Gardner City (part 1 of 2)

Situation, Topogeaphy, Settlement, Incorporation, Etc

The town of Gardner, which has recently (1885) completed the first century of its corporate existence and duly celebrated the memorable event with appropriate exercises and festivities, is one of the most enterprising and prosperous of all those in the county whose annals these pages record. Taking its place in the retinue of Massachusetts municipalities soon after the struggle for American independence, it was characterized at the outset by the spirit that gave birth to the rising republic, and, under the influence of the same spirit, has kept abreast of the advancing civilization of the land down to the present day. During the earlier part of its career, its growth in wealth, population and social standing, in industrial, commercial and political importance, though slow and uneventful, was yet sturdy and healthful. But in later years new life and greatly increased vigor have entered into and stimulated its various interests and activities, resulting in a rapid and notable development of its resources, and a highly honorable and gratifying progress in every department of responsibility and effort within its borders. Its advance for the last decade has been truly remarkable in many aspects of it, and reflects great credit upon those of every class and degree who have in any way contributed to it. Hardly to be reckoned, at this time, as one of the foremost towns of Worcester County in those things which appear to advantage in statistical tables, it yet is excelled, even if it is equaled, by few in general thrift, in durable prosperity, in the tokens of comfort and happiness that abound on every hand, in the neatness, order and security of its homes, in the harmonious relations which characterize industrial and social life, in means and opportunities of intellectual, moral and religious culture, in public spirit, in the integrity, honor, virtue and happiness of all classes of its population. To sketch the history of such a town, to enter into the details of its genesis and growth, to search out the hidden springs of its unfolding and ever-rising life - to take account of the industry, the self-reliance, the persevering zeal, the unfaltering courage, the high resolve and all the worthy, grand qualities of mind and heart and character to which the existence and prosperous fortunes of such a town bear witness and of which it is the organic and living product and representative, - is a task fruitful not only of instruction, but of satisfaction and delight. To a task like this, the considerate attention of whomsoever it may concern is herein invited.

The town of Gardner is situated in the northerly part of the county of Worcester, and belongs to what may be termed the second range or tier of townships, counting from the extreme limits of the county in that direction - the line separating the States of New Hampshire and Massachusetts. It is bounded on the north by Winchendon and Ashburnham, on the east by Ashburnham and \Ve.->tminster, on the south by Westminster, Hubbardston and Templelon, and on the west by Hubbardston, Templetoii and Winchendon ; or, in a simpler way, northwest by Winchendon, northeast by Ashburnham, southeast by AVestminster, and southwest by Hubbardston and Templeton. The latitude of its Town Hall is 42° 35' north and the longitude 71° 59i' west from Greenwich, or G° Y east from Washington. Its distance from Boston, in a W. N. W. direction, by direct line, is not far from 52 miles, and 65 miles by the Fitchburg Railroad ; and from Worcester, in a N. N. W. direction, it is about 23 miles by direct line, and 26 miles by railroad. It includes within its boundaries an area of about 14,000 acres, or 21 J square miles, of which some 180 acres are covered by its several natural lakes and ponds, and probably a larger number by artificial bodies of water. Its highest altitude above the level of the sea (Reservoir Hill) is estimated at 1204 feet, and its lowest (where Otter River crosses its western boundary) at 890 feet.

Glancing at the natural or physical characteristics of the town, it is to be noted that the surface of its territory is uneven and considerably diversified. Between its lowest and highest points of elevation above sea-level, measuring over 400 feet, an almost unlimited variety of hill and dale, meadow and upland, lake, river and streamlet, is to be found. At the present day, after more than a hundred years of change and improvement that have transpired since the primeval wilderness prevailed in all the region round about, the town, with its existing proportion of forest and field ; with its well-tilled farms and accordant farm-houses and out-buildings; with its several villages, neat and orderly ; with its many clustering or scattered homes, and the gardens or orchards thereto belonging, some of them costly and elegant, few of them weather-worn, dilapidated and unsightly ; with its manifold manufactories, the hives of productive and remunerative industry ; with all the evidences of competency, thrift and contentment that greet the eye of the observer, presents, from any one of the commanding heights within its borders, a scene of unusual beauty and attractiveness. From such a point of vision, one may journey long and far to look upon a more picturesque and lovely sight than there reveals itself to the eye and mind, turn him whichsoever way he may. All about, near at hand and reaching to the utmost borders of the town and far beyond, are there pictures of surpassing beauty and enchantment ; while in the distance, at the northwest and southeast, rise in silent majesty,

Hills. - The natural scenery of the town of Gardner is characterized by that constant and continuous variety of surface which relieves it of all tiresome monotony and renders it especially attractive and delightful. Scattered over all the length and breadth of its territory are there considerable elevations of laud, which contribute largely to the beauty of the view and satisfy the demands of the artistic sense. The highest of these rise to an altitude of several hundred feet above the general level, not by abrupt and broken ascents, but by gradual slopes, making them capable of culture and even available for residential uses to the very summit. Indeed, some of them are already dotted with dwellings in every part and others are likely to become so at an early day. These hills took their names originally from their owners or from persons living near them, though in many instances those names have in later years been changed, either by change of ownership or by some other circumstance connected with their history. Their respective altitudes have been ascertained by a series of calculations made under the supervision of Mr. Aaron Greenwood, a skillful and accurate surveyor of the place, who assumed as the ba^ia of such calculations the correctness of the figures indicating the elevation of the railroad at given points along the line as fixed by its chief engineer. A few of the more prominent of these natural formations are deemed worthy of mention.

Glazier Hill is the highest eminence in the town, rising to an altitude of one thousand two hundred and ninety-four feet above sea level and overlooking all the more thickly populated portions of its territory. It stands a little to the northeast of the Central Village, now almost within its borders, the growth of the place within the last few years having caused the erection of dwellings far up its westerly and southerly sides. Its summit is now occupied by the distributing reservoir of the Gardner Water Company, from which fact it is sometimes called " Reservoir Hill."

Bickford Hill or Parker Hill, as it is more recently designated, because owned and occupied for many years by the late Dr. David Parker, is located half a mile southeast of the one just spoken of, in full view from the town Common and quite near the junction of Elm and Temple Streets. It is one thousand two hundred and seventy-seven feet in height, and, like Glazier Hill, commands a fine view of the several villages of the town. It has no buildings upon it and is used for tillage and grazing purposes.

Howe Hill, rising one thousand two hundred and fifty-six feet above tide-water, is about a mile north of the Common on the easterly side of Kelton Street,

Barber Hill, one thousand two hundred and thirtynine feet high, is in the southeast part of the town, a little north of the residence of the late Thomas Greenwood. On its easterly slope, one of the earliest settlers of the place - Mr. David Nichols, from Reading - located, clearing up and cultivating what proved to be one of the best farms in the vicinity.

Temple Hill stands a short distance southeast of Bickford or Parker Hill, and is one thousand two hundred and twenty-four feet high, while Ray and Gates Hills, in the easterly parts of the town, rise respectively to an altitude of one thousand twoliundred and seventeen and one thousand two hundred and fifteen feet. Near the summit of the first of these two are a farm-house and out-buildings, long the residence of Mr. Asa Ray, and a sort of beacon or landmark to a wide region round about.

Peabody Hill, originally known as Pork Hill, and for a long time as Lynde Hill, from Mr. Wm.S. Lynde, its owner for many years, occupies what is now almost the centre of the more northerly part of the thickly-settled portions of the town. It is one thousand one hundred and seventy-six feet above the level of the sea, and is for the most part covered with commodious and tasteful private residences, which have sprung up with marvelous rapidity during the past feyv years.

Besides these more noticeable and commanding bights, there are Greenwood Hill, in the southwesterly part of Gardner, at the rear of the house of Mr. Edward Greenwood, one thousand one huudred and Bevcnty feet in altitude; Kendall Hill, on the western borders of the South village, originally named Jackson Hill, after Capt. Elisha Jackson, one of the first settlers and one of the most notable and influential of the early citizens of the town, who located on its southerly side near the top, 1130 feet above sea-level ; Prospect Hill, on the southern side of the same village, formerly known as Wrighfs Hill, taking its name from Mr. Joseph Wright, who came from Sterling and settled upon it, 1129 feet high. Attention is called also to the B. F. Kendall Hill, in the south section of the town, now being used for dwellings ; Cooledge and Bearaan Hills, in the north part; Martin and Brooks Hills, in the west, and Bancroft Hill, near to Crystal Lake, on the southwest, the easterly side of which was taken up and settled upon by Mr. Jonathan Bancroft, whose name it has perpetuated to this day.

Lakes and Ponds. - There are in Gardner but few natural bodies of water - those " eyes of the landscape," as Goethe is reputed to have called them - though there are numerous artificial ones, which give variety and charm to the scenery. Of the former, the one lying to the northwe..t of the Common is largest and most worthy of notice. In the early records it was called Wells' Pond, though for what reason has not been asce''tained. For a long time it was known simply as Gardner Pond. A few years ago, however, it was christened Crystal Lake by vote of the town - a name peculiarly appropriate and significant on account of the purity and clearness of its waters and the mirror-like tranquillity of their surface. Its greatest length is not far from a mile, while its extreme width scarcely exceeds half a mile, giving it an estimated area of one hundred and fifty-two acres. It is variously bordered with cultured fields, untamed pastures and groves of maple, oak and pine, sloping gently down to where its murmuring ripples kiss the solid earth, giving it a setting which makes of it a picture of exceeding loveliness and of bewitching charm to every lover of nature and of nature's fairest scenes. The modern cemetery, which is located upon its westerly side, with its granite and marble monuments, its exquisitely chiseled memorials of departed loved and honored ones, glittering in the sunlight, while, in a certain way, subduing and chastening the scene, yet, on the whole, gives it a more tender and sacred interest and significance. This lake, so accessible from all directions, is in the summer-time a somewhat favorite resort for the diseii)les of Isaac Walton residing in the vicinity, its waters having been originally well-stored with various kinds of native fish, and more recently stocked with those of foreign extraction ; and for country swains and damsels or others fond of boating in one or another of its various forms. In the winter its icy surface attracts those who enjoy the pleasant and health-imparting exercise of out-door skating, and the airs of the neighborhood are often, on sunny days and moonlit nights, made vocal with the merry voices of converse, laughter and song, breathing forth from those who relieve the tiresome round of study, toil and care, or fill th*^ fleeting hours with s])orts and pleasures which, while they exhilarate and thrill both body and mind, giving added zest to life, yet leave nesting behind. A delightful grove on the western margin, made attractive by the hand both of nature and of man, having been cleared of all rocks and underbrush and fitted up with numerous devices and appliances for the convenience and gratification of pleasure-seekers, and moreover being readily reached by railroad as well as by private conveyance, has become within a few years a frequent rendezvous for Sabbath-school, Grand Army and other parties, seeking rest and recreation amid the beauty and glory of the material world. With its pleasing surroundings and multiform attractions of a various sort, this lake merits the encomium given it by the local historian, when he characterizes it as "tlie pride of Gardner, ' a thing of beauty and a joy forever." "

In the southwest part of the town is another natural body of water called sometimes Widow Wood's Pond and sometimes Kendall's Pond, from persons living near at difl'erent dates, but its location and surroundings are such as to give it little attractive- ness or interest except to sportsmen who sometimes are well repaid for tempting with well-baited hook and line the finny denizen of its waters. In days gone by it was deemed good fishing-ground, but in later years it has lost its reputation in that respect. Its surface measures about twenty-two acres, and lies scarcely above the level of Otter River, near by, into which its contents flow by a sluggish stream.

In the same general locality, and not far away, is Snake Pond, crossed by the Templeton line, only a few acres of which are in Gardner. It is much like the last named in its general features, thoughmore inaccessible by reason of the low, marshy grounds which surround it.

Quag Pond, in the easterly section of the town, is one of the sources of Pew Brook, and covers an area of about an acre. It is set in a bed of moss of varying width, but many feet in depth, resting upon a substratum of soft mud.

Of the artificial bodies of water mention will be made in connection with the manufacturing interests of the town to which they are tributary as conservatories of power for mechanical purposes. They are at present few in number in comparison with what have existed in days gone by. Several mill privileges in the outlying districts having been abandoned, the ponds, whence their motive-power was derived, have disappeared, while tliose formed successively by the stream flowing out of Crystal Lake, and used to run the several shops along the valley, have, since the establishment of the Public Water-works, been almost wholly given up, the need they served being now bupplied by the introduction of steam-power.

Streams. - The situation of Gardner at the very summit of the highlands which divide the waterbasin of the Merrimac River on the east from that of the Connecticut on the west, forbids the existence of water-courses within its borders, of any considerable size or importance. The only one that rises in any sense to the dignity of a river is that which enters its territory at the southwesterly side from Templeton, and flowing by a serpentine course in a general northwesterly direction some four or five miles, forming the greater part of that distance the boundary of the town, passes thence onward through the north part of Templeton into Winchendou, where it falls into Miller's River, a branch of the Connecticut. This stream bears the name of Otter River, presumably from the fact that the otter once inhabited its waters. Its descent through the town is very slight, and its movement consequently sluggish, except that in the last part of its course there is sufficient fall to enable it to be utilized by two or three manufacturing establishments located on the Templeton side.

Aside from Otter River the streams of Gardner are quite insignificant. And yet they have been an important factor in the development of the industries of the town and in the promotion of its prosperity. In a certain way they have made the town what it is today. They not only furnished power for the production of lumber for building purposes in the earlier stages of its history, but they supplied an essential need of the same sort in the evolution of its leading manufacturing interests at a period when, but for such supply, that interest would have been compelled to seek other localities in order to obtain the mean* and facilities necessary to its growth and perfecting. As an intermediate link between hand or foot power - the power of human muscle - and steam-power in the making of chairs, the principal and distinguishing product of the town, and the one which has given it reputation, prestige and success, the comparatively convenient and inexpensive power furnished by these small streams was not simply useful, but indispensable. But for this, so far as human vision can see, the fortunes of the town would have been entirely changed, its thrift and growth coming to an early and perpetual end.

Chiefest of these small but most valuable water courses was Pond Brook, so-called, the outlet of Crystal Lake, flowing into Otter River, scarcely two miles from its source. The relation of this little stream to the business interests of the community and the growth of the place cannot be over-estimated. Though its former channel is now essentially dry, the waters which otherwise would fill it being diverted to important uses in other directions, yet, historically, it has been a stream of the highest importance and of incalculable value.

Scarcely less worthy of notice and commendation is the stream flowing through the village of South Gardner, sometimes called Gardner Brook. In some respects, it stands at the head of the list of watercourses in the town. It began to serve the need of the public at an earlier day than any other, and more than any other at this date contributes to the business interest and prosperity of the town, as it promises to do for years and generations to come. It enters Gardner near the southern corner, from Westminster, and flowing northwesterly through the village, thence southwesterly a distance of two and onehalf or three miles in all, increased in volume and iu value by several tributaries on the way, it finally falls into Otter River, near the line of Templeton. Nine manufacturing establishments are in ojieration along its course, the motive-power of which is derived mostly from its waters.

Pew Brook is formed by several streamlets in the easterly part of the town, some of which come from Westminster, and running southwest and west, empties into Gardner Brook, near the eastern extremity of South (xardner Village, below the lumber-mills of Lewis A. Wright & Co. It furnishes power for one chair-factory.

Foster Brook rises in the easterly central portion of the town, and flowing southerly and westerly, discharges its waters into the South Gardner stream, just above where the Worcester Railroad croi-ses it.

Kneeland Brook has several sources in the northerly district, and by a southwesterly course finds an outlet in Otter River, near where the Fitchburg Railroad goes over it. Formerly several mills were run by power from th'n brook, but only one at the present time.

Bailey Brook, still farther west, rises in Winchendon, add flowing southwesterly, empties into Otter River, just above where that stream passes beyond the limits of the town.

Several small streams in the northeast part of the town constitute the head-waters of one branch of the Nashua River, flowing northwesterly through the so-called Nashua Reservoir into Ashburnham, and two or three others in a more easterly direction flow into Westminster. On two of these streams, one in the northeast and one in the east, mills formerly stood, but both have passed away.

Soil. - The geological basis of the territory of Gardner, like that of most of the towns of the county, is ferruginous gneiss, an azoic formation which, according to Dr. Hitchcock, antedates all other deposits on the face of the globe. Gneiss is a somewhat demoralized form of granite, combining quartz, feldspar and mica in varying proportions, and tending to stratification. Into this combination, in the case before us, a tincture or element of iron enters, which gives it a rusty appearance, and renders it easy of oxidation and consequent decomposition. These primordial deposits occasionally come to the surface in ledges and broken rock, as they are also sometimes unearthed by excivation, as in the construction of the railroads through the town. Upon them, in the order of geologic progress from untold ages past, there rest strata of secondary and tertiary formations composed of sand, pebbles and clay, the latter of which is to be found in exceptional quantities in the south part of the town, where it has been utilized to a very considerable and profitalDle extent, as will hereafter appear. Still later in the order of nature are there drift and alluvial stores brought from foreign localities by ice or water or other means, which, mingling with the decomposed products of older periods and of later vegetable growths go'iig on from the beginning, constitute what is called the loam or soil, of which the surface of the earth in this instance is composed, and in which are to be found the various chemical elements that give it native fertility and luxuriance and render it under proper culture capable of serving, by its productiveness, the needs of all animal life, and of ministering in manifold ways to human comfort and happiness.

The town of Gardner, considered with reference to the nature and quality of its soil, cannot be regarded as particularly adapted to purposes of agriculture. Occupying a position upon the very crest of the range of hills which separate two of the great watersystems of the State, its lands sloping and its waters running both east and west, it is constantly losing, by the operation of nature's forces, many of those elements which serve the husbandman's need as fertilizing agents in the earth he cultivates ; while for the same reason it is subject to bleak and chilly winds, which tend to diminish the productiveness of its fields and to retard and jeopardize the growth and ripening of whatever may be planted or sown in them. Naturally, therefore, the land is gravelly, cold and sterile, and, next to the production of wood and timber, is better adapted to grazing purposes than to the cultivation of fruit and cereal crops. There are, moreover, scattered through the town numerous cold, marshy swamp lands, saturated with sour waters, and produi ing a sort of wiry grass which is neither palatable nor nutritious, and of little value in any respect.

Neverthele.-s, there are portions of the territory of the town which, by long and faithful husbandry, have been made to yield abundant returns for the labor expended upon them. On the slopes of some of the hills and in the intervening valleys the soil is deep and pliable and strong, and only needs thorough culture to make it produce satisfactory harvests. There are, indeed, a goodly number of fine farms in the outlying districts, whose commodious, well-kept buildings, broad fields of grass and grain, large herds and flocks, bespeak not only enterprise, good habits and general thrift, but competency and independence. Besides these, every householder almost and every owner of a little homestead has his or her garden or plot of land devoted to the growth of both the larger and smaller fruits, different kinds of edible vegetables and usually also to a pleasing variety of flowers and foliage plants, whicli speaks well for the kindly character of the soil and of what may come from it by proper care and nursing - by that sort of management which usually distinguishes a yeoman of New England.

Climate. - The climate of Gardner, situated high above the level of the sea and far awaj' from the modifying influence of oceanic breezes and currents, is exceedingly inconstant and often disagreeable, being subject to sudden changes and great extremes of heat and cold, which determine to a large extent the annual fall of rain and snow, and also the general dryness and humidity of the atmosphere, with its attendant sanitary qual.ties, tendencies and effects. The winters are long and severe, characterized as they are by high winds and heavy storms, which cause a large accumulation of snow and ice and seriously try the powers of endurance in the human constitution. But the phy.-ical conditions and circutiistances which subject the place to many of the harsher moods of the winter-time have their compensation in the fresh, cool breezes of the summer season, which moderate the otherwise excessive heat, and make that part of the year more invigorating and agreeable. On the whole, the geographical situa- tion of the town and its climatic conditions are favorable to both bodily and mental health and energy, indirectly, too, of moral soundness and force of character. As a result, the town is an unusually healthful one, and cases of pulmonary or malarial diseases are of rare occurrence among its native-born population. So that among the factors which have entered into the problem of the growth and prosperity of Gardner, the influence of its climate is not to be overlooked or underestimated.

Flora. - Of the one hundred and fifty thousand species of plants distributed over the surface of the globe, only a very small proportion can be indigenous to so limited an area as the territory of such a town as Gardner. And what are found within its borders are so like what grow throughout the county that even to name them would be needless repetition. It is not known that, in the matter of forest or fruittrees, of berry-producing or flowering shrubs or plants of any sort, Gardner has a single specimen which would distinguish it from other towns in the vicinity, though of each and all of these it has a proportionate supply. Enough of wood and timber lots still remain to give pleasing variety to the landscape, to impart salubrity to the air, to soften the fierceness of wintry blasts and break the violence of summer tempests, and to aid in keeping up the supply of nature's water-fountains, to which the existence of forests so largely contribute, while shrubs of many a kind and name cover many an untilled acre more or less densely, and wild flowers of rich and varied hues in great diversity lend grace and beauty in all directions to the view. Moreover, the introduction of a libeial supply of exotics, especially in the departments of fruit trees and flowering plants, as witnessed in the orchards, gardtns and conservatories so often seen, has enlarged and enriched very materially this feature of the natural history of the town.

Fauna. - There is little to be said of the representatives of the animal kingdom, either native or imported, in addition to what may appear elsewhere in the pages of this work. The same kinds of wild animals originally prevailed here as in other parts of the county, only a few of the smaller and more prolific of which continue to this day, to vex the fields and gardens of the husbandmen or tempt the hunter through the still existing woods. Of the game birds scarcely one save the partridge remains, though the same winged songsters of the grove and field still make the air vocal with their melody in the spring and early summer m cheered and blessed the solitary way of the early settlers in these then wilderness retreats. Various other wild bird;-, with less of music in their voices, are found at the proper season in plentiful numbers, some of them hardly to be desired by reason of their mischievous habits in respecj to the early sown or planted grain and corn. Most of these are migratory in their mode of life, coming and going with the warmer portions of the year, though a few remain the twelve-month through, fearless alike of winter's cold and of summer's heat. Of the finny tribes, dwellers in the waters of the town, the original stock siill prevails to some extent, though in considerably diminished numbers. The handsome trout still glides up and down the gurgling brook, finding rest only in its most secluded places, where it would s-eem to hide away from the ardent fisherman, or, if pursuing, he seeks his wily victim, tantalizes him with the rareness of a bite. The pride of the olden time in this respect - the pickerel - and its companion residents of the ponds bearing various names, which served the fathers and mothers so well in place of flesh and fowl less easily obtained, have been much reduced in these later days, partly because of the greater search for them and partly by reason of the introduction of foreign fish, some of which appear to be the natural born enemies of the native denizens of our New England waters, making war upon them and pursuing them with disastrous results, sometimes even to extinction. The experiment of bringing in these new tenanis of our inland lakes and ponds, though greatly commended a few years ago by certain classes of pisciculturists as of immense advantage to the fish-loving public, may be regarded, when judged by the test of experience, as of doubtful utility, even if it be not brought into utter condemnation. At any rate, the promises made in its behalf have rarely, if ever, been satisfactorily fulfilled. To let well enough alone is sometimes the highest wisdom.

Early History. - Having made a somewhat detailed presentation of the natural features of the town of Gardner, it now seems proper to take up the thread of its history as a distinct body corporate, possessing and exercising municipal right-, powers and privilegts under the jurisdiction and sovereignty of the Commonwealth of Massacht setts. In doing so, it is not needful to go back of the movement initiatid for the purpose of securing the formation and legal existence of the new township any further than to set forth the conditions and circumstances under which that movement was inaugurated and the prevailing reasons therefor.

Oric/i/i. - Unlike most of theoldertownsof Worcester County, Gardner was not carved out of the primeval forest nor did its territorial possessions come from any of the unappropriated lands of the Province or state of Massachusetts, but from contiguous portions of the four neighboring towns. Of these Westminster contributed, in round numbers, six thousand acres; 4shburnham, twenty-eight hundred acres; Winchendon, forty-five hundred acres ; and Templeton, seven hundred acres, making in the aggregate the fourteen thousand acres already given as the extent of the town's surface. The early history of those several towns is therefore in part the history of Gardner previous to its incorporation, for the essential facts and incidents of which the reader is referred to the sketches of those towns respectively on other pages of this work, only a few of the more important of them being mentioned in this connection. The townships named were first occupied by the present race of inhabitants at a date sufficiently indicated by the year 1740. As they gradually increased in population, portions of thoni far removed from their established centres, their area being very large, were in due time taken up and appropriated to purposes of permanent residence.

As this process of extension and settlement went on, it came to pass at length that about sixty families were established within the limits of what subsequently was assigned to the town of Gardner. Separated by long distances from the majority of their fellow-citizens and also from the recognized seat of public activity in their respective municipalities, the heads of these families began after a time to feel that it would be for their common convenience, interest and general welfare to sever the connection which had hitherto existed between them and their colleague townsmen, and unite in the formation of a new township more compact, so far as they were themselves concerned, than those to which they belonged, the so-called centre of which - where the meetinghouse should be built, where trade should be set up, where public business should be transacted and public gatherings of whatever sort held - would be nearer at hand and the recognized duties of which, as a corporate body, could be more easily and readily performed.

The desirableness of a change like that outlined, by reason of the many advantages which would naturally accrue to all parties concerned, became very soon so apparent and so urgent that as early as 1781 a movement was started looking to its consummation. It does not appear, however, that any united and mutually concurrent action in relation to the subject was taken until the year 1784 or 1785, when the several towns liable to dismemberment were petitioned by the portionof their inhabitants favorably interested for leave to be set off with iheir families and estates, in order that they might join with others in neighboring towns, similarly situated and similarly minded, in the formation of a new town. The prayer of the petitioners seemed so reasonable to their fellow-citizens that, with very little opposition or delay, indeed, with remarkable unanimity and cordiality, it was in every instance granted. Ashburnham led oti'in avote favoring the measure and granting the request passed September 3, 1774; Tcmpleton i'ollowed in a vote to the same efl^ect April 6, 1775 ; Winchendon May 16th, and Westminster May 17th of the same year. The generous and honorable spirit which animated the several towns involved in this movement is duly represented in a report of a committee of the town of

Winchendon, to which the subject was referred, wherein the following passage occurs : "Considering the situation of the petitioners, we think it reasonable a part of said town should be set otl' when those towns concerned have determined the respective boundaries of the district to be so formed as that the same may be properly accommodated." The report was duly " accepted and adopted."

The consent of the towns having been obtained as stated, a petition signed by Mr. John Glazier, then of Westminster and about thirty others, was sent to the Legislature of the State at what was called its May Session, in 1785, praying that certain specified portions of the towns of Winchendon, Ashburnham, Westminster and Templeton, with the inhabitants thereof and their estates, might be set oft" from those towns respectively and erected into a new township bearing the name of Gardner. An appropriate map indicating the changes proposed accompanied the petition, and is still preserved among the State archives at Boston, though the petition itself is nowhere to be found. The result of this appeal to the Legislature is clearly attested by its action, which culminated, on the 27th of June, in the passage of an " Act of Incorporation," of which the following, with the omission of the boundary lines, is a copy :

An act for erecting tlie westerly part of Westminster, the southwesterly part of ABliburuliain, tlie southeasterly part of Winchendon and the easterly part of Templeton in the county of Worcester, into a town by the name of Gardner.

Wfiereas, the inhabitants of tlie westerly part of the town of Westminster, the southwesterly part of th« town of Ashburnham, the south- - easterly part of the town of Winchendon and the easterly part of the town of Templeton in the county of Worcester, have represented to this court the ditficulties they labor under in their present situation and request that they nuiy be incorporated into a separate town, and it appearing to this court proper to comply with tlieir request :

Be U enacted by the Senate and House of RepresniUdwes in General Court assembled and by the authority of the same: That the westerly part of the town of Westjninster, southwesterly part of the town of Ashburnham, southeasterly part of the town of Winchendon and easterly part of tlie town of Templeton in the county of Worcester (bounds omitted) be, and they hereby are, erected into a town by the name of Gardner, and the inhabitants thereof hereby are invested with all the powers, privileges and immunities which the inhabitants of other towns within this Commonwealth do or may enjoy.

And be it fiirther enacted : That where the lots that are now settled are cut by the above lines, every owner of such lot shall be holden to pay taxes for the whole of such lot to the town in which his house now stands. Froi-ided, 7tevertlieless, If any owner of such lot shall return a certificate into the secretary's office within six muntlis after the passing of this act, expressing his desire to belong with his said lot to the other town, such lot and the owner thereof shall forever afterwards be holden to pay taxes to the other town accordingly.

And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid: That the inhabitants of the said town shall pay their proportion of all taxes already granted to be raised in the several towns from which they were respectively taken.

And be it further enacted : That Nicliohis Dyke, Esq., be, and hereby is, empowered to issue his warrant directed to some principal inhabitant, requiring him to warn and give notice to the inhabitants of the said town to assemble and meet at some suitable time and place in said town to choose all such otlicei-s as towns by law are required to choose at their annual town-meeting in tlie month of March.

been the most common substitute for money, probably beciUise it was most convenient to handle and most sure of a ready market. The precise form of the town's action in this matter sliows the then existing condition of things and also what a wise economy required in the management of public affairs. Under date of June 6, 1787, it was voted "that the collector take butter of the persons that are in hi,s rate.s, provided that they bring the butter by the first of July next, at seven pence per pound, and the collector to provide firkins to put said butter in and to deliver butter to the committee that are to provide nails for the meeting-house when called for. It is expected that the collector put the butter into firkins, well salted, and the butter to be good butter." The provision in this vote for having the butter received for taxes delivered to the committee who were to procure nails for the meeting house, then in process of erection, indicates the extent to which what was called " barter," the exchange of one article of traffic for another, entered into the commercial transactions of those days when money was scarce and of doubtful worth - a practice which, in country towns especially, continued until within the memory of persons now living.

No data are known to exist by which to determine the actual amount of property in Gardner at the time of incorporation. The tax-lists of that day are not to be found, and whatever statistics may have been prepared, if there were any, have disappeared. The earliest available authority relating to this point is the general United States tax-lists made up in the year 1798 by order of the Federal Government, representing the assessments laid upon the entire country for the purpo.se of meeting the demands upon tlie national treasury. From a copy of those lists preserved in tlie library of the New England Historic-Genealogical Society, Boston, interesting and trustworthy particulars have been gleaned, some of which in a condensed form are herewith submitted.

At the date named, 1798, there were one hundred and fifty-five tax-paying residents in tlie town owning or occupying real estate, the appraised value of whose property in the aggregate was about $124,000, or a trifle over $800 each. Seven persons were worth $22,759 or an average of $3,251, ranging as follows: Elisha Jackson, .$(5,105; William Bickford, $4,710; James Cooledge, $2,634; Ebenezer Howe, $2,538; Seth Hey wood, $2,325 ; Simon Gates, $2,274 ; William Whitney, $2,171. Forty-three persons had between $1000 and $2000 each, aggregating $57,979. The remaining $43,456 was distributed among one hundred and five persons, giving each one about .$415. Several lots whose owners were unknown were valued at $186. The actual taxable property of the town, which excluded all public buildings and common lands, and also the estate of Rev. Jonathan Osgood, was $124,380. No one was taxed for money on hand or at interest, nor for plate or securities of any kind. Of the one hundred and fifty-five tax-payers in 1798 there were, as far as can be ascertained, thirty-five not living in town, whose aggregate property was $6,283, which would make the actual amount of taxable property held by residents, exclusive of Rev. Mr. Osgood, $118,097.

Of the citizens of Gardner at tlie date named, fortynine with their families occupied dwellings, each of which, with a lot of one-quarter of an acre, was valued at more than $100, or at an average of $260. William Bickford owned the best one, doubtless the brick dwelling now standing at the South Village, which was appraised at $920. Other houses ranged as follows: Elisha Jackson's, built two years before, $720; James Cooledge's, $550; Jonathan Bancroft, Seth Hey wood and Ezra Moore, $.500 each ; Joel Matthews and Joseph Simonds lived in dwellings taxed for $10 each. One hundred and six dwellings, the whole number then standing in the town and deemed of sufficient value to be taxed, were appraised at $16,099, an average of $151.87. There were probably a few other rude structures occupied at the time, but of no ratable worth.

The largest landholder in town in 1798 was William Whitney, who had three hundred and sixtyeight acres. He was followed by Elisha Jackson with three hundred and sixty-four acres ; Wm. Bickford, three hundred and twelve acres ; Josiah Wilder and James Cooledge, two hundred and fifty acres each. Thirty-four persons had between one and two hundred acres each. Twelve thousand two hundred and twenty acres of land, exclusive of house-lots, were taxed for $104,595, or for less than nine dollars per acre, the average valuation of land in the town generally. The estimated value of land in the village at that date may be learned from the fact that Jonatiian Prescott, the first merchant in the place, residing on the site occupied for many years by the late Francis Richardson, Esq., was taxed for three hundred and forty-one dollars on an acre and a half of land, presumably attached to his house-lot, or at the rate of two hundred and twenty-seven dollars per acre.

Taking now the appraisal of the property in Gardner in 1798, thirteen years after it was incorporated, and making due allowance for the probable increase of population and wealth, it can be easily seen, without attempting to give the precise figures, with what meagre pecuniary capital the original inhabitants of the town began their municipal life. Their brain and muscle were, in large degree, their capital - their principal stock in trade and pledge of ultimate success. Their enterprise and perseverance, their resolute purpose and readiness to labor and endure, these qualities, under the circumstances, gave them strength of character and a sort of moral persistence and invincibleness which were full of promise for the years ahead, which made an impress upon the public mind and lieart, and became a force in the community not yet exhausted or overcome, the augury still of prosperous fortunes and happy destinies.

In what has thus far been offered to the reader as the opening chapter of this historical sketch of the town of Gardner, he will find a sufficiently detailed presentation of its situation, topography, settlement and incorporation, together with a brief portraiture of its early inhabitants and of the conditions and circumstances under which they started out in their municipal career. He will also find an account of the first town-meeting, at which the town, as a corporate body, was legally organized, its officers chosen, and its complex machinery made ready for active service. The line of historic development and progress will be taken up at that point in subsequent chapters and traced down to the present day by a separate consideration of several leading public interests in such order as may seem most convenient and appropriate.

Chapter Cxi

Previou.s to the time of the incorporation of Gardner two county roads had been laid across its territory - one as early as 17.'>4, extending from Lancaster to Quopoage (Athol), and the other in 17.'>9 from Winchendon to Worcester. The first of these crossed the town-line about half a mile east of the Lewis A. Wright Inniber-mill, and followed essentially the line of High, South Main and Kendall Streets to the junction of the latter with Broadway, thence by a varying course, still partially traceable, not far at any point from the present highway, to the Templeton boundary. This was the principal thoroughfare through the place from Boston and other lower towns westward for nearly half a century, or until the construction of the Fifth Massachusetts Turnpike in 1799 or 1800. The other road, built by order of the county authorities, entered the limits of the town near where Chapel Street now strikes them, half a mile east of Ray Hill, and followed the course of said street for the most part till it reached what is now Pearl Street, thence cutting across the intervening country in a northwesterly direction to Winchendon Street, and continuing along that street past the present town-farm buildings to Winchendon line. In addition to these, the several towns from which the territory of Gardner was received had caused a few highways to be made for the convenience of the inhabitants in getting to and from the centres of those towns respectively, and for freer communication with each other, but they were little more or better than cart-paths through the wilderness, quite unlike the well-graded streets of the present day. Aside from these, there were, no doubt, such other ways opened in different localities as might serve the temporary necessities of the settlers, without any formal survey or regard to permanent use.

About the time of the incorporation of the town a third county road was laid and ordered- to be built from Royalston to Gardner. As far as can be ascertained, it rau along the line of Clark Street from the northwest till it reached the Jonathan Bancroft place, continuing thence, as seems probable, down the valley of the Crystal Lake outlet in a southerly direction, and along the general course of Mechanic Street to the Lancaster and Athol Road (now Broadway). The location of this road was not satisfactory to the people of Gardner, especially to those living at or near what had been fixed upon as the centre of the town. Hence at the second town-meeting, held September C, 17Sr), it was, pursuant to an article in the warrant calling the same, " Voted, that it is the opinion of the town that the county road ought to go through the centre of the town," and a petition, in accordance with that vote, was prepared and ordered to be sent " to the Court of Quarter Sessions now sitting in Worcester," stating that the road " as it is now laid will not convene this town nor the public so well as if it was laid through the centre of the town," and praying that it might extend from near Jonathan Bancroft's "through our centre and come into the county road that leads from Winchendon to Westminster Meeting-house," near Josiah Wheeler's, or where it will best serve the public. The court seemed to accede to the request of the petition and changed the location of the road accordingly. It ran substantially from the original Bancroft place along the course of what are now Park, Central, Pearl and Smith Streets to Chapel Street, near the present residence of Asa F. Smith, and was known, for many years, as the Westminster and Royalston Road.

No other action appears to have been taken by the town in the matter of roads during that year except to vote, November 7th, to have them, when laid out, three rods wide, and then a week later to reconsider that vote and fix their width at two and a half rods. At the annual meeting in March, 178(5, however, the subject of highways was taken up in earnest. The selectmen, who evidently had not been idle since their appointment to oflice, reported in detail the laying out of thirteen highways in different parts of the town, all of which were accepted and ordered to be built at an adjourned meeting held the following week. At the same meeting sixty pounds (about two hundred dollars) were voted for mending and making highways " this present year." By this action the inhabitants of the town were, for the most part, brought into ready communication with each other, with the Center, and with those larger thoroughfares by which access could be had to the neighboring towns to Worcester, the county seat, and to Boston,

^ the capital of the Commonwealth. Thus early in the f town's history were laid the first meshes of that complex net-work of streets and highways which afterwards spread over its whole territory, and which has been extended from time to time down to the present day, as the demands of busine.ss or the comfort and convenience of the people at large might seem to require. An interesting circumstance connected with the locating of roads in the early days of the town may be referred to at this point, not for its own sake alone, but because it illustrates somewhat the limited financial resources of the town at the time, the motives oftentimes influencing men in their action upon questions of public policy and the peculiar notions then entertained of what the public good would call for in coming years. In view of what has transpired since that date, the account of it is pleasant and suggestive reading. In the year 1793 some alterations were made in the County Road, running through the south part of the town, the principal of which was the straightening of it from near the head of Sawyer Street to a point near the present hotel site. By this change, travel would be diverted from the hilly, circuitous route past the Capt. Jackson place to the direct and comparatively level course across the lowlands south of the Bickford Mill, where the turnpike was afterward located. The new i)art running across the meadow was difficult and costly to build, which fact somewhat embarrassed the town, and it moreover was calculated to affect unfavorably the custom of the tavern at the summit of the hill by taking the ])rincipal part of the travel away from it.

Although the road had been so far completed as to be opened for use, yet the town voted, March 2"), 1794, to ask for its discontinuance or re-location elsewhere. A petition corresponding to that vote was prepared and ordered to be sent to the County Court. In urging the discontinuance of the piece of road ill question, which was the result aimed at, the petitioners represented that it had been laid " to the great damage of the town and individuals in said town, and we cannot see that the traveler can receive any real advantage by the same, and a great number of them seem to choose the old road, rather than the new one, as it is a good road and has been travelled upwards of forty years," etc. " It will also be of great damage on account of having mills being put up at the lower end of the meadow [where the Bent Brothers' chair-factory now is], which we shall stand in great need of, for the mill at the upper end of the meadow [on the site of the shop of James Sawyer] in some seasons cannot grind for one-half of the town, now it is small, and when we come to have three times our [present] number, and lands cleared up, which will much shorten the water, it will make a wide odds, and we shall have to travel five, six, seven and eight miles for grinding, which will be a very great grievance; it also takes it [travel] from a public-house that has been occupied for that service upwards of twenty years, and of late has been at great expense for buildings to serve the public ; and as we have three county roads through this little town, and almost all our roads are new and very bad to make, and but a little while since our incorporation, and have had a meeting-house to build, and of late a minister to settle, and have school-houses to build, before we can reap any great advantage by schooling. We, therefore, pray your iionors to take our case into your wise consideration and discontinue the new laid road, . . . and to keep the old road as it is now travelled, which is but two tallies further than the new one, which, had there been a full bench, we cannot think would have been accepted." Nevertheless, the County Court did not see good reason for reversing their previous action, but re-affirmed it, and the road was in due time finished to the satisfaction of that body. Almost a hundred years of experience in the use of this piece of highway, whose value at the outset was so stoutly questioned, have vindicated the action of the parties in authority in this matter beyond all doubt or peradventure. Few roads in all the town have rendered more important service to the general public, or contributed more to the convenience and needs of the community.

Space will not permit a detailed statement concerning the different highways and streets that have been constructed since the opening of the present century. They have multiplied with the growth of the town until they number, at this present date, over one hundred, without taking into account numerous alleys and by-ways, opened for public or private convenience.

In 1870 the town instituted measures for causing the different roads and streets throughout its territory to be designated by name, which resulted in the accomplishment of the end sought before the expiration of the year, and in directing the selectmen " to cause sign-boards to be put up at the termini of each street in town," which was accordingly done. More recently considerable has been brought to pass in the way of having side-walks laid along the more frequented streets of the different villages, partly by public and partly by private funds, the town for several years appropriating a thousand dollars or more for that purpose. These are of great convenience to pedestrians, while the carriage-ways generally, not only at the business centres, but in the suburbs, are kept in excellent repair, rendering them suitable both for the heavier kinds of transportation and for the ordinary purposes of journeying or pleasure -driving. The annual expenditure of the town for highways and bridges is about seven thousand five hundred dollars.

The Fifth Massachusetts Turnpike. - Towards the close of the last century the custom of forming private companies for the construction of important thoroughfares arose in the State of Massa- chusetts, and prevailed quite extensively for a score or more of years, or until public roads became so common and so good that the others failed of necessary support, and so had to be abandoned or transferred to public management.

These companies operated under an act of incorporation received from the Legislature of the Commonwealth, which act fixed for them the location of their roads, and gave them power to establish tax or toll-houses at given distances along their routes, whereat to demand and receive tribute, affixed rates, of the traveling and teaming public for the construction and maintenance of the same. Such roads received the general name of turnpikes from the turning-bar or gate, set up at the toll-houses to stop those desiring to pass until the stipulated fee was paid.

Among those receiving a charter at the date named or thereabouts was what was called the Fifth Massachusetts Turnpike, its name indicating the place it occu]iied in the series, running through the South Village of Gardner. Its eastern terminus was Jonas Kendall's tavern, Leominster, whence it extended "through Westminster, Gardner, Templeton, Phillipston, Athol, Orange and Warwick, to Capt. Elisha Hunt's, in Northfield," with a branch "from Athol, through Montague, to Calvin Munn's tavern, Greenfield."

The corporation, under whose auspices this road was built, was composed of gentlemen of influence and property along the line, who obtained authority in the matter by an act of the Legislature passed March 1, 1799. It provided for the construction of a road " four rods wide, the path to be travelled not less than eighteen feet wide in any place," and for " the erection of five turnpike gates convenient for collecting the toll." One of these gates was located in Gardner, near the line of Westminster, but changed afterward to the Elijah Foster place, and finally to South Gardner Village. This road was a great improvement on what had previously existed, being very straight and well-graded, and for many years it formed the principal thoroughfare from Brattleboro', Greenfield and Albany to Boston, the amount of passenger and freight traffic over it being very large. This corporation continued till 1832, when it transferred its franchise to the county of Worcester, and dissolved.

Railways. - As time went on, the common highway and the old means of travel and transportation became insufficient to meet the increasing demands of business and trade, in this section of country as elsewhere. The railway system came in to supply the existing and growing need. It had been tried in different localities with satisfactory results. Several lines in the State were in successful operation. The " Fitchburg Road" had been chartered, and was approaching completion, when the project was started looking to its extension westward to the valley of the Connecticut. It took form, with Brattleboro' for a terminus in that direction, under the name of the Vermont and Massachusetts Railroad, and was duly chartered March 15, 1844, though it was not built and opened for through traflSc till 1850,

This road, so far as Gardner is concerned, has a unique and interesting history. The prime mover in its behalf was Hon. Alvah Crocker, a prominent citizen of Fitchburg, largely associated with the industrial development of that place, somewhat known to the general public, and afterward a member of Congress from his Representative District. To him, no doubt, its construction at the time was due. Thoroughly interested in the enterprise, he enlisted some of his responsible fellow-townsmen as co-workers with him, and visited most of the towns along the proposed route, holding public meetings and interviewing leading citizens for the purpose of calling attention to the matter, awakening interest and securing at last subscriptions to the capital stock required. All this was done under the assumption that the road was to go through the towns where encouragement was solicited, to their very great advantage, and that the route was entirely feasible and suitable to the end in view. Gardner, which was at that time beginning to be animated with new life, and to give promise ot future growth and prosperity, was strongly appealed to on the grounds named, and responded liberally. Of course, this was done with the full understanding and expectation that the road would run through Gardner in such a way that it would greatly benefit the rapidly-growing manufacturing interest of the communily by furnishing more convenient as well as greatly increased facilities for transportation. It was greatly to the surprise and indignation of those more immediately concerned, therefore, to learn, some time after they had pledged their co-operation, that ]Mr. Crocker and others acting with him were laying plans to have the road laid through Winchendon instead of Gardner, thereby depriving the latter place of the chief benefit hoped for and promised by its construction. So determined were the parties interested in these plans of turning the road away from Gardner, that before the Legislature of the State was called upon to grant an act of incorporation authorizing the building of the same, they had caused to be located and graded at their own expense what was called the eleventh section, lying between Ashburnham Junction and Winchendon village, apparently for the purpose of influencing the members of the General Court in their behalf. But they were doomed to disappointment. By the intervention of influential gentlemen in Gardner and Templeton, for Templeton was also to be cut off from railroad facilities by the devices referred to, the original bill for the chartering of the road, drawn in accordance with the wishes of Mr. Crocker and his friends, was so far amended as to locate it "through the north part of the town of Gardner to Otter River, thence down Otter River to the village of Baldwinsville, in the north part of

Templeton." Mr. Crocker, dissatisfied with this result, petitioned to have Baldwinsville taken out of the charter, and appealed to the County Commissioners, who had authority to act in the matter, to change the location of the road in accordance with his wishes. The citizens of Gardner were now thoroughly aroused to a sense of the danger that threatened them, and at a town-meeting held July 22, 1845, chose Levi Heywood, Samuel S. Howe and Edwin E. Glazier a committee to contest the appeal of Mr. Crocker before the commissioners, and to oppose the proposed alteration of the charter before the General Court, with power to employ counsel if deemed necessary. This committee, acting in hearty cooperation with gentlemen representing Templeton in the matter, succeeded in thwarting the designs of their opponents, and in preventing a change of the charter in the interest of those opponents. Finding themselves defeated, the managers of the corporation, with Mr. Crocker at their head, resolved to secture by indirect means what they had lost in open and fair fight. They asked for and obtained an extension of the time for building the road, apparently with the hope that sometliing might transpire, or that some new way might be found, whereby their cherished purpose might be realized. But such hope, if it existed, proved delusive.

A proposition for a branch road to Gardner from Ashburnham was rejected with emphatic protest, and an accompanying declaration, that if a brancli could be laid to Gardner, the main line could as well go there. And on the basis of the survey for the branch road, the Gardner committee and their allies convinced the Legislature of 1846 that their claim for the main line was reasonable and right, which resulted in the passage of an act on the l(!th of April, re-locating the road in accordance with their wishes as follows: " Commencing at some convenient point in Westminster westward of Whitman's Village, or in Gardner, or in Ashburnham, and thence through the town of Gardner to the valley of Otter River, and thence, by such a line as shall be found most feasible, through Templeton to a point in their chartered line between Gibson's mill and the village of South Koyalston." This was substantially where the road now runs and where the interest and convenience of the community are well served. But, although signally defeated by the skill, energy and tireless vigilance of those whom the town appointed to care for its interests in the affair and secure justice to the town and to those individuals who in good faith had, under the original representations, subscribed to the funds of the corporation, yet it would seem as if even then the opposition did not entirely abandon their former purpose of running the main road through Winchendon and of making the Gardner line ultimately a subordinate branch. No other supposition has been suggested to account for the adoption of what the author of the " History of Gardner " calls " that bewildering anomaly in railroad traveling " - the reversal of the engine and the turning of the seats of the passengers at South Ashburnham, which was in vogue for many years. The change in that regard enabling the trains to run by direct movement there as elsewhere, settles finally and forever the question of the permanent location of the road, and secures to Gardner for all time to come, no doubt, those railroad facilities eastward and westward which it not only needed, but was justly entitled to by every consideration of equity and the public welfare.

This railroad beyond all question has contributed largely to the development of the resources of the town and to the building up of its various manufacturing establishments, as the town in turn has done much by its rapidly increasing traffic to promote the prosperity of the road. The advantages derived from it have been greatly increased since it came into the hands of the " Fitchburg" corporation, and its service in every department is constantly becoming more effective and satisfactory. The recent abolition of several grade-crossings in the town has conduced to the common safety in a way which might be wisely applied to other places of danger, especially in the more densely populated localities. A spur-track up the valley of the Crystal Lake stream, built in 1881, adds materially to the convenience and value of the manufactories which line the route. In the construction of this spur, the interested parties were at the expense of the grading, while the railroad company laid the rails and furnished the rolling-stock. Under the present management of the road increased facilities and accommodations are supplied to meet the requirements of the business public and to minister to the comfort of travelers. A new Union Station, already in contemplation, will be another step in the right direction, and will secure the appreciation and grateful approval of the public.

But, although the construction of the Vermont and Massachusetts Railroad was of great service to the town of Gardner, yet it did not meet all the demands of the community in the matter of convenient and rapid transportation. An outlet southward became, after a while, an important consideration, not only for the advantage it would be to the business interests of the place, but as opening easy and ready communication with Worcester, the shire-town of the county, with which its people were somewhat intimately associated in many ways and becoming more and more so every passing year.

To satisfy this growing want, some of the leading citizens of Gardner united with those of other towns along the route in petitioning for a new railroad, to be called the Boston, Barre and Gardner Road. Some time previous to this movement, in April, 1847, a charter had been granted for a road from Worcester to Barre, to be called the Worcester and Barre Railroad. It provided for a main line between the termini named and for a branch therefrom to some convenient point on the Vermont and Massachusetts Kailioad in Gardner. The following year the name was changed to the Boston, Barre and Gardner Railroad. For good reasons nothing was done towards building this road for twenty years, the time for its construction being extended at different dates and some changes in its location made by special legislative enactment.

At length, in July, 1869, certain Worcester gentlemen, liecoming deeply interested in the undertaking, authority was obtained from the General Court for the city of Worcester and towns along the line of the road to take stock in it, which gave new heart to its friends and new impetus toward its construction. Worcester subscribed liberally, as did Gardner and other towns, and private capitalists also helped in a similar way. By this action success was assured to the road, and measures were at once taken to carry the desires ol those concerned in it into effect. Hence, on the 15tb of the following September, the directors of the corporation voted to put that portion of the road lying between Worcester and Gardner under contract for construction at the earliest possible date, and two months later, terms were concluded with Messrs. Cook &Co., of Canada, in accordance therewith. Work was at once begun and pushed forward with energy and zeal under the general supervision of the efficient president, Colonel Ivers Phillips, of Worcester. On the 26th of April following, that gentleman drove the first spike in the laying of the rails at Gardner, and on the 4th of July of the same year (1870), an excursion train from Worcester to Gardner passed over the road, though it was not until several weeks afterward that it was formally opened for regular traffic. It proved to be of great convenience and value to the town, but, like roads similarly situ.ated elsewhere, was obliged to struggle on by varying fortunes for many years, on account of financial limitations and other unpropitious circumstances.

Meanwhile the fact that immense quantities of lumber for manufacturing pnrjtoses were brought into town from the still extensive forest regions of New Hampshire, Vermont and Canada, created a need for better raeansof transportation in that direction, which the public recognized more and more, as the industrial interests of the community increased. Consequently a project was started in 1868 or '69 - even before the opening of the Worcester road - looking to the extension of tliat road to Winchendon, which would give the facilities required. In furtherance of that project, a petition was forwarded to the General Court asking for such an extension under the name of the Gardner & Winchendon Railroad. Inasmuch as the enterprising citizens of the two towns interested had already pledged funds for the building of the road, it was confidently anticipated that a charter, in response to the prayer of the petitioners, would be granted without delay. But much to the surprise, annoyance and indignation of all interested parties, a vast amount of opposition to the enterprise was developed, in which the Vermont and Ma.ssachusetts, the Boston, Clinton and Fitchburg, the Nashua and Worcester and the Worcester and Providence Corporations were notably active, using all possible monetary and other influence to prevent the accomplishment of the object desired. This opposition prevailed temporarily, necessitating a vigorous fight of three years' duration, when, as in the case of the Vermont and Mass.achusetts road twenty years before, Gardner conquered and the act of incorporation asked for was granted by the Legislature in February, 1872. In due time the location of the road was fixed and a contract for its construction was made with Mr. B. N. Farren, of Greenfield, who began work upon it in December following. In less than a year the last rail connecting the Boston, Barre & Gardner road with the Cheshire was laid, and on Thanksgiving Day, November 27, 1873, a train from Worcester, conveying the officers of the corporation and the mayor and other gentlemen of that city to Winchendon, arrived therein season for a substantial dinner at the American House. The road was opened for regular business two mouths afterward, February 2, 1874. Thu«, in spite of all opposition, was consummated an undertaking which was of vast importance, both to the Boston, Barre & Gardner Railroad corporation and to the industrial pro.^perity of Gardner for all time to come. The road as completed was made especially conducive to the town's welfare, by furnishing the leading manufactory of the place with direct facdities for transportation, and, by laying spurs of track, for the accommodation of other establishments. Struggling on for a series of years under difficulties already referred to, it was at length delivered from its many embarrassments by an arrangement with the Fitchburg corporation, according to the terms of which its entire management was tranferred to that body, which had previously secured control of the Vermont and Massachusetts road, so that at the present time all the railroad interests of Gardner are under the management of the Fitchburg Company, in which the citizens of the town are well represented. The present railroad system of the place, reaching out to the four cardinal points of the compass, and furnishing ready and easy communication with all parts of the country, and with all the markets of the world, seems to meet the essential needs of the people at large, and is highly satisfactory. A common station for both roads at the point of crossing, commodious and attractive, suited to the size of the town, the extent of business done and the style of public and private buildings in the place is an already existing need, and one which will undoubtedly be met at an early day.

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.

Biographical Levi Heywood

Prominent among the business-men and inventors of this his native town stands the name of Levi Heywood, a sketch of whose ancestors' lives and inventive genius we here give. In connection with each of the varied industries which have made New England the work-shop of the country, there is in almost every case some single name, that of a pioneer, or especially successful manufacturer, which is at once suggested when the industry is named. In this relation to the chair manufivcture stands the name of Heywood. The various families of this name, widely disseminated through Middlesex and Worcester Counties, are all of them, it is believed, descended from John Heywood, who, prior to 1650, came from England and settled in Concord, Mass. His son, well and widely known as Deacon John Heywood, was a man of large influence both in civil and in ecclesiastical affairs. One of his sons, Phineas, born in Concord in 1707, removed in 1739 to Shrewsbury, Masg. He was selectman, a Representative in the Provincial Congres.s, a member of the Committee of Correspondence in 1774-75, and a man of large influence in public affairs. His son Benjamin, born in 1746, was commissioned, in 1776, a captain and paymaster in the army, and served through the war. He was present at the surrender of Gen. Burgoyne. From 1802 to 1811 he was one of the judges of the Court of Common Pleas, and for many years was one of the most eminent citizens of Worcester County. His older brother, Seth, born in Concord in 1738, was carried with his father's family to Shrewsbury, and in 1762 was married to Martha Temple, of that town. He soon after moved to Sterling, and served as lieutenant in the Army of the Revolution, purchasing a farm within the limits of what is now Gardner. He was living there at the time of the incorporation of the town in 1785, and, in connection with John Glazier, was one of the petitioners and chief promoters of that act, and was the first town clerk. His son Benjamin, born in Gardner in 1773, married Mary Whitney. He inherited his father's farm. He was for many years the town treasurer. His children were Levi, Benjamin F., Walter, William, Seth and Charles. He died in 1849, in his seventy-seventh year.

Levi Heywood was born in Gardner, December 10, 1800. His early advantages for education were only those of the common schools of that day, with the afklition of two terms at the academy in New Salem, Mass. He taught school for two terms, in 1820-21- 22. In the spring of the latter year he went to Rochester, N. Y., and was employed for about one year in slone-work by contract. Returning in 1823 to Gardner, he entered into partnership with his brother Benjamin, in the business of a country store. In 182G he commenced, in Gardner, the manufacture of wood-seated chairs. In 1831 he went to Boston, and opened a store for the sale of chairs, in wliich business he continued till 1S36.

He also, in connection with W. R. Games and his brother William, under the firm-name of Heywood & Carnes, started a mill for sawing veneers from mahogany, etc., in Charlestown. This mill was burned in 1835. He then returned to Gardner, and entered into partnership with his brother Walter, who with others had been for some years engaged in the manufacture of chairs on part of the premises now occupied by Heywood Bros. & Co. The veneer-mill in Charlestown was rebuilt, and Mr. Heywood retained his interest in it until 1849. The business of the new firm in Gardner was conducted with success, the manufacturebeingmainly by hand, the only machinery being the ordinary turning-lathes and circular-saws, which were operated by water-power, obtained from the pond now known as Crystal Lake.

In 1841 it occurred to Levi Heywood that machinery specially adapted to the various processes of manufacture might be introduced to advantage. His brother, of a more conservative disposition, hesitated to leave the well-worn paths in which they were achieving reasonable success. This difference of opinion led to a dissolution of the partnership, Levi purchasing his brother's interest. He at once gave his thoughts and labor to the devising and constructing of special machinery, as well as to the introduction of different kinds of wood-working machinery, which were already in use for other purposes, and were also adapted to his purpose. In the successful carryingout of this idea he inaugurated a new era in the chair manufacture, and herein manifested nnich enterprise, together with the fertility of resource, mechanical skill and inventiveness, and the purpose to introduce constantly new and valuable features, both in methods of manufacture and in style of product, which have always characterized him, and have been large elements of his success.

As an instance of his originality in the matter of mechanical devices, it may be said that as early as 1835 he conceived the idea of the band-saw, now universally adopted as one of the most valuable tools in wood-work. The idea was not original with him though, nor really novel, for as early as 1808 Wm. Newberry, of London, England, had conceived the same idea, and made a crude model of a band sawing machine, but did nothing more with it. So thoroughly were its advantages anticipated by Mr. Heywood, that he consulted with B. D. Whitney, of Winchendon, and with Charles Griffiths, of Boston, as to the feasibility of constructing a machine of this kind. Both of these gentlemen, experts in such matters, agreed that with the quality of saw-blades then made, or any known methods of uniting them, so as to make an endless band, the idea could not be successfully carried out. As is well known, M. Perin, of Paris, France, has since that time accomplished what Mr. Heywood so many years before conceived to be both desirable and feasible.

In 1844 he took into partnership General Moses Wood, then of Providence, R. I., and his brother Seth, the style of the firm being Heywood & Wood. This partnership continued till July 1, 1849. At that time General Wood retired from the firm, and Messrs. Calvin Heywood and Henry C. Hill were admitted, the style of the firm being changed to L. Heywood & Co. Mr. Heywood, in addition to his business relations as the head of the firm of Heywood Bros. e*c Co., in 1847 formed a partnership with Hon. W. B. Washburn, of Greenfield, Mass., in the manufacture of chairs and wooden-ware, at Erving, Mass., the style of the firm being Messrs. Washburn & Heywood. At this point it is proper to refer to the inventions of Mr. Heywood, which have been mostly to meet the demands of his own business, and have largely contributed to its success. Among them may be named one for wood chair-seat, one for tilting chair, three for machines for splitting, shaving and otherwise manipulating rattan, and four for machinery for bending wood. Of the merits of his woodbending process it may be proper to introduce the testimony of M. Fr. Thonet, of Vienna, Austria, the head of the largest chair manufacturing firm in the world, employing some five thousand operatives. After visiting the factories of Messrs. Heywood, he wrote : " I must tell you candidly that you have got the best machinery for bending wood that I ever saw, and I will say that I have seen and experimented a great deal in the bending of wood." The Heywood patents have been combined with those of John C. Morris, of Cincinnati, Ohio, on which the patents of Blanchard have, after protracted litigation, been decided to be infringements. The combined patents owned by the Morris & Heywood Wood-Bending Co. it is believed cover the really effective methods for bending wood.

Mr. Heywood represented the tow'n in the convention for revising the Constitution of the Slate in the year 1853, and in the lower branch of the Legislature in 1871. He was a director in the Gardner National Bank, and a trustee of the Gardner Savings Bank from the organization of those institutions ; an attendant of the Congregational Church in Gardner, and a liberal contributor to its support. He was largely interested in educational matters, and made liberal donations of land and otherwise to the town in this direction. He was respected in the highest degree for his personal integrity and excellence of character, and his example wag for good to the large number of his employ(;j, and to ihe community in which he was long regarded as the most influential citizen. He died July 21, 18S2.

Charles Heywood

The subject of this sketch, Mr. Charles Heywood, was the second son of Levi and Martha (Wright) Heywood, and was born during the temporary residence of his parents in Boston, on the 12th day of November, 1831. At an early age, having received a good elementary education in the public schools and at the Fitchburg Academy, he entered the office of E. D. Brigham & Co., commission merchants on Long Wharf, when he was subjected to a thorough training in mercantile affairs, which, in addition to liis native abilities and previous acquirements, admirably fitted him for his subsequent career in life. When nineteen years old he went into the countingroom of the rising establishment of which his father was the founder and head, and in which he himself was to become an important factor in later years. There he applied himself not only to the clerical duties pertaining to his position, but to the study and mastery of the details and practical workings of the great industry with which he was brought in contact, and of the means and agencies by which that industry could be carried forward to larger issues and a grander achievement than had as yet been attained or conceived of as possible for it. He thus became amply qualilied for membership in the firm of Heywood Bros. & Co., to which he was admitted a few years later, and for a responsible place in its multiform activities. For a while he had charge of the Boston department of the establishment, having his re-^idence at Winchester, a few miles out of the city. In 1866 he returned to Gardner, where he was brought into more immediate relation to the processes of manufacture and to the development and growth of the business, and when he assumed a more direct responsibility in the control of the company's affairs. In 1868 he wilhrew from the firm, but returned to it six years later and remained in its active service until compelled to desist by failing health, which resulted in his death June 24, 1882. By his removal from the scene of liis earthly labors, Gardner lost one of its first citizens, and one of the best representatives of its important interests and prosperous fortunes.

It is difficult to justly estimate such a man as Charley Heywood, to set in proper array his many estimable qualities, and to give him that complete and symmetrical portraiture which will reproduce him, as he was, to tlie reader's eye and mind. Only a few hints to this end will be attempted in this delineation. As a man of business, quick to grasp business problems and efficient in executing business demands, he was, by common consent, pre-eminent. Nature seemed to have made him, under the eye of a wise Providence, for business pursuits and achievements, endowing him with a keen, clear insight in that direction and a discriminating, practical judgment which, acting with such spontaneity and precision, was akin to genius, if not genius itself. An eminent citizen of a neighboring town, well qualified to judge in such matters, declared him to be " the ablest financier in the northern part of Worcester County."