Paxton Town

By Leuyard Bill. '

If lines were drawn diagonally across the Commonwealth, from and to each of its four corners, the point of crossing would be within, or nearly so, the borders of the little town of Paxton ; hence it might be truly said, speaking geographically, that this town is the " axis " of the State, and that the high point of land known as Asnebumskit Mountain is the " hub " itself; thus may the least of towns aspire to rival, in some senses, the greatest !

This town lies about fifty-five miles west of Boston, and some seven miles from the city of Worcester, and is bounded and described as follows, namely: On the north by Rutland, on the east by Holdeu and Worcester, on the south by Leicester, and on the west by Spencer and Oakham. The town is situated upon high and rugged lands, and belongs to that class of towns known as the " hill towns " of the State. The general elevation above tide-water would not be very far from eleven hundred feet; indeed, the village " common " is, to be tolerably exact, eleven hundred and thirty -five feet above the sea, while the southernmost spur of the White Mountain range, Asnebumskit, is about fourteen hundred feet above water level, and is, with the exception of Mount Wachusett, the highest land lying east of the Connecticut River. The land surface is not so broken and irregular as might be inferred from its considerable elevation, but is rather a succession of rounded hills on which are situated some of the best of farming lands and farms, and again the valleys stretch away, here and there, into level tracts both fertile and pleasant, and between the hills and valleys of this town are found many thrifty homes and a comparatively contented population.

This town does not rank among the ancient corporations, but yet it has passed its first century, and may be said to have seen "generations come and go." The reasons which moved the early settlers to ask to be incorporated were various, but chief among those they gave in their petition was " the great difficulties they labored under in attending public worship, in consequence of the great distance they were from its places in the towns to which they belong." The foregoing petition was presented to the Legislature in 1701, and was unsuccessful, as nearly every petition of this nature is apt to be on its first presentation.

The people thus petitioning for a separate municipality were citizens of Leicester and Rutland, and the tract of land desired by the petitioners was that portion of the two towns lying contiguous, viz. : the southern part of Rutland and the northern portion of Leicester, making a tract of about four miles square. They comiilained in their fir.-t petition and subsequent appeals to the General Court that the distance to places of worship was great, and doubtless the same reason held good when it came to the transaction of the business of the two towns, since the centre of each of these towns was full five miles distant, and we can well imagine the condition of the highways in those early days, when the best were but very indifferent roads, while the side-ways were mere bridle-paths, making it quite a task in the inclement season to perform those public duties incumbent upon them.

The inhabitants, however, had the merit of persistency, and the following year they again petitioned and were again rejected; but nothing daunted, they still worked for the accomplishment of their final purpose ; so in 1763, feeling, doubtless, the inconvenience of their position more and more, they again renewed their importunities and received some support from one of the towns, but the other (Rutland) opposing, the case was still deferred.

The following petition was presented to the authorities of Leicester by the undersigned, and this town, at a town meeting held on May 16, 1763, voted affirmatively on the petition, which was the first favorable action looking towards the establishment of the new town :

The fietition and desire of the subscribers hereof humbly showeth, - Tli.1t wliereas, in the government of Divine Providence, our iuhubitauts are sy a great distance from tlie place of public worship in thiH town, which, together with the snow and moisture of the land, it is exceedingly difficult, a great part of the year, to attend on the public worship of God in this town ; We look upon it ajs our bounden duty to endeavor to Bet up the Gospel among us, by which we, with our families, might more constantly enjoy its means of grace.

In order to accoiuplish the good end of setting up the Gospel, we propose, if possible to obtain leave so to do, to erect a town or district between the towns of Leicester and Rutland, by taking two miles oflF each town to make up the contents of four square miles. Wherefore your petitioners humbly and earnestly desire that, for the good end above jirupused, you would now sett off, by a vote of this town, two miles at the north end of this town, the lands with the inhabitiince thereon, to be laid out and connected with the south part of Rutland that is a<I.iotuirig the same, to be erected into a town or district by order of the Great and General Court of this province, as soon aa may be, that we may set up a Congregational Church and settle a gospel minister, according to the constitution of tlie churches in the land ; winch we judge will be for the advancement of religion and our comfort if it be obtained in the way of peace. So wishing your health and peace, as in duty bound, we subscribe your petitioners :

Finally a fourth attempt was made by these people, and the petition this time headed by one Oliver Witt, followed by many others, was duly presented to the Legislature, and this time with better results, for it was ordered " that Jedediah Foster, of Brookfield, and Col. Williams, on the part of the House, and Benjamin Lincoln, of the Council, be a committee in the recess of this court to repair to the place petitioned for to be erected into a parish, at the charge of the petitioners, anjl that they hear all parties interested for and against said corporation, and report at the next sesiion whether the prayer thereof should be granted."

This committee held several meetings, at which there were hearings of all the parties interested, and at the succeeding session of the General Court reported, on June 23, 1765, a bill entitled, " An Act for Incorporating the Southerly part of Rutland and the Northerly part of Leicester, in the county of Worcester, into a District by the name of Paxton." This bill, after brief reference to the appropriate committee, was reported back to the full house and speedily passed both branches of the General Court, and received Governor Francis Bernard's signature on the 12th of February, Anno Domini 1765. Thus was the frail bark of Paxton duly launched, possessing all the rights, privileges and immunities of any other town, except the right to send a representative on its sole account, but gave the right to "join with the town of Leicester and the precinct of Spencer" in choosing a representative to the Legislature.

It is proper to make some reference to the name given the town by the ait of incorporation, and perhaps no better account can be given than the following, which has come under our observation, viz.: " When the. bill for incorporating this town passed the House of Representatives no name was inserted ; the blank was filled in the Council by the word Paxton, in honor of Charles Paxton, who at that time was marshal of the Admiralty Court and a friend and favorite of Francis Bernard, the Governor, and of Thomas Hutchison, the Deputy-Governor. It is said that Paxton promised the town a church-bell if it was named for him; this promise was never fulfilled. (Charles Paxton, although poli.shed in manners and of pleasing address, was an intriguing politician and a despicable sycophant ; ' every man's humble servant, but no man's friend,' as his paper figure was labeled, when, on Pope's day, as the anniversary of the gunpowder plot was called, it was paraded through the streets of Boston standing between the effigies of the Pope and the devil. He was the tool of Charles Townsend, the Chancellor of the English

Exchequer, and with him devised the scheme of raising a revenue from the coloniei) by a tax on glass, paper, painter's colors and tea. The passage of this bill by the Parliament of England was greatly aided by Paxton, and returning to Boston, he was put at the head of this internal tax system, and made himself especially obnoxious to the people by reason of his issuing search-warrants to discover supposed smuggled goods, and his course was so insolent and tyrannical that he became an object of public hatred, was even hung in effigy upon Liberty Tree, and was subsequently, by tlie wrath of the people, driven into Castle William, and finally, at the evacuation, he departed with the British troops and went to England, where he died in 1788."

The course of this man, who had christened the town with his own name, was such that the bad odor of it reached the inhabitants of the newlyfledged district and they were intensely disgusled, and among the earlier public acts of the citizens was to petition for a change of name, and why the Legislature did not grant this reasonable request is a marvel. It should be attempted even at this late day, and there is no good reason why a new name would not be readily granted.

There have been several additions at sundry times to the territory of Paxton. At one time, on the petition of John Davis, Ebenezer Boynton, Nathan Harrington, Samuel Harrington, Micah Harrington and Ephraim Harrington, of Holden, their estates were set oft' from Holden on February 13, 1804, and attached to the town of Paxton, and, by this act, the town line was extended so as to border on Worcester. Still another addition from Holden was made in April, 1839. Again, in 1851, a small strip was added from the same source, and there is still room for improving the present zig-zag boundary line between Holden and Paxton. The total acreage is now about eight thousand five hundred acres. The population of Paxton at the time of incorporation is not known, but it is presumed to " have been some hundreds," says an unknown writer in the Worcester Ifigazine, published a half-century or more ago. It is quite likely that the settlement of this portion of the country was well under way the latter part of the first century after the landing of the Pilgrims. It was, indeed, about 1720 that Rutland was incorporated and Leicester settled, and all this region of country taken up gradually by natural gravitation of the population westward, this section being at that period of time the "great west," and had its border-wars and conflicts with the aborigines and their allies. Doubtless there were wise men in- those days who were wont to say to the wayward and the self-aspiring in the crowded centres of population along the seaboard : " Go west, young man, go west." And so, in the lapse of time, these hill-towns, with those in the valleys, have filled up and the great army of emigrants has continued from that day to this to flow westward, founding new

Thus these hill-towns, so despised in the eyes of some ephemeral writers who draw distressing pictures of "abandoned farms, dwindling villages, decayed meeting-houses, diminished schools and poor highways," have contributed largely to the public weal.

The marvelous strides this country has made in the last century are chiefly by reason of the inexhaustible supply of men and women drawn from the hills and valleys of New England, where they have been trained in the schools of industry and frugality. These have given direction and force to the upbuilding of the great region of the West. Thus, while it is true that the populations of the hill-towns, with some of those even in the valleys here in New England, have diminished, the cause is not permanently disturbing - since the era of cheap lands is about closing and the reflex tide cannot be far distant when New England will be filled to overflowing, and then this assumed prophecy of a premature decay will have been forgotten. The country is to be taken as a whole and not judged by any of its minor members.

The statement that there " were some hundreds " of people in the district of Paxton at the time of incorporation could hardly have meant more than two or three hundred at the most, for in 1790 the number was but 558; in 1820 it rose to 613 and in 1850 to 870, while in 1880 it had fallen to 592, and in 1885 the State census gave the town only 5G1.

The population in 1870 was, we believe, well towards nine hundred, but, in part owing to the destruction of one of the chief industries by fire, which, unfortunately, was never re-established, it has gradually fallen to a point in numbers to about what it was one hundred years ago.

In former years the boot and shoe industry was the principal business, or, at least, monopolized a very great share of the attention of the people ; and the product of the shops was equal, if it did not greatly exceed in value the products of all the farms in town.

In 1820 John Partridge established the boot business in Paxton, and continued in the same line to the time of his decease, which occurred some fifteen years since, having been in business over half a century. The next notable firm to follow in the same line of industry was that of Messrs. Lakin & Bigelow, and they were succeeded by R. E. Bigelow & Son. All of these parties accumulated quite large fortunes, but none of their descendants reside within the town at the present time.

The town of Paxton is so situated, and has such natural beauty of landscape, and from its summits such extended and charming views of the surround-

Mr. Livermore relates several anecdotes of Mr. Foster, one of which will interest the general reader. " In those days, when capital punishment was to be inflicted it was the law that public religious exercises should be held, and the criminal had the privilege of selecting the preacher. Mr. Foster was selected, and at the appointed hour the house was crowded, and in the audience were many clergymen. Mr. Foster being selected only to preach, asked the first minister he saw to offer prayer. The invitation was declined, and several others were similarly invited and all declined, whereupon Mr. Foster stepped to his piece, with the remark in an undertone, though loud enough in the general hush of the occasion to be heard by all, 'Thank God, I can pray as well as preach.' It is reported that his prayer was so soul-stirring and sincere that all were moved to tears, and many wept aloud."

Mr. Foster is reported to have been a man of brilliant attainments, and a very eloquent preacher, but possessed some other qualities that neutralized greatly these gifts. The Rev. Daniel Grosvenor was installed on the 5th November, 1794, as the successor of Mr. Foster. He came to this people from a church in Grafton, where he had been pastor. There was, for a season, quiet and considerable religious interest manifested under this aflable and able pastor. But the old trouble would not wholly down, but, ghost-like, came to the surface.

Mr. Grosvenor's health was poor at best, and he felt unequal to the task of reconciling the factions, and finally asked to be dismissed, which was granted on November 17, 1802.

One proof that the old troubles were the causes of the unhappy condition of things at the time, and prior to the retirement of Mr. Grosvenor, is that they continued to be a disturbed church for several years alter he left, and some years came and went before a pastor was again settled over them.

In 1808, February 17th, the Rev. Gaius Conant was ordained, and he remained with the society for many years. He lived and died in the square-roofed house now occupied by Deacon Levi Smith, situated about half a mile due east from the church. He was dismissed September 21, 1831, and the same council ordained the Rev. Moses Winch. It was in 1830 that the Congregational Society was organized separately from the town. Mr. Winch's ministry must have been a very quiet one, and without any very disturbing circumstances, since very little is said respecting his stay here. He was discharged in 1834, August 28th.

and continued his labors till May 7, a.d. 1840. He was succeeded by the Rev. William Phipps, A.M., who was ordained November 11, A. d. 1840. Something more than a passing notice should be given this eminently gifted divine. He was for more than twenty-eight years connected with the history of the Congregational Church in this town. He was born in Franklin, this State, on October 31, 1812. He was the son of William and Fannie (Moulton) Phipps, with a line of ancestry traceable back to old England ; to the father of Sir William Phipps, one of the early Governors of Massachusetts Colony. He was a quiet, gentle man, and true, yet did not lack force or bravery. He was resolute for worthy ends, and brave in self-denial. He early learned the trade of a cabinetmaker in his father's shop, which trade, in those days, meant quite as much an ability to manufacture a violin as a bureau, and as an illustration of his mechanical genius in this direction, it is told that he made in the days of his apprenticeship a fine bass-viol, with five strings, on which he was wont to play as an accompaniment to his vocal songs. He was a great lover of music and possessed a fine, rich, bass-tone voice, and always sang with an enthusiasm never to be forgotten by sympathetic hearers. He found his trade especially useful to a " country minister" in a small place, and on a small salary, since many of the things he needed he either had to make or go without. His inventive faculty was by no means inconsiderable. He constructed models of an improved school-room, a turret wind-mill, a drawing globe, a seed-sower, an upright piano and other u?elul and fancy things. He was a natural student, ever fond of the companionship of good books, and was diligent in everything. He attended Day's Academy in Wrentham; from there he entered Amherst, and graduated in the class of 1837. On leaving college he taught, as principal, in the academy at Edgartowa, for one year. He married, in 1837, Miss Mary C. Partridge, of Franklin, who still survives at the age of eighty-eight. They had seven children, of whom five are living - two sons and three daughters. The sons, George G. and William H., have taken up the profession of their father. The former is settled at Newton Highlands, while the latter is preaching in Prospect,Conn. Mr Phipps was first settled in thistow'n. He was an earnest preacher and profounily interested in all good works. He served for very many years as the head of the School Committee, and his school reports are good reading to-day, and display much thought, earnestly and gracefully expressed. He wns wont to do anything he had in hand with "all his might," whether tuning a piano, or raising the finest vegetable in town. Those, whether in the church or out who became intimate, were not the ones to turn from him, for they best realized his largeness of heart and generosity of spirit.

Of the latter, it was as easy for him to write the poetical stanzas as the melodies that floated tbeni. Had he been more favorably situated, as to leisure and means, he might readily have made his mark as an inventor or author, but he preferred to remain where he felt an all-wise Providence had placed him. His mark was, however, made honestly and deeply on the generation of youth that grew up under his long and faithful ministry here.

The Rev. Thomas L. Ellis succeeded Mr. Phipps, and was installed November 26, 1871. He died, after a brief pastorate, on November 12, 1873. He was followed by the Rev. Francis J. Fairbanks. He was hired in the early part of 1874, and continued his labors here till October, 1877. He was a well-educated man, and devoted in his work. The Rev. Otis Cole, a Methodist divine, was next hired by this society, and commenced his labors on January 1, 1878, and continued for two years, when he removed to New Hampshire. He was a man of great simplicity, and yet of very great power as a preacher and much beloved by all, both by those in and out of the church. The following summer tlie society engaged Mr. John E. Dodfje, who was licensed to preach. He filled the pulpit for several years and was then ordained and settled, continuing his labors a couple of years thereafter. In June, 1887, he asked for a dismissal, having been called to the church in Sterling. Both Mr. and Mrs. Dodge were earnest in their labors in behalf of the church and community.

The Rev. Alpha Morton succeeded to the pastorate. He was engaged in June, 1887, and still continues his active labors with this people. He is an able man and of the highest character.

The old church edifice erected by the district of Paxton in 1767, paid for by a general tax, was used for all town-meetings after its erection, and the " deacon's seat " was the place occupied by the moderator of the town-meetings. In 1835 it was voted to remove the building to its present site and both enlarge and repair it, the town putting in a basement story for a town-hall, and it is now a very dignified edifice of the usual village style. Subsequently the church, feeling the need of a room for vestry purposes, entered into an agreement with the town, otlering to light and warm and care for the said town hall for all town purposes on condition of its use by them as a vestry. In 1888 the town, stimulated by the gift of one Simon Alien, erected a new town hall, concerning which additional particulars are given further on in our history.

Leaving the history of the church and taking up that of the town, it will be remembered that the " District of Paxton " was chartered in 1765, Feb.

12th, and was "to join Leicester and the precinct of Spencer" in electing a Representative to the Legislature. This restriction was removed by an act bearing date July, 1775, viz. : " Whereas there are divers acts or laws heretofore made and passed by former General Courts or Assemblies of this Colony for the incorporation of towns and districts, which, against common right and in derogation of the rights granted to the inhabitants of this Colony by the charter, contain an exception of the right and privilege of choosing and sending a representative to the Great and General Court or Assembly. Be it therefore enacted and declared by the Council and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by theauthorityof the same, that henceforth every such exception contained in any act or law heretofore made and passed by any General Court or Assembly of this Colony for erecting or incorporating any town or district, shall be held and taken to be altogether null and void, and that every town and district in this Colony consisting of thirty or more freeholders and other inhabitants qualified by charter to vote in the election of a representative, shall henceforth be held and taken to have full right, power and privilege to elect and depute one or more persons being freeholders and resident in J such town or district, to serve for and represent them 1 in any Great and General Court or Assembly hereafter to be held and kept for tliis Colony according to the limitations in an act or law of the General Assembly, entitled an act for ascertaining the number and regulating the House of Representatives, any exceptions of that right and privilege contained or expressed in the respective acts or laws for the incorporation of such town or district notwithstanding."

On August 22, 1774, the following committee was chosen to consult and report on the state of public affairs, viz. : Capt. Ralph Earle, Lieut. Willard Moore, Dea. Oliver Witt, Phineas Moore and Abel Brown. They also voted to purchase a barrel of powder in addition to the stock (some two barrels) then on hand. All the able-bodied men of all ages, capable of bearing arms, were formed into two military companies, one of which was called the " Standing," and the other the " Minute Company."'

On the 17th of January, 1775, thirty-three men were ordered by the town to be drafted as minutemen. They chose Willard Moore to be their captain. He went with his command on April 19, 1775, to Cambridge, on receiving intelligence of the beginning of hostilities at Lexington and Concord.

We the Subscriboi'S, Do engage for to Joyn the Miinite Men f>f this District and to March with them Against oiiv Common Eneinys When we are called for, if so be tliat the Minute Conipiinys are kept np as witness our hunda : Marmaduke Earle, Joniih Newton, ttiTifJ Goo<1enow,

1 A Committee of Safety was chosen on March 20,1775, consisting of Willard Moore, Pliineas Moore, Abraham Smith, Ralph Earlfi and David J>avis.

The duties of the committee named abave were various ; among other matters, to observe and report to the people the action of Congress, and also the acts of the colonists and the doings of the home government, and last, but perhaps not least, to keep watch of certain susjiected Tories in the district, of whom there were a number.

Captain Willard Moore, with a number of his men, soon enlisted in the Continental Army. He was promoted to the rank of major and took part with his men in the battle of Bunker Hill, where he was killed, t'lgether with several of his men. The " standing company,'' already named, was commanded by Captain Ralph Earle,' with John Snow as lieutenant, and Abel Brown as ensign. They were chosen as officers at the district-meeting on January 17, 1775, and did valiant service, and bore their share of the hardships of the long campaigns for liberty and independence. At the town-meeting held April 6, 1775, Lieutenant Willard Moore was chosen delegate to the Provincial Congress, held in Concord, Mass., and was instructed to " use his influence in Congress that government be assumed in case that it shall prove certain that Great Britain intends to enforce the late acts of Parliament by the sword."

The town, at various timesduring the Revolutionary period, appropriated about ten thousand pounds as bounties, besides paying heavy taxes to the Provincial government amounting to many hundreds of pounds. Then, too, there were frequent purchases of beef for the use of the army, sending as high as nine thousand pounds at one time as their quota of the supplies needed by the government " at the front.''

In addition to the regular companies named, there were, the record4 say, many volunteers going forward on their own responsibility and their own patriotic impulse to defend their imperiled country.

There is a warrant dated May 13, 1776, calling a meeting on the 23d of that month, for the purpose of choosing " a person to represent them in the Great and General Court " that year, agreeably to a precept directed " to the town " for that purpose.

On May 23, 177G, the town made choice of Abraham Smith as its first representative to the General Court, and the record shows the clerk of the meeting to have signed himself as the town clerk, all records prior thereto having been signed by the district clerk.

In June, 1779, there was a special call for representatives to meet in Cambridge, for the purpose of framing a State Cjustituiion, and under this call, on August 10, 1779, Adam Maynard was chosen as the delegate. This very year it would seem by the records that Abraham Smith continued as the representative to the General Court, while Phineas Moore was the delegate to the convention held in Concord.

These w-ere stirring times with the colonists, and besides the care of founding States was the added one of taking up arms to maintain them and establish liberty. In all of these serious affairs the new town of Paxton discharged all of her obligations with highest credit. In the earlier contests between the French and Indians this town furnished, in 1766, five men as her quota in a call for one thousand men from Worcester and Hampshire Counties. Their names were : Ezekiel Bellows, Jacob Wicker, Jason Livermore, David Wicker and John Wicker. These men were in the command of Gen. Ruggles, and saw service at Crown Point, Fort Edward and Ticonderoga.

This town is proved by all the ancient records to have been eminently patriotic in the time of the Revolution. All of the demands for men and means were met, though doubtless their efforts at times were very great. The prolongation of the war, saying nothing of the cost incurred in getting Veady for the contest, was a very serious matter, but through all these trials the true patriots never flinched.

Among their first acts was an attempt on their part to rid themselves of the name of Paxton, nowodious by reason of his loyalty to and influence with the enemy of the colony. They failed in their patriotic endeavor to secure a change of name, as we have seen.

The Hon. George W. Livermore, of Cambridge, a native of Paxton, relates the following incident which happened here: Jason Livermore and his three sons were plowing in the field when informed by a messenger of the incursion of the " regulars " to Lexington and Concord, and that the company of which they were members would march forthwith. The father said : " Boys, unyoke the cattle and let us be off." No sooner said than done; and they at once made ready and marched, with the household pewter dishes melted into bullets, to Cambridge, and there joined the Continental army, and on June 17, 1775, they bore a part in the great battle of Bunker Hill. The wife and mother, Mrs. Jason Livermore, was left with a lad but twelve years of age, to cultivate the farm and care for the stock. This was successfully done, and it is further stated that she made a hundred pounds of saltpetre for the army, during the summer, in addition to her other duties." Mrs. Livermore died at the extreme age of ninety-nine years and ten months. In the following year this same Jason Livermore, together with one Samuel Brewer, of Sutton, raised a company and proceeded to Charlestown, and from there were ordered to Tlconderoga and Mount Hope, where they were stationed for some time. It is fully believed that the town of Paxton must have sent more than a hundred men into the ranks of the patriot soldiers of the Revolutionary army ; and history declares that few, if any, towns contributed, proportionately, more for the achievement of our independence, according to their means, than this. It is also reported that towards the close of the war '" their individual and public suffering was extreme, and at times almost intolerable; " yet at no time did their courage flag or the fires of patriotism grow dim.

The qualification for voting in 1770 was the possession of sixty pounds' worth of property or an annual income of three pounds sterling. At the first State election there were twenty-four votes cast for John Hancock for Governor. The amount assessed at this time in the town on both polls and real estate was £29,400. The State tax in 1780 was as high as £5,120, old tenor.'

Provision for the education of the young was made as early as 1769 in the new district. On January 9, 1769, a warrant was issued calling a meeting to consider, among other things, the division of the town into " squadrons " or school plots, as per the recom-

- Among the ijames found in the early records it is interesting to note the following, viz. : - Dr. Sanil. Stearns, who married in 1773 Sarah Witt. This Dr. Stearntj was the practicing physician in this town at and before the Revolution. Then there appear the names of Samuel Gould, Capt. Kalpli Earle, Ephraim Moore, Marniaduke Earle, Willard Moore, Paul How, Kev. Silas Bigelow, Ithamar Bigelow, who had sons Timothy, Silas, Lewis and Ithamar ; Samuel Brown, \Vm. Thompson, who had sons William and James ; Danl. Upham, Hezekiah Newton, John Newluill, .lames Earle, Oliver Earl, Wm. Livermore, John Livermore, Braddyl Livernioro. Wm. Martin, Thos. Lamb, Silas, Ezekiel and Joseph Bellows, Jacob Sweetser, Saml. Sweetser and Stephen Sweetser, David Davis, Kphin. Davis, ^roji. Hunt, Jonathan Ames, Seth Swan, Jabez Newhall, John Warren, Daniel Steward, M. B, Williams, .\dam Maynard, Ptoses JIaynard, David Goodenow, John Knight, Wm. Whitaker, David Wicker, Abel Brown, Danl. Knight, Joltn Flint, Clark Earl, Nathan Sergeant, Danl. Bemis, Heiy. Cutting, Dexter Earl, David Peirce, who had sons David, (^ad, Aaron and Job ; James Washburn, Joseph Penuinian, Hezidtiah Ward, Phiny Moore, Pliineas Moore, Sanmel Brigluun, Seth Metcalf, Benj. Wilson, Dr. Tliad. Brown, Dr. Saml. Forrest, Dr. Caleb Sliattuck, - these were all residents and practicing physicians, between 17G5 and 1800, in this town - Samuel and Ebenezer Wait, Jude Jones, Timothy Bigelow, married .\nna Earl in 1797 ; Itliamar Bigelow, Jr., married Sophie Earle in 1801 ; Daniel \bbott, D. H. Grosvenor and Jonathan P. Grosvenor, Levi Boynton Dr. Absalom Russel, Dr. Loaini Harrington, was married to Delia Newton in 18011 by Nathaniel Crocker, Esii. ; Taylor Goddard, Frederick Flint, .Joseph Knight, Benj. Wilson, Thomas Wbittemore, Wm. Howard, Henry Slade and his sons .Vntliony, John and Henry ; Wintlirop Earle, Braddyl Livermore, Amos W^are, Klisha Ward, Ebenezer Bointon, had children, Ebenezer, Jr., born in 1770, Silas, Jeremiah, .Vlpheus, Phebe, Levi, Uanuati, Asa and David ; Samuel Jennison, Ebenezer Estabrook, William Earle, Robert Crocker, Emory Earle, Seth Jletcalf, Jr., John Pike, Francis Pike and Clark Pike, Thomas Read, Jiicob Earle, Rnfus Earle, Artenias Earle, Nathan Cass, Bloses Gill Grosvenor, son of Rev. Daniel Grosvenor, Geo. W. Livermore, son of Brjiddyl Livermore, born Oct. 15, 17H4 ; ThmldeuH Estabrook, Ephruim Carrllth, .John Brigham, Joseph Day, Nathaniel Lakin, Samuel Partridge, John Partridge, Klbridge Gerry Howe, son of .lonah Howe, born .\ug. 14, 1799 ; .lohn Howe, Jonathan Ctiase and son, Horner Chase ; Ralph Earle Bigelow, son of Ithamar Bigelow, Jr. ; Oliver .\rrmld, .Vmasa Earle, Silas D. Harrington, f>Hniel Lakin, .lolin Bellows, Sam'l Wait, Daniel Estabrook, son of J..iiah l'>fabr.iol.-, Ii.irn in IH07 ; Jacoh Karle, Dr. Edward M. W'heeler.

mendation of a previously-appointed committee who had reported favorably. This committee (chosen in October, 1768) consisted of Captain Oliver Witt, William Whitaker, William Thompson, Willard Moore and Jonathan Knight.

There were (in 1769) five districts established, and the committee for each " school plot " were as follows : For the Northeast, Phineas Moore, Hezekiah Newton and Stephen Barrett ; for the Southeast, Daniel Stewart, James (Hover and Francis Eager; for the Southwest, Abner Moore, James Thompson and Jason Livermore; for the Northwest, Abraham Smith, William Whitaker and Jonah Newton ; for the Middle plot, Captain Paul How, John Snow and Ralph Earle.

The following names of the heads of families living in the several .school plots or divisions, together with the number given the said divisions, must be of general interest even at this date, viz. :

The Northwest (or West, as it is now known) Schoolhouse was located, in these early days, just west of the road leading from " Hows Hill," now " Davis's Hill," to Jennison's Mills (Comins' Mills), a few rods southward of the pond and across the highway. About 1820 the present brick school-house was erected just west of the mill-dam. Some fifty years ago or more Homer Chase taught this school, and lived at the house near by. It will be recollected by the older citizens that years ago the seats were arranged in two rows, which brought the scholars in two lines, one directly back of the other.

new name for his pasture and now called it Pilfershire. After that no Iambs were missed. The locality still goes by the new name among the old people of the neighborhood.

Some twenty-five years ago, at the time of grading the Great Road, as the Barre Road was then called, many men were employed, among whom was one Doyle, an Irishman. He boarded at the first house beyond the brook on what is now called the West Road (New Braiutree Road), a quarter of a mile or less west of the Common. In the evening of May 11, 1862, one Henry Watson, an Englishman, was going by to his home, known as the Stillman Smith place, beyond Pudding Corner. As he came opposite the house some conversation occurred with this Doyle, who demanded some rum of Watson, which he refused, whereupon Doyle became angry, and stepping to the woodpile, took up a hemlock stick and chased Watson, who ran to the next house, where Samuel Peirce lived, and as he passed on to the veranda at the west side of the building he was struck and killed. Doyle at once fled to Worcester, where he was arrested, tried and sentenced to a long term of imprisonment at hard labor. There was, some years ago, a human skeleton found in the front yard of a small farm-house, now occupied by H, Sweetser, on the road leading to Pine Hill, in the northerly part of the town. This brought to mind the fact that a peddler by the name of Livermore, who staid over-night in this neighborhood, some years prior, was suddenly missed from the community, and was thought to have been foully dealt with, as a quarrel was believed to have occurred at Widow Samuel Sweetser's that night. An inquest was held, but nothing was established, though Benjamin Maynard, who was present, stated that some of the parties living there were much disturbed and seemed guilty. At all events, the principals soon after left, and have never returned.

A man by the name of Charles Conners, in February, 1802, was frozen to death in his sleigh at the foot of the hill near Pudding Corner, on the New Braiutree road, east of the school-house. He had been to Worcester, and, addicted to drink, had procured a bottle of liquor, and, over-indulging, had become insensible from two causes, - the liquor and the cold. The day had been somewhat mild and fairly pleasant, but in the early afternoon the wind rose and it grew cold rapidly, and before sunset the wind had risen to a blizzard, and the thermometer dropped during the night to 30° below zero. He was found in the morning, sitting nearly upright, with his hat oft" and an empty bottle beside him. The reins had become tangled, and had turned the horse to the side of the road, where he stopped, and was yet alive. The man lived at North Spencer, and the team belonged to Samuel Cunningham, of that place. The day he was found the thermometer at noon stood at 28° below, the coldest day for three-quarters of a century in this locality.

At one time in the spring of the year, as a company of workmen were engaged repairing the road near the present town- farm. Captain B was holding the plow when a skeleton was turned up. All were horror-stricken, and the captain left and went to work elsewhere, being unable to witness the scene. It was told by him that it must be the body of a Mrs. Hunt, who had lived on the cro.s.s-road near by, and who, having died of the small-pox, was hurriedly buried there. But this was not credited by the citizens. The other theory was that a young man, who, a year before, was working for the captain, had suddenly disappeared without any very good explanations, and it was believed the body was his, especially as an investigation showed the remains to be those of a male person.

Among the notable people who were born or lived in Paxton was the Livermore family. .Tason Livermore was one of the early settler.", and lived in the southerly part of the town, near Pudding Corner, and had several children.

He was in the engagement at Bunker Hill, as has already been shown, and was a man of high courage and great patriotism. He was for many years a prominent citizen here. His son Braddyl also became prominent, and was well known for his capacity to transact business, and stood high among his townsmen. His son, George W. Livermore, a graduate of Harvard, and now of Cambridge, became a distinguished citizen of that place, and returned on June 14, 1865, and delivered the historical address at the centennial celebration, and to him, as well as to other writers, are we much indebted for many of the facts herewith embodied.

Few men in our early history were as distinguished as Doctor Samuel Stearns. He was a somewhat celebrated man in his day, as well as prominent as a practicing physician. He traveled much between 1778 and '85, and he made the journey from Southern Georgia to Mafsachusetts on horseback. He relates leaving Georgia in February, with the trees blooming, and he so timed his journey as to reach Massachusetts in early June, having a succession of bb ssoms for a thousand miles. He married Sarah Witt of Paxton March 7, 1773.

In 1782 he was in Europe, and continued his travels there for several years. He published a volume of his letters from England and the Continent written in 1784.' He speaks of meeting Minister John Adams at the Hague, and spending some time with him in driving about the country. Doctor Stearns was very fond of art, and greatly admired the painting of Rubens, as well he might. He visited the Hague in the summer of 1784 and was a guest of John Adams, the American minister, of whom he speaks in

1 This vulume was published by Isai.ih Thomas of Worcester, in 1710* entitled, " A Tour in Holland," with a preface by John Trumbull, the celebrated author of "McFingal."

the highest praise. Iii speaking of the ambassador he says hij livery is the same as the American uniform. He also says that in popularity and influence at that court Mr. Adams bore the palm of the diplomatic body. He adds that Mr. Adams talks but little, but what he says is direct and forcelul; that America .stands indebted to him principally for three important acquisitions - the defeat of Sir Joseph Yorke and securing the patronage of Holland in a critical moment, the extension of our limits and the security ot our fisheries. The head(iuarters of the embassy was the Grand Hotel, which Mr. Adams had purchased for the permanent quarters of United States ministers. Dr. Stearns relates an incident which, but for him, the life of Mr. Adams might have been in great jeopardy, viz. : - They were driving along the banks of a canal in Delft when a child was discovered struggling for life in the waters of the canal. Mr. Adams drew oft' his overcoat and was about ready to leap into the water when the Doctor interfered. At this juncture, a workman close by had made the plunge and saved the.drowning child.

The Earles were numerous and prominent in the town's early history and for many years afterward. Marmaduke Earle came from Leicester and settled where Nathaniel I'arkhurst now lives, about a mile west of the centre, on the Barre road. He had fourteen children.

Capt. Ralph Earle, of Leicester, was the best-known of any of the Earle family. He took a part in the Revolutionary War and performed other and valuable service. One of his sons, R. E. W. Earle, became famous as an artist. He made a painting of Niagara Falls which attracted much attention, and subsequently he resided in the South, where he became an inmate of the family of General Jackson, at the "Hermitage." He painted several portraits of the general and his family. He died there in 1837, and was buried in the garden, beside the graves of Jackson and his wife. Captain Ralph was a member of important committees raised by the town at sundry times during the Revolution ; was for a time chairman of the selectmen, and occasionally served as moderator. He was also captain of the Standing Company in the Revolution.

Philip Earle' was a public man and was engaged in the manufacture of scythes, below Jennison's Mills, just west of the highway. Here he had a trip-hammer and carried on quite a business. The mills above named were lirst owned by one Silas Newton ; he lived on Brigham Hill, where one Brigham subsequently lived. Newton had a fulling mill, besides a saw and grist-mill and shingle-mill. He sold to Samuel Jennison, who is reputed to be a rough sort of a man. He kept a wet grocery store in the basement of his house, and it used to be a much frequented resort. He sold to Homer Chase, his son-in-law, who con-

The Davis family was likewise conspicuous, and the first Simon Davis came from Concord to Rutland, where he had a son David, who settled in Paxtou, where Charles A. Streeter now lives. He had a son David, Jr., who lived at the foot of the hill, just west of his father's place. There was a tan-yard just back of this last-named house, where considerable business was done annually. At this time there was another tan-yard near Pudding Corner, on the Bellows place, where an equal amount of tanning was done. This Davis family are the ancestors of Mr. D. Gatej Davis, who, until lately, lived where Jonah Howe formerly lived.

The Peirce family came here from New Hampshire, but of all the members perhaps John D. Peirce is the most conspicuous. His father was Gad Peirce, and his grandfather David Peirce. The subject of this brief sketch came to live at the Peirce homestead, in the easterly part of the town, on the farm now owned and occupied by Horace Peirce. He lived with Job Peirce, an uncle. He, at the age of siyteen, decided to secure a liberal education, and, with the assistance of the Rev. Mr. Conant, a near neighbor, he went to Leicester Academy. He joined the church at that place. He fitted for college, entered Brown University and graduated with Elbridge Gerry Howe, of this place. He married in Sangerfield, New York, studied for the ministry and settled in York State as a Congregational minister. He subsequently went to Michigan and preached for a time at Marshall, and at same time kept the post-oflice (in a cigar-box). When Michigan was admitted into the Union he was appointed State Superintendent of Instruction. He took an active part thereafter in all educational art'airs and advised a liberal policy for the State, which was adopted, and has left its impress on that great Commonwealth to this day. He was at one time prominently named for United States Senator, but being a Whig and they in the minority, he decided to change his politics, and soon after ihe party he espoused became the minority and so he died a disappointed man in some respects. But his life was made valuable to his fellow-men in the founding of a new State.

Of the Harrington-, first came Nathan Harrington from Weston and settled on the farm just north and under the shadow of Pine Hill. He had children - Nathan, Lemuel and Samuel. The first son settled in Barre, Vt., the second lived and died in Hardwick, Mass., while Samuel remained at home and had children - Lucy B., Elizabeth F., Samuel D., Lemuel, David, Simon G., Abigail and Lucinda. Samuel D. had children - Samuel, who lives in Boston ; Nathan, living in Toledo, Ohio ; and Eliza, who married Rev, Charles Morris aud lives in Gloucester.

on his farm in Paxton. He celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of his marriage on October 29, 1880. There was a large company of relatives and friends from far and near present on that occasion. Mr. Simon G. Harrington is still living at the advanced age of eighty years and upwards, at his farm on the Rutland Road. He represented the town some years since in the Legislature and is one of the brightest and ablest men in this vicinity.

Silas D., son of Dr. Loami Harrington, was a very prominent man in the public affairs of this town. On November 17, 1877, he celebrated his fiftieth wedding anniversary. He died suddenly soon after, while on a visit to Millbury. He was for many years one of the selectmen and much respected. His portrait can be seen in the new town hall.

The Howe family is a numerous one in Paxton, and the first settler here was one John How, who came from Marlboro', Mass., in 1742, and purchased lands of an agent of the Crown, and the old deed, now in possession of Dr. A. J. Howe, bears the seal of the colonial government. The place purchased by John Howe is now owned by Deacon Keep, and is situated about a mile west from the centre. This John Howe deeded the place to his son Paul Howe, and he to his son John, and he to Samuel H. Howe, the father of the present Dr. Andrew Jackson Howe, of Cincinnati. Of the Howe family born in Paxton, Dr. Howe is the most distinguished. His father moved to the edge of Leicester, where Mr. Watts now lives. At the age ot twenty, Andrew bought his time of his father, agreeing to pay one hundred dollars for his " freedom," a transaction not unknown in those days. Young Howe worked in a saw-mill and thereby kept Ins engagement with his father as to the payment of the "time" or freedom money. He then went to Grafton, where he worked for an uncle in a shoe-factory. While thus engaged he made the acquaintance of Dr. Calvin Newton, who, being interested in him, consented to take Andrew as a student on condition that he acquire the education requisite to enter college. The young man, nothing daunted, subsequently entered the Leicester Academy, where he attended two years, taking high rank as a student, From there he went to Cambridge and was admitted, and during the four years there he held a reputable place in his class, thatof 1853. While fitting for college he was obliged, out of study hours and during vacations, to labor at whatever his hands could find to do ; sometimes he was busy with wood-chopping and threshing and boat-building. After graduation at Harvard he prepared his way as best he could pecuniarily for entering upon a course of medical lectures at Jefierson College, in Philadelphia. The next year he attended hospital instructions in New York. The year following he took temporary charge of Dr. Walter Burnham's piactice in Lowell, Mass. In 1855 he was appointed to the professorship of

He is the author of a treatise on General Surgery, and also of works on special branches of surgical science. He has, during his residence in Cincinnati, performed all the great operations of a surgical character and he is favored with a wide range of patronage. In 1886 Dr. Howe made a tour of Europe, visiting the famous hospitals of the Continent, and became acquainted with the distinguished men of his profession. As a recreative indulgence. Dr. Howe has cultivated a taste for biological investigations, and has acquired some distinction as an anatomist. For many years he was one of the curators in the Cincinnati Society of Natural History. Dr. Howe married, in 1858, Georgiana, the oldest daughter of George Lakin, of this place.

The familiar faces of Dr. and Mrs. Howe are occasionally seen in town revisiting the places familiar in their childhood, and renewing old acquaintances, by whom they are ever cordially welcomed.

Rev. Elbridge Gerry Howe, son of'.Tonah Howe, was a graduate of Brown University, and went West on missionary work and established the first Congregational Church at Waukegan, 111. He was four times married. He leaves two sons, E. G. Howe, Jr., and Ira Howe. Rev. Mr. Howe was one of those men who left the world better by having lived in it. He was pre-eminently adapted to missionary labors, in which he had great success. He was always an earnest speaker and always found on the side of right on every jiulilic question. He was an honest man and of exalted cliaracter.

The Grosvenor family were among the notable people during their residence in this town. A brief sketch has already been given of the Rev. Daniel Grosvenor. Jonathan P. Grosvenor was a prominent man, occupying offices of trust and honor for many years. He was a justice of the peace, and lived on the farm now owned by Peter Daw. Here met some of the most cultivated people in town. His daughter, Lucy Grosvenor, married David Manning, Sr., of this place, and subsequently they removed to Worcester, where they at present reside.

Capt. Tyler Goddard, who lived just north of the meeting-house at the junction of tlie Rutland and Holden roads, was the first postmaster in Paxton. The office was established December 10, 1816, and he held the place till 1841. He kept a small grocery store just across the road west of his house, in what is now the new burying-ground. An anecdote is related of him that one time, in order to cure David Sweetser of the bad habit of borrowing jugs, filled one for him in which oil had been kept. This ^ug came back and with it the lost jugs, and a pretty free expression of miscellaneous statements on the part of Sweetser, to the great amusement of Capt. Goddard. Luther Goddard, of Worcester, is a son of Tyler, and was for some years the town clerk of Paxton. The next postmaster was S. D. Harrington, followed by Otis Pierce, and in 1801 Nathaniel Clark was appointed and still holds the office. ( )f town clerks Ephraim Moore was first and William H. Clark, the present incumbent, the last chosen.

The Bigelows have ever been prominent in town since the advent of the Rev. Silas Bigelow. He had a brother, Ithamar Bigelow, who also lived on Asneybumskeit and he had sons Silas and Ithamar, Jr. Silas Bigelow had children : John Flavel, George Xorraan, Artemas E. and Adaline E. Ithamar Bigelow, Jr. had children : Ralph Earle, Walter R. and Lewis. Ralph Earle Bigelow had children : Caroline, Emelineand John C. Lewis Bigelow bad children': Henry, Charles, Edward, George, Phoebe and Eliza.

In the late Civil War this town contributed seventyfour men, and of this number fifteen lost their lives while in the service. The records show that on the 26th July, 1862, a bounty of one hundred and ten dollars was voted. On August 9th the amount was raised eighty-five dollars. On December 8th the town offered one hundred and ten dollars for nine months' men, and one hundred and sixty dollars for those enlisting for three years. These otters were in addition to any bounties or gratuities proffered by the State or United States governments. There was an additional bounty offered in June, 1864, of one hundred and twenty-five dollars. In the year 1871 a granite monument was erected on the "Common " in memory of those losing their lives during the four years' contest with the Southern States. An iron railing surrounds this shaft, and within the inclosure there are four cannon donated by Congress. On this shaft are the names of twenty-one of our soldiers who died by reason of the Rebellion.

On June 14, 1865, the town celebrated the centennial of its incorporation. There was a large assemblage of the sons and daughters of the town on that occasion. There was a public meeting in the church, at which Hon. George W. Livermore, of Cambridge, Rev. John F. Bigelow, D.D., of Brooklyn, Prof George N. Bigelow, also of Brooklyn, and Rev. George G. Phipps, now of Newton Highlands, delivered addresses. They were all natives of this town. A public dinner was served on the " Common," opposite the church, of which many hundreds partook. It was a grand gala occasion, and the reunions were many and most cordial, and the memory of them is as a sweet savor to all participating.

In 1888 the town erected a new town hall, in part out of tlie proceeds of the estate of the late Simon Allen, who left by will his entire property in trust to the town, which was to be used in the building of a town hall, the same to be called Allen Hall. The amount of his estate was twenty-two hundred dollars, but the prolonged illness of his widow reduced this, amount to fifteen hundred dollars. During the lifetime of his widow the property could not be used for the purpo.se designated by the testator, but on her decease, which occurred in 1887, the Allen fund was turned over to the town treasurer, and at the annual meeting of the town in March, 1888, it was voted to add a thousand dollars to the Allen fund and go forward with the building, the town appointing the following persons as a building committee, viz. : L. Bill, William Brown, A. S. Graton, E. P. Keep and H. H. Pike.

The land for the location was given by the writer, and in the following July the contractor began his work, and by the 20th of the following October the building was completed, and was formally dedicated on November ], 1888. The <ledication address was delivered by Col. William B. Harding, of Worcester, the i30em by George Maynard, also of Worcester, with remarks by Rev. George H. Gould, D.D., and Scripture reading and dedicatory prayer by Rev. Alpha Morton.

The chairman of the selectmen,' Ledyard Bill, received the keys from H. H. Pike on behalf of the building committee. The church choir, under the leadership of Oliver Goodnow, who for over fifty years has been connected with church music here, gave choice selections ; the exercises in the main hall closing with America, in singing which, all joined. A public dinner was served in the lower hall by the Ladies' Union, of which Mrs. Nathaniel Clark is president. The building stands on the west side of the Barre Road, opposite the '' Common." It is a plain appearing structure, but inside it is all that will be reijnired for yeilrs to come. The total cost will not be far from forty- five hundred dollars. Simon Allen was born in 1806, in Holden, in the house near the foot of the big hill, on the Paxton and Holden Road, on the south side of the highway, and east of Mr. Metcalf's. He attended the Northeast School in Paxton a portion of his youth. He moved to Shrewsbury, where he married Miss Fannie Norcross. He was a boot and shoe-maker, and followed that trade while in Shrewsbury. He moved to Paxton in 1840, and bought a farm of the elder John Slade, on the Rutland Road, where George A. Brown now lives. He was a plain, unassuming, honest man, and respected by all who knew him. He died December 29, 1880, and was buried by the side of his first wife, near the west entrance to the Public Cemetery. He was twice married, but left no children.

1 The first boHnl of selectmen chosen in ITO.'j was Oliver Witt, Ephraim Moore and Saninel Hruwn, while the last hoard chosen in tSSS was Ledyard Bill, A. S. Graton and I,. T. Kirhy.