USA > Massachusetts > Franklin County > Warwick > Warwick, Massachusetts; biography of a town, 1763-1963 > Part 2
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A second grant of 800 acres was made to Zachariah Field of Northfield as compensation for his services in purchasing from the Indians land along the Millers River where the township of Paquoig, now Athol, was granted. This land in the southeast corner of Warwick was part of the area set off to the District of Orange in 1783.
A third grant of 1355 acres had been made to Samuel Ken- dall, William Johnson and ten others, all grantees of Townsend, as a result of their petition "Shewing that they have purchased of the province Certain lands at a place called Turkey Hills (now Townsend) that since taking up their lots it Appears that a Tract of land called Hathorns farm was formerly laid out in the Same place, So that they may lose the land upon which they have Made Considerable Improvements Praying that this Court would Grant them an Equivalent for the land they will hereby loose."(A&R, Vol. XI, pp. 113, 190) This land was commonly called the Hathorn or Great Farm and included the western half of Mount Grace and all of Flower Hill, extending from the orig- inal southern boundary of Arlington (now Winchester) south to the Severance grant.
As a result of a petition by Josiah Willard and 63 other in- habitants of the town of Lunenburg a plantation of the content of six miles square was granted April 6, 1733 and laid out to the north and east of Northfield. This plantation was first called Earlington but the "E" was soon dropped and it now constitutes
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in part the town of Winchester. One of the stipulations of the grant required the proprietors to build a road 12 feet wide from Lunenburg to Northfield and maintain a public house for trav- elers on said road midway between the two towns. This road crossed the northwest corner of what was soon to be the town- ship of Warwick.
The same month saw similar grants made for a township at Paquoig on the Millers River which was later named Athol, and another on the upper Ashuelot River, now the city of Keene, New Hampshire.
Prior to 1740 Massachusetts claimed its northern boundary as fixed by the charter given by the King in 1692 to be as far north as the present town of Charlestown, New Hampshire, and ex- tended east to the Merrimack River. New Hampshire on the other hand claimed the boundary was about 26 miles south of this. The matter was a source of dispute between the two colonies for nearly 50 years and finally the decision was referred to the King. At that time the government of Massachusetts was out of favor with His Majesty and he showed his displeasure by fixing the boundary more than 40 miles south of the line claimed by Massachusetts and thus 14 miles further south than New Hamp- shire had claimed. During these years many settlers had located in this disputed area and many townships had been granted by Massachusetts, the legality of which was now in question. Most of the proprietors remained in possession of their land and their ownership was eventually confirmed by New Hampshire, but the resentments and recriminations lasted many years.
2 GARDNER'S CANADA, 1735-1748
FROM 1734 TO 1736 a number of Canada Townships, as they were called, were granted. These were given to the survivors or descendants of men who had taken part in the disastrous expedi- tion to Canada under Sir William Phipps in 1690. In all there were twelve of these townships granted, and four in one group
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were made on June 19, 1735. (A&R, Vol. XII, p. 142) Thus begins the history of Warwick, Guilford, Vermont, Ashburnham and Winchendon.
Since the almost forgotten unrewarded services of the mem- bers of that expedition, that now after 45 years was only a feeble claim against the Province, proved to be an infinitesimal legacy to their descendants, the proprietors of these grants, surely we owe it to them to preserve their story.
When war broke out between France and England in 1690 an expedition consisting of 36 ships and an army of some 2,500 men under the command of Sir William Phipps was sent from Boston with the object of capturing Quebec. Phipps was born in Pemaquid, Maine in 1631, one of 26 children by the same father and mother. He is described as dull of intellect, rudely educated, egotistical, superstitious and headstrong, totally unfitted to be a leader in civil or military affairs. In 1684 he was successful in recovering a treasure from a sunken ship in the Bahamas amount- ing to $1,400,000. The King, whose treasury received the lion's share, rewarded him with knighthood and $75,000 and appointed him High Sheriff of New England. With these as his qualifica- tions for leader of a military expedition he sailed for Canada with his army of Massachusetts provincials.
His fleet appeared before the city of Quebec without warning, to the great consternation of the French. But the energetic and capable French commander sent far and wide for reinforcements while Phipps dallied, held councils of war and planned his cam- paign. Quebec consisted of the lower town along the river banks and the upper town on a high elevation where artillery com- manded the river below. The army was to land and assault the upper town from the rear while the fleet bombarded the fortress. The French reinforcements arrived before the assault took place and the bombardment began before the troops were in position to attack. The English fire fell short while the French guns rid- dled the fleet. When the army finally attacked, it suffered heavy casualties from the fire of the French riflemen.
The attack was suspended and when smallpox broke out among Phipps's command he decided to go back home. Great was the
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rejoicing among the Canadians as the heretics patched up their ships and sailed away. Phipps returned to Boston crestfallen late in November, and one by one his battered and weatherbeaten ships came straggling after him. Some did not arrive until Feb- ruary and four never returned. Over 200 men died on the trip home of smallpox and fever.
In Boston and throughout the colonies all was dismay and gloom. The Puritan bowed before "this awful frown of God," and searched his conscience for the sin that had brought upon him so stern a chastisement. Massachusetts, already impover- ished, found itself in desperate straits. The war, instead of pay- ing for itself, had burdened the colony with a debt of 50,000 pounds. Soldiers and sailors clamoured for their pay, and the colony for the first time in its history was forced to issue a paper currency which quickly depreciated in value. To redeem this currency taxation was severely increased in spite of widespread poverty and distress.
If the blundering Phipps had made a well-executed assault immediately following his arrival before Quebec it is highly prob- able that he would have been successful. Without doubt all of Canada would have fallen under English control, and the course of history in America would be completely different. But Canada remained in French possession for 73 years of almost continuous strife until Wolfe succeeded in 1760 where Phipps had failed.
The little town of Roxbury and Brookline had raised a com- pany of some 60 men under the command of Captain Andrew Gardner and all of these men with the exception of one, Samuel Newell, were lost in the expedition. In 1945 Theodore F. Jones, Professor of History at New York University, wrote an article on the roster of this company which was published in the records of the New England Historic Genealogical Register. He gives a list of the original grantees of Gardner's Canada and the re- lationship each bore to a member of the Roxbury Company; also all the genealogical data of the latter which invariably end with the words "died in Canada."
On December 4, 1734 the House of Representatives received a petition from "Shubael Sever, Samuel Newell, Thomas Gard-
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ner and sundry others of the towns of Roxbury and Brookline, for themselves, who are the representatives of the company in the public service in the Canada expedition, anno 1690, under the command of the late Captain Andrew Gardner, which con- sisted of sixty men, who were all lost in the expedition except the petitioner Newell." The petition prayed that "in consideration of the misfortunes arisen to the families of the deceased - that they may obtain a grant of six miles square for a township." Three other similar petitions were subsequently received and on June 4, 1735 the House voted that "four several tracts of land for townships, each of the content of six miles square be laid out in suitable places in the western parts of this province, and that the whole of each town be laid out into sixty three equal shares, one of which to be for the first settled minister, one for the use of the ministry and one for the school. and that on the other sixty shares in each town there be sixty settlers admitted; and in the admission thereof preference to be given to the petitioners such as are the descendants of the officers and soldiers who served in the expedition - in as much as the officers and soldiers were great sufferers and underwent uncommon hardships.
"Voted that this province be at the sole charge of laying out the said four townships in a regular manner, and of admitting the settlers; that the settlers and grantees be and hereby are obliged to bring forward the settlement in a regular and defensible manner, as the situation and circumstances of the places will ad- mit of; and that in the following manner, viz: That they be on the granted premises respectively and have each of them a house of eighteen feet square and seven feet stud at the least, that each right or grant have six acres of land brought to and plowed or brought to English grass and fitted for mowing, That they re- spectively settle in each plantation or township a learned orthdox minister and build a convenient meeting house for the public wor- ship of God in each township. The whole of these conditions to be duly complied with within five years from the confirmation of the plats." (A&R, Vol. XII, p. 142).
A committee of three men, John Bowles, Esq., and John Met- calf from the House of Representatives, and William Dudley
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from the Governor's Council were appointed "for laying out the township and admitting the settlers aforesaid, who shall take bond of each grantee to the value of twenty pounds to the prov- ince treasurer for the respective grantees fulfillment of their grant; each lot as aforesaid to be entitled to draw future divisions in equal proportion in the township or plantation. . . in case any of the grantees shall neglect or delay to fulfill the terms of this grant such person or persons shall forfeit to the province all his or their right and interest in the land hereby granted." (A&R Vol. XII, pp. 192-193)
This grant was typical of the many issued by the legislature during this period both as to area, number of grantees, conditions imposed and penalties threatened for nonfulfillment. It shows the deep religious feeling of the times and the importance placed on the church as the cornerstone of the township. The conditions imposed discouraged those who might have accepted the grant with no idea of actually settling. Workers, not drones, were wanted.
The township assigned to Newell and company was laid out and surveyed by Nathaniel Kellogg of Hadley and on June 15, 1736 the tract of land containing 23,045 acres, exclusive of the three small grants previously made in the area, was confirmed by the General Court. The bounds were described as follows: "Viz. Westerly on Northfield and Province land (now Erving), east partly on province Land (now Royalston) and partly on Paqua- onge (now Athol) ; North partly on Arlington (now Winchester, N.H.) and partly on Province land (now Richmond, N.H.), south on Province land (now Orange) ; beginning at the North- field east bounds about eighty rods north of the road to Lunen- burg and running east 1940 perch (rods) to a heap of stones; from thence south 1950 perch to a heap of stones in Paquaonge north bounds; thence west 179 perch to Paquaonge northwest corner thence south 256 perch in Paquaonge, west bounds to a small maple tree with stones; thence west 1545 perch to a stake and stones thence north 7 Deg 30 Min West 660 perch to North- field south east corner, the same course in the whole 2265 perch to a heap of stones." (A & R, Vol. XII, p. 273)
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As has been previously mentioned when the dispute between New Hampshire and Massachusetts over its boundary was settled in 1740 it was found that the new State line cut diagonally across the north boundary of the grant. This resulted in a loss of a triangular piece of land to the town of Richmond of 138 acres, and a similar piece was taken from Winchester containing 1199 acres.
The only alteration in the area of the town took place in 1783 when the southeast corner was set off to be included in the newly created District of Orange.
Two weeks after the "Plat" or township had been confirmed the House of Representatives ordered the proprietors to meet, give their bond and "chuse a Moderator, Proprietor's Clerk and a committee to lay out their home lots." (A & R, Vol. XII, p. 287)
The first meeting was at the home of James Jarvis in Roxbury on September 22, 1736. The Honorable Colonel William Dud- ley, the member of the Governor's Council appointed by His Excellency to the committee in charge of the township, was in attendance to represent the General Court and to assist the pro- prietors in their undertaking. Dudley was the son of Joseph Dudley who had served as governor of the Province of Massachu- setts Bay from 1702-1715. He was a resident of Roxbury and held many positions of trust in the province. At once he bought out the rights of three proprietors and continued active in the settlement, serving as proprietors' clerk and treasurer from this first meeting until his death on August 5, 1743.
Under his guidance Captain Sharpe of Brookline was elected Moderator and the proprietors then chose a committee consisting of Robert Sharpe, Samuel Davis of Oxford and Gershom Davis of Cambridge to hire a surveyor to assist them in laying out the home lots to consist of not less than 50 acres of land and not more than 60. Each proprietor was assessed 20 shillings to pay for this expense and the committee was urged to "use their utmost endeavors that Mr. Kellogg, the surveyor, be ready to lay out the said Home Lotts in the first opening of the Spring."
While no formal action was taken, the grantees referred to
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themselves in the Proprietors' Records as the proprietors of "Gardner's Canada Township," thus honoring Captain Andrew Gardner, commander of the company of soldiers from Roxbury and Brookline and the expedition to Canada of which they were a part. However beginning in 1760 the proprietors' meetings were called in the name of Roxbury or Gardner's Canada and this continued until the township was incorporated under the name of Warwick.
The committee reported back to the proprietors that their task had been accomplished and on Oct. 24, 1737 they met to draw their lots by chance. Doubtless they received for the first time a fairly accurate description of the features of the township and it must have been discouraging to many.
It can be safely assumed that the committee accompanied by Nathan Kellogg, the surveyor, took advantage of Grace Moun- tain to view the township as far as the eye could see and listened to Kellogg, the man who had run its bounds and who was most familiar with it, as he described its features. Mount Grace, as it is generally called, is a roughly shaped area like a right angle triangle covering about one and a half square miles and rising in the northwest corner of the town to an elevation of 1617 feet. The apex of the triangle is to the south with the east side run- ning due north, the west side running northwest and the base running northeast.
Today the demands of our civilization have caused the Com- monwealth of Massachusetts to erect an observation tower at the highest point on the mountain. This is not to aid in warn- ing of the approach of human enemies, once so prevalent, but to spot and report fire which at certain seasons of the year is an ever-present danger. One can climb the iron stairs to the obser- vation platform and on a clear day see for miles in all directions. From this vantage point let us attempt to describe both the scene that met the eyes of the committee over 200 years ago, and the town of Warwick as it exists today.
From the summit of the mountain the committee would have looked over the most thoroughly mountainous town in Franklin County. A study of the topographical maps made by the govern-
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ment quickly shows the rugged nature of the land. Innumerable hills, many of considerable height, have been spattered liberally in all directions by the hand of the Creator with no apparent plan or pattern in mind. To the southeast a glimpse of Hastings Pond a mile and a half away can be had and directly south at a distance of two miles Moores Pond can be seen. From the pond the valley leading toward it widens out to provide a strip of low comparatively level land for three miles.
Looking toward the north from Mount Grace the hills and mountains of New Hampshire rise in the distance. Beginning at the eastern foot of the mountain an open valley, appropriately called Sunny Valley, extends northward to the town of Win- chester.
To the east and southeast one can see hills and hills upon hills. Most prominent are Whipple and Mallard hills near the Rich- mond town line, and Ball Hill in the extreme northeast corner of Warwick. Further to the south lies Bliss Hill on the Royalston town line and Temple Hill, once part of Warwick but now in the town of Orange. Along the Orange and Warwick town line, making a natural boundary, are Beech, Pitt, Fall and Hock- anum hills.
To the northwest of Mount Grace are Flower Hill and Bolster Hill, and to the west are the hills of Northfield. A mile southwest of Mount Grace is Shepardson Hill and further south and west of Moores Pond lies Chestnut Hill.
Brooks drain the hillsides and run in all directions gradually mingling with others, increasing in size until they eventually enter three rivers. Kidder and Mountain brooks drain the north central part of the town to merge into Mirey Brook and flow through Sunny Valley north to the Ashuelot River in New Hampshire. The Northfield Brook and its numerous tributaries drain most of the northwest quarter, and flow northwest to become known as Mill Brook as it crosses Northfield to enter the Connecticut River. The west branch of Tully Brook rises in the northeastern corner to flow south, passing through Sheomet Pond and con- tinuing on until it meets the east branch in Athol and then enters the Millers River. Again from the north central area Black and
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Rum brooks enter Gales Pond from which Gale Brook emerges to be joined by Hedge Brook from Hastings Pond. Gale Brook finds its way through Brush Valley to Wheelers Pond where it changes its name again to Orcutt Brook as it emerges from the pond to continue flowing south across the town of Orange to Millers River. From the village, the southern slope of Mount Grace and both sides of the valley through which it flows south, is Grace Brook which feeds Moores Pond. The overflow from Moores Pond creates Darling Brook which is augmented by the waters of several small streams until it joins Moss Brook from the southwest edge of the township and enters Harris Pond. This once covered approximately 50 acres of land but when a dam at the lower end was washed out in 1887 its size diminished to a few acres. (The State Department of Natural Resources is plan- ning to restore the dam in the near future and develop the area for recreational purposes.) Moss Brook flowing south through the valley enters the Millers River at the village of Wendell De- pot.
We look down the southeast slope of the mountain and see the village of Warwick with its scattering of white buildings. The church with its tall spire catches the eye as it stands on the most prominent spot at the top of a hill, easily seen from all directions. Directly across the road, painted gray, is the one-story three-room schoolhouse. Behind the school is the playground dedicated as the Winfred Fellows Memorial Field in honor of a boy killed in World War II. Just to the right of the church we see the hand- some new building that houses the Warwick Fire Department.
In common with all New England towns roads are named after the town to which they lead. And so we catch a glimpse of the Orange road leading south up the hill past the church, the school and the fire station. It descends gradually for half a mile as it passes a dozen or more houses, disappears momentarily in a val- ley and then ascends cemetery hill. Passing the neatly kept at- tractive cemetery to its right it turns slightly left and disappears through the woods over the brow of the hill as it continues in a southerly direction to the town of Orange.
The bell in the church steeple begins to toll as the hands in
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the clock below it point to the hour. Children pour out of the school to the waiting buses that will take them to their homes.
The first car rolls down the hill past the church, the general store on the left, the town park, the town fountain, the millstone monument and the library on the right hand side of the Win- chester road as it is now called. This road, a continuation of the Orange road, is the most heavily traveled road in town and is officially designated as Route 78. The car continues due north down a long grade for half a mile. Then it disappears down a deep winding gorge with the road running beside Mountain Brook, first on one side and then on the other. Passing the State picnic and recreational park it continues on to the north end of the town.
Back at the schoolhouse a second car filled with children fol- lows the first one down the hill a few rods and then turns right and follows the Athol road, passing the town hall, the War- wick Inn, the Metcalf Memorial Chapel and numerous houses as it travels east. Half a mile from the village the old Winchester road enters from the north but the car continues on east, then makes a hairpin turn to the south and then north around a deep ravine. As it makes the turn it passes the North Orange or Gale road that runs south to that village. After traveling north 100 rods the bus turns east again, crosses Rum and Black brooks and reaches Mayo's Four Corners. Here a road lying north and south crosses the Athol road. The south highway ascends Hastings Heights and continues to North Orange. The highway to the north would take one to Richmond, New Hampshire, if one's car survived the trip. The crossing of these two roads is known as Mayo's Corners. The Athol road continues east over a rise and turns southeast toward the village of Tully. At the turn of the road a dirt road known as the old Royalston road forks off toward the east, but no one would go to Royalston knowingly on this road except by ox-cart.
The third school bus carries the children to their homes in the southwestern part of the town mainly along the Wendell road. The Northfield road begins at the general store and skirts along the southern end and the western base of Mount Grace; it then
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takes a northwest course and, after leaving the mountain behind, it follows Northfield Brook to the town line. As it turns around the south end of the mountain the Wendell road branches off and runs south to Wendell Depot. Two more roads branch off the Northfield road. The first is the White Road going west over Shepardson Hill and eventually turning north, which returns to meet the Northfield road again. The second is known as Flower Hill Road and swings to the north around Mount Grace to meet the Winchester road near the Winchester town line.
The Wendell road as it approaches and passes Moores Pond has three roads meet it on its west side: Chestnut Hill, Shepard- son and Wilson roads. Nearing the southern part of the town, Hockanum Road runs east to connect with the Orange road from Warwick at Brush Valley. At Harris Pond in the south- west corner of the town, the Quarry road from the southeast corner of Northfield, together with the road from the State Park at Laurel Lake, join the Wendell road from the west.
Thus are described the main highways of Warwick that are in constant use. There are many dead-end and connecting roads of secondary importance. And of course miles of abandoned roads, some nearly impossible to follow; nature has retaken pos- session of what man has deserted. Many of these trails through the wilderness were once the main arteries of transportation and will be mentioned when warranted.
We are fortunate that the town still has several of the sheep- skin maps made by Kellogg, showing the plan of the layout of four of the divisions of lots and a few of the natural features of the town. With the aid of these maps and the government topo- graphical map of today a map has been compiled showing the location of these lots as accurately as possible. Only two roads are indicated on the border of the township, but their location within the borders are not shown. One crosses the extreme north- west corner of the township and is called the Lunenburg road. This is the road built from Northfield to Lunenburg in 1734 by the proprietors of the Winchester grant, as a condition for their receiving the grant. The second is the road to "Pequaongue" (Athol). The oldest map indicates where this road crosses the
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