Brookfield Town (part 17 of 18)

In the year 1692, Joseph Woolcott's house and most of his movable goods were destroyed by fire. And he had hardly got settled in his new house, when the terrible tragedy occurred, by which his home was broken up. [See ante, pp. 146-152.] He probably married a second wife, by whom he had Sarah and Rebecca, and perhaps a son Josiah. " Sarah Woolcott, singlewoman, of Newtown, Nassau Island, Queens Co., N.Y., for 20 shillings, sells Aug. i, 1728, to Jonathan Nutting, gunsmith of Plainfield, Ct., 50 acres in Brookfield lying on the country road, formerly owned by Joseph Woolcott, deceased." "David Jones and wife Rebecca, daughter of said Joseph Woolcott, of Oyster Bay, Queens Co., Nassau Island, also execute Aug. 5, 172S, a release of claim in said land." [Registry at Springfield, E. 304.] He d. before 17 10.

5. John, son of John 3. [For his romantic history and tragic death, see ante, pp. 172-3-] He received the following grants of land in Brookfield : -

"Nov. 8, 1718, 25 acres on Pine plain, southeast of his father's house, and 9 acres bounded S. on the country road, W. on heirs of Stephen Jennings, deceased, and 6 acres meadow, on Five-mile river, N.E.of the road ; Feb. 18, 17 19, 40 acres bounded W. by the pond, and 20 acres, bounded W. on Amos Rice; Mar. 4, 1720, 20 acres on Pine plain, S. of the road; Jan. 10, 1720-1, 70 acres E. of Five-mile river near the old bridge, bounded S. on Edward Walker and E. on the Town line, and lO acres W. of the last, N. on Bettis' meadow." He was in the military service, in Captain Samuel Wright's company, Nov. 1723 to June, 1724; and the next year was out with Capt. Timothy Dwight. He was killed by the Indians on Connecticut river, Apr. 17, 1728. He m. Oct. 12, 1727, Dinah, daughter of Edward and Elizabeth Walker of Brookfield, who m. (2) 1730, Peter Rice. Child, John, b. June 14, 1728 8.

6. Nathaniel, son of John 3, b. about 1700, received a grant of 60 acres of land May 23, 1718, "on the same terms as to young men under age; " and later received grants in own right, amounting in all to 230 acres, and in addition inherited from his father his large estate including the mills. He was for many years a prominent man in town and church affairs; selectman 1747, '49, '59, a^nd '60 ; was a soldier in Capt. Eleazar Melvin's Company "for the defence of the eastern frontier. May to Oct., 1754 ; captain in command of a company that marched to the relief of Fort William Henry in Aug. 1757 ; and was commissioned Oct. 1761, captain of the third company in Brookfield, in Third Regiment Worcester County Militia. He d. Nov. 1771. In the inventory of his estate is "one Negro manservant ^30." He m. (i) Nov. 28, 1723, Deborah, daughter of Edward and Elizabeth Walker of Brookfield; (2) July 21, 1743, Beulah, daughter of Joseph and Hannah Woolson of Weston; (3) Dorothy Richardson of Brookfield (intentions of marriage published Oct. 1755); (4) ^t Concord, Jan. 26, 1758, Mrs. Mary Jones of Concord, who survived him, and m. (3) Dec. 23, 1772, Capt. William Ayres of Brookfield as his third wife. Children, Oliver, b. Mar. i, 1724-5, m. (i) Jan. 11, 1749, Abigail Mills, (2) Jan. iS, 1759, Elizabeth Butman ; Ruth, b. Feb. 24, 1726-7, m. Nov. 6, 1755. William Henshaw of Brookfield; Martha, b. Jan. 7, 1728-9, m. 1752, Capt. John Waite of Brookfield, and d. Dec. 4, 1807 ; Nathaniel, b. May 3, 1730, m. Mar. II, 1756, Hannah Hamilton; Joanna, b. Sept. 26, 1732, m. 1753, John Hamilton of Brookfield; John, b. June 28, 1734 9; Deborah, b. Apr. 30, 1736, m. 1754, Samuel Buckminster; Emerson, b. Apr. 14, 1738, m. Dec. 2, 1767, Mary Adams.

7. Joseph, son of Joseph 4; carpenter. In Jan. 1710, he sells Capt. Thomas Baker of Brookfield forty acres and a house there, where his father formerly lived, inherited from his grandfather John Woolcott, deceased; and the following March sells to his uncle, John Woolcott, several lots of land formerly his grandfather's. He was of Springfield in 17 11, where he sells his interest in the estate of his uncle, Robert Granger of Suffield. He was living in Roxbury in 1728; and in Brookfield in March 1732-3, when he sells to his uncle, John Woolcott, all his rights in the estate of his grandfather, John Woolcott, deceased. His after residence is unknown. He m. at Roxbury, July 14, 1725, Elizabeth Mossman.

9. John, son of Nathaniel 6, miller, ensign. " Granted Mar. 30, 1769, to Ensign John Woolcott, 19 acres E. of his house, from Boyd's corner S. of the brook to Hinckley's E. of the brook, thence to the mouth of the brook where it empties into North pond, and by the pond to the head of his father's mill brook - surveyed by Rufus Putnam, Oct. 18, 1768." "Mar. 19, 1771. Granted to Ensign John Woolcott, 15 acres at the mouth of the ditch where it empties into North pond, by widow Gill's to Thomas Moore's, then E. by N. to Woolcott's mill brook, Boyd's corner,

1. William, b. England, 1587-8 ; is supposed to have come over with his brother John in 1628, said brother having come in 1624 and located at Cape Ann, under the direction of the Dorchester Company, on whose business he went to England in 1628, returning after three months, and bringing his son Humphrey, aged 21, and locating at Salem, whither the colony had removed from Cape Ann. William settled in Beverly, building a house in 1630, near what is called " Woodbury's Point." He joined the church in Salem 1639; freeman 1641. He d. Beverly, Jan. 29, 1677, aged 88; his will, bearing date April i, 1663, probated April 26, 1677. His wife was

88. Children named in the will, Nicholas, "eldest son," b. 1617 2 ; William, joined the church at Salem Dec. 29, 1639; was one of the founders of the church at Beverly 1667 ; had Nathaniel, baptized Jan. 12, 1640; John, baptized Oct. 24, 1641 ; Andrew, settled at Salem, wife Mary; children, Mary, b. May 14, 1657 ; Susan, b. Jan. 1660; Hannah, b. Apr. i, 1664; his widow Mary presented invoice to the court, June 29, 16S5 ; Hugh, of Salem; Isaac, freeman, 1678, m. Mary Wills or Wilkes; he was taken by the French in his fishing schooner, 16S9 ; Hamu^h, m. Haskell.

2. Nicholas, son of William 1, yeoman, is first mentioned in Salem Records Oct. 15, 1637, when he received grant of a "ten-acre lot;" united with the church at Bass river shortly after its formation, by letter from Salem church ; freeman, 1673. I" his will, dated Aug. i, 16S5, he names first wife Ann and six chilt^ren ; inventory, dated July 22, 16S6, ^2,473, 4 shillings; administration granted Dec. 2,

1691, to widow Mary. Savage says : " he divided a good estate here, to his children, but to his eldest son Nicholas he devised his lands in the mother country at Great ' Yarmouth.'" He d. Beverly, May 16, 16S6, aged 69. He m. (i) Ann Palegrave of Great Yarmouth, Eng., b. 1625, d. some years before him; (2) Mary , d. Beverly, June ID, 1701. Children, Nicholas, baptized Nov. 22, 1657; Joseph, baptized Sept. 20, 1665 3; Isaac ;' Andrew ; Benjatnin ; Joanna, ra. Samuel Plummer; Al>igail, m. Richard Ober.

WOODIS, Nathan, b. Oakham, Mar. 9, 1777 ; farmer; d. Oakham, Dec. 11, 1834. He m. Sarah Field of Oakham. They had several children, one of whom was

WORK, Frank P., b. Webster, 1836 ; photographer in North Brookfield ; m. Ellen M. Cor^y of Brookfield, b. Sturbridge, 1S43. Child, George B., b. Brookfield, 1862 ; a carpenter.

WRIGHT, Obadiah 1, received grants of land in Brookfield as follows : "May 28, 1720, 45 acres on Horse-pond brook, bounded N. on Joseph Jennings; June i, 1720, 45 acres lying S. of the old country road ; Jan. 4, 1721, 23 acres near Horsepond brook, N. on his own, E. on Hopestill Hinds, W. on Joseph Brabrook's,

WRIGHT, William ; farmer ; lived in a house which stood just south of the Jonathan Pellet brick house, near the Deacon Moore place. His wife was Mary

3. W^illiam E., son of Daniel 1 ; lives North Brookfield ; a boot-crimper for the Messrs. Batcheller for thirty years ; now a farmer; m. Oct. 23, 1855, Catherine, daughter of Parker Johnson of North Brookfield. Children, Agnes E., b. Jan. 26,

Index

Indians, 20, 21; annual burning of land by, 52; deed to Thomas Cooper, 53; assignment of same, 64; characteristics of, 71; sold into slavery, 72; treaties, 73; assault Brookfield, 83-S8; lurking around, 126; at Menameset, 31, 32,33. 34> 75-79 ambush Capt. Wheeler, 81; great gathering at Menameset, 119, 120, 126; murdered at Spectacle pond, 139; skulking about, 140; assault on Woolcott family, 146-152; from Canada, 151; placed under guard, 153; bounty for scalps, 164, 208; around Brookfield, 208.

Relation, Eph. Curtis' first, 76. Relation, Eph. Curtis' second, 78. Representatives in Gen. Court, List of, 287-8. Representatives to General Court, 201. Reskeshonege, 37. Revolution, War of the, 225-245. Rice, Abner, 216, 241.

turning point in King Philip's War, 98. Surveyors' Compass, 54. Sutherl.and, Rev. George, 284. Swan, Richard, 65, 68. Swansey, attack on, 74, 75.

Wheeler, Capt. Thomas, 79; order of Council to, 79-80; his Narrative, 8o-8g; wounded, 82; return home, 8g, g2; place of the Indian ambush of, g2-8; his defeat the turning point of King Philip's War, g8.

Source changes here: from History of Worcester County, Massachusetts, by Hurd, Duane Hamilton, [from Old Catalog] Ed, published 1889; 15,998 words in this source stream.

Brookfield Town

coinodityes & adrantages thereof & thereunto belonging the said Ensigne Thomas Cooper, for himself and for the present Plantere at Quabang; and their Associates & successors is to have, hold and enjoy, & that for ever.

And the said Shattookquis, as well for other considerations, as alao for & in consideration of the sunime Three Hundred fadom of Wampanipeage in hand Received, doth grant, bargayne & sell All & Singular the aforenamed Tract of land to Ensigne Thomoa Cooper, his sue cessors & assignes as aforesaid, & to their heires for ever. And the said Shattoockquis doth hereby covennate & promise to & the said Ensigne Thomas Cooper that he will save ye said Thomas Cooper harmless from all manner of clamyes of any person or psons lawfully clayuiing any right or interest in the said lands hereby sold, or in any part thereof, & will defend the same from all or any molestation & incumbrence by any Indians lawfully laying clayme or title thereunto. In witness whereof the said Shattoockquis hath herewith sett his hand, this tent^j day of November, lliGfj :

An Indian witness, who, challenging some interest in the land above sold, received part of ye pay & consented to the sale of it all. Subscribed & delivered in ye presence of

Elizue Holtoke, Samuell Chapin, ,Japhett Chapin. Shattoockquis, an Indian above-mentioned, did own & acknowledge this to be bis act & deed, resigning up all his right, title & intrest in the lands above-mentioned unto Thomas Cooper, his Associates & Assignes, as above said, this Tenth day of November, 1065.

The wampumpeage, three hundred fathoms of which were paid for the land, was made from the purple and white parts of the quaw-haug shell, and consisted of flat, round, button-like pieces of shell, about a sixteenth of an inch in thickness, and a quarter of an inch in diameter, with a hole in the middle for stringing on strings of bark or hemp. The purple and white pieces alternated on the string, the purple being of double the value of the whi e, and tlie whole valued at five shillings per fathom. After wampumpeage went out of use as currency, it long retained a place among the Indians for the adornment of their persons. Before the days of the Pilgrims, it had a very limited use, and that only among the tribes on the seaboard. In 1627, when the Plymouth Colony effected a settlement with the London merchants, by which they were found to owe an indebtedness of twenty-four hundred pounds to them and other creditors, the debt was assumed by William Bradford, Miles Standish, Isaac Allerton, Edward Winslow, William Brewster, John Rowland, John Alden and Thomas Prence, together with their friends, James Sherley, John Beauchamp, Richard Andrews and Timothy Hatherly, of London, and the trading privileges of the Colony were assigned to them as security. In order to pay the debt, these gentlemen caused all the inland tribes to be instructed in the value and use of wampumpeage, and by its use they carried on so profitable a trade in the purchase of furs and their exportation to England as within nine years - the time prescribed in their settlement -

Until 1673 the committee appointed by the court held in their hands the entire management of the lands, and by them the allotments were made. They kept their Books of Records and Mr. Pynchon was the recorder. Their first book was probably destroyed by fire in 1676, and the only knowledge extant of the methods and plan of land distribution is derived from memoranda and extracts found among the papers of Mr. Pynchon. From them it appears that what were called the home-lots were laid out so as to take in what is now known as Foster's Hill, extending from Hovey's Brook on the southeast to Coy's Brook on the nor.hwest, including in all about five hundred acres. Beginning at Coy's Brook, the lots lay in the following order: 1. Richard Coy; 2. Thomas Parsons; 3. John Warner; 4. Samuel Kent; 5. Samuel Warner ; 6. John Youuglove ; 7. Thomas Wilson ; 8. Thomas Millet; 9. Meeting-House ; 10. John Ayres ; 11. William Prichard ; 12. James Travis; 13. Judah Trumble ; 14. Daniel Hovey; 15. James Hovey; 16. Thomas Hovey. The lot on which probably the first meeting-house was built was in the middle of the allotted territory, and was probably a little northwesterly of the present barn of Mr. D. H. Richardson. These lots contained twenty acres each, with a right to twenty acres of meadow and eight or ten acres of plain land, and larger lots were assigned to the minister and to fathers of grown-up sons. Each home-lot was also entitled to forty acres of upland and all undivided lands were held in common.

After this liberal division of lands, it was found, nevertheless, that the demand of the settlers for pasturage, mowing land, timber and fuel was far from being met, and the following petition for a further grant was sent to the General Court :

This honored Court being pleased upou petition presented to them by some of the inhabitants of Ipswich for land to settle a plantation at Quaboag ; so far to favor their notion or to grant them a tract of land of six miles square for that end, and farther since to encourage the poor inhabitants that are upon it. The humble petition, therefore, of the poor inhabitants of Quaboag to this honored Court is, that according as they were pleased to intimate their readiness to grant us the liberty of a township (whereby meet inhabitants upon the place we should be capable of it) so they would be pleased at this time to do it. Our humble petition to this bon'd C't is farther, that they would be pleased to enlarge our grant, if they see good, for that we may go six miles every way from the centre. The reason of this, our request to the hon'd C't, is because we find the meadiw to lie very much scattered about the place in many small parcels far distant one from the other, and therefore we fear that unless the hon'd C't grant us some considerable further enlargement, we shall not be able to fetch within our bounds a sufficient quantity of meddows to accommodate families enough to make a comfortable society in a place so remote in the wilderness as ours is. We would further crave leave to acquaint the honored C't that there is a great farm of land laid out very near our plantation for Peter Taft, as we do adjudge, within a matter of three or four miles from the river, which runs through our place to Springfield, as we humbly conceive that it will fall within our bounds. If it should not, we humbly crave that the hon'd C't would grant that it may pay public charge with us ; it being very difficult to carry on a place so remote from all otlier plantations in the wooda as ours is. And tbis hon'd C't BO fiir countt-nancing us as they have already, doth persuade, as by way of humble petition, to prcseut theee tbiugs to this hood C't, submitting ourselves tbeir good pleasure concerning ub herein. Wee, whose nauies are here underwritteu, have sub&ciibed , hereto in the behalf o(

In 1673 application was made to the General Court for an act of incorporation as a town. We are told by Mr. Temple that the original petition was found in a junk-shop by Dr. John F. Pratt, of Chelsea, and he has saved it from oblivion by giving it a place in his valuable history. The petition reads as follows:

The humble Petition of the inhabitants of Quaubauge Sheweth That whereas wee being not yet allowed a Township, wee are disabled as to comfortably carrying on ye aflTaires of the place as is requisite for the publieke &. our own conveniences in diverse respects as for the ordering the Prudentiall affaires of the Town proper, to select men, makeiug & collecting of Rates, &c. Wee have, indeed, a Committee to heipe in these mattere, but in regard we caunot rationally desire or expect the p'sence & assistance of One of the Committee (vest the Honno'd Major Pynchon) soe often as we need by reason of his remoteness. And yett w^iiout his p'sence or concurrence the Committee cannot make a valid act. The p^mises considered, Our Humble request is, that this much Honno'^ Corte would be pleased to grant us the Priviledge & Libertyes of a Township, whereby we may be the better iuabled to carry on our onne matters wtiiout too much disti-action.

It is probable, judging from the names in this petition and from the allotment of lands, that most, if not all, of the old Ipswich grantees had taken advantage of the privilege accorded to them in the re-grant. John Warner, Samuel Warner, John Younglove, Thomas Wilson, John Ayres, William Prichard, Daniel James and Thomas Hovey were all from Ipswich, while Richard Coy, Samuel Kent, Jymes Travis and Judah Trumbull were Essex County men and probably associated with the Ipswich men in the original grant.

Accompanying the petition was a letter from John Pynchon, desiring to be discharged from the committee for Quabaug, and this letter also Mr. Temple has reproduced in his history. The deputies of the court, as the record states, judged

The record also states that the *'magis'« Consent hereto, provided they divide not the whole land of yo Tounsiiip till they be forty or fiv«ty familyes in y" nieane time, yt their dividings, one to another, exceed

On the 19th of December in the year of the incorporation Thomas Cooper, the grantee in the deed from Shattoockquis, assigned his interest in the lands conveyed to him to the inhabitants of the new town by the following instrument:

I, Thomas Cooper.above mentioned, doe hereby relinquish & resigne up all my right & title in ye lands within mentioned, to be bouglit of Shattoockquis, hereby declaring that my acting in ye p^^mises was only In the behalfe &. for the use and behoofe of the inhabitants of Quabauge (now called Brookfeild) & their successors. The purchase of the abovementioned land being at their pper cost and charge, who had obteyned a grant thereof from ye Honn""* Gen'^* Corte, & are now allowed a Toune ; I doe therefore hereby deliver up this instrument, or deed of sale to John John Warner, Richard Coy & William Pritchard, of Quabauge, alias Brookefeild, for the use & as the prop^i^ right of the inhabitants of Brookefeild , the said Persons beiugo betrusted by the Toune, or present inhabitants of Brookefeild, for taking in & receiving this present Deed; wherefore I doe hereby deliver it up to them, hereby declaring it &. the land therein mentioned to be sold to be & belong to the present Inhabitants of Brookefeild, as they are a Township, and to particular psons only, according as they have or shall have grants of land confirmed to them. The whole tract of land above mentioned I doe fully & absolutely resigne up to the Inhabitants of Brooketield aforesaid, and to their successors & their beires for Ever, As witness my hand this 19th day of December, 1073.

December 19*i», 1073. Lieut. Thomas Cooper, above mentioned, subscribed hereunto & acknowledged the resigning up this De«d & all his intrest in the premises to the Inhabitants of Brookefeild,

Thus it will be seen that by the early part of 1673- 74 the town was organized, had acquired full possession of the lands, and was ready under favorable auspices to begin a career of municipal prosperity. But unforeseen disasters befell the town. In 1675, within two years of its incorporation, it was entirely destroyed by the Indians in King Philip's War, its meetinghouse and ail its dwellings were burned, some of its leading men, among whom were John Ayres, Richard Coy, William and Samuel Prichard, and James Hovey, were killed and families were otherwise broken up by the murders of wives and children. The Quabaug Indians, with whom for ten years the settlers had lived in harmony, were under the sway of Philip, and among the most earnest in the relentless war he waged. It is not necessary in this narrative to recount the details of this war, as they may be found in a score of historical works to which readers have easy access, and may at almost any time and place refer.

With the death of Philip, on the 10th of August, 1676, the war ceased, and with the return of peace the Quabaugs left their old homes, and the scattered remnants of their tribe retreated westward beyond the Hudson River never to return.

So the young frontier town of Brookfield disappeared. Its twenty families, with all their remaining provisions, migrated to new homes; the meetinghouse, in the erection of which, as the seal of their municipal union, they had taken special pride, and in which John YouDglove and Thomas Millet had preached to them the word of God, was burned, their fields were devastated and their houses in ashes, and for ten years the territory of Quabaug was a deserted waste. The memory of past disasters and the fear of their recurrence prevented during that long period its renewed occupation and settlement. So far as the incorporation of the town was concerned the privileges of a town were annulled by the following act of the General Court, passed May 28, 1679, and approved on the 9th of the following month:

For the greater comfort and safety of all people who are intended to resettle the villages deserted in the late war or the planting any new Plantation within this jnrisdiction.

It is ordered and enacted hy this Court and the authority thereof That no deserted town or new Plantation shall be inhabited until the people first make application unto the Governour and Council or to the County Court within whose jurisdiction such Plantation is. And tlie Council or County Court are hereby ordered and empowered to appoint an able and discreet committee (at the charge of the people intending to plant) which Committee are ordered and impowered to view and consider the place or places to be settled and give directions and orders in writing under their hands in what form way and manner snch town shall be settled or erected, wherein they are required to have a principal respect to nearness and conveniency of habitation for security against enemies and more comfort for church communion & enjoyment of God's Worship and education of children in schools and civility with other good ends.

And all such planters are hereby injoined to attend and put in practice such orders and directions as shall be given by such committee upon the penalty of five hundred pounds fine to the country to be inHicted upon them by order of the Council or County Court for their neglect or refusal to attend this order.

In 168G, as has been already mentioned, the resettlement of Brookfield began, but only the family of John Ayres, of all the original settlers, returned. The new occupants of the land w'ere chiefly from Marlborough, Springfield, SuflSeld and Hadley, while a few were from the more distant settlements of Essex County. The first effort in behalf of a reorganizaiion is to be found in the following petition :

*' Whereas there was a Township formerly granted by the Hon'>i General Court at a place called by the Indians Qnaboag & by the English Brookfield which was settled but by the Incursions and outrages of the Indians Wiis depopulated and layd waste & and hath been so for many years: the Ancient Inhabitants wholly deserting the same and it being a place very commodious for scittuation in the Road to Springfield Ac and may bo beneficial and profitable as well to the Country as to particular pei-sous ; and whereas some are already seated and others would be willing to settle the said place againe were there some encouragement from the Honi Council and one to guide & order the prudential affaires for such a Plantation.

Yor Petitioner humbly requests your Hou^a -would be pleased to appoint and impower some prudent and able persons as a Committee to admit Inhabitants and order the affaires of the place in forming yo Tonne granting Lotts & directing & ordering all matters of a prudential Nature till such time the Place be sattied and a competent number of Inhal'itautH A persons of discretion to order the affaires thereof and your Petitioners as in duty bound shall even pray &c.

In response to this petition, and doubtless others sent by the inhabitants, action was taken by the Council, which is stated in the records as follows:

November 9, 16SG, Maj. John Pinchon, Joseph Hawley, Capt. Samuel Glover. Mr. Samuel Marshfield, Mr. Samuel Ely, & Mr. John Hitchcock all of Springfield, are appointed a Committee for settling the Town of (^uabaag & the Petition of the said Town is grant«d and the aforenamed tientleinen are to receive the claims of the sd Inliabitants, grant lotts to others & give necessary orders for the more orderly settlement of the said Toune.

Under the operations of this committee lands were allotted as required, and new settlers continued to come in until 1688, when new troubles arose with the Indians and the growth of the settlement was checked. Its inhabitants lived in constant fear of savage raids, and what was called Gilbert's Fort, which contained barracks for soldiers and refugees, served as a garrison to which those in the neighborhood might flee in case of an alarm.

In 1693 an Indian raid was made on the houses of Joseph Woolcott, Thomas Lawrence and Joseph Masfm, which stood at some distance from the fort, and Mr. Lawrence and Mr. Mason, with his son and the wife and two children of Mr. Woolcott, were killed. But notwithstanding the cons' ant fear of Indian depredations, the town increased in numbers, and a determination was manifested to make the settlement, under any and all circumstances, a permanent and prosperous one. Indeed, not only was every effort made by the General Court to aid and encourage the outlying settlements, but direct and positive measures were taken to prevent their abandonment. On the 23d of March, 1699-1700, it waa voted by the court that no town or precinct being a frontier of the province which the towns hereafter named are to he accounted ; that is to say Wells, York, Kittery, Amesbury, Haverhill, Dunstable, Chelmsford, Groton, Lancaster, Marlborough, Brookfield, Peerfield, Mendon and Woodstock; nor any of the towns following to wit Salisbury, Andover, Billerica, Hatfield, lladtey, Westfield and Northampton . . shall bebroken uporvoluntardy deserted without application first made by the inhabitants and allowance had & obtained from the Governor and Council in Court & Council for their drawing off if it appear to them that it may be of public advantage or that the place is not tenable. Nor shall any inhabitant of the frontier & other towns or precincts before named, or any of them having an estate of freehold in lands or tenements within the same at the time of any insurrection or breaking forth of any war, remove from them with intent to sojourne or inhabit elsewhere without special license firet had and obtained as aforesaid.

Firstly. That we seenie to be called of God to continue our habitation In this place ; we are low in the world and it would be a breaking thing to our estates to remove to any other plantation, and the Land here ia very capable of entertaining a considerable body of people ; the inhabitants have been slow to come to us by reason of ye War, yet the land ia very Incouraging, capable to afford a comfortable subsistence to many ffamilies. /

2, That it is an Intolerable burden to continue as we have done without the preaching of the Word. God doth require his people to attend not only ffamily woi"ship but His public worship ; it is the ordinance of God that on the Sabbath Day there should be an holy convocation, and that his Word be preached by those that are able and faithful, and our necessitys put us upon it earnestly to desire it. Both we and our Children need the Instructions, rebukes and encouragements of the Word, the darkness and deadiiees of our own hearts, together with the many snares that are in the world, are nn experimental conviction to us that we need al those helps and advantages that God hath sanctifyed for our good.

3. That we are not aljle at present to maintain the Worahip of God. We are biit twelve ffaniilies, and we are not of estate sufficient to give suitable encouragement to a minister. We are willing to do to the outside of our ability, but tho' we do as much as can be expected from us, it will not amount to such a Bumra as a Minister may reasonably require for his labour.

4. Thnt if this Hon^ Court would please to pity us and grant us some help fur a few yejins for the maintenance of a godly, able Minister, besides the advantage it may be to these few familys that are here, it would be a means to draw many other Inhabitants to us, whereby we shall be BO far assisted that we may, of ourselves, be able to uphold the Worship of (_Jod and not be burdensome to others.

Under th<;so circumstances we humbly beg that this Hon** Conrt would exercise compassion to us & arregne some reliefe to us out of the Publick Treasury, which we shal look \ipon not onely a testimony of your zeal for the worship of God, but alsoe of your tender compassion to the souls of those wliom God hath made you ffathers of. And your Petitioners shall ever pray, Ac.

In response to the above petition the court ordered that twenty pounds be paid out of the public treasury towards the support of an orthodox minister for one year. The payment of this sum was delayed until 1701, when Rev. George Phillips, a graduate at Harvard in the class of 1686, and son of Rev. Samuel Phillips, of Rowley, was engaged to preach one year, and the money was drawn from the Province Treasury.

Whereas, by the Providence of God by allowance from the General Court and our nwu necessites and inclinations we have and are now settled at Brookfield and altbo' we are now but fewe in number, yethere is accommodations for a considerable Township; being new in our beginnings, and througli the difficulties and hazzards of the times people tho* otherwise well inclined to come & settle bore, yet have been slow in motion ibis way by reason whereof wo labour under many difficulties at present - Therefore move to this Court that they would be pleased to grant us some allowances for oure encouragement & help as foUoweth :

First, that we may. in some measure, be in a capacity to obtain the benefit of an orthodox ministry of God's word (which we are in necessity of). That this Court would grant us such allowances towards the maintenance of such an one a year or two or three, which together with what we might do among ourselves, might incourage a minister to settle amgbt us which would tend much to advantage both as to £cclesiastical and Civil alliiii-s.

Second, With reference to Publick chargesiamongst us. That this Court would order that all men that make good a claim of a proprietie within the bounds of our place might he engaged to bear their part in due proportion of all charges arising, and when notified of their Rate or proportion be obliged to pay on the place from time to time or quit their lands, etc.

Third, That this Court do settle and state the bounds of our Township, the centre to be the place wheie the fii-st meeting-house stood and to extend six miles Ka«t, West, North and South, viz., twelve miles B<]iu»re extending from said centre as aforesaid.

These things we apprehend might be a means to promote tlie welfare of our place so as in tiiu(* wo might be beneficial to the publick interest

John Pvnchon, Saml. Partrtgo, John Hitchcock, In the name of the Committee. Henry Gilbert, Thomas Barns, Thomas Rich, Sani^i Davis, Steven Jennings, Abijah Bartlet, Samei Wheeler, Benj. Bartlett, Samuel Owen, Thom s Parsons, Thomas Gilbert. Brookfield, May 2G, 1701.

As a result of this petition a i>]an was made of eight miles square, the quality of land stated and boundary lines described and the whole reported to the court in obedience to its order. In consequence of the loss of this plan another survey was made by Timothy Dwight in 1719 and the boundaries of the town were established by the court.

Shortly after the engagement of Rev. Mr. Phillips the coming on of what was called Queen Anne's War once more subjected Brookfield to the dangers of Indian warfare. In this state of things, upon a renewed application to the General Court for assistance, the sum of twenty pounds were allowed to be paid towards the support of a chaplain to the garrison in the town. No meeting-house had been erected since the first was burned in 1675, and it is probable that until the erection of the second house of worship in 1715 Sabbath services were held in the garrison. Rev. Joseph Smith, a son of Lieut. Philip Smith, of Hadley, and a graduate at Harvard in 1695, was appointed chaplain and was the second minister of the town since its reconstruction. Mr. Smith remained tuitil 1705, and was afterward settled in Cohansey, New Jersey, and Middletown, Connecticut. During the whole of his ministry in Brookfield and for some years after the sum of twenty pounds was annually paid by order of the court for the support of the ministry.

In 1704 the condition of the town had again reached a low ebb. The war continued and though some new settlers came into the town, they for the most part were refugees from more exposed settlements, and brought little with them for the promotion of their own comfort or of the public good. This unhappy condition is well illustrated in the following petition :

We hues names are underwriten do humbly beage your Excelancy's favor and that you wod consider our weke condishone ; the favor we beg is that we all ov us, not that such of us as find they are under such disadvantages that they cant subBist there, might remove into some other towne where they may works fore there liveinge. by the deficulty of the times we are reduste to such pverty that we cant subsist except your onors will plese to grant us wages as soldiers k pay for our diat, for we raize little or none of our provision by rezen of our being draun so far frome our improvements of Lands. Our families are so large and our means are so small that we cant live without sume other imploye than any wo have at present. And if the honoured Cort ceases to put us in as soldiei-s we will as we do account it our duti conform to the orders of authority - but we rather, if it may be granted, choose to remove into other towns, and we humbly intrete that the onors of the Corte would pk'so to grant us pay for our diat for the time we have served as soldears. No more at present, but we remain youavs as foUoweth :

To nU Excellettcy, Bamuel Shute, Etq., and the Hoiihl. Cotmcil and Hou*e of liepresentatives, convened in Geneynt Court the 2Sth of Slay, 1718. We nudereigued, tbe Cummitt<?e for BrookfielJ. after many Disappoint ' nients by wan- and otherwise, wliicli for a long time the people have laboured under, by the good providence of God are now so increased that they are now near fifty families on the place have near finished a very convenient meeting-house, have settled a church and ordained an orthodox and learned Minister. Wo humbly propose that they be ni«de a Township according to the directions of the Law by themselves & said Committee released - which we submit to the Courts' determination. And for your Excellency and Honor's shall ever pray.

This petition was granted and the following order was passed by the House of Representatives, November 12, 1718, and after concurrence by the Council, was consented to by Governor^Shute:

Ordered that the prayer's of this petition be granted, and that the Inhabitants of the Town of Brooivfield be invested with all the powers, privileges and authorities to direct, order and manage all the affairs of said Township that other towns are or ought to be invested with. And that the Committee be dismisr- from the care of them with the thanks of this Court for their good and faithful service. The said Town to lye to the County of Hampshire.

The first town meeting was held on the 15th of December, 1718, at which Philip Goss acted as moderator and Thomas Gilbert was chosen treasurer and clerk. At an adjourned meeting at which Thomas Baker acted as moderator, Thomas Barns, Philip Goss, Elisha Rice, Samuel Barns and Thomas Gilbert were chosen assessors; Tilly Merrick, Joseph Brabrook and Thomas Parsons a committee to examine town debts; Joseph Jennings and Joseph Banister measurers, and Elisha Rice, Thomas Gibbs and Jonathan Jennings a committee "to see that tbe grants made by the former committee do pay equal proportion to the rate committed to Constable Walker to collect for the meeting-house." At th's meeting it was voted that Tilly Merrick, Henry Gilbert, Edward Walker and Joseph Jennings be a committee to see that the town is supplied by the grist-mill with meal according to an arrangement which had been made with John Hayward. The grist-mill here referred to was built on land granted to Mr. Hayward about the year 170(3. The grant included " forty acres of upland in the west part of the town, and fifteen acres of meadows ; also seventy acres joining the first lot and twenty-four acres of meadows for his encouragement to build a grist-mill in Brookfield, and on condition that he maintain the same in such repair as the town may be supplied at all times with grinding from said mill for the term of twenty-five year.s." The mill was built on the New Mill Brook, and according to Mr. Temple, the remains of its dam may be seeu near the home of Mr. Sexton Douglass.

The first year after what might be called the second birth of the town, was characterized by a movement to establish public schools. On the 5Lh of Januari, 1719-20, the town granted forty acres of land for a school, and it is probuble that a school was opened near that time. On the 23d of January, 1728, it was voted that a school be built in four several places in town, the town to be divided into four parts by a committee, consisting of Wm. Old, E|)hraim Hayward, Wm. Ayres, Samuel Barns and John Hinds, and twenty pounds were appropriated for the salary of a school-master. On the 15th of May, 1732, it was voted to direct the selectmen to hire four women to -keep school, and the sum of fifty pounds was appro* priated. On the 23d of November, 1739, it was voted to have two school-masters, and the sum of one hundred pounds was appropriated. In 1746 the town granted one hundred and fifty pounds, old tenor, for the support of a grammar school, and in 1749, three hundred pounds, of the same tenor. But it is not necessary to follow the evolution of the school system of the town, and state the various steps by which its present condition has been reached. It was voted by the town after the three precincts were formed, that each precinct should have the care of its schools, and from that time each precinct raised its own school money, selected teachers, and had the general management of education within its borders. There are at present in the town fifteen schools, including the high school. These are the high school, a grammar, first intermediate, second intermediate, first primary and second primary, in the centre village, a grammar, intermediate, first primary and second primary, in the east village, the Potopoag, Rice Corner, Upper Podunk, Lower Podunk and the school over the river, with enrollments numbering six hundred and thirty-eight and average membership of five hundred and thirteen.

Little of interest occurred in the life of the town until 1744. There had been occasional alarms on account of Indian raids, and at various times companies of men had been raised to serve as scouts, and proper safeguards had been adopted. Brookfield was now scarcely enumerated among the bordtr towns, and its people lived to a certain extent behind the shield and shelter which newer towns farther to the west aud north had raised to protect them. Sheffield had been incorporated in 1733, Stockbridge, in 1739, Deerfield in 1682, Northfield in 1713, Saunderland in 1714, Brimfield in 1731, Westfield in 1669, Hatfield in 1670 and Sturbridge in 1738. But, nevertheless, occasional Indian attacks served to keep them on the watch, and to more or less obstruct and delay that development of business and trade which the older and better guarded settlements on the seaboard enjoyed.

With the settlement of new towns a new adjustment of counties became necessary. Middlesex and Suffolk counties, incorporated in 1643, had become with the incorporation of new towns disproportionately large, and an exigency seemed to exist for the formation of a new county. In the adjustment which ensued the town of Brookfield was involved. On the 2d of April, 1731, an Act was framed incorporating Worcester County, which included Worcester, Lancaster, Westborough, Shrewsbury, Southborough, Leicester, Rutland and Lunenburgh, which had previously been included in Middlesex county, Mendon, Woodstock, Oxford, Sutton and Uxbridge, which had before been iucluded in Suffolk county, and Brookfield, which as has* already been stated, had previously been included in Hampshire county.

In March, 1744, war was declared between England jmd France, and what has always been known in our history as the old French and Indian AVar, followed until the treaty of Aix la Chapelle, in October, 1748. In this war several Brookfield men took a prominent part. Joseph Dwight commanded a regiment in the expedition against Louisburg; Jabez Olmstead commanded a company in the same expedition, and the following soldiers entered into the service of the province :

In the second French and Indian War, extending from 1754 to 1763, Brookfield also performed her full share in furnishing men. Her soldiers in this war, without specifying the commands to which they were attached or the special service in which they were engaged, were :

Besides the above, the following muster-rolls are on record of men enlisting iu 1757 for various terms of service, many of whom had before enlisted: that in that year sundry inhabitants in the southwest part of the town joined with inhabitants in parts of Brimfield and of a district then called Kingsfield, but afterwards, in 1752, incorporated as the town of Palmer, and petitioned the General Court to be set off and incorporated as the town of Wt stern, now Warren. The act of incorporation obtained by them, passed January 16, 1741, provided that the new town should consist of lands bounded as follows :

Begiuning at Brookfield, eoutUweat corner, then runniug half a mile north on said Bruukfield line ; then west thirty-four degreei, north three iiiileB and eighty rotls to the river and hounded with a small walnut etaddle etanding in tlie Kplit of a rock; thence running up the river to an elm tree marked ; thence crossing the river and running north forty-four degrees east ahout three miles and an half to Brookfleld west line to a heap nf stones near a chestnut tree marked ; and running east eleven degrees and thirty minutes ; south one mile and an hundred and fifty rods, to a heap of stones on a rock at the end of a meadow on mill pond, then hounded on Cornelius White's land, till it comes to Mill Brook, bo called ; then hounded with the Mill Brook to the river, as the hrook ruus ; then crossing the river and extending southeasterly to a white oak tree, known by the name of the northeatst corner of the mile sfjnaro ; thence extending southeasterly to Brookfield south line, inter*^ecting that tine two miles and three-quartci's from said first mentioned aouthwoat corner bounds.

On the 11th of December, 1747, Rev. Thomas Cheney, the first settled pastor of the church, died. Mr. Cheney was born in Eoxbury, January 29, 1(388- 89, and was the son of William and Rebecca (Newell) Cheney. He graduated at Harvard College in 1711, and married two wives, - the first Dorothy, daughter of Joseph Hawley, of Northampton ; and second, Mary, great-granddaughter of Rev. John Cutton, of Boston. The death of Mr. Cheney and the loss of a portion of the southwestern section of the town, changing its geographical centre, stimulated a movement for the formation of a second precinct in the northerly part of the township.

Ebenezer Wilt and others petitioned the town in that year to build a new meeting-house as near the new centre as possible, or set them off as a distinct precinct. At the annual meeting in March the town refused to grant the petition, and voted down both propositions, concerning the meeting-house and the precinct.

In the mean time, Rev. Elisha Harding, a graduate of Harvard in 174.5, was invited to settle, and on the 28th of November, 1748, the town concurred with the church in the invitation, and at an adjourned meeting, on the 22d of December, voted, after considerable debate, as the record states, one thousand pounds, old tenor currency, " for his encouragement to settle in the Gospel ministry," and for his annual salary the sum of five hundred pounds, old tenor, "accounting it as though it be in Indian corn, at twenty shillings a bushel ; Rye, thirty shillings ; Wheat, forty shillings - - and so the five hundred pounds to be increased or diminished yearly, as the prices of the grain varied." He was also to have free liberty to cut wood for fuel on the common land of the town, known by the name of the Rocks.

that what was called old tenor currency was in value only one-tenth of sterling - that is, that one thousand pounds of old tenor was really only one hundred pounds in sterling.

Mr. Harding was ordained September 1.3, 1749, on which occasion Rev. Nathan Buckman preached the sermon. After the settlement of Mr. Harding, the dissatisfaction of the people in the north part of the town continued, and on the 29th of March, 1750, the second or north precinct was incorporated. Previous to that date, the town having signified that the formation of the precinct would be assented to in case fifty or more persons signed a request therefor, in les-s than ten days after such a condition was agreed upon more than the requisite number of signatures had bfen obtained, and thus, with the assurance that no further objection would be raised, a meeting-house was begun in April, 1749.

On the 16th of the following October a covenant was signed by forty-two of the inhabitants, and some dissatisfaction having manifested itself witt\ the location of the meeting-house, then still unfinished, it was agreed to submit the location to the arbitration of disinterested men. The location, as originally selected, was approved and the building by slow degrees went on to its completion.

The incorporation of the second precinct was granted by the General Court in response to a petition signed by Thomas Hale and fifty-six others, reciting the grievances under which the inhabitants of the north part of the town labored and the advantages of a separate precinct. The order of the court, passed by the House of Representatives March 28, 1750, passed in concurrence by the Council March 29 and consented to by Spencer Phipps, Governor, was "that the prayer of the petition be so far granted as that the petitioners, with their families and estates, together with such persons and their estates who shall, within three months from this time, signify their desire therefor under their hands to the clerk of the town of Brookfield, be and they hereby are set off a distinct Parish, and are endowed with all the privileges and subjected to all the duties which the other inhabitants of Parishes are by the laws of this Province endowed with or subjected to - Provided, their possessions do not exceed one-third part of the said town of Brookfield for quantity and quality."

On the 21st of May, 1750, a meeting of the precinct was held at the house of Jabez Ayres, in accordance with a warrant issued by John Chandler, Jr., Esq., at which William Ayres acted as Moderator. At this meeting the following officers were chosen : Wm. Ayres, Precinct Clerk; Wm. Ayres, Ebenezer Witt, Samuel Gould, Noah Harris and Benjamin Adams, Precinct Committee; Joseph Stone, Collector, and Wm. Ayres, Samuel Gould, Wm. Witt, Jason Bigelow and Moses Ayres, Assessors. On the 21st of September, 1750, it was voted by the precinct to raise by as:,es ment on the polls and estates £13,

68. 8(/. <o supply the precinct with preaching, and in 1751 forty pounds were raised for the same purpose. In 1752 Rev. Eli Forbes was invited te settle with the sum of one hundred and twenty pounds as a settlement, and £53. Us. Sd as an annual salary. The final salary agreed on was after 1767 to be £66. 13«. 4d, and thirty cords of wood a year. The church was organized May 28, 1752, and on June 3d, Mr. Forbes was ordained.

The ministry of Mr. Forljes continued until March 1, 1775, and June 5, 1776, he was installed over the first church in Gloucester, where he died December 15, 1804. His dismission, given at his own urgent request, was the result of indignities shown him in consequence of his suspected disloyalty. It is undoubtedly true that he was not by nature an enthusiast and did not enter into the revolutionary spirit with extreme ardor, but his immediate settlement and satisfactory ministry in Gloucester precludes the belief that he entertained other than patriotic sentiments during his residence in Brookfield. Mr. Forbes entered Harvard College in 1741 and during his freshman year enlisted in the Provincial army during the first French and Indian War.' After his discliarge he returned to college and graduated in 1751 in the class with Judge William Gushing, Rev. Mather Byles and Rev. John Willard, receiving the degree of 8. T. D. from his Alma Mater in 1804, the year of his death.

On the 23d of May, 1776, a call was given to the Rev. Joseph Appletou, of Ipswich, a graduate at Brown University in 1772, to succeed Mr. Forbes in the ministry, with the oft'er of one hundred and thirtythree pounds, sixteen shillings and eight pence as a settlement, and of seventy pounds as an annual salary for two years and eighty pounds afterward. Mr. Appleton was ordained October 3, 1776, and died in his pastorate July 25, 1794.

Rev. Thomas Snell succeeded Mr. Appleton and was ordained June 27, 1798, and continued in his pastorate until his death, May 4, 1862, with a salary never exceeding five hundred dollars a year. He was born in Cummington November 21, 1774, and graduated at Dartmouth College in 1795. Until September 21, 1851, for fifty-three years he was the sole pastor and senior pastor, with a colleague from that date until his death closed a ministry of sixty-four years. At this point the sketch of the Second Precinct will be closed in this narrative, as that precinct was incorporated as the town of North Brookfield in 1812 and will be found further referred to in the history of that town in another part of this County History.

After the incorporation of the Second Precinct a movement was initiated in the First Precinct to build a new meeting-house. The question of location became a serious one and three localities were proposed - the site of the old house on the hill, the plain and Mr. Seth Banister's lawn. The plain was in what is now West Brookfield, Mr. Banister's lawn was in what is now Brookfield and the hill was between the two. Tne people of the west village, though preferring the plain, were willing to compromise on the old site on the hill but the people of tlie south village would consent to nothing but the lawn within their own special territory. The people of the south part formed a majority of the First Parish and at a meeting held November 20, 1753, it was voted to build a meeting house on the height near Seth Banister's house. On the 4th of December Jedediah Foster, Abner Brown, John Go^s and forty othei's living in the west part asked to have the parish divided into two, equal as to quantity and quality of lands and number of inhabitants. The majority objected to the terms and conditions of the petition, but were willing that the petitioners themselves might be set off as another parish. In the meantime the erection of tlie meetinghouse went on and the petitioners in the west part applied to the General Court for an injunction. Without, however, going further into the details of the controversy it is sufficient to state that on the 8th of November, 1754, an act was passed by the General Court incorporating a third precinct and making an addition to the Second Precinct, which was incorporated in March, 1750. The following is the text of the Act:

Whereas, it is made evident to this court that the annexing some of the inhubitanta of the first precinct in the town uf Brookfield, with their lands, to the second precinct in said town, and the dJvidinj; the remainder of said first precinct into two precincta would serve very much to rt-iiiove many difficulties and inconveniencies which divers of the inhabitants of said first precinct at present labour under, and also very much to accommodate the greatest part of the iuhabitanta of said first precinct, -

Sect. 1. That all the lands in the present first precinct in said town, lying mrlhward of a line beginning at the northt-ast corner of George Harrington's lands, upon Spencer line, and runuinf^ westward by his, the said George's hinds, to Five Mile River Bridge at the country road ; from thence westerly on the most southerly parts and lines of the lands of Thomas Slayton, Captain Nathaniel Woolcet, Thomas Moor, Ebenezer Jennings, John Jennings, Obadiah Rice, W"". Parks, Josiah Con, verse, Francis Dodge, Paul Deland, tlie heirs of John Green, deceased, Stephen Green and Joseph Ranger, Jun. ; and from said Ranger's southwest corner to the southwest corner of Ayrea' meadow, on Coy's Brook, eo-called, near the place where the old school-house stood ; and from thence northward on the must eastward parts and lines of the lands of Jolin Tuff and Josiah Gilbert, and on the most westward parts and lines of tlie land of Jeremiah Woodbury and John Hill to Abner Tyler's land ; and from thence on the most eastward part and lines of the lands of Jacob Abbot and Joshua Dodge and Joshua Dodge, Jun., to the center line of said town ; and from thence all the lands eastward of that part of said center line, wliicb is northward of the place where the above descril)ed line meets with tlie said center line to New Braintree District be and hereby are annexed to the second precinct in Siiid town of Brookfield; and that all those persons that now are or hereafter may be inhabitants on said lands, be and Iiereby are incorporated with the second precinct, and shall be always hereafter obliged to do all precinct duties, and shall receive all precinct privileges in the said second precinct.

Sect. 2. That tlie remaintler of tlie lands in the said first precinct in said town of Brookfield be divided into two precincts in manner following, viz. : the dividing line shall begin at the southeast corner of Paul Deland's land, and shall run from thence to the country road in said Brookfield, so as to take in and include all John Rich's land where he dwells, into the West Precinct or division ; and from said country road Baid dividing line shal' run in the midst of tile town road that leads Bouthwarii from said country road to the river called Qnabaug River, to the southeast corner of Ephraim Bartlet's land ; and from thence westward, southward of all Ephraim Bartlet's and Obadiah Wright's land, to Quaboag River ; and from thence the said river shall be the dividing line down said river to the mouth of Salmon Brook ; and from thence the dividing line shall run straight to a large white oak tree standing in the northeast corner of a tract of land called the Mile Square ; said tree being a boundary between the townships of Brookfield and Western ; and that the lands lying in the said town of Brookfield {and not included in the second precinct) westward of the above dividing line be and hereby .are made a precinct by the name of the First Precinct in the Town of Brookfield ; and that the inhabitants of said land westward of the said dividing line above described be and hereby are invested with all the powers and privileges and subjected to all the duties that precincts in this province by law are invested with and subjected to ; and that the lands lying in the said town of Brookfi'dd (and not included in the second precinct), eastward of the above dividing lino be and hereby are made a separate precinct by the name of the Third Precinct in the Town of Brookfield ; and that the inhaliitants of the said lands eastward of the said dividing line above described be and hereby are invested with all the powers and privileges and subjected to ail the duties that precincts in this pi'ovince by law are invested with and subjected to, and be it further enacted,

Sect. 3. That all the inhabitants of the lands which by this act are made the first precinct and all the inhabitants of those lauds which by this act are annexed to the saitl second precinct bo and hereby are and shall forever hereafter be exempted from paying or contributing any part towards the charges and debts that have already arisen or may hereafter arise by reason of the building the new meeting house which has lately been erected in said town on the lands by this act made the third precinct in said town, any of the votes of the late first precinct notwithstanding; and that all the materials of the old meeting-house which was lately standing in said town was taken down be equally divided between the said three precincts ; and that all the ministerial revenues arising from all and auy lands lying in any piirt of the said town of Brookfield heretofore sequestered to the use of the ministry in said town shall be always hereafter equally divided between the said three precincts ; and that the charge of the committee who were appointed by this court in April, one thousand seven hundred and fiftyfour, to view the said town be borne and paid by the inhabitants of said town.

On the 22(1 of January, 17-55, the people of the first precinct voted to build a meeting-house "at the turning of the county rode, near the northeast corner of a plow-field belonging to John Barns, being on the plain in said first precinct." It was to be forty-five feet long and thirty- five feet wide, and so far as can be learned it was finished without serious delay. The question now arose as to which church the Rev. Mr. Harding belonged. The General Ciurt had provided that the estates of the first parish should be held for the payment of his salary up to the time of the division, but did not determine his future relation. Owing to the embarrassments attending this question he was at his own request dismissed May 8, 1755. Two years later, February 1, 1757, Rev. Nehemiah Strong, of Hadley, was chosen pastor to succeed Mr. Harding, but declined on account of the insufficiency of the proposed salary. Rev. Joseph Parsons, of Bradford, a graduate at Harvard, in 1752, was then called and was ordained November 23, 1757. Mr. Parsons served until his death, in 1771, when be w^s followed by Rev. Ephraim Ward, a graduate at Harvard in 1763. Mr. Ward was ordained October 23, 1771, and served until his death, in 1818. Rev. Eliakim Phelps was settled as his colleague October 23, 1816, and alter a service often years and two days, two years as colleague and eight years, as p.istor, he resigned October, 1826 and assumed the preceptorsbip of the Biookfield "Classical Female School." On the day of the dismission of Mr. Phelps Rev. Joseph I. Foote was installed, and after six years' service retired, and died on the day before his proposed inauguration as President of Washington College, in the Slate of Tennessee. Mr. Foote was succeeded by Rev. Francis Horton, a Harvard graduate of 1826. His ministry began August 15, 1832, and continued to September 15, 1841. Rev. Moses Chase was settled January 12, 1842, and was followed by Rev. Leonard S. Parker, a graduate of Oberlin Collegiate Institute, December 19, 1844. During his pastorale the first precinct was incorporated as West Brookfield in 184.S, and for a continued sketch of the parish reference must be had lo the history of that town in these volumes.

On the 15th of April, 1756, the third precinct, which is now the town of Brookfield, was organized with a niember.-hip of twenty-five males and fourteen females. The Rev. Nathan Fiske, a graduate of Harvard, in the class of 1754, was ordained May 24, 1758. He was in the class with John Hancock, Daniel Treadwell and Samuel West, and received the degree of S. T.D., in 1792. His pastorate continued until his death, May 24, 1799, when he was succeeded by Rev. Michael Stone, who was ordained March 11, 1801.

In 1827 the society became Unitarian, and settled Rev. George R. Noyes October 30, 1827, who remained six years, and afterwards became professor of sacred literature in Harvard University. Mr. Noyes was a graduate of Harvard in 1818. Rev. Seth Alden followed, remaining ten years, and was followed November 8, 1845, by William B. Greene, a graduate of West Point, who, in the war of 1861, commanded a regiment of Massachusetts Heavy Artillery. Rev. S. S. Hunting succeeded October 5, 1852; Rev. R. D. Burr November 18, 1858; Rev. Edward I. Galvin April 15, 1863; Rev. A. Judson Rich October 31, 1870, and later by Rev. Henry W. Woude and Rev. Samuel Hamlet. The society is at prfsent without a pastor.

On the retirement of Mr. Stone from the society, at the time of its change of theological belief, a new society was org.mized called the Evangelical Society theuce auuth aerentf-fire aadoae-half degrees east ninety rods ; thence suuth thirteen one-third desi'eas west eishty-eightrods and twenty-two liulis ; thence nurtli aeveuty-fire degrees west sixty-one rods and twenty links ; tlieuce south nineteen and tliree quarters degrees west eiglity rods ; thence south forty and one-half degrees east seventeen rods ; tlience north twenty-live degrees east twenty-three rods and fifteen linlis tliencjsoutli eighty degrees east fifty-four rods and ten linlis; tlience south tliirteeil and oue-third degrees west one hundred twenty -seven rods and live linlis ; thence north sixty-four degrees west sixty-eight rods and ten iinl<s; theuce eoutli sixty-two degrees west eleven rods and twelve links ; tlience north forty-nine degrees west five rods and nine links ; theuce north sixfy-one and one-half degrees west forty-two rods and twenty iinlts, to a point on the town lino between said Broolifield and Warner.

The remaining sections of the act provided for equitable settlements of arrears of taxes, of county taxes of debts, of corporate pi-operty, the support of the poor, the construction of roads, and further provided, that West Brooktield should

Continue to be a part of the town of Brookfield for the purpose of electing a representative to the General Court, State officers, senators, representatives to Congress and electors of President and vice-President of the United States until the next decennial census shall be taken in pursuance of the 13th article of ainendtnent of the Constitution ; and all meetings for the choice of said ollicers shall be called by the selectmen of the town of Brookfield in like manner and in the same places as heretofore called.

Six years later, on the 15th of April, 1854, the town lines were again, and for the last time, changed. An act of the Legislature of that date provided that

So much of the town of North Brookfield in the County of Worcester as lies southerly of a line beginning at a stoue nionunieut at the old post road leadiug to Brookfield, a little Northwesterly of what is called the Wolcott Mill, and running thence soutii seventy-seven degrees and thirty minutes east three hundred and seventy-five rods, to a stone monument, as now established in the line -of Brookfield and North Brookfield, on the easterly side of the Stephens pond, so-called with all the inhabitants and estjites thereon is hereby set off from the town of North Brookfielii and annexed to the town of Brookfield ; pro. vided, however, that for the purpose of electing representatives to the General Court to which the Siiid town of North Brookfield is entitled until the next decennial census shall be taken in pursuance of the thirteenth article of amendment to the constitution, the said territory shall remain and continue to be a part of the town of North Brookfield, and the inhabitants resident thereon shall be entitled to vote in the choice of such representatives, and shall be eligible to the office of representative in the town of North Brookfield in the same manner as if this act had not been passed.

The record of Brookfield in the War of the Eebellion impresses upon us anew a realization of the immense resources of our government in bringing it to a successful conclusion. Every city and town and hamlet in the loyal North poured out its men and its means, and their sources of supply were far from exhausted when the last soldier had been drafted for the Confederate Army, and the last dollar had been expended for its support. On the 30th of April, IStil, at a town-meeting, at which John E. Prouty acted as moderator it was voted, " that every person belonging to this town who should enroll himself in the company now being raised in this town and vicinity for the purpose of volunteering its services to the Government, subject to the call of the Governor shall, as soon as said company is accepted by the Governor, receive one dollar a day for every day he is called out to drill by the drill-master, or such officers as are authorized so to order. The payment of the above to be made weekly to the order of the drill-master, or the officer properly calling them out, and this shall continue till otherwise directed by the Selectmen."

It was also voted, " that every private and noncommissioned officer when called into actual service shall receive from the town such an amount as shall make his pay, including that received by him from the Government, fifteen dollars per month ; that every private and non-commissioned officer, who has a family or any person dependent upon him for support, shall receive in addition to the above eight dollars per month to be paid in such a manner and to such person as the Selectmen of the town shall think best for the support of saiil family or dependent persons."

It was furlher voted, " that when the company has been organized and accepted by the Governor, each and every member shall be provided with a plain, substantial uniform, and before going into actual service with an army blanket and revolver at the expense of the town unless otherwise provided."

It was still further voted, '' that the Selectmen be authorized to borrow what money the town may want to carry the foregoing votes into effect, to be paid in one, two and three years, and the Selectmen to give all necessary obligations binding the town to pay the same sums and interests that may accrue thereon. And it wtis finally voted, " to choose a committee of three to confer with North Brookfield in regard to the uniform, etc., and for the purchase of the same for the volunteers." This committee consisted of Emmons Twichell, J. S. Montague and Charles Fales.

At a subsequent meeting held on the 15th of June in the same year, at which also John E. Prouty acted as moderator, it was voted " that each member of the family of the volunteer militia be paid one dollar per week for every member of the family, the sum not to exceed twelve dollars per month for any one family and the Selectmen be authorized to borrow the money." It was also voted " that all members that the Committee uniform be paid two dollars and fifty cents per week for five weeks, to be left discretionary with the Selectmen and officers of the company, when to be paid, and to be paid to the officers of said company."

At a meeting held on the following November, at which George W. Johnson acted as moderator, the committee on uniforms reported that the uniforms had been furnished under a contract with Marshal & Duncan of North Brookfield, and that the following men had been supplied :

At a meeting held on the 2d of January, 1S62, at which Austin H. Moulton acted as moderator, it was voted " that the Selectmen ;be authorised to pay to each volunteer not to exceed thirty-four in number, who may enlist or has enlisted under the last call of the President for three hundred thousand volunteers, the sum of one hundred dollars, to be paid to each volunteer upon his being mustered into the service of the United States, it being understood that those who have previously enlisted shall be entitled to the same bounty as those who may hereafter enlist, if they can be legally counted as belonging to our qu^ta of thirty-four men which this town must raise under the call above mentioned.'* At a meeting held on the 12th of September, 1802, at which also George W.Johnson acted as moderator, it was voted '* that one hundred and fifty dollars be paid to each man voluntarily as a part of the quota of the town under the last call for men for nine months' service whether enlisted before or after the first day of September, 1862."

The following is a list of the soldiers furnished by Brookfield in the War of the Rebellion, taken from the tablets on the interior walls of the town-house:

The expenditures of money by the town during the war were $29,874.91, of which the sum of $14,106.19 was re-imbursed by the State, as expended under the law for State aid.

But this sketch with the limited space assigned to it in these volumes, must be brought to a close. Besides the Orthodox, Unitarian and Baptist churches already referred to, there is a Methodist church, established in the early part of this century, and a Catholic church, established about the year 1867, of which Father Grace is pastor. Both enjoy a steady and prosperous growth. The town-hou^e was built at a cost of about seventy thousand dollars, and there are two hotels, a high school, a public library, a Grand Army Post and a Masonic Lodge. The business of the town is not extensive, and is chiefly confined to the manufacture of boots and shoe-!, and bricks, the former by George H. Burt & Co., \\ho employ about five hundred hands, and the latter by the Brookfield Press Brick Company. Under the last census of 1885 the population of the town wa-< throe thousand and thirteen, having increased to that number from two thousand six hundred and sixty, in 1875. The valuation of the town is about one million three hundred thousand dollars. At the last annual meeting the following appropriations were made to defray the expenses of the town for the ensuing year:

The Merrick Public library, a valuable adjunct to the school system of the town and a means of improvement and cultivation to all its inhabitants, stands as a monument to the memory of two of its sons. Its foundation was laid in 18G5, for the formation of a library association, with a capital of two hundred and ninety-five dollars, divided into fifty-nine shares at five dollars each, which were taken, five by one person, forty by twenty persons at two each, and the remainder by fourteen at one each. Additions to this capital were made by gifts of money and books, and about two hundred volumes which had belonged to another, then extinct association, were placed on its shelves. Mr. George Howe, of Boston, contributed one hundred dollars, and his brother, Jabez C. Howe, two hundred and fifty dollars as mementoes of their attachment to an early home. With these and other gifts the library prospered until 18G7, when receiving a bequest under the will of Pliny Merrick, a native of the town, it was merged in the Merrick Public Library. Mr. Merrick said in his will : " Having always felt a strong attachment to the town of Brookfield, in which I was born, and where I -spent the early years of my life, and where the remains of my parents are entombed ; and wishing to do something to promote the well being and prosperity of the inhabitants of the town in all time to come, I do hereby to that end, and for that purpose, give and bequeath to the said town of Brookfield, the sum of ten thousand dollars to be preserved and maintained perpetually as a fund to be denominated the ' library fund.' The income and interest of which shall be appropriated to the purchase, binding and repair of books, to constitute a library for the free use of the inhabitants of the town and the visitors thereto, subject only to such rules and regulations as the town shall from time to time make and present, and I in like manner give and bequeath to said town all my books which I shall own at my decease, except law books, to constitute a part of said library. These two legacies of money and books are upon the condition that the town shall within nine months next after the probate allowance of this will, vote to accept the same upon and subject to the conditions herein contained. If the town should not so vote the said legacies are to be wholly void and of no force or eflect."

The legacies were accepted at the annual meeting of the town in April, 1867, and the library received ten thousand dollars and four hundred and fifty volumes, with one hundred and fifty magazines aud unbound serials. The fund yields an income of about seven hundred and fifty dollars. This income is expended, as provided in the will, for the purch.ise, binding and repair of books, while other current expenses of the library are met by town appropriations.

The commodious and substantial building in which the library is now kept is called "Banister Memorial Hall," aud was erected by William A. Banister, of New York, a native of the town, at a cost of about ten thousand dollars, on land presented to the town by Nancy S. K. Felton, widow of Oliver C. Felton, and was dedicated January 31, 1884. At that time the library contained seven thousand five hundred volumes. The present trustees of the institution are Washington Tufts, D. W. Hodgkins, L. H. R. Goss, H. V. Crosby, E. J. Irwin and C. F. Holt.

Judge Pliny Merrick, the benefactor aud real founder of the library, was born in Brookfield, Au- ' gust 2, 1794, and died in Boston, February 1, 18G7. He was the son of Pliny Merrick, a graduate at Harvard in 1776, and one of Brookfield's most prominent men. Judge Merrick graduated at Harvard in 1814 in the class with Martin Brimmer, Rev. Francis G. P. Greenwood, William H. Prescott and Rev. James Walker. He studied law with Levi Lincoln, and began practice in Worcester in 1817, subsequently practicing at Swansea and Taunton. In 1824 he was appointed county attorney, in 1832 attorney for the middle district, and in 1843 a judge of the old Commorh Pleas Court. In 1851 he was again appointed judge of the Common Pleas Court, and in 1853 a justice of the Supreme Judicial Court. He was also Representative from Worcester in 1827, and Senator in 1850. Besides the btquest to his native town, he made bequests to the City of Worcester for the establishment of schools of a high grade.

Among other distinguished men of Brookfield, the following may be mentioned. Jedediah Foster was born in Andover, October 10, 1726, and died October 17, 1779. He graduated at Harvard in 1744, and settled in Brookfield in the practice of law. He was a delegate to the Provincial Congress in 1774-75, and was an influential member. He was chosen councillor in 1774, and disapproved by General Gage, aud re-chosen in 1775. He was judge of the Superior Court of Judicature from 1776 to his death, and had previously been probate judge and judge of the Worcester County Court of Common Pleas.

Dwight Foster, son 'of Jedediah, was born in Brookfield, December 7, 1757, and died in that town April 29, 1823. He graduated at Brown University in 1774 and practiced law in liis native town. He was Sheriff and Common Pleas Judge of Worcester County, a member of the House and Senate in the General Court, member of Congress from 1793 to

1799, and United States Senator from 1800 to 1803. On the death of his father, in 1779, while a member of the State Convention for framing the State Constitution, he was chosen in his place.

Jabez Upham, son of Phinehas Upham, was born in Brooklield in 1704 and graduated at Harvard in 1785. He studied law with Dwight Foster and was admitted to the bar in 1788. He practiced a few years in Sturbridge, Mass., and Claremont, New Hampshire, and thence removed to Brookfield, where he died, November 8, 1811. He represented his native town in the General Court and the Worcester South District in Congress, resigning his seat in 1809.

Wm. B. Banister was born in Brookfield, November 8, 1773 and graduated at Dartmouth in 1797. He was a distinguished member of both the Worcester and Essex bars and died in Newburyport, where a considerable portion of his proftssional life was spent, July 1, 1853.

Amos Crosby was born in Brookfield in 1761 and graduated at Harvard in 1786. He was a preceptor in Leicester Academy and tutor at Harvard. He afterwards practiced law in Brookfield until his death in June, 1836.

1800, and graduated at Harvard in 1819. He studied law with S. M. Burnside, but after a few years' practice retired from active business. He was three years a member of the Executive Council, and a member of the Massachusetts Senate in 1848.

Daniel Gilbert, a native of Brookfield, graduated at Dartmouth in 1796 and was admitted to the bar in 1805. He died, iVIarch 11, 1851, at the age of seventy-six.

Lovell Walker was born in Brookfield in 1768 and graduated at Dartmouth in 1794. He practiced law in Templeton and Leominster, and was a member of the Senate in 1830 and 1831. He died March 25, 1840.

Among other natives of Brookfield who have distinguished themselves either at home or in wider fields of enterprise may be mentioned Joseph Dwight, Josiah Converse, Phinehas Upham, Thomas Hale, Oliver Crosby, Simeon Draper and Oliver C. F'elton. These belonged to past generations and of the living it is not proposed to speak.

With these sketches this imperfect narrative musts close. It is only necessary to say in conclusion that the writer has drawn freely from Temple's valuable " History of North Brookfield" as a source of supply of historical material, for which he desires to express the fullest acknowledgment and the sincerest thanks. That history being a town publication, he has esteemed it a sort of town record, and therefore free for public use.

Biographical Aaron Kimball

Aaron Kimball was the son of Aaron and Silence (Bartlett) Kimball, and was born at North Brookfield, June 19, 1796. His paternal grandfather, Benjamin, came from Ipswich to Brookfield prior to 1755, and since that time the family name has been prominently associated with Brookfield and her interests.

He married Eliza Cooley of Long Meadow, by whom were the following children: Harriet Cooley, born, February 3, 1830, died February 6, 1860 ; Adeline Augusta, born October 1, 1832 d; Mary Ann, born November 15, 1834 - died, 1884 ; Franklin Olcott, born October 26, 1838 - died December 24, 1856.

Aaron Kimball began business at Brookfield as a country merchant, in 1821, with small capital, except force and perseverance. In 1830 he formed a partnership with J. P. Robinson, and commenced the manufacture of shoe^ at Brookfield. In 1851 they opened a shoe and leather store on Fulton Street, Boston, from whence they removed to the well-known warehouse on Hanover Street, opposite the American House.

During the financial storms of this period all their business engagements were met with great promptnets. The panic of 1837 especially tested Mr. Kimball's executive ability with great credit to 'niraself

He belonged to that school of men who did business on honor, and whose word wa^ considered as good as their bond. He possessed sterling integrity, great firmness, a pure character, and was considered the leading business man of his day at Brookfield.

John Paemelee Robinson

Rev. John Robinson, the supposed ancestor of the subject of this sketch, was the well-known pastor of the Pilgrim Church. He bfcame connected with that church at Scrooby soon after 1606 while it was under the ministration of Richard Clyfton. He was born in Lincolnshire in 1576, and entering Emanuel College in 1592 he took the degree of M.A. in 1600 and B.D. in 1607. He began his ministerial labors in Mendham, where on account of his puritan tendencies he was at length suspended from his functions. Retiring to Norwich, after preaching a short time to a small puritan congregation, he at last re- nounced all communion with the church. Robinson afterwards said " lhnt light broke in upon him by degrees, that he hesitated to outrun those of his puritan brethren who could still reconcile thems'lves to remain in the establishment." He was called even by an opponent of separatism " the most learned, polished and modest spirit ihat ever the sect enjoyed."

In 1G08 he went with the church to Amsterdam where it remained a year and to Leyden in 1G09. Mr. Clyfton having decided to remain at Amsterdam, Mr. Robinson was chosen pastor and at his house on Clock Alley in the rear of St. Peter's Church, in Leyden, his congregation probably met on the Sabbath. Here Robinson lived from the 5th of May, 1611, the date of the deed of the premises, until his death in 1625. The records of the church of St. Peter's show that he was buried under its pavement and that the sum of nine florins was paid for the right of burial. This sum, however, only secured a place of deposit for the term of seven years and it is therefore probable that at the end of that time either his coffin was removed to an unknown grave or his ashes were scattered in the burial of others.

Subsequent to the death of Mr. Robinson his widow and son Isaac came to New England and frrm this son the subject of this sketch was probably descended, the line of descent from John being Isaac, Thomas, David, David, Noah, Hezekiah and John Parmelee.

John Parmelee Robinson was the son of Hezekiah and Rebecca (Cooley) Robinson and was born in West Granville in the county Hampden, Massachusetts, April 24, 1809. Rebecca (Cooley) Robinson, his mother, was the daughter of Josiah Cooley, of Longmeadow, and descended through him and another Josiah and two Eliakims from Benjamin, who came from England about 1635 and not long after settled in Springfield. Benjamin Cooley is first mentioned in the history of Springfield as owning land at the "long meddowe" in 1645, a part of the town which was incorporated as a precinct in 1715 and a separate town in 1783. It is evident from the records that the Cooley family always retained their lands at the Longe Meddowe in Springfield and in Longmeadow after its incorporation. Mr. Cooley was one of the selectmen of Springfield as early as 1646, and occupied a position on the Board many years. At later dates he is called Ensign Benjamin Cooley and is spoken of as distinguishing himself'in the Indian Wars.

The other children of Hezekiah Robinson were Josiah C, of Longmeadow, and Noah H., of Elmira, New York, both deceased, and Henry A. of Springfield and Emeline and Harriet R., both unmarried. The subject of this sketch attended school at We.=t Granville and afterwards at the Westfield Seminary where a more thorough education was possible than the public schools of his native town could furnish.- After leaving school he was in 1828 and a part of

1829 employed as teacher in West Granville, and for a short time afterwards in Longmeadow, the old home of his mother. At the age of twenty-one he removed to Brookfield where with Aaron Kimball he engaged in the manufacture of boots and shoes. With devoted labor and csreful management the business of Kimball & Robinson after a solid foundation had been laid assumed large proportions, soon requiring more attention to the sale of goods in Boston than visits to that city twice in a week could furnish. In 1852 Mr. Robinson removed to Boston and there took up his permanent residence. Up to that time the Bofton business had always been transacted by Mr. Robinson while Mr. Kimball gave his attention more particularly to the business of the factory. Mr. Robinson had occupied for the transaction of his business a part of the office of William C. Murdock in Fulton Street (that part of Boston then being the headquarters of the hhoe and leather trade), who did a commission business in boots and shoes. This business Kimball & Robinson bought out in 1852 and for several years they carried on a large and increasing business at the old stand. During Mr. Robinson's connection with Mr. Kimball and afterwards in other business connections, his house may be said to have been the largest in their line of business in Boston. They not only sold their own goods but those manufactured by others in Brookfield, Medway, Hudson, Massachusetts, and Dover, New Hampshire, the manufacture being carried on on joint account and Mr. Robinson always making the purchase of leather.

After remaining in Fulton Street a few years Kimball & Robinson removed to Hanover Street and occupied a store opposite the American House. While there two trusted employees of the house were taken into partnership and the firm-name became Kimball, Robinson & Co. It so remained until December 1, 1864, when the partnership expired by limitation, and Mr. Robinson formed a new firm, as-ociating with himself James Longley, Jr., under the name of Robinson & Longley. Mr. Longley had been brought up in the house and on the 24th of October, 1866, married Julia Frances, Mr. Robinson's daughter.

At the beginning of the War of the Rebellion Mr. Robinson's house, like other large boot and shoe concerns of that period, suffered heavily from losses at the South, but by shrewd management and persistent effort his firm not only successfully went through the financial storm, but asiisted many others, as in the -struggle of 1857. In 1865 Robinson & Longley removed to Pearl Street, where they continued in business until 1867, when they were succeeded by Loring & Reynolds, in whose concern Mr. Robinson and Mr. Longley were special partners. Mr. Kimball died in 1866, but Mr. Robinson continued his interest in the Brookfield factory until September, 1881, when he sold the property.

Mr. Robinson died at North Conway, N. H., August 5, 1882. He married, February 18, 1835, Eliza A., daughter of Stephen and Fanny (Paige) Rice, of Hardwiclc, and had four children, - Frances Eliza, Julia Frances, John Cooley and Anna Eliza, all of whom died young except Julia Frances, the wife, now living, of James Longley, of Boston, as has been already mentioned. Stephen Rice, of Hardwick, the father of Mrs. Robinson, was descended, through Stephen, of Westboro', who married Dorothy Woods, of Marlboro', Beriah Rice, of Westboro'. who married Mary Goodenow, of Marlboro'. Thomas Rice, of Marlboro', who married Anna Rice, his cousin, Thomas Rice, of Sudbury, who married a wife Mary, from Edward Rice, born in England about 1594, who came to New England before 1639, and settled in Sudbury in that year.

During the residence of Mr. Robinson in Brookfield he was a leading man in the town, prominent in every good work, Ijut, with the exception of the office of postni.Tster, which he held under the Whig administration inaugurated by the election of Zachary Taylor in 1848, he held no public office. Aside from hi'* interest in the Unitarian Society, of which he was an active and useful member, and his interest in the general welfare of the town and the comfort and happiness of its people, he devoted his time and energies to his business, and neither sought nor desired public station.

After he came to Boston, he first associated himself with the churclr at the corner of Beadi Street and Harrison Avenue, of which Rev. James I. T. Coolidge, then a Unitarian, was pastor, and later with that of Rev. Edward E. Hale, near his residence, which was at the corner of Washington Street and Chester Park. In the ministry at large, of which he was once an officer, he felt a special interest, and did much to sustain it and promote its usefulness.

Like other business men who, by the cultivation of all their powers, build up and maintain prosnerous enterprises in business, Mr. Robinson looked on his school instruction as only the beginning of knowledge, and continued through life to build on the foundation laid in his boyhood, and educate himself in wider fields of knowledge than the demands of his daily vocation required. Possessed of an exceedingly genial temperament, of good common sense, an unerring judgment, an unswerving integrity, a capacity for honest and thorough investigation, and tastes inclined as his mind developed to literary pursuits, it would have been difficult to find a station in public or private life which he could not have creditably filled. For many years he w.is a director in the Eliot Insurance Company, and afterwards one of the organizers and a director of the Eliot Bank and its successor, the Eliot National Bank, until his death ; and to his conservative prudence and sagacious insight these institutions owed a debt of gratitude which they were ever ready to acknowledge.

Francis Howe

Francis Howe, whose portrait accompanies this sketch, was descended from John Howe, the first American ancestor. John Howe came from England and first settled in Watertown whence he removed to Sudbury where he was living in 1639, and made a freeman in 1640. In 1642 he was a selectman in that town. He was one of the petitioners for the grant constituting the town of Marlboro', and in 1657 removed to that place. The petition for the grant was presented to the General Court in May, 1656, and besides Mr. Howe, the petitioners were: Edmund Rice, William Ward, Thomas King, John Woods, Thomas Goodnow, John Ruddocke, Henry Rice, .Tohn Bent, Sr., John Maynard, Peter Bent and Edward Rice. In compliance with the petition a plantation known by the Indian name Whipsuppenicke, was granted and laid out containing 29,419 acres.