Royalston Town

Foreword Of The Author

The writer of this history of Royalston, in performing the work given him by your Town Committee, feels that in many respects this task might have been assigned to abler and more eloquent writers.

Although not the town of his birth or residence, he has, ever since as a young man he came to this town as a teacher in its schools, had a love and admiration for this good, old town, for its grand and beautiful scenery, the people who have lived among these hills, and the history they have made. It has truly been a typical New England town, where men and women have shown a zeal for religion, a sturdy patriotism, and a desire for educational privileges all through the history of the town.

With the material which has been at our disposal, we have endeavored not to fill the work with too much statistical matter, such as may easily be obtained in the annual town report, but rather have deemed it wise to describe more fully than many town histories, the old families of the town that have made the history of Royalston one to be proud of. In this, we have not attempted to make what would be complete family genealogies, but have described those branches of the families that have been more or less connected with the town, or have attained prominence or distinction in the various communities in which they have made their homes, scattered in all parts of the Union and in foreign lands.

Another feature of this work, not common in town histories, is the chapter on <; Writers of Royalston Poetry." We believed that such a vivid description of the events of the Civil War as contained in Dr. Frank W. Adams' Epic Poem on the Civil War in America was worthy of a place in this history, while the town that claims Nancy Priest, the gifted author of ' Over the River," surely should give her a place in the annals of the town. The Red Letter Days of Royalston History will recall the celebration of important events in the history of the town. The military history has been most carefully written, and ably presented by Hon. Fred W, Cross in the chapter en-

Iv History Of Royalston

The first chapters of the work treat of the early settlers, incorporation of the town, town government, and of Col. Isaac Royall, who named the town. It seemed appropriate that South Royalston, occupying one corner of the town, should have its families, industries, churches and organizations treated as a village or community, instead of being scattered through the pages of the history, and this has been so arranged.

The early records of the town do not contain many exciting and dramatic events, with no Indian traditions, and as Governor Bullock said, " A church without a schism i-n a century ; a ministry that never knew how to quarrel and a people that have walked in the paths of unambitious duty," the life and activities of those early generations was so peaceful and regular that the history of those days is comparatively tame to that of many towns.

We have been indebted to the Royalston Memorial, published in 1865, for much valuable information, which was gathered by your historical committee of half a century ago, at the time of the Centennial Anniversary, one member of which, the late Daniel Davis, assisted us in obtaining material for some of the family histories. We have also been reminded during the years of collecting material, of the fact that each passing year destroys or renders less available historic matter of interest and value, while every year has removed from the scene of life's activities men and women whose memories were treasure houses of historic facts.

In compiling the material contained in this work the writer has received valuable assistance from many sources. The town records and annual reports of the town have kindly been placed at our disposal by Town Clerk Dr. Frank W. Adams, and we have availed ourselves freely of the files of the Athol and Worcester West Chronicle, Athol Transcript, Barre Gazette and Fitchburg Sentinel. The archives and State Library at the State House in Boston have been consulted, while various town histories and family genealogies contained in the libraries of the American Antiquarian Society at Worcester, Worcester Public Library and the Fitchburg and

History Of Royalston V.

Athol public libraries have furnished us with much valuable material. Also members of many of the old Royalston families have gladly aided us in the preparation of the family histories which we have presented.

We would like to have given a complete list of the individuals who have aided us in our work, but do not feel at liberty to give the space it would occupy. To all such we extend our sincere* thanks. Our relations with the Town Committee, who have charge of this work, have been pleasant all through the years we have been engaged in our labor, and they have rendered us much valuable assistance. The work involved in securing the originals of the portraits and illustrations which appear in the history has been great, but we believe they add much to the value of the work. The half-tone plates, from \vhich the portraits and illustrations are printed, are the work of the Howard-Wesson Company of Worcester.

We had hoped at one time that the History would have been ready for the 150th Anniversary, but found that it would be impossible to do so and do justice to the book. This History will therefore contain two Anniversary Celebrations, the Centennial and the Sesqui-Centennial, with much other valuable material that could not have been included in the book had it been published at that time.

Ulley B. Caswell Report Of The Town Committee

The celebration of the Centennial Anniversary of the Town of Royalston with Hon. Alexander H. Bullock - - three months later elected Governor of the Commonwealth - as orator of the day was an occasion which inspired our citizens with so much local pride and created such genuine historic interest that there was an immediate popular demand for the publication of a History of the Town.

Accordingly, at a Town Meeting called in the following September, a series of Resolutions were adopted covering this matter, one of which was framed as follows: 'Resolved, that the history proposed should be compressed in an octavo volume of from 150 to 200 pages bound in a neat and substantial but not expensive binding, and that the copies printed should not exceed 500."

But if the good fathers of that period had taken time for a more extended research in the field there opened up so richly before them and had afforded more abundant space in that volume for the mass of ' varied and important matter ' which could not possibly be compressed into an ' octavo of 200 pages ' they would have won additional appreciation from a grateful posterity.

The need of a more complete and accurate History of Royalston has for many years been recognized, and as one after another of our older citizens whose memories were stored with historic facts of value have passed away, the insistence for a new History of the Town became more pronounced.

On March 6, 1911, the Town voted "To raise and appropriate the sum of five hundred dollars for the purpose of preparing and publishing a History of the Town of Royalston. Chose Dr. Frank W. Adams, Charles H. Brown, William H. Leathe, Fred \Y. Cross and Colin MacKenzie, Committee to have charge of the wrork."

1 he work of compiling and writing the History was given by the Committee to Mr Lilley B. Caswell of Athol, whose acquaintance with Royalston and her people was intimate and who had already achieved a creditable success as Historian of the Town of Athol. The writing of the Military History of the Town, however, wras given to Hon. Fred W. Cross, whose researches into the causes and events of the Civil War had been a life work and whose interest in Military History in general had been phenomenal.

On March 2, 1914, as the work seemed nearing completion, the Town voted ' To raise five hundred dollars toward printing and binding the History of the Town of Royalston, and that permission be hereby granted to any individual or group of individuals to furnish the additional amount required for the purpose, with the distinct understanding that any such volunteer contributors shall be reimbursed from the proceeds of the sales of the book."

There has been some delay in publishing the work, but there is no legal process by which persons in possession of valuable historic information can be made to resign it, and we think, on the other hand, the reader will admit that the history is richer because patience has been allowed to have her perfect work.