Worcester County, Massachusetts - Chapter with an unread heading (no. 1 of those read), 1889

This town is situated in the easterly part of Worcester County, about seven miles northeast from Worcester and Hbout thirty-five miles in a nearly due west line from Boston. It is bounded on the north by West Boylston, Sterling and Clinton ; on the east by Berlin and Northborough ; on the south by Shrewsbury; and on the west by AV^est Boylston. The boundary lines of the city of Worcester come within about one mile ol the present town lines. The total area of the town is twelve thousand six hundred and eighty acres, of which eleven thousand seven hundred and thirty-seven acres are taxable, and three hundred and twenty-five acres are covered by water. The surface is broken and uneven, but not hilly. There are three swells or undulations of laud extending through the town. One of them extends across the southeast part of the town and is a part of the range of highlands reaching from BoFton to Shrewsbury, and here, with another range ol hills in the southwest part of the town, forms a portion of the water-shed between the Nashua, Assabet and Blackatone Rivers. The third range of hills is situated in the northwest part of the town, and extends into West Boylston and Sterling, and on this range, just over the town-line in Sterling, near the Waushacum Ponds, was once the Indian town and residence of Sholan, the sachem of the " Nashaways." On these swells are some of the strongest lands in the town, and they are especially adapted to grazing purjjoses. In the southwest part of the town the soil is lighter and largely plain land, well adapted to the cultivation of the ditl'erent kinds of grain and market produce, and good crops are raised with comparatively little labor. On Muddy Brook there is a large tract of valuable meadow land, a portion of which, now covered with water, is knowu as the " Dover Ponds," and furnishes power for the saw-mill of Asa Bee at Scar-bridge.

the most fertile land in Worcester County, equally adapted for grazing or arable purposes, and producing abundant crops of the various productions common to this section. The soil in the remaining portions of the town is heavier and more broken, but is capable, under a proper state of cultivation, of producing large crops. The highlands are wooded with the different kinds of oak, walnut, chestnut and pine. Along the intervales of the Nashua Kiver the oak, walnut, maple, elm and buttonwood grow in luxuriance. The scenery from the highlands of the town is magnificent. On the north, Mt. Wachusett, with the picturesque village of Princeton nestling at its base and surrounded by the lesser highlands of Worcester and Middlesex Counties, terminating in the extreme northeast in the Monadnocks and hills of New Hampshire, and dotted here and there with pleasant villages, lakes, wiudingstreams and wooded hills and valleys, offers a fitting background to a most charming picture of nature. From the highlands in the southern portion of the town a fine view can be had of the State Lunatic Hospital, at Worcester, Lake Quinsigamond, and portions of the Blackstone Valley, and from the easterly parts of the town fine views may be had extending over some of the pleasantest towns of western Middlesex County. There are four natural sheets of water in the town, the largest of which lies in the easterly part, near the Northborough line, and is called Rocky Pond, on account of the innumerable granite boulders with which the bottom is covered. This pond contains forty-five acres, according to a survey made by Gardner Smith under a resolve of the Legislature in 1830.

An outlet flowing southeasterly from this pond pa.sses into Cold Harbor Brook, in Northborough, and thence into the Assabet River. Sewall Pond is in the southerly part of the town and is a part of one of the grants made by the General Court of Massachusetts Bay to Judge Samuel Sewall, after whom it received its name, and contains about eleven acres. This pond is noted for its great depth. Adjacent to it and flowing into it is Pout, or Mud Pond, which contains according to Mr. Davenport, in his history of the town, about twentythree acres. An outlet flows from Sewall Pond .southerly through a part of Shrewsbury into Lake (.^uinsigamond. On this outlet is situated a saw and grist- mill, long known as Banister's Mills. Spruce Pond, the only other remaining sheet of water, is also situated in this part of the town, and contains about five acres.

The south branch of the Nashua Kiver enters the town on the west, about one and one-half miles east of the confluence of the Quinnepoxet and Stillwater Rivers in West Boylston, and flows in a circuitous course nearly six miles, through the northerly portion of the town to the Clinton line. There are also numerous brooks and livulets in every section of the town, the most important of which is Muddy Brook, called in the early records Malagasco Brook, which rises about one-half mile easterly of Boylston Centre, and flows in southwesterly, westerly and northeasterly courses into the Nashua River at Scar-bridge. Another brook rising within a short distance of the one abovementioned, and called on the early records Spring Garden Brook, flows into Sewall Pond, near the house of Sumner Moore. On this stream was formerly a saw-mill, known as Locke's Mill.

Mill or French Brook rises in the easterly part of the town, in East Woods (so-called), and flows westerly, for a distance of nearly four miles, into the Nashua River. On this stream several saw and grist-mills have sto<id at different periods of the town's history. There are also several smaller brooks in the westerly, northerlv and easterly portions of the town. The ponds are well stocked with fish, and the brooks furnish some of the best fronting places in Worcester County.

The geological formations consist of Merrimack schist, calcareous gneiss and the St. .John's group. Sulphate of iron is found in different sections of the town. On Diamond Hill, about one-half mile southwest of Bovlston Centre, are found large and beautiful specimens of crystallized quartz, and which, according to Rev. Peter Whitney, the historian of Worcester County, gave the name to the hill from their similarity in size and shape to diamonds. Coal, resembling that found in Worcester, has been discovered in the northwesterly part of the town. In the easterly part, about two miles from Boylston Centre, on the road to Berlin, extensive gold-mining operations were carried on under the lead of the late Rev. Andrew Bigelow, D.D., of Southborough, a native and former minister of Boylston. A shaft about forty feet in depth was sunk, and considerable quantities of ore taken out and transported to New York for analysis. The precious metal is said to exist in paying quantities; but the work was abandoned upon the death of Rev. Dr. Bigelow, in 18S2, and nothing has since been done. In thissection of the town, upon the farm of Israel L. Barnes, is a valuable quarry of building stone. Excellent clay for the manufacture of brick is found in several places, and a spot of clay ground on the farm of Cliarles (1. Allen, about one mile from Boylston Centre, was set apart by the proprietors of Shrewsbury in 1728 for the common use of the settlers in the manufacture of their potteryware and kitchen utensils. The manufacture of brick is now quite extensively carried on by George Hazard, about two miles from Boylston Centre.

The town is well accommodated with very good roads; there are nearly fifty miles of highways within iU limits. The Nashua River is spanned by three iron bridges, all of which have recently been erected by the town at a cost of about $7,000. The present county road to Clinton was built aboutl860, at a cost of nearly $4,000. Mr. Davenport, in his history of the town published in 1830, says the principal road at that time was the county road, which passes through the northwesterly, northerly and northeasterly portions of the town to Berlin, and crossing the Nashua River at Sawyer's Mills. At th.at time a stage passed over this road three times a week from Boston, and Mr. Davenport says the road was then thought to be the most direct and level route for a road from Boston to Northampton , and a petition was presented about that time to the County Commissioners for the location of a road from the line of Worcester County at Ware Factory Village through Barre, Rutland, Holden and West Boylston to the Middlesex County line, - a fact interesting as the beginning of the project of communications between Boston and Northampton now carried out by the Central Mass. R. R., and being the same route taken by that railroad, which passes through the town from east to west, and has two stations within the town limits, - one, called South Clinton, is in the northeast part, near the Clinton line; the other is known as Boylston, and is situated at Sawyer's Mills. There are two post-offices in the town, the older of which is known as Boylston, and is located at Sawyer's Mills, and supplies the po.stal wants of that village, the population of which is largely made up of operatives in the cotton-mills there and a few farmers in the northerly part of the town and the southeasterly part of Sterling. Thomas C. Sheldon is the present postmaster. The other and principal postoflSce is located at Boylston Centre, and supplies the wants of nearly three-fourths of the town. At this village islocated the town-hall. Congregational Church, public library, etc., and it consists of about thirty dwelling-houses. John Tucker is the present postmaster. There is a small village situated in the southeast part of the town near the Northborough and Shrewsbury lines, called "Straw Hollow," and it was at one time largely the property of David T. Moore & Sons, who carried on extensive farming interests,. together with a large cider and vinegar refinery. In 1878 there were furnished from this place for the Boston market, 55,224 quarts of milk and 17,60.3 quarts of cream, selling for $6,165.13; 19,801 bushels of apples were made into eider, producing 860 barrels. The cider and vinegar refinery and the home buildings of the late D. T. Moore were destroyed by fire several years since and have never been rebuilt. A portion of the farm is now called the Adelphia farm, and is operated by Clapp, Moore & Co., who do an extensive creamery business. In the northeast part of the town there is a tract of land extending into the southerly part of Clinton, known by the name of the "Six Nations," and so called according to the tradition of there having ouce lived families of six different nationalities at one time within the territory. In this section of the town is a high wooded, rough tract of land, called in the early records Rattlesnake Hill, and said to have once been a great haunt for these reptiles. It is said that the other sections of the town were much infested by them during the early settlement and that it was not uncommon for them to enter the houses of the settlers. East Woods, a large wooded and rocky tract of land in the easterly part of the town, was said to be another favorite haunt of the reptiles.

It is perhaps known to but few of the present inhabitants of the town that a search was ever carried on here for buried treasure. Mr. Davenport, in his history, says, about the time of the incorporation of the town, in the autumn of the year, twenty or thirty persons from tlie towns of Northborough, West BoyUton, Hubbardston and Brookfield, upon the authority of dream!", began to break the earth on land of Nathaniel Davenport, E-^q., now belonging to the estate of the late Nathan L. Daggett, where they continued their labors, occasionally, for several weeks, until they had made an excavation eight or ten ftet in depth, and perhaps forty feet in circumference. The labor w:\s principally performed in moonlight evenings, with a table on the ground, with an open Bible and rusty sword upon it, one man at the same time sitting upon the bank, with smeet apple-true or witch hazelroAs in his hands, to inform the workingmen in what particular spot the money was, as it was believed the money had the power of locomotion, and was, therefore, uncertain whether it would remain stationary for any length of time. The money was supposed by the searchers to have been placed there by pirates, and that some person was murdered and buried there to take care of it. To appease the manes of this person a dove was one day procured by one of the party and bled over the spot where the treasure was supposed to have been buried, and the blood sprinkled about the excavation. Profound silence was required to be observed while searching for the treasure. One evening a man, while at work alone, struck the point of a bar, as he reported, under the bale of the kettle which contained the money, and heard distinctly the sound of the specie, but hearing at that moment a discharge of musketry, looked and saw upon the summit of the hill an army firing upon him. Just then the bale of the kettle slipped off the point of the bar and could be found no more. This is said to have been the nearest attainment to securing the coveted prize.

From its high elevation Boylston is essentially an agricultural town, and offers but little opportunity for manufacturing or other industries, but as a farming town it takes a liigh rank with the other towns of the county, both in the industry and prosperity of its inhabitants and in the cultivation and appearance of its farms. From the assessors' returns for the present year it appears that the valuation of the town is $.523,573 ; rate of taxation, $1.5 per $1000. There are 160 dwelling-houses, 208 ratable polls, 224 horses, 820 neat-cattle and 147 swine in the town. Its dairy products are extensive, and it has some of the best orchards in the county. According to the Massachusetts State Census of 1875, there were produced in the town during the year ending May 1, 1875, 20,930 oarrels of apples, valued at $8,100 ; 4,639 bushels of corn, valued at §4,706 ; 18,689 bushels of potatoes, valued at §11,847 ; 2,240 tons of hay, valued at S37,- 053; 148,415 gallons of milk, valued at $22,211; 43,500 pounds of pork, valued at $4,521; 49,425 pounds of beef, valued at $3,876. The total value of all agricultural products for that year was $147,537. The only manufacturing interests in the town are situated at Sawyer's Mills, where there is a cotton-mill owned and operated by the Lancaster Mills Company, of Clinton. The resident superintendents of the mills have been Deacon Moses Brigham, Levi Hoi brook, James A. Weeks, Edmund C. Forbes and Thomas C. Sheldon.

The people of the town have always been noted for their healthfulne^s and longevity. For a period from 1797 to 1830 there were thirty-four deaths of persons over eighty years of age. Miss Betsey Stone, a descendant of one of the oldest families, died June 30, 1868, at the great age of one hundred years and eight months. Abel Farwell, a pensioner of the War of 1812, died September 1, 1888, at the age of ninetyseven years, and was at the time of his death the oldest person in the town. Ezra Ball, now in his ninetv-fourth year, at present enjoys that distinction, and is the oldest resident member of the Congregational Church, an honor which was enjoyed by his grandfather at the time of the settlement of Rev. Mr. Hooper in 1794, and by his father when Rev. Mr. Sanford became pastor of the church in 1832. The population of the town, according to the last census, is eight hundred and thirty-four, and it has not varied very much from this number at any period of the town's historj^. The greatest number of inhabitants at any one time was in 1808, the year of the incorporation of West Boylston as a separate town, when it was ten hundred and thirty. In 1885 there were fourteen persons in the town above eighty years of age.

There are six schools in the town. The number of school-children, between five and fifteen years of age. May 1, 1887, was one hundred and sixty-six. The total number of different scholars in the schools for the year 1887 was one hundred and seventy-seven, and the amount expended for all school purposes was $2,228.07.

Boylston has an excellent public library, which was established by the town at its annual meeting, March 1, 1880, when the sum of two hundred dollars and the amount of the dog fund remitted from the county treasurer was appropriated for the purpose.

On the 27th day of the following June the Boylston Social Library - a library existing in the town, organized March 2, 1792, eighty-eight years previous, and consisting of three hundred and eighty-six volumes - was by vote, and subsequently by deed, added to the library. The library was completed by the donation of agricultural works to the amount of fifty dollars, from the Boylston Farmers' and Mechanics' Association, and twenty-five volumes from Mrs. John B.

Gough. The library contained, when open for circulation September 4, 1880, eleven hundred and ten catalogued volumes. It has since received many valuable donations, the more important of which have been from Hon. Phinehas Ball, of Worcester, the late John B. Gough, Esq., the late Oliver Sawyer Kendall, the late Sanford M. Kendall, Miss Ellen William?, of Northborough, Hon. George F. Hoar and others. In 1887 Miss Hannah E. Bigelow. M.D., of Marlborough, Mass., gave to the library one hundred and fifty dollars in books and money, in remembrance of her mother, the late Mrs. Levi Bigelow, of Marlborough, who was a native of the town. An interesting feature of the library is a collection of photographs of the present and former citizens of the town and the soldiers of 1861-05. The collection now comprises five large volumes and was the design of the late Oliver S. Kendall and has been largely carried out by his fiimity. The library now contains about twenty-five hundred volumes. George L. Wright is the librarian, and has held that position since its organization. A library has also been established at Sawyer's Mills by the Lancaster Mills Company for the use of its operatives. There is also a large and flourishing Grange of the Patrons of Husbandry in the town, of which George A. Hastings is the present master. The following is a list of the town officers chosen at the annual town-meeting in March, 1888 : Moderator, George L. Wright; Town Clerk, Henry H. Brigham (died June 19, 1888, and P. M. Brigham chosen to fill the vacancy); Selectmen, George E. Hastings, Penuiman M. Brigham, Wm. A. Andrews ; Assessors, Elmer Shaw, Lyman S. Walker, Wm. H. Hastings ; Overseers of the Poor, Lyman P. Kendall, Nathaniel L. Kendall, Charles E. Smith; Treasurer and Collector, Benj. C. Lane ; School Committee, George L. Wright, F. B. Willard, Thomas C. Sheldon ; Trustees of Public Library, P. M. Brigham, A. V. R. Prouty, George L. Wright, Miss F. M. AVhitcomb, Mrs. Everett Kendall.