
47
Boot and Shoe makers
45
Masons
19
Dress-makers
6
Painters
13
Milliners
8
Carriage-makers
17
Straw-workers
398
Sleigh-makers
18
Scholars
395
Blacksmiths
15
At home
240
Straw-workers
197
Other Occupations
82
Scholars and Students 464
Retired
46
Bookkeepers and Clerks 57
Other occupations
347
Steam Railroad Employees 17
It is hardly possible to estimate the increase of wealth which has accompanied Westborough's industrial develop- ment. Throughout the world the last century has seen a marvellous improvement in the comforts of life; and in this general advance, it is safe to say, the people of West- borough have enjoyed and performed their share. The town contains no persons of great wealth; but there is, on the other hand, very little poverty. The diffusion of pros- perity is unusually uniform. Although this prosperity is beyond our means of measuring, the assessors' reports furnish some interesting and suggestive comparisons. At three different periods, for example, the residents paying the highest taxes, and the amounts they paid, were as follows: -
370
LATER HISTORY OF WESTBOROUGH.
In 1830.
Charles Parkman
$72.44 Heirs of John Sanborn $29.09
Benjamin Fay, Jr.
44.15
Benjamin Fay
27.42
Elijah Gleason.
30.28
Asahel Warren 25.55
In 1860.
Daniel F. Newton $108.95
Curtis Beeman
$77.25
Estate of George Denny .
90.09
J. W. Blake
75.89
Zebina Gleason
89.99
Timothy A. Smith 72.77
In 1890.
H. O. Bernard M'f'g Co. ... $944.36
Gould & Walker $518.10
Mrs. Abbie Whitney, adın'x .. 761.84
Hannah Spaulding
487.59
John A. Fayerweather 595.50
-
Estate of William R. Gould, 482.86
The amounts raised by taxation at these different peri- ods were as follows : -
1830.
State tax, $129 ; county tax, $269.82 ; highways, $600 ; schools, $600 ; support of poor, $900; contingencies, $275. Total, $2,773.82.
1860.
State tax, $350; county tax, $1,275.56 ; highways, $1,200; schools, $2,600 ; support of poor, $1,400 ; contingencies, $1,200 ; reducing town debt, $2,050 ; overlayings on taxes, $333.25. Total, $10,408.81.
1890.
State tax, $2,292.50 ; county tax, $1,885 ; highways, $3,500 ; schools, $12,500 ; support of poor, $3, 700; contingencies, $1,000 ; reducing town debt, $3,000 ; overlayings on taxes, $636.51 ; ob- servance of Memorial Day, $150 ; interest of town debt, $1,950; cemeteries, $500 ; school-house sinking fund, $800; water sinking fund, $2,000 ; engine-house sinking fund, $1,040 ; fire department, $2,300 ; salaries of officers, $1,575 ; police, including night-watch, $850 ; interest in anticipation of taxes, $500 ; concrete sidewalks, $500 ; judgments against town, $2,300; lighting streets and town house, $2,500 ; new bridge, $1,080. Total, $46,479.01.
371
POLLS AND PROPERTY.
The following table, compiled from the assessors' re- ports, indicates the changes in certain kinds of property, etc., since 1860 : -
Year.
Number of Polls.
Houses.
Horses.
Oxen.
Cows.
Rate of Taxation.
Taxable Property.
1860
647
$7.80
$1,210,022
1865
735
447
322
96
887
16.15
1,392,478
1870
862
517
356
..
1,040
13.00
1,916,04I
1875
1,169
658
465
....
998
16.50
2,450,658
1880
1,204
717
514
...
1,126
13.00
2,357,183
1885
1,202
786
477
30
97I
14.20
2,552,487
1890
1,389
805
510
..
1,23I
15.70
2,783,504
.
CHAPTER V.
1860-1890.
PUBLIC SCHOOLS. - WILLOW-PARK SEMINARY. - PUBLIC LIBRARY. - POOR-FARM. - FIRE DEPARTMENT.
T HE evolution of the public schools from the district system to the well-organized graded schools of the present time has nearly all taken place during the past thirty years. The "three R's," which were deemed suffi- cient for the average man or woman a generation ago, have given place to a broader and more thorough educa- tional training. The old school-houses, with their rude benches and rough walls, are supplanted by well-built structures, heated, lighted, and ventilated after the most approved sanitary arrangements. The methods, too, have changed. The schoolmaster, with his birch and ferrule, is no longer the typical pedagogue; for the gentle "schoolma'm," prepared for her duties by special train- ing, has effectually usurped his place. Under the old system of school management the town annually chose its general school-committee, consisting usually of three persons, who examined and "approbated " the teachers, selected the text-books, and made periodical visits to the several schools. In each district the " prudential " com- mittee - usually one man, chosen by the voters of the dis- trict - had charge of the school so far as to provide it
373
... . 6
PUBLIC SCHOOLS.
with fuel, and, with the approval of the town-committee, to select a teacher. The district system was hardly the most economical or the most valuable; but it was not until the March meeting in 1867 that the " prudential " committee was abolished, and the general committee given complete authority over all the schools. The duty of car- ing for so many districts, however, soon proved burden- some, and in 1873, in accordance with the committee's frequent recommendations, the town voted to employ a superintendent. T. Dwight Biscoe, the first superintend- ent of schools, was appointed in March, 1873. He re- signed in September, 1874, and John E. Day, who had been for three years principal of the High School, took his place. On Mr. Day's resignation, in 1875, Henry Whittemore, who had succeeded him as principal of the High School, assumed the superintendence as well. He successfully performed the duties of both positions until, in the fall of 1883, he resigned, to become superintendent of schools at Waltham. James Burrier was his successor. Since the expiration of his term, November 30, 1885, Dr. Edwin B. Harvey, who has been prominently connected with the schools for more than twenty years, has performed the duties of superintendent.
The present division of the town into eight districts has been only slightly changed since 1836. At that time one school, in the building now occupied by D. S. Dunlap & Son, accommodated all the pupils in the centre of the town. In 1860, besides an ungraded High School established six years before, there were four " departments" in the " centre district," occupying the two school-houses on Grove Street. A grammar-school was established in 1865. In 1868 a new school-house - the fourth in the centre of
374
LATER HISTORY OF WESTBOROUGH.
the town - was erected on High Street. It was burned, May 1I, 1872, and the present building was soon afterward erected on the site. During the same year a French roof was added to the older Grove Street school-house, and the High School building was considerably enlarged. The second school-house on School Street was erected in 1876, and the Phillips Street school-house in 1883. The latter was built from plans made by Dr. Harvey, the chairman of the school-committee, who supervised the work of its construction. It cost about $11,000. The building is built of brick, is steam-heated, and contains accommoda- tions for four schools of fifty pupils each. It has a front entrance and halls for girls, and two side entrances and halls for boys. The school-rooms, which are all on the ground-floor, are large and well furnished. In the base- ment are two large exercise or play rooms, one for the boys, and one for the girls. The building is considered a model school-house.
In 1871 the town tried the experiment of supporting an evening school for the instruction of persons over fifteen years of age. It opened in March, and continued, three evenings a week, for ten weeks. Over fifty persons regis- tered as pupils, but the average attendance was less than twenty-five. The second term, which began in December, was discontinued after eighteen evenings. "The attend- ance was very irregular," the committee reported, "and a great majority of those who did attend, evidently came for purposes other than to study and to profit by the privi- leges of the school."
The following table, which is compiled from the annual reports of the school-committee, shows the growth of the schools since 1860: -
375
PUBLIC SCHOOLS.
1860
1865
1870
1875
1880
1885
1889
Number of Children be- tween ages of 5 and 15.
490
576
681
730
837
845
839
Number of Schools
I2
13
15
16
18
21
20
Number of Teachers
I2
I4
16
17
20
23
23
Number of Weeks taught,
in Common Schools .
29
136
30
32
32-36
34
37 :
in Grammar School .. in High School
36
39
39
39
40
40
31
40
39
39
39
40
40
Appropriation for Schools
$2,600
$3,000 $5,835 $7,275 $8,000 $13,000 $12,800
The High School was established in 1854. At the March meeting in 1853 the town voted in its favor, and Draper Ruggles offered to give an acre of land upon which to erect a building. The town accepted the gift with due gratitude, and had the rear portion of the pres- ent High School-house ready for use the following year. The only facilities in the village for advanced instruction up to this time had been afforded by private schools in the old "Armory " building - where Grand Army Block now stands- and in the Town Hall. The new school, which was ungraded, differed from the other public schools only in teaching higher branches. The number of pupils during the first term was fifty-nine. The studies pursued were " grammar, geography, book-keeping, mental phi- losophy, natural philosophy, chemistry, physiology, im- provement of the mind, rhetoric, astronomy, arithmetic, algebra, geometry, trigonometry, surveying, history, Latin, Greek, composition, and declamation, - in all which branches," the committee reported, "very good profi- ciency has been made." The man who taught these numerous studies, on a salary of $600 per year, was Silas C. Stone. It is pleasant to note that his salary was raised a hundred dollars in 1855. Mr. Stone remained until 1861, when he closed, in the words of the committee, " his long
376
LATER HISTORY OF WESTBOROUGH.
and successful labors as principal." The two young men who came after him, each remaining a few months, failed to maintain good order ; and in the winter of 1861 the Rev. Dr. Arnold, a member of the school-committee, took charge of the school with gratifying results. Andrew J. Lathrop - with a salary of $500 from the town and $100 from private subscriptions - had charge of the school from the spring of 1862 until he obtained a more lucra- tive position, in March, 1863. L. S. Burbank, E. P. Jack- son, and W. J. Holland each occupied the position for two or three years. In 1871 John E. Day became principal at a salary of $1200 per year, and retained the position until he became superintendent of schools in 1874.
During 1869 and 1870 the High School underwent a great change. "From an ungraded school of less than thirty scholars, irregular in attendance, not adhering to- gether in classes," said the committee in their report for 1871, "it has become a school of nearly fifty pupils, organ- ized into classes or forms, pursuing a prescribed course of study, either English or classical, possessed of scholarly ambition, and occupying the time and skill of two liberally educated teachers, - in a word, it has been wrought into a High School that will compare favorably with other schools of corresponding grade in this Commonwealth." The first class graduated, containing three members, was in 1872. In 1874 Henry Whittemore, who remained at the head of the school for nine years, succeeded Mr. Day
as principal. Miss Jennie J. Robinson, who had been an assistant-teacher, after his resignation had charge of the school for a short time. In December, 1883, James Bur- rier was elected to the principalship. E. H. McLachlin succeeded him in 1884, and in 1889 resigned to become principal of the Brattleborough (Vt.) High School. The
THE HIGH SCHOOL.
377
PRIVATE SCHOOLS.
present principal is A. W. Thayer. There are two assist- ant-teachers. The whole number of pupils during the past year (1889) has been sixty-eight. Twenty-seven were in the English department, and forty-one in the classical.
The number of graduates of the High School from 1872 to the present time is one hundred and sixty-two, - eighty-seven young women, and seventy-five young men. The number graduated at the school, however, is no test of its usefulness, for hundreds who have not completed the course have enjoyed its benefits for a longer or shorter time. More than half of the graduates have continued their education at higher institutions. Twenty-seven have graduated from college, - eleven from Amherst, seven from Brown, five from Wellesley, two from Harvard, one from the Worcester Polytechnic Institute, and one from the Massachusetts Agricultural College at Amherst.
Among the private schools in Westborough, the two which were at Wessonville - Wessonville Seminary and Willow-Park Seminary - have been the most prominent. The former, a day and boarding school, with about forty pupils, was established in Captain Wesson's old tavern soon after 1840. . A school under the same manage- ment - the Westborough School Association - had pre- viously been maintained in the village. The seminary at Wessonville lasted about twelve years. In 1852 Dr. Butler Wilmarth and Dr. J. H. Hero purchased the old tavern and converted it into an institution for the treatment of chronic diseases. Dr. Wilmarth was killed soon afterward in a railroad accident, but Dr. Hero con- tinued to carry on the establishment. Among the numer- ous improvements which he made was the filling of a swampy triangle south of the building, where he planted a heart-shaped grove of willow and maple trees. An icy
378
LATER HISTORY OF WESTBOROUGH.
season some fifteen years later destroyed the willows; but the name of "Willow Park" still clings to the locality. Besides the usual hydropathic treatment which marked the institution as a "water cure," Dr. Hero employed other agents, - such as electricity, Swedish movements, oxygenized air, light gymnastics, and finally the Turkish, or hot-air baths, - by which many forms of chronic dis- ease were treated with marked success. In 1866 and 1867 further changes and extensions in the buildings were made, and in the fall of 1867 Dr. Hero opened the Willow-Park Seminary, - an institution for both the physical and men- tal training of young women. Young men were not ad- mitted until 1872. The first principal was Prof. Albert B. Watkins, the present vice-president of the New York State Board of Regents (New York University). One who was familiar with the institution both as pupil and instructor writes as follows : -
" The one main idea of the founder was to combine physical with mental culture, - mens sana in corpore sano; and the beneficial results of such a system of education were exemplified in a wonderful manner. Very many students of delicate constitu- tion, who had been utterly unable to remain long at school else- where, were always in attendance at Willow-Park Seminary ; and there was not one of them who did not improve rapidly in health, while doing thorough work in the class-room. The means em- ployed (together with plain wholesome food) were Dr. Dio Lewis's system of light gymnastics and the Turkish bath. The physical exercises and the health department were under the personal supervision of Dr. Hero, whose previous experience of nearly twenty years as a practitioner and proprietor of a health institu- tion at Athol, and of the Willow-Park Cure, made him eminently qualified to render invaluable service in a school of this kind. Frequent talks upon hygiene were given, and 'right living' was a duty ever as urgently enjoined as correct speaking and clear reasoning."
379
PUBLIC LIBRARY.
The school grew rapidly, and in the course of a few years a private dwelling near by was taken for extra dormitories. The usual number of students was about thirty-five; the total number of names on the rolls was about four hundred and fifty. Many of the pupils came from distant parts of the country. The hard times follow- ing the crisis of 1873, which seriously affected all private schools not well endowed, made it necessary to close the institution in 1876.
Next to the schools in educational value comes the public library. The nucleus of the present collection of books, as Mr. De Forest has already shown,1 came into the possession of the town in 1857. The first board of trustees consisted of the Rev. Luther H. Sheldon, the Rev. William H. Walker, and Samuel M. Griggs. They re- ported in the spring of 1858 that the number of books catalogued was three hundred and seventy-five, but that many, which "were found to be worthless, from their peculiar character and antiquity," were packed away in boxes. In 1864 Miss Jane S. Beeton, who retained the position for twenty-five years, was appointed librarian. The library remained in the rear of the old Parkman Store until 1868, when it was removed to a room in the Town Hall. In 1879 the town received from a former resident, William R. Warner, of Fall River, the gift of one hundred and seventeen volumes. In 1880 the library was closed for three months, and a new catalogue was prepared. The fol- lowing year saw the addition of a reference department and reading-room. In 1888 Miss Clara S. Blake was appointed assistant-librarian, and on Miss Beeton's resignation in 1889 became her successor. The second librarian is Miss Mattie J. Eastman. The library was formerly open only
1 See p. 227.
380
LATER HISTORY OF WESTBOROUGH.
on Wednesday and Saturday afternoons and evenings, but is now open daily from one o'clock to half-past eight. It has increased in usefulness very fast. In 1859 the number of volumes was reported as four hundred and ninety-six, and the number taken out during the year preceding was thirty-six hundred. In 1889 the number of volumes was reported as eight thousand one hundred and sixty-five, and the number taken out was over twenty-three thousand. For many years the town has appropriated the income of the " dog fund " - a sum of three or four hundred dollars -for the support of the library, and for the past few years there has been an extra appropriation of five hun- dred dollars for salaries. A further income is expected from the estate of Dr. William Curtis, who at his death in 1887 not only made the town a legacy of $1000 for constructing a gate at Pine Grove Cemetery, but left the remainder of his property, after payment of debts and legacies, to trustees for the benefit of the public library. The sum, the income of which is to be expended for books and magazines, amounts to about $14,000. The trustees of the Curtis Fund are Louis E. Denfeld, Charles S. Henry, and Frank W. Forbes.
The care of the poor caused the community, in its ear- lier days, much perplexity and expense. It was custom- ary here, as in other places, to intrust the paupers to the tender mercies of the man who would contract to board them at the lowest rate. Such a plan, in these days, would probably not result in high living or an attractive life. But in May, 1825, a committee, consisting of Lovett Peters, Joel Parker, Silas Wesson, Joshua Mellen, and Otis Brig- ham, who had been instructed by the town to report "the best way and means of supporting the poor," made the following statement: --
381
TOWN POOR.
" In the year 1819 this town granted 1700 dollars for the sup- port of their poor, and it was said that the sum was not sufficient. In 1.820 we granted $1400. We had at that time something like 20 . permanent paupers, about one to every 65 inhabitants, - a greater proportion, perhaps, than any other town in the commonwealth can boast of; and we have a fair prospect of having as great a proportion again not long hence. It may be said that we are in no danger of having so great a number again at any one time. In answer to this, let any man who can remember this Town 30 years ago look over it now, carefully and candidly, and then ask himself whether the number of those who spend one half of their time in idleness, and the other half in drinking out what they earn in the one half, is not greatly increased ; whether he would see so many intemperate, idle, and ragged men, idle and ragged children, growing up, not only to be paupers, but mere pests of society, - for what good can rationally be expected to come from children who are brought up in idleness, where they see their parents daily drunk, and as often fighting, with every usual accompanying vice ? The prospect is a discouraging one. It must be discouraging and truly provoking to an industrious young man to see these idle drunkards, who are laying up nothing, to think and to know, in all human probability, that a part of his hard earnings must go to support such vile characters, - who, by the way, are not entitled to a very genteel support.
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