Worcester County, Massachusetts - Chapter 116 (2 of 2 so headed), 1889

Miscei,I.Aneous Topics

Gardner Water Works. - With the rapid growth of Gardner and the accompanying multiplication of wooden buildings in the more thickly populated districts, the need of some effective system of public water works, both as a protection in case of fire and as a means of domestic supply, became apparent to many of its leading citizens. After agitating somewhat the subject of providing for this need, a public meeting in the interest of the project was held March 10, 1880, at which S. L. Wiley, of Greenfield, president of the Wiley Construction Company, who was familiar with such enterprises and who had looked the ground over to some extent with a view to practical results, was present and made a statement in regard to the feasibility of the thing proposed and the probable cost, both of the works and the water as it might be furnished to consumers. His representation made so favorable an impression upon those who heard it that a town-meeting was called on the 28th of April, when, after considering the subject at some length, a commitee was chosen "to contract with any Company or Corporation for sixty or more hydrants for a term of year-i for the use of the town, and to authorize such Company or Corporation to lay water-pipes along or across any highway and make necessary excavations for the same." This committee, after due inquiry and deliberation, closed a contract with the Wiley Construction Company in the autumn of the same year, and in the following June the work of laying the mains was commenced and carried forward to completion four or five months afterward. During the succeeding winter, the reservoir on Glazier Hill was constructed, as was also the pumping-station at the southeast corner of Crystal Lake. At an adjourned annual town -meeting in 18S2 the committee reported their doin»;8 with the agreement made with the Consti'uc'.ion Company, which was as follows: "The Company are to put in sixty hydrants according to accompanying plans, and furnish water for extinguishing tires for twenty years, at the rate of sixty dollars for each and every hydrant per year, the town to have the privilege of putting in new hydrants at its own expense on lines of pipe already laid, without additional cost. If new lines of pipe are laid, the Company will put in new hydrants on the same terms as the original ones were furnished. All hydrants to be accepted by the town and warranted to be kept in good working order. The Company to supply all public buildings, fountains and watering-troughs, without cost to the town, and all private parties at rates not to exceed those established in the town of Athol. The control of the hydrants to be in the hands of the Chief Engineer of the Fire Department.

At the end of twenty years the Coinpaiiy agrees to sell to the town at a price determincil by three disinterested appraisers." This agreement was ratified by the town.

On the lOlh of April, 18S2, the Gardner Water Company was incorporate<l by act of the Legislature, and given the privilege of taking water from Crystal Lake, with the additional " right of eminent domain." The capital stock of the company was $100,- 000. S. L. Wiley was chosen president, and Volney W, Howe secretary and treasurer. The water was first let into the mains May 4th, and a trial of the hydrants took place May 1], 1882. Everything proving saiisfactory, the Gardner Water Company bought of the Wiley Construction Company all its interest in the undertaking, assuming all its stipulated obligations to the town. The cost of the works, to the present time, has been about $80,000. More than sixteen miles of .street pipes have been laid, witli seventy-four hydrants and six public watering-troughs attached. About one-third of the families in the town are accommodated by the works. School-liouses and engine-houses, as well as other public buildings, receive water free. About three hundred thousand gallons are used per day. The reservoir will contain live million gallons, and is supplied from Crystal Lake, the water of which is of superior quality and practically inexhaustible, by two compound, duplex, condensing pumping engines, made by the Deane Steam Pump Company, of Holyoke, which are capable of pumping four million gallons per day. Henry W. Conant is the present skillful and efficient superintendent of the works, and the officers of the company at thi.'i date are C. H. Green, of Northfield, president ; Volney W. Howe, secretary and treasurer.

Fire Department. - Few towns anywhere are better furnished with facilities for extinguishing fires than Gardner, and its immunity, in late years, from the devouring flame is worthy of note. Since the construction of the water-works, with more than seventy hydrants distributed through the densely-peopled sections of the town, it has been, under the efficient direction of the chief engineer of the Fire Department, comparatively easy to control a conflngration whenever one has broken out, and to prevent seriously disastrous results. The pressure in the mains is sufficient, at almost any point - except in close proximity to the reservoir - to throw water over the highest buildings, and the protection is therefore as perfect as possible from that source. The town has also four handengines, which are kept in good order and may be called into requisition in localities lying beyond the reach of the hydrants. Besides these, there are four hose-carriages and two hook-and-ladder trucks, for each of which there is a company of twenty men, with an ample amount of hose and other equipments equally complete. A patent life-saving apparatus is provided for cases of extreme danger. Two enginehouses, for the proper protection and care of the apparatus, are located in different parts of the town - one in South Gardner, built in 1880, for the erection of which $4,000 were appropriated, and one in the West Village, erected in 1883, at a cost of $5,000. There are also supplementary stations in the Town Hall building and at the depot. The department is thoroughly manned and under good discii)linc, and can be called into service at any point by a system of well-arranged signals at the shortest possible notice. The officers of the department for 1888 are : Chief Engineer, Charles N. Edgell ; Assistant Engineers, Benjamin T. Joslin, Dexter Gleason, Theodore W. Learned, Frank P. Cowan.

Stkeet Lighting. - It is but a few years since anything like a systematic method was attempted in the way of illuminating the streets of the different villages of the town by night. The records of the clerk show that small sums were voted to parties wlio should maintain street lamps in localities approved by the selectmen. More recently a gas company has been formed, under whose t-uperintendence pipes have been laid, posts erected and lights kept burning along the more frequented thoroughfares. The company was incorporated in the year 1888 with a capital of fifty thousand dollars, the officers being C. H. North, president; J. L. Robinson, treasurer ; T. King, secretary. The works and office are on Logan Street, with Charles A. Roebuck in charge as manager. Not to be behind the times in the matter of lighting streets, halls, ^hnps, stores and even private dwelling-", the Gardner Electric Light Company was also incorporated in the year 1888, with Koderic L. Bent, president, and Charles F. Richardson, secretary and treasurer. The capital is $15,000. AVorks have already been erected on Park Street, near Crystal Lake, illuminating stat'ons have been established and practical operations have been begun and are now going on. The machinery employed consists of one arc dynamo, capable of supporting fifty lights, and an incandescent dynamo with a, capacity of five hundred lights. The demand for the latter light is already so great thataseconddynamowill probably be put in at an early day. The machinery and ajipliances are from the manufactory of the Thomson-Houston Company, Boston. Mr. J. W. Thurber is the electrician and manager of the concern.

Public Buildings and Halls. - The principal public building in the place, besides the churches and school-houses, is the Town Hall Building, located in the Central Village, at what was formerly the very heart of the community. It is a wooden structure, built originally in ISGO at an expense of twenty-one thousand dollars. It is two stories high, with spacious basement and high pitched roof relieved by dormer windows. Its exterior walls are broken by buttresses which are surmounted by well-proportioned rootlets and pinnacles. The main hall is on the second floor, occupying with its various accompanying side-rooms the entire area, above which is a commo- dious, well- lighted aj^artnieiitusedasa Masonic lodgeruom. There is a small hall on the lower floor which is Used as a District Cuurl-room aud for smaller gatherings, also the central post-office and several stores. The edifice was greatly eulaiged aud improved in 1883, at an additional cost of twenty thousand dollars. The seating capacity of the principal hall is now twelve hundred. It is not only well adapted to ordinary gatherings, but is provided with an ample stage, sets of scenery aud other conveniences for dram .< tic representations.

Citizens' Hall is a spacious apartment on the second floor of the engine-house in South Gardner. In order to meet the need of some place for public gatherings in that part of the town, the residents of the neighborhood supplemented the appropriation made in 1881 for better accommodations for the Fire Department in that locality by voluntai-y contributions to the extent of about !?30(J0, thus securing an additional story to the structure proposed to be built, and the conveniences they desired. The hall is easily accessible and serves a most excellent purpose as a place for holding lectures, social parties and entertainments of whatsoever kind.

Besides these more public places of assembly, there are several belonging to or occupied by diflerent social and benevolent associations or orders - such as the Grand Army Hall, near the railroad stations; Odd Fellows' Hall, in West Gardner; and the Knights of Pythias Hall, in the Bank Building; Good Templars" Hall, on Chestnut Street; Unity Hall, near the Universalist Church; and still others owned by private p-irties, like Hager's Hall and Garland's Hall, in West Gardner.

Hotels. - The first hotels in the town were kept by John Glazier, on the spot and in the house where Wni. Austin now resides; Capt. Elisba Jackson, on Kendall Street, near the summit of the hill; and Jonathan Greenwood, oti High Street, near Minott. In these several localities was furnished entertainment for man and beast after the fa-hiou of those primeval times. Numerous taverns or public-houses of varying grades, during the more than a century intervening, have accommodated the travelers and other people with food, drink and lodging, at other points within the town limits, of which no record has been sought. At present there is no lack of such establishments in the community for the benefit of either the transient or the jjermanent guest. The most spacious and imposing of them all is the Windsor House, in the Central Village, owned by a syndicate of Gardner gentlemen and kept by 'Colby & Hartwell, who have recently taken the place of the former landlord, Mr. W. H. Barnes. The building was put up in 1882, on the site of the old " Central House," for many years neither an ornament nor an honor to the town in any sense, nor a blessing to the community. It is constructed of brick, with granite and brown-stone trimmings, having a frontage of eighty-three feet on Green Street, where is the main entrance, and of eighty-eight feet on Pearl Street. It is three stories above the basement, which is high and commodious and is arranged and fitted up with ample facilities for mercantile purposes. The superstructure contains nearly one hundred rooms, well-apportioned and elegantly furnished, and is provided with steam-heat, gas, electric bells and all the appointments of a first-class establishment.

The South Gardner Hotel is the oldest stand of the kind in town. It is located on the line of the first county road that was laid through the place aud of the Fifth Massachusetts Turnpike, and was probably erected and opened as a public-house about the time of the construction of that important thoroughfare in 1800. It has been greatly improved within a few years and adapted to the requirements of the present time.

The Gardner House is more favorably located to accommodate the traveling public than any other in the town, being directly opposite the Fitchhurg Railroad Station and central to several important business interests. It was first opened in 1881 by Mr. L. H. Hoi ton, of the South Gardner Hotel, who died not long after, leaving the property to his widow. She had charge of it for about two years and then sold it to Mr. Frank Rafl^erty, of Claremont, N. H., who enlarged the building and made it more convenient and attractive to guests. It is heated with steam and wellsupplied with modern improvements.

Richards" House, on Parker Street, near Vernon, formerly the Methodist Chapel, is a pleasant aud commodious place of public entertainment, dispensing a free and generous hospitality to its guests and ofl'ering special inducements to commercial travelers, by whom it is liberally patronized.

Citizens' House, on Parker Street, near West, presents a pleading and somewhat imposing external appearance, being three stories high above the basement, with a double piazza on three sides and other corresponding architectural features. It contains fortyfive rooms, besides a large hall, is heated by sieain and is furnished with due regard to both comfort aud beauty. The proprietor is Agnes Jacques, who is also manager.

The American House, the Crystal Lake Hotel and the Montreal House are hostelries of smaller proportionsand of less note, yet claiming their share of favor and patronage from the general public. -

Elegant Residences. - Gardner is honored and adorned with a goodly number of beautiful aud ornate private buildings - the homes of the better-conditioned class of its citizens, who, by the skill, care and good taste displayed in their dwellings and grounds, contribute not only to the general attractiveness of the place, but to the pleasure and happiness of all lovers of fair and comely things. Some of these, it is said, excel in architectural proportions, in artistic appointments, in chasteness and delicacy of ornamentation, in richness of color and perfection of fiuish, anything elsewhere in ihe county outside of the city of Worcester, while others, less elaborate, costly and perfect, are yet models of refined taste and elegance iu the line of art which they represent. Among these as worthy of special mention are the residences of Messrs. George and Henrj' Heywood, Alvin M. Greenwood, Philander Derby, Mrs. Fannie B. Heywood and Mrs. Ellen L. Pierce, while those of Seth Heywood, Roderic L. Bent, John A. Dunn, Charles D. Burrage, John D. Edgell and others are exceedingly pleasant and attractive.

The Centennial Celebration. - On the 27th of January, 1885, it being the year on which the town would complete a full century of its corporate existence, it was voted, at a legal meeting of its citizens, to celebrate the event with observances and exercises appropriate to so important and interesting an occasion, and the matter of providing ways and means for carrying this vote into efl'ect was entrusted to the charge of the selectmen. On the 2d of March, following, at the annual town-meeting, a large committee of citizens was chosen to advise and co-operate with the selectmen in arranging the details of the celebration and in making due provif^ion for the proper execution of whatever plans might be adopted in relation theieto. These parties addressed themselves to the duty assigned them with praiseworthy promptness, fidelity and zeal. The work in hand was wisely divided into numerous departments representing distinct and important interest?, and the proper subcommittees were chosen to have these departments in charge, so that nothing should be neglected or omitted which might be deemed necessary to make the proposed demonstration a grand success. Fifteen hundred dollars had been appropriated by the town to defray whatever expenses might be incurred, and private contributions increased the sum to an extent that left the Committee of Arrangements great liberty in the adoption of measures suited to the ends they were appointed to ])romote and secure. The result of their labors furnished ample evidence of the wisdom and efficiency of their management.

The exact day of the proposed anniversary was the 27th of June, and that was the time fixed upon for the event to take ])lace, preparations for which being made accordingly. But as it had been deemed advisable to unveil and dedicate the newly-erected soldiers' monument on the same day as a prominent and attractive feature of the occasion, it was decided, in order to have time for carrying out the full [)rogramme, which was considerably lengthened by this arrangement, that the oration and the more formal exercises accompanying it should be given in the town hall on the evening of the preceding day, June 20th. The hall was elaborately and splendidly decorated and at an early hour was filled with an intelligent, earnest and expectant audience. The Honorable John M. Moore, one of Gardner's best known and most respected

The following day was ushered in by a reveille at sunrise from the camp of Battery B, Massachusetts Artillery, located just outside the Central Village, and responding bugle-calls from the neighboring hilltops, followed by a salute of a hundred guns, the ringing of bells and the blowing of steam-whistlei. People were early astir, and as the morning advanced, crowds gathered from the adjoining towns and all the region round-about. The streets put on a holiday appearance, public and private buildings were profusely decorated with the national colors, an indefinite number and variety of tasteful designs, emblematic figures, mottoes and words of welcome and rejoicing. The Governor of the Commonwealth, His Excellency George D. Robinson and suite, with other distinguished guests, arrived about ten o'clock, being received with an appropriate salute, when the procession formed, and passing through the principal streets of the different villages of the town, ended its march at length at the immense tent in the rear of the residence of Charles W. Conant, where an excellent dinner was spread and enjoyed, and where the post-prandial exercises were held. On its way the procession halted at the square where the soldiers' monument stood, and where services appropriate to the unveiling and dedication of that tribute to patriotic virtue took place. The procession was nearly a mile long and moved to the strains of martial music floating from several well-trained bands through the air, lending exhilaration and enchantment to the scene.

After the dinner was over the president of the day assumed his proper place, and invited the Rev. James Taylor to offer prayer. He then introduced Geo. W. Cann, Esq., who was to serve as toast-ma-ter, and call out the speakers whom a large and eager audience was waiting to hear. "OurCommonwealth" was responded to by Governor Robinson in his usual happy style. Other well-selected sentiments opened the way for Col. W. S. B. Hopkins, of Worcester ; Hon. J. Q. A. Brackett, Speaker of the House of Representatives ; Hon. C- C. Coffin, the "Carleton" of the Boston Jovrnal; Philander Derby, an honored citizen of Gardner; Rev. W. D. Herrick, of Amherst; Rev. Wm. S. Heywood. of Boston, the orator of the day ; Harvey B. Whitney, of New Jersey, a native of the town ; Rev. Increase S. Lincoln, of Wilton, N. H., the second minister of Gardner, who had just passed the eighty-sixth year of his age, and Charles F.

Reed. The president closed the exercises witli a few well-chosen words. A dress par.ade on the Common by the local and visiting militia terminated the day's proceedings, and a grand illumination in the evening with fire-works, and concerts by Reeve's Band, of Providence, and the Fitchburg Band brought to a fitting end the celebration of the one hundredth anniversary of the incorporation of the town of Gardner.

The Soldiers' Monumext. - Sometime in the year 1882 a committee consisting of John D. Edgell, Charles F. Reed and J. Warren Spring was chosen by the town to act with the selectmen in considering the matter of erecting some suitable testimonial in honor of the brave men of Gardner who, in the time of the great Rebellion, "died that the Republic might live." On the 3d of JIarch, 1884, that committee reported in favor of such action, and $5000 was appropriated for the purpose designated. Subsequently the parties to whom the responsibility of carrying the project into execution was assigned made a contract with the Smith Granite Co., of Westerly, R. I., for the erection of a monument of a certain specified design and height, at a cost of $5000, to be completed before the 27th of June, 1885, which action was communicated to the town at its annual meeting that year. The conditions of the contract were iulfiUed, and the ceremony of unveiling and dedicating the beautiful granite structure constituted, as before stated, a prominent part of the proceedings of Centennial Day. The exercises consisted of a prayer by Rev. F. B. Sleeper, a poem written for the occasion by Elizabeth Stuart Phelps, and read by Comrade John D. Edgel!, a statement of the Monument Committee by Ezra O-sgood, chairman, and an address by Captain John F. Ashley, interspersed with appropriate songs and martial music. They enlisted the attention of a large auditory, and were received with manifest favor and enthusiasm. The monument is made of Westerly stone and is of fitting design, of excellent proportions, well-executed and finely finished. It consists of a square shaft resting on a pedestal having a solid base with substantial foundations, the whole being surmounted by a color-bearer in bronze, supporting a flag. Appropriate symbolic illustrations and inscriptions are cut upon its different sides, together with the names of the principal battles in which soldiers from the town were engaged. On the south or principal front, at the foot of the pedestal, in large, raised letters, is the word " Gardner," and beneath in three lines, " To her brave sons, who foughl'for the Union in the War of tlie Rebellion, 1861-1865."

Military Affair.s. - Mention has already been made of the volunteer military companies formed in response to calls of the United States Government in the troublous times of 1797 and thereafter, and upon the declaration of war with Great Britain in 1812, or in consequence thereof. For nearly twenty years after the disbanding of the latter of these there seems to have been no organization of the kind in town, although the military spirit was somewhat rife iu the general community, and military companies were popular in many localities. In 184-1 one was formed, however, with James Cooledge 2d as captain, and David Kendall, Joseph Wood and Hiram Wood as lieutenants, which bore the name of the Gardner Greys. But it did not meet with general favor from the public ; interest in it soon began to decline and it had but a brief existence. People began to think the time had come when men should " beat their swords into plough-shares and their spears into pruninghooks and learn war no more." But the Rebellion of 18G1 dispelled that illusion, and the citizens of Gardner rose to meet the exigency thrust upon them in a spirit becoming the sons of Revolutionary sires, as has been duly narrated in another chapter. The Rebellion over, the military spirit did not altogether pass away with it. Kept alive by memories of battle scenes and valorous deeds, or awakened by other influences, that spirit came to the surface again and put on an outward form of existence in 1884, when, on the 20th of May, the " Hey wood Guards " was chartered agreeably to the statutes of the State, and assigned a place in the volunteer militia of the Commonwealth, aa Company F, Second Regiment, with Solon T. Chamberlain captain, and Charles N. Edgell first lieutenant, who are still in command. In the same year the town appropriated five thousand dollars to build an armory for the new company, and chose a committee to superintend the work, which was completed in a few months. The building is a fairly good-sized one of some architectural pretensions, and stands on Elm Street near the railroad stations. The company is under good drill and maintains a respectable standing among its compatriot organizations.

The Town Poor. - Like most towns of the early times, Gardner availed itself of the privilege accorded it by the public statutes of "warning out" persons and families coming to settle within its borders without the consent of the authorities, whereby it was relieved of the responsibility of supporting them should they ever come to want. As a rule, most newcomers were thus treated, among whom may be found those who proved to be in after-years some of the most thrifty and honored citizens of the pl.ace. As to persons legally subject to the public charge, the policy generally prevailing years ago of letting them out to the lowest bidder to be cared for and supported, was at first adopted. The first case of this kind recorded is that of Oliver Upton and wife, with their children, early in 1789. Those having them were "to provide victuals and drink convenient for them and to take care of them." An effort was made the same year to have the town buy a farm with suitable buildings, and use it for the proper sustenance and shelter of those who had or might become public charges. But it did not succeed, and nothing was done in that direction for many years. The original policy of letting to the lowest bidder was continued as time went on until, out of considerations of kindness and humanity, the matter of proviiling lor the poor was Icit to the discretion of the selectmen. This course was pursued till 1849, when the Abram Stone place, in the northwest part of the town, wa? purchased, and, with its buildings, put in order for the proper care and maintenance of the unfortunate cla^*s under notice. Since that time thtxse desio;ned to bo benefited by such an establishment have been accommodated there. The farm contains two hundred and eighty-three acres, having a due proportion of wood, pasture and tillage lands, all in good condition. The house is large, convenient and, though old, is well suited to the purposes for which it is used. A new barn, seventy-two feet by forty, superseded the old one in 1872 at an expense of three thousand dollars. The present annual appropriation for the support of the \moT is six thousand dollars.

PiiiLANTHnoPY AND REFORM. - The people of Gardner have never been iiidifFercnt to the great hunianilary movements which more tluin ever before in the history of the world have characterized the century now drawing to its close. A long list of benevolent and reformatory activities to be found in the annals of the town proves this. It has already been said that the E\'angelical Congregational Church and Society from the beginning maintained an open, unqualified, consistent testimony against the evils of society and in favor of all enterprises calculated to elevate and improve mankind. No doubt this fact did much to mold public sentiment and create an interest in the community in all good causes and in all ])liilanthropic endeavors. But outside of that communion, there was a respectable number of those who, out of their own best convictions and emotions, were devoted to the welfare of their fellow-men, and counted it a duty and a joy to do what they could for the advancement of truth and righteousness in the world. The great temperance relbrjn has had from its very lieginning friends and champions ready to do they could to destroy one of the greatest evils that ever afflicted human society, to overcome one of the greatest of the foes of God and man. Soon after the question of temperance began to be agitated, in 1829, the Gardner Temperance Society was formed, with Rev. I. S. Lincoln as president, and later, to meet the new demands laid upon those who would do effectual service in this behalf - demands created by the increased light which had been thrown upon the nature and injurious effects of all kinds of intoxicating beverages^" The Washington Total Abstinence Society " was organized with Dr. David Parker as chairman and Thomas E. Glazier as secretary. At a still more recent date have "The Sons of Temperance" and the "Good Templars'' kept their respective ''Limps of Temper.mce" trimmed and burning, the rays of which might illumine some darkened mind or guide some lone wanderer into paths of sjfety and of peace. Aside from these outside and special activities, the several churches of the town have combined more or less of temperance influence and effort with their other work in these later years, and maintained a Gospel broad ennugh to include the principles of temperance among the " good tidings of great joy for all people." The cause, so far as it assumes organic form, is at juesent represented by a Lodge of Good Templars, a Prohibitory Club, two branches of the Women's Christian Temperance Union, and perhaps other associations of which no report has come to hand.

As with the cau^e of temperance, so was it, in ils d.ay, with the question of anti-slavery. In the irrepressible conflict between liberty and tyranny which antedated the Rebellion by more than a generation and prepared the way for the triumph of the right in that bloody strife - a conflict which " tried men's souls'' as few things in American history ever did before, or ever will again - -the friends of the oppressed, the friends of impartial liberty were not a few, and they stood strong and fearless fir the right, coming up " to the help of the Lord against the mighty." And in the same spirit have other reforms and good causes, unpopular, perhaps but having the interests of justice and humanity in them, been fiistered, upheld and advanced by men and women of this goodly town.

Social and Benevolent Oeganizations. - Under this head are included those associations which, while partaking largely of the same spirit as the enterprises or causes just referred to, are more private in their nature and characler and more restricted in the sphere of their activity and influence. Of these, so popular at the present day and so numerous in the community at large, Gardner has its full share. Little more can be done than to catalogue them in these pages wiihout a detailed account of their objects, methods of operation, officers or present degree of prosperity and success. They are mentioned in a miscellaneous way with little regard to their relative importance or any other principle of orderly succession as follows: D. G. Farragut Post No. 116, G. A. R.; Women's Relief Corps; Sons of Veterans ; Hope Lodge of Free and Acccpteil Mas )ns ; William Ellison Lodge, No. 185, Independent Order of Odd Fellows; Gardner Encampment, I. O. O. F. ; Gardner Lodge, Knights of Honor, No. 1582; Gardner Lodge, American Order of Uniied Workmen ; Achilles Lodge, Knights of Pythias, No. 48; Narragansett Tribe, Improved Order of Red Men, No. 48; Puritan Council, Royal Arcanum, No. JOIS; American Order of Hibernians, No. 0; American Legion of Honor; Crystal Lodge, Knights and Ladies of Honor, No. 1072; Gardner Cummandery, No. 347; United Order of the Golden Cross, Charles Sumner Camp, No. 37, Massachusetts Division Sons of Veterans, and others, perhaps, of which no record has been obtained.

equipped for service in their respective spheres of activity. No attempt is made to enumerate the many societies organized, under many different names, in connection with the several churches of Gardner, as agencies for aiding in the efficient prosecution of the recognized work of the church.

Banks. - The First National Bank of Gardner was establislied early in 186.5, receiving its charter on the 2.5th day of February, with a capital of one hundred thousand dollars, derived mostly from the citizens of the town. Mr. Amasa Bancroft was chosen first president and Mr. John D. Elgell, first cashier. In 1875 its capital was increased to one hundred and fifty tlinusand dollars, the amount of it at the present time. Marcli 27, 1S7G, Mr. Volney W. Howe was appointed assistant cashier. In 1872, Mr. Bancroft retired from the presidency and Mr. Charles Heywood was chosen his successor. At tlie death of Mr. Heywood, in 1882, Mr. John D. Edgell was promoted to the vacant position and Mr. V. W. Howe was made principal cashier. These persons serve in the places indicated at the present day. This bank has been under wise and prudent management from tlie beginning, building up for it an excellent reputation and securing for it the confidence and support of the business conmiunity. It has a surplus of thirty thousand dollars.

Tlie Gardner Savings Bank was established in 1808 and duly incorpor.ited for the transaction of business under the laws of the Commonwealth. Charles Heywood was the first president and John E>. Edgell, treasurer. This in-titution has been of great value to the financial interests of Ihe town, especially those of the middling classes, by whom it is largely patronized. It has had a fortunate experience and may be regarded as thoroughly sound and trustworthy. Its present president is Mr. Franklin Eaton and Mr. J. D. Edgell is still the treasurer. The amount of its deposits to date is one million and thirty-eight thousand dollars and its guarantee fund is thirty-eight thousand dollars.

Posr-OFFICES. - The first office for the reception and distribution of mail matter established in town was located in the village of South Gardner, that being on the great line of travel between Boston and the towns lying westward in the Connecticut Valley. Mr. Clement Jewett was the first postmaster. His successor was Moses Wood, who, having liusiness interests at the Centre, moved the office there. The people of the south part of the town were much dissatisfied, and petitioned the department at Washington f )r a new office. Their petition was granted, and Abijah 51. Severy was given the charge of it. He was succeeded by Lewis H. Bradford, Samuel S. Howe and S. W. A. Stevens, who received the appointment about the year 18-54. At the central office Mr. Wood was probably succeeded by Levi Heywood, C. Webster Bush and Miss Sarah E. Kichardsan, who has filled the position since 1873, to the entire satisfiiction of all interested and concerned. An office was established in the West Village some years since ; it is now in charge of Mr. Albert A. Upton.

Cemetpiries. - There are four of these cities of the dead within the liicits of the town - the old buryingground in the rear of the First Congregational Church, lying lietween Green, Heywood and Woodland Streets, w-hich was laid out about the time of the incorporation, and in which sleep the remains of nearly three generations of the earlier inhabitants; Green Bower Cemetery, off Union Street, South Gardnei» which is in control of an as-ociation organized in 1849, though it had been used previously to some extent for burials; Cry.stal Lake Cemetery, purchased " for a cemetery for the use of the town " in 1858, and occupying a beautiful site on the west side of the lake which gives it its name; and St. John's (Catholic) Cemetery, off West Street.

Police - The Police Department of the town consists of fourteen men, at the head of whom is Mr. Henry Carney, with headquarters in the basement of the Town Hall building.

Physiciaks. - The first medical practitioner was Joseph Boyden, who came to town early in its history from Sturbridge, married the daughter of Seth Heywood, followed his profession until about the time of the settlement of Rev. Jonathan O-sgood in 1791, when he left for Tamworth, N. H., where he spent the remainder of his days. He is said to have been a man of superior ability and of wide reputation. Dr. Boyden was succeeded by Mr. Osgood, who was not only a minister, but a physician of acknowledged skill, serving in that capacity for more than thirty years with a good degree of success and to the satisfaction of his patrons. The third physician of the town was Dr. Howard, whose stay was brief and of whom nothing further is known. In 1822 Horace Parker, M.D., from Westford, began the pr.actice of his profession in the place and continued till his health failed in 1829, when he returned to his old home, resigning his place to his brother David, who had studied with him and who had already practiced somewhat in the community. Dr. David Parker came to Gardner well-qualified for the duties of his calling and cordially endorsed by the highest medical authority in the Commonwealth. He early evinced unu-ual skill in the treatment of disease and endeared himself to the people of the town and vicinity, both by his success as a physician and by his kindness and sympathy in times of sickness, anxiety and bereavement. Had he given himself wholly to his chosen work he would have risen to a high and commanding position in the medical world. For nearly sixty years he lived in Gardner, was familiar w-ith its afl'airs and with the great mass of its people, attending to the duties of his profession almost to the last, and passing away at the advanced age of more than fourscore years in the spring of 1886. Others of the profession in town have been : Drs. Carpenter, Jew- ett, Harriman, Warner, Whittier, Sanborn and Sawyer, Sr. The present physicians are: Drs. R. F. Andrews, C. H. Bailey, E. A. Colby, J. E. Gallagher, G. W. Garland, J. R. Greenleaf, H. P. Grise, F. E.

Attorneys. - Among the first men who practiced law in Gardner were C. H. B. Snow, Esq. and C. W. Carter, Esq. Mr. Snow died many years ago, and Mr. Carter is still in the profession at Leominster. The present lawyers are Charles D. Burrage, Thatcher BDunn, Ephraim D. Howe, Edward P. Pierce and James A. Stiles.

Of the 7283 inhabitants in 1885, there were native males, 2650; females, 2630; foreign males, 1067; females, 891; mulatto males, 35; females 10. This population was distributed in 1673 families, who occupied 1148 dwellings.

The public property of the town of Gardner in the year 1888, as reported to the Tax Commissioner of the Commonwealth, Alanson W. Beard, was follows :

C. Webster Bush ; Selectmen, Charles Bancroft, Webster Cowee, G. N. Dyer; Assessors, R. P. Adams, Marcus Whitney, Thomas F. Carney; Overseers of the Poor, Charles Elton, Charles Whitney, Jos. D. Frinney ; Collector of Taxes, Edwin H. Cady ; School Committee, Dr. E. A. Sawyer, Mrs. Clara Howe, J. M. Moore.