Leicester Town (part 1 of 2)

By Rev. A. H. Coolidge Settlement

The town of Leicester stands upon the ridge of the water-shed of Central Massachusetts, one thousand and seven feet above the sea level. Its waters flow easterly, through Lynde and Kettle Brooks, into the Blackstone River; southerly, through French Eiver, into the Quinebaug and Thames, and westerly from Shaw Pond, through the Chicopee River, into the Connecticut. Lynde Brook Reservoir, on the east, is one of the sources of water supply for Worcester, and Shaw Pond, on the we.st, is the source of the supply for Spencer. Leicester is about forty-eight miles from Boston. It is six miles west of Worcester and five hundred feet above that city. Its location is 42° 14' 49" north latitude, and 71° 54' 47" west longitude.

Its villages are the Centre, at first called Strawberry Hill ; Cherry Valley, two miles east of the Centre, generally so-called since 1820; Rochdale, at first South Leicester, named Clappville, from Joshua Clapp, who purchased the mill property in 1829, and changed to Roiihdale in November, 1869; Greenville, which about the middle of the present century began to be so called from its founder. Captain Samuel Green ; Manuville, two miles north of the Centre, which was named after Mr. Billings Mann about the year 1856 ; and Lakeside, which has come to be so called within a few years. The northeast part of the town is called " Mulberry Grove," the name being first given in 1827 to the estate of Silas Earle, on wbich he raised mulberry trees and produced silk from the silk-worm.

At the time of its original purchase the township of l^eicester was a part of the extended domain of the Nipmuck tribe of Indians. The character of this tribe had been greatly changed, and many of its members had been converted to Christianity through the labors of John Eliot and Daniel Gookin. Gookin, in his " Historical Collections," mentions seven " new praying towns" among the Nipmuck Indians. One of these was in Oxford and another was Pacachoag, in Worcester and the southeastern border of Leicester. That the Indians of Leicester had been brought under the same influences is indicated by the fact that one of the signers of the deed is styled '" deacon." Few Indian relics have been found here, there are few Indian traditions, and there is little to indicate that the place ever had a considerable native population, although it was of sufficient importance to have a sachem.

The Massachusetts Colony, like the Plymouth, recognized the claim of the aborigines to the land, and secured it of them by fair purchase. The territory embracing Leicester, Spencer, a pait of Paxton and a small portion of Auburn was bought of the Indians by nine gentlemen of Roxbury and vicinity, who became the original "Associate Proprietors." The sachem, Oraskaso, had recently died, and the deed is signed by his heirs. The price paid for the laud was fifteen pounds. New England money.

TlKit the heii-8 of Oraskaso, Sachem of a place called Towtaid, situate and lying near the new town of the English, called Worcester, with all others which may, under them, belong nntu the same place aforesaid, Towtaid, these heirs being two women, with their husbands, newly married; which, being hy name called Philip Tray, with his wife, Momokhue; and John Wampkson, with Waiwaynom, his wife, for divers good causes ami considerations us thereunto moving ; and more especially for and in consideration of the sum of fifteen pounds, current money of New England to us in hand paid by Joshua Lamb, Nathaniel Page, Andrew Gardner, Benjamin Gamblin, Benjamin Tucker, John Curtice, Richard Draper and Samuel Ruggles, with Half Bradhurst, of Ruxbury, in the county of Suffolk, in New England, the receipt of which we do fully acknowledge ourselves to be fully satisfied and eight miles square, situate, lying and being near Worcester aforesaid, abutting southerly, on the lands of Joseph Dudley, Esq., lately purchased of the Indians ; and westerly, the most southernmost corner of a little pond called I'aupakquamcock, then to a bill called Wakapukotownow, and from thence to a little hill called Mossonachud, and unto a great hill, called Aspomsok ; and so then easterly, upon a line, until it comes against Worcester bounds, and joins unto their bounds ; or howsoever otherwise abutted and bounded, &c.

In witness whereof, the said Philip Tray and Momokhue, and John Wampscou, Waiwaynow, being their wives, have hereunto set their hands and seals, this twenty-seventh day of January, anno Domini^ one thousand six hundred and eighty-six.

Phillip Tuay X his mark. [Seal.] Momokhue Tr-kt X her mark. [Seal ] John Wamscon. [Seal.] Waiwaynow Wamscon X her mark. [Seal.] Wandwoasiag, X the deacon, his mark. [Seal.] Jonas, his X wife's mark. [Seal.]

The deed was acknowledged before William Stoughton, " one of his Majesty's Council, of his territory and dominions of New England," June 1, 1087.

Leicester

tors was increased to twenty-two. They were men of wealth and influence, and some of them were owners of large tracts of laud in other towns of Central Massachusetts. None of them ever settled in Leicester. The purchase was a pecuniary investment, but was also designed to encourage the speedy settlement of the province.

The speculative venture was, however, for a long time unremunerative, and Towtaid remained for almost twenty seven years an unbroken wilderness. The period was unpropitious for interior setilement, and it was well that none was undertaken. Leicester was thus saved from perils and horrors to which other towns were subjected, while her primeval forests waited in silence for more peaceful occupation. Under the influence of the Christian religion, the Nipmuck Indians had become a peaceable and friendly people ; but upon the outbreak of King Phillip's War, they became divided and broken. That wily and powerful chief came among them, and by persuasions and threats, and by the lorce of his fiery eloquence, won a portion of them to his cause. Many of them remained true to their English neighbors ; but others followed their great leader. Their savage instincts were reawakened, they took the warpath, and brought disaster and ruin to the scattered settlements. In this, and the successive French and Indian Wars, all the earlier settlements of Central Massachusetts were broken up. Worcester was twice attacked, and the colonisls killed or driven out. Lancaster was burned, and its people massacred. Brookfield suffered the same fate; and the interesting colony of Huguenots in Oxford, were attacked, and forced to abandon their homes, their vineyards, their church and the burial-place of their dead.

There was little encouragement in circumstances so adverse to seek homes on the bleak hills of Leicester, in the heart of the Indian territory.

After the close of the French war in 1713, measures were taken to make the grant available. The original deed was recorded March Sth, 1713-14. The title bad been confirmed by the General Court, February 15th, with the usual conditions, that portions of the land should be reserved for the Gospel ministry, and for a school, and that within seven years fifty families should settle themselves, with reasonable provision for self-defence, on a part of the land. This was a virtual, and indeed is the only, act of incorporation of the town of Leicester.

The early English explorers found on Leicester hill a luxuriant growth of strawberries, and therefore gave the place the name of Strawberry Hill, which it had hitherto retained. It now received the name of Leicester, and was assigned to Middlesex County. It was on the 23d day of the same month that the number of proprietors was increased from nine to twenty-two. At this meeting the proprietors voted_ to offer one-half of the town to settlers, and chose a couimiltee, consisting of Colonel William

Dudley, Captain Joshua Lamb, Captain Thomas Howe and Captain Samuel Euggles, to determine which half should be opened for settlement, and which should be reserved for later and more advantageous sale. They decided to offer for occupation the eastern half. On the 14th day of Jlay the allotment was made ; and the next day the committee came to Leicester to locate the lots. In June the township was, by order of the General Court, surveyed by John Chandler, " to fix the bounds."

Fifty " house-lots," of from thirty to fifty acres each, were laid out, and sold for one shilling an acre, with " after rights " of one hundred acres for each ten acres of " house-lot." Thus the purchaser secured a farm of five hundred and fifty acres for fifty shillings. The lots were to be settled in three years or forfeited for the benefit of the public. One lot of forty acres was to be reserved for the ministry, one of one hundred acres for schools, and three lots of thirty acres each for mills.

Special grants were also made of seven and a half acres of "meadow," to each lot, for "feed." These meadows were evidently regarded as of special v.alue ; but the event has proved that the hilly ridges and slopes are more productive. The cedar swamps were left undivided.

The lots were numbered, and the purchasers drew for choice. The first choice was drawn by John Stebbins. He chose the lot on Strawberry Hill, on which the house of Kev. Samuel May now stands. Here the first house in town was probably built.

At a meeting of the proprietors, held July 23, 1722 a committee of the proprietors was appointed to convey deeds to those who had complied with the terms of purchase. The deed itself was not, however, executed till January 11, 1724, (O. S.), more than fortyseven years after the purchase of the town. It was recorded November 29, 1729.

These men and their families, and those who had already joined them, together with those who soon afterward united their fortunes witii the infant colony, were the founders of Leicester. Some of them were men of superior quality. To the hardships and toils of these pioneer families, to their intellectual and moral character and their Christian fortitude, the town is largely indebted for its prosperity and its worthy standing and honorable history.

The settlement of the place began soon after the allotment was made. In a few instances the purchasers engaged families to hold the lots for them, but others took direct possession.

According to early traditions, the first inhabitants found upon their arrival a solitary hermit, named Arthur Carey, living on the hill which from him was named Carey's Hill. Whitney, in his County History, states that he " went thither and digged a cave in the side of this hill, and lived there as a hermit many years, while that part of the country was in its wilderness state." What were his feelings wlien his solitude was disturbed by the approach of civilization no one now can tell, nor what had been the romance or the tragedy of his life, nor why he had retired from the world and buried himself in the lonely forest.

Leicester was then an unbroken wilderness. Worcester was just beginning, for the third time, to be resettled. There was no settlement of whites, except Brookfield, between Leicester and the Connecticut River. Bears and wolves and wild-cats and moose and other wild beasts roamed undisturbed in the forests, and the place was infested with serpents. The dams and curious homes of the beaver were long afterward visible in the meadows. There were, as late as 1740, pits for the capture of wolves ; and the names "Moose Hill," "Raccoon Hill" and "Rattlesnake Hill" are suggestive of realities familiar to the early inhabitants, while " Bald Hill " stood peculiar as a tract of land which had been already cleared.

The first town-meeting of which there is any record was on March 6, 1721-22, although meetings had evidently been held for two or three years previously. A meeting-house had already been built. Judge John Menzes^had served the town in the General Court the year before, and was re-elected the two succeeding years. He declined any remuneration for bis services, "being fully satisfied and paid." The precedent thus established was so popular that when, in 1724, a successor was to be elected, it was voted that whoever should be chosen "should be paid the same as Judge Menzes and no other." Lieutenant Thomas Newhall was then elected "to serve on the above conditions."

At the first recorded town-meeting Samuel Green was chosen moderator, first selectman, first assessor and grand juror. The town offices then were the same as those now filled at town-meeting. Two tithingmen were also elected to keep order in the meetinghouse.

At first the families were sheltered in rude loghouses. The first impression which one of these houses made upon the mind of a little child is indicative of their outward aspect. Daniel Henshaw came to Leicester about thirty-four years after its first settlement to take possession of a house already built for the family. The household goods had been moved from Boston on an ox-cart. As the family approached the house, by the narrow cart-path, the little daughter exclaimed "Oh, father, this is Leicester jail, isn't it? " In this household was a dog, named Hero, which came with the family from Boston. There was then no regular means of communication with the outside world, and Hero was for several years the mail-carrier of the family. Receiving verbal instructions as to his destination, he hastened at a rapid pace to Boston, with letters fastened to his neck, delivered them as directed, and after rest and refreshment returned with letters to the home friends.

In February and March of 1717, when there were only a few families here, and these were provided with hardly more than temporary shelters, the whole of New England was visited with a series of snow storms of almost unparalleled severity. For several weeks no mails could reach Boston, and when they came they were brought by men on snow-shoes. The low houses were covered so that in some cases the chimneys could not be seen. Families for days were prisoners in their own houses, and first made their exit from the atlic windows. Many domestic animals perished, and some were said to have been rescued alive week.s afterward. After the storm ceased, cattle could be seen walking over drifts twelve feet deep, and feeding upon twigs on the tops of trees. Such was the welcome of these hills to the men and women who settled Leicester.

It was not far from this time that Dr. Thomas Green, then a boy of eighteen years, was left alone, in the summer, in charge of his father's cattle. Attacked with a fever, he sheltered himself under a shelving rock, by the stream on which his father's mill afterward stood. Here, alone in the wilderness, his shrewdness saved him. He tied one of the calves within reach, and as the cow came to it, nourished himself with her milk. In this distressing condition he remained till found by passing land-owners, in the vicinity. They hastened on to inform his friends. His father at once came and removed him back to Maiden, on horseback - a four days' journey.

The progress of the settlement for many years was slow. Its location was isolated, and the people, on their scattered farms, must have been lonely in the extreme. Expected and unexpected difficulties opposed their prosperity. The soil was hard and cold, although in many parts rich and strong. They cut down the forests and cleared the fields, they were busy "breaking stubble," "ditching meddows," "splitting ye hills," and making roads. They struggled with rocks, and winds, and snow, and sufl'ered from cold, the degrees of which there were no thermometers to mark. Portions of the town were infested with rattlesnakes, and as now there were various enemies to vegetation. A bounty of "Six Pence pr. hed"wa3 voted by the town " for killing Battel Snakes/' In one year, nearly a quarter of a century after the incor- poration of the town, Benjamin Richardson received eleven shillings as a bounty for killing twenty-eight rattlesnakes ; and in 1740 the town paid in bounties forty-one pounds and three pence "for killing rattlesnakes, jays, red and gray squirrels, red-headed woodpeckers, and black birds," and even then there were " pits '' for the capture of wolves.

The life of the town in the last century was primitive and rural. The cattle ran at large, and the office of " hog rieVe " was no sinecure. In the town records are voluminous minutes of the special marks which each person adopted to distinguish his own cattle; and of the horses, cows, hogs, " hiffers," " steares," etc., which had " strayed " and were " taken up in damiag." The question annually came up whether " horses might go at large, being fettered and clogged as the law directs," and whether "hoggs" .should "go at large, yoked and ringed as the law directs."

Even the best of the houses were devoid of architectural attractions, and of the conveniences and comforts which we regard essential. They are described as "small, low one-story buildings,"' with a "front room and kitchen," and in some cases an added bedroom. The hinges of the doors were of wood ; there were no handles; and the wooden latch was raised by a " latch string " passing through a hole to the outside. The fire in the immense fire-places served to scorch one side, while the other was freezing. The hard necessities of frontier aftbrded little opportunity for adornment.

The people generally rode on horseback, the women often seated behind the men on pillions. In 1790 a lady, attended by her husband, rode from Leicester to Vermont on horseback, holding a child two years old in her arms. In 1733 there were four chairs in town. Daniel Henshaw's family came to Leicester in a chaise in 1748. In his account-book that year and onwarrl there are charges for the use of a "chair." The rate from Leicester to Boston or Maiden was three pounds. There was not a "buggy wagon " in town till 1810. Books were rare. Thomas Earle was repairing watches in 1768 and later. In Daniel Henshaw's account-book is a memorandum of his verbal agreement to "take care," for a year " of his watch when wanted, for one cord of wood.'' Watches, clocks and looking-glasses, however, were evidently rare. The hour-glass measured the hours, and " dinner-time " was indicated by the shadow at the " noon-mark " on the window-sill.

In 1722 the town voted that if Joseph Parsons would build a "corn-mill it should not be taxed." The mi 11 was soon afterward erected at the outlet of " Town Meadow," where Sargent's brick factory now stands. The first saw-mill was built by Captain Samuel Green, at Greenville. He also, in 1724, built a grist-mill on the same stream, where Draper's grist-mill now stands. The " Mill lot " of Thomas Richardson also came, probably, into his possession, so that he became the owner of the original mill lots. The second saw-mill was

There was plenty of land, and land which had been secured at low rates. But, although the first distribution was on equitable terms, the equality of ownership did not long continue, and it came to pass, in the buying and selling of " rights," that some of the farms contained from twelve to fifteen hundred acres.

Even that early period of labor and struggle was not exempt from class distinctions and jealousies. .Some of the families that came early to Leicester were in those days regarded as rich. Some were well-educated and refined. Ooming'thus from Boston, w-hich had been settled a hundred years, their style of dress and their manners were doubtless somewhat in contrast with those of some of their neighbors. Soon after the family to which reference has already been made came to town, the congregation, one Sunday, was startled by the entrance of a man dressed in smallclothes, a green calamanco coat and gold-laced hat, and with a cavalry sword hanging at his side, which thumped against the floor as he strode to his seat. When asked, at the close of the service, the occasion of this remarkable display, he said, " It is to let the Henshaws know that there is a God in Israel."

In 1722, when there were hardly fifty families on the scattered farms in the wilderness, the Indians of Maine and Canada resumed hostilities. This war is called " Lovell's War," from its most tragic incident, " Lovell's fight," in which Colonel Lovell routed the savages, but lost his own life on the shore of the beautiful lake in Fryeburg, Maine, which bears his name.

There were no general engagements in this region, but the frontier towns were harassed and kept in fear four years by roving bands of Indians, who lurked in the woods waiting to shoot down or capture their unsuspecting victims. The tidings that Worcester was threatened, and that three men had been shot and scalped in Rutland, naturally alarmed the people of Leicester. Although there are no traditions of similar attacks here, the marks of bullets in the fortified King house remained for a century afterward. In a letter to Lieutenant-Governor Dummer, Thomas Newhall gives information that " a man reaping here, informs us an Indian had got within seven rods of him, and, looking up, he had a certain discovery of him ; and stepping a few rods for his gun, he saw him no more, but hastened home."

Draper, also, in his " History of Spencer," informs us that " the earlier settlers of the town were frequently alarmed and disturbed by small parties or individual Indians prowling about the n'eighborhood, or through the town." Indians were also said to have been seen

In 1722 two Worcester men were sent to Leicester as scouts. In the correspondence of those years there are affecting references to the sad, anxious and defenceless condition of the people. In an appeal for help from Worcester, in 1724, to Colonel John Chandler, of Woodstock, who had command of the defensive forces in this vicinity, there is this significant reference to Leicester : " As to Leicester, the people there more need helj) from us than are able to render us any." Colonel Chandler himself, in a letter to Lieutenant-Governor Dummer, seconding the request for protection, expresses his regret, in view of the disappointment of " the poor people of Worcester, Leicester," etc., in not receiving it, and pleads for " consideration of the distressed circumstances of the poor people of these towns." Soon after, twentynine soldiers were posted in Leicester.

The next April the Lieutenant-Governor gave Colonel Chandler notice of the apjiroach of several parties of Indians from Canada, and ordered him to visit and warn the towns. The whole region was soon thrown into consternation by tidings that two companies of Indians were between them and "the Warchusetts," and the citizens of Leicester applied to the Lieutenant-Governor for speedy assistance of soldiers to defend them. " Our number of inhabitants," they write, " is very small, and several were much discouraged ; it was so late last summer before we had soldiers that we were exceedingly behind with our business." That year the town was, by the General Court, released from the payment of the "Province tax" of seven pounds, on account, as the people in their petition say, " of being a frontier," and " being very much exposed and reduced to very low circumstances by the late Indian war."

The house of the minister was, at the first, surrounded by a "garrison" or stockade, and in 1726 this defense was, by vote of the town, repaired and strengthened. There was also a garrison on the place of Judge Menzes, the outlines of which, near the Henshaw place, remained till the middle of the present century. A hou.se at Mannville was also fortified. The house of John King, between Leicester and Greenville, was made a fort. This house still stands, a solitary relic of those early times.

After its early trials and struggles, the town seems to have prospered generally as a farming community. Some of the early inhabitants were men of means, as well as of culture and standing, and other valuable families came into town. The farms greatly increased in value, and, with the building of better houses, the removal of the forests and the laying out and improvement ©f roads, the prosperity and comfort of the people were increased. Still, the growth of the place vi'as slow, and there were repeated periods of great trial and depression. After forty years, there were less than one hundred families in the Eastern Precinct. At the time of the Declaration of Independence the population was ten hundred and seventyeight. There was no increase during the war. At the opening of the present century the number was eleven hundred and three.

During a considerable portion of the last century the town, like other communities, suffered from the depreciation of the currency, and losses I'rom State loans and private banking enterprises. These difficulties confronted the settlers almost at the first, and were increased by the heavy demands made necessary by successive wars; in the time of the Revolution paper-money depreciated so rapidly that it became necessary to rate its value every few weeks. It finally became worthless.

Even in these circumstances money was counterfeited, and in 1747 we find the town voting Mr. William Green the sum of " 2 pounds towards the counterfeit bill he took as town treasurer."

The danger oi' small-pox at times called for town action. The question of establishing an inoculating hospital was evidently a subject of controversy. It was finally disposed of in 1777 (after being repeatedly deferred) by a vote "that the physician provide a hospital at his own cost, subject to the selectmen." September 17, 1792, the town "voted to have smallpox in town by inoculation."

At the March meeting in 1771 the town voted " that a list presented by the selectmen of the names of those persons who have come into town, and the place where they came from since June 1, 1767, be put on the town records, in order that posterity may know when and from whence they came, and that the selectmen be directed to present such a list at the town-meeting in March for the future." Such a list was presented every year; notices were recorded of persons who came to town until the year 1780 ; and as late as 179.S certificates were x'ecorded of persons taken into houses and families.

On the afternoon of July 10, 1759, the town was visited by a remarkable cyclone. Two numbers of the Boston Post of that time are largely devoted to the details. It struck the tavern-house of Mr. Samuel Lynde, the last on the road to Spencer, passing from southwest to northeast. The house was lifted a considerable distance from its foundations, " and in the space of two minutes tore all to pieces." Several persons in the house were severely injured. " A little girl, being also at the Door, was carritd by the Force of the Wind upwards of 40 rods, and had an arm broke." Four women were afterwards found in the cellar, "but could give no account how they got there." Articles from the house were found in Holden, ten miles distant, and " a watch was taken up above a mile from where the house stood." The barn and farm buildings were " torn to pieces," and a horse was killed. Trees were torn up by the roots, and fences broken down. A negro " standing at the door of that House was carried near 10 Rods Distance in the Air," and was so mucli injured that he died ; and "a Pile of Boards ('tis said 7,000 Feet), being near the house, was shivered to Splinters, and carried to a great Distance, so that there was not Pieces large enough to make a Coffin to bury the Negro in."

It is said that purchasers who drew lots on the Connecticut Road, near what is now the line between Leicester and Spencer, expected, as was natural, that this would be the centre of the town, with all the advantages of such a position. But favorable as that locality might have been as the site of a village, the basis of separation between the two parts was laid at the beginning, when the eastern half was selected for prior occupation. After disposing of the eastern portion, the proprietors divided the western hall among themselves, and the farms began slowly to be taken up. Befoie 1725 there were only three families in this part of the town. The two sections were so far apart, and the circumstances of their early settlement were so unlike that their interests were never identical. There were differences with reference to laying out roads and the adjustment of appropriations ; and the western portion was not satisfied to be without a minister, and desired to have the money raised by them for the ministry used for a minister in their jiarc of the town. They also wished to be exempted from taxation for the schools, the advantage of which they did not enjoy. In 1741 the inhabitants petitioned to be " set off" as a town. The General Court readily passed an act of incorporation, but it was vetoed by (.Tovernor Shirley.

In 1744, July 18lh, they were incor|)orated as a parish, and called ''The Westerly Parish of Leicester." Five years later both precincts petitioned the General Court "to erect the west pait of Leicester into a distinct ami separate town." A bill of incorporation was passed, but it was vetoed by Lieutenant- Governor Phipps, on the ground that it would increase the number of representatives to the General Court. The House protested against the arbitrary action of the royal executive, but without effect. In April, 1753, the precinct was made a district, with all the prerogatives of a town except that of sending a representative to the General Assembly. The bill was signed iiy Lieutenant-Governor Spencer Phipps, April 12, 1753, and his honor condescended to have the town called after his own first name. In 1775, upon the outbreak of the Revolutionary War, the town assumed its right to send a representative to the Assembly, and in 1780 the right was made constitutional.

Upon the incorporation of Paxton, February, 1765, a strip of land two miles in width was set off to that town ; and when Ward (now Auburn) was incorporated, April 10, 1778, the town parted with a small tract of land.

Chapter Lxxxviii

Lficester in the French Wftra - Louisbowg - Ma&uicre of Fort H'tWian* Henry - Quehec - Oitonel William Henslmw - Revolutionary War - Leading Patriots - Town Meetinffs - "Instructions" - Committte of Correspon' dence - " Minnte-men " proposed - Tea - Courts - Provincial Congress - Ammunition Stored - lotb of April - Colonel William Kenshaw^s Orderly Books - Bunker Hili - Peter Salem - Prorincial Congress - Suspected Per- Sfins - War Expenses - Soldiers - Leicester Men in the Service.

French War. - The history of the connection of Leicester with the wars of the last century shows how true it is that the life of a little settlement in the interior is identified in all its interests with the great movements of society and of nations. The people of Leicester had a somewhat prominent part in shaping, as well as in determining, some of the great issues which distinguished the last century. The convulsions of the old world, and the conflicts between the old world and the new, were felt on the hills of Leicester. While the jieople of the town were occupied with their arduous labors, and were struggling with the difficulties of a new country and of frontier life, they also accepted their full share of the service, and the burden of these exhausting wars in which the energies of the province were so largely engaged during the middle portion of the century.

The colonies loyally and heartily supported the mother country in the French wars from 1744 to 1763, and accepted with enthusiasm the hardships and sufferings of the several campaigns. They saw the perils to which their own settlements were exposed by the alliance of the French with the Indians, and comprehended, to some extent, the magnitude and importance of the great struggle between England and France for supremacy in America. "Our people," wrote Benjamin Henshaw, of Connecticut, " are prodigiously spirited to help in the work."

In the several ex|)editions and engagements of the war of 1744 many Leicester men took part. The earlier enlistment rolls are not to be round, and therefore the names of most of these men are unknown.

In 1745 the Legislature of Massachusetts planned an expedition for the reduction of the fortress at Louisbourg, on the island of Cape Breton. There are no means of knowing to what extent Leicester responded to this call. Captain John Brown commanded a company in the expedition, and was present at the surrender of the place. James Smith died in the expedition. Other Leicester men shared in the terrible hardships of the six weeks' investment of the fortress. The next year a French fleet was sent to recover the place, and to ravage the coast of New England. The approach of this fleet caused great alarm, and an attack on Boston was expected. In September Captain Nathaniel Green, " in his Majesty's service in Leicester," received and executed an order from Colonel Jolia Chandler for an immediate draft of twenty-five men, with ammunition and provision for fourteen days, to march for the defence of Boston. The fleet, however, was scattered by a storm, a pestilential fever broke out among the men, the whole expedition was given up, and the two admirals, in their chagrin, took their own lives. In the winter of 1747 and 1748 men were sent to Colraine, and to Fort Massachusetts, in Williamstown, for the protection of that region against Indian attacks ; and others enlisted in the " Canada expedition."

In the French and Indian War, which broke out in 1754, still larger demands were made upon the town for soldiers. Leicester was represented by its soldiers, in the earlier campaigns of this war, under General Winslow, and at Crown Point. In 1756 fifteen men enlisted in the expedition against Crown Point. They were in the company of Captain John Stebbins, son of the early settler by that name, but then a resident of Spencer. In that year twenty men from Leicester joined the army, only two ol whom were conscrijjts.

Thomas Newhall had command of a company of cavalry. Nathan Parsons, a native of Leicester, and son of the first minister, was present at the surrender and the " Massacre of Fort William Henry," as was also Knight Sprague, then a boy of 16 years. Governor Washburn, in his history, gives in detail Mr. Sprague's reminiscences of that terrible scene in whinh men and women were the victims of the wild and drunken fury of the savag&s. " Sprague escaped after being partially stripped, and made bis way to Fort Edward. On the way he passed his captain, who had been entirely stripped and many women were in no better condition. The yells of the savages, the groans of the wounded and dying, the shrieks of the affrighted women and frantic soldiers, and the dead who lay scattered around them, made it a scene of unsurpassed horror. Fifteen of his own company of fifty were killed soon after leaving the fort."

In the final struggle of that war, in which Quebec was taken by (leneral Wolfe, and Canada was wrested from the French, a large number of Leicester men participated. The names of twenty-three are given in Washburn's History. Dr. Thomas Steele, of Leicester, was surgeon's mate in the same campaign and there were probably other Leicester men. It was at this time that Colonel William Henshaw began his distinguished military career. He received a commission as second lieutenant March 31, 1759, in Colonel Timothy Rugglcs' regiment, in the company of Captain Jeduthan Baldwin, and served from May 10th to November 28lh, in two campaigns.

He kept a diary of the daily experiences of these months, which is now in the possession of his granddaughter, Miss Harriet E. Henshaw, of Leicester. Marching orders were received on the 9th of May. " The Carriages to be loaded by Day Break to Morrow Morning, and all the Troops that have passed Muster to gett themselves ready to march to Morrow Morning by Sunri,se." The troops were conveyed on horseback and in carriages. It was a journey of fourteen days through the forest and over " the mountains." They passed through the " Land of Contention," the disputed territory between the States, and, at length reached Albany, where they " drawed Tents and Provisions, and encamped on the Hill 100 rods from Albany City." They were stationed most of the time at Fort Edward and Crown Point.

"In the month of .Tune," Lieutenant Henshaw writes, " I was taken from the Provincials and did duty in one of the British regiments under General Amherst, which afforded me opporttmity of becoming acquainted with discipline." The severity and inhuman cruelty of the British "discipline" are evinced by such entries as the following: "Sentenced 200 lashes each ; " " Two R. I. men whipped, One 1000 lashes, the other 500 lashes.'' While he was at Fort Edward, news was received of the taking of Ticonderoga, upon which the " other prisoners were pardoned." Here, also, the news of the taking of Quebec was received.

The Revolutionary Wak. - In the preliminary stages of the Revolutionary struggle the town of Leicester acted a prominent and distinguished part. There were men here of unusual ability. Some of them were well educated, and many were trained for military service in the French wars. Several of the leading families were intimately associated with the Revolutionary leaders in Boston. Hon. Joseph Allen was a nephew of Samuel Adams. Adams, Warren, Otis and Hancock often met at the house of Joshua Henshaw, in Boston, before his removal to Leicester, to discuss and mature their plans. Other leading citizens were in the confidence of the Revolutionary leaders.

There was then no mail service, but early and confidential information was received by couriers on horseback, respecting the movements of the English and the plans of the patriots.

The records of the town show what a power the town-meeting was, in which, as the revenue commissioners of Boston complained, " the lowest me-/ chanics discussed the most important points of government with the utmost freedom," and with what effect it unified and voiced the spirit of the people.

During all the years of British aggression, of the war, and the period which followed, in which the! state and the federation were taking form, they came together in these meetings, in " the first meetinghouse," and deliberated upon the great questions of principle and policy involved in the Declaration of Independence and the organization of government on the basis of personal liberty. From these townmeetings there issued manifestoes really statesmanlike in their grasp and expression.

The whole original township acted together until 1775. The people were truly loyal to the King until they saw that war was inevitable. Some of them, the Dennys, the Stebhingses, the tSouthgates and others, came directly from England to Leicester. The town had heartily responded in former wars to every call of the mother country. They approved the " Protestant succession" and were ready to hazard " their" lives in defence of "the person, crown and dignity" of the King; but they were equally ready to maintain their own rights and to resist every encroachment upon their own liberties at whatever cost.

Nearly ten years before the war began, the town, with the districts of Spencer and Paxton, adopted the practice of giving formal instruction.s to their Representatives to the General Assembly, and, from time to time, of passing resolutions representing their opinions upon public aft'airs.

In October, 1765, having elected Capt. John Brown Representative, they proceeded to give him formal instructions in "this critical juncture." The Stamp Act had been passed and was soon to be enforced, and Courts of Admiralty had been ordereil for the trial of otfenders without jury. The excitement occasioned by these acts had been so great that a mob had, in August, burnt the house of Lieut.-Gov. Hutchinson. With these facts fresh in mind, the town and districts gave extended and specific instructions to tlieir Representative, in whose "ability and integrity" they confided. They declared their ''inexpressible grief and concern" in view of the " repeated taxes," and especially the "Stamp Act," which tliey "had no voice in Parliament in making;" and expressed their alarm at the " unparalleled stretch given to admiralty jurisdiction," " by which every man is liable to be carried a thousand miles before a Court of Admiralty," "tried without jury," "amerced," "'taxed with costs," and, if unable to pay, " to die in pri,5on in an unknown land, without friends to bury him." They also expressed their disapproval of all "tumultuous ravages," and especially that " wherein our Lieut.-Gov. suffered," and their surprise that he should "charge the outrage to the province, thus representing them as an ungrateful and disloyal people."

In the summer of 1768 the colonies were aroused by new acts of oppression. The General Assembly of Massachusetts was dissolved by the Governor, and not allowed to meet again while it refused to withdraw an appeal to the other colonies. A sloop-of-war was anchored in Boston harbor, and troops were ordered to Boston to subdue the rebellious spirit of the people. In consequence of these proceedings the citizens of Boston called a conference of towns. Ninety-six towns responded. The call was issued September 14th, and five days afterward we find the citizens of Leicester in "the first meeting-house," called together hastily, and without due notice, to act upon the proposition. The proceedings of this meeting were legalized at the next March meeting, and thus recorded. Capt. John Brown was chosen delegate to the conference, " without any authority," and, in resolutions which breathe the spirit of fervent loyalty to the King and devotion to the English Constitution and the Magna Charta, and which yet declare the "dissolution of the 'General Court' a real grievance," instructed "to give his advice and use his influence that all rash measures be prevented, and every mild one adopted that may be consistent with Englishmen claiming their rights." The hour of rebellion had not yet come, but it was rapidly approaching.

In January, 1770, a meeting was called to "see if the town will come to any note or vote about the purchasing of goods of those that import from Great Britan, contrary to the agreement of the principal merchants in Boston and most others on the continent." A vote of thanks was jiassed to those merchants who were thus '.sacrificing their own interest for the good of their country." The call for this meeting was prepared by William Henshaw, and was signed by twenty-eight persons. They asked the town to vote that those who should offend by purchasing the prescribed goods " shall be deemed enemies to America, and as such shall be recorded in the town's book of records," and the town appears to liave adopted the [)roposal.

In May following, a military company of forty-six men was formed for drill. The ne.xt year the town bought one hundred pounds of |)owder, also bullets and flints.

In 1772 Committees of Correspondence were organized under the leadership of Samuel Adams. They proved to be one of the most efl'ective agencies in advancing the Revolutionary cause. Two years later, Daniel Leonard, the Tory writer, pronounced them " the foulest, subtlest and most venemous serpent ever hatched from the egg of sedition. It is the source of the rebellion. I saw the small seed when it was planted; it was a grain of mustard. I have watched the plant till it has become a great tree.'' They were at first voluntary bodies, but were afterward recognized by the Legislature. The date and manner of the appointment of the committee in Leicester are not known. It was in existence and in correspondence with the Boston committee in January of 1773, within less than four months after the introduction of the system. Later the committee was chosen annually by the town.

Of the first committee William Henshaw was the chairman and Thomas Denny, Joseph Henshaw, Rev. Benjamin Conklin, Hezekiah Ward and Thomas Newhall were members, together with William Green, Samuel Green and Joseph Sargent, who were added the same year.

A convention of the Committees of Safety in the county assembled in Worcester in August, 1774. The meeting was opened with prayer by Rev. Mr. Conklin, of Leicester, and William Henshaw was made clerk.

Joseph Henshaw and Thomas Denny were also prominent members. The Leicester and Worcester committees were appointed a committee for the county, to conduct correspondence, and call a county congressional convention. The convention was continued by adjournment till May 31, 1775.

It was in accordance with the recommendation of Col. William Henshaw in the convention, and upon his motion, that the famed companies of "Minute- Men" were organized, who in the emergency proved, as he in his motion expressed it, "ready to act at a minute's warning." He also presented the resolution in response to which six thousand men came to Worcester, armed and officered, and prevented the assembling of the Inferior Court. At this time .Judge Steele, of Leicester, was compelled, with other justices, to sign an assurance that the court would stay proceedings. He was also forced to make a written apology for a letter of congratulation which he, with other justices, had sent to Gov. Gage upon his assumption of command at Boston.

Early in the year 1773 the town and districts again met to instruct their representative, Mr. Thomas Denny, and to pass resolutions. The meeting was " full," and continued till a late hour. "The votes were unanimous." These resolutions and instructions contain a brief but comprehensive statement of the wrongs, and a declaration of the rights of the province. They were still loyal to the crown, but they resolve, " We have a right to all the liberties and privileges of subjects born within the realm of England; and we esteem and prize them so highly, that we think it our duty to risk our lives and fortunes in defence thereof.'' Mr. Denny was re-elected in May, and again instructed.

The patriots of Boston were greatly encouraged by the response of the towns of the interior. Two weeks after the instructions had been given to Mr. Denny, the Boston Committee of Correspondence wrote to the committee in Leicester, acknowledging the receipt of a copy of the proceedings, and added, " We think it must supprize our Oppressors to read your very ingenious and sensible Resolves, and your Instructions to your worthy Representative."

To this letter the committee replied .at length, through Colonel Heushaw : " We have paid, and are still willing to pay due obedience to laws, - made by our own consent, - and lawful authority ; but he who tamely submits to 'the tyrannical Edictsof the British Piirliament and Ministry,' is unworthy even of the name of ' an American.' "

In November, 1773, four days before the arrival in Boston of the vessels loaded with tea, the Boston committee, in a long letter on "that worst of plagues, the detested tea," wrote to know the sense the "towns have of the present gloomy situation of our public affairs." To this the Leicester committee replied in no doubtful terms, expressing obligation to the committee in Boston for their " vigilance," and for their " late proceedings and manly resolutions in regard to the detestable tea sent here by the West India Company," "and as you have reque-ited our advice, we shall, as a committee, freely give it: and that is to go on as you have begun, and on no account suffer it to be landed, or pay one farthing of duty." This was two days before the tea was thrown overboard. Joshua Henshaw is understood to have been one of the " tea party."

On December 27 the town and districts responded. They were loyal still to the crown, and ready to hazard their lives in its defence, but they asserted their provincial rights of property and person, denounced the Stamp Act as " a usurpation of authority to which no power on earth is entitled, and contrary to the fundamental principles of our happy Constitution ;" and promised to oppose, " at the hazard of their lives and fortunes," any impositions unconstitutionally laid upon imported articles.

They also resolved "That we will not use any tea in our families or suffer any to be consumed therein while loaded with a tribute contrary to our consent, and that whoever shall sell any of that destructive herb shall be deemed by us inimical to the rights of his country as endeavoring to counteract the designs of those who are zealous for its true interests." They enforced these proceedings by choosing a committee of fourteen to " inspect any teas sold or used in the towns and districts and report the names of offenders at the annual meeting."

.The objection of the ])eople to " tb.at destructive herb" was not to the tea nor to the tax, but to its imposition by a government in which they had no representation, and in 1781 we find the town voting to license persons "to sell Bohea tea and other Indian teas, according to the law of 1781," imposing " excise duties.''

One of the acts of the crown which awakened special alarm, and against which the people indignantly protested, was that which provided that the judges of the Superior Court should be paid out of the royal treasury. Chief Justice Oliver was the only judge who accepted this provision, and the House of Representatives took prompt measures for his impeachment. Upon the meeting of the court in Worcester in April, 1774, the grand jurors, instead of coming forward to be sworn, presented a written protest, refusing to serve if Justice Oliver was to sit with the court. This protest was drawn up by Col. Wm. Henshaw. "By his own confession," it declares, " he stands convicted, in the minds of the people, of a crime more heinous, in all probability, than any that might come before him." The chief justice, however, was not present, and the business ' of the court proceeded without interruption. In a subsequent letter to the court, a draft of which, as well as the original protest, is in the possession of his ' granddaughter, Col. Henshaw, after explanations and the expression of satisfaction at the course of the judges, makes complaint of what he styles "a great hardship," and at that early day recommends the course which now universally prevails in the courts. The complaint was of " having a foreman imposed upon jurys by the Court, which we think ought to be chosen by the Jurors." The reason given i.s that "the Jurors who live in the vicinity are better acquainted with the abilities of their neighbors than the judges can be." " We hope," he writes, " that this error in appointing a Foreman will be soon rectified, & the power vested in the Jurys to choose their own foreman by a fair Vote, which we think would be of vast utility to the Public and for the facilitating business & saving expense to the County."

The year 1774 was one of agitation and preparation. Repeated acts of oppression were effectually e.xhausting the loyalty of the people to the mother country, and the spirit of resistance was growing more determined. Eighteen town-meetings were held this year, and repeated instructions and resolutions were voted, some of which rank with the ablest and most eloquent manifestoes of that period. They cover the wliole range of questions involved in the struggle, and counsel the most determined resistance. In May they protested again-st the Port Bill. In July resolutions, prepared by a committee, were adopted, which clearly, comprehensively and eloquently discuss the issues of the hour, and declare the duty of citizens loyal, at the same time, to the Province and to the rightful authority of the Crown. It is a dignified and determined declaration of rights, by the town of Leicester and the districts of Spencer and Paxton assembled, "not tumultuously, riotously or seditiously, but soberly and seriously, as men, as citizens and as Christians, to take into our consideration the present distressed state of our affairs." They pledged themselves not to purchase goods imported from England, and to have no dealings with those who import such goods while the duty on tea is continued, unless " other measures of redress be recommended by General Congress." They also urge the people to " associate together, and discourse and inform themselves of their rights and privileges as men, as members of society and the English Constitution."

In September Thomas Denny was chosen Representative to the Great and General Court, which, driven from Boston, met the next month in Salem, and instructed to be sworn only by an officer appointed under the charter, and to refuse to be sworn by the Lieutenant-Governor. The Legislature was prorogued by the Governor, and immediately resolved itself into a Provincial Convention or Congress.

Mr. Denny was delegated to represent the town in this " convention " at its meeting the next month in Concord, - -" An assembly," as they suggest in their instructions, " in which at this dark and difficult day, perhaps the most important business will come before you that was ever transacted since the settlement of North America." " Everything now conspires to prompt the full exertion of true policy, valor and intrepidity." The instructions are under ten "particulars." They urge, since " charters have become bubbles," resistance to all compromise, and " compliance with the advice of the Continental Congress." They urge an " endeavor to have the militia of the Province put on the most respectable footing, and that every town be supplied with one or more field pieces, properly mounted and furnished with ammunition. A militia composed of the yeomanry and proprietors of the country is its surest defence : therefore we esteem it a matter of the last necessity that they be properly disciplined and taught the arts of war with all expedition, as we know not how soon we may be called to action."

They demand restitution for the removal of arms and ammunition from Boston and Cambridge, and for loss and damage resulting from the blockade of Boston. They urge the encouragement of arts and manufactures, by granting premiums and preventing importation, recommend intercolonial correspondence and the apprehension and trial of persons " inimical to their country."

Mr. Denny died soon after the assembling of the Congress, and Col. Joseph Henshaw was chosen his successor. He was briefly instructed to promote with all his influence "any plan for the common good, generally adopted by the Congress," and urge upon it "an immediate assumption of government." " Particular matters will no doubt turn up in the course of the session, which, as we, your constituants, are not now apprized of, so cannot particularly instruct." This was January 9, 1775.

The anticipated "matters" were not far in the future. When they did "turn uj)" they found the people in this hot-bed of treason ready to convert their resolutions into actions. The standing company of the town was under the command of Capt. Thomas Newhall and Lieutenants Benjamin Richardson and Ebenezer Upham. An "independent company of volunteers," formed in 1770, had been reorganized, with Seth Washburn as captain and William Watson and Nathaniel Harrod as lieutenants.

THe town had also made some provision for ammunition. The minute-men had met weekly for drill, under an officer of the regular army, whom they had hired.

In February the Committee of Safety and Supplies of the Provincial Congress decided to remove the powder stored at Concord to Leicester ; also eight field-pieces, shot, cartridges and two brass mortars, with bombs. The letter of Joseph Henshaw to his brother, whom he styles "Brother Billy," gives minute directions with reference to the storing of the six or seven hogsheads of powder in the barns of Colonel Henshaw, Major Denny, Captain Newhall and Captain Green. It was afterward decided to distribute these stores in nine towns, of which Leicester was one. In all the correspondence of these years the greatest secrecy was observed. The letters were often without signature, and often signed by fictitious names.

In March there were rumors of the movement of the British forces, and Colonel Henshaw and Joseph Allen walked to Worcester over the snow-drifts on " rackets " to ascertain their truth. It is said that at one time Mr. Allen had his knapsack and his trunk, with his wedding suit, packed, not knowing whether he should first be called to battle or to his marriage.

The scenes of the 19th of April, and indeed of the period which immediately followed, are graphically given by Governor Washburn in his history. Many of them were told him by the actors themselves, who have long been dead.

Early in the afternoon of the 19th of April an unknown horseman rode rapidly through the village, stopped long enough before the blacksmith's shop to say, "The war has begun ; the regulars are marching to Concord," and then hurried on to alarm the towns beyond. " I saw," wrote Col. Wm. Henshaw, " the express that came from the town of Lexington, informing that the enemy had killed several men in that town." The blacksmith, who was Captain Seth Washburn, dropped a ploughshare on which he was working, rushed into the road and discharged his musket. The members of the companies were called together from all parts of the town. At four o'clock every minute-man was on the common. They were uniformed, but they came with their Queen's arms, and with their powder-horns and shot-pouches. Members of their families and other friends were assembled to render assistance and to bid them God speed.''

Dr. Honeywood, an Englishman - the physican of the place - had never till that hour had confidence in the ability of the province to resist the power of Great Britain, but when he saw that little company of resolute, determined men, who had come at a moment's warning, some of them leaving their plows in the furrows, he said: "Such men as these will fight, and what is more they won't be beat."

The pastor of the church. Rev. Benjamin Conklin, himself a " high liberty man," was present, and before the company started, as the men leaned upon their muskets and all heads were uncovered, committed them, in prayer, to the guidance and protection of the God of battles. " Pray fi)r me and I will fight for you," said the captain to his venerable mother, and then gave the order, " Forward ! "

Within three hours after meeting on the Common, the company marched. They halted in front of the house of Nathan Sargent, in Cherry Valley, and Mr. Sargent, to supply the need of the company, melted down the leaden weights of the family clock, and distributed the bullets to the company.

There were forty-three men in the company. Captain Thomas N. Newhall, with the standing company of the town, consisting of thirty-four men, marched a little later. Companies from Spencer and other western towns followed. The march of the companies was rapid till they reached Marlborough, where they heard of the retreat of the British. Lights were burning in every window on the way through the night. Regimental officers in town were equally prompt in joining their commands.

A part of the company returned after a few weeks' service. Others enlisted under Captain Washburn for eight months. There were fifty-nine men in this company, most of them from I^eicester. The embargo of Boston and its occupation Ijy the regulars rendered it necessary to call upon the towns to contribute for the support of its poor. Thirty-six were apportioned to Leicester. In May Leicester was also required to furnish one barrel of powder and twelve muskets for the use. of the province.

Colonel William Henshaw, who reached Cambridge on the forenoon of the 20th, was a member of the council of war, and, with Colonel (Jridley and Richard Devans, reconnoitred the heights of Cambridge and Charlestown. The report of the committee is signed by Colonel Henshaw, as chairman. It recommended the fortification of Bunker Hill and the construction of redoubts between C'liarlestown and Cambridge. Colonel Prescott was detailed to execute this plan, but decided to fortify Breed's Hill, in stead of Bunker Hill. On the 27th of .lune Colonel Henshaw was commissioned adjutant-general of the Provincial army, under (ieneral W. Ward. Upon the arrival of Washington, he was, on the 3d of July, superseded by (ieneral Gates, adjutant of the American army. He was, however, persuaded to remain as assistant of General Gates. The Orderly Books, in four volumes, covering the period from April, 1775, to October, 1770, are in the possession of his granddaughter, Miss Harriet E. Henshaw, of Leicester, and are an invaluable treasure. The first volume was published by the Massachusetts Historical Society, as its centennial volume. It contains the roster of the regiments, the " Parole " and " Countersign " for each day, the " Officer of the day " and " Field-oflicer" and the general orders from April 20, 1775, to Septemlier 2i3th of the same year.

On the day of the battle of Bunker Hill, Captain Washburn's company, which formed a part of the regiment of General Artemas Ward, in command of Lieutenant-Colonel Jonathan Ward, marched from Cambridge, by way of Lechmere Point, and took position at the rail-fence, "gallantly covering the retreat.'' It was to them a thrilling hour. They saw the hurried movement of the troops, they heard the beat of drums, the roar of British artillery and " the cracking of musketry over in Charlestown." Just before marching. Captain Washburn addressed his company in words of counsel and encouragement and committed them to God in a fervent prayer. " Some of them often spoke," says Washburn in his history, " in their old age, of the unfaltering confidence with which, after this, they went through the experiences of the day." On their way to Charlestown Neck, they were met by a man on horseback, supposed to be Dr. Benjamin Church, afterward proved to be a traitor, who inquired of Lieutenant-Colonel Ward to what point he was marching. He answered, '' To tlie hill." "Have you not had counter-orders?" " I have not." " You will have soon," he said, and commanded the regiment to lialt. Most of the regiment therefore remained behind ; but Captain Washburn stepped forward and said, "Those are Tory orders ; I sha'n't obey them. Who will follow me ? " The entire company followed the captain, and two other companies with Ihem left the regiment and moved on toward the scene of action, exposed to the shot of the British fleet ; the captain gave any wlio might be afraid the privilege of going back. Not a man of that brave company left tlie ranks. "Then we'll all go together," said the captain; and the whole company started on " double quick " and ascended the hill. Charlestown was on fire and the enemy were advancing on the redoubt. A ball lodged in the cartouch-box of the capt.ain. The company for a time fought at the rail-fence, but were soon obliged to retreat. Several of the company were wounded and borne from the field under fire. One of the two strands of Daniel Hubbard's cue was cut otl' close to his head by a ball. Abner Livermore's canteen was shot away and rolled toward the enemy. His brother Isaac ran and secured it, saying, " I'll be darned if the regulars shall have that rum." Samuel Sargent lost the contents of his canteen, but saved the ball that pierced it. Four balls passed through the captain's coat and one through his wig. Israel Green, a native of Leicester, had three sons in the battle, one of whom was killed, the second died of wounds received, and a third was killed in the battle of Monmouth.

Among the soldiers in this battle was Peter Salem, a negro, and formerly a slave. He was a native of Framingbam, and in Colonel Nixon's regiment. It was the shot from his musket which killed Major Pitcairn, just as he mounted the redoubt and shouted, " The day is ours." After the war he came to Leicester, where he remained until, in his old age and poverty, be was taken to the poor-house in Framingham, where he died.

In July of this year the inhabitants of Leicester, having chosen Hezekiah Ward Representative to the Provincial Congress, instructed him with reference to his duties. " To this important now," they say, " posterity will look back with joy and admiration, secure in the enjoyment of their inestimable liberties, or with keenest sensations of grief, while they drag the galling chain of servitude." He was directed to comply with the orders of the Continental Congress, to oppose the accession to power of those who had proved inimical to their country, or had failed to give it their support, "waiting the tide of events;" to watch " with jealous yet candid eye the disposition and motions of the American army, always remembering the importance of preserving the superiority of the civil power over the military ;" to urge the execution of the laws against immorality and vice ; and to act for the interest of the cause in relation to other specific matters.

In May, 1776, instructions were given to Setli Washburn, as Representative to the General Court, urging the utmost deliberation and caution in the measures of the court for protection and organization. At the same meeting it was " Voted by the inhabitants then present, unanimously, That in case the Honorable the Continental Congress should declare these Colonies independent of Great Britain, they would support said Congress in effectuating such a measure at the risk of their lives and fortunes."

With this declaration this remarkable series of instructions and resolutions ends. They cover a period of nearly eleven years previous to the Declaration of Independence. There is hardly a question involved in the controversy with the mother country, or the policy of the colonies, which they do not discuss. In clearness and breadth of view, in forethought and wisdom, in felicity and eloquence of expression, and in fervent, self-sacrificing, courageous, invincible patriotism, they are hardly surpassed, even in the historic productions of that period. Bancroft, in bis history, quotes from them, as illustrative of the spirit of the time.

But the time for manifestoes had irow passed ; the time for action had come. Henceforth the work of the town, as its records also show, was enlisting soldiers, raising bounties, hiring soldiers, providing for the purchase of ammunition and entrenchirrg tools, and the pay for carting provisions, buying beef and clothing for the army, aiding companies that had done more than their share of service, authorizing the selectmen " to supply the necessities of life to soldiers," abating the poll-taxes of soldiers, caring for soldiers' wives, providing for families of officers and soldiers and fixing the prices of commodities. There was no authorized government and all difficulties were settled by arbitration.

The people were also careful to guai'd themselves against tr-eachery. Too many of the leaders of the Revolutionary movements were here to render the toleration of spies safe, and the people were too much in earnest to bear patiently the opposition of men "inimical" to the cause. In 1774 the selectmen, through Colonel Henshaw, had informed at least one suspected man that his " residedence " would be " peculiarly disgirstful to the Inhabitants." " And as wellwishers of the peace and order of the town, we think it advisable that you move from hence as soon as may be ; as the people, roused with the insults they have already sustained, will, in all probability, pay you a visit less respectful than the Intimation you now receive." Three years later Colonel Henshaw was instructed, by vote of the town, to " procure what evidence he may be able of the inimical Disposition of any inhabitent of this town toward the United States of America, which inhabitent may be so voted to be, in the opinion of the town." One such man was at that time voted, in the opinion of the town, "inimically disposed." In July of the next year it was " Voted that the selectmen be directed to prefer a petition to General Court, that William Manning and family may be removed from this town."

These minutes are full of interest and instruction. They show the true character of the people and the power of their deliberation and united action. Lord Germaine did not speak without provocation when he said, "This is what comes of their wretched old town-meetings."

According to a report made to the town in 1784, the town paid in bounties, from 1775 to that time, £9268 6«. (probably equivalent to about $11,000 in coin) to 244 soldiers. It is estimated that the town raised for the expenses of the war over $18,000, in addition to State taxes. There were twenty-eight requisitions upon the town for soldiers. These were filled by more than 254 men. Beside these were the men who marched on the 19th of April and at least thirty who enlisted for three years in 1777 and 1778. Some of these soldiers were veterans of the French wars ; others were boys of sixteen years.

It is to be remembered that the population of the town in 1776 was only 1078, and that it decreased during the war. There were in Leicester in 1777 only 212 men over sixteen years of age, and the names on the muster-roll were less than half the number of enlistments and re enlistments in the quotas of the town. The valuation of the town seven years after the close of the war was only $140,000.

In 1781 the town was divided into ten classes, which were each to furnish their proportion of soldiers upon requisition of the government. So exhaustive was the demand that it was necessary to hire substitutes from other places to meet it. The town was repeatedly under the necessity of electing new selectmen and assessors, on account of the absence of the regular incumbents in the army. Women worked in the fields, because all the male members of their families were in the war, and farmers sold their cattle to raise money for the payment of taxes.

The number of commissioned officers from Leicester was large, in proportion to the size of the town. Col. William Henshaw, to whom we have already referred, was in command of a regiment in the battle of Long Island. He was with a picket-guard which was cut off from the main body by a superior force of Hessians, and cut its way through with great gallantry and little loss of life.

Col. Seth Washburn was fifty-two years old when the war began. He was in the battle of Bunker Hill, and afterward, though not in the army, was mustermaster for Worcester County and served the cause on several important committees.

Col. Samuel Denny marched as lieutenant-colonel with the minute-men, on the 19th of April, and served as colonel during the early part of the war.

Lieutenant Joseph Washburn was at the battles of Saratoga and Monmouth, and also at Valley Forge. Captain Thomas Newhall was in command of the standing company on the 19th of April, and was muster-master for Worcester County. Captain John Holden served through the war, and was present at the storming of Stony Point. Captain .John Brown commanded a company in the French War, and was in the battle of Bunker Hill as a sergeant. Rev. Benjamin Conklin was probably a chaplain.

Joseph Bass, of the " water service," who resided in Leicester after the war, was one of the heroes of what Irving, in his "Life of Washington," calls the " gallant little exploit " on the Hudson, the attempted " destruction of the ships which had so long been domineering over its waters," by means of fireships. Washburn, in his history, gives an extended narrative of the affair. Bass had charge of one of the sloops, the " Polly," which was supplied with inflammable materials, and which, under heavy fire of artillery, he fastened to the tender of one of the frigates, setting it on fire and destroying it with most of the men on board. Bass, with all his men, leaped into the life-boat, and rowed away without injury. The frigates escaped, but were prudently withdrawn from so dangerous a locality.

Solomon Parsons was severely wounded in the battle of Monmouth. He was shot, his thigh was broken, and afterwards, as he lay upon the ground, he was robbed, stabbed and roughly dragged about by the enemy, and narrowly escajjed being run over by cavalry and artillery. He lay all the afternoon of that terribly hot day, in the sun, until he was rescued by Lieutenant Joseph Washburn.

burdens and sufferings of the people in the gloomy period of the Revolution, and the strain upon their resources and fortitude. They did not flinch when the time came to test the sincerity and value of their resolutions. They well redeemed the pledge to maintain the cause of independence at " the risk of their lives and fortunes."

church owed its origin to Mrs. Ann Wilby, an English lady who came to Leicester in 1822. She was buried under her pew in the church in 1820. Her family, with that of Mr. James Anderton, were the only Episcopalians in town. Services were for some time held in the hall of Hezekiah Stone's tavern.

The church building was erected in 1824, first occupied on Easter Sunday, April 18, and consecrated May 26 by Right Rev. Alexander V. GriswoUI, D.D. Rev. Joseph Muenscher, D.D., became minister of the parish March 14, 1824. He resigned the cure March 10, 1827. He was also the village schoolteacher. He was born in Trovidence, R. I., December 21, 1798, and graduated from Brown University in 1821, and Andover Theological Seminary in 1825. His marriage to Ruth, daughter of Joseph Washburn, was the first solemnized in a church, according to the Episcopal form, in Worcester County. Among the positions afterwards held by him was that of Professor of Sacred Literature, and later, Instructor in Hebrew in the Episcopal Theological Seminary, Gambier, Ohio. He was succeeded by Rev. William Horton, D.D. Rev. Lot Jones became rector in June, 1827. He was afterwards rector of the Church of the Epiphany in New York. He died in Philadelphia in 1865, while in attendance upon the General Convention, in consequence of a fall upon the steps of St. Luke's Church. Rev. C. Millett became minister in 1833. He was afterwards rector of the parish in Beloit, Wis. In August, 1834, Rev. Henry Blackaller became rector. He resigned in the spring of 1838. He died June 21, 1862, at the ,ge of sixty-nine. Rev. Eleazer A. Greenleaf immediately succeeded him, remaining one year. Rev. John T. Sabine was minister one year, beginning in

1840, and remained one year. He was succeeded for one year by Rev. Fernando C. Putnam. From 1842 to 1844 the church had no rector, but was under the missionary charge of Rev. Orange Clark, D.D., who also ministered to the churches in Hopkintou and Montague. This was a period of great depression, but the church was " saved from utter ruin by the occasional missionary services of Dr. Clark and a few staunch churchmen on the spot." Rev. James L. Scott became minister in October, 1845, being ordained to the deaconate and priesthood here, after acting as lay reader for nearly fourteen months. He retired in April, 1849. Rev. J. Hill Rowse was rector from June 10, 1849, until his death, July, 1870. During his absence of three years as chaplain in the army. Rev. William B. Colburn and Rev. R. S. Paine officiated.

Rev. B. F. Cooley, his successor, resigned October 1, 1875. Rev. S. R. Bailey followed in the autumn of the same year, and retired October 1, 1879. Rev. Thomas W. Nickerson came to the church February 8, 1880, and is still its minister, his rectorship being

Rev. Mr. Rowse was chaplain in the Foster General Hospital, in Newbern, N. C. He was in that city in September, 1864, when it was visited with yellow fever. Says Captain J. W. Denny, then in command of the Twenty-fifth Regiment, " We met Chaplain Rowse, a faithful, earnest chaplain among the soldiers; he looked worn out. He said he had buried thirteen soldiers that forenoon, and as many waited his oflices. We said to him, ' Chaplain, you are not able to do this work ; you look worn out, and ought to leave immediately in order to save your own life.' ' No,' replied the chaplain, ' I am sick and weary. Some one may be called upon to bury me next, but I must not leave these soldiers; if I must die, I will die at my post of duty."" He had the fever, but recovered.

Methodist Episcopal Church. - In the fall of 1842 a series of meetings, continuing eight weeks, was held in the town hall, under direction of Rev. Horace Moulton, of Oxford. In these services he was assisted by his wife, Mrs. Elizabeth Ann Moulton, a woman of great religious fervor and zeal.

As the result of these efforts, a Methodist Episcopal Church was organized October 15, 1844. The first minister of this church was Rev. William C. Clark.

In 1845, in consequence of differences of opinion with reference to the Episcopal mode of church administration, and the duty of the church in relation to slavery and temperance, the church was divided, and a Wesleyan Methodist Church was organized. The Methodist Episcopal Church then removed to Cherry Valley, and a house of worship was erected for it in 184b. The funds for building were subscribed by persons of difl'erent denominations, who recognized the need of religious services in Cherry Valley, and the control of the church was committed to trustees. It was stipulated in the compact that it was to be " a house of religious worship for the use of the ministers and members of, and the friends of, the Methodist Episcopal Church in said Leicester, according to the rules and discipline of said Church in the United States of America, except the First Calvinistic Congregational Church of said Leicester, or the Episcopalians of Cherry Valley, shall wish to occupy every other Sunday night for a third religious service, in which case they shall have the right."

The appointments for the ministry of this church have been - Revs. George Dunbar, J. T. Pettel, George F. Pool, T. W. Lewis, D. Z. Kilgore, W. B. Olds, Daniel Atkins, G. E. Chapman, J. W. P. Jordan, Albert Gould, from 1859 to '60; W. F. Lacomb, from 1861 to '62, who enlisted as a member of

In 1867 a Methodist Episcopal Church was formed in the Centre, worshipping in theWesleyan Methodist Church. This church continued to hold services and receive ministers appointed by the Conference for a few years, when it was merged in the Methodi.-it Episcopal Church at Cherry Valley, the appointee of that church preaching at the Centre Sunday afternoons. The ministers have been Revs. Mr. Chase, Frederick M. Miller, L. P. Causey, Samuel F. Fuller, Eratus Burlingham and H. D. Weston.

Wesleyan Methodist Church. - After the separation in 1845, those who objected to the Episcopacy, and the position of the Methodist Episcopal Church on the subject of slavery and temperance, organized themselves into a Wesleyan Methodist Cliurch, March 1, 1845. The pastor, Rev. Wm. C. Clark, remained with this church, and, indeed, was the active agent in securing its organization. His successors were Rev. Messrs. Christopher C. Mason David Mason, Simeon E. Pike, J. A. Gibson, Thomas Williams and Benjamin N. Bullock.

Roman Catholic Church. - The first Roman Catholic Church in town was St. Polycarp's, and was erected in 1854, half a mile east of Strawberry Hill. The cornerstone of the present church, St. Joseph's, was laid on the same site, September 1, 1867, Rev. Robert W. Brady, president of Holy Cross College, officiating. The church was dedicated January 2, 1870, Right Rev. John J. Williams, present Archbishop of Boston, officiating, The old church was taken down and moved to Rochdale during 1869, and was dedicated as St. Aloysius' Church. November 21st of the same year. Right Rev. John J. Williams officiating There was no resident pastor of the parish until August 1, 1880. The two churches were attended by the Jesuit Fathers from Holy Cross College, Worcester, in the following order: January, 1854, Rev. Peter Kroes ; August, 1856, Rev. J. C. Moore, S. J. ; August, 1857, Rev. P. M. Jolehi, S. J. ; January, 1858, Rev. Eugene Veterneli ; October, 1859, Rev. A. F. Ciampi, S. J.; August, 1861, Rev. J. B. Galney, S. J.; January, 1864, Rev. J. B. O'Hagan, S. J.; August, 1864, Rev. Charles Kelly, S. J.; Auguit, 1867, Rev. P. V. McDermott, S. J.; June, 1869, Rev. J, B. O'Hagan, S. J.; September, 1870, Rev. A. J. Ciampi, S. J.; January, 1871, Rev. Albert Peters, S. J. ; August, 1872, Rev. W. F. Hamilton, S.J. ; August, 1873, Rev. P. J. Blenkinsop, 8. J. These clergymen were generally educated in Europe, as they were Jesuit Fathers and professors at the college. Some of them were men of eminent scholarship.

Rev. D. F. McGrath became the priest of the parish August 1, 1880. He was born in Milford, Mass., August 15, 1848 ; graduated from Holy Cross College in 1870, and from Grand Seminary, in Montreal, in 1873. When he came to the parish it was incumbered with a debt of six thousand five hundred dollars, which was increased to fourteen thou.sand five hundred dollars in remodeling and repairing the church, building a fine parsonage and by accompanying expenses. This was the amount of indebtedness January 1, 18S4. By February 1, 1888, this debt was entirely paid, and all the parish property, including eighteen acres of land, is held free of indebtedness.

According to a census taken in January, 1888, by Father McGrath and his assistant. Father Kenney, there were in town three hundred and twelve Roman Catholic families, with a total of one thousand five hundred and thirty-six persons attached to St. Joseph's and St. Aloysius' Parishes.

St. Thomas Church. - In the year 1873 the Rev. B. F. Cooley, rector of Christ Church, Rochdale, commenced service in the Methodist Church in Cherry Valley, on Sunday afternoons. These services were continued for several years by him and his successor. Rev. S. R. Bailey. The first service and also later services on week-days were held in the house of Mr. Cheney Barton, in which the Rev. H. Blackaller had held .similar services more than thirtyfive years before. The church was afterward made a mission of St. Matthew's Church, Worcester, which relation its'ill holds, although it has been self-supporting since 1886.

Rev. E. Osgood took charge, probably in the autumn of 1878, and continued until early in the year 1881. The Rev. Julius Waterberry was in charge from 1881 to 1882. He was a beautiful singer, a man of culture, of wide information, and pleasing and refined manners. He died in Boston, on Good Friday, 1882, and his memory is cherished with affijction by the members of his charge. It was while he was connected with the church that " Shamrock Hall " began to be used as the place of worship.

The church was built in 1884, and consecrated February 14, 1885, by Bishop W. R. Huntington, D.D., of Grace Church, New York. Since that time a pipe-organ has been placed in the church. The church contains five memorial windows, one of them in memory of Rev. Julius H. Waterberry.

Chapter Xci

Although in the original legislative title of the town provision was made for school-houses, no action appears to have been taken upon the subject till the last day of the year 1731. It was then voted "to choose a committee of three to provide a schoolmaster ; and that the said committee agree with a man to keep school for three months, and no longer; and that the school be kept in three parts of the town, so as may be most for the conveniency of the inhabitants' children going to school." The sum of $8.75 was appropriated to meet the expense. He was to teach the children to " reed and wright." His own education, such as it was, must have been acquired without much help from teachers, as he probably came to town where there were no schools, when less than ten years of age. This provision was for the whole of Leicester and Spencer. The next year there was no school, and the town was called to account before the Quarter Sessions. The sum of .f 17.50 was appropriated the next winter, and after a delay of nearly a year, the same teacher was employed, and taught three months at $3.75 per month in the house of Mr. Jonathan Sargent, opposite the spot where the Catholic Church now stands. The next winter Mr. Lynde taught in three different places, one month in each place. " If the town employed him any more, they was to come to new tarms."

In 1736 the town "voted to build a school-house sixteen feet in width, twenty feet in length and six and a half feet between joynts; and that it be .set in the north side of the meeting-house, about ten rods, in the most convenientest place." It is described by one who remembered it as " an old shell of a building."

The next school-house was built as early as 1G72, where Sargent's brick factory now stands. Another school-house in the centre was built in 1791.

In 1736 the town was again presented before the Quarter Sessions for failing to provide a school, and fined £-1 12s. The ne.xt year John Lynde taught school one month and Jo-hua Nichols ten days. The .school-house was probably built in 1738. Its cost was $-1,784. Mr. Samuel Coolidge taught the school in 1739 six months, at SI. 32 per week. In 1742 the school was taught by John Gibbons through the year, in the four quarters of the town, "so as to have the remote ends of the town have some benefit of the same." In 1742 it was taught in six places by Mr. Adam Bullard. The amount expended for schools the next twenty years was on an average $133.33 per year. In 1765 the town voted to raise £120 to build five school-houses in the East, Southeast, Northwest, and Northeast Districts.

The school-houses were all completed in 1767. The amount assessed in each district was finally appropriated to its own school-house. This was the beginning of the "district system" in town, which continued until April, 1869, when it was annulled in accordance with the statute of the State.

" Schooling mistresses " were first employed in 1766. In 1774 the number of districts was increased to nine, and on April 15, 1776, the nine districts were officially defined, and the different families assigned to their respective districts, .and thus recorded. Notwithstanding the heavy burdens of the Revolutionary War, when a proposition wa.s made in town-meeting to suspend the schools, it was promptly voted down. A " town " or high school was organized in 1856, of which Mr. C. S. Knight was the first teacher. For several years it was migratory, being held one term each year at the Centre Village, Clappville and Cherry Valley. It was permanently located at the Centre in 1859. In 1867 an arrangement was made by which it was combined with the Academy, and this union has been continued to the present time, with the exception of four years, during which the Academy was temporarily suspended. All the advantages of that institution are now open to the children of the town who are qualified to enter upon a high school course. The annual amount raised by the town for schools at the close of the last century was iJSOO. In 1850 it was $1,200. The appropriation for 1888 was $7,500.

Leicester Academy. - Leicester Academy had its origin in the intelligent forethought and unselfish enterprise of its founders. Col. Ebenezer Crafts, of Sturbridge, and Col. Jacob Davis, of Charlton. They were imblic-spirited, patriotic men. They clearly saw that Christian education was essential to the success and perpetuity of those free institutions which had been won at such a cost. There was no academy in Central or Western Massachusetts, and the provision for general education was exceedingly meagre. Col. Crafts was a liberally educated man, graduated from Yale College in 1759. He was an ardent patriot, and marched to Cambridge at the first call to arms, with a company of cavalry which he had already organized. He also commanded a company of one hundred men under Gen. Lincoln, for the suppression of the Shays' Rebellion. After the close of the war he appeiws first to have conceived the idea of establishing in Worcester County a school for classical and English education. He interested in the undertaking Col. Davis, who had also been a soldier in the Revolution, and was a man of wealth and broad public spirit.

While they were considering the matter circumstances directed their attention to Leicester as a desirable location for such an institution. Upon the departure of the Jews, the store of Mr. Lopez, with the land, was advertised for sale at auction as "a large, commodious double mansion, and a noted place for trade." There was one acre of land. It was, as nearly as can be ascertained, upon the original lot No. 1. It had been successively owned by John Stebbins, Rev. Joseph Roberts, Rev. Benjamin Conklin ; the western half by Benjamin Fosgate, who built on it a small store about the year 1770; by Joseph Allen and Henry Bass. In 1777 Mr. Lopez added to the western half-acre a half-acre purchased of Mr. Conklin, and built upon it "the splendid mansion" now offered for sale.

Col. Crafts, watchful for opportunities to carry out his purpose, was at the sale. While there he conferred with his associates and decided to make the purchase, and the place was "bid off" to them for £515. It was deeded May 7, 1783, to Col. Crafts, Col. Davis and Asa Sprague, of Spencer, who soon afterward transferred his interest to Col. Crafts. Col. Crafts then addressed a petition to the Legislature for an act of incorporation, stating that a "large and commodious building, with about one acre of land," had been secured " with intent and design to promote the public benefit in the education of youth, as said buildings are exceedingly well calculated for an academy." He asked for an act similar to that relating to Andover, " whereby the same may be made respectable ; whereby the advantages of education of youth may be promoted ; whereby advantages may arise not only to the individuals, but to the public in general, and prove a blessing to our land of liberty."

The petition appropriately bears date of July 4, 1783. The petition was presented to the Legislature by Col. Seth Washburn, February 7, 1784. Final action was deferred until the sum of £1000 should be raised for the academy in addition to the real estate. There were then only one hundred and fifty families in town, and a population of about a thousand. They were impoverished by the war, but they came to the rescue in a spirit of noble generosity ; and within seven weeks more than the required amount was raised, as stated in the Spy, " by the town of Leicester, and a few gentlemen of that and this pl.ace." The town appropriated £500 ; citizens of Leicester contributed £367 ; and the amount was raised by Judge Gill, of Princeton, and others to £1355. The act of incorporation was passed March 23, 1784. It was signed by John Hancock, Governor, and Samuel Adams, President of the Senate. The property was deeded to the trustees in May, 1784.

In May the trustees made provision for subscriptions through the selectmen of the several towns of the county for the institution. It "is devoutly hoped," they say, " that it will not be suffered to wither and decay, or, for want of nourishment, to be removed to some more fertile soil." Clergymen were also appealed to, and Rev. Joseph Buckingham, in his Thanksgiving Sermon that year, made an appeal for add. Isaiah Thomas interested himself at once in the movement, and in November the Spy stated that " there would soon be opened at Leicester an Academy, for the purpose of promoting the sciences, &c.," and "the people of this large county" weie "urged to exert themselves to second the endeavors of those gentlemen who have laid this generous and laudable plan of another channel for public education."

Dr. John Pierce, who came as assistant preceptor in 1793, describes this '' mansion " as " an oblong, barrack-looking building." The rooms were about seven and a half feet in height. The southwest " parlor " was the school-room of the principal preceptor, and the southeast that of the English preceptor. The central front room was used as a dining and rhetorical hall, while the three rooms in the rear were used by the stewards. The southwest chamber was occupied by the two preceptors, who sometimes took a visiting friend .is a third occupant of their bed. The other chambers were for students, who were at times crowded six and even eight in a room. There was on the roof a small cupola, with a bell, the gift of Mr. Thomas Stickney.

The first meeting of the trustees was held April 7, 1784. They moved in a body to the meeting-house, where public services were held. The Rev. Mr. Conklin preached a sermon from Proverbs 11 : 25, and the Rev. Thaddeus Maccarty offered prayer. The trustees then partook of an "elegant repast," in "Commons Hall." Hon. Moses Gill, of Princeton, was elected president. Rev. Benjamin Conklin vicepresident. Rev. Joseph Pope (of Spencer) secretary, Joseph Allen, Esq., treasurer, and Colonel Crafts "steward and butler." Committees were chosen to select teachers, and prepare to open the school " with all convenient speed."