USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > Worcester county; a narrative history, Volume II > Part 10
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"The stages from New York for Boston, set out on the same days, and reach Hartford at the same time as the Boston stages.
"The stages from Boston exchange passengers with the stages from Hart- ford at Spencer, and the Hartford stages exchange with those from New York at Hartford. Passengers are again exchanged at Stratford Ferry, and not again until their arrival at New York.
"By the present regulation of the stages, it is certainly the most convenient and expeditious way of traveling that can possibly be had in America, and in order to make it the cheapest, the proprietors of the stages have lowered their price from four pence to three pence a mile, with liberty to passengers to carry fourteen pounds baggage.
"In the summer season the stages are to run with the mail three times in a week instead of twice in the winter, by which means those who take passage
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from Boston in the stage which sets off Monday morning, may arrive at New York on the Thursday evening following, and all the mails during that season are to be but four days going to New York, and so from New York to Boston.
"Those who intend taking passage on the stages must leave their names and baggage the evening preceding the morning that the stages set off, at the several places where the stages put up, and pay-one-half of their passage to the place where the first exchange of passengers is made, if bound so far, and if not, one-half of the passage so far as they are bound.
"N. B. Way passengers will be accommodated when the stages are not full, at the same rate, viz. three pense only per mile.
"Said Pease keeps good lodging, &c. for gentlemen travellers, and stabling for horses."
Captain Pease was granted the first United States Government contract for carrying the mails, and the first mail of this new service passed through Worcester, January 7, 1786. The captain still drove the stage, and when a hard snowstorm stalled the mail-coach, he donned his snowshoes and shoul- dered the mailbag and carried it through to Worcester or Boston town. It was he who conceived the idea of the Boston and Worcester Turnpike, and obtained the first charter in Massachusetts for a highway of this character, built with private capital and supported by tolls. His contemporaries con- ferred upon him the title of the "Father of the Turnpike."
In 1788 Pease announced that "after great expense and fatigue," he had completed a stage line from Boston to New York, and that the carriages which had been both heavy and uneasy, had been hung on springs and would not tire their passengers more than a private coach. From May to Novem- ber three trips a week, and from November to May two trips a week were made.
In 1800 we find a line of stages making three trips each week between Worcester and Boston, taking the entire day for the journey of forty-four miles.
In 1802 a Boston newspaper announced, "Boston and New York Mail Stage starts from King's Inn, Market Square every day (Sundays excepted) at IO a. m., arriving at Worcester the same evening at eight. Leaving Worcester at three o'clock next morning, arrive at Hartford at eight p. m. Leave Hartford at three o'clock next morning, arrive at Stamford at eight p. m. Leave Stamford at three o'clock next morning, reaching New York at noon, same day."
To rise from bed in time to take a 3 o'clock stage, three mornings in suc- cession, must have been wearing to the hardiest soul. It reminds one of the
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plaint published in the time of Charles II, and the "Flying Coaches" which were running between London and near-by important towns. It was vehem- ently argued that this mode of travel "would be fatal to the breed of horses and to the noble art of horsemanship; that the Thames which had long been the great nursery of seamen, would cease to be the chief thoroughfare from London up to Windsor and down to Gravesend; that the saddlers and spur- riers would be ruined by hundreds; that numerous inns at which mounted travelers had been in the habit of stopping would be deserted; that the new carriages were too hot in summer and too cold in winter ; that the passengers were grievously annoyed by invalids and crying children; that the coach reached the inn so late it was impossible to get supper, and started so early that it was impossible to get breakfast." No complaint comes down to us that the American stage passenger was not well looked after along the way in regard to the inner man. But when evening fell, after a day of rough travel- ing which opened in the middle of the preceding night, there must have been a hurried ascent to the chambers and their feather beds.
The following advertisement of the well-known "Fall River Line," from the Boston Patriot of August 22, 1809, gives a good idea of the means of communication enjoyed at that time : "Truth-To the Public. The best way from Boston to New York, and from New York to Boston, is by the way of Newport, that remarkably healthy and delightful place, so pleasant and agree- able to travelers, (Norwich way to the contrary, notwithstanding). The pro- prietors of the Commercial Line of stages from Boston to Newport are desir- ous of making the traveling and conveyance as easy and as expeditious as possible to all those doing business, as well as to those that travel for pleas- ure ; they are determined to spare no pains in accomplishing this object.
"With a leading breeze, the packets are generally from fifteen to twenty- two hours from New York to Newport, and stages are from ten to eleven hours going to Boston. Frequently gentlemen leave New York in the morn- ing and arrive at Boston the next day, at night. The roads are good and have excellent accommodations ; the stages and horses are as good as any in America.
"The packets belonging to Newport, and kept at New York and Newport, are thought to be the best in the known world, and are so acknowledged. They are fast sailers, furnished with elegant accommodations, and with every convenience that can be wanted.
"The proprietors of the Commercial Line of stages have established wagons to go through to Boston and Newport twice a week; they leave Boston Tuesday and Friday, and arrive at Newport Monday and Thursday ; leave Newport and arrive at Boston same time."
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In 1802 the Albany mail stage went forth from the White Horse Tavern at Boston each Monday and Thursday morning at six o'clock, and passed through Worcester, Brookfield and Northampton, arriving in Albany on Thursday and Monday at noon-seventy-two hours for a journey of approxi- mately one hundred and seventy miles. The line was patronized, as a rule, only by persons to whom it was necessary or profitable to reach one or the other terminal town, for the road for most of the distance west of Northamp- ton was of the roughest and was through an inhospitable wilderness, where infrequent taverns offered the traveler only back woods fare and accommoda- tions. In winter weather, this three days journey was one of real suffering. But between Boston and Northampton the roads had been greatly improved, and between Worcester and Boston the Western Post Road, as it was then called, was regarded as one of the best on the continent. The route from Boston was through Watertown, Waltham, Weston, Sudbury, Marlboro, Northboro, Shrewsbury, Worcester, Leicester, Spencer, Brookfield, and Palmer-the same exactly as it is today on the Post Road.
With the opening of the new century stage lines were established in all directions over Worcester County. Coaches were seen on every road. In 1825 Worcester had become a great stage line center. There were daily stages to Boston, Hartford and New York. Five lines operated three stages each week to and from Boston, and one line each to Providence, to North- ampton through Hardwick, to Northampton through Brookfield; to Keene, to Springfield, to East Chelmsford, to Southbridge and to Dudley. Another line to Providence made two trips a week, and there were weekly lines to Athol, Richmond, New Hampshire, and Ashburnham. In addition post- riders carried mails twice a week to Pomfret, Connecticut, and weekly to Thompson, Connecticut. Other postriders without mail traveled between Worcester and Charlton, Oxford and Concord.
By 1836 stagecoach systems had increased still further. There were seven mail stages weekly each way between Worcester and Boston, beside three accommodation stages and the three of the "Springfield mail." For Hartford there were seven "southern mail" stages, while the Tremont, Citi- zens' and Telegraph lines ran every week day. Likewise on each week day were stages for Providence, Lowell, Norwich, Springfield, Northampton, Amherst, Keene, Brattleboro, Vermont, and Greenfield, and three a week to North Brookfield and Barre, while coaches made two trips daily between Worcester and Millbury and Leicester.
Operating at high speed, often with competition between rival lines, one may imagine the activities of Worcester Main Street. Taverns did a rushing business. Their stables and those of the stage lines housed hundreds of
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horses. The relays were stabled at convenient intervals along the highways, almost universally in tavern barns. It was the day of the horse, in fact the day of the fine horse, for most of the teams were of the highest quality.
In 1831 it was estimated 22,300 passengers rode between Boston and Worcester, where the shortest time was four hours, and the lowest fare $2, and 30,000 between Worcester and Hartford. The stage books for the years ending April 1, 1835, showed receipts for the Worcester-Springfield line as $8,699; of the Worcester-Northampton line as $13,086; and of the North- ampton line by way of Amherst $3,131, a total of $24,915.
The North County Stage Lines-The early stage lines of the north- ern county made Leominster their principal stopping place, largely because of its geographical location. Fitchburg was then a town of minor importance. But not many years elapsed before its rapid growth made it the principal place in all the northern region, and as such it became a stagecoach center of much importance.
The father of transportation between Boston and Fitchburg was Samuel Farrar of Concord, the first regular postrider, expressman, newspaper and letter carrier. We find his advertisement in the Massachusetts Gazette and the Boston Post-boy and Advertiser of May 27, 1771 :
"Samuel Farrar, rider from Boston to Fitchburg, passes through the following towns, and may be spoke with at the following places, viz. : At the Widow Frothingham's in Charlestown, Cambridge; Newell's in Menotomy, Buckman's in Lexington, Taylor's in Concord, White's in Acton, Whiting's in Littleton, Pierce's in Groton, Sartell's in Shirley, Stearns' in Lunenburg, Fuller's in Leominster, and Cowden's at Fitchburg, at any of which places gentlemen or others who will please to favor him with their commands shall have it gratefully acknowledged by their humble servant. S. Farrar." The persons mentioned were landlords of taverns.
Wilder's History of Leominster says: "The first stagecoach from Leo- minster to Boston was established by Jotham Johnson in 1790." He con- tinued in the business for several years, running a clumsy, two-horse, covered vehicle, hung on chains for thoroughbraces, making one trip a week. One summer a few years later Johnson started a weekly stage between Boston and Charlestown, New Hampshire, leaving Boston at an early hour Wednes- day, stopping over night at Leominster, reaching Keene Thursday evening and Charlestown on Friday. Returning he arrived in Leominster Saturday night and left for Boston Monday. The coaches caused much excitement in the towns along the way, but the roads were miserably poor and patronage small, and the line was soon abandoned.
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Thomas' Almanac for 1801 says: "Leominster and Lancaster stage leaves Boston Wednesday and Saturday at sunrise, arriving at Leominster at 3 o'clock, and returning to Boston on Monday and Thursday, arriving there at 5 p. m." The Independent Chronicle of April 21, 1803, says : "Leominster and Greenfield Mail Stage leaves Leominster on Thursdays at 6 a. m., arrives at Greenfield at seven p. m., and returns Saturday at five a. m., arriv- ing at Leominster at 7 p. m., via Fitchburg, Westminster, Templeton, Gerry (Phillipston), Athol, New Salem, Wendell, Montague and Greenfield." The Boston Patriot of the same date gives a stage line from Boston to Leominster via Littleton to Concord once a week, and via Westford once a week. In 1807 we find the Lunenburg stage leaving Boston Thursdays at 5 a. m., arriv- ing at Lunenburg at 5 p. m. and returning Tuesdays at 6 a. m., and arriving at Boston at 6 p. m.
A notice in the Independent Chronicle of May 1, 1809, shows how the North County stage service was extending, by giving notice that "the Boston and Brattleboro stage leaves Boston Thursdays and Saturdays at 5 a. m., arrives at Westminster at eight p. m., and Brattleboro the next day; return- ing, leaves Brattleboro Tuesday and Saturday at four A. M., arrives at West- minster at eight P. M., and Boston at 8 p. m. on Wednesday and Monday. The route was through West Cambridge, Lexington, Concord, Stow, Bolton, Lancaster, Leominster, Fitchburg, Westminster, Templeton, Phillipston, Athol, Orange, Warwick, Winchester, Hinsdale, N. H., a distance of ninety- six miles.
The Boston, Lancaster and Fitchburg stage left Boston Tuesday, Thurs- day and Saturday mornings, and Fitchburg Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings at five A. M. The fare was Boston to Lancaster $1.50, Boston to Fitchburg $2.121/2.
In 18II the Concord, Harvard and Winchendon stage commenced run- ning through Concord over the old "Union Turnpike," the ancient Wetherbee tavern in Harvard being the half way house from Concord, where horses were changed. The route beyond was through Shirley, Lunenburg, Fitch- burg, Ashburnham, arriving at Winchendon the same evening.
Josiah Lane and from 1820 Charles Stearns of Leominster ran a stage once a week between Worcester and Fitchburg and on to Ashburnham, the chief freight of the small covered vehicle being the weekly newspapers. The Worcester Spy of April 12, 1820, contains the card of Michar R. Ball, a saddler by trade and a man of enterprise, announcing a new line "From Leominster to Worcester through Shirley Village, Harvard, Bolton, Berlin, Northboro and Shrewsbury." Later Ball was an owner of the Worcester- Keene stage line.
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In 1825 we find the stage fare from Boston to Harvard $1.50, to Lunen- burg $1.75, to Fitchburg $2 and to Winchendon $2.75, over a line which passed through Lexington, Boxboro, Sterling, Lunenburg and Ashburnham.
In 1829 Badger and Porter's Stage Register has a paragraph which shows how transportation had extended northward and westward from the North County : "Mail stage leaves Boston for Fitchburg Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at two a. m. (via Cambridge, Waltham, Lancaster and Leominster) and from Fitchburg to Athol where the line divides, one going to Brattle- boro and one to Greenfield, both to Albany, arriving in Albany on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday evenings (the stages from Albany reaching Boston at the same time), also a stage for Fitchburg, Keene and Rutland, Vermont, leaving Boston Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at four A. M. Also mail stages, leaving Boston for Fitchburg through to Bennington, Vermont, to Albany, Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at two A. M.
In the Fitchburg Directory of 1835 is given the stagecoach schedule of that day as follows: "Boston, Fitchburg and Keene Mail stage, leaving Boston every day, Saturdays excepted, at two A. M., arrives at Fitchburg at half-past ten A. M., and Keene at seven P. M .; leaves Keene every day, Sun- day excepted, at four A. M., arrives at Fitchburg at half-past eleven A. M., and Boston at seven P. M. Fare, Boston to Fitchburg, one dollar and fifty cents ; Fitchburg to Keene, one dollar and fifty cents.
"Boston, Lancaster and Fitchburg, accommodation, arrives from Boston Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday at four P. M .; leaves Fitchburg Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at seven A. M .; arrives at Boston at two P. M .; fare, Fitchburg to Boston, two dollars.
"Fitchburg and Worcester Mail stage (intersecting with the Keene and Lowell stages), leaves Worcester Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday at seven A. M., and arrives at Fitchburg at half-past ten A. M .; leaves Fitchburg Monday, Wednesday and Friday at half-past eleven A. M .; arrives at Worcester at four P. M .; fare, one dollar and twenty-five cents.
"Fitchburg, Groton and Lowell Mail stages, leave Lowell Monday, Wed- nesday and Friday at seven A. M .; leave Fitchburg the following days at half-past eleven A. M .; arrive at Lowell at four P. M .; fare, one dollar and fifty cents.
"Lowell and Springfield Mail stages, leave Lowell Monday, Wednesday and Friday at three A. M .; arrive at Fitchburg at eight A. M., Springfield at seven P. M .; leave Springfield the following days at two A. M .; arrive at Fitchburg at two P. M., Lowell at eight P. M .; fare to Lowell, one dollar and fifty cents ; to Springfield, three dollars.
"Ashburnham and Worcester Post, leaves Fitchburg every Tuesday at nine A. M., and arrive from Worcester the following day at three P. M."
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In 1834 we note the "Boston and Albany line of stages, via Fitchburg, through in two days," which in a few words tells the story of roads once almost impassable improved into smooth-going thoroughfares.
Before the Fitchburg Railroad was built, Fitchburg and other north county towns made use of the Boston & Lowell Railroad. The following advertisement tells how this service operated :
"Fitchburg, Lowell and Boston Railroad Line .- Through in five and a half hours and no mistakes. Leave Fitchburg Tuesday, Thursday and Sat- urday at one P. M., through Lunenburg, Groton, Westford, North Chelms- ford to Lowell, in season for the five o'clock train of cars for Boston, Ando- ver and Haverhill ; arrive at Boston the same evening at half-past six o'clock ; returning leave Boston Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays at seven A. M., and arrive at Fitchburg at one P. M.
"At Fitchburg the stages intersect with stages for Ashburnham, Winchen- don, Brattleboro and Albany : also for Leominster, Sterling, West Boylston and Worcester. Passengers by this route will find fine horses and coaches, and careful and obliging drivers, with reasonable fare; so the travelling public will find it for their ease and comfort to give the proprietors a liberal share of their patronage."
In 1846 the following stages left Fitchburg, the year of the opening of the Fitchburg Railroad :
Keene, via Ashburnham, Winchendon, Fitzwilliam and Troy, at ten A. M. Keene, via Ashby, Rindge, Fitzwilliam and Troy, at ten A. M.
Keene, via Ashby, New Ipswich, Jaffrey and Marlboro, Tuesday, Thurs- day and Saturday at ten A. M.
Lowell and Nashua, via Lunenburg and Groton, Monday, Wednesday and Friday at one P. M .; Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday at four P. M.
Athol, via Westminster, Gardner, Templeton and Phillipston, Monday, Wednesday and Friday, four P. M.
Winchendon, via Ashburnham, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, at four P. M.
Peterboro, N. H., Monday, Wednesday and Friday at ten A. M.
Worcester, via Leominster, Sterling and West Boylston, Monday, Wed- nesday and Friday at four P. M., Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday at one P. M.
Brattleboro, via Westminster, Gardner, Templeton, Phillipston, Gardner, North Orange, Warwick, Winchester, Hinsdale, at ten A. M.
Greenfield, via Westminster, South Gardner, Templeton, Phillipston, South Orange, Ervingsville, Erving and Montague at ten A. M.
Jaffrey, N. H., via Ashburnham and Rindge, Monday, Wednesday and Friday at four P. M.
Wor .- 32
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Cost of travel in the period about 1830 compared very favorably with that of the present day, as far as actual transportation was concerned. In 1829 the Albany coach via Greenfield and Troy carried a passenger to Albany, a distance of one hundred and sixty miles for six dollars. The Mail Line, via Northampton, did the one hundred and sixty-nine miles in two days, with a fare to Albany of eight dollars and seventy-five cents, the higher cost being for the quicker time. The fare to Northampton was four dollars and fifty cents. But the fare was only a part of the cost of a long journey. Tavern bills had to be met, for food and lodging.
In the Boston Transcript of September, 1830, is the advertisement of the "New York and Boston Steam Packet Line, only forty miles land carriage ; from Providence to New York daily (Sundays excepted) ; fare five dollars. Stages leave Boston daily at five and reach the packet before the hour of starting, four P. M., dining on board ; meals extra ; dinner, fifty cents ; break- fast and tea, thirty-eight cents." But the next month the land carriage was rectified to forty-three miles, and the fare raised to six dollars. The fare from Worcester to Boston was two dollars.
Stage-Coaching in the South County-The main highway through the South County was the Hartford Turnpike, which was a direct route from Boston to Hartford and on to New Haven. In the days of its coaching grandeur it was probably better known as the Middle Road. Travel between Boston and Connecticut and New York was over three routes. The Southern or Lower Road passed through Providence, and bore the colorful title of the King's Highway. The Northern or Upper Road was the Boston Post Road through Worcester. The King's Highway was the oldest, dating from 1727, the Upper Road was in use in 1755, and the Middle Road in 1764.
The Boston and Hartford Turnpike cut across the southeastern corner of Worcester County, entering it from Bristol County at Mendon, passing through the little hamlet of "Rice City" in Uxbridge, and on through Doug- las into Connecticut. It followed exactly the Indian trail between middle Connecticut and the Massachusetts Bay settlement. Both Mendon and Uxbridge were important stopping points for the coach lines.
In 1889 a full week was required for the stagecoach journey from Boston to New York over this route, as, in fact, it did over either the Upper or Lower Road. In 1804 a new line of stages started running, and ten years later another, known as the Enterprise, which was advertised to make the full journey in two days, which meant the highest speed of travel, with relays of fine horses.
The rivalry was intense between the coaches of the Middle Road and the King's Highway. The late William E. Hayward of Uxbridge recalled the
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story of a wager of $500 made between two lines to test out the relative excellence of the two highways, and their coaches, horseflesh and drivers. Both started at Boston on the same exact second, with the same number of passengers. Every detail was worked out in advance, with fresh relays of horses at frequent intervals. All New England awaited the result. Accord- ing to Mr. Hayward's story, so fast was the speed of the running teams that a continuous shower of pebbles fell like heavy hail on the coach roof. As we are writing of Worcester County we will accept the claim that the Middle Road coach won the match with an ample margin.
In the early days there was no mail between Worcester and Providence and serving the important mill villages along the Blackstone River. But finally Abner Cooper of Northbridge undertook the service. He rode to Providence one day, returned to Northbridge the next, and made the dis- tance to Worcester and back home on the third day. In the beginning he was a postrider only, but later acquired a gig, and as he grew more prosperous drove a two-horse vehicle and carried passengers, who broke the forty-four miles journey by stopping at his house. Tradition has it that he always carried oats for his horses, and when it became feeding time stopped his team beneath some inviting tree by the wayside, and his passengers waited while the horses ate. It is not told what Cooper and the passengers did about their own meals. Perhaps theirs, also, were in the wagon.
The first stage route between Worcester and Providence was established in 1812 by one Henry Richardson, who made the trip between the two towns in a single day. Later a competing line was started. Then came the Blackstone Canal, which took away a little business, and the Providence & Worcester Railroad which took the rest, and the coaches abandoned the field.
One of the last stage lines to be operated in the county was the Tilden Stage and Express, which ran between Uxbridge and Milford, through Men- don, from 1848 to 1866. It was an important auxiliary for the convenience of many persons in travel between their home towns and Boston, by making connections with the Boston & Albany Railroad through its Milford Branch.
Mrs. Anna Cummings Sharpe, in a paper read before the Deborah Whee- lock Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, at Uxbridge, speaks interestingly of this stage line, and particularly of its driver for many years, James D. Perry. He was noted for his love of horses, and had the keenest pride for three well-cared-for steeds which he drove daily. Old coaching records mention him as "Mr. James D. Perry, who drove a coach-and-four," which was considered a high mark of respect, for though he drove but three, everyone knew he would have handled a team of four or six as easily.
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