USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > Leicester > Topographical and historical sketches of the town of Leicester : in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts: furnished for the Worcester magazine and historical journal > Part 2
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* Pliny Earle is the great grandson of Ralph Earle, one of the first settlers of the town, and possesses much of the mechanical ingenuity, in addition to a great fund of general knowledge, which has seemed to characterize those of that name in this town. Mr. Thomas Earle, who recently died here, was honorably noticed by Whitney, in his history, and others of the name also deserve a notice, which our limits will not permit us to give. .
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invention, and other improvements in machinery, the business of manufacturing cards has regularly progressed, and it was carried to great perfection here, while many of the other manufactures were yet in their infancy. A few cards had been made in Boston, and some other places in the United States, before they were manufac- tured here. We believe, that the first considerable establishment ever carried on for this purpose in the country, was in this town. Our limits would not permit us, even if we were able, to trace the improvements in the machinery by the means of which this busi- ness is carried on ; though we may be permitted, we hope, to men- tion a valuable machine for shaving, or splitting leather, invented by the late John Woodcock, of this town; by the operation of which, leather may be prepared of any thickness desired, with great facility. A patent was procured for this invention, but diffi- culties arose under it, and manufacturers alone have reaped the benefit of it. There are ten establishments for the manufacture of Cards here, and more than $200,000 in value are manufactured annually. In most of these establishments, the machinery is car- ried by hand power ; but in Mr. Earle's, before mentioned, steam has been successfully employed, and in the extensive Factory of Messrs. J. & J. A. Smith, & Co. a part of the machinery is carried by water power. The business has been found lucrative and many of our wealthiest and most respectable men have been engaged in it, and not a little of the relative wealth and importance of the place can be traced to this business as its source.
There are Stores of goods connected with many of these man- ufacturing establishments, and there are two Stores in the village unconnected with them. Besides these, there are two small Book Stores in town, connected with the binderies which supply the or- dinary wants of the people. Manufactures, especially Cards, may be considered our staple ; and there is scarcely a state in the union that is not, to some extent, supplied with these from this town.
To facilitate the transaction of the business of the town, a Bank with a capital of $100,000 was chartered at the last session of the Legislature. It has not yet gone into operation, but the Directors and President of the institution were elected on the 26th April, 1826, when John Clapp, Esq of Leicester, was chosen its first President.
HIGHWAYS .- The great post road from Boston to Albany passes through the centre of this town. It is one of the most travelled and important roads in the interior of New England, and was, until
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within a few years, the route of the commercial Mail between Bos- ton and New York. This road was laid out as early, if we mis- take not, as 1722, it being petitioned for in that year, and the town appropriated £12 2s for their share of the expense in making it, and in 1725, were indicted at the Quarter Sessions in Middlesex, for not having a bridge over Seven Mile River, which is supposed to have been the stream now called by the same name, in the western part of Spencer. The road is called in the petition the "country road," and always bears that name when referred to in the early records of the town. When first laid out through what is now the village, it passed north of its present location, running north of the Academy, near the dwelling house of the Rev. David Parsons, the first minister of the town, which stood north west of the Academy, the cellar of which house is yet visible : Passing across the present common lands, east of the meeting house, it came into the road as it now is, west of the meeting house. Other alterations in this highway, and some of them recent, have been made for the benefit of the traveller, which we will not describe, nor should we have said thus much upon so unimportant a subject, had not the early es- tablishment of this highway seemed to make it a subject of histori- cal interest. In 1806, the Worcester and Stafford turnpike was laid out through the south part of this town : it is upon this, that the commercial Mail is now carried. Besides these roads, there is one running from Paxton to Charlton and Oxford, through the centre of this town : and another, running from Worcester to New Braintree, through the north part. There is a large number of roads leading from this to the neighboring towns, and from one part of this to another, making, in the whole, more than sixty miles of highway, supported at the expense of the town, and kept in repair by an annual tax of, at least, $1000.
To those who only know this town in its present state, with its large and beautiful village, and the grounds around it highly culti- vated and productive, it may be amusing to recur to its state in 1721, when the highway to what is now Paxton was laid out. It began by the then meeting house, at a black birch, standing by a great red oak, behind the meeting house, and close by the same, and run thence, by marked trees, through the forest then covering the re- gion around. That forest has disappeared with the hardy race of men who first disturbed its solitudes, and it is difficult for the im- agination, when gazing on the fields now waving with rich harvests, to go back to the times when the haunts of the savage and the
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wild beast were here, and a cheerless wilderness alone met the eye.
SCHOOLS, ACADEMY, &c .- Although the inhabitants of this town, at its first settlement, were at comparatively great expense to sup- port the institutions of the gospel, they were not unmindful of the importance of common schools. Within ten years from the settle- ment of the place, if not sooner, schools were established in three parts of the town, and were kept by one teacher, who was employ- ed at the expense of the inhabitants. About the year 1732, these schools were, for some reason, discontinued; but the Quarter Ses- sions with becoming, though somewhat singular vigilance, discover- ed this omission of duty on the part of the inhabitants, and caused them to be presented, in 1733, for their neglect. Schools, from that time, have been regularly kept; nor were they suspended, even during the struggle for our independence ; although it seem- ed as if the last remnant of convertible property had been con- tributed to aid on that cause. Our ancestors knew, that in order for their sons to retain the independence for which they were strug- gling, they must be enlightened and instructed. In 1733, a master of a " writing and reading school" was employed for three months, at the rate of £4 10s per month. During all this time, the schools had been kept at private houses, and, in 1736, a school house was first erected. It was 20 by 16 feet in dimensions, and stood about ten rods north of the then meeting house, which was a little south of the place where the present one stands. In 1745, schools were kept in seven different places in town, but all by one man, and £100, old tenor, was appropriated for their support. In 1750, nine men were chosen to superintend the schools and were directed " to procure a grammar school master as soon as may be." Mr. John Cobb had been the school master the preceding year, and had been allowed £125, old tenor. The schools, this year, were kept in three places at the same time, each for the term of six weeks. During this time, Spencer had been a parish of Leicester. In 1765, the town was divided into five school districts, and school houses built in each. There have been too many changes in respect to these districts, since that time, to warrant a detail of them here. At present, they are nine in number, and the whole number of schol- ars entitled by law to attend these schools, may be estimated at about 750. The sum annually raised for the purpose of schooling is, at present, $600, and the compensation usnally given to teach- ers has been from $10 to $20 per month to men, and from $4 to $7 per month to ladies.
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Our common schools have ever been justly reckoned amongst the most important institutions of our country. Indeed, they may be considered as at the foundation of every thing valuable in our institutions. From these fountains of knowledge, open to all, with- out distinction of sex or condition, intelligence is diffused through the community, and with it, a love of country and an attachment to her institutions. The importance of these schools has been ap- preciated here, and the appropriations for their support have usu- ally been liberal, when compared with those of towns of equal wealth and magnitude.
The people of this town are favored with opportunities for a higher education than is to be obtained in common schools, by means of the very respectable Academy located here. It is one of the oldest Academies in the state, and the character of its instruc- tion is elevated and liberal. It was incorporated under the name of Leicester Academy, March 23, 1784. It owes its foundation to the generosity and public spirit of Col. Jacob Davis, and Col. Eb- enezer Crafts, whose munificence was suitably acknowledged in the act of Incorporation. The liberality of these gentlemen, one of them resident in Charlton, and the other in Sturbridge, deserves the gratitude of posterity .* They purchased the commodious Dwelling House, then recently occupied by Aaron Lopez, and its appendages, together with an acre of land, which they conveyed to the Trustees of Leicester Academy, " in consideration of the regard they bear to virtue and learning, which they consider great- ly conducive to the welfare of the community." The value of this estate was $1716, and was situated directly in front of the present Academy buildings. During the same year, (1784,) Dr. Austin Flint, who has ever been a firm patron of the institution, and whose name would fill a larger space in our history than we are allowed to give it, if we were at liberty to follow the dictates of our own feelings, conveyed one hundred and twenty four square rods of land to said trustees, " in consideration of a desire to encourage the Academy." The liberality thus exhibited towards this institution,
* Col. Davis was a native of Oxford, but, at the time of his donation to the Academy, he resided in Charlton, where he owned a valuable estate, ad- jacent to the estate of his brother, the late Ebenezer Davis, Esq. deceased. He afterwards removed to Montpelier, in Vermont, of which he was a con- siderable proprietor, and was the first white settler of any respectability in that town, now the seat of Government of Vermont. Col. Crafts command- ed the first regiment of Cavalry ever raised in this county. He removed from Sturbridge to the town of Craftsbury, Vermont, where he died. His son, Samuel C. Crafts, who prepared for College at this Academy, was, for many years, a member of Congress from Vermont.
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was also manifested by many other public spirited gentlemen in the County. The town of Leicester, in its corporate capacity, gave £500 " consolidated securities." The Hon. Moses Gill gave £150: Thomas Denny, and Thomas Newhall, of Leicester, Gen. Rufus Putnam, of Rutland, and Jeduthan Baldwin, of Brookfield, each gave the sum of £100: Mr. Reuben Swan gave £50: John Southgate, and Samuel Denny, of Leicester, and the Hon. Joseph Allen, Esq. of Worcester, and Timothy Bigelow, Esq. each gave £30: and Isaiah Thomas, L. L. D. gave the sum of £20. Donations were also made by Samuel Green, and Samuel Green, Jr. Peter Taft, Capt. William Watson, and Samuel Watson, of Leicester; Timothy Paine, Esq. and Phinehas Jones, of Worcester; Caleb Ammidown, of Charlton, and John Pierce. Of the original subscriptions, the sum of $2890 was raised within the town of Leicester, and $1610 by donations from abroad. Besides these, the state granted to the Academy a township of land in Maine, and a grant to raise $2000 by a lottery in 1785, to repair their buildings. The late Hon. Mr. Gill, was ever a great benefactor to the institution, and gave, in ad- dition to his former donation, a quantity of Books, for which he paid £30 sterling, in England, for the use of the students in the Academy. In 1811, Col. Thomas Newhall, who had been one of its earliest and firmest supporters, died, and left by his will a lega- cy of $1000 to this institution, and the interest of another thousand, to be annually expended in defraying the tuition of those families in town, who reside more than a mile from the Academy. In 1819, Stephen Salisbury, Esq. and the Hon. Dwight Foster, each gave the sum of $50, and five individuals in Leicester, in 1820, and 1822, gave a sum equal to $583. These were Alpheus Smith, Hon. Nathaniel P. Denny, Henry Sargent, Austin Flint, and James Smith, Esquires. In 1824, the Commonwealth made a donation of a small farm in Paxton, estimated at $400. In 1823, Capt. Israel Waters, of Charlton, who had been long known as a man interested in public institutions, left, at his death, most of his estate to the trustees of this Academy, for the support of a teacher, under the restrictions and limitations of the devise. The exact amount to be realized from this estate has not yet been ascertained, but is es- timated at eight thousand dollars.
The available funds of the institution, exclusive of the buildings, occupied for the schools, was, in May, 1825, $10,655 ; which, ad- ded to the Waters donation, places this institution on a respectable and independent foundation. It has ever enjoyed in a good degree
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the public favor and confidence and the high character of its trus- tees and instructors has deserved that confidence.
The first meeting of the trustees was held, April 7, 1784, and the Hon. Moses Gill was elected President of the board: which then consisted of Ebenezer Crafts, and Jacob Davis, Esquires, Hon. Moses Gill, Hon. Levi Lincoln, Hon. Joseph Allen, Hon. Samuel Baker, Hon. Seth Washburn, Rev. Benjamin Conklin, Gen. Rufus Putnam, Rev. Joshua Paine, of Sturbridge, Rev. Joseph Pope, Rev. Archibald Campbell, Hon. Timothy Danielson, of Brimfield, and Rev. Joseph Sumner, D. D. of Shrewsbury. The Hon. Levi Lin- coln succeeded Mr. Gill as President, and was succeeded by Dr. Sumner, whose successor was the Rev Dr. Bancroft, who now pre- sides over that board, alike honorably to himself and usefully to the institution.
There has usually been a principal and assistant teacher in this Academy : though, about 1789, the funds of the institution became embarrassed, on account of the depreciated state of the currency, and one instructor only was employed, and his salary in that year was paid out of the treasury of the town. For many years, two in- structors have been employed, and, at times, three. There has been a succession of highly respectable men as Preceptors of this Academy, the whole number of whom our limits will not permit us individually to mention. The first in order was Mr. Benjamin Stone,* whose assistant was Mr. Thomas Payson. After a succes- sion of Preceptors, Mr. Ebenezer Adams, took charge of the Institu- tion, in 1792, and continued in that office till 1806, when he re- signed it. As a teacher, his character was almost unrivalled. : For the fourteen years he continued in that employment, he was uni- formly respected and esteemed,as well by his pupils, as by the in- habitants of the town, and when he left, he bore with him the high- est testimonials of the regret of the trustees at his surrender of a place he had so usefully filled.\ Among those whose names we would mention with respect, as having officiated as teachers in this Academy, are the Rev. Dr. Pierce now of Brookline, Drs. Jackson and Shattuck of Boston, Chief Justice Richardson, of New Hamp-
* Mr. Stone was a native of Shrewsbury, where he now resides. He graduated at Cambridge, in 1776, and studied the profession of Theology, but was never settled over any society.
. + Mr. Adams was a native of New Ipswich, in N. H. IIe graduated at Dartmouth College, in 1791. In 1809, he was appointed to the professorship of Languages in that institution, and subsequently, to that of Mathematics and Natural Philosophy, which he now fills with honor, fidelity, and use- fulness.
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shire, and the Hon. Timothy Fuller, of Cambridge, men of reputa- tion too high cither to need, or be advanced by encomiums of ours. The late eminent and lamented Bishop Dehon, of Charleston, S. C. was a preceptor here, in 1796 .* Mr. Adams was succeeded by the late Rev. Dr. Moore, and he by the Rev. Luther Wilson, now of Petersham, whose successor was the Rev. Josiah Clark, of Rutland. The present principal instructor of the Academy is, Mr. John Rich- ardson : the preceptor of the English department, Mr. Increase S. Smith.
In 1824, a respectable Philosophical apparatus was procured in London, through the agency of the Rev. Dr. Prince, of Salem, by individuals of the town of Leicester, and given to the Academy.
This institution may now deservedly claim a high rank among those of our country. The salaries to its officers are liberal ; it is located in the centre of a rich and populous county, and in a situ- ation pleasant, healthy, and retired from the confusion and dissipa- tion of the dense population of a large town. The situation of the Academy building is high, and commands a fine prospect. The exterior of the building is neat and well proportioned ; its interior commodious and well designed. It is three stories high, with six- teen lodging rooms or parlors, besides a dining hall, library, school room, and chapel, and cost between eight and nine thousand dol- lars. It was intended to accommodate the students with commons, if desired, and a steward occupies a portion of the building for this purpose. Connected with the Academy, is a literary society of the students, possessed of a considerable library.
This was, for many years, the only Academy in the County of Worcester, and is among the oldest in the State : Though our de- tail of its history may have been tedious, the importance of the subject which seemed to require it, must be our apology.
There are no other literary institutions in town. There are two or three Social Libraries, containing, in the whole, about a thous-'
* Bishop Dehon was a native of Boston, and was born Dec. 8, 1776. He entered Harvard University at the age of 14 years, and graduated in 1795. The next year, though but 19 years old, he was employed in the English de- partment of Leicester Academy, and there won the respect and esteem of every one connected with the institution. He was admitted to the order of Priest in 1800, and took charge of the Church in Newport, R. 1. where he was remarkably popular and acceptable as a preacher. His ill health, in 1809, induced him to become rector of St. Michael's Church, in Charleston, S. C. In 1812, he was unanimously elected Bishop of the Diocess of South Carolina, which office he sustained till his death, August 6, 1817, when he fell a victim to the yellow fever. He died at the age of 41, and of him, it might with propriety be said, " his epitaph should be his name alone."
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and volumes of well selected books. The people would be far from being inclined to boast of the effect of these institutions for the promotion of knowledge. The effect of them has been rather to give a good education to many, than to educate a few at the ex- pense of others. Although a majority of the inhabitants in town have, at one time or other, availed themselves of the benefits of the Academy here, there have not more than eight persons graduated from any College, who were natives of the town, since the year 1784, and of these, not one studied theology.
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY .- As we have already observed, the records of the town do not go back beyond March, 1721, and the records of the church, as distinguished from those of the town, have not been preserved till within thirty years. In consequence of this, it is impossible to learn when the Congregational Church here was first formed. That it had been formed before March 30th, 1721, appears probable : since, at a town meeting then held, the ques- tion of settling Mr. David Parsons, as pastor was acted upon. He had, before that time, received a call to settle as their clergyman, and then gave his answer, accepting their invitation. He was the first clergyman of the town, and was installed in September, 1721. He had been previously, settled in Malden, and dismissed from that people. The terms of his settlement here were, that he should receive a gratuity of £100, be removed, with his family, from Mal- den, at the expense of the town, and be paid £75 salary per an- num. For an additional encouragement, the town gave him forty acres of land in rear of the meeting house, and outlands enough to make up 100 acres. The unanimity of the people on this occasion in addition to the circumstances that some, at least, of his former people, removed with him to Leicester, promised that his connex- ion with this society would be useful and happy. But it proved far otherwise. He was a man of strong passions, and after a few years, there was very little disposition manifested by many of his people, to quell these passions, when excited. What originated these difficulties it would perhaps be impossible now to ascertain. The embarrassed and straitened circumstances of the people of the town might have been a cause of their neglecting to pay him his annual salary according to contract. In consequence of this neg- lect, he complained to . the Quarter Sessions, in 1728. To this complaint the town made defence, and a long and unhappy law- suit ensued. It is impossible, and would certainly be unprofitable, to trace the progress of these domestic difficulties, Such, howev-
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er, was the state of public feeling, in 1729, that the town voted not to support him any longer as their minister, to join with the' church in deposing him ; and chose a committee to supply the pul- pit. But ecclesiastical contracts were not then so easily severed. This step by one of the contracting parties was inoperative, and the other was not inclined to recede from the strong ground he had taken. Even while the complaint before the Quarter Sessions was pending, he commenced a civil action for the arrears of his salary. These difficulties, at length, became so ruinous to the peace of the town and oppressive to its inhabitants, that they pe- titioned the Legislature, in 1731, for some relief in the matter, and a paper containing the names of each person in town, in favor and against Mr. Parsons, subscribed by each, was presented to his Ex- cellency, the Governor, (Belcher) to inform him of the actual state of public sentiment upon the subject, and two agents were appoint- ed to offer it. A resolve, in favor of releasing the town from their obligation any longer to support their minister, passed the House of Representatives and the Council, but the Governor re- fused to sign it. Judgment having been rendered against the town, by the Quarter Sessions, and the Governor, though twice petition- ed, refusing to sign the resolves, the town petitioned the Legislature for leave to appeal from the judgment of the Court, " so that they might have a trial in the common law." But this petition failed, on account of the Legislature's being suddenly prorogued, and the town were again called together to revive this petition, in the hope " of being relieved" in the words of the warrant, "from Mr. Par- sons' bondage." But by one of those sudden fluctuations in public opinion, which are sometimes observed in popular governments, the popular feeling was now turning in favor of Mr. Parsons. The vote dismissing him was reconsidered, his arrears of salary voted, and the Selectmen left to pay the fines assessed upon them by the Quarter Sessions, in consequence of a second complaint of Mr. Par- sons, for their neglect in seeing him paid. These votes were, however, said to have been surreptitiously obtained, and produced much excitement.
These facts are detailed, rather as a sample of the mode of proceeding, at that day, in cases of disagreement between a peo- ple and their minister, and the disposition of the civil authorities to support ecclesiastical power, than because any interest can be felt in them so long after their occurrence. The differences be- tween Mr. Parsons and his people, did not subside here. They at
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