Leicester Town (part 5 of 6)

In 1848 Hankey, Stiles & Go. purchased the property and remodeled it for the manufacture of machineknives. The firm w^as Anthony Hankey, Francis Stiles and H. C. Bishop. About 1851 Mr. Hankey went into the dredging business in Boston, where he had invented a dredging-machine. The business in Greenville was carried on by Stiles & Co. (F. Stiles and F. W. Taylor) until a few years later, when Mr. Hankey returned and managed the business under the firm-name of Stiles & Co. This partnership was dissolved July 14, 1866. and in October of the same year Stiles sold his entire interest to A. Hankey & Co. J. E. Jones was admitted as a partner, but he only remained a short time. The firm was A. Hankey and George A. Corser. In February, 1877, Hankey bought out Corser, and continued the business alone until March, 1881, when J. X. Eogers was admitted to the partnership under the old firm-name of A. Hankey & Co., which continues to this date.

In 1881 a system of improvements was inaugurated. The old buildings were torn down and new and larger ones erected ; new water-ways and new machinery were added, and it is to-day the largest and most complete shop in the world for the exclusive manufacture of machine-knives. The products of this shop go to all parts of the world, in many instances direct to Cuba, South America, Spain, Germany and China, tn 1887 a branch was started in Philadelphia. It is an interesting fact that the first knives that were used on a planing-machine in this country were forged by hand by Mr. Hankey in Boston, and also that the first dies for cutting out paper collars were made at this shop.

Leicester Xatioxal Baxk. - " Leicester Bank " was chartered as a State bank March 4, 1826, with a capital of one hundred thousand dollars, which in 1853 was increased to one hundred and fifty thousand dollars, and in 1854 to two hundred thousand dollars. John Clapp was made president of the bank April 26, 1826; N. P. Denny, October 4, 1830; Joshua Clapp, October 3, 1836 ; Waldo Flint, October 2, 1837 ; Joseph A. Denny, October 1, 1838; Cheney Hatch, October 2, 1843 ; Charles A. Denny, December 16, 1878. John A. Smith was appointed cashier May 26, 1826; H. G. Henshaw, October 21, 1826; D. E. Merriam, December 15, 1845 ; George H. Sprague, May 20, 1885. The institution was made a national bank March 21, 1865.

The first bank building was in connection with the old town-house, built in 1826 by the town and the bank. In 1853 the bank was removed to the brick building east of Leicester Hotel. In 1871 the present bank was completed and the business removed to it.

Leicester Savings Bank. - The Leicester Savings Bank was incorporated April 17, 1869. Cheney Hatch was elected president ^lay 5, 1869, and Lory S. Watson, May 21, 1879. D. E. Merriam was the first treasurer, appointed May 14, 1869, and was succeeded by the present incumbent, George H. Sprague, May 24, 1885. The present amount of deposits is three hundred and ninety-one thousand two hundred and eighty dollars.

MiscELLAXEOUS INDUSTRIES. - There have been several hatters. John Whittemore bound books where the Whittemore Card Factory now stands. Hori Brown had a printing-office on the west corner of Main and Mechanic Streets, where he not only did job-work, but printed books ; among these was "Scott's Lessons," printed in 1815.

At the foot of the hill, from 1823 to 1853, was the grocery of Evi Chilson, especially prized by students of the academy for the rare quality of its entertainment for the inner man. It is remembered by them after many other things are forgotten.

It would be impossible to mention all the different kinds of business carried on at different times in town, or to give the history of the many stores.

The Civil War

Sixth MiUtachiuetts Itegiment - War Meetiiigt - Tiaeiily-Jlftli Uegimeitl - Fifteenth^ Twenty-Jiriit, Thirty-f<yvrlh^ Forty-second - Actum of tht Town - Other Solditrg - Expenditures - Casualties - C/o«« of the War.

News of the attack on Fort Surater reached Leicester on Saturday, April 13, 1861, and occasioned the most intense excitement. Then first the people comprehended the fact that the war had begun. Young men at once declared their intention to respond to the first call for soldiers, and men too old for service avowed their readiness to make any sacrifice required for the preservation of the Union. From that day to the close of the war the town of Leicester loyally and liberally accepted all the demands of the government upon it for money and for men. The call of President Lincoln for 75,000 volunteers met here the same prompt answer which it received throughout the loyal North.

Leicester had a special interest in the Sixth Massachusetts Regiment, the first to march from the State and to receive the baptism of blood. Its commander, Col. Edward F. Jones, was a native of Leicester, as was also Joseph Waldo Denny, lieutenant in the Worcester Light Infantry. They had been pupils together in Leicester Academy. There were other Leicester men in the regiment.

There were sixteen Leicester men in the Third Battalion of Rifles, which left Worcester on the 20th of April. Their names were: Henry H. Bowman, Bramley A. Bottomly, Michael Collins, John P. Crimmins, Jacob H. Gibson, George W. Hatch, John Kirk, Joseph Laverty, Martin Leonard, Randall H. Mann, John McDonald, John Moriarty, J. Dawson Robinson, Emerson Stone, Jesse S. Scott and William B. White. Church Howe and Myron J. Newton enlisted in the Sixth Regiment.

The battalion was stationed at Fort McHenry, and returned on the 2d day of August, and was received with great joy. Several of these men reenlisted, and their records are given in connection with the regiments which they joined. The evening before the departure of the Third Battalion for the seat of war, news of the attack on the Sixth Regiment had been received, and had deepened the agitation. That day the national flag, before seldom seen except on government buildings, and sometimes on the Fourth of July, was thrown to the breeze on the flag-stafi" on the Common. The war was the allabsorbing subject of thought, conversation, discourse and prayer on the following day, which was the Sabbath.

town-hall a historic building, and in which the fervent patriotism of the people of Leicester found earnest and eloquent expression, as in the days of the Revolution it had done in the old "First Meeting-House." On the 26th forty or fifty of the young men of the town commenced military drill in the town-hall, under the instruction of John M. Studley, of Worcester. A town-meeting was held the 4th of May, and .$500 was ra'sed and appropriated, and a committee was authorized to borrow $5000 if necessary. A bounty of $10 a month, in addition to government pay, was offered to volunteers, and uniforms, guns and equipments were to be furnished if necessary. The women were equally patriotic and efficient. Their first meeting for work was in the town-hall, May 13th, where, in response to notices from the pulpit the day before, they assembled, to the number of about sixty, and with four or five sewingmachines and many busy hands, made garments for the Third Battalion of Rifles. On the 15th, at 6J o'clock on a pleasant May day, a beautiful flag was raised over the Centre School-house, with music by the band and addresses by the School Committee - Dr. Pliny Earle, Dr. John Murdock and Rev. A. H. Coolidge. Flags were also flying in different parts of the town. Says one, writing at the time, " The war feeling seems to absorb every other thought, and the subject of religion seems secondary to patriotism, which now occupies the mind notonly of the private individual, but the pulpit and the press."

There had not been for a generation such a revulsion of feeling as was occasioned in town by the exaggerated tidings of the disaster of Bull Run. Men turned pale, and abandoning all hope of easy victory, nerved themselves for the long struggle, which was not to be ended until many of our own citizens had laid down their lives for their country.

In the early autumn of 1861 the Twenty-fifth Massachusetts Regiment was formed, with a larger number of men from Leicester than any other three years' regiment. In it were many representatives of the families in town, and it was followed in all its eventful and honorable career with the special solicitude and interest of the people.

The national fast, appointed by President Lincoln for September 26th, on account of the perilous and gloomy condition of the country, was a memorable occasion in Leicester. Services were held in the First Church. The attendance was large, and the congregation deeply affected. The recruits for the Twenty-fifth Regiment were to leave for camp that day, and this fact added to the impressiveneas of the occasion.

In this regiment were Corp. Augustus Adams, in ten engagements, taken prisoner at Drury's BluflT, died at Florence, S. C; Charles M. Ball, arm broken at Cold Harbor, killed at Petersburg; Corporal James Brady, Edwin Y. Brown, William Carson, David B. Collier, in six engagements ; Isaac Creed, in eight engage- ments, three wounds at Cold Harbor ; Otis Cutting, wounded at Drury's Bluff; William Eddy, wounded at Petersburg ; William Fernley, taken prisoner at Drury's Bluff, died at Anderson ville; Owen Finnegan, in several engagements, wounded at Arrowfield Church; Horace L. Fisk ; James S. Foster, died at Newbern ; Levander M. Gould, died at Newbern ; James Gehegan, wounded at Arrowfield Church, in ten engagements; John Galooly, died at Charlotte, N. C; David Gotha, in seven engagements ; George W. Gould, killed at Cold Harbor ; Edward R. Graton, wounded at Roanoke Island and died of the wounds. He was saved from instant death by his prayer-book, the ball stopping at the verse,

Braman Grout, in two battles ; George L. Grout, in two battles ; Thomas Grooves, died at Newbern ; William Henshaw, Patrick W. Hannagan, wounded at Cold Harbor; Albert S. Hurd, killed at Cold Harbor, in most of the battles of the regiment ; George E. Kent, wounded at Roanoke Island, died at Newbern ; Hugh Kenney, in three engagements, wounded at Arrowfield Church ; Peter Kenney, wounded at Arrowfield Church and at Cold Harbor ; William H. Kenney, killed at Cold Harbor ; Sergeant John Kirk, in most of the battles of the regiment, taken prisoner at Drury's Bluff; Eugene D. Lacount, wounded and taken prisoner at Drury's Bluff; Michael Leonard, wounded at Drury's Bluff; John McMannis, wounded at Drury's Bluff; Corporal Randall Mann, killed at the battle of Roanoke Island; John McLaughlin, in ten battles, wounded at Cold Harbor ; Lyman Moulton, killed at Cold Harbor ; Ezra Reed, Albert Stockdale, wounded at Arrowfield Church and at Petersburg ; First Sergeant Emerson Stone, lost an arm at Drury's Bluff, passed as captain of United States Colored Troops just as the war came to an end ; Sergeant H. A. White, wounded in the foot at Drury's Bluff, in the battles of his regiment till his discharge in the summer of 1864. The Twenty-fifth Regiment formed a part of the Burnside Expedition in North Carolina, and remained in that State till 1864, when it was united with the Army of the James, serving in Virginia before Richmond and Petersburg. After suffering severely and becoming reduced to a mere skeleton, it returned to North Carolina, and being recruited, participated in the closing scenes of the war under General Sherman. It will be noticed that the casualties of Leicester men in this regiment were especially numerous at Cold Harbor. Of the charge, in which the Twenty-fifth Regiment bore the brunt, Gen. Horace Porter writes in the Century, of June, 1888 : " Perhaps the most striking case of desperate and deliberate courage which the history of modern warfare has furnished was witnessed at Cold Harbor. The men had been repeatedly repulsed in assaulting earthworks, had each time lost heavily, and had become impressed with the conviction that such attacks meant certain death. One evening after a dangerous assault had been ordered for daylight the next morning, I noticed in passing along the line that many of the men had taken off their coats and seemed engaged in mending rents in the back. Upon closer examination I found that they were calmly writing their names and home addresses on slips of paper and pinning these slips upon the backs of their coats, so that theirdead bodies might be recognized upon the field and their fate made known to their friends at home. Never was there a more gallant assault than that made by those men the next day, though their act of the night before bore painful proof that they had entered upon their work without a hope of surviving. Such courage is more than heroic, it is sublime." Of this charge Gen. P. D. Bowles, who had command of the Confederate line, wrote, " The regiment that made this gallant charge was the Twenty-fifth Massachusetts. This we learned from the twenty-odd officers and men who fell down among the dead and wounded at the first fire. Not since the charge of the six hundred at Balaklava has a more heroic act been performed."

During the summer the Fifteenth and Twentyfirst Massachusetts Regiments were enlisted. In the Fifteenth were from Leicester, W. H. Bergen, Simeon E. Ball, who died in the service at Poolesville, Md.; Henry Carpenter, in all the engagements from Ball's Bluff, in which the Fifteenth suffered so severely, to Gettysburg, in both of which battles he was severely wounded ; H. R. Dawson transferred to the Twentieth ; Chas. W. Clifford ; the three Davis brothers, Freeman wounded at Ball's Bluff, reinlisted in the Fifty-seventh Regiment and killed in the battle of the Wilderness ; William M. who returned from Libby prison and died; Alfred W., who died from wounds at the battle of Antietam ; Charles A. Gleason, who was taken prisoner at Antietam and again in the Wilderness, and who was in Libby prison, Andersonville and Milan, where he died; Charles H. Gough, killed at Ball's Bluff; the first Leicester soldier who lost his life in the service; Maj. Church Ho we, first in the Sixth Regiment and then in the Fifteenth, in thirteen battles; lieutenant quartermaster in the Fifteenth Regiment, provost marshal at Harper's Ferry, and senior aide-de-camp to Major-General Sedgwick; Peter McGee; Sergeant John A. Richardson transferred to the Twentieth Regiment; Samuel Slater; Corporal Charles W. Wood in eighteen engagements, taken prisoner at Gettysburg and again at Petersburg, confined at Andersonville, Milan, Savannah, Albany and Thomasville. These men were, with few exceptions, sharers in the hardships, the battles and the sufferings of this historic regiment.

In the Twenty-first Regiment were James Bell, who, in thebattle of Chantilly, becoming separated from his regiment and finding himself surrounded by the enemy, continued to fight single-handed and was shot. Horatio N. Barrows in five battles, wounded at An- tietam ; Edgar C. Felton, also in the Thirty-sixth and Fifty-sixth ; Thomas Hurst, killed at Newbern ; John Ho])kins, transferred to the Thirty-sixth and to the Fifty-sixth ; James Lackey, also in the Thirty-sixth and Fifty-sixth, died of wounds received in the Wilderness; Barney McNulty, also in the Thirty-sixth and Fifty-sixth ; Wm. McGrath, transferred to United States Cavalry; Jesse S. Scott, musician, also in the Fifty-seventh ; Frank H. Southwick, wounded at Antietam; Wm. W. Scott, afterward asst. quartermaster at Chattanooga; Edgar Salisbury, wagoner.

John Graham was in the Signal Corps and also the First Frontier Cavalry. Jerome Bottomly, artificer and Andrew Crossley were in Co. C, Battalion United States Engineers' Troops, enlisting in the autumn of 1861, and serving three years. The company was recruited by Captain (afterwards Major-General) James B. Mc- Pherson, its first commander. They were engaged in all the varied duties of military engineers, laying out roads, fortifications and defences of various kinds, and especially in building pontoon bridges, often in the face of the enemy. They asiisted in building one across the Chickahominy and another over the James, each two thousand feet in length. They often acted as infantry. The names of seventeen battles of the Rebellion are inscribed on their colors.

In the summer of 1862 the Thirty-fourth Regiment was organized. Leicester contributed to it the following men : Edwin N. Adams, transferred to the Twenty-fourth Regiment ; Henry H. Bowman, first in Third Battalion Rifles, in seven engagements ; Alexander Benway, John A. Barr, Joseph R. Brooks, Frederick S. Blodgett ; Corporal Henry Converse in nine engagements ; Timothy P. Griffin, principal musician ; Edwin Holden in sixteen engagements, wounded at Fisher's Hill ; Edwin Hoyle, wounded and a prisoner six months at Andersonville; Lincoln L. Johnson died at Harrisonburg, Va. ; Sergeant Alfred James in eight engagements, wounded at Fisher's Hill ; Franklin B. King, Lieut. Ira E. Lackey, IVIatthew Malloy, Corporal Rufus H. Newton, in sixteen battles, wounded at W^inchester, and severely at Petersburg ; Frank Pollard, Michael Rice, in fifteen engagements, wounded at Petersburg; Corporal James Rawdon, died of wounds; Lieutenant Walter W. Scott in ten engagements ; John Shean, Henry Soiithwick, Corporal Henry E. Williams, wounded in the battle of Piedmont, a minie-ball passing through the left arm, through the body, and lodging in the right arm, captured and taken to Libby prison. Jolm Sherman, James Sherman, Owen Smith, also as Leicester soldiers, Joseph P. Morse, from Worcester, and Norris Morse, of Spencer. The regiment left Worcester August 15, 1862. It served principally in the Shenandoah Valley, under Generals Sigei, Hunter and Sheridan, until March, 1865, when it formed a part of the Army of the James until the surrender of Richmond. Some of these men were with Sheriden at the time of his famous

"ride." They participated in the various forced marches, raids, sl^irmishes and battles of that heroic commander, as well as in the later battles of the war. The duties of the town officers during this and succeeding years were very arduous and perplexing. No pains were spared to fill each new order for men. In July, 1862, the town was called upon for forty-five men as its quota of the three hundred thousand called for by the President. In anticipation of the order a meeting of the citizens was held in the Town Hall on the evening of the 14th day of July. It was a rainy night, but the attendance was large, and stirring addresses were made by the clergymen and several other citizens of the town. It was voted expedient to pay liberal bounties, and the selectmen were requested to open a recruiting ofiice and call a legal meeting forthwith. The next day a guarantee subscription of $1,000 for bounties was secured. On the 22d a company of thirty-two Spencer volunteers passed through town, escorted by the Spencer and Leicester fire companies and the Leicester Cornet Band. They halted a few minutes before the cottage of the venerable Dr. Nelson, who briefly addressed them. The town-meeting was held on the 26th of the same month, and it was unanimously voted to pay a bounty of $100 to all volunteers who had already enlisted or who should enlist under this call ; that an additional bounty of $50 be paid to all who should remain in the service longer than one year ; and an extra bounty of $25 to any who should enlist before the next Monday, at 9 o'clock, P.M. The meeting was adjourned to the evening, when patriotic addresses were made by several gentlemen. On the 28th a mass-meeting was held, but the process of filling the quota was difficult and slow. It was not completed when another call was issued for three hundred thousand men, to serve nine months. The town was ordered to furnish sixty men. On the evening of the 18th of August another war-meeting was held in the Town Hall. It was large, and proved to be the most stirring and eventful of those remarkable assemblies. John D. Cogswell, chairman of the Board of Selectmen, presided. Addresses were made by various prominent citizens. The chairman, in a few earnest words, urged all who could to enlist at once, and then placed his own name at the head of the list. Sixteen came forward at once, in the words of the Worcester Spy, " amidst the cheers and enthusiasm of the large number of ladies and gentlemen, who remained to a late hour." Among the number was the Rev. William F. Lacount, pastor of the Methodist Church in Cherry Valley. The quota was filled in a few days by volunteers. " Among them," as was truthfully stated in the Spy. " were the present and former chairmen of the Board of Selectmen, and many of the enterprising young men- from the best families of the village. The industrious mechanic left a prosperous business, the minister his people, the collegiate his college class, and the husband and father the comforts and pleasures of home to unite in putting down speedily this wicked and savage rebellion." Before August 30th fifty had volunteered, all but four of whom became members of a company recruited from Spencer, North Brookfield and Leicester, of which John D. Cogswell was captain, and T. M. Duncan, of North Brookfield, and Lyman A. Powers, of Spencer, lieutenants. On September 18 the company thus formed came together in the Town Hall, where the Leicester ladies served a collation, long remembered by these men in the subsefjuent days of army rations. Addresses were made by citizens and officers of the company, which was conveyed to its camp on the Agricultural Grounds in Worcester, preceded by the band, and escorted by the Union Fire Company. It was finally assigned, as Company F, to the Forty-second Massachusetts Regiment. Theysailedon the4th of December under sealed orders. After a long, stormy and perilous voyage, they reached New Orleans the 29th of December, where they served under General Banks. They were in no battles, but were engaged in arduous guard and picket duty.

They were mustered out of service August 20, 1863. A public reception had been arranged for them on their return, and tables were set in the Town Hall, but they were so much worn by their hardships in the malarial regions of New Orleans and so many were ill that the purpose wa.s abandoned.

In this regiment were thirty-eight men from Leicester, - Albert M. Adams (who afterward enlisted in the Second Iowa Cavalry ; was captured in Tennessee by Hood's army December 17, 18(54, while on a charge ; taken on foot to Meridian, five hundred and ninety miles, through mud, and over frozen ground, the last half of the way barefoot ; thence in stock cars to Anderson ville, thence to Macon, Ga., thence to Albany, Ga., thence on foot to Thomasville, Ga., thence by rail.to Baleluin, Fla., thence on foot to Jacksonville, " arriving under the Star Spangled Banner April 29, 1865 "), George Adams, Sergeant Bramley A. Bottomly, Corporal Charles B. Brown, Henry Bisco, Moses Bagley, Captain John D. Cogswell, Albert W. Cargell, Corporal James H. Croome, Clark K. Denny, Lewis W. Gates, George D. Hatch, Edward W. Hubbard, Henry E. Holbrook, William H. Haven, Charles S. Knight, John Craft, Rev. William F. Lacount (pastor of Cherry Valley M. E, Church, who acted a part of the time as chaplain and the rest as hospital nurse), Franklin M. Lamb (musician), Charles M. Marsh, Horatio P. Marshall, Peter McArdle, George Morgan, Albert S. Marsh, George Mann, Thomas Nolan, Martin Procter, Thomas H. Robinson, George M. Roberts (afterward lieutenant in the Sixtieth Regiment), William C. Sprague, Charles Sanderson, William J. Sprague, Corporal George L. Stone, Thomas S. Snow, Orderly Sergeant Joseph A. Titus, (afterward lieutenant in the Sixtieth Regiment), Charles H. Warren, Corporal Charles H. Woodcock, Eli Wrigglesworth (also in the Twenty-ninth Regiment). Albert M. Goulding, Warren E. Howard and John F. Kibler (first in the Fifty-first Regiment), enlisted in the Forty-second Regiment, in its second term of service for one hundred days.

July 13, 1863, fifty-two men were drafted from Leicester. Some of them paid the commutation fee of three hundred dollars or furnished substitutes, while others were, for various reasons, exempted, so that it is believed that none of them entered the service. This was a time of unusual excitement. The riots in New York and threatening demonstrations in other places encouraged resistance and awakened apprehensions. Whatever of disloyal feeling existed in town then found expression in protests and the encouragement of discontent. Information was received of threats to gain possession of the enrollment list, or burn the office where it was kept. The office was consequently guarded several nights by armed men, and the town, to some extent, patrolled. The danger may have been exaggerated, but the facts illustrate the feverish condition of the public mind at this time.

In November, 1863, the Rev. Mr. Coolidge received leave of absence from his church, and spent about two months with the Army of the Potomac, in the service of the Christian Commission. In all the years of the war the women vied with the men in loyal service. Every call for help met a prompt response, and there were many meetings for sewing and the preparation of hospital supplies, while the children made "comfort bags," furnished with sewing materials, for the convenience of the soldiers. In all this work, Mrs. Billings Swan, whose great regret was that she had not sons who were able to go to the war, was a conspicuous leader.

Mrs. Nelson, wife of the senior pastor of the First Congregational Church, although seventy-five years of age, labored unremittingly, and encouraged others to do the same. She knit one hundred pairs of stockings for the soldiers, and enclosed a note in the hundredth pair to the soldier who should receive it, to which she received an answer.

On the 21st and 22d of February, 1865, a fair was held in the Town Hall. Governor Emory Washburn was president, and made an opening address. The amount realized was $2636.07, which was equally divided between the Sanitary and Christian Commissions and the Freedmen's Aid Society.

In the Massachusetts Fifty-seventh Regiment were James Ackley, wounded at Spotsylvania, first serving in the navy, under Admiral Farragut on the Mississippi River, at the capture of New Orleans ; William H. Anthony, shot at the North Anna, and killed by a charge of grape while being carried from the field ; Freeman Davis, first in Fifteenth (wounded at Bull's Bluff"), killed in the Wilderness ; Oliver Gosler, died of wounds near Petersburg; Phineas L. Holbrook, wounded at North Anna; Edward A. Hawes, Emerson B. Lacount, musician ; Patrick H. Mann- ville, enlisted at fifteen years of age, killed at the battle of North Anna ; Henry C. Maloney, died in the service ; Joseph B. Winch, Sergeant Horace S. Pike, wounded at Petersburx ; Jesse S. Scott, principal musician ; Charles W. Gleasoa.

Hiram Streeter was also a member of this regiment. When friends endeavored to dissuade him from leaving his wife and young children, he said: "I have decided that it is my duty to defend my country, if I die in so doing.'' He enlisted, and after participating in the battles of the Wilderness and North Anna, was killed by a minie ball, before Petersburg, June 17, 1864.

In the Sixtieth Massachusetts Regiment, one hundred days' men, stationed at Indianapolis, were Corporal Alonzo W. Bond, Francis A. Bond, Aaron T. Cutler, Lewis R. Dowse, William Graham, John T. Gough, Lieutenant George R. Roberts, Lieutenant Joseph A. Titus, Henry L. Watson and Alphonso Woodcock.

In the Second Regiment was Edwards D. Farr, wounded in the foot at Cedar Mountain, twenty-four hours on the battle-field ; came from it on crutches made with a pen-knife ; died of the wound in the Massachusetts General Hospital, where he had suffered amputation. In the Tenth were Silas Bercume, wounded at Fair Oaks, re-enlisted in the First Connecticut Cavalry, taken prisoner at Ashland, in Libby Prison, Andersonville, Savannah and Milan ; James E. Bacon, William Conway, who died in the service. In the Eleventh was George McDonald, missing after battle in the Wilderness.

In the Twelfth were the brothers Charles B. Frisbee (in fifteen battles, wounded at Antietam) and Albert Frisbee (in all the engagements of the regiment till taken prisoner at Gettysburg, in prison at Belle Isle, Libby and Andersonville, where he died. Their brother, William, was in an Ohio regiment, and was wounded in Georgia. Lovell P. Winch was in the Thirteenth ; John Denny, in the Nineteenth ; Henry R. Dawson, in the Twentieth. John Lord was in the Twenty-second, killed at the battle of Chickahominy. Lieutenant John Minor was in the Twentyeighth ; also Jesse Pollard, who was wounded in the second battle of Bull Run, and also at Secessionville, S. C. Eli Wrigglesworth was in the Twenty-ninth. In the Thirtieth were Sergt. Aaron Bowman (in all the battles of the regiment till his death at Baton Rouge, La.), Henry S. Thayer (who died at New Orleans), and James H. Whitney (who died in Mississippi). Captain Thomas Burt was in the Thirty-first; also in a Connecticut regiment ; assistant provost marshal at New Orleans. Alexander H. Fairbanks and George E. Sibley were in the Sixty-first, and James H. Knight in the Sixty-second.

George Armitage was in the First Cavalry; Henry J. Biggs in the Second Cavalry, also John Trim, Lewis Gosler, Dennis 8. Quinn. In the Third Cavalry, John Crogan, Eugene Eschman ; in the Fourth

Cavalry, David Dawson, bugler ; Thomas Doyle, first in the Fifty-first Infantry, died of wounds at Magnolia, Florida ; in the First Frontier Cavalry, Rodney W. Greenleaf.

In the Second Heavy Artillery, James Flannigan, Andrew Stowe, who died at Andersonville, and Charles L. Cummings, also in the Fifty-first Infantry; in the Third Heavy Artillery, John Crogan.

In addition to those named are the following men who enlisted in the quotas of other places - in what regiments is not known : Dexter Austin, John Brooks, Andrew Clark, John Darling, Charles Fay, Michael Fritz, Patrick Henry, E. Hastings, James Morgan, John L. O'Brien, Owen Rice and Hugh Hopkins.

In addition to those who enlisted from town were men who were purchased as recruits from other places. Same of these are known to have done good service ; of others little is known. In the Second Heavy Artillery were William Henry Harrison, James Lowell, Edward McKay, John McDonald, Walter Stone. In the Second Massachusetts Regiment were Richard Lynch, John Mailer and Edward Shandley. In the Veteran Reserve Corps, Oliver Santum and Corporal Edward Kendall. In addition to these were Patrick Dowd, of the Fifty-sixth; Alexander H. Fairbanks, of the Sixty-first ; Samuel Slater, of the Fifteenth and Twentieth ; James Scott, of the Fifty-eighth ; James Smith, of the Twenty-seventh ; Rodney W. Greenlief, of the First Battalion, Frontier Cavalry, William H. McGregor, also of First Battalion, Frontier Cavalry, and Corporal George H. Lanca.ster, of the Third Heavy Artillery.

Eleven of the recruits are recorded as deserters. Their names are omitted from the roll of honor. With all the pains taken to make the list of soldiers complete, there are doubtless inevitable omissions.

The highest rank to which a soldier attained in the service is given in the lists. Some enlisted for other towns. The number of battles in which a soldier

As nearly as can be ascertained, the town furnished three hundred and twenty men for the war, of whom two hundred and forty-eight were in three years' regiments. Six were commissioned officers. Dr. John N. Murdock and T. E. Woodcock furnished substitutes. The military expenses of the town were $42,- 653.28, of which .$12,383 were, however, for State aid. A league of enrolled men was organized in the summer of 1864, which raised 14,400 for the purchase of recruits, and $2,960 were raised by citizens not liable to a draft.

Considerable sums were also raised for the Sanitary and Christian Commissions. Throughout the entire war the women were untiring in their interest ^nd labors for the relief of the suffering soldiers.

The names of Leicester men are on the rolls of twenty-eight Massachusetts regiments, and others enlisted in other States and in the regular army. At least thirty-three died in the service ; eleven were in Eebel prisons, of whom seven died. The sons of Leicester were in over a hundred battles.

The premature announcement of General Lee's surrender occasioned such a thrill of joy as had not been experienced since the close of the Revolutionary War. The bells were rung, cannons were fired, and responses were heard from surrounding towm. News Of the actual surrender arrived on the morning of the 10th of April, and was followed by the firing of cannon and the ringing of bells, and in the evening by the playing of the band and a general illumination. The terrible revulsion came on the 15th, with the tidings of the assassination of President Lincoln. The feeling here, as elsewhere, was intense ; every other interest was forgotten, business was suspended, the bells wer« tolled during the afternoon, and ministers laid aside their preparation for the next day, unable on that memorable Sabbath to speak upon any other theme than that which alone interested the people. On the day of the funeral the bells were tolled and services, attended by people from all parts of town, were held in the First Church. " It was a large, sad audience."

During the morning service, on the 14th of May, a message was brought to the church containing the news (if Jefferson Davis' capture, and the welcome fact was announced from the pulpit.

Chapter Viii

Individtials and ResidenceH - Physicians^ Lawyere - Items of Interest - Bury' iiig-Gromiils - I'ost-OJices - Fire Department - Taverns - Libraries - Cherrtj Valley Flood - Histories - Celebrations.

Individuals axd Residexces. - In a sketch so brief as this there can be special mention of only a few of the many persons who are worthy of such notice. To some of these reference has been made in other connections.

The Earle families generally resided in the northeast part of the town, where they erected substantial homes, some of which are still an ornament to that neighborhood. They were so numerous that in 1812, when Rev. Dr. Nelson visited the Northeast School on examination day, he found that of the forty pupils present, twenty-one were grandchildren of "Uncle Robert" and "Aunt Sarah" Earle. Ralph Earle, the ancestor of the Leicester Earles, came to town in 1717 from Freetown, Mass. He became a large landowner and the head of a family, members of which, in their different generations, have had more than a local reputation. Among these, Ralph, his greatgrandson, takes special rank as an artist. He made full-length portraits of Dr. Dwight, of Yale College, and others in Connecticut, and portraits of "many of the nobility and some of the royal family" of England. For a time he was under the instructioh of Benjamin West in London, and he was made a member of the Royal Academy in that city. He painted the battle of Lexington and other battlescenes of the early period of the Revolution, which were engraved. He has the distinction of being the first historical painter of America. A landscape view of Worcester, taken from Denny Hill, is now in the possession of Deacon C. C. Denny. His brother, James Earle, was also a painter of "considerable eminence." He was married in London, but died in Charleston, S. C, on a visit to America. Thomas Earle, grandson of the Ralph who came to Leicester, was a mechanic of remarkable skill. His home was on Bald Hill, in Cherry Valley, opposite Olney's factory. He planted rows of sycamores in front of his house on the day of the battle of Lexington, three of which are still standing. A musket of superior quality and beautiful finish, which he made for Col. William Henshaw, is preserved in good condition. Gen. Washington so much admired it that he ordered one like it for himself. Mr. Earle made the gun veith great care, and when it was completed he loaded and primed it, placed it under water to the muzzle over night, and in the morning discharged it at the first pull of the trigger. He afterward shouldered it and carried it on foot to General Washington- in New York.

Thomas Earle, the son of Pliny, born in Leicester and educated at the academy, was, in 1840, candidate of the Liberty party for Vice-President, with James G. Birney. He was an able editor and an influential writer in opposition to slavery. His home was in Philadelphia. He is described as "a man of powerful intellect," "enlarged views," "of warm and generous impulses," " a philanthropist whom oppression could not swerve; a politician whom politics I'.ould not corrupt; 'and a Christian whom sect could not circumscribe.' " Notices of otlier members of this family will be found in the History of Worcester.

The Hensliaw place, northeast of Henshaw Pond, at first called Judge's Pond, was owned, and tlie liouse first built, by Judge John Menzies, who came from Roxbury in 1720. He was from Scotland, a member of the Faculty of Advocates in Edinburgh, and was appointed judge of the Court of Admiralty of Massachusetts, Rhode Island and New Hampshiie. He was the first representative of the town to the (Jeneral Court.

The place was afterward owned by Judge Thomas Steele, who has already been mentioned. After the Ivovolutionary War it came into the Henshaw family, where it lias remained. Captain David Henshaw purchased it in 1782. Still later it was the home of Hon. David Henshaw. He was appointed collector of the port of Boston, by President Andrew .lackson, in 1820, and served with great credit to liiniself and advantage to the department. He was appointed Secretary of the Navy by President John Tyler, served for a short time, but his appointment was not confirmed by the Senate, which was of the oi)posite political party.

The mansion-house on Mount Pleasant was built in 1772 by Joseph Henshaw, who also gave to the hill its name.' He was a graduate of Harvard, in 1748. His connection with early Revolutionary events has already been referred to. He was a man of wealth, and loaned to the government, in its time of need, at least a liundred thousand dollars. At this lu)use he took the mail from the courier, before the establishment of a post-ottice here. In 179.5 the place came into the hands of James Swan, who fitted up the house and grounds in a style of magnificence far surpassing anything in this region. His wealth was supposed to be immense. After a few years, reverses came upon him, he retired to France, and in 1830 reappears upon the opening of the Debtor's Prison, in Paris, as one who was set free, after occupying the same room thirty-two years and one day.

Daniel Denny, from whom descended all of that name in town, came from Combs, Suffolk County, England, to Boston in 1715, and removed to Leicester in 1717. Tlie prominent position of the members of this family, in connection with town and national affairs, has already been indicated.

Church, Boston. Colonel Samuel Denny lived on Moose Hill; lie was lieutenant-colonel of the minutemen and colonel of the First Worcester County Regiment, a member of the General Court, and of the convention to ratify the National Constitution.

St. .John Honeywood, son of Dr. John Honeywood. graduated witli high honors at Yale in 1782, was a lawyer in Salem, N. Y., and one of the electors for John Adams. He died at the age of thirty-four. Says Washburn : " He gave early evidence of having been endowed by nature with the eye of a painter and the sensibility of a poet." A posthumous volume of his poems was publislied in 1801.

(Colonel Henry Sargent was one of the wealthy and prominent men of the town, honored with civil and military office. Two of his sons were physicians in Worcester. Dr. Henry Sargent died in 18.57. Dr. Jos. Sargent died in 1888, after a long practice in the profession, in which lie lield high rank. Th'! Sargent family has been one of standing in the town, and other members are elsewhere noticed.

The Green family came from Jlalden. and were at one time the most numerous in town. Members of this family have been already noticed in connection with the early histiu-y of the town. The Southgate family were from England, and have also been prominently identified with the town's history.

Tlie large residence east of the Common was built by Joshua Clapp, the enterprising and generous Clappville manufacturer. Mr. Denny, in his " Reminisccnses," says of liim that lie was " a decided and active temperance man in the early days of the reform." In 183(> he bought the hotel in the Centre village, and converted it into a temperance house. Mrs. Ellen E. Flint afterwards owned the Clapp place for many years. She was a woman of strong character, benevolent and public-spirited. She built the massive walls which have given to the place the name of " Stonewall Farm."' The place, some time after her death, came into the hands of Dr. Horace P. Wakefield, who resided there several years. It was then purchased by Hon. Samuel Winslow, mayor of Worcester, remodeleil and much enlarged, and is now the residence of Iiis son, Samuel E. Winslow.

Three persons at least, in Leicester liave lived to a remarkable age. Elihu Emerson was born in Westfield, Mass., July 21, 1771. He resided for many years in the home of his daughter, Mrs. Dr. Edward Flint, where he died, October 31, 1873, at the age of one hundred and two years, three months and ten days.

Mis. I>ydla Watson, the widow of Mr. Robert Watson, was born in Leicester, January 5, 1787. She died in Leicester, where her whole life was spent, April 11, 1889, at the age of one hundred and two years, three months and six days. |

Physicians. - The first physician in Leicester was Dr. Thomas Green, already noticed as tlie first pastor of the Baptist Church in Gi'eenville.

Dr. Pliny Lawton tauglit scliool in 1748 and 1749 and was then called "Doctor." He died in 1761, of small-pox, wliich he contracted while in tlie courageous discharge of his duty, and was buried in his own field.

Dr. John Honeywood was in practice here in 1753. He was an Englislunan and his interest in the early Revolutionary movements, and his death while serving in the American army, have been already noticed. He was a well-educated and skillful physician.

Dr. Solomon Parsons, son of Rev. David Parsons, school teacher in 1751, was born April 18, 1720, and and died March 20, 1807. His wife died the .same year as Dr. Lawton, of small-pox, and he was under the necessity of burying her alone, by night. He is supposed to have been a surgeon in the army in 1761.

Dr. Isaac Green, son of Dr. Thomas Green, was born in 1741, and died in 1812. He was surgeon in Col. Samuel Denny's regiment in 1777, and was at Saratoga at the taking of Burgoyne.

Di'. Robert Craige, Dr. Jeremiah Larned and Dr. Thomas Hersey were in practice in town during the last half of the last century, and also Dr. Thaddeus Brown.

The most eminent physician of the town, after Dr. Thomas Green, was Dr. Austin Flint. He was born in Shrewsbury, January, 1760; came to Leicester in 1783, and died August 29, 1850. He is characterized by Gov. Washburn as "an intelligent, well-informed man, of strong will and indomitable courage;" of "affable manners" and with a "rich fund of anecdote and good sense." He entered the army at the age of seventeen, and his record in the Revolution and the "Shays' Rebellion" has already been given. He was for twenty successive years moderator of town-meeting, for fifteen years town clerk, for sixteen years trustee of the academy, for about thirty years a magistrate, and for five years a Representative in the Legislature. He not only practiced throughout the town, but also in (jther towns. He kept a record of the births at which he rendered professional aid. The number is 1750. His wife (Elizabeth) was the daughter of Col. William Henshaw.

Dr. Jacob Holmes was a physician in Leicester from 18.34 to 1847. Rev. Isaac Worcester, M. D., who married the daughter of Colonel Henry Sargent, was for a short time in practice liere, as were also Dr. C. D. Whitcomb, and Dr. James P. C. Cummings and Dr. E. A. Daggett, who was followed by Dr. John P. Scribner. Dr. George O. AVarner came to Leicester in 1866, and remained until his death, November 12, 1885, at the age of forty-six. He gained a very extensive practice throughout the entire town and region. He was for a short time an array surgeon. He was kind and sympathetic, and his death was universally lamented.

The present physicians of the centre are Fred H. Gift'ord, who was graduated from the Harvard Medi cal School in 1874, and began practice in Leicester in 1879; Dr. Charles H. Warner, graduated from the Harvard Medical School in 1870, commencing practice in Leicester in 1885 ; and Dr. Charles G. Stearns, graduated from Amherst College in 1874 and from the Harvard Medical School in 1881, and commencing practice here in the winter of 1885. Dr. Leonard W. Atkinson was graduated from Boston University Medical School in 1884, and began practice in Cherry Valley in 1885.

Hon. Nathaniel Paine Denny was graduated from Harvard, 1797, settled in Leicester in 1800, practiced for twenty years, and represented the town in the Legislature ten years.

Waldo Flint was graduated from Harvard in 1814, and came to Leicester in 1828. He was afterward for many years president of the Eagle Bank, Boston.

Items of Intehest. - A few items of interest from Washburn's History, and other sources, are added here. The first public conveyance for passengers was the line of " stage wagons " between Boston and Hartford, opened October 20, 1783, by Levy Pease, of Somers, Conn., and Reuben Sikes, of Hartford. Before this the mails were carried on horseback.

There are persons now living who remember to have seen, sixteen stage-coaches at one time around the tavern on Leicester Hill. In the last century two huge horse-blocks near the meeting-house and the public stocks were conspicuous objects on the Common. The last " pillory " was built in 1763, for thirteen shillings, by Benjamin Tucker. George Washington, on his journey to Boston in 1789, passed through Leicester October 22d, and met a delegation of gentlemen from Worcester on the line between the two towns. Lafayettte, on the 3d of September, 1824, passed through the south part of the town " attended by a troop of horse and an escort of military oificers, citizens, etc."

Colonel Thomas Denny introduced the first piano to the town about the year 1809. The second belonged to the daughter of Captain John Southgate a few years later. The first carpet in town was woven by Mrs. David Bryant early in the present century.

In the first quarter of the present century there was in the Centre Village a literary association composed of the younger women, which met from house to house, and is represented to have had a brilliant success. Some of the productions of its members found a place in the Worcester Spy, among the " Blossoms of Parnassus." " History," says Washburn, " can only record the fact that it once existed, flourished many years and disappeared." It has had, however, many successors.

Bdeying-Geounds. - The first burying-ground in town was the church-yard back of the early meetinghouse, which was surrounded by a brush fence. It dates back to 1714. The Greenville Cemetery was opened about the year 1736 ; the Elliott Buryingyard, in the north part of the town, in 1756. The burying-ground of the Friends at Mannville was in existence as early as 1739. The Rawson Brook Cemetery dates back to 1755, and the Cherry Valley Cemetery was opened in 1816, and the Pine Grove in 1842. In these several burying-places have been laid about 2800 bodies. The number of deaths in town since 1800, recorded on the town books and elsewhere, is 3469. In the first decade there are 98, in the second, 150; in the third, 193 ; in the fourth, 265; in the fifth, 324; in the sixth, 431 ; in the seventh, 474; in the eighth, 552 ; from 1880 to 1883, 451. The^e facts are from the record of C. C. Denny, Esq., who has made a careful investigation and study of the subject.

Post-Offices. - A post-office was established in Leicester about 1798, and Ebenezer Adams, Esq., was the first com missioned postmaster. He was succeeded by Col. Thomas Denny, Col. Henry Sargent, John Sargent (appointed April, 1829), Henry D. Hatch, L. D. Thurston, the present incumbent appointed.

little engine upon which the town depended many years for extinguishing fires is not known. A fireengine, called " Union No 2," wa.s purchased in 1841, partly by the town and partly by individual subscriptions. It came to town April 20th. A steam fireengine was bought in 1869, and in 1886 it was replaced by the present steam-engine. In 1885 a steamer was obtained for Cherry Valley, and chemical extinguishers for Rochdale and Greenville.

Ta VEENS. - The first tavern was on the corner of Main and Paxton Streets. It was occupied by Nathaniel Richardson in 1721, John Tyler 1746, John Tyler, Jr., 1755, Seth Washburn 1756, then by John Tyler, by Benjamin Tucker 1761, Edward Bond 1767- It was then burnt and rebuilt, occupied by Elijah Lathrop 1776, Peter Taft 1778, Reuben Swan 1781, William Denny 1801, Aaron Morse 1810.

The second tavern was opposite the Catholic Church, built by Jonathan Sargent as early as 1727. He was succeeded by his son Phineas, and he in 1776 by Nathan Waite.

James Smith had a tavern in the last house in Leicester, on the road to Spencer, in 1740. He was followed by Samuel Lynde in 1755; the house was destroyed by the hurricane in 1759,

The first tavern on the site of Leicester Hotel, opposite the Common, was built in 1776, by Nathan Waite. Jacob Reed Rivera, the Jew, bought it for his store in 1777. Here a hotel has been kept by successive land" lords to the present time. Among these was John Hobert, who had charge of it from 1799 to 1817, and gave to it a wide-spread reputation as an excellent hostelry. In later years, notwithstanding the growth of the temperance sentiment in town, this hotel continued to defy the public will. It at length became so intolerable a nuisance that it was purchased by a company of citizens and closed. In 1882 it was burnt. In 1885 this company built the present Leicester Hotel, which has since been kept by L. G. Joslin, and has become a favorite resort for "summer boarders." During the Revolution Abner Dunbar had a tavern on Mount Pleasant (Benjamin Earle place), and George Bruce about the beginning of this century kept public-house on Mount Pleasant, in the residence before occupied by Major James Swan.

LiBEAEiES. - In 1793 provision was made for a "Social Library," the "Proprietors" first meeting December 10th. The fire-engine company established a library in 1812. A "Second Social Library" was commenced in 1829. These several libraries had fallen into disuse, but in 1858, by the effi)rts of the writer, they were united, and removed to one of the rooms of the Town House, and again opened for cir- culation. This library, containing about eight hundred and fifty volumes, was, in 1861, offered to the town, and at the town-meeting held March 4, 1861 was unanimously accepted. The library has gradually increased, and in February, 1888, the number of volumes was six thousand two hundred and twentyeight. There are branch libraries at Kochdale, Greenville and Cherry Valley, and the books, are largely used in all parts of the town. The library has received donations of books from many individuals. Among these should be especially mentioned Waldo Flint, Esq., who gave to it nearly three hundred and fifty volumes. Over five hundred volumes from his own library came to it after his death. The library is also indebted to the interest and liberality of Abraham Firth, Esq. Mrs. E. H. Flint, Governor Washburn and many others have been its generous friends. But the library is most of all indebted to Eev. Samuel May for his long-continued devotion and services. He has taken upon himself as a free-will service the arrangement and care of books, the preparation and publishing of catalogues, and the general supervision of the library. The management of the library is committed to a Board of Directors consisting of five members, one of whom is annually chosen to serve five years. On the 13th and 14th days of January, 1873, the library was placed in the new " Memorial Hall," an attractive room in the Town House. It has already nearly outgrown these accommodations, and waits the time when wealthy and generous friends shall make provision for a library building. D. E. Merriam, who died in 1888, left toward this object $5,000.

Cherry Valley Flood. - On March 29th, 1876, the dam of Lynde Brook Reservoir, the water supply of Worcester, gave signs of weakness. The water mtr- 4?4.e-4. ^i*©* of the lake is 1870 acres and there were in it at the time 663,330,000 gallons of water. There had been heavy rains. Four days before one of the series of dams on the Kettle Brook, into which Lynde Brook empties, gave way, occasioning great damage to roads and bridges and flooding a part of Cherry Valley. The water of Lynde Reservoir was at the time running over the flash-boards, twenty-seven inches higher than the dam. A leakage at the lower waste-gate house showed signs of increase, and this was the signal of danger.

Strenuous efforts were made through this and the next day to save the dam, or at least hold it in place till the waters could gradually escape. Loads of earth and stone and large trees were thrown in above the dam. Meanwhile the alarm was given to families along the stream. Dwelling-houses were deserted, mill property was removed to the hill-sides and crowds of people stood upon the banks awaiting the result. The dam stood through the day and night and through the next day, and it was hoped that the calamity might be averted. All through the night and the next day the anxious watch continued. At about ten minutes before six, in the afternoon of Thursday, March 30th, a little stream of water broke out above the lower gate-house. The alarm was given ; the dam was cleared of men and teams. The stream enlarged each second, earth and stones were thrown up, the bank of the dam caved in, the stone wall stood for a minute and then gave way, and the reservoir poured its contents into the channel below. The scene is described by many who witnessed it as grand beyond description. The water came rushing and roaring down the course of the brook, tearing out a gorge a hundred feet in width and carrying the solid masonry far down the stream. Those who were in Cherry Valley could hear the grating of the rocks ground together by the force of the waters. As it pas.sed down the ravine its appearance was grandly beautiful. The water, nearly fifty feet in height, came surging, seething, rolling on, lashed into foam, a white feathery vapor rising above it. When it reached the street it tore away the bridge and roadway and then spread out over the meadow, converting the lower parts of the village into a sea, and then at Smith's dam was forced through the narrow passage. It pa.ssed through the centre of Mr. Olney's house, leaving the walls standing. The barn and carriagehouse were separated and then floated out gracefully on the water, only to be wrecked when they reached the rocks below. Several tenement houses were destroyed. The flood tore away most of Smith's factory, annihilated Bottomly's mill and carried away the rear of the several factories along the stream and the dams ; it wrenched away the boiler of Ashvvorth & Jones' mill and deposited it half a mile below, and swept away the engine and boiler of Smith's mill so that they were never found. At the corner of the Jamesville Road and Main Street it struck the bank, and became a whirlpool as it turned southerly to Jamesville, where it was divided. A part of the flood followed the stream, inflicting damage upon the dam and factory. The other part followed the Boston & Albany Railroad for nearly two miles, gullying out the track and destroying the double arch bridge. The scene after the flood was one of wild desolation, the fields and meadows being covered with boulders and the debris. The spot was visited by thousands of people during the next few days, some of them coming from a distance. The estimated number on one day was thirty thousand.

Histories. - Leicester is unusually rich in annalists and historians. First among these is Governor Emory Washburn, to whose " Topographical and Historical Sketches of the Town of Leicester," published .June, 1826, in the Worcester Magazine and Historical Journal, his " Brief Sketch of the History of Leicester Academy," published in 1855, his several addresses on anniversary occasions, and his " History of Leicester," published in 1860, the town is indebted for the collection and preservation of the facts of its early history. In the preparation of his history he was more largely than is generally known indebted to j Jos. A. Denny, Esq., who gathered much of this information, and whose " Reminiscences of Leicester," published about fourteen years ago in the WoreesUr Spy, whose history of the schools, published in the School Jleport of 1849, whose various compilations from the Town Eecords, whose identification of locations, and whose personal journal, covering a period of eighteen years, including that of the Civil War, entitle him to the distinction of the annalist of Leicester. Miss Harriet E. HensRajv in 1?76 published " Reminiscences of Colonel William Henshaw," which are rich in interesting and curious information relating to the Revolutionary period. Not only local, but other historians are indebted to her rich stores of ancient manuscripts, including the Orderly Books of Colonel William Henshaw, Adjutant-General of the Provincial Army, containing the official records of the Revolutionary army during the first year of the war, letters of the Committee of Correspondence, and other documents of inestimable historical value. Draper's "History of Spencer" and Whitney's "History of Worcester County " are also sources from which light is also thrown upon the early history of the town. The academy has also had its historians. A brief but valuable sketch was published in 1829 in connection with Principal Preceptor Luther Wright's address. Rev. S. May, in the " Proceedings of the Worcester Society of Antiquity," 1882, has a paper on the academy. Governor Washburn's history, and the address of Hon. W. W. Rice at the centennial anniversary of the institution, are both of them the result of much careful research. The historical sermon of Rev. B. F. Cooley, at the fiftieth anniversary of Christ Church, Rochdale, and " The Religious History of the First Congregational Church in Leicester," by Rev. A. H. Coolidge, have also been published. To these sources of information is to be added the historical sermon of Rev. Hiram Estes, D.D., at the one hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the Baptist Church in Greenville. The manuscript journal of Ruth Henshaw, reaching back into the last century, gives an insight into the life of the early times, and serves to verify some of the facts and dates of history. The letters of Grace Denny, of England, published in the " Genealogy of the Denny Family," prepared by C. C. Denny, Esq., are of special interest, referring as they do to the situation of the place soon after its settlement.

Celebrations. - Li addition to celebrations in town which have been noticed in other connections, are others of an interesting character. The four towns, Leicester, Spencer, Paxton and Auburn, which wholly or in part were embraced in the original township, united in celebration on the 4th of July, 1849, in the grove, on Grove Street. Hon. /ame» Draper, of Spencer, presided. More than two thousand persons were present. The citizens of Spencer, preceded by the fire company, were escorted into the village.

under the direction of Henry A. Denny as chief marshal, by the Leicester Fire Company, with the Northbridge Band. Four Revolutionary soldiers were honored gueste. The address was by Hon. Emory Washburn, and is a valuable contribution to the Revolutionary history of the towns. Rev. Dr. Nelson was chaplain. Among the after-dinner addresses was that of Hon. Joseph Sprague, ex-mayor of Brooklyn, N. Y.

The 4th of July, 1871, was chosen as the date of celebrating the one hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the organization of the town by the several towns of the original township. The exercises were in a large tent on the Common. Rev. S. May, in behali of the Committee of Arrangements, introduced the exercises of the morning, which consisted of music by the Worcester Band, singing, prayer by the chaplain. Rev. A. H. Coolidge, and a learned and eloquent historical address by Governor Emory Washburn. About eight hundred sons and daughters of Leicester sat down at the tables, Capt. J. D. Cogswell as marshal having charge of the arrangements. Jos. A. Denny, Esq., as president of the day, introduced the after-dinner exercises, Dr. J. N. Murdock acting as toast-master. Addresses were made by Hon. Waldo Flint, Abraham Firth, Esq., Hon. Edward Earle, Gen. E. T. Jones, Hon. N. Sargent and others.

In 1876 the towns again united and celebrated the centennial of the Declaration of Independence. The morning exercises were in the town hall, and Rev. S. May was president of the day. John E. Russell, Esq., delivered an eloquent address. The singing was under the direction of Mr. Thomas S. Livermore, and the music by the Leicester Cornet Band. The company then moved in procession, under Capt. J. D. Cogswell as marshal, to Sargent's Grove, where afterdinner addresses were made by the several clergymen, teachers of the academy and others. -

The principal addresses on all these occasions have been published, and are invaluable sources of important and interesting local and general history.

Biographical Dr. Edward Flint.'

Dr. Edward Flint belonged to a family of physicians. His grandfather, Dr. Edward Flint, of Shrewsbury, was the physician of that town during a long life. His father. Dr. Austin Flint, born in Shrewsbury, established himself in Leicester in 1783, at the close of the War of the Revolution, in which he had been an army surgeon, lived here a long and honored life, professionally eminent, and died at over ninety years of age. His elder brother was Dr. Joseph H.

Flint, of Northampton and Springfield, whose son Austin became distinguished in New York, both in practice and as a medical author ; and who left a son, also named Austin, as successor to his labors and honors. Dr. John Flint, of Boston, was a cousin, and studied medicine with him. And his only son, John Sydenham Flint, was a physician for some forty years in Eoxbury, held in the highest esteem there, and died in April, 1887.

Dr. Edward Flint, second son of Dr. Austin and Elizabeth (Henshaw) Flint, of Leicester, was born November 7, 1789. He studied medicine with his father, and established himself in its practice in Leicester in 1811. Six years later he was married to Harriet, eldest daughter of Elihu Emerson, Esq., of Norwich, Vt. Soon after marriage he built the house in the centre of the town which he occupied during life, and where his widow now resides in her ninetyfirst year. Dr. Flint died May 30, 1880, being, like his father, a few months over ninety years of age. Three children was born to them - Charlotte Emerson, Sally, and John Sydenham. The daughters were very excellent and attractive young women, but they both died in early womanhood. Their loss severely tried Dr. Flint's faith and firmness; but no murmur escaped him. Seven years after his own death, his only son died, as already stated, and the mother is now left childless, but is ministered to, in her age and many infirmities, with unsurpassed devotedness.

Dr. Flint succeeded to his father's large practice, which extended beyond the town limits. He gave his life, in the strictest sense, to his profession, and to those who needed his services, making no discrimination among those wJio were able and those who were not able to pay him for that service. It was a life uneventful, but steadily laborious, and attended with frequent exposures. A physician has peculiar opportunity to»render charitable service, and Dr. Flint had his full share of such experience ; and as he had a great repugnance to pressing the collection of debts due him, it followed that an unusual amount of such indebtedness was never paid. A recent writer in a Health Journal says : " It is safe to say that but few physicians in general practice manage to collect more than one-half of their bills," and enlarges upon the wrong thus done. Cases of destitution will always occur, and our physicians may be safely trusted not to forget them ; but it should cease to be thought allowable for others to use a doctor's time and services without compensation. Attempts, on various grounds, were made to introduce other physicians to the town, but the general respect and confidence of Leicester people were never withdrawn from Dr. Flint. Washburn, in his " History of Leicester," says of him: "The rank and position which Dr. Flint sustains in the community have been the natural result of the many years of honorable and successful pursuit of the profession of his choice."

his house was built - which was before the day of temperance societies - he induced the workmen to give up the customary strong drink, and he furnished them hot coffee in its place, which Mrs. Flint daily made for them. He never permitted wine or strong drinks to be placed on his table, nor offered to visitors, and never used them himself. He told the present writer that he had an early lesson on the subject, in seeing his father always pass the mug or gla.ss untasted, as it went the rounds among the neighbors collected at some public place. His horses and his dogs were more than his servants : they were his friends and he was theirs. He had a quaint humor, with a somewhat rough manner, in both respects resembling his father. When a boy he one day brought from the post-office to his father a small packet ; his father, on opening it, said, " Here, Ned, take off your jacket," which being done, the father rolled up the boy's sleeve, and with no further notice made an incision in his arm and inserted some vaccine matter, and thus, as he always claimed, he became, with little previous notice, tbe first subject of vaccination in the town of Leicester.

The older readers of this history will be glad to recognize in the accompanying engraving the likeness of Dea. Joshua Murdock. He was the son of William and Achsah Murdock, and was born in Westminster, Mass., October 28, 1780. He served a regular apprenticeship as cabinet-maker to Artemas Woodward, of Medfield, Mass. He was United in marriage with Clarissa Hartshorn, of Medfield, June 3, 1806, and soon removed to West Boylston, and, with his brother Artemas, began the business of cabinet-making. In 1811 he came to Leicester and purchased the place still owned by the family. His cabinet-shop was east of the house. Here he carried on the business for many years, employing a number of hands. He was in every sense a master-workman. The products of his skill were at once thorough and elegant, and many highly valued and beautiful specimens are still retained in various families in the vicinity.

In 183.3, and again in 1834, the town expressed its appreciation of him by electing him to the House of Representatives in the Legislature of the State. He was for many years treasurer of the First Parish, first elected when the affairs of the parish were managed by the town, through the selectmen. He was also trustee of the invested funds of the church and parish to the time of his death. He was made deacon of the church January 7, 1817, and retained the office through life. He was the first superintendent of the Sunday-school, and held that office, as nearly as can be ascertained, more than twenty-five years.

a public profession of faith after the settlement of Dr. Nelson, the month before. He possessed a singularly even and benign spirit, sweetened by genuine piety. He was always very modest and retiring, yet he cheerfully accepted the cares and responsibilities of his office in the church, and was always heard with interest and pleasure in the several meetings of the church. The writer remembers him with the deepest respect and tenderness as one of the truest, most helpful and sympathetic of his friends in the first years of his ministry.

He died suddenly, in his shop, December 30, 1859. A memorial sermon was preached by the junior pastor, January 8, 18G0, from Prov. 20: 6 - "Most men will proclaim everyone his own goodness ; but a faithful man who can find?"

Joseph A. Denny, Esq.'

Jcseph Addison Denny was the grandson of Daniel Denny, who settled in Leicester in the spring of 1717. He was one of the twelve children of Joseph Denny. His mother, Phosbe Denny, was the daughter of Col. William Henshaw.

He was born May 13, 1804, and passed his early childhood in the house on Main Street now owned by the family of the late John Loring. His mother died when he was eleven years old. About two years later he left home and was a clerk in the store of H. G. Henshaw, Esq., in New Worcester, for two or three years. He then returned home, and attended school at Leicester Academy for several terms. About the year 1823 he was engaged as a clerk in the store of James & John A. Smith, in a building west of the Leicester Hotel. There he remained until 1826, when he commenced the manufacture of card-clothing, which he continued until 1857.

He was a diligent and intelligent student, and productions of his pen at this period, which are still preserved, indicate unusual thoughtfulness as well as literary taste. He early formed the determination of making his life a success in the truest sense. He even gave up the games and other amusements in which many of the young were absorbed, that he might secure his evenings for useful reading. When he reached the age of twenty-one years he wrote a series of resolutions for " future guidance." These resolutions are indicative of his early purpose, as well as of his later character. Among them are the resolutions to abstain from the use of " ardent spirits," gambling and profane language. The platform of business principles which he then adopted is worthy of the consideration of theyoung, andisgiven in his own words: "Eesolved, That if frugality and application to business will ensure me a competency of wealth, I will never be poor. That, while I have my health, I will never spend faster than I earn, and on the contrary, while I have a sufficiency, I will never deny myeelf the conveni- ences of life for the purpose of hoarding up treasure. That, while I am prospered in business, I will never refuse charity, where I think it my duty to extend it. And should I ever accumulate property, may I have the satisfaction of reflecting that it was not obtained by oppressing the poor, unfair dealing or any other dishonorable means, and may a bountiful Providence prosper my undertakings."

In the year 1826 he entered the firm of Isaac Southgate & Co., which, as has already been stated, developed into that of Bisco & Denny. It was in the beginning a small enterprise. The pricking and tooth-forming machines were moved by hand, and the cards sent out to be set by women and children. The business increased gradually, and prospered so that by careful attention to its details he secured a competence.

He was also largely interested in the establishment of the Leicester Boot Company. He was a prominent director and valued adviser in the State Mutual Life Acsurance, and the Merchants' and Farmers' Mutual Fire Insurance Companies in Worcester, from the date of their organization to the time of his death. He was a director and for a time the president of the Leicester Bank. He was assistant assessor in the Internal Revenue Department during and after the war. He served the town as selectman and School Committee, and from March, 1850, to the time of his death, in 1875, was town clerk. He was, in 1857, elected to the House of Representatives in the Legislature of the State. His services for the academy, to whose interest he was earnestly devoted, were invaluable. He was a trustee from August 20, 1834, and treasurer from May 11, 1858, till his death, in 1875. He gave to this institution his personal services, and contributed liberally to its funds ; and it was through his influence that most of its present endowment was secured. With many of the former pupils of this institution the thought of Leicester Academy and Joseph A. Denny are inseparable. His portrait has a place with the founders and benefactors of the academy in Smith Hall. Mr. Denny was a man of literary tastes, and spent much time in reading, thus familiarizing himself with history and the best literature.

He at different times traveled in various parts of the country, and had a comprehensive appreciation alike of its resources and its need. He took special pains to familiarize himself with statute law. He wrote legal documents, and had charge of pecuniary trusts, and settled estates. He wrote many wills, and often, by wise suggestion, impressed upon men in the disposal of their property the importance of making liberal provision for their wives, a consideration which is too often found overlooked. Although never admitted to the bar, he was still a legal adviser, consulted by people of his own and neighboring towns. This service was to a large extent gra- tuitous. He was pre-emiuently the friend and helper of widows and orphans, and of the poor. Men and women of all classes and diflerent nationalities resorted to him for counsel and help. They came to him with their quarrels, their business perplexities, their financial troubles, their plans and enterprises and their sorrows ; and found in him an attentive listener, a sound adviser, a generous helper and a sympathizing friend. He was, perhaps, more than any other person, familiar with the locations and history of Leicester and the lives of its former inhabitants; and to him, more largely than is generally known. Gov. Emory Washburn was indebted for the materials of his excellent history of the town. His manuscript notes, his " Reminiscences of Leicester,'' published in the Worcester Spy, and his journal which is a record of passing events, are of great historical value. He may be truthfully termed the annalist of Leicester.

In 1874 he made a tour of Europe, which was a source of great profit and enjoyment to so intelligent and appreciative an observer. He was especially interested in visiting the home of his ancestors and his relatives in England.

He united with the First Congregational Church in July, 1827, and through life was one of its devoted and helpful members and a constant attendant upon all its services. He was, for many years and at the time of his death, a teacher in the Sunday-school. He was interested in the great missionary enterprises, both home and foreign, and contributed liberally to them. He set apart at the beginning of each year a certain portion of his income for benevolent objects, and regarded one-tenth of a successful business man's profits as too little to be thus employed. He was interested in young men who were struggling for an education, and gave liberal aid to those who were preparing for the ministry. He had a large circle of friends, and was widely known. He married, April 30, 1829, Mary Davis, the daughter of Major Joel Davis, of Rutland, Mass., who survives him. They had two children, - Mary Elizabeth, the wife of Deacon Lyman D. Thurston, and Hon. Charles Addison Denny. He built the house in which he so long resided in 1837. He had all the qualities which made home and social life delightful. He was fond of children, and his conversation was instructive and entertaining. He died February 25, 1875, of pneumonia, after a few days' illness. It was said of him at his funeral, which was largely attended in the First Congregational Church : " He understood better than most men the truth that while men die, institutions and influences live, and was largely endowed with that rare, unselfish wisdom which qualifies one to build the foundations of the public welfare deep and enduring. The effects of this purpose, which, to a large extent, dictated the policy of his life, will be more fully understood and acknowledged in the future than they can be now, and his name

He kept from January 1, 1857, to September, 1874, a personal journal, which is of great value as a record also of local and public events in one of the most eventful periods of our national history. A few days before his death he completed a transfer to this journal of the diary of his European travels, and formally concluded the series of entries with these significant words: "And here I will close this daily journal of my own private matters, which I have kept for almost eighteen years, intending it principally as a business memoranda. It has often been useful to me as a reference; but as I have fewer business transactions, and have just recorded the history of one of the most important transactions of my life - a voyage to Europe - I will here close my record, blessing God for his care and protection, not only during this voyage, but a long life, now reaching more than three-score years and ten."

Dwight Bisco.'

Dwight Bisco, who was for sixty years one of the leading citizens and business men of Leicester, was born in Spencer April 27, 1799, one of several sons of Jacob Bisco. Upon his father's farm he lived and worked until twenty-two years of age, when, with a silver dollar as his only money capital, he came to Leicester, and engaged in the employment of Cheney Hatch, one of the card-clothing manufacturers, - a business of which Leicester then had almost a monopoly. Bringing with him good character, intelligence, habits of industry and selfcontrol, and not afraid of work, he steadily acquired skill in this intricate and difficult manufacture.

In 182G he associated himself as partner with Isaac Southgate, Joshua Lamb, John Stone and Joseph A. Denny, another house- in the same business. In 1843 Mr. Denny and he bought the interest of the other partners, and continued the business, under the name of Bisco & Denny, until Mr. Denny's death, in 1875. It was then passed on by Mr. Bisco into the hands of his sons and of Mr. Denny's only son, he continuing to occupy himself in the factory until February, 1882, when he entirely withdrew, being then in his eightythird year.

In middle life he had invested the chief part of his savings in the Leicester Boot Company. It was unfortunate, Und was brought to an end by the burning of the company's buildings and stock, September 25, 1860, inflicting on him a total loss of all he had paid in. With a quiet courage he applied himself again to business, as closely as in his youth, and was enabled to make good his loss, and to present to his eight children, at the Thanksgiving dinner-table, five hundred dollars each.

Hia marriage with Kuth Woodcock (daughter of Johu Woodcock, St., and sister of John, Josephua and Lucius, of the following generation), in 1826, founded a family life of great happiness and unity for more than fifty years. When they celebrated their golden wedding, January 8, 1876, "we saw them," said Eev. Mr. Coolidge, " standing together, a spectacle rarely witnessed, an unbroken family," - parents, children and grandchildren, - a circle which death had then never entered. But in September of that year Mrs. Bisco died, with little warning ; and Mr. Bisco sufl'ared the severest loss which could possibly happen to him. He had become very deaf, and her loss was the more severe. Their children, who are all living, are Emily A., Charles D., George, John W., William, Henry, and Frederick A.; all married but William. Mr. Bisco died December 7, 1882.

He was repeateo'y a selectman of the town ; a director of the Leicet Bank eleven years ; treasurer of the Pine Grove Cemetery Company forty years ; treasurer of the Unitarian Congregational Society as long, and a deacon of that church. He was a member of the State Legislature in 1847 and '48. In a notice of him in the Christian Register, Mr. Abraham Firth wrote of "his marked faithfulness in all these relations, and in every sphere of life in which he moved. He was always found on the side of virtue, and of political and spiritual freedom. Brought up under the teaching of Calvinism, it never satisfied him."

One who was long in daily business association with him wrote, in the Worcester Spy, " he was known among his associates as an honest, upright man, of superior sense and judj^ment." His pastor, during his later years, wrote of him, " I have never known a truer man, nor one of i^reater strength of character." His first minister, a. the funeral services, paid a warm tribute to his character and life. " No man in Leicester," said a fellow -citizen, " has a better record than Dwight Bisco." A memorial book of Mr. and Mrs. Bisco has been printed.

Captain Hiram Knight.'

Captain Hiram Knight was one of the successful business men of Leicester, who, beginning life without pecuniary advantages, have secured far themselves a handsome property. His father, Silas Knight, was a wheelwright, and in very moderate circumstances. He was a Kevolutionary soldier and pensioner. He lived to the venerable age ef eighty-five years and five mohths. His mother was sevent/-six years and six mont!is old at the time of her death. Her maiden name Wi.i Martha Goodnow.

Rev. John Nelson, D.D., April 28, 1818, to Olive Barnes. Her mother was Betsy, the daughter of William Green, who was born in Leicester in 1743, and was the son of William and Rebeckah Green. Their first home was on Main Street, in the house afterward occupied by thfe Leicester Boot Company. The next year he removed to the academy, of which he was steward from 1819 to 1822. In 1823 he purchased the old " Green Tavern," on the corner of Main and Paxton Streets. Here for about two years he resided, engaged during the time in the occupations of butchering, tavern-keeping and for a time was associated with Reuben Merriam in card-making and a store. In 1826 he became a member of the firm of James & John A. Smith & Co., who built and occupied the factory where the Wire Mill now stands; and also the brick factory above and the boardinghouse. The history of this company, which was afterward the firm of Smith, Woodcock & Knight, and later of Woodcock, Knight & Co., is given elsewhere. Mr. and Mrs. Knight kept the boarding-houses for this firm till about the year 1832, when the family came back to the Green tavern. Mr. Knight was in the card business till 1867, when he transferred his interest to his sons. He, with John Woodcock and George Morse, was in partnership with James Smith & Co. at the formation of that house in Philadelphia in 1836, and retained his interest for a number of years.

The lower factory of his firm was to a considerable extent built under his supervision. He superintended the building of the Brick Factory and the boardinghouse. He also had general charge of the building of the brick school-house on Pleasant Street. His own residence, on the site of the old tavern, and now occupied by his son Dexter, was erected in 1843.

Mr. Knight had agricultural tastes, and at one time had considerable land, which he cultivated and improved. He was an active member of the Worcester Agricultural Society.

He was one of the directors of the Leicester National Bank from 1850 to 1874. Between the years 1836 and 1844 he served the town in the various offices of moderator of town-meetings, selectman and assessor, etc. He was appointed justice of the peace by Governor Boutwell. He was one of the early members of the Second Congregational Society, Unitarian. In politics he was a Democrat, but reserved the right of independent thought and action. He was a member of the State Constitutional Convention in 1853. In early life he was somewhat active in military afiairs, and was captain of the local military company.

Captain Knight was engaged in the manufacture of card-clothing in the period of the rapid development of that industry, when inventive genius was perfecting the wonderful machine for card-setting, of which a gentleman once said, after admiringly watching its almost human movements : " Why 1 it thinks ! " He had not been trained to the business, but was a natural mechanic, inventive and ingenious; and though not forward in asserting his claims, made many valuable improvements in the machinery for card-making. According to the testimony of his partner, Mr. John Woodcock, he made the first card clothing set by machinery in Leicester.

Captain Knight was a man of sound judgment, self-reliant, and of strict business integrity. He gave close attention to his business and was successful. He was wise and cautious in his investments, and became one of the wealthy men of the town. For his success he was largely indebted to his wife. She was a woman of domestic tastes, and devoted herself untiringly and efficiently to the varied duties of the household, acting her part with true womanly fidelity and fortitude in all the varied experiences of the family, in prosperity and in trial and .sorrow. She was married at the age of seventeen years.

They had eleven children, seven of whom died young ; the three older at the ages of nine, ten and twelve years respectively. Their daughter Susan died in 1856, at the age of twenty-five. She is remembered as an excellent scholar, retiring in manners, and loved by all her associates. Three sons survive-^exter, James J. and George M.

Captain Knight died May 6, 1875, at the age of eighty-one ycaro and eight months. His wife survived him about four years, and died April 19, 1879, at the age of seventy-eight years.

Rev. Samuel May

Rev. Samuel May, the first minister of the Second Congregational (Unitarian) Church and Society, and who continued such for twelve years, was born in Boston, April 11, 1810, oldest son of Samuel and Mary (Goddard) May. Four years a pupil of Deacon Samuel Greele, afterwards for three years at the Public Latin School of Boston, and one year at the Round Hill School, Northampton, he was graduated at Harvard College in 1829.

After spending nearly a year in study with his cousin. Rev. Samuel J. May, at Brooklyn, Ct., he entered the Cambridge Divinity School in the fall of 1830, and was graduated there in 1833. The society at Leicester was then young, having been incorporated in April, 1833, and holding its meetings in the old Town Hall. Mr. May spent six or seven weeks in their service that autumn, then left to fulfill some other engagements, and returned in March, 1834, to begin a second engagement. That spring he received and accepted the society's call to be their minister, and was ordained as such August 13th, the services being held in the society's new church, which had been dedicated the evening previous, when the late Rev. Dr. James Walker, then of Charlestown, preached the very impressive discourse, afterwards so widely circulated by the American Unitarian Association,

Mr. May's ministry was one of fair success. Relations of good will and friendship were formed, which continued far beyond the term of his ministerial connection, and to the close of life of his parishioners in nearly every instance. Entire harmony of feeling existed between them, except with regard to one question, viz.: that of slavery in the United States, and whether a Christian minister should or should not take part in the effort to bring that condition of slavery to an end. Mr. May regarding it his duty to take such part, and to seek to induce his hearers to do the same, several persons were so much dissatisfied as to withdraw themselves from the society. One or more others who remained being similarly dissatisfied, Mr. May decided to resign his oflice rather than be a cause of division, and the connection was closed in the summer of 1846.

Mr. May has continued to have his residence at Leicester to the present time. In 1835 he was married to Sarah Russell, third daughter of Nathaniel P.Russell, of Boston. Their children, all born in Leicester, and still living, are Adeline, Edward, Joseph Russell, and Elizabeth Goddard. The daughters reside with their parents. Edward is a pay director of the United States Navy, and Joseph R. is in commercial life in Boston. Edward married, in 1871, Mary Mignot Blodgett, of Boston. They have four children.

Soon after resigning his position at Leicester, Mr. May was minister of the First Ecclesiastical Society, Brooklyn, Ct., until June, 1847. Then he became the general agent of the Massachusetts Anti-slavery Society. He held this place, with the exception of about a year and a half of impaired health, for eighteen years, and until 1865, the time when, by amendment of the Constitution, slavery in the United States ceased to exist. He was also, for several years, corresponding secretary of the American Antislavery Society.

From 1841 to 1865 Mr. May refused to take any political action under the United States Constitution because of its recognition and support of slavery - refused, that is, to vote for oflicers who must take an oath to support the Constitution. When the Constitution was amended he resumed the exercise of the citizen's duties. At the outbreak of the War of the Rebellion, in 1861, he gave such aid as he could to the cause of the Union, and to its armies in the field, speaking and acting publicly.

He early took a decided stand against the use of intoxicating drinks ; was a member of town, county and State societies formed to promote total abstinence from their use ; and joined with others to establish the Leicester Hotel as a house in which no such drinks should be sold.

chosen one of the directors of the town's public library at its eatablishment, in 1861, and still continues as such, having served nearly twenty-eight years. In 1874 he was elected a trustee of Leicester Academy. In 1875 he was a member of the State Legislature, representing, with Mr. Pliny Litchfield, of Southbridge, the district formed of the towns of Leicester, Spencer, Charlton, Southbridge and Auburn. As House chairman of the Committee on Federal Relations, he took an active part in the State's commemoration of the one hundredth anniversaries of the battles of Lexington, Concord and Bunker Hill. At the town's celebration of the centennial of American Independence, July 4, 1876, Mr. May was chairman of the town's committee. He edited the pamphlet which records in full that day's doings in Leicester.

He is a member of the American Social Science Association, of the Worcester Society of Antiquity, and of the Bostonian Society. He was chosen secretary of the Class of 1829, Harvard College, at the time of graduating, and has held the office to the present time. He aided in the compilation of the large pamphlet which records the one hundredth anniversary of the foundation of Leicester Ac*demy, and the proceedings of that occasion, September 4, 1884.

Dr. Pliny Earle was the fourth son of Pliny Earle, the great-grandson of Ralph Earle, who came to Leicester in 1717. His mother was the daughter of William Buffum, of Smithfield, R. I. He was born December 31, 1809, and his childhood was passed in the home of his father at Mulberry Grove. He was a pupil in Leicester Academy, and afterwards in the Friends' School, in Providence, R. I., where he was a teacher in the winter of 1828-29, and also from 1831 to 1835, when he was made principal.

He pursued the study of medicine, first with Dr. Usher Parsons, of Providence, and afoerwards at the University of Pennsylvania, from which he was graduated with the degree of M.D. in 1837. The next tyro years were spent in Europe ; one in the medical school and the hospitals of Paris, and the other in a tour of professional and general observation, " in which he visited various institutions for the insane, from England to Turkey.'' The results of these observations were published in 1840, in a pamphlet entitled " A Visit to Thirteen Asylums for the Insane in Europe." He had an office in Philadelphia for a short time, but in the spring of 1840 became resident physician of the Friends' Asylum for the Insane, near Frankford, now a part of Philadelphia. In 1844 he was appointed medical superintendent of the Bloomingdale Asylum for the Insane, in New York City. In 1849 he made another tour in Europe, visiting thirty-four institutions for the insane in England, Belgium, France and the Germanic countries, and, upon his return, published his book upon " Institutions for the Insane in Prussia, Austria, and Germany." In 1853 he was elected a visiting physician of the New York City Lunatic Asylum, on Blackwell's Island.