Hardwick Town

Chapter Cxli

Harpwick is situated on the western border of Worcester County, and is surrounded by the towns of Barre, Dana and New Braintree in that county, and the towns of Enfield, Greenwicli and Ware in the county of Hampshire. Its territory measures about twenty-one tliousand acres. At a time ju.st preceding the establishment of the province of Massachusetts Bay, in ]t)".i2, this territory was little known. The hardy settlers of New England rarely ventured so far into the wilderness, where, in case of hostile Indian attacks, they had no avenues of retreat to the more secure .settlements on the seaboard except through paths and trails, with which the natives were more familiar than themselves. In 1087, the date at which this narrative opens, the only western towns which had been settled - Deerfield, Westfield, Hatfield, Hadley and Northampton - were easily accessible by the Connecticut River, and along that stream they could readily escape to the garrisons along the Connecticut shore.

At the date above-mentioned, when every immigrant from the Old World felt that greed for the possession of land which abstinence at home from such a lu.Kury had created, associations were constantly forming in the older towns of Essex and Suffolk Counties to secure grants which might, in time, secure to them abundant means of livelihood, or perhaps even untold wealth. Among these associations was one in the town of Roxbury, consisting of Joshua Lamb, Nathaniel Paige, Andrew Gardener, Benjamin (iamblin, Benjamin Tucker, John Curtis, Richard Draper and Samuel Ruggles. These men secured a deed of land which, with some alterations of boundaries, resulting from recent legislation, included the present township of Hardwick. The text of the deed is as follows :

Know aU men b.v thesp presf^nts that we, Jolin MagiiB, Lawrence Massnwanno, attorneys to Annogojnock, Sachem of the tract of laiui called Wonilieniesscook, .lames and Simon, sons and heirs of Blacli James, Sachem of tlie Nipriing conntrey for tUvere good canses and considerations as tlicrennto moving, and tnore especially for and in consideration of tlie snm of twenty ponnila cnrrent money of New England to OS in Iianil paid I»y .loslina Lambe, Nath. Paige, Andrew tiardencr, Benja. Gamldin, Benjamin Tncker, .John (Mirtis, Kicllard Draper and Samnel Ruggles, of Itoxlmry, in the connty of Suffolk, in New England, tlie receipt whereof we do hereby acknowledge oni-selvea therewith to be fully satisfied, contented and paiil, have given, granted) bargained, sold, aliened, enfeoffed and confirmed, ami by these presents do fully, freely and absolutely give, grant, bargain, sell, aliene, enfeofe and cunftrni unto the ajiid Lambe, Paige, Gardener, Gambler, Tucker, Curtis, Draper and Ruggles, their heirs and assignes, a certain tractor parcel of land containing, by estimation, twelve miles long north and south and eight miles wide east and west, situate, lying and being near Quabaug, commonly known by the name of Wombemesscuok, being hutted and bounded southerly upon the land of Joseph Dmlley, Esq., lately purchaj^ed of the Indians, eiusterly the southeriuost corner upon a pond called .Sasagookapaug, and so by a brnnk which rrinnelh info the

Raid pond, and so up northerly imto a place called Kequaes, and so still northerly until it meets with a river Menamesich, and westerly by the river until it comes against Quabaug bounds and joins unto their bounds or however otherwise butted and bounded ; together with all and singnUar the. rights, commodities, liberties, privileges and appurtenances whatsoever to the same belonging or however otherwise appertaining. To have and to hold the said tract or parcel of land situate, containing and being as aforesaid to (he said Lamb, Paige, Gardener, Gambler, Tucker. Curtis, Diaper and Ruggles, their heirs and assigns, in common tenancy to their only proper nse and behoofe forever. .\nd the said John Magus, Lawrence Nassowanno, attorneys as aforesaid, James and Simon, iieii-s of Black James, as afoiesaid, do covenant, promise ai.d grant for themselves, heirs, executors and administrators, to and with the said Joshua Lamb, Nathaniel Paige, Andrew Gardener, Benjaniin Gambler, Henjamin Tucker, Richard Draper and Samuel Ruggles, their heirs and iissigns, that they will the above granted and bargained land and every part and parcel thereof, with their and every of th^ir appurtenances, warrant and defend from all and every person and persons whatsoever claiming any right or title thereto or interest thereon, from, by or under us. In witness whereof the said .lohii Magus, Lawrence Nassowanno, attorneys as aforesaid, James and Simon, have hereunto set their hands anil seals, this twenty-seventh ilay of December, Atino Domiiu, one thousand six hunih-ed eighty and six, annoq R R^ Jai-obi, Secundi, Anghe. itc. Seoumhi.

John Magnus, .Tames and Simon, Indians, subscribers to this instrument personally appearing, acknowledged the same to be their act and deed, June-J.'ith, 1GS7, before me -

There was evidently a doubt on the part of the grantees in this deed whether the title sought to be obtained under it would have any validity in the estimation of the governraeut. It hears date only seven days after the appearance of Andros as Governor of New England, who declared all titles to lands vested in the Crown. At any rate it was not recorded until the 7th of May, 1723, and up to that time at least no steps were taken to take possession under its provisions. Three years or more after the record of the deed, those who were living of the orignal grantees and the heirs of the others proceeded to find the bounds of the granted lands and to petition the General Court to confirm their title. Their petition, presented June 10, 1727, was unsuccessful. In 1729 another attempt to secure a confirmation of title was unsuccessful, and after other equally unsuccessful efforts to obtain from the court a title to the whole or a part of the purchased lands, on the 17th of June, 1732, it was ordered " that there be and hereby is granted unto the petitioners and their associates a tract of land of the contents of six miles square for a township at the place petitioned for, to be laid out in a regular form by a surveyor and chainman under oath, a plan thereof to be presented to this court at their next session for confirmation ; the said land by them to be settled on the conditions following, viz.: that they within the space of five years settle and have on the spot sixty families (the settlers to be none but .such as are natives of New England), each settler to build a good and convenient dwelling-house of one story high, eighteen feet square at the least, and clear and bring to four acres fit for improvement and three acres more well stoclced with English gras', and also lay out three shares throughout the town, each share to be one sixty-third part of the said town, one share for the first settled minister, one for the ministry and the other for the school ; and also build a convenient meeting-house and settle a learned and orthodox minister within the time aforesaid." This order was concurred in by the Council June 20, 1732, and became a law on the signature of Governor Belcher being affixed on the 30th of .Tune.

After the confirmation of their title to that portion of their purchase comprising a territory six miles square, the proprietors held meetings, admitted proper associates and voted to lay out the township, reserving ten acres near the centre for a meetinghouse, burial-place and training-field. On the 22d of February, 1732-33, it was voted that "the committee shall as soon as may be lay out one hundred and eleven lots for the proprietors and settlers in one hundred acre lots, having respect to the quality of the land, viz. : four lots to each proprietor's share, sixty settlers and the lots for the minister, ministry and school ; the minister's lot to be laid out by the committee near the centre of the town, and the rest of the lots to be drawn for both by the proprietors and settlers." It was also voted "that the remaining land belonging to the proprietors be all lotted out by the committee in such quantities as that each proprietor have three lots and so sorted as that in the draft each person may have a just and equal share," and " that each settler pay into the hands of the committee upon his drawing his lot the sum of five pounds towards the defraying the charges of surveying, etc., and the further sum often pounds each for the building a meeting-house and settling a minister within the space of three years after his being admitted." It was still further voted "that each proprietor have leave to offer lor admission five settlers of such persons according to the court's grant and shall give bonds to the committee for the fulfillment of the orders and conditions of court within three years from their admission, on forfeiture of their lots to be again disposed of; always provided that those who have paid their money and are already admitted be deducted out of the whole in proportion ; and whereas the proprietors have each of them a draught of four lots, which makes nine lots, including the settlers, five of any of the nine beinsr settled by them shall be sufficient."

In 1733 an enlargement of the lands of the proprietors was granted by the General Court as compensation for certain lands in the six miles square which it was found belonged to other parties. This enlargement began "at the east bank of Ware river, at the northwest corner of a tract of land laid out to James Hovey ; from thence running scmtherl}' as that line runs to Brookfield bounds ; and from thence easterly as Brookfield bounds run to the southwesterl}' corner of Braintree six thousand acres; and from thence extending northwesterly, bounding northeasterly on said six thousand acres till the line comes to Ware river ; and then bounding on Ware river to the first bounds ; in lieu of four hundred acres taken off' by Braintree grant and the three hundred acres taken oft" by land of John Read, Esq., and the ponds, etc., as aforesaid, provided it interferes with no former grant."

In 173G the territory was incorporated as a district, and the proprietors were authorized to choose town officers. At this time it appears to have borne the name of Lambstown. On the 27th of January, 1739, the following act was passed incorporating the town under the name of Hardwick :

Wliereas tlie plantation of Lambstown, so-called, in the County of Worcester, is competently filled with inhabitants who labor under divers inconveniences and difficulties for want of a power of enjoying and exercising town privileges among them, and have addressed this_ Court, set- 'ing forth the same and praying for relief therein ;

Sect, 1, That the said plantation of Lambstown, inclusive of the additional grant, lying and being on both sides of Wear river, as the same is hereafter bounded and described, be and hereby is coustiluted and erected into a separate and distinct township by the name of IJardwicke, the bounds of said township being 'as follows, viz.: beginning at the East Bank of Ware river, at the Northwest corner of a tract of land laid out to James Ilovey ; from thence, extending southerly, as that line runs to Brookfield bounds ; and from thence Easterly, as Brookfield bounds run to the Southwesterly corner of Braintry si.x thousand acres ; and from thence extending Northwesterly, bounding Northeasterly on said six thousand acres till the line comes to \Vare river, and so over the river, the same course, till it comes to the corner t>f Braintry grant, and there strikes on Rutland line ; thence running North thirty-nine de grees West seventeen hundred and sixty perch ; thence South forty degrees West eighteen hundred perch ; thence South one degree thirty minutes West ten liundred and thirty perch ; thence East two degrees thirty minutes North ten hundred and five perch to Ware river,

-Sect. 2. And that the inhabitants thereof be and hereby are vested and endowed with equal powers, privileges and immunities which any of the inhabitants of any of the other towns in this province are, or by law ought to be, vested with.

Sect. ;J. That the inhabitants of said town do within three years from the publication of this act erect and finish a suitable anil convenient meeting-house for the public worship of God among tlielu, they having alreatly an orthodox minister settled among them.

On the oth of March, 1738-39, a meeting was held, called by Christopher Paige, who was duly authorized by law, at which town officers were chosen for the year. Christopher Paige was moderator, Cornelius Cannon was chosen town clerk, John Wells tre.isurer, and a Board of Selectmen was chosen, consisting of Eleazer Warner, John Wells, Benjamin Smith, William Thomas and Constant Merrick.

Before the incorporation of the town, as the act states, a minister had been either settled or employed. Rev. Ephraim Keith began to preach on the plantation as early as 1734. Rev. David White succeeded him November 17, 1736, and on the same day a church was organized. The pastorate of Mr. White continued until his death, ,Ianiiarv li, 17X4, In

1736-37 a meeting-house was erected on the ten acres originally reserved for that purpose, but in 1741 a new house was built on the Common, which was not completel)' finished for several years. By the year 17r>0 the meeting-house was completed, but not before serious troubles had risen in the church, which it was found difficult to allay. After their final settlement the remainder of the ministry of Mr. White, which closed with his deatli, in 1784, was peaceful and prosperous. Mr. White was descended from John White, who came to New England in 1682. He was born at Hatfield, ,Tuly 1, 1710, and graduated at Yale College in 17^50.

The successor of Mr. White was Rev. Thomas Holt, who was ordained June 25, 1789. At the ordination of Mr. Holt, Rev. Charles Backus, of Somers, Conn., made the introductory prayer ; Rev. Benjamin Trumbull, of North Haven, Conn., preached the sermon ; Rev. Josiah Dana, of Barre, made the consecrating prayer ; Rev. Nathan Fiske, of Brookfield, gave the charge ; Rev. Daniel Foster, of New Brainlree, the right hand of fellowship ; and Rev. Joseph Appleton, of Brookfield, made the concluding prayer. Mr. Holt's pastorate continued until March 27, 1805, when he was dismissed at his own request.

Rev. William Biigham Wesson, a graduate of Williams College in 1802, followed Mr. Holt and was ordained October 20, 1805. During the ministry of Mr. Wesson the division of parishes and churches on account of the growing prevalence of Unitarianism, was felt in Hardwick, and in consequence of the non-committal stand taken by him some dissatisfaction in the cliurch resulted, and though sustained by a majority of the society, he asked and received his dismission, June 14, 1824.

After the dismission of Mr. Wesson the differences between the church and the parish prevented an agreement as to the settlement of a new minister. The church held to its Trinilaiian doctrines; the parish had crossed the threshold into the new theology. The result of the differences was the secession, in 1827, of the old orthodox Congregationalists, who were a majority of the church, with the old church records leaving the Congregational Society, with a minority of the church in possession of the meetinglidiise and property of the parish. The old society invited Rev. .lohn M. Merrick to settle as their pastor and he was ordained August 27, 1828. Mr. Merrick continued in the pastorate until March 5, 1832, when he resigned and not long after settled in Walpole, where he remained many years. In 1869 he was settled in Charlestown, New Hampshire, and there died March 20, 1871.

Rev. John Goldsbury followed Mr. Merrick and was installed July 4, 1832, and remained until 1839. jSIr. (ioldsbury was a native of Warwick and graduated at Brown University in 1820. A.side from his duties as pastor he was deeply interested in the cause of education and in variou.s places w.ns engaged in the duties of teacher. Under his instruction, among others, his son, John Gold.sliury, was fitted for Harvard and graduated with the writer of this sketch, in 1842. A daughter of Mr. Goldsbury married the late Amos B. Merrill, an attorney-at-law, in Boston, of high character and considerable practice.

In 1841 a new meeting-house was erected under an arrangement with the Universalist Society, by which the two societies were practically united, and dedicated January 25, 1842. Rev. Rufus S. Pope, who had been preaching to the Universalists, was engaged for a year and was followed by Rev. Norwood Daman, Unitarian, who remained two years. On the 2d (jf July, 1845, Rev. Benton Smith, Universalist, was ordained, who continued his pastorate until 1850.

After various supplies Rev. George J. Sanger, a Universalist, was installed May 7, 1856, and served eight years. During the war he served as lieutenant and chaplain in the army, and not long alter his return resigned his i)astorate, June 1, 1864.

Rev. John Harvey Moore, Universalist, followed, and preached until 1874. In 1875 Rev. Henry Jewell, also Universalist, took charge of the pulpit, and served until his resignation, in 1878. Since the resignation of Mr. 'Moore the pastorates of the society have been held by Rev. Lucian S. Crosley, who was ordained November 13, 1879, and Rev. Benjamin V. Stevenson, who began his services April 1, 1882.

The seceding church, on the 13th of November, 1827, organized the " First Calvinistic Society in Hardwick," and built a meeting-house, which was dedicated September 9, 1829. Rev. Martyn Tupper was ordained pastor April 16, 1828, and resigned April 29, 1835. His successor was Rev. Edward J. Fuller, a native of Plainfield, who was ordained November 3, 1835, and dismissed March 21, 1837. Rev. William Eaton followed September 6, 1837, and resigned March 26, 1840. Mr. Eaton was followed by Rev. ISarnabas M. Fay, who was ordained May 20, 1840, and served until August 23, 1843. The next pastor was tlje Rev. Asa Mann, a native of Randolph, Vt., and a graduate of Amherst in 1838. He was ordained June 19, 1844, and resigned October 14, 1851. Rev. Martyn Tupper began a new pastorate at Hardwick June 23, 1852, and resigned September 1, 1870. Rev. Eldridge W. Merritt served from June 5, 1873, the date of his installation, until October 1, 1876, and since that time the pulpit has been occu2)ied by Rev. Augustus C. Swain, Rev. Gilbert B. Richardson and the present pastor. Rev. Charles A. Peirce.

The Universalist Society, to which reference has been already made, was incorporated .lune 12, 1824. For many years previous to that time there had existed in Hardwick more or less of those holding to the Universalist faith, who held public service as opportunity offered, but there was no organized society until the date above mentioned. And even after the act of incorporation no uninterrupted services were held until 1836 or '37, when Rev. John Pierce was ordained, on the 27th of September in the latter year. Rev. Oilman Noyes, a native of Atkinson, N. H., and a graduate at Dartmouth College in 1830, succeeded Mr. Pierce, and was followed by Rev. Rufus S. Pope, who was pastor of the society at the time of its union with the Unitarian Society already described. After the union the society gradually fell into the Universalist ranks, and is now. reckoned one of the societies of that organization.

A Baptist Society, which was incorporated in Hardwick in 1816, built a meeting-house in 1801, and a larger one in 1832. In 184G the society removed its place of worship to Ware, and sold the meetinghouse in Hardwick. During the life of this society in Hardwick its pastors were : Rev. Ebenezer Burt, ordained June 20, 1798, and dismissed November 19, 1827 ; R^v. Joseph Glazier, Rev. Nelson B. Jones, Rev. William Brown and Rev. Joseph Ghizier, for the second time, who resigned in 1846, not long before the removal of the society to Ware.

A Methodist and a Catholic Society are also in operation, the former at the Furnace Village, where a meeting-house was erected in 1845, and the latter at Gilbertville, where a church was erected in 1872.

A Congregational Society was organized at Gilbertville about 1860, and held its services in a hall, built by Mr. George H. Gilbert, until the dedication of their stone church, September 10, 1874. Towards the construction of this church Mr. George H. Gilbert, who died in 1869, bequeathed the sum of twenty thousand dollars, the George H. Gilbert Manufacturing Company gave twenty thousand dollars and a piece of land with the foundation for the structure, Mrs. Gilbert presented the society with an organ and her children with the furniture and a window as a memorial of a beloved sister. The various pastors and supplying ministers of this society have been Rev. William H. Beecher, Rev. Rufus P. Wells, Rev. Willard D. Brown and the present pastor. Rev. Arthur Titcomb.

After the incorporation of New Braintree, in 1751, which diminished to a small extent the territory of the town, no change was made in its boundaries until the passage of the act incorporating the town of Dana February 18, 1801. That act described the new township as follows:

Beginning at the suutliwrst curlier of Petersliain, on tlie eiist line of New Salem, and running on aaiil line three miles ami sixty roils to the southeast corner of said New Salem; thence east seventy -four rods ; thence south two hiimlred and thirty rods; thence east thirty rods; thence south one mile and one inindred and thirty rods ; thence e.ast fourteen degrees south two hundred and sixty rods to Hardwick west line ; thence soiitli thirty-seven degrees west on said ILardwick line one hundred and twenty rods ; thence east thirty-two degrees south two hundred and forty rods to the middle of Swift river ; thence by a line drawn on the middle of said Swift river to the confluence of Pautapang Pond ; thence north thirty-eight degrees east one mile through said Pond to the nottheast corner thereof at la stump and stones on land of Luther Page ; thence north fifteen degrees east two hundred rods to the centre of the bridge across said Swilt river on the country road ; thence east twenty-one degrees north one hundred rods to the southeast corner of land of .Stephen White ; thence north twenty-two degrees east eighty rods ; thence north six degrees east two hundred and eighty rods ; thence north five degrees west one mile and eighty rods to the eastern declivity of Tliree-penny Morris Hill (so-called) ; thence west ten degrees east to the northeast corner of land of Seth Williams one mile and eighty rods ; thence west fourteen degrees north one hundred and thirty rods; thence west twenty-five degrees south two hundred rods; thence west nineteen degrees north to the fii-st-mentioned bounds.

Another slight change in the boundaries was made by an act passed June 10. 1814, providing that .Joseph Robinson, of New Braintree, with his family and so much of his farm as now lies in New Braintree and west of Ware River, should be set off from New Braintree to Hardwick.

On the 7th of February, 1831, a gore of unincorporated land was annexed to Hardwick, described as beginning at the northwest corner of Hardwick, and running north seventy degrees east five rods to the southerly corner of Petersham, thence south forty-one and one-quarter degrees east one hundred and eightyfour rods on the line of Petersham to the southeast corner thereof, and thence north thirty-seven and onehalf degrees west one hundred and eighty-six rods on line of Hardwick to the bounds first mentioned.

On the 6th of February, 1833, a gore of land lying at "the southeasterly part of Hardwick and adjoining said town, called Hardwick gore, containing about two hundred acres, beginning at a monument in the pond above Anderson's mill, at a place where the westerly line of ^ew Braintree leaves Ware River; thence on the said westerly line of New Braintree south fourteen degrees east one hundred and twenty-two rods to a stone monument; thence south thirty-seven degrees west two hundred and eighty-nine rods to another stone monument, at the southwest corner of New Braintree and northeast corner of Ware ; thence north eighty-seven degrees west thirty-six rods to said Ware River; thence on the said river northerly four hundred and twenty-one rods to the southeast corner of Hardwick; thence sixty-one rods to the place of beginning, together with the inhabitants thereof," was annexed to Hardwick. This last annexation furnished the territory on which the village of Gilbertville is chiefly built, and on which a large part of the population of the town have their residences.

As a partial compensation paid by the town for these additions to its territory, by an act passed February 4, 1842, a tract of land described as "beginning at the southwest corner of Silas N. Johnson's land, on the line of said Hardwick and Dana; thence running south forty-nine degrees east two hundred and four rods to the corner of Stephen Hillman's land ; thence north thirty-one and one-half degrees east five hundred Jind forty-three rods to Barre, Hardwick and Petersham corner, together with a p.art of Petersham," was taken from Hardwick and annexed to Dana.

It was not long after the incorporation of the town and after the complete operation of its municipal machinery had been put in motion before the prosperous career of its little community was disturbed by the French and Indian Wars. During the second war the

Brigadier-General Ruggles, who entered the service from Hardwick as colonel and soon rose to the rank and title here given to him, was a man whose distinction deserves some special reference. He was descended from Thomas Ruggles, who appeared in Roxbury as early as 1637. Rev. Timothy Ruggles, father of the general, graduated at Harvard at 1707, and was settled in Rochester, Mass., November 22, 1710. He was in many ways helpful in the early settlement of Hardwick, his father, Samuel Ruggles, having been one of the original purchasers of the territory from the Indians in KiJSi). Among his classmates was Rev. Thomas Prince, the annalist, and pastor of the Old South Church in Boston. His pastorate continued in Rochester until his death, in 1768. The general was born in Rochester October 11, 1711, and graduated at Harvard in 1732. After practicing law for a time in Sandwich, where he also kept a tavern, he settled in Hardwick, which town he represented in the General Court in 1736. At the battle of Lake George in 1755 he was brigadier-general and second in command. He was appointed judge of the Inferior Court of Common Pleaii in 1756, and was the chief justiceofthatcourt from 1762 until the Revolution. He was president of the Stamp ^ct Congress of the Nine Colonies in New York in 1765, but, refusing to concur in its measures, was reprimanded by the Legislature. He adhered to the King at the beginning of the Revolution, was a Mandamus Councilor, and on the evacution of Boston went with the British troops to Halifax. He returned to Long and Staten Islands and organized a body of loyal militia. His property was confiscated by the act of 1779, and at the close of the war or earlier he settled in Nova Scotia, and died at Wilmot August 4, 1705.

Nor was the town of Hardwick less active in its efforts to carry the Revolutionary War to a successful conclusion. In the archives of the State the names of the following persons are found, who at various times and for various periods of service took part in the struggles either as a part of the militia or of the Continental army :

The loyal sentiment, which existed to a marked degree in many of the towns on the seaboard, found slender foothold in the inland towns. It is a litile singular that in the towns where the old Pilgrim blood coursed most abundantly in the veins of the people adherence to the crown should have been the most pronounced. No communities in the Massachusetts Province held within their limits so many descendants from the original settlers of New Eng land in 1620 as Plymouth and Marshfield, and in those towns the loyal sentiment was strong. In the latter town, at the beginning of the war, the loyalists were in the majority and were suppressed only by the most active measures. In the interior towns, among the farming population, on the contrary, the current of feeling was strongly in one direction and that towards resistance and independence. Of Timothy Ruggles, the leading loyalist in Hardwick, mention has already been made. As far as the writer knows, there were but three others sufficiently pronounced in

Daniel Oliver, a graduate of Harvard in the class of 1762, settled as a lawyer in Hardwick, and, leaving the country, took up his residence in England, and died at Ashted, Warwickshire, May 6, 1826. Sabine, in his sketches of loyalists, calls him the son of Chief Justice Peter Oliver, who was a noted loyalist, and died at Birmingham, England, October 13, 1791. It is more probable that he was the son of Andrew Oliver, a brother of Peter, who succeeded Hutchinson as Lieutenant-Governor, and wlij, as the distributor of stamps, was hung in effigy on the Liberty Tree in Boston.

Jonathan Dan forth was imprisoned, but finally released by order of the General Court, and continued to live in Hardwick many years afterwards, a suspected, though not ii proved, loyalist.

After the War of the RevoUitiou the excitement attending the causes of Shays' Rebellion disturbed for a time the peace of the town, but was soon allayed. The annoyances of the French War, which caused trouble in the towns on the coast engaged in foreign commerce, caused no commotion in the inland communities, and the War of 1812 was little felt. The town went on in a peaceable career, first putting its financial affairs in a satisfactory condition, and then enlarging and extending its municipal machinery. More attention was paid to the establishment of schools, rOads and bridges were built, stage lines were put in operation, a town-house was built, libraries were organized, and on the 15th of November, 1832, the town, with heartfelt congratulations, celebrated the one hundredth anniversary of its incorporation On the occasion of this celebration the exercises were held in the old meeting-house, and consisted of music, prayers by Rev. John Goldsbury and an address by Rev. Lucius R. Paige.

In the War of the Rebellion, as in the French and Indian War and in the Revolution, the people of Hardwick were not behind other towns in the Commonwealth in the display of patriotic sentiment and in their efforts to do their share of work and bear their share of burdens in carrying it to a successful conclusion. The following is a list of the soldiers furnished by the town at ditlerent times and for different terms of service, some of whom enlisted more than once :

The industries of Hardwick', aside from agriculture, are chiefly confined to the Page Paper Company, which is in successful operation, and ihe George H. Gilbert Manufacturing Company, engaged in the manufacture of flannels. Until within a few years other paper-mills were in operation, and in earlier times there were forges and furnaces doing profitable work, and employing a considerable number of hands. The George H. Gilbert Manufacturing Company is the successor of George H. Gilbert & Co., and was incorporated May 27, 1867, with an authorized capital of $600,000. On the 1st of April, 1868, it was organized with a capital of $250,000, and George H. Gilbert and Lewis N. Gilbert were chosen president and treasurer. The company operates five mills - one granite mill on the Ware side of the river, where the office of the company is situated, and four of brick, on the Hardwick side of the river, in what ia called Gilbertville. They own besides three or four hundred acres of land and about two hundred tenements, which constitute, with the factories, the most extensive plant for the manufacture of flannels in the United States. George H. (iilbert was born in Brooklyn, Conn., February 15, 1806, and removed to Pomfret, where he lived until he was eighteen years of age. He then went to Sutton, in Massachusetts, and learned the carpenter's trade. From 1827 to 1832 he lived in Worcester, and was engaged in the occupation of a machinist. In 1S32 he removed to North Andover, and was employed as a journeyman in a machine-shop until, as a partner in the firm of Barnes; Gilbert & Richardson, he began the business of manufacturing woolen machinery, to which, finally, Davis & Fnrber succeeded. In August, 1841, he removed to Ware, and, in connection with Charles A. Stevens, of North Andover, bought the property of the Hampshire Manufacturing Company, on the south side of Ware River, including land and woolen-mill, for the sum of $35,000. The business of the mill, carried on by its owners under the firm-name of Gilbert & Stevens, was at first confined to the manufacture of broadcloth and cloakings, with five sets of machinery, but was soon changed to the manufiicture of flannels. In 1846 the firm built a granite-mill in Ware, on the privilege next below the other mill, which was taken by Mr. Gilbert on the dissolution of the partnership, in 1851. On the 1st of July, 1857, Mr. Gilbert formed a partnership with his nephew, Lewis N. Gilbert, under the title of George H. Gilbert & Co. Lewis N. Gilbert was a native of Pomfret, and entered his uncle's office in 1851, at the age of fifteen years, and consequently became a partner at the early age of twenty-one. In May, 1860, the firm bought a water privilege in Hardwick, on the same stream, with a spoke-shop and twenty acres of land, on which several tenements stood, and erected a brick mill. This was the birth of Gilbertville, which has since become so important a part of the old town. In 1863 a second mill was built, in 1864, a third, and in 1867, a fourth. After the death of Mr. George H. Gilbert, which occurred May 6, 1869, Lewis N. Gilbert became president, and Charles D. Gilbert, son of the deceased president, born in Ware in 1846, became treasurer.

It is not necessary, in the limited space awarded to this sketch, to trace the histcjry of the school system of the town. It is sufficient to say that it has kept pace with that of other small towns, and during the last year a high school house has been built on land presented to the town by Miss Mary R. Mixter. Successful efforts have been made in earlier times in the direction of a higher education than the common schools atibrd. During the pastorate of Rev. John Goldsbury he opened an advanced school, and after the erection of the town-house, in 1838, its use was granted to Mr. Goldsbury for what was called a High School. There are now fifteen schools in the town, with an average membership of four hundred and seventeen. For the maintenance of these schools, according to the last annual report of the selectmen, the sum of four thousand seven hundred dollars was appropriated at the annual meeting in 1887. The following list of expenditures by the town for the year ending February 18, 1888, will throw some light on the condition of the town and its municipal management:

The treasurer states in his report that the sum of two thousand one hundred dollars was due on the High School house, making the entire cost of the building, including the costof plan and specifications, .$4844.57.

Some idea of the representative men of the town in the different generations since its incorporation may be derived from the following lists of persons who have, since the incorporation of the town, served on the Board of Selectmen and represented the town or representative district of which the town has formed a part in the (lieneral Court :

The twenty-first article of amendments to the Constitution, making the House of Representatives consist of two hundred and forty members, and making provision for the creation of Representative districts, was adopted by the Legislatures of 1856 and '57, and ratified by the people in 1S57. Under the apportionment of 1857, based on the census of that year, Hardwick and Barre constituted the Tenth Representative District of Worcester Comity, and were represented until the next apportionment as follows:

Under the apportionment of 1866, based on the census of 1865, Petersham, Dana, Phillipston, Hubbardston, Barre, Hardwick and New Braintree constituted the Fourth Representative District of Worcester County, and were represented until the next apportionment as follows:

Under the apportionment of 1876, based on the of 1875, Dana, Hardwick, Barre, Oakham and New Braintree constituted the Tenth Representative District of Worcester County, and were represented until the next apportionmeut as follows:

With reference to the agricultural industry of Hardwick, the following extracts from the census of 1885 will give some idea of its extent and importance:

The animal products of the town are laid down as valued at $11,367, including beeswax, calfskins, hides, honey, manure, pelts and wool ; the clothing and needlework at $511, including hats and mittens; the dairy products at $57,795, including butter, cheese and milk; the food products at $2,339, including canned fruit, catsup, dried fruit, horse-radish, ice, maple syrup, maple sugar, pickles and vinegar; liquors and beverages at $3,097, including cider and wine; poultry products at $5,260, including eggs, feathers and poultry ; wood products at $14,375, including ashes, rails, fuel, lumber, posts and sleepers; cereals at $11,755, including barley, buckwheat, corn, oats, rye, wheat; fruits, etc., at $15,121, including apples, barberries, cherries, cranberries, grapes, strawberries, melons, quinces, etc. ; hay, straw and fodder at $66,312 ; meats and game at $14,432 ; vegetables at $10,754.

Since the establishment of the mills at Gilbertville and the opening of the Massachusetts Central and Ware River Railroads, Hardwick has been steadily gaining in population and wealth. In 1875 the population was 1992 ; in 1880, 2233 ; and in 1885, 3145. The valuation of the town in 1885 was $1,333,258. With the advantages of good water-power, of wellestablished and successful manufacturing industries, and an easy access to markets, the future of Hardwick can be no other than one of promise.

The space allotted to the writer having been filled, this imperfect sketch must close. For more thorough information than these few pages can furnish the reader is referred to the " History of Hardwick," written by Rev. Lucius Robinson Paige, a native of the town, and published in 1883. Mr. Paige has brought to the preparation of his work not only an aflection for the place of his birth, but the instincts of an historian and the ability of a scholar. His " History" is marked by that accuracy of statement and thoroughness of research which have characterized all his labors in the antiquarian and historic field. To the reader it is an abundant fountain of knowledge; to the writer it is a model which he may well follow in any historical work in which he may be engaged.

Biographical Charles F. Hitchcock

Says an old philosopher: "All men, whatever their condition, who have done anything of value, ought to record the history of their lives." Eventful periods occur at rare intervals in the lives of men the most distinguished ; but even in their more retired walks of private life there are few whose lives are not marked by some vicissitudes of fortune, which, however trivial they may seem, are yet sufficient to excite great interest. The events which give the highest interest to biography are of a volatile and evanescent nature, and are soon forgotten. It is the part of the biographer to collect these passing events and fix them indelibly on the page of history, that succeeding generations may know how their predecessors lived, what ideas governed them, what trials and difficulties they encountered, and how they overcame them, and even their domestic relations; for all these teach a lesson that will be serviceable by pointing out what paths lead to success and what roads are to be avoided as leading to failure. There is none so humble that his life can fail to be an object of interest when viewed in the right light. How much more will this interest be enhanced when we contemplate the life of a man who, by his own heroic struggles, has hewn out his own pathway to success and compelled the fates to grant him his reward. Most certainly one who, entirely by his own efforts, has attained affluence and social position, and, through all the changing events of life, has preserved his integrity unimpaired, is well deserving of the pen of the historian.

Such a man is the subject of this sketch. Charles Foster, son of Abner and Susan Hitchcock, was born in Brimfiekl, Mass., July 3, 1831. His boy life, spent with his parents, difiered in no material respect from that of the average boy of his time. In winter he attended the country school, and in summer assisted his father upon the farm, thus early learning the need and importance of industry. The limited means of his parents necessitated economy, and the lessons here learned of activity, prudence and unswerving honesty were the foundation walls upon which the superstructure of his upright and successful life has been erected.

In 1844 his parents removed to Ware, and the next year he found employment in the store of A. & J. H. Peters, continuing with them until the termination of their business in 184.5. The next four years he remained with his father at work upon the farm, until, in the autumn of 1849, with the resistless curiosity of an energetic young man wishing to see something of the world and to accomplish something for himself, he went to Enfield, Mass., to work in the store of Field & Leland. This firm carried on the palm-leaf and hat business, and their employes knew nothing of the eight-hour law of to-day.

Young Hitchcock's duties began with the rising of the sun, and when late at night the last story had been told by the "oldest inhabitant" to the ever-listening group at "the store," his thrifty employers sent him with his associates to the loft to "sort hats," this employment frequently lasting until midnight. As compensation for these arduous services he received for four years' labor with this house the princely sum of four hundred dollars, from which his board for the last year was deducted, and as the minimum price for board in that town at that time was two dollars and fifty cents per week, but two hundred and seventy dollars remained as the salary for this long and eflicient term of service. In October, 1853, he returned to Ware and obtained employment in the general store of David P. Billings, with whom he remained till March of 1855, when he purchased the McClintock farm, and for the next eight years was a tiller of the soil; here he produced milk, with which he supplied the people of Ware. His tastes were for mercantile life, and in 1863 he sold the farm and removed to Gilbertsville, which has since been his home.

Here he established a general store - the first one in the place. For several years, with the assistance of his young wife, who proved herself to be in very deed a "helpmeet" to him, he was enabled to carry on the whole business. As time passed on and prosperity came to him, and the needs of the community demanded, he increased and extended his business.

In 1879 he associated his only son, Fred. A., with him in business, and in 1885 they opened the Central Market, thereby supplying a long-felt want in this section of the town. At present the business of the firm gives emjiloyment to twelve persons and necessitates the service of four teams. In a town of the size of this the development of a business of these proportions can only be accomplished by untiring effort and strict integrity. A rule of business adopted by him in early life and firmly adhered to through all his career, was to " count one man's money as good as another's, have but one price for a given article, and allow no bartering or controversy over it."

Upon the son's admission to membership in the firm, Mr. Hitchcock, feeling the need of some relaxation from the activity and confinement of his business, purchased a farm one mile from the village, and in 1884 erected a substantial and attractive home thereon and removed his family thereto, where he has since resided.

November 17, 1853, he was united in marriage with Hannah M. McClintock, of Ware, daughter of Levans and Plythina McClintock. Six children have blessed this union. They are: Susan P., born at Ware, April 23, 1855.; she is now the wife of W. E. Brown, M.D., and with him resides in Gilbertsville. Fred. A., born in Ware, May 26, 1857, married Clara M. Packard, daughter of Otis and Melita Packard, April 19, 1882 (and to them have been born two sons, viz. : Chas. Frederick, born August 30, 1884, and Ralph Packard, born August 24, 1888) ; May E., born in Ware, May 30, 1860 ; Claribel, born in Ware, July 8, 1863, - these two daughters now reside with their parents. Wm. K., born in Gilbertsville, July 27, 1866, died August 11, 1866. Anna M., also born in this town, June 6, 1870, died January 25, 1879.

Charles F. Hitchcock has a generous, charitable disposition, free from any miserly taint. His hand Is ever ready, and his purse is ever open to assist any one in suflering or in want. He is never a hard creditor, but always ready to extend to the deserving all possible leniency, His manners are kind and affable. He has never sought or accepted any official position, although repeatedly urged to do so by his fellow-townsmen, preferring to give his whole time to the interests of his constantly increasing business.

In politics a positive Republican - reliable and true to his party, not the blind partisan, but tl\e wellread, thinking man, able to defend and " give a reason for the faith which is within him."

He enjoys the confidence and respect of the community in which he dwells, and is recognized as a representative business man, and an important factor in the growth and prosperity of the village in which he resides.

Joseph Stoxe, M.D.'

Dr. Joseph Stone was born in Shrewsbury, Worcester County, Mass., Nov. 12, 1789, and died in Hardwick, Worcester Couuty, June 27, 1849, in the sixtieth year of his age.

His father, Joseph Stone, was long a respectable and influential citizen of Shrewsbury ; lived to a good old age and died in the autumn of 1825.

Dr. Stone was the eldest of five children by a second marriage both of his father and mother. His mother's maiden-name was Mary Keyes, of Western (now Warren), Worcester County. She was the daughter of Colonel Key6s, who was a colonel in the American army of the Revolution, and lived long afterwards a prominent citizen of the county.

Dr. Stone passed his minority principally with his father upon a farm in his native town. His opportunities for early education, therefore, were only such as was aftbrded at that time in the village common school, which usually kept about six or seven months in the year, and the instruction of his jiarents, who were both intelligent, exemplary and religious persons.

During his youthful days he p<issessed an inquisitive and thoughtful turn of mind, and manifested a strong desire for the acquisition of knowledge. Even

" When he was a boy he always had a book in his hand," was the remark of one of his near relatives. He was in the habit of reading all the books he could obtain, often borrowing from the clergymen and others who had larger libraries than he