The story of Worcester, Massachusetts (1910), Part 3

Author: Oflynn, Thomas Francis, 1862-
Publication date: 1910
Publisher: Boston, Little, Brown, and company
Number of Pages: 216


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UNITARIANS


Dissensions having arisen in the First Parish about 1784, a part of the parish withdrew and began to hold meetings in the Court House. In 1792 they moved to Summer Street, near Heardsleigh Street. The building later was converted into a hotel, then passed into the possession of the city, and was used for a great many years as a schoolhouse.


The people of this church were obliged to pay ministerial rates to the old church,


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and to this they objected. They became in- corporated in 1787 as the Second Parish, Congregational Unitarians. This society moved into its new brick church on Court Hill in 1829. In 1849 this church was des- troyed by fire. The present church was dedicated in 1851.


Rev. Aaron Bancroft, father of Amer- ica's great historian, George Bancroft, was pastor of this church for more than fifty years.


BAPTISTS


James Wilson, an Englishman, came to Worcester in 1795, and in 1801 was ap- pointed postmaster. He has been called " the father of all Baptists in Worcester."


At this time there were but three avowed Baptists in town. They, with a few others, held meetings for a number of years in Dea- con Wilson's house. The pastor of the Old South Church, Rev. Dr. Austin, for whom Austin Street was named, offended a num- ber of his parishioners shortly after the breaking out of the War of 1812 by a vio- lent attack upon President Madison. The sympathizers with the President left the Old South Church and, affiliating with


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the Baptists, organized the First Baptist Church.


They held their Sabbath meetings in the hall of the Centre Schoolhouse, which stood on Main Street, nearly opposite Thomas Street, where the Chadwick Building now stands. Their first church was built on : Salem Square and was destroyed by fire in 1836. They rebuilt the next year and this building is now owned and occupied by the Notre Dame Church congregation - French Catholics.


The First Baptist Society united with the Main Street Baptist Society in 1902, and worshipped in their church on the corner of Main and Hermon Streets. They occupied this church until the completion of their magnificent edifice at the corner of Main Street and Mower Avenue.


ROMAN CATHOLICS


The first mention of a body of Catholics in Worcester was in 1826, when, as the par- ish records read, " Catholics first came to the town of Worcester." They were Irish immigrants, brought here to work in the construction of the Blackstone Canal.


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These people were visited occasionally by a priest. On account of the frequency of accidents, they begged for a clergyman to come and live with them. In 1834 Father Fitton of Hartford was appointed by Bishop Fenwick to visit them once a month.


Christopher Columbus Baldwin, in his interesting diary, says, under date of April 7, 1834: -


"Mr. Fitton yesterday assembled the Catholics now in this town, and with those who came from the factories of Clappville and Millbury, he had about sixty, besides women and children. He was subjected to some difficulty in finding a convenient place to hold a meeting, but at length obtained consent to hold it in the new store erected by Mr. Bailey, which is constructed of stone and stands on the north side of Front Street, on west bank of the Blackstone Canal. I believe this to be the first Catholic ser- mon ever preached in this town." This building is still standing at 236 Front Street.


Father Fitton purchased land on Temple Street in 1834, and began the erection of a


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church. It was called Christ Church and is still standing, being known as the "In- stitute."


Whenever it was known that mass was to be said, people would gather from Clinton, Westboro, Oxford and all the surrounding towns.


It was the custom of a portion of the Penobscot tribe of Indians to come down from Maine every summer and pitch their tents at the foot of Temple Street. Father Fitton had been a missionary among these Indians. Every Sunday they were accus- tomed to gather in a circle outside the church door, and, kneeling on the ground, await the coming of the priest. He, enter- ing the circle, would lightly lay his hand on each bowed head and give them his blessing. The Indians would then arise and depart satisfied.


About this time there was stationed here a company of United States soldiers, who were preparing for the second Seminole War. Their barracks were on Temple Street and their drilling-grounds on Burt Street. Many of these soldiers attended church in full uniform.


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Early Church History


The present St. John's Church was dedi- cated in 1846.


METHODIST EPISCOPAL


The first Methodist Episcopal Church was organized in 1834. Services were af- terwards held in the society's own church on Union Street, corner of Exchange Street, which was dedicated March 8, 1837. This church was destroyed by fire in 1844, and a new brick building was erected on Park Street. This they sold to the French Cath- olics in 1869. The society then moved to their new church, Trinity, at the corner of Main and Chandler Streets.


PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL


The Protestant Episcopal Church held its first services in Worcester in 1835. The first church was destroyed by fire, and in 1874 the congregation moved into its beau- tiful church, All Saints, at the corner of Pleasant and Irving Streets.


SOCIETY OF FRIENDS


The Society of Friends met in Leicester until 1837, when they held services in a


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room on Main Street. Two of the mem- bers of the society, Samuel H. Colton and Anthony Chase, gave the land at the corner of Chatham and Oxford Streets, and a meeting-house was built in 1846. This was torn down in 1906 and a new church was erected on the same site.


THE UNIVERSALISTS


The Universalist Church was organized in 1843. They built the wooden building which stood for so many years at the corner of Main and Foster Streets, on the site of the Worcester County Institution for Sav- ings. In 1871 they removed to their pres- ent church on Pleasant Street, opposite Chestnut Street.


CHAPTER VII


THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS - FREE PUBLIC LI- BRARY - HISTORICAL SOCIETIES - WORCESTER ACADEMY, DAVIS HALL - THE OREAD COLLEGIATE INSTITUTE - HOLY CROSS COLLEGE - HIGHLAND MILITARY ACADEMY - WORCESTER POLYTECHNICAL INSTITUTE - THE STATE NORMAL SCHOOL - CLARK COLLEGE AND UNIVERSITY


A T the first meeting of the original committee of settlement in 1669 it was agreed, "that a lot of land should be appropriated for the mainte- nance of the schools, to remain for that use forever." When surveys were made, after the permanent settlement, a tract of forty acres was granted.


April 4, 1726, "the selectmen agreed with Mr. Jonas Rice to be school master and to teach such children and youth as any of the inhabitants shall send to him, to read and write as the law directs."


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Upon the expiration of this term, which lasted until December 15th, the town voted peremptorily, " that the town will not have a school." This period is called the " Dark Age of Massachusetts." Every hand was busy converting forest into farm; a fluctu- ating currency scarcely served for the nec- essaries of life. Worcester, with other towns, was fined for neglect of the school laws, and the sum of £2 8s. 6d. was raised in 1728, to defray the charges of prosecu- tion for the want of a school.


Benjamin Flagg was employed directly afterward as a school master and £14 was granted for his annual pay.


Districts were formed in 1731, and the selectmen were instructed "to provide a suitable number of school dames, not ex- ceeding five, for the teaching of small chil- dren to read, to be placed in the several parts as may be most convenient, and these gentlewomen to be paid such sum, by the head, as they may agree."


It was resolved, in 1735, that a school house be built in the centre of the town. It was decided to " set up " the first school- house of Worcester "between the Court


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House and the bridge below the fulling mill." This schoolhouse was built on Court Hill, and John Adams taught here from 1755 to 1758.


By vote of the town in 1752, a grammar- school was established. A house with two rooms was built, about this time, on Main Street near the corner of Foster Street. This building was turned into a dwelling- house during the Revolution.


A stock company, formed in 1784, pro- cured a lease of land on Main Street, be- tween Maple and Walnut Streets, but it was not until 1792 that the schoolhouse was built. Two rooms were opened, one for the common elementary studies, and the other, called the seminary, for the higher branches of academic education. Only children of the proprietors attended this school. After the graduation of these chil- dren, the school was obliged to close, owing to lack of pupils. In 1801 the building was purchased by the citizens for nine hundred and fifty dollars.


Up to 1824 the schools were supported by voluntary contributions. In that year authority was obtained from the Legisla-


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ture to bring the steady support of taxes to the maintenance of the schools.


The first school board of twelve was or- ganized, and ten permanent schools ar- ranged for, to be kept through the year. The first brick schoolhouse erected in Worcester was on Thomas Street, in 1832, and for a number of years this was the largest schoolhouse in the place. The Latin grammar school was kept there, previous to the opening of the first high-school build- ing on Walnut Street, in 1845.


The present Thomas Street schoolhouse was erected in 1850, on the site of the former building, which was removed to East Worcester and for many years stood on the corner of Shrewsbury and East Worcester Streets.


There was a small wooden schoolhouse in Bigelow Court.


The South Boys' Primary School was on the southeast corner of the Common, front- ing Park Street, the burial ground being to the west of it, the town pound north, and Baptist Hill, or Salem Square, to the east.


A brick schoolhouse was built about 1840


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on the spot where now stands the Soldiers' Monument.


Mr. Nathaniel Paine, in his interesting paper, "School-day Reminiscences," read before the Worcester Society of Antiquity February 3, 1903, tells of some curious cus- toms. " An hour or more, two or three times a year, we set apart for polishing desks. Boys and girls were expected to rub them with wax till they could see their faces in them. Then, too, the floors were cleaned with sandpaper by the boys.


"The first high school building was erected on Walnut Street, and was consid- ered to be one of the finest and best equipped in New England. Visitors came from other cities and towns to inspect it. The headmaster, Mr. Elbridge Smith, was so proud of the school that the boys were obliged to take off their boots and put on slippers before being allowed to go up stairs."


In April or May there was celebrated a day known as Anniversary Day. Mr. Paine says that he never found out what anniver- sary. All the children, with the teachers, assembled on the Common. Then, headed


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by a band of music, they paraded on Main Street and marched to some church, where an address was delivered by one of the school committee. This celebration was in- augurated in 1825, and was kept up for nearly twenty years.


The Ash Street and Salem Street school- houses were built in 1850, and the Provi- dence Street schoolhouse in 1857. At the time of the erection of the first Classical and English High School building in 1845, on the site of the present one, there were ac- commodations for 175 pupils. At that time Worcester had thirteen schoolhouses and thirty-five teachers. To-day there are about 650 teachers and about 24,000 pupils in the day schools. There are three high schools and fifty-three elementary schools.


The Classical and English High School was opened in 1845 with Mr. Elbridge Smith as the first principal. The building itself was moved in 1870 across Walnut Street, where it now stands, and the present Classical High School was built in 1871.


The English High School was completed in 1892. Mr. James Jenkins was the first principal.


THE ENGLISH HIGH SCHOOL Page 56


THE SOUTH HIGH SCHOOL


Page 57


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The South High School was completed in 1900. Mr. Homer P. Lewis was the first principal.


The following named gentlemen have been Superintendents of Schools: Rev. George Bushnell in 1857, Rev. John D. E. Jones, Col. P. Bernard Chenoweth, Dr. Al- bert P. Marble and Mr. Clarence F. Car- roll. The present Superintendent is Mr. Homer P. Lewis.


THE FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY


The Free Public Library was established in 1859. It was started with the gift, by Dr. John Green, of 7,000 volumes. At his death he left $30,000 for the endowment of the library.


There are four departments: The refer- ence, reading, circulating and children's. The library is open every day in the year. It was the first in New England to open its doors on Sunday.


The first building was completed in 1861, and the addition was opened in 1891. This has a lecture-hall, art galleries, and study rooms.


There are sub-stations where books may


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be left to be returned to the library, and where cards may be left for books.


A board of directors, consisting of twelve members, chosen by the City Council, has charge of the library. This board elects the librarian and his assistants.


THE AMERICAN ANTIQUARIAN SOCIETY


Isaiah Thomas possessed the finest pri- vate collection of books, pamphlets and newspapers in this country. It was his wish that this collection should remain in its en- tirety. His offer to contribute it to an or- ganization that could take proper care of it, made possible the starting of such a soci- ety as the American Antiquarian. At his own expense he erected on the east side of Summer Street, near. Lincoln Square, a brick building and presented it to the soci- ety. This hall was used until 1853, when the present building on Main Street, corner of Highland, was erected.


The library now numbers over 100,000 volumes and there is also a valuable collec- tion of newspapers, manuscripts, broad- sides, and early American imprints. The portraits of eminent men, and the cabinets


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of antiquarian and historical articles may be mentioned as of interest to the general pub- lic. This society owns the most valuable and complete collection of Americana in America.


The American Antiquarian Society, whose members are from all parts of the world, was founded in 1812 and has its headquarters in Worcester. It is the oldest society of an educational nature in the city.


THE WORCESTER SOCIETY OF ANTIQUITY


The Worcester Society of Antiquity was organized in 1875, its object being " to fos- ter in its members a love and admiration for antique research and archæological sci- ence, and to rescue from oblivion such his- torical matter as would otherwise be lost."


The society has published the early rec- ords of Worcester from 1667 to 1848, and a list of births, deaths and marriages from the earliest recorded, to 1848. The Records of the Court of General Sessions have been prepared with great care from the original manuscripts, and they are of especial value as books of reference.


In 1891, the society erected a fine build-


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The Story of Worcester


ing on Salisbury Street. Here will be found a large and valuable library and an exten- sive collection of articles illustrating the early history of New England, with special reference to that of Worcester County.


This society is distinctly a local institu- tion. It has published 24 octavo volumes of its proceedings. These contain many articles of local and general history. Espe- cial attention has been given to the devel- opment of the early history of the county and city of Worcester.


WORCESTER ACADEMY


Worcester Academy was founded in 1834, under the auspices of the Baptist denomi- nation. It was incorporated as the Worces- ter County Manual Labor School. This institution was situated on a farm on the easterly side of Main Street, nearly oppo- site the Oread. The land extended from Main Street back to the railroad. There were three brick buildings on the summit of the hill between Oread and Benefit Streets.


Benefit Street is said to have derived its name from the fact that the sale of the land


Page 74


WORCESTER IN 1829


***** ***


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--


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for the opening of the street enabled the institution to continue at a time when the finances of the school were low.


The school was intended to help young people pay their own way to an education. The students were of two kinds, those who paid their own tuition, and those who worked on the farm to pay for their school- ing.


The buildings and land were sold in 1860. For the next ten years the school occupied the old Antiquarian Hall on Summer Street. In 1870 the Academy moved to its present home on Union Hill, and occupied the building which was known as the Dale Hospital.


To-day Worcester Academy has exten- sive grounds and many fine buildings. It has a large number of students and ranks as one of the leading preparatory schools in the country.


Davis Hall, the main building of Worcester Academy, was erected in 1851, for the Worcester Medical College. This institution ceased to exist in 1855.


Although the period of service for which' Davis Hall was originally designed proved


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brief, its adaptability and usefulness were soon recognized by another educational in- stitution which had for its object the higher education of women.


In 1853 a number of persons connected with the Baptist denomination met in Am- herst, Mass. They adopted the following resolution : -


" Resolved, That the Baptist denomina- tion should take immediate measures to es- tablish a female school of the grade of our colleges and universities."


A charter was obtained in 1854 for the establishment of such an institution. The board of trustees met in Worcester in 1855, and voted to locate the college here.


The committee purchased the Medical College and the Institution was opened with bright prospects. The panic of 1857 and 1858 proved disastrous to the enterprise. The Ladies' Collegiate College closed its doors in 1860.


The United States Government made provisions in the last year of the war for the comfort and care of sick and disabled soldiers. Two hospitals were established in


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Massachusetts: one in Readville, and the other in Worcester.


The War Department leased the Female College, as it was then called, for a period of five years at a rental of $6,000 per year. It was named the Dale Hospital in honor of Surgeon-General William J. Dale, of Governor Andrew's staff. A number of wooden buildings, regulation barrack style, were built in the rear of the college. Head- quarters for the officers were provided in the college building.


When the war was over and the army was disbanded, the need of these hospitals passed. All the soldiers, even though they were sick, wished to return to their homes. In December, 1865, the hospital was dis- continued and the buildings, stores and equipment were sold at auction. It was used but fourteen months and cost the Gov- ernment $75,000.


THE OREAD COLLEGIATE INSTITUTE


In 1845 Mr. Eli Thayer purchased a tract of land on what was then known as Goat Hill. Later he owned the land to Piedmont Street.


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Mr. Thayer was a graduate of Brown University. He firmly believed that girls could equal male college students in intel- lectual achievement if they had the same advantages. The establishment of the Oread was to carry out his original con- ception, and his plans were worked out without asking advice or assistance from any one.


The building was to resemble a feudal castle of the Middle Ages. It was to be quadrangular in form, with an inner court about 170 feet square. Circular towers, 50 feet in diameter and four stories high, were to be placed at the four corners. These were to be connected by four halls, each three stories high, and forty feet deep, to be used for dormitories, recitation-rooms and other apartments such as an institution would require. The north tower was com- pleted in 1849, the south in 1850, and the east hall connecting these towers, in 1852. The other parts of this remarkable structure were never begun. The stone used in con- structing the building was quarried from the hill.


Mr. Thayer called the new school " The


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Oread Collegiate Institute," and named the hill on which it stands, Mt. Oread.


The school was opened in 1849, and, upon . the completion of the east hall in 1852, be- came very popular. The boarding pupils filled the building, while the day pupils brought the whole number in attendance up to one hundred and fifty.


Three departments were established, the primary, academic and collegiate; the lat- ter offering a four years' course modelled after that of Brown University.


Mr. Thayer assumed the entire burden of responsibility, and made the following state- ment as to the school in one of the early catalogues : -


" Individual effort originated and has thus far sustained this institution. It has received no endowment from private mu- nificence or public bounty, except good wishes and liberal patronage. This is all the endowment it will receive in the future. We hope that its patronage will never be prompted by any feelings of comparison or condescension. We sell education at cost. If our merchandise is not worth the price, or if we have brought wares to the market


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for which there is no demand, we ask no one to share our loss."


He remained as principal until 1857, when he resigned to enter upon his duties as a representative in Congress.


The Institution was continued until 1881, when it was closed.


HOLY CROSS COLLEGE


This college was founded by Right Rev- erend Benedict J. Fenwick, second bishop of Boston. His wish was to establish in this diocese an institution which should fur- nish secular education of the highest order and imbue its students with the principles of the Catholic faith.


Rev. James Fitton of Boston, in 1840, had erected on Packachoag Hill, or Hill of Pleasant Springs, Mount St. James Sem- inary. In 1842 he presented this building, with about sixty acres, to the Bishop. The building being unsuitable, a college was built, the corner-stone of which was laid June 21, 1843.


In 1852 the college was destroyed by fire and the loss was total. The friends of the college, however, were not discouraged,


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and in 1853 the college, enlarged and re- modelled, was again opened.


In order to bestow the degree of Bache- lor of Arts it was necessary to be incorpo- rated by the Commonwealth of Massachu- setts. In 1849 the college petitioned for a charter, but was given leave to withdraw. Georgetown College came to the relief and conferred the degrees of the first class, and of all succeeding classes until 1865.


Meanwhile, the institution had made many friends. Governor John A. Andrew visited it in 1862, and presided at the com- mencement in 1863. He interested himself in procuring a charter for the college, and the Legislature of 1865 passed a bill, with- out opposition, granting the charter.


Governor Alexander H. Bullock, at the commencement in 1868, said, alluding to the unsuccessful effort to obtain a charter, that he had been deeply impressed by the manner in which the friends of the college hid all signs of disappointment. They ex- hibited a patience, which, under such cir- cumstances, he should hardly have dared to expect from many Christian denomina- tions.


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This was the first Catholic college in New England.


There have been many changes since then. The old college building has been greatly enlarged, a new dormitory built, and Fitton Field, one of the finest athletic grounds in the country, laid out.


In June, 1905, President Roosevelt vis- ited Holy Cross College and Clark Col- lege.


WORCESTER POLYTECHNICAL INSTITUTE


This institution was founded by John Boynton of Templeton, in 1865. He set apart the sum of $100,000 for the endow- ment and perpetual support of the school. Hon. Stephen Salisbury, Sr., and Hon. Stephen Salisbury, Jr., were liberal con- tributors. This school was opened in 1868, and was one of the first of its class in the country. It has been recognized as one of the leading scientific schools, and its meth- ods have been extensively copied.


The Technical Institute educates young men to be specialists.


There are several large and well- equipped buildings - the Salisbury labo-


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ratories of physics and chemistry; the ex- tensive Washburn shops; engineering lab- oratories for civil and mechanical engineer- ing; the power laboratory; the foundry; an experimental hydraulic plant, and an electrical engineering laboratory.


The Worcester Polytechnical Institute was the first school in the country to estab- lish workshops as an adjunct to the training of the engineer.




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