USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > Worcester > The story of Worcester, Massachusetts (1934) > Part 3
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Governor of Massachusetts, Francis P. Blake and Harvey Pierce purchased in their own name the parcel of land on which St. John's Church now stands. At the time of the sale the land was a cornfield with standing corn, and a cowpath running through. This path was cut into a street and called Temple Street from the fact that a church was being erected there. So on July 7, 1834, Father Fitton saw the beginning of a realization of his dreams in a small church known as Christ Church erected just west of the present site of St. John's Church.
A writer of the day in commenting on Old Christ Church says: "The little church at that time reminds me in a way of the universal mother church; for about its altar rail were gathered whites and blacks; Indians, Irish, English, French, and natives. Faith made one family and God was the Father of the Household."
Every summer a portion of the Penobscot tribe of Indians, among whom Father Fitton had been a missionary, made a pilgrimage from Maine to Christ Church. They pitched their tents at the foot of Temple Street and while in Worcester attended Mass every Sunday, assisting in the service with the
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CHRIST CHURCH Later called the Catholic Institute. Completed 1836.
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deepest devotion. After service they would gather in a circle outside the church and, there kneeling on the ground, would await the coming of the priest. Father Fitton, who knew their habits well, would enter the circle and laying his hand on each head would give them his blessing. When this ceremony was completed the Indians silently took their departure.
The cornerstone of the present St. John's Church was laid May 27, 1845, and on June 29, 1846 it was dedicated.
CHAPTER IV
WORCESTER IN CANDLE DAYS
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LORD JORD ADAM GORDON, during a visit to Worcester before the outbreak of the Revolu- tionary war, averred that "it was one of the best built and prettiest inland towns he had seen in America."
The town of Worcester at this time spread over an area of but three or four miles, mostly the widely separated homes of farmers. But the salient- physical features were much the same as they are now. Lovely Mount Wachusett towered above the beautiful rolling country with its hundreds of tranquil sheets of water, but then no huge factories reared their murky heads to mar the picture, and wild pigeons found quiet feeding grounds where now all is congestion and noise and hurry. Truly, Lord Gordon did not exaggerate.
The leading citizens, however, found it to their advantage to settle nearer the center of the town. So about a quarter of a mile from what is now Lincoln Square on the Boston Post Road, Timothy Paine made his home. A
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little nearer the Square, on the same road, Levi Lincoln, later Attorney General under Jeffer- son, built his homestead, and Stephen Salis- bury settled on the north side of Lincoln Square. At the foot of the present George Street was the home of Nathan Baldwin; near
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THE SALISBURY MANSION
Formerly on site of present Boys' Club at Lincoln Square. Removed in 1931 to corner of Institute Road and Lancaster Street.
what is now Harrington ' Corner stood the home of John Chandler; opposite the present City Hall was John Nazro's house, and the Taylor block on Main Street today covers the site of Sheriff Gardiner Chandler's home. Our pretentious Court House now occupies the site
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of the small wooden one of candle days when the pillory, whipping post, and gallows were its only adornment. The Common was laid out early in the heart of the town and was both pasture land and cemetery. On the site of the present City Hall was the Old South Church.
As has been previously implied, agriculture was the leading occupation of these people. However, the blacksmith, the storekeeper, and the tavern keeper each played his part for the well-being of the community as did a few doctors and lawyers, besides the schoolmaster and the minister. But the most fanciful imagi- nation could not have foreseen in that simple age the innumerable, diversified industries of our present generation.
The Worcester farmer of one hundred and fifty years ago threshed his grain, plowed and harrowed his fields with the same kind of implements and in the same manner as the Egyptians had done 4000 years before. The home-made bull plow was fashioned chiefly of wood. On the poorly shaped moldboards were fastened blades of old hoes, worn out horse- shoes, and thin strips of iron. The beam was a simple straight stick, the handle cut from the branches of a tree. There were no machines for oxen or horses to draw other than a rude
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harrow or cart. The cradle scythe was not patented until 1803, and the cast-iron wheel plow did not appear until just before the War of 1812, and then farmers were afraid to use it for fear it would poison the soil. Drills, seeders, mowers, reapers, and binders were still in the future. Seeds were sown broadcast; fertilizers. were seldom used; grain was cut with a sickle · and wheat was threshed from the straw by flail or tramped out by the feet of horses or oxen.
The long New England farmhouse came into existence so that during the winter months one could walk from the parlor to the barn without being exposed to the elements. In the barn were scattered grindstones, saws, axes, adzes, planes, hayrakes, carts, forks, spades, shovels, plowshares, moldboards, and old chains. Everything was hoarded because of the diffi- culty of replacement. Faced with the necessity of using primitive tools, living in an uncertain climate where the growing season at best was all too short, coping with a soil whose only sure crop was boulders, and when sometimes it seemed almost necessary to shoot the seeds into the clay-baked soil, the life of the farmer was disheartening and his day long and arduous. His work varied with the seasons, naturally;
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plowing, planting, and harvesting were fol- lowed in the autumn by mending farm build- ings and repairing stone walls. There are today, in Worcester, miles of stone walls which, though now overgrown with the wild grape and thorny rose, bear mute testimony to the untiring zeal of generations of Worcester farmers. For them the winter was a time of special labor. Boy or man who could swing an axe was busy cutting timber, ruling with "haw and gee" the docile oxen, as the winter's sup- ply of fuel was piled in a huge mound in the yard, to be cut later into back logs, light wood, and kindlings. Drifted roads must be broken, prime loads of wood delivered at the minister's door, fences repaired, and made "horse high, bull proof, and hog tight." Hickory and ash woods were fashioned into sled stakes, axe helves, and handles for hoes.
This life of toil was made necessary, not only by the nature of the tools the farmer had to use, but also by the physical character of New England which led to small freeholds. The average size of a farm was about seventy- five acres, of which only seven were fit for tilling and four for mowing. Each farmer possessed, on the average, only one horse, one ox, a couple of cows, a few other neat cattle,
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and about five sheep and swine. From these he had to clothe and feed a family ranging from four to twelve persons. Yet these Worcester farmers practiced the stern virtues of industry and perseverance, and thus secured for them- selves and their families a substantial living.
While almost everything necessary for the farmer's livelihood was grown or made by him, there were some commodities for which he had to rely on the village store, which not only served the physical wants but was also a social and intellectual center. In the days when the newspaper was an infrequent visitor, the store served as a means for distributing the news. Tidings from far and near were obtained at this headquarters of gossip and rumor. Here the local politicians discussed national affairs, talked over the candidates for selectmen or other town offices, and made those trades so dear to the hearts of village politicians.
Usually the village store was a building made of wood, a story or two in height, and attached sheds in the rear were used for storing barrels and bulky commodities. Nothing very striking or particularly interesting from the outside, the interior of the store made up the picturesqueness of the whole. Piled in con- fusion on the counter, extending along one
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whole side of the room were groceries, hard- ware, clothing, spelling books, Watts' Psalms and Hymns, crockery, baskets, hoes, shovels, kegs of nails. Farming implements of all kinds were scattered over the floor or leaned against the counter. One marvels that any one keeper of such a shop could ever find an article called for with any degree of readiness. The sugar barrel, uncovered, jostled the open cracker barrel, and boots mingled freely with the tin- ware. Of equal if not greater importance were the kegs of rum, for no grocery store was complete without a full complement of West India and New England rum.
In the center. of the store was the stove, around which one could always find a group of idle men whittling, discussing, reading, or just dozing, while "Fido," the dog, was almost as sure to be found lying before the fire listening to all without comment. The Village Oracle was there, his reputation for wisdom so firmly established that he rarely spoke, his nod or muttered comment received with deep respect. And the Village Talker was there. On every subject from theology to farming he was an authority. He had firm convictions on every subject and always expressed them. On the opposite side of the stove sat the "Great
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Objector." Of critical mind, he questioned everything and introduced doubt and sus- picion into every conversation. Next to him sat the Town Loafer, who found warmth and comfort as he whittled and listened to the arguments of his friends. The old stove and chairs were as necessary to successful business as a genial proprietor and full weight. Rarely were the chairs vacant.
When business was slack the good proprietor, himself, sat with his feet on the counter and smoked his pipe. He was the friend of every- body in town. He gave the store a human touch of personal acquaintance, exerting an in- fluence far beyond his business over the whole community. To sell his wares the friendly store- keeper depended upon their quality rather than upon advertising. The earlier advertise- ments in the newspapers were mostly special announcements of invoices of salt, dry goods, hardware, foreign goods, and rum, or were notices of the change of firm or of location. In the Massachusetts Spy for May 20, 1784, the advertisement of the S. and S. Salisbury store reads :
The firm of S. and S. Salisbury announce that they have imported in the last vessel from London and Bristol
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WORCESTER IN CANDLE DAYS
A large assortment of hardware goods, carpenter's tools and
A general assortment of English goods viz: broad- cloths, silks, handkerchiefs, serges, lawns, buttons, velvets, ribbons, sheeting.
West India goods: Groceries, and crockery ware. West India and New England rum, English and India cups and saucers.
Bibles, Psalters, Spelling Books, Watts' Psalm and Hymn books, Tates' and Brady's Psalms.
For the most part the prices paid for com- modities seem extremely low. From the Revolution until about 1830 the price of sugar was 8 cents per pound, veal 4 cents per pound, beef 5 cents per pound, potatoes 30 cents per bushel, eggs 6 cents per dozen, calico 37 cents per yard, shoes $1.00 per pair.
In Worcester for many years the most important stores were the Salisbury and Waldo stores. In 1782 Daniel Waldo opened a store near the bridge over Mill Brook at Lincoln Square, about where the Morgan Construction Works now stand. The Salisbury Bros. built a store on what is now the site of Lincoln Square railroad station. The founder, Samuel Salis- bury, was born in Boston in 1739, and in 1757 he established a hardware business in Boston. Stephen Salisbury was born in 1746. In 1767 a branch store was opened in Worcester, and Stephen Salisbury was placed in charge of it.
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Competing with the country store as a cen- ter for friendly intercourse was the blacksmith shop, where the smith, a mighty man with
Face begrimed and arms bared, . Sweat on his brow and matted his hair; Apron and garments honestly soiled From the soot of his forge
labored twelve and fourteen hours each day and all for the munificent wage of $12.00 per month. Such long hours of exhausting labor were not for weak men and it is not surprising that from this homely occupation should be born such men as Levi Lincoln, Sr., Ichabod Washburn, Col. Timothy Bigelow, and Elihu Burritt, each of whom began his life work at the anvil and became illustrious in the history of Worcester.
The shop of the village smith was a one- story building, blackened by the smoke of eternal fires, yet its merry glow and the cheery ring of the anvil made it always a center of attraction. Here the village loafer spun his yarns and gossiped about his neighbors. And
Children coming home from school Look in at the open door. They love to see the flaming forge And hear the bellows roar.
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Old wheels, plows, piles of scrap iron, and rusty horseshoes were scattered about the doors and gave to it a charm that was all its own. Inside, the forge was of greatest interest-a gleaming furnace for heating metals to make them mal- leable. It was built upright and the firebox was enclosed with a hovel which led to the chimney to carry off the smoke and fumes. Behind the forge, huge bellows roared as they blew on the blazing coals. In front was the trough for cooling the tongs and hardening the iron as it was dipped, red hot and hissing, into its depths. By its side was the anvil with its glittering sparks flung off by the smith with his mighty sledge. Here, too, was a vise fastened to a movable bench, while files, hammers, tongs, punches, and many kinds of pincers were scattered about in picturesque confusion.
The smith was indispensable in every com- munity ; for to him came not only the farmer to have his horse shod, his plow and scythes repaired, shovels and hoes made, and wagons mended, but also the carpenter for his supply of nails and for his chisels, bitstocks, and axes. And here, too, came the housewife for her skil- lets and kettles, her firedogs, and hobs. Here the tavern keeper came for his "flip dogs." However, in those days when everything was
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made by hand, tracings of specialization can be found in the work of the wheelwright, offshoot of the blacksmith, who fashioned only the iron tires for wheels, and in the itinerant blacksmith who peddled nails from town to town.
But now the smith has disappeared. Search the country through and one scarcely finds even a trace of the old-time smithy. Here and there a weatherbeaten and almost inde- cipherable sign remains, mute evidence of a picturesque bygone day:
Although it had less than 2,000 population, one hundred and fifty years ago, Worcester was a thriving town. Several stagecoach lines passed through the place. The Salisbury store was the most famous one in central Massachu- setts, and Worcester became the trading center of the county. It was the shire town of a rapidly growing county, the sessions of the Court attracted people from the nearby towns and it became the natural gathering place of the polite society of the day. Consequently, the taverns were of great social importance.
Since the taverns of Worcester have often been listed we mention only the most im- portant. The Heywood Tavern stood on the present site of the Bay State House; the
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King's Arms Tavern was on Elm Street; the Hancock Arms, just north of Lincoln Square; and the United States Arms, on the corner of Main and Exchange Streets. This latter tavern nestled under wide-spreading elm trees and was a two-storied building in front sloping down to one story in the rear. The beams and boards were hand-hewn; the roof was covered with hand-made shingles. On the left of the interior was an inviting dining room where one could obtain a good meal for twenty-five cents. On the right was the taproom, in one corner of which was a huge fireplace. The shelves sparkled with bottles, glasses, and decanters. Men traveled miles to enjoy the hearty hos- pitality of Landlord Patch, a highly respected citizen of Worcester, a staunch patriot, the owner of the largest farm and finest herd of cattle in Worcester, a good mixer in more senses of the word than one. Here the neigh- borly farmers dropped in, and over a friendly mug of flip talked crops and politics. The local politicians found it a pleasant place to discuss town affairs and drink to the health of George Washington. In the winter jolly boys and girls bustled in to dance the Virginia Reel in the great room upstairs. Here the village worthies gathered in the firelit room just to sit-once in
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a while to join in the conversation with travelers and thus gain news of the outside world. There were animated debates, too, as they discussed the "Tory Protest" drawn up by that enemy of the patriots, Clark Chandler, in that hot-bed of Tories, the King's Arms Tavern.
If the village store, the blacksmith shop, and the taverns were centers of community interest on week days, Sunday found every villager who was not ill "goin' to meetin'," and the vicinity of the Old South Church on the Com- mon presented an animated and picturesque scene. Long lines of horse-drawn carriages sheltered in the open shed, farmers chatting with neighbors, women carrying footwarmers (in winter) for the church was unheated and sermons were over an hour in length. When the bell ceased tolling, Rev. Thaddeus Mac- carty, in his long robe, opened service. The preachers of early Worcester were all men of marked intellectual power and the Reverend Maccarty was no exception. Those not in sympathy with the doctrines of Old South Church attended the Second Church on Summer Street, where the Rev. Aaron Ban- croft, father of the famous historian, George Bancroft, preached to large congregations.
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The Puritans believed that church and state were indissoluble and they were also of the con- viction that if a state were to become and remain great it must educate all its children. So as early as 1647, the General Court passed a law requiring every town of fifty families to provide a common school, and every town of one hundred families to support what we would call a high school to "fit youths for the University." Daniel Henchman and Daniel Gookin believed in popular educa- tion. At the earliest meeting of the original committee to found Worcester it was voted that "a lot of land should be appropriated for the maintenance of a school and schoolmaster to remain for that use forever." Similar votes were passed at subsequent meetings of the proprietors. Thirteen years after the perma- nent settlement of Worcester, the town meet- ing voted that "ye Selectmen forthwith take care and provide a sufficient Schoole for ye education of youth in said town of Worcester." It is not without significance, in view of the later pre-eminence of Worcester in education, that the first permanent settler of Worcester should also be its first schoolmaster. Jonas Rice taught reading and writing as the law directed. It has come down to us that he was a
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hard taskmaster, ruling by the simple and direct method of the rod. The earliest school- masters taught in the homes of various villagers. Each was a law unto himself.
Worcester has been proud of its school- masters from Jonas Rice to its present efficient staff, but our most distinguished one was John Adams, later President of the United States. From 1755 to 1758 he taught in the one- room schoolhouse on Court Hill. He liked Worcester and wrote to Judge Cranch of Boston that the "situation of the town is pleasant and the inhabitants, so far as I have had opportunity to know, are a sociable, generous, and hospitable people."
The scope of colonial education was simple. Not until after the Constitution had been adopted were arithmetic, language, orthog- raphy, and behavior added to reading and writing. On it were nourished many of the great men of early Worcester. The horn books, New England Primer, and the Bible gave them substantial intellectual food.
In their lighter hours, which were not many in colonial days, the boys played much as in our present day with marbles, kites, and balls, bows and arrows, and were every bit as prone to human errors, for in a delightful little
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volume published by Isaiah Thomas in 1787, the author comments sadly that
Here two naughty boys Hard-hearted in jest Deprive a poor bird Of her young and her nest.
The girls played with dolls; but instead of the little French doll, colonial dolls for every- day use were made of corn husks bleached by the frost, and the best doll was only of wood decked out in fantastic costume.
Like the men, the women were never done with their tasks. Rising at sun-up, baking, churning butter, moulding candles, making soap, spinning and weaving, and fashioning all the family's garments, cooking meals, caring for large families, they still found time to slip away to nurse a sick neighbor.
In those days nursing had not become a science, and frequently there was only one doctor in the town. All our doctors, from the founding of Worcester until after the Revolu- tion, were men of unusual ability. There was the very able Dr. Elijah Dix who lived from 1771 to 1795 on Court Hill. It was he who planted the elm trees on Main Street, created the Dix pear, built the Central School, and for many years maintained it as an academy be-
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sides attending to his regular practice. Dix Street today preserves his memory. We must not forget Dr. John Green, 2nd, a familiar figure in his high-flung, two-wheeled chaise, always accompanied by a pack of hounds as he made the rounds of his patients. Here, Dr. Oliver Fiske practiced. He had served in the Revolution and later marched with General- Lincoln from Pelham to Petersham during Shays's rebellion. Dr. Thaddeus Maccarty was a pioneer in the inoculation against smallpox. The list is too long to enumerate. All were men interested not only in the art of healing, but also in the affairs of the town.
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CHAPTER V
WORCESTER IN THE REVOLUTION
E VEN after the lapse of a century and a half, students of American history are not fully agreed upon the causes of the Revolution. No- body was suffering from lack of food, clothing, or shelter. The reasons are usually listed as commercial disputes with the mother country, taxation without representation, and the tyr- anny of King George III. They were real enough but not sufficient to cause rebellion. Long after the Revolution, John Adams wrote that the motives should be traced "back for two hundred years and sought in the history of the country from the first plantation in America."
The colonists were ripe for secession from the Empire in 1775. Blundering parliaments and Prime Ministers caused continual friction. The long series of trade Acts passed by the British Parliament injured colonial trade and arrayed the merchant class against England. The Proclamation line of 1763 prevented expansion west of the Alleghanies and antago- nized the frontiersmen. The southern planters,
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restricted in their markets by the British trade Acts and prevented from western ex- pansion by the line of 1763, joined with the merchants and frontiersmen in opposition to Parliament. The "lower classes" were inflamed by Samuel Adams, James Otis, and Patrick Henry. The passage of the Stamp Act in 1765 and the Townshend Act in 1767 provided fuel for the patriot leaders to stir the people. It is doubtful if the merchant and planter groups really wanted secession. They started the fire and it got out of bounds.
There was no unity of opinion as to the righteousness of the colonial cause on either side of the Atlantic. Prominent men in Eng- land favored the colonies and leading men in the colonies favored the King. William Pitt was vehement in his condemnation of King George III; John Chandler of Worcester, most prominent man in western Massachusetts, was equally positive that the colonies were in error. It was all very confusing, so much so that only a third of the 'colonists actively opposed England; one-third were Tories, and another group remained more or less neutral.
All of this throws considerable light on the situation in Worcester just before the Revolu-
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tion. One group in Worcester, led by Timothy Bigelow and Nathan Baldwin, were militant foes of England. A second, led by John Chandler and James Putnam, favored the royal cause, and a third, of which Nathan Patch was representative, was honestly puz- zled as to which side to take. One-fourth of the citizens, including those of wealth and social distinction, favored the royal cause. John Chandler was the wealthiest and one of the most respected citizens in Worcester. He was a staunch defender of the King. For his loyalty he was exiled, later proscribed, and his property, which included the most valuable land in Worcester, was confiscated. He died in England in 1800. Hon. Timothy Paine, long a respected and socially prominent citi- zen, had been appointed Mandamus Councilor by the King. On August 22, 1774, fifteen hundred men from all parts of the county met in Worcester and demanded his resignation. Not satisfied with this, the mob forced him to read it with his hat off. The Tories were fre- quently waylaid and beaten. Fearful of further violence, the leading Tories armed themselves and built a fort on Stone House Hill in Holden. On May 22, 1775, all the Tories in Worcester were disarmed and forbidden on pain of death
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