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 29
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36
396
LATER HISTORY OF WESTBOROUGH.
as the " Brick Block." Ethan Bullard succeeded Mr. Hunt December 30, 1847, and moved it back again to the old Parkman Store. Mr. Bullard's successor, appointed June 2, 1849, was John A. Fayerweather. Mr. Fayerweather states that during his term the annual income of the office was between four and five hundred dollars. One mail in each direction arrived, and one departed, every morning. The boxes which were then used are now in the post-office at Southborough. In 1853 there was a change in the politics of the administration at Washing- ton, and Mr. Fayerweather gave place to Josiah A. Brig- ham, a staunch Democrat. The new postmaster moved the office to Corner Block (the site of the present Central Block), where it remained sixteen years. Josiah Childs succeeded Mr. Brigham April 22, 1861, and served until the appointment of Frank W. Bullard, April 22, 1869. Six weeks after his appointment Mr. Bullard moved the office across the street to the new block which had been erected on the site of the Parkman Store. The new struc- ture thus became " Post-Office Block," - a name that it has not yet had occasion to change. At this time the number of mails each day had increased to six, - three arriving, and three departing. Mr. Bullard, whose loss of a leg in the Civil War gave him a title to the consider- ation of the authorities, held the office until after the election of President Cleveland. His successor, Dennis D. Dinan, was appointed March 29, 1886. Three years later, - March 7, 1889, - the Republican party having again triumphed, President Harrison restored Mr. Bullard to the office which he had held so long.
The Westborough post-office is now rated in the third class. There are twenty-two mails each day, - eleven
John S. Tayinrather
397
BANKS.
"in," and eleven "out." The postmaster's salary is $1,900. During the last fiscal year, ending June 30, 1890, the in- come of the office was over eight thousand dollars.
There are two banks in Westborough, - the First Na- tional Bank and the Westborough Savings Bank. The former was chartered May II, 1864. Its capital at the beginning was $100,000. It was afterwards increased to $150,000 for a few years, but is now at the original amount. John A. Fayerweather has been president since the bank was organized. Samuel M. Griggs was cashier two years, and since his retirement George O. Brigham has held the position. William A. Reed has been assis- tant-cashier during the last two years. The bank had rooms in the old Corner Block until the erection of Post- Office Block, in 1869. Its present quarters were taken at that time.
The Savings Bank was incorporated February 9, 1869. Cyrus Fay was president until his death, in 1884; Edwin Bullard, the present president, was his successor. George O. Brigham has been treasurer from the beginning. The bank has done a large and growing business in a manner highly creditable to its managers. Its depositors last year numbered twenty-three hundred and thirteen. The following figures are from the Treasurer's Report for 1889: -
Amount of deposits, Jan. 1, 1889 . · $667,701.86
received during the year 179,391.12
66
“ withdrawn 142,971.13
Jan. 1, 1890 704,121.85
Increase of
36,419.99
The First District Court of Eastern Worcester - which sits at Westborough Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays,
398
LATER HISTORY OF WESTBOROUGH.
and at Grafton Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays - was instituted by Act of the Legislature in 1872. It has juris- diction over the towns of Westborough, Grafton, North- borough, and Southborough. James W. White, of Grafton, was the first justice of the court. Mr. White died in Octo- ber, 1875, and William T. Forbes, of Westborough, the present judge of probate for Worcester County, became his successor. On Mr. Forbes's resignation, in 1879, Dexter Newton, of Southborough, was appointed justice. He died in September, 1890, and was succeeded by Ed- ward C. Bates, of Westborough. For the past fifteen years there have been two special justices. Benjamin B. Nourse, of Westborough, who still holds the office, and Hubbard Willson, then of Southborough, were the first appointed. On Mr. Willson's resignation, in 1879, Luther K. Leland, of Grafton, became his successor. The judge's salary, when the court was instituted, was $800. It was cut down to $700 in 1879, but was afterwards re- stored to the original sum. It has since been increased to $1,000 per year.
There are two State institutions in Westborough, - the Lyman School for Boys and the Westborough Insane Hospital.
The Lyman School, which was known until four years ago as the State Reform School, was established - as Mr. De Forest has already stated - in 1846.1 In that year the Legislature authorized a commission "to select and ob- tain, by gift or purchase," a site for a manual labor school for juvenile offenders, and authorized the Governor to draw his warrant for a sum not exceeding $10,000, to defray the expenses. This novel idea - that the State, as 1 See p. 229.
·
399
THE LYMAN SCHOOL.
a body politic, should undertake the reformation, rather than merely the punishment, of youthful offenders - won the sympathy and support of many earnest and philan- thropic persons. Among them was the Hon. Theodore Lyman, of Brookline, who, deeming the appropriation in- sufficient for the object contemplated, gave $10,000 to- wards the general expenses. In the fall of 1846 the Board of Commissioners-which consisted of Alfred Dwight Fos- ter, Robert Rantoul, and Samuel H. Walley, Jr. - pur- chased, with General Lyman's gift, the Peters farm, on the north side of Lake Chauncy, in Westborough. In 1848 General Lyman provided money for buying additional land, and also made another donation of $10,000. At his death, in 1849, he left $50,000 for the institution, - making a total contribution of $72,000. So persistently had he enjoined secrecy, and so well had the secret been kept, that " it was only when he was beyond the reach of human flattery or praise that the friends of the institution were apprised to whose great heart and generous hand they were indebted for its success."
The original building was erected, at a cost of $52,000, in 1848. It had accommodations for three hundred boys. At the end of the first year the inmates, widely differing in age and length of sentence, numbered three hundred and ten. The institution from the outset was overcrowded. In 1852 the Legislature authorized an enlargement to accom- modate two hundred and fifty boys. The expense was $54,000. At the close of 1855 the number of inmates was five hundred and fifty-nine, and the average age twelve years and six months. The number remained about the same until 1859. In the summer of that year one of the inmates set fire to the institution, and it was partially
400
LATER HISTORY OF WESTBOROUGH.
destroyed. The loss was about $50,000. This event, un- fortunate as it seemed, had a material effect upon the char- acter of the institution. During the first half of the decade already sketched, according to the Report of the Trustees for 1876, " there was a school of three hundred boys, occu- pying a common yard and sitting at a common table; in the second half, a school of twice the number, having two yards for play and two dining-rooms: but there was no classification of the boys according to character, and the system known as ' the congregate system' alone prevailed. But the fire furnished the opportunity, as the reformation of the boys had previously the demand, for a separation of the inmates into classes." In pursuance of this plan, the Legislature, following the urgent recommendations of Governor Banks, authorized the purchase of a ship, popu- larly known as " the school-ship," for the more hardened offenders. It also authorized the re-arrangement of a portion of the school into family groups of about thirty boys each, and reduced the maximum age of commit- ment to fourteen years. The new buildings were dedicated October 10, 1860.
In July, 1860, fifty boys were transferred to the school- ship "Massachusetts." The courts sentenced the older offenders to the ship, and the average age of boys com- mitted to the Reform School was reduced to eleven years. In 1865 the State purchased another school-ship, larger than the " Massachusetts," and named it in honor of George M. Barnard, who contributed $5,000 towards its purchase. The school-ships, however, were sold after a few years, older boys were again sentenced to the Reform School, and in 1873 the average age of commitment had risen to fifteen years. The effect was disheartening. "It
.
40I
THE LYMAN SCHOOL.
is now several years," said the Trustees in their Report for 1873, " since the adoption of a policy by which the char- acter of the institution has been gradually changing, - by which it is losing its character as a Reform School for Boys and becoming a place of confinement for criminals." They protested vigorously against the evils arising from the contact of the older and more vicious with the younger boys, but with no other effect than the appropriation of $90,000 in 1875, and $25,000 in 1876, for the erection and furnishing of additional buildings. In 1884 the maximum age of commitment was reduced from seventeen to fifteen years. The number of boys, from this cause and on ac- count of the establishment of a reformatory at Concord, became smaller, and in April, 1885, - the Legislature having transferred the buildings for use as an insane hos- pital, - the school was moved to Willow Park. There were at this time about one hundred inmates. Their new home, beautifully situated on the southerly slope of a commanding hill, is unsurpassed as the site of a public institution. Here the State erected new buildings admi- rably adapted to the new conditions. The name of the school was changed to "The Lyman School for Boys." In their Report for 1887 the Trustees said: -
"It is now two years since the old Reform School at West- borough was reorganized into the Lyman School and established in its present quarters. The reorganization consisted in more than a change in location. The old congregate system, with its rule of bolts and bars, was changed into the family system in open houses, and the age of admission limited at fifteen instead of seventeen, as previously. ... The school now consists of a farm of ninety- nine acres, on which stand farm buildings and four houses, entirely apart from each other. A family, consisting of master, matron, teach- ers, laundress, and about twenty-five boys, live in each house. Boys
402
LATER HISTORY OF WESTBOROUGH.
of separate families are allowed to have no intercourse. They work when out of doors, each family under the supervision of its own mas- ter ; and each house has its own playground. The boys rise at five, have an hour in school from half-past five to half-past six, then break- fast, and work at housework, or on the farm, or in shops, from seven to half-past eleven. Dinner is at twelve. From one to half-past two is work again, then recreation for half an hour, and school from three to six ; after that, supper, recreation, and prayers, and bed-time at eight o'clock. In winter they get up at half-past five instead of five. Thus the division of the day is six hours for work, four for school, five for meals and recreation, and nine for sleep. The housework is done entirely by the boys, the officers doing lit- tle but supervise ; and the prevailing order and cleanliness, and the cheerful faces of the little workers, are always pleasant to see. The boys are as efficient in the laundry and sewing-rooms as in the kitchen. During the year, 108,778 pieces have been washed and ironed, and 15,646 garments have been made in the sewing-room, besides much mending. Eight or nine boys are usually employed in the inside work. They prefer it to out-door work, and consider it a place of honor. But no boys are kept at inside work for more than three months."
In 1888, the Wilson farm was purchased, and the house was refitted for another family of boys. This estate, sit- uated on the main road from Westborough to North- borough, adjoined the Lyman School farm. Another building, for which the appropriation was $16,000, is now being erected. The number of boys at the institution, June 1, 1890, was one hundred and ninety-four; the number of officers, thirty-seven.
The Superintendents have been as follows : -
William R. Lincoln 1848-1853
Allen G. Shepherd . 1873-1878 James M. Talcott
1853-1857
Luther H. Sheldon
1878-1880
William E. Starr 1857-1861 Edmund T. Dooley 1880-1881 Joseph A. Allen 1861-1867 Joseph A. Allen 1881-1885 Orville K. Hutchinson 1867-1868
Henry E. Swan . 1885-1888 Benjamin Evans
1868-1873
Theodore F. Chapin . 1888-
И. Ештон Раши
403
INSANE HOSPITAL.
The following Westborough men have served on the Board of Trustees : -
Nahum Fisher
1847-1849
Benjamin Boynton . 1862-1864
George Denny
1847-1851 Edwin B. Harvey .
1873-1878
Daniel H. Forbes
1851-1854
Lyman Belknap .
1878-1884
John A. Fayerweather
1856-1859 | Melvin H. Walker .
1884-
The Westborough Insane Hospital, a homeopathic in- stitution, occupies the former site of the Reform School. It was incorporated June 3, 1884. The Legislature directed the transfer of the farm, comprising about two hundred and seventy-five acres, and the remodelling of the build- ings. On September 9, 1884, the Governor appointed the following Board of Trustees: Charles R. Codman, Henry S. Russell, Lucius G. Pratt, Francis A. Dewson, Archi- bald H. Grimke, Phoebe J. Leonard, and Emily Talbot. The Trustees selected as Superintendent Dr. N. Emmons Paine, of Albany, N. Y., who had been four years assist- ant physician at the Middletown (N. Y.) Hospital, - the first homeopathic hospital for the insane in the United States. For making the necessary additions to the in- stitution, the Legislature authorized the expenditure of $150,000; but the plans were afterwards changed, and in May, 1886, it made an additional appropriation of $ 180,000 for completing and furnishing the buildings. The hospital was opened for the reception of patients December I, 1886, when it received about two hundred inmates from the over-crowded institutions at other places. Though designed for the accommodation of four hundred and five patients, there has been a large excess over that number since the beginning of 1889. At one time there were five hundred and seven inmates. The Report of Dr. Paine for
404
LATER HISTORY OF WESTBOROUGH.
the year ending September 30, 1890, gives the following general statistics : -
Males.
Females.
Total.
Patients in the Hospital, Sept. 30, 1889 .
196
307
503
Admissions within the year ...
133
177
310
Whole number of cases within the year.
329
484
813
Discharged within the year
131
I74
305
viz. : as recovered .
49
55
104
much improved.
26
50
76
improved .
18
29
47
unimproved .
II
14
25
Deaths
27
26
53
Patients remaining Sept. 30, 1890
198
310
508
viz. : supported as State patients
70
88
1 58
town
III
198
309
private
17
24
41
Number of patients in the year
326
474
800
Daily average of patients
184.28
290.41
474.69
The present officers are N. Emmons Paine, M. D., super- intendent; George S. Adams, M. D., Edward H. Wiswall, M. D., George O. Welch, M. D., and Ellen L. Keith, M. D., assistant physicians ; Willard D. Tripp, steward. Frank W. Forbes, of Westborough, is treasurer. The monthly pay-roll contains upwards of one hundred and fifty names.
CHAPTER VII.
1860-1890.
PROMINENT SOCIETIES.
A MONG the institutions in Westborough are several societies which, on account of their age, size, or object, deserve some atttention in a history of the town. The number of benevolent, social, literary, and other organizations, considering the size of the place, is un- usually large. In the Annual Report of the Bureau of Statistics of Labor for 1880, where careful attention was given to the social condition of the various towns in the Commonwealth, Westborough, sharing the distinction with Milford, stood first in regard to social advantages among the towns of Worcester County; and among the two hundred and fifty-three towns and cities of the State which sent returns, it stood among the fifteen assigned to the first rank as "excellent." Since the publication of this Report a large number of societies with widely differing objects have been added to the list.
The organization which for many years enjoyed the distinction of being the oldest, excepting, of course, the religious associations, was the Thief-detecting Society. It was formed March 6, 1839. On that date, as its records state, " a respectable number of the inhabitants of West- boro' met at the hotel of Dexter Brigham to take into consideration the importance of forming a society
406
LATER HISTORY OF WESTBOROUGH.
for the detection of thieves and the recovery of stolen property." The directors of the society were authorized to offer rewards; and there was a " detecting, or pursu- ing, committee" to follow and capture thieves. Nahum Fisher was the first president, and Milton M. Fisher the first clerk. Before the days of the railroad and the tele- graph, when the country was thinly settled, the organi- zation was very serviceable in recovering stolen property; but the improved means of communication long since de- prived the society of its original usefulness. Its roll of membership contains one hundred and forty-four names. In 1887, making a praiseworthy effort to keep abreast of the times, it changed its name to "The Westborough Park Association," and instead of chasing thieves, made the purchase of a public-pleasure ground its object. The officers are as follows: President, Dr. Francis E. Corey; vice-president, M. Gilman Davis ; clerk, William A. Reed ; treasurer, Charles S. Henry; trustees, George O. Brigham, Edwin Bullard, and Alden L. Boynton. The society has about sixty members. The amount in its treasury is over four hundred dollars.
A close second to the Thief-detecting Society in age was the Westborough Agricultural Society, the origin of which - in 1839 - has already been mentioned by Mr. De Forest.1 Its founders, as the records declare, were "convinced that a society of agriculturalists can more easily as well as more expeditiously than individuals col- lect and distribute such information as cannot but tend to increase the products and improve the soil." The original signers of the constitution, twenty-seven in num- ber, were as follows: -
1 See p. 228.
407
PROMINENT SOCIETIES.
Lovett Peters,
Nahum Fisher,
Elmer Brigham,
Elijah Brigham,
James Leach,
Charles B. Parkman,
George Denny,
Abijah Stone,
Jabez G. Fisher,
Jonathan Forbes,
Holway Brigham,
Sanford Ruggles,
Luke Blake,
Samuel Chamberlain,
S. Deane Fisher,
Hartwell Bullard,
Otis Brigham,
Abijah Wood,
John R. Fay,
Asa Sherman,
Nathan E. Fisher,
George O. Brigham,
Ephraim T. Forbes,
John A. Fayerweather,
Aaron Sherman,
Charles P. Rice,
Josiah Brigham.
The society holds frequent meetings for the discussion of agricultural topics, and also, at intervals of one or two years, fairs for the exhibition of stock and produce. Its fifty years of valuable service seems in no way to have decreased its usefulness and vigor.
Another society, which is well supported by farmers and their families, is the Westborough Grange, No. 116, Patrons of Husbandry. Its object is both social and edu- cational. It was- instituted some six years ago, and has a membership of one hundred and thirty.
Among the literary associations in Westborough, none has been more prominent, and none has done more for the good of the town, than the Westborough Young Men's Debating Society. Though it is now apparently nearing its end, its record has been too creditable to pass unno- ticed. The society was organized December 29, 1870, with a membership of seventeen young men. Its object was to train its members in parliamentary practices and to give them experience in debate and literary exercises.
408
LATER HISTORY OF WESTBOROUGH.
The meetings were held every Monday evening from Oc- tober to June. A " public debate " was generally held at the first meeting in every month, and for many years attracted a large audience. A paper, known as The Uni- versal Disputant, added spice to the other exercises on these occasions. The society had a library of a hundred and fifty volumes. A good part of it was the gift of Dr. William Curtis, a staunch friend of the society, who left at his death a legacy of two hundred dollars for its ben- efit. The society's roll of membership contains the names of over two hundred young men, many of whom are now achieving eminence in the pulpit, at the bar, and in poli- tics, where their early training in the Debating Society is showing its value. For many years the society conducted a course of lectures and entertainments in the Town Hall. Under its auspices have appeared Wendell Phillips, Wil- liam Parsons, Archibald Forbes, Schuyler Colfax, Mary A. Livermore, De Witt Talmage, and other eminent lec- turers. The society's annual dramatic entertainment was a feature of the season, and its annual reunion was always an enjoyable and successful event. The organization, how- ever, was encroached upon by many newer societies. It has recently given up its rooms and sold its furniture.
Another society which formerly flourished was the West- borough Reform Club. It was organized August 7, 1876, for the purpose of assisting in the reform of those who were addicted to the use of intoxicating liquors, and to arouse public sentiment to a realizing sense of the evils of intem- perance. During its earlier years the club made a vigor- ous fight against the liquor traffic. To the agitation which it caused is due much of the peace and prosperity of Westborough at the present time. The club held many
409
PROMINENT SOCIETIES.
meetings for the discussion of the "rum question," and entertained many of the famous temperance agitators of the day. Mrs. Malloy, of Illinois, the well-known lec- turer, was a valuable assistant of the organization in its earlier struggles. The Reform Club has gradually died out, though not on account of indifference towards the temperance question.
In addition to temperance societies in the churches, there is at present the Welcome Lodge, No. 150, In- dependent Order of Good Templars. Its rooms are in Grand Army Block. The lodge was instituted March 9, 1883, and has about seventy members.
The most prominent secret societies, it is perhaps need- less to say, are the Odd Fellows and the Masons. The former were the first to obtain a foothold in Westborough. Hockomocko Lodge, No. 79, I. O. O. F., was instituted July 15, 1845. Meetings were held for some time in the third story of the " Old Arcade," but March 9, 1847, the Lodge gave up its charter. It was re-instituted March II, 1875. From 1875 to 1880 its meetings were held in Masonic Hall. In the latter year its quarters in Daven- port's Block were completed and dedicated. The mem- bership of the Lodge is over two hundred. Connected with it is the Hockomocko Relief Association, established March 27, 1882, for the purpose of assisting members in case of sickness, and their families in case of death. Its membership is about one hundred. Laurel Degree Lodge, No. 44, Daughters of Rebecca, - a society for the wives, daughters, and sisters of Odd Fellows, - was instituted March 11, 1885. Its membership is one hundred and fifty.
Siloam Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons, was insti- tuted in 1866. For two years its rooms were in the old
410
LATER HISTORY OF WESTBOROUGH.
Union Block, but since 1869 it has occupied half of the third story of Post-Office Block. It has one hundred and thirteen members. Bethany Chapter, No. 13, Order of the Eastern Star, which is composed of Masons and members of their families, was instituted March 9, 1883. Its mem- bers number one hundred and seventeen.
Division No. 20, Ancient Order of Hibernians, which has a membership of about sixty, was instituted April 9, 1875. Its rooms are in the upper story of the building occupied by D. S. Dunlap & Son.
The Village Improvement Society was organized Novem- ber 8, 1878, with the following officers : President, George O. Brigham; vice-presidents, John A. Fayerweather and George N. Smalley; secretary, John W. Brittan; treasurer, Charles S. Henry. It was modelled after the Laurel Hill Association, of Stockbridge, a full account of which was given in Scribner's Magazine, May, 1877. Its object, as stated in the constitution, is as follows: -
"The object of this association shall be to improve and orna- ment the streets and public grounds of the village by planting and cultivating trees, establishing and maintaining walks, grading and draining roadways, establishing and protecting good grass-plots and borders in the streets and public squares, securing a proper public supply of water, establishing and maintaining such sewerage as shall be needed for the best sanitary condition of the village, providing public fountains and drinking-troughs, breaking out paths through the snow, lighting the streets, encouraging the formation of a library and reading-room, and generally doing whatever may tend to the improvement of the village as a place of residence."
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.