Uxbridge Town (part 3 of 4)

In 1834, Jerry Wheelock, who, up to this time had made jaeks and other woolen machinery, found it impossible to compete with the large capital of the Worcester machinists and gave up the building of machinery. He turned his machine shop, which was in the old Day mill, into a woolen yarn factory, under the firm of J. Wheelock and Son. In 1837, they hired room and power at the Uxbridge Woolen mill, and doubled their machinery. In 1840, they bought one-half of the Luke Taft mill, taking into the business S. M. Wheelock, making the firm J. Wheelock and Sons. After the purchase of one-half of this mill, in 1840, by J. Wheelock and Son, the other half was run by Moses Taft till he sold out to C. A. and S. M. Wheelock, in 1846. The mill formerly standing on this spot, owned by Luke Taft, had been burned, in the winter of 1837 and '38, but was immediately re-built and improved machinery introduced.

The Uxbridge Woolen Manufacturing Company was an incorporated company, receiving its charter in the winter of 1826 and '27. The original members of the company, were Amariah Chapin, Royal Chapin, Dr. George Willard, John and Orsmus Taft. These men were all relatives, and owners of the land on which the mill and most of the other necessary buildings, and tenements for the employés, would stand, and of the most of the land through which the canal to convey the water to the mill would run. The Messrs. Chapin were merchants and active business men, father and son. The Messrs. Taft were brothers, both of them were manufacturers, and had been more or less engaged in the manufacture of woolen goods for several years.

The first weavers employed by Daniel Day, I think were Irish by birth, and had all the virtues and all the vices of Irishmen. These habits would make it desirable that one should have more reliable persons as operatives, in order to carry on manufacturing successfully, or, in fact, any other business, and therefore Orsmus Taft, a young man, and a neighbor of Mr. Day, accepted an offer to go into the mill to work at what was considered, by some of his friends and the Irishmen, rather low wages. But he thought, 'let those laugh who win ;" and in about a year he had charge of the weaving, and now Yankees generally took the places of the Irish.

In the autumn of 1837, Orsmus Taft and Samuel Smith sold the shares they held in the stock of the Uxbridge Woolen company, to Edward Seagrave and Lyman Copland. Royal Chapin gave up the agency of the mill to Seagrave, and in a short time sold his shares. I do not remember how Amariah Chapin's stock was disposed of; but on the failure of Dr. Willard, his stock was sold at auction, to settle his estate, about the year 1842 or '43, and brought the vast sum of forty-five dollars for that which had cost him four thousand five hundred dollars - nine shares. We see in this an instance of the ill-fortune which attended manufacturers as the business had thus far been developed. Cassimeres were at first manufactured at this mill, afterwards satinets, and in 1844, it again changed mill. Mr. Copland gave up the superintendence of the Uxbridge Woolen mill in 1844, and was succeeded by J. W. Day, for some three or four years, when the manufacturing business was practically given up by the corporation, and the mill was operated for about ten years by Messrs. M. D. F. Steere and Josiah Seagrave, not however without reverses and heavy losses. The mill was enlarged about the year 1850, and the machinery increased to twelve sets of cassimere machinery, with about fifty looms, most of them the Crompton fancy loom. In February, 1852, the mill was again destroyed by fire. It was immediately re-built and filled with the most improved cassimere machinery then known. In 1854, Mr. Seagrave became pecuniarily embarrassed, and Mr. Carnoe took his place. The firm was now Steere and Carnoe for two or three years, when Mr. Seagrave resumed his place in the mill. He was, however, unable to withstand the crisis of 1857, and, although he made an earnest effort to go on again, it was in vain, - everything seemed to turn against him. Mr. Steere received an offer, in the winter 'of 1857, to take charge of the Salisbury mills, which he accepted, and left Uxbridge.

In February, 1859, the finishing mill and dye-house were destroyed by fire. This was another serious blow to one so harassed and perplexed, and although Mr. Seagrave succeeded in re-building, by means of the insurance, he was unable to continue the business and soon after died. The property passed into the hands of Messrs. J. C. Howe and Co., of Boston, and after standing idle a year or more, was

I., who took it just in time to receive the advantages the war gave to manufacturers. About 1868, Mr. Davis sold the mill to Messrs. R. and J. Taft, who made very extensive repairs, additions and improvements ; and after running the mill two or three years, they re-sold it to Mr. Davis, who still owns it and has run eight or nine sets of machinery a part of the time since he re-bought it. This mill has been avery costly one for its owners, being several times burned. Three mills, three barns, two dwelling-houses, and two dryhouses, have been destroyed by fire, besides numerous smaller losses in the same way.

The old Day mill, the first mill built in town, was burnt in 1844, and was re-built in the course of a year or two. On being re-built, J. W. Day, son of Joseph Day, having left the Uxbridge Woolen mill, ran it for four or five years. "In 1844, J. Wheelock and Sons put in looms, and put onehalf of their yarn machinery into the manufacture of plaid flannels. In 1846, Charles A. and Silas M. Wheelock bought of Moses Taft, the part of the mill owned by him, and Jerry Wheelock retiring from business, the firm of C. A. and S. M. Wheelock was formed. They continued to manufacture satinets and plaids till 1852, when they made alterations and additions to their mill, and put in additional machinery and fancy looms, but did not begin the manufacture of cassimeres solely, until 1855. In 1854, a steam engine was put into the mill as auxilliary to the water power, the first engine set up in this town for manufacturing purposes. In 1859, additional machinery was put into the mill. In 1872, additional buildings were put operating jacks and mules, in place of hand-jacks, - these self-operating machines having recently come into successful use. At this time this mill is equipped with five full sets of fancy cassimere machinery.

After selling his share of this mill to C. A. and S. M. Wheelock, Moses Taft left manufacturing till the winter of 1846 and '47, when he hired a mill in Burrillville, and with Samuel W. Scott, who had been in his employment for several years, again went into the manufacture of satinets, which he continued till the winter of 1849 and '50, when this mill was burned. The next year, in company with J. W. Day, whose name has been mentioned in connection with the Uxbridge Woolen mill, under the firm of Taft and Day, he hired the Capron mill and continued the same business for some years, when Dea. William C. Capron was admitted to the firm, making it Taft, Day and Co. This firm was shortly changed to Taft and Capron, by the withdrawal of J. W. Day, and so continued till about 1862, when Messrs. R. and J. Taft, who had long been in business as merchants, bought them out and continued the business until after the close of the war, when their lease expired. Messrs. Henry and Charles C. Capron took the mill for a few years. On the withdrawal of Charles C. Capron, William E. Hayward entered into copartnership with Henry Capron, and the mill has since been run by Capron and Hayward.

After the burning of the mill run by Moses Taft in Burrillville, he took measures to secure the water rights and land for what is now known as the Central mill, bought the foundation for the mill in the autumn of 1852. It was completed the next year and leased to Israel M. Southwick and Richard Sayles, under the name of Southwick and Sayles, who continued to run the mill till 1859, when they sold out their lease to Bradford, Taft & Co., of Providence, R. I., Mr. Sayles continuing to superintend the mill till his health failed some time in 1862 or '63. Daniel W. Taft then took the superintendency of the mill, and continued so until he took the lease in his own name, in 1869. Messrs. R. and J. Taft bought the mill property of Moses Taft about 1865, and made extensive additions to the power in 1866, by building a new dam, and in 1875, they made an addition to the mill and built a new dye-house, making the mill suitable for ten sets of machinery for making fancy cassimeres - fancy cassimeres having always been made in this mill. They had put in an eighty-horse power steam engine, some two years previous to this time, to supply power while making repairs, which had become necessary on account of the breaking of their dam. They have now ample power in the dryest season.

After the burning of the factory in Burrillville, in the winter of 1849 and '50, Samuel W. Scott returned to Uxbridge, and the next year took a lease of the Day mill and ran it by the yard, and has run it on contract, and on his own account, up to the present time. He bought the mill and farm about 1859 or '60. It was burnt in the summer of 1878, and immediately re-built in an enlarged and greatly improved manner, with first-class machinery in every respect, for making satinets, which has always been the fabric made here. The mill has three sets of cards, forty- eight inches wide, three self-operating mules and twenty-six looms. It is run by J. R. Scott and Co., Samuel W. Scott superintending the mill.

After selling the lease of the Central mill to Bradford, Taft and Co., Israel M. Southwick continued to make the repairs at that mill, as he had previously done when in company with R. Sayles, until about 1865 or '66, when again, in company with R. Sayles, they bought the old Rivulet mill, enlarged it to more than twice its former size, put in steam-power and fitted it up to receive machinery. Mr. Southwick then sold his right to Zadok A. Taft. Messrs. Sayles and Taft then put in machinery and leased it to parties from Providence, for making knitting yarn, and it was run on this work till it was burned, in the fall of 1873. It was re-built the next year in a much improved manner. At first cotton machinery was put in, but it soon gave place to woolen machinery, with which Mr. Sayles was well acquainted. It has four complete sets of satinet machinery, with self-operating mules.

About the year 1834, Alvin Cook purchased a small building on the Emerson Brook, which was originally built for a cabinetmaker's shop. He greatly enlarged it and put in woolen cards, spinning machines and looms, but no finishing machinery. He ran the machinery by the yard, for Effingham L. Capron, who was then running the Capron mill, making satinets. He was obliged to succumb to the financial pressure of 1837, and was never again engaged in manufacturing. From 1837 to the present year, 1879, with the exception of a year or two, when the property was used for the manufacture of satinet warps, and perhaps for some mechanical purposes, the mill has been unoccupied. It has lately been purchased by D. M. Lee, repaired and fitted up for a shoddy mill.

The Ironstone Mill, after the failure of Fairbanks and Messenger, passed through various hands. It was burnt, and after laying idle for several years has, within the last year, passed into the hands of Abijah Esten, and has been re-built for a shoddy mill.

Some five or six years ago, Zadok A. Taft bought a farm through which runs the Emerson Brook, at what was formerly known as the Leonard Taft mills. These mills had fallen into decay. Mr. Taft erected a mill into which he at first put machinery for making cotton warps. This machinery has been removed, and the mill enlarged with the design of leasing it for a satinet mill. It has never been occupied as such, and is now used in making shoddy.

This closes the account of the woolen business in Uxbridge. It remains to speak of the cotton manufacturing, of which nothing has been said, except incidentally, and in connection with the manufacture of satinets.

It has been noticed, that preparation for the manufacture of cotton in this town was begun by Ebenezer (?) Clapp. The building is now standing nearly opposite the boardinghouse at the Uxbridge Cotton mills, and is used for a tenement house. I think that nothing but yarn was ever made in it. How long Mr. Clapp continued to run the mill, I do not know; but I have been told, that about 1817 or 718, a Mr. Seaver came from Boston and took charge of it for Robert Rogerson. However this may be, Mr. Rogerson soon after bought the mill and power, together with the land for tenements, and improved the power to about double its original amount, by raising the -dam and banks of the trench, thus increasing the fall, and in 1823, he built the West Stone mill, which was a model mill in every respect. The machinery -was chiefly made on the premises, and under the direction of Learned Scott, of Cumberland, R. I., I believe, who also made the plans of the new mill and superintended its erection. The machinery was built in the best possible manner and regardless of cost, and the goods made at this mill were as fine and as perfect as any then made in this country.

The East mill was built in 1827, in the same style of perfection as the West, and with such improvements as four years experience had shown to be desirable.

Mr. Rogerson was a man of great public spirit. He built the hall in which the Baptist Society worship, and by him it was '* dedicated to Christian worship without regard to sect," - the Rev. Samuel Clarke, then pastor of the First Congregational Society in Uxbridge, preaching the dedication sermon. The hall was at first occupied by the Methodists, afterwards by the Baptists, then again by the Methodists, and for the last thirty years or more by the Baptists.

In 1885 or '36, Mr. Rogerson bore one-third of the expense of building the arched bridge in the village, over the Mumford River, also the retaining walls and grading the road made necessary by building the bridge. Of course,

Financial crashes, like that of 1837, have little regard for these characteristics, or any other good quality, unless it is largely combined with prudence. This was not Mr. Rogerson's character, and the storm that struck him took from him all he had; and he, who a few years before could reckon his property by hundreds of thousands, went forth penniless, never to recover from his misfortunes. I never visit this village without a feeling of sadness, to which I feel incapable of giving expression, as I think of the business fate of this worthy man.

The property now passed into the hands of mortgagees. A new corporation was formed, called the «' Uxbridge Cotton Mills," and they were run under this name till 1850, when they were sold to the Messrs. Whitin, of Northbridge, who built an addition of brick, uniting the two stone mills in 1851, making the mill about three hundred and twenty feet long and three stories high, with attics and basements to the stone mills. New and improved machinery was put into the mill, and everything was done to make it a first-class mill of about ten thousand spindles. It continued to be operated by the Messrs. Whitin, Charles E. Whitin being superintendent, until the division of the Whitin estate, when it passed to the youngest brother, James F. Whitin, who now owns it. It is under the superintendence of George Whitin. This is the only cotton mill in town, or ever has been, - with the exception of the small one at Ironstone, built in 1814, and those that

In looking over what I have written, I notice the omission of the change made on the dissolution of the firm of H. and C. C. Capron. A new dye-house having been built for the better accommodation of the works, C. C. Capron took the old brick dye-house, which was also a stock-house, and thoroughly repaired it, and put in a water-wheel and machinery for the manufacture of shoddy. The mill was burned a few years afterwards, but immediately re-built, much enlarged and improved, and is now one of the best mills for the manufacture of shoddy in the country.

In concluding my account of the Manufactures of Uxbridge, I think it may be well to make a statement of the improvements made in woolen machinery since 1810.

The first improvement was the revolving shear-blade, by William Hovey; the next, the bobbin-winder, which had but a short life; then the napping machine and gigs, in place of the hand-jacks, for raismg the nap on woolens ; then the power satinet looms in place of the hand-looms (the power-loom for cotton weaving was first put into operation in this country in Waltham, Mass., in 1816); the Goulding improvement for carding and spinning, by which young children were generally thrown out of employment in woolen mills, and the number of other operatives in carding and spinning was reduced to nearly, or quite, one-half the number previously required. Next came the dressing of woolen warps by power, and at about the same time a power brushing machine was introduced for removing dust and smoothing down the nap, after the cloth had passed through operations, and before it was put into

This was followed by a greater perfection in the construction of woolen machinery, and improvements in the Goulding machinery, whereby an increase in the size of machinery and the speed with which it could be run were made. desirable and possible. Looms for weaving fancy woolens' were then introduced, particularly the loom patented by William Crompton, with improvements in finishing machinery, especially in the shearing machine, by which the amount of work was increased and better done ; - this improvement consisting of an increase in the number of blades in the revolver. Then came the rotary fulling mill, the renewal of the Crompton patent, and the improvement made on the loom by his son George; the James Greenhalgh improvement on the fancy loom, by which the warp was operated with greater ease than before, and enabling the manufacturer to use a finer warp when it was desirable to do so; the continuous and self-saving list shearing machine of Parks and Woolson, and other makers; the double-acting gig; the self-operating mule, reducing the number of spinners one-half; the double cylinder, or Guessner gig, and the Knowles fancy loom. There have also been great improvements made in every kind of powerloom, enabling the manufacturer to increase the speed of the satinet loom from eighty-five to one hundred and twentyfive picks per minute, and the cotton loom, from ninety to one kundred and eighty picks per minute.

Notwithstanding all these improvements, and the decrease of the cost of manufacturing, the operatives in the woolen mills now earn more per day than they did in 1824. I have in 1846, the ''burring machine," applied to the first breaker of the carding, which has done for burry and dirty wool, what the cotton gin has done for cotton: also the '¢burr picker," used to rid the wool of burrs and open it better, before it comes to the cards. 'There have been other improvements made, such as the shoddy picker, the flock cutting machines, and wool scouring machines.

The improvements in cotton machinery have been so great, that for a man to take a mill, fitted up in the best manner of twenty years ago, and attempt to run it in competition with one properly fitted up to-day, would be his certain financial ruin.

As an Illustration of the quality of the young ladies of the town, and as containing important facts, many of which were new to me, I take the liberty to print a composition written by a young lady of Uxbridge, thirteen years old at the time when it was written, March 20th, 1832, and which

Uxbridge is a small and pleasant town, situated in the southern part of Worcester county, upon the Blackstone river. It is bounded on the north by Northbridge and Upton, on the east by Mendon, south by Smithfield, and west by Douglas. It is five and a half miles in length, four and a half in breadth, and twenty-two miles in circumference ; containing 15,616 acres of land, of which 1,097 are appropriated to tillage, 1,924 to upland mowing, 1,178 to meadow mowing, 4,612 to pasturage, 352 to roads, 315 covered with water, about 4,000 with forest woods, 1,962 unimproved; and the remainder, which equals 136 acres, is so barren as to be unimprovable.

eastern part of the town and unites with the Providence river about one mile below Providence. The Mumford is next in size; it issues from Badluck pond in Douglas and Manchaug pond in Sutton, takes a south-easterly course and empties into the Blackstone river about half a mile from the centre of the town. The West river issues from a pond in Upton, runs a south-easterly course and unites with the Blackstone about one-fourth of a mile from the mouth of the Mumford.

The canal, which passes through the eastern part of the town, derives its name from the Blackstone river; it is forty-five miles in length, and connects Worcester with Providence. There are no less than forty-two locks upon the whole canal, four of which are in this town.

The othér bodies of water in the town are Shokalog and Pout ponds, the former of which is in the south-western part of the town, and is about one-fourth of a mile in width and one-half in length, and one mile in circumference. The latter is about one-quarter of a mile east of the church, and is comparatively small.

The principal hills are Goat hill, Wolf hill, Watchusecic hill, Liberty hill, and one which is situated near the centre of the town, called Fair-Mount, though not generally known by any particular name. Goat hill, so-called from the number of goats which ranged upon it before the settlement of the town, is in the north-eastern part of the town.

Appendix Xiv

Wolf hill is nearly opposite Goat hill; it derives its name from the circumstance that wolves formerly inhabited it. Watchusecic hill is in the western part of the town, and the boundary line between Douglas and Uxbridge passes directly over its summit. Liberty hill, over which there is a road, is in the centre of the town; from it you have a fine view of the manufactories owned by Robert Rogerson of Boston.

Though we find many hills in Uxbridge and its vicinity, yet they are not diversified as is generally the case with valleys, yet the eye rests with pleasure upon the fertile valley through which the Blackstone and its tributary streams wind their way. 'This valley is from one to three-quarters of a mile wide. The banks of the Blackstone are skirted with elms, walnuts, willows, and other kinds of trees, which are not unfrequently twined with the grape-vine, the fruit of which is very delicious.

There are a number of forests in the town, but the only dense ones are in the south-eastern part. The kinds of wood which are most abundant are chestnut and oak. There are two beautiful groves of pine in the southern part of the town, and one of birch in the eastern part.

The minerals in the town are stone and iron. The principal quarry of stone is near Rogerson's village, it consists of Gneissoid, and a great deal of it is used in building. In the south-western part of the town, there is an iron mine, from which considerable quantities were formerly taken. There is also a mineral spring impregnated with iron, near the centre of the town. The number of buildings in Uxbridge is about four hundred and eighty; one bank, two churches, one female seminary, the upper part of which is a Masonic hall, two hundred and forty-five dwelling-houses, twelve school-houses, one hundred and ninety-five barns, five stores, three grist-mills and six saw-mills. The capital of the bank is about one hundred thousand dollars.

Uxbridge is celebrated for its manufactories, of which there are seven, four of which are surrounded by villages. The largest village is owned by Robert Rogerson; it is in the north-eastern part of the town; in it are two factories in which cotton cloth of a very superior quality is made. The factories are built of a kind of stone called Gneissoid ; they are situated on opposite sides of the Mumford, and are connected by an arched bridge, which adds much to the picturesque scenery of the place. The dwelling-houses are built of brick, and are one story and a half high, with the exception of three, which are two. In these factories they run 6,680 spindles, 144 looms, employ 120 persons, and weave 11,500 yards of cloth weekly.

Capron's village is in the centre of the town. The factory is built of wood, excepting the lower part, which is of brick, and the houses are constructed of wood. In this factory satinets are made, and 384 cotton spindles are used for making satinet warps, and 600 for woolen, twenty looms are used and sixty persons are employed. The factory eastern part of the town, and it is built of brick, and the houses which surround it are of wood. Kerseymeres and satinets were both formerly made, but at present the manufacture of the latter only is attended to.

The other factories are small and are owned by Clark Taft, Luke Taft and Joseph Day. The two latter are situated on West River in the eastern part of the town, the former upon Stony Brook in the western. These three are devoted to the manufacture of satinets. In all of the woolen factories, 2,500 spindles and 100 looms are used. In the cotton factories 10,000 spindles and 2,000 looms. In the year 1830, there were 2,500 yards of cloth made daily. Besides the factories for making cloth there are others at which organs, shuttles, hats and splints are made.

The whole population of Uxbridge is 2,036, of which about one-third are employed in manufactures. Though this employment so much engrosses the time and attention of the inhabitants, yet education is not neglected. The town is divided into twelve school districts, in each of which there is a committee of three chosen to select a teacher and attend to the affairs of the school, which is continued during the winter. There is also a committee of five chosen by the town for visiting and examining the schools.

The average number of scholars in each district is fifty, making the whole number that attend the public schools six hundred. Six hundred dollars are raised annually for the support of schools.

the Uxbridge Social Library, which contains from two to three hundred volumes; some of which are Scott's novels, others histories, and others the periodicals of the day.

The population of Uxbridge, as is generally the case with any town, is made up of a mixed number, but most of them are intelligent, enterprising and industrious. Their principal employments are agriculture and manufactures.

Appendix Xv

Uxbridge, for many years, has in various ways felt, and | always for good, the influence of the Capron family. We cannot, of course, speak in detail of all the members of it. We limit our notice to these four members: John Willard Capron, commonly called Col. Capron ; - his next younger brother, William Cargill, always known as the Deacon ; - and the two sons, William Banfield, and Samuel Mills : all now dead.

JoHN WILLARD Capron was born in Uxbridge, February 14th, 1797. With the exception of a short time that he spent in Leicester Academy, he was educated in the public schools of this town. He married, January 4th, 1820, Abigail M. Read, who died May 22d, 1828: and October 30th, 1831, he married Catharine B. Messenger. She is now living, and several of their children.

After Col. Capron left school, he, and his brothers Eftingham L. and William, were admitted to a partnership with their father, John Capron, in manufacturing ; - their manufactory was the store now occupied by Hayward and Taft. For ten years he was connected with a military organization, and in 1825, he was made Colonel of Infantry. A number of years, beginning with 1827, he was postmaster of the

Besides these official relations, he was long and intimately connected with the affairs of the town; being chosen for many consecutive years, to fill the office of Chairman of the Board of Selectmen. Colonel Capron was one in whom the people of the town placed the most implicit confidence. He was universally respected and trusted. He was not a social man, in the popular sense of that phrase, being rather silent and reserved; and yet he was by no means a repelling man. There was a quiet cheerfulness about him which rendered him a very pleasant man to meet. Much property came into his hands in his frequent administration of trusts, and no one could be more scrupulously honest than he. Colonel Capron was emphatically a good townsman ; large-hearted, public-minded - and he leaves behind him an unblemished reputation. He died December 25th, 1878, and on the 28th was buried from the Evangelical Congregational Church.

'¢The whole life of this excellent man was spent in Uxbridge - his native town. It was a life of no ostentation, no aspiration for office and honor among the people, no panting after popular favor in any way. Office and honor came, for there was worth to care for them, and therefore fitness for them. His intelligence, his constant acquaintance with a choice library, his vigorous support of all religious institutions, his natural good judgment and common sense, could not fail, and did not, to give him an eminent place in the esteem of all his fellow-citizens. He identified himself specially with the best interests of the young, by a faithful service of forty-four years as teacher and superintendent in the Sunday school. In christian character, he was a tower of strength to the church. His piety was not impulsive, never developed in rash enthusiasm. It was founded on a large acquaintance with the great doctrines of the Word of God, calm, thoughtful, unswerving; largely developed igto a lively interest, not only in the best welfare of his own community, but it flowed forth in the most tender and active sympathy with all his race."

Mr. Capron was born in this town, August 11th, 1799. He married Miss Chloe Day, October 29th, 1821, and died February 6th, 1875, leaving a widow-and two children.

Wiiu14M BanFieLp Capron, son of Dea. William Cargill and Chloe Day Capron, was born April 10th, 1824. He joined the Evangelical Congregational Church in Uxbridge, when he was thirteen years old. He was fitted for college at Andover, and was graduated from Yale college in 1846. For six years he was principal of the Hopkins Grammar School, in Hartford, Connecticut, and while here he was very actively engaged in the Sabbath school and, City mission work. Under a strong sense of duty he devoted himself to missionary work in foreign lands, in 1852 ; and having conditionally promised that he would enter that field of labor, he became a member of the Theological Seminary in Andover, and was graduated in 1856. He was ordained as an evangelist in Uxbridge, September 3, 1856, and was appointed to the Madura Mission. He married in November a daughter of Rey. Dr. H. B. Hooker, and sailed for Madras, and remained in India sixteen years. He visited

After his death, an associate worker wrote of Mr. Capron's thorough-going habits and exactness. He also spoke of his habits of searching investigation, his minute forecasting of all details, his sound judgment, his generous ideas of missionary work, his fair-mindedness, his kindness in dealings with his brethren, his caution in forming his opinions, but not wedded to custom, nor afraid of innova~ tion when changes were proposed. Mr. Capron was very modest in his estimate of himself, and uncomplaining. He did a solid work in his mission, which he repeatedly refused to leave, though other fields were offered him. His kindness was always practical, and to his mission he bequeathed the memory of a pure and saintly life.

SaMuEL Minzs Capron, brother of William Banfield, was born in Uxbridge, May 15th, 1832. The religious element prominent in him through life, was the marked characteristic of his early childhood. The time of his conversion and consecration to God, he ever referred to the period when he was a member of Phillips Academy at Andover, - in the last year of his preparation for college. He made a public profession of his faith by joining the Evangelical Congregational Church in Uxbridge, in September, 1849, and the same autumn he entered Yale college. During his junior year, he was occupied several evenings in the week in Mr. Russell's school; and here he laid the foundation of his after eminent success as a teacher. He decided not to be a minister, but says of teaching: 'I like that profession very well so far, and think I could do tolerably well in it." In the autumn of 1853, he became master of the Hopkins Grammar school in Hartford, Connecticut, immediately succeeding his brother William, and here he remained ten years. In November, 1854, he married Eunice M. Chapin. In September, 1863, he went to Europe, where he spent about fourteen months. He was now inclined to give up teaching and enter upon manufacturing, and so resigned his school. His resignation was not accepted, and he was waited upon by the Hartford committee and offered the place of Principal of the High School, at nearly double his former salary; accepting it, he returned to Hartford in April, 1865. With three of his pupils, he spent the summer of 1871 in Great Britain. About the first of December, 1873, while out one evening with his class star-gazing, he took a severe cold, which proved fatal, his health at this time being somewhat delicate. When told that his disease was pneumonia, he said, with sure knowledge of himself, ''T know I shall not live." He died in Hartford, January Ath, 1874, and his death was there regarded as a public calamity.

Mr. Capron was eminent as a teacher, a man and a christian. The qualities which pertain to the true idea of manhood, seem to have been united in him, and submissively we cannot but ask, when thinking of his early death, why could not one, who did bless, and would have been a blessing in the world, be longer spared to it? The public and private tributes paid to his memory were very tender and very honorable; and the town where he was born and grew up may well be proud of him. His body lies in

Appendix Xvi

The address of Judge Taft, at the gathering of the Taft family in 1874, leaves little for the writer of the present sketch to do, except to make extracts from it relating to the Uxbridge branches of the family.

The town records bear almost unbroken witness to the intimate and various relations of the family to the town from the beginning of its history. The patriarch, Robert Taft of Mendon, settled each of his five sons, Thomas, Robert, Jr., Daniel, Joseph and Benjamin, on a farm, saw them all married and surrounded by a fast increasing family, before his death in 1725. Three of the five sons became residents of Uxbridge, - Robert, Jr., Joseph and Benjamin. Soon after the father's death, Robert, no longer '«junior," removed to Uxbridge, where he resided on the east side of the Blackstone, near the Uxbridge Woolen mill, ''having land on both sides of the river." <''Joseph and Benjamin, the two youngest sons, undoubtedly settled on the west side of the Blackstone, not far from the meetinghouse, Joseph owning and residing upon the farm now owned and occupied by his great-grandson, Zadok A. Taft, Esq. ; and Benjamin settled on the farm now owned and occupied by Mrs. Bezaleel Taft." We do not find that any of the numerous children of Thomas settled in Uxbridge, but Daniel conveyed to his son Josiah, ''by deed of gift, the farm on the west side of the Blackstone, afterwards held by Esq. Bezaleel, Josiah's son, and more recently by Mrs. Joseph Thayer, and which is still owned by the family." Of the forty-five grandchildren of the old man Robert, forty-one bore scripture names, and not one of them had the modern middle name. The family historian tells us, that the descendants of Robert, Jr., are ''strong in this region and numerous elsewhere," that in Uxbridge they are represented by '*Orsmus, Moses, Robert and Jacob," - and a host that he does not name. The founder of the family had a fancy for giving all his descendants a farm; but byand-by, when that could no longer be done, succeeding generations turned their attention to other enterprises, the natural facilities for which abound in Uxbridge, and became manufacturers. There is scarcely a mill within the limits of the town, that has not, at some time, been owned or occupied by a Taft. '* When we consider," says Judge Taft, '* the extent to which the name has become associated with the manufactures of the vicinity, and how much more widely the blood has extended than the name, we may conclude that the great factories of this section of the Blackstone valley are almost a family concern."

If the descendants of Robert were distinguished as manufacturers, from the household of Daniel there has already come three generations of lawyers: Bezaleel Taft - senior and junior - and George Spring Taft; and no great gift of prophecy is needed to predict that ere many years. the fourth generation may be admitted to the bar. So fond of lawyer's wife. Among the '' honorable women not a few," who have joined their names and fortunes to the Taft family, mention should be made of the wife of Josiah, the son of Daniel. The days of her widowhood were times of serious trouble for the colonies. Her husband died in 1756. The French and Indian war was at hand; the Revolution not far distant. A requisition was made upon the town of Uxbridge for a certain sum of money for colonial purposes. A meeting of the legal voters was held to see if the money should be granted. The estate of Josiah Taft paid the largest tax in Uxbridge, and his son Bezaleel was a minor; but with a sturdy sense of justice that there should be '' no taxation without representation," the citizens declared that the widow Josiah Taft should vote upon the question. She did so, and her vote was the one that decided in the affirmative that the money should be paid. Who wonders that her son was a man who had _ the unbounded confidence of his townsmen, and served them in various offices of honor and trust for forty years! Uxbridge may yet be famous as the pioneer in the cause of woman's suffrage.

The descendants of Joseph are widely scattered, but the homestead, '* which he was the first to clear and improve, where he spent his whole active life, and where he died, is held by his great-grandson." '*Captain" Joseph gave to each of his sons, Moses, Peter, Joseph and Aaron, farms, and some of these have never passed from the family. We mentioned among them, lawyers, doctors, deacons, teachers and farmers ; and they appear to have had great popularity as law-makers. '' Joseph," says his descendant, the historian from whom we so often quote, ''has been represented in the legislature of Massachusetts, of Vermont, of Michigan, of Ohio, and of Iowa.

Like the patriarch of old, the patriarch Robert, of Mendon, named his youngest son Benjamin. Like his father and brothers, Benjamin loved to own broad acres, and his possessions in the south-western part of Uxbridge were so extensive, that after settling all his children on farms, he left twelve hundred goodly acres to'be divided among them after his death. Benjamin, of the five brothers, had the smallest family - but his descendants have settled in several of the States of the Union, and have brought honor to the name. Like the children of Robert, Jr., they have given the name of Taftville to a town which their enterprise has done much towards building up.

The family tree, with Robert as its sturdy trunk, grew, sent forth branches, twigs and leaves, quite overshadowing the town of Uxbridge, spreading itself towards the northern hills, the western prairies, and the sunny south. When the invitation was given in 1874, for the family to gather in friendly meeting, a host responded. They came, according to the printed list before the writer, from twelve different States of the Union. They came from the pulpit, the bench, the bar, and the teacher's desk; the doctor left his patients, the farmer his scythe, the tradesman his customers, the mechanic his workshop, and the manufacturer

To speak of all the Taft family has been in Uxbridge is quite impossible in the limits of this note. The sons of Robert built the first bridge over the Blackstone river ; they helped to build the first meeting-house, and every succeeding one, in Uxbridge. Daniel Taft, in 1732, gave the land for the first burying-ground; Samuel Taft entertained the first President of the United States, and Orsmus was the first Yankee who learned to weave satinet. They have served their native State and Worcester county in many capacities, and Uxbridge in almost every one, - as lawyers, selectmen, town-clerks, representatives to general court, as teachers and doctors ; have cared for the old and unfortunate as overseers of the poor, and for the young as school committees; have wrought as mechanics of every kind, cultivated the land, engaged largely in manufactures ; have been bank presidents and treasurers, and traders of many kinds. One position they never seem to have filled in this town. We do not know that any descendant of Robert Taft of Mendon has ever served as a minister of the gospel in Uxbridge, though we find them in many other places laboring in this vocation.

Appendix Xvii

The Act of the General Court that made Uxbridge an incorporated town, dated June 27, 1727, and published July 12th, required, not only that there should be maintained public worship, but also required to be maintained '¢a school-master to instruct their youth in writing and reading." The schools in Uxbridge to-day rest upon this foundation.

The first vote of the town with regard to schools is this: January 28th, 1729, voted, ''that John Farnum, Robert Taft and Seth Aldrich, be a committee to treat with Mendon about our right in y® school lands which have been sold and what yet remains to be sold, in y® townships of Mendon and Uxbridge." January 22d, 1730, voted, '' that John Farnum, Robert Taft and Seth Hastings, be a standing committee, and should make a report to the town about * it - that is to say, of the school lands, - and they were empowered to treat with Mendon, and if the town of Mendon will let us enjoy the lands, sold and un-sold in Uxbridge, to agree with them about it." In 1730, November 20th, the towns chose two men, Joseph Taft and Seth Aldrich, to get advice about the right of Uxbridge to the lands set apart in Mendon, now Uxbridge, for schools and ministers. In 1731, May 14th, two more were added to this committee,

Joseph White and Ebenezer Reed ; and further, chose John Farnum, Robert Taft, Seth Aldrich, Ebenezer Reed and Joseph White, as a committee to petition the General Court to set off to the town of Uxbridge, its share of the ministerial and school lands in Mendon, which were in Uxbridge before the separation of the towns. In 1732, January 25th, voted to set up and keep a school in Uxbridge - and voted to have a school dame, the first seven or eight months proportionably ; and the selectmen were to appoint the place where the schools were to be kept and provide the school dame. In 1732, March 2d, the town voted, if Mendon will give Uxbridge two hundred pounds of the money the school lands sold for, for the schools of Uxbridge, with the interest of the bond now in the hands of Ebenezer Reed, which is a part of the two hundred pounds, we will accept of the same as our part of the school money. The town having reconsidered its vote, whereby a dame was to teach, now chose John Reed school-master, who was the first school-master. In 1732, April 4th, the town chose a committee to receive the money of the town of Mendon, which was voted the town of Uxbridge, and realized from the sale of the school lot some time since, and bring it in and keep it in profit for the use of the schools of Uxbridge. May 29th, voted to reconsider the vote whereby dames were chosen teachers, and voted also that the selectmen should keep up the schools the present year; and on November 29th, voted, to have a school-master for three months from the present time. In 1733, February 5th, the school money was placed in the hands of the treasurer.

board him, and to give him twenty pounds for his year's services. August 23d, voted to give James Emerson seven shillings a week for boarding teacher. January 7th, 1734, the town voted to pay twenty-five pounds for schooling, and Edmund Rawson was the teacher this year. The same year, we find mention made of school-districts, as '' squadrons," and each squadron had the liberty of choosing its teacher - a woman - and the selectmen were to approbate the teachers. In 1736, John Rawson was allowed fortyfive pounds for teaching school.

In 1736, the town received of the General Court a grant of five hundred acres of land which, in 1738, was sold to John Harwood for two hundred and fifty pounds. December 25th, Robert Taft was authorized to receive the money from Mr. Harwood, and the interest of the money was to be applied to the support of the schools. This grant, from some votes that afterwards appear in the records, must have been located in what is now the State of New Hampshire ; and it was not until 1741, that it was settled to whom this territory belonged, where this grant was located. In 1643, the County of Norfolk, of Massachusetts, included the towns of Salisbury, Hampton, Haverhill, Exeter, Dover and Strawberry Bank - now Portsmouth. The Patent of the Governor and Company of Massachusetts Bay, gave them the right to the land three miles north of the most northern part of the Merrimack River, on a line running westward from the Atlantic Ocean, - which would include much of what is now the territory of New Hampshire. This line was surveyed by Massachusetts in 1652. In 1641, the settlements of Exeter, Dover and Strawberry Bank voluntarily sought the protection of

Massachusetts, and remained under its protection until 1679, when Charles Il. made New Hampshire a royal province. In 1689, New Hampshire again came under the protection of Massachusetts, and the claim of jurisdiction was not settled until 1741, when New Hampshire became a separate province.

This bit of history I insert here, that it may be seen why the grant of land for school purposes was located in what is now the State of New Hampshire; and why, also, there was so much difficulty about the title to it. March 28th, 1753, the town voted to choose a committee to act upon the affair of it could not be procured, to see what will satisfy the purchasers, and make them easy in that affair." In 1756, it was voted to see if the town will apply for a new grant of land, in place of that given in 1736, '' and since taken by the Province of New Hampshire." In 1757, the town voted to raise eighty-five pounds nine shillings and ninepence to purchase the claim of Ebenezer Harwood, Solomon Wood and Josiah Chapin to this land; and in 1758, the town petitioned the General Court for a new grant of five hundred acres to make good the loss of the other.

For some twenty years previous to this time, the expenses of maintaining the schools seem to have been met from the income derived from this grant of land: because, I find no record of money raised for this purpose, for about this period; in 1756, the town again began to raise money for the schools.

of December, 1738, when the town voted to build a schoolhouse. Tradition says, the meeting-house was previously used for this purpose; but though it may have been used for this purpose in the summer, or warm months, it does not seem possible it could have been so used in the winter ; as the churches of that time were not heated - we must remember also the frequent use of the meeting-house for town purposes. In all probability the schools of the other parts of the town were kept in private houses.

In 1740, October 17th, the town voted to allow forty-four pounds thirteen shillings and threepence, for what had been done, and for what was to be done, to the schoolhouse. In August, 1741, the town voted not to raise any money for schools this year. In 1743, September 13th, widow Mary Aldrich was voted four pounds for teaching school eight weeks - teacher's wages were half a pound a week, about $1.67. The town chose a committee of three to see about the school funds, and in May, 1744, the town added four more to this committee. In 1744, September, the town chose a committee to receive the bonds of the school money, and should any one refuse to give up the bonds, to sue for them. January 20th, 1746, the school money was left in the hands of John Farnum and Joseph Taft for five years; and they were to pay twenty pounds a year interest for it. March 2d, 1753, voted to squadron out the school in places convenient, and chose a committee to do it. The town, in 1756, raised twenty-five pounds for schools and town charges. The town, in 1760, voted to divide the town into districts, and each district was money raised by them. A committee of five made their report upon this matter, and their report was adopted in 1761. The town by this report was divided into thirteen districts, and the children of specified families were to attend specified schools, and each district was to have a sum of money allotted it, in proportion to the number of scholars in that district. In 1762~63~64~65 - 66 - 67 and '68, sixty pounds a year were raised for schools. In August, 1762, it was voted that the selectmen shall assist Solomon Wood in looking up the papers to '' qualify him to pursue after the five-hundred-acre grant." The town, in 1765, voted to apply to the General Court for a new grant of five hundred acres of land for school purposes - and the same year voted a new school squadron. In 1768, the town chose a committee of three, Ezekiel Wood, Samuel Reed, and Thomas Rist, to manage the affair of the town with Esquire Harwood, relating to the five-hundred-acre grant. The town, in 1769, voted to sell the old school-house, if it could get what it was worth. It seems, that about this time the General Court had given the town a new tract of land; and this time of seven hundred and fifty acres; for in 1770, the town voted to '' pursue the laying out this land," and chose as a committee for the purpose, Capt. Ezekiel Wood and Samuel Aldrich, who were empowered ''to make search and lay out the grant where they think the town will derive the greatest benefit from it;" and they were also old school-house after it was pulled down ; - and this year raised forty pounds ; - in 1776, forty ; - in 1777, sixty ; - in 1778, one hundred and twenty ; - in 1779, three hundred pounds ; - we now see the effect of the depreciated currency. In 1779, at the October meeting, the town voted to sell its land in the western part of the State. This is probably the land given about 1770, by the General Court for school purposes, and laid out by the committee chosen in 1770; forty pounds were voted for schools in 1780 ; this was in the new emission of money. The article about schools in 1781 was dismissed from the warrant; in 1783 - 84, forty pounds were raised. In 1788, we find the first mention made of a grammar school; the town voted, *¢that three pounds thirteen shillings and sixpence, raised at the other meeting, should be applied to a grammar school the present year." In 1789, the town voted sixty pounds for schools; in 1791-92, it raised fifty pounds. In 1791, such changes as were found necessary were made in the location of school districts. In 1793-94, sixty pounds were raised for schools; and it was voted, that the Quakers should have their share of the school money; but in 1795, it was reconsidered. In 1796, eighty pounds were raised, and a committee of nine was chosen to change the districts for schooling and highway purposes. By this vote, the town was divided into eleven school districts, - and substantially remained so divided up to 1825. In 1797, the town raised two thousand dollars for building school-houses in the several districts: - no district was to have more than its proportionate share of this money ; and if the their school-house should be placed, this committee was to fix upon a proper site ; and John Capron, Seth Aldrich, Jr., Joseph Rist, Lieut. Benjamin Greene and Capt. Samuel Read were the members of this committee.

The old school-houses! What queer buildings they were, when compared with the modern school-house! The writing-desk was a plank running round three sides of the room - the seat was a slab, its flat side uppermost, with holes bored in it, in which were driven cart stakes for legs. The scholar had no back to his seat, unless he should turn round and face the centre of the room, when his back might rest against the edge of the plank writing-desk. The big stone fire-place was filled with blazing logs in winter, and the child must roast and freeze by turns. The dungeon, - that dreadful place, - to which the unruly ones were consigned, sometimes to regale themselves upon the good things the prudent had brought to sustain themselves in their arduous labors, while delving among the mysteries of the three R's; - and the heavy ruler was there, and that never-to-be-forgotten birch, which was so quickening to the mental faculties, when properly administered.

Of course, the town built school-houses in accordance with the vote just referred to. There is some reason to believe that a new districting of the town took place between 1812 and 1820, but the record is defective,

There were school-masters and mistresses in those days, - not teachers - who kept the school, and I think they kept it pretty well." My first school-mistress was Abigail Read, daughter of Capt. Samuel Read, who was mistress of the summer schools for the four years that I belonged to the Rivulet district. Soon after, she left teaching, and was married to Col. John W. Capron. Miss Read was a good teacher and won the esteem of her scholars. My first master was Benjamin Thwing. Mr. Thwing had been a school-master for many years before I knew him, and continued to keep the winter's school in the same district for many years after I left it. He was a genial man and a good disciplinarian - and as my memory runs back to him, and recalls the village school-master of the ** Deserted Village," I think he would have been a good subject for Goldsmith's graceful pen. Capt. Thomas Farnum was my next master - an energetic, active man, who kept his scholars well employed and never suffered any mischief-making to pass undiscovered. Of other masters, I mention Moses D. Southwick, who afterwards graduated at Brown University, and became a successful and much loved physician of Millville ; - William Thornton, who, while he was engaged in teaching, was a student in the office of Dr. George Willard ; - Charles K. Whipple, a student, and afterwards was graduated from Amherst College. I do not know that I had more regard for Mr. Whipple than for any of my other teachers; but I have always felt that he had a better system of managing a school than they, and in the short experience I had in teaching, I endeavored to follow, tlemen were teachers of the district winter schools, that were free schools, and were kept about ten weeks each. The summer schools were not free, the parents of the scholars paid for their tuition. These schools were all taught by women of great worth, and some of them of large experience.

In 1797, one hundred pounds were raised for schools : and this sum - $3334 - was gradually increased, until it reached six hundred dollars; but the time when is uncertain. The annual appropriation, never exceeded six hundred dollars for schools until 1835, when the 'First Abstract of School Returns" was published by the State, and an opportunity was thus afforded of comparing the amount of money here raised with that of the neighboring towns, and the comparison was one not altogether flattermg. If the appropriation had been doubled the town would not have raised too much. The town was now asked to raise one thousand dollars, and after some discussion and some opposition, the motion was carried. Better school advantages were immediately secured, and there has been an increase of school advantages from that time to this. The average wages of female teachers at this time, 1835, were $5.73 a month; and that of male teachers $13.93, exclusive of board. There were then eleven districts, and there were employed in them ten male teachers and eleven female ; - twenty-one different teachers in the year, for the eleven schools. Teachers were then changed every term - men teaching in the winter and women in the summer. Now, teachers are employed by the year. In 1835, the public schools were opened twenty weeks in the year; now of female to male teachers has greatly increased. The average wages paid to teachers in 1877 was, to males $56.50, and to females $34.65 a month, - the teacher providing for himself.

In 1854, it was unofficially ascertained that Uxbridge had the number of families required by law to establish a High School, according to the standard set up by the statutes of the State: and in February, 1855, the town chose as a committee to see if it was liable to maintain a High School, Charles A. Wheelock, R. D. Mowry and Merrill Greene. At the meeting of the town in April, 1855, the town voted that the school committee - it having been ascertained that the town was legally obliged to open such a school - should procure a place and open a High School; and six hundred dollars were appropriated for the support of the school until the next March meeting; and a committee of five were appointed, who should report a location for the school-house and with regard to building the same. In November of the same year, the town voted to direct the town's committee to take possession of the school-room in the brick academy, put the same in repair, and set up a school therein, in the right of the town. At the meeting in the spring of 1857, the town voted to expend a sum not exceeding seven hundred dollars, under the direction of the school committee, for the repairs of the building, - with the approbation of the owners of the same, - for the purpose of a High School.

The first term of the High School was opened in the Academy building, in the spring of 1855, and Mr. Nathan Goldthwait was the principal. He was engaged for only one term.

Mr. Holbrook was the principal for the second term, but failing health compelled him to close his work before the term was completed, and the school was discontinued until the winter term, when Mr. H. R. Pierce took the school, and was the principal for nearly two years, - to the complete satisfaction of committee, parents and scholars. He was succeeded by Mr. H. E. Rockwell, for the remainder of the school year, when Mr. J. H. Clarke took the school for one year. The school, all this time, was accomplishing comparatively little, on account of the meagre appropriations made for it. In 1865, a three years' course of study was arranged for the school, which in 1869, was changed to one of four years.

In connection with what we have said of the appropriation of two thousand dollars, in 1797, to build schoolhouses, we would now say a few words about the changes in the school districts, and the school-houses since built in them.

About 1828, district number eleven was set off from number four, and a house for its use was provided by Mr. Robert Rogerson. 'The district continued to use this house until the abolition of the districts in 1869, when the town erected a house for the primary and grammar departments.

In 1840, district number one rebuilt its house, which was burned in the winter of 1862 and '63, and did not rebuild. In 1840, district number four removed its house to where it now stands, and in 1848 remodeled it. After the abolition of the districts, this house was again repaired by the town, the oldest school-house in town, - Mr. Wheelock says he knows it has been occupied sixty-four years. In 1818, district number two built a new house. Districts four and five seem to have built new ones some time since 1797, - judging by the manner in which they were built. The house built in * 1797, for district number three, remained in use until 1862, when it was repaired and the seats were modernized. In 1843, district number two erected a new house, having outgrown the house put up in 1818; and about 1845, number eight remodeled and new-seated its house. Number seven abandoned its house about 1830, and built a new one of brick, which was also abandoned in 1853, and a new house was built, which was remodeled by the town, when the school districts were abolished. After the Providence and Worcester Railroad was opened, district number five found itself under the necessity of building a new house; but when inquiry was made about the right of the district to build, it was found that there were no legal districts. Measures were immediately taken to have the school districts legally formed, and an excellent house, for grammar and primary departments, was erected in this district. In 1858, number two had again outgrown its accommodations, and a new district, - number thirteen, - was formed, _ which built a new house, far in advance of anything yet enjoyed for school purposes in this neighborhood. The last district to build was number five, in 1869: but it was never occupied as a district school; for the State, in 1869, abolished the district system of maintaining schools, and the town took possession of the house before it was finished. Since the s@hool districts were abolished by the Act of

1869, the town has built three fine school-houses in place of those totally unfit for use; has repaired and re-furnished with modern furniture, five others; has bought a schoolhouse for number one, whose house had been burned in the schools have been furnished with wall maps and globes; the primary schools are supplied with reading charts, and the High School with a valuable philosophical, chemical and electrical apparatus.

Appendix Xviii Select Schools And Academies

Let me premise, that in my endeavor to give the history of the Academies, or Seminaries, of the town, it has not been without a good deal of careful inquiry, and comparison of dates, that I have been able to arrive at something like an accurate account of these schools. I shall first speak of the building of the Academy, on the north side of the common.

''To see if the town will permit the erection of a private -school-house on the north end of the common, between the cart-way leading to widow Fanny Willard's back-yard, and the wall south of where the old blacksmith shop stands: provided, said building can be erected by private munificence."

On March 3d, 1819, it was voted, that liberty be given to build a school-house on the town common - of certain specified dimensions - provided it be built within three years from this date. Who petitioned for this privilege does not appear.

At the same time, the Masonic Lodge, recently formed in the town, wished for better accommodations than it was enjoying in the Spring Tavern hall; and on June 3d of this was the most suitable place on which to build their proposed new hall. This agreement of purpose, between those who were interested in the new school-house, and the members of the Solomon's Temple Lodge of Masons, was the reason why the building was erected at their mutual expense - the Masons building the upper story, and the citizens interested in having better means of educating their children, the lower story - the town giving the land for the building.

A paper now lies before me giving in detail the facts as succinctly stated above; and to this paper is added the names of those who subscribed, and the amounts subscribed for the building. This paper is dated April 20th, 1819: and distinctly says, that members of the Masonic Lodge have expressed a wish to unite with the subscribers in putting up the building. »

With regard to the question, who took the initiatory steps in the erection of the Academy building, I think it is evident from the language of the paper referred to that the Lodge of Masons joined the citizens who were interested in educational matters. The paper says, ''members of the Lodge have suggested a wish to unite," &c: and '* Should it be the desire of said Lodge so to unite, the subscribers will choose a committee to confer with a committee of the Lodge," &c.

Masons held their first meeting in their new hall. The hall must have received Masonic dedication during this month of December; because at a meeting held December 30th, thanks were given to Bro. Rev. Benjamin Wood for his address delivered at the late dedication and installation of S. T. Lodge in Uxbridge; and thanks were returned to the Grenadier Company for the honor they conferred on this occasion.

The proposed school was opened in the autumn of 1820, - the building not being ready for occupancy any earlier - by Mr. Abiel Jaques - graduated at Harvard College 1807, died in 1852, - who was the principal for a year or more, when he left the place, and Mr. Abijah Kendall took charge of it. In 1823, Mr. Jaques returned to the school, and was the principal of it until the spring of 1829, when Mr. William H. Williams, a graduate of Brown University, became principal, which office he held for two years. After Mr. Jaques left the Academy, he took pupils in special studies, occupying the house afterward owned by Mr. Joseph Day. One who remembers Mr. Jaques, says of him: ''He was a man of cultivated mind and an ex- cellent teacher, but very eccentric:" and another says, '«'Mr. Jaques was, in my judgment, a most excellent teacher. He had all the elements which would enable one to communicate knowledge and incite the scholar to obtain it by his own exertions. He was kind, affable and genial at all times. Those of his pupils who can remember him, will do so with respect and love."

Among the letters of Mr. Chapin, I find one from Miss Susan B. Brigham - afterwards Mrs. Kittredge - and since it gives so clear a statement of the inception of this Seminary, I shall draw freely from her statements : -

'«¢ The origin of the Institution was this. - Several gentlemen who had daughters to be educated, desired a school nearer home for them, and of course began to consult how to establish such a Seminary. This was in the autumn of 1831. Of these gentlemen, Dr. Willard, Bezaleel Taft and Joseph Thayer, Esqrs., took a prominent part. They procured the lower room of the Masonic building and two small upper rooms, and then invited me to take charge of the school. Early in December, I opened the first term with thirteen pupils."

'* At the close of this half-year, in the spring of 1832, an effort was made to increase the school and to establish it on a more permanent basis. Two recitation rooms were added to the building, and two assistant-teachers engaged for the year: Miss Catharine Perry for the English branches, and Miss for Music, besides several assistant-pupils. The new year opened with forty pupils : twenty of them were from Providence, R. I. Unfortunately, we had no boarding-house, where teachers and pupils could be accommodated together; but the best families were ready to take those from out of town. In the spring of 1833, a boarding-house was procured with accommodations for fifteen or sixteen persons. Miss Julia C. Fisher was assistant in the English branches, and Miss Ann C. Fisher in Music, and several assistant-pupils were still retained. The year was prosperous, and the school pleasant."

''In 1834," to refer again to the letter, ''a larger house was procured, accommodating forty, both teachers and pupils." This house is now known as Macomber's block, - formerly the hotel, moved to its present site in 1834, - and was kept by Mr. Elias Wheelock. And again, to return to the letter: ''The same assistant teachers were continued, and another added, Miss Sarah Brigham."

In the spring of 1835, Miss Brigham's health failed and she was compelled to resign her position as principal. She was succeeded by Miss Hall, with Miss Anderson as assistant. Miss Hall was the principal but a single year, and was succeeded by Miss Laura A. Washburn, assisted by Miss Maria C. Brigham the first year, and by Miss Sophia Hazen the second year.

And now, and as part of the history of the education of young ladies in Uxbridge, we notice the establishment of another school; or, perhaps the continuation of the one just spoken of, under a new management.

On Thursday, March 2d, 1837, a meeting was held at the house of William C. Capron, of a committee that had been appointed by the Evangelical Congregational Church, to consider the subject of a Young Ladies' High School. At this meeting, several committees were chosen: and a committee of three was chosen, consisting of Rev. Mr. Grosvenor, Dr. George Willard, and Dea. W. C. Capron, to whom was entrusted the general management of the school.

Board of seven Trustees. This Board was to be chosen by a committee of three of the Evangelical Congregational Church, - who were of the organizing committee - with power to add to their number; and four gentlemen, nonresidents, were added. The general purpose of this school was '*to prepare young ladies to become teachers and educators of youth, and to fill other useful stations in life."

In behalf of the Trustees, a circular was issued, dated March 24th, 1837, saying, the first term of the school would begin May 3d, 1837, and the school was to be wholly separate from the male seminary. It was of this school that Miss Washburn was the principal. For the summer term, there were fifty-three pupils, and during the year, seventy-seven. Miss Washburn was the principal for three years: and she was followed by Miss Emma M. Converse, in May, 1840. Miss Converse was the last teacher.

It seemed best to give the foregoing sketch uninterruptedly : and now we return to the year 1833, when Mr. E. Porter Dyer, a graduate of Brown University, opened, in September, a school for boys and girls, in the Centre school-house. After Mr. Williams left the Academy there had been no select school that boys could attend, until Mr. Dyer's was opened. There was so good an attendance the first term that for the second, the hall over the Bank was engaged and was properly fitted up. Mr. Dyer had for his assistant in teaching German and French, Mr. Henry S. Dale, also a graduate of Brown; and Miss Rebecca Gregory gave lessons in music. To distinguish this school from Miss Brigham's, kept at the same time, it was called *¢ The Classical School." Mr. Dyer continued to teach this school with good success for about a year and a half. In the spring of 1835, Dr. J. M. Macomber taught this school for one term, until Charles C. Jewett, who would graduate in September, 1835, could assume the charge of it. When Mr. Jewett took it, the school must have been moved to the Academy building, and Miss Hall, who succeeded Miss Brigham, must have moved her school to the hall over the Bank. It was about this time that the trees were set out by Mr. Jewett, that Mr. Chapin refers to in the Address.

Mr. Jewett was followed by Mr. Grout, and Mr. Grout by A. L. Stone, - now the Rev. A. L. Stone, D.D., of San Francisco. Mr. Stone was succeeded by Dr. Macomber, still residing in town, who retained his connection with the school until the spring of 1851, with the exception of one or two terms, when Dr. Rickard, then studying his profession with Dr. Robbins, was the principal. After Dr. Macomber resigned his office, Mr. Wedge took the school for about a year, when Nathan Goldthwait became the principal, who held that office until the opening of the High School by the town in 1855.

In the account given of the Libraries of the town, mention is made of the Circulating Library of George Southwick, and that in the same room where it was kept, there was a Classical School kept by Jezaniah Barrett. Through the researches of Jonathan F. Southwick, I am able to say of this school of Barrett's, that it preceded the establishment of any similiar school in the centre of the town by some twenty years; being established about 1800, and lasting for five years. Mr. Southwick for some reason became it was a classical school, was discontinued ; but his daughter Ruth opened a school that was kept six days in the week, and the tuition, - we mention it for the young people of to-day, that an idea may be gained of the times threequarters of a century ago, - was 123 cents a week. George Farnum, the librarian, was Barrett's assistant, ''as he wanted to learn some of the languages expecting to go to France, but never did." Epiror, 1879.

Appendix Xix

In pursuing my investigations into the history of the libraries that have from time to time existed in Uxbridge, I found, in the address of Mr. Chapin, a reference to the fact that George Southwick,* at the time he was carrying on his extensive business in that part of the town once called ** Quaker City," kept a circulating library; and suspecting that this collection of books must have been the first library in town that was not private, I wrote to Jonathan F. - Southwick, and he has sent me the following valuable letter about a matter of much local intererest and of pardonable local pride. The letter is dated,

I received thy letter dated 8 mo., 25th, and I will endeavor to give thee all the information that J can obtain and what I know about the library.

It was called the 'Uxbridge Social and _ Instructive Library,' as thee will see by the leaf I send thee, that I took from a book I found in the neighborhood, and the number of said book. I found one book numbered 103. [The leaf referred to is the title page of a Life of Capt. James Cook, by Andrew Kippis, D. D., etc., published at Basil, 1789. Library number, 52.] The name, Uxbridge Social and Instructive Library, with the date 1775, was placed on the door of the room where the books were kept, which was in a chamber of an out-building owned by George Southwick. The books were kept in a case, which it seems to me would hold several hundred volumes. I recollect when the stockholders assembled to divide the books, that there was quite a collection of people, and some strife about the division of the books. Some of the stockholders belonged in Rhode Island. JI have no doubt that this was the first library in town. I believe it was discontinued about the year 1812. In the room where the library was kept, there was also a school kept by a teacher of the languages, which was very well attended by scholars from Rhode Island and from this town; the room at times was crowded. The teacher's name was Jezaniah Barrett."*

It is difficult to trace accurately the history of the Libraries in Uxbridge prior to the establishment of «' The Uxbridge Free Public Library," by a vote of the town April 6, 1874, as they have all passed out of existence, and none of the early records, so far as I know, can be found. It is within the knowledge of the writer that there was a '' Social Library" in the town in 1821, how much earlier he is unable to tell; nor is he aware that any shareholder of that library is living.

A volume now lies before me, vol. 3d, of '* Goldsmith's History of England, 5th edition, Dublin, printed by W. Porter for W. Gilbert and others, 1776," which has the following inscription :

Several volumes are in my possession which were bought by my father when the library was discontinued. This being the '' Second Social Library" would indicate that there was another in existence at the time this was formed, or that previously to this time there had been another. *

Another library was formed as early as 1830 or 1831, which continued to live with varying degrees of usefulness until the establishment of the 'Free Public Library." As many as a thousand volumes, may, at one time have belonged to it, as we have seen volumes which were numbered over eight hundred, and during the forty years of its existence it was used by a large number of persons. Books were purchased and added by the money received from admission fees, the annual tax, and the fines. f

In the spring of 1873, the «* Uxbridge Library Association" offered the books belonging to the Association to the town, as a nucleus for a public library, '' provided the town will establish such a library." About the same time the '"* Uxbridge Agricultural Library Association" made a similar offer, with the same condition.

At the annual March meeting in 1874, there being an article in the warrant for the consideration of the subject, it was voted to appropriate the '* Dog Fund," for the purpose

+Among Mr. Chapin's papers, collected with regard to the Libraries in Uxbridge, I find a report that Benjamin Adams made to the Library that he calls, the "' First. Social Library Society in Uxbridge." This report of Mr. Adams is dated January 11th, 1886, and was made on the occasion of his having settle with Jonathan Gregory, Esq., the former treasurer. This library according to this paper of Mr. Adams, was formed in January, 1828. The whole number, who had been members of this library, was 46; and the receipts had been, from all sources, $126.174. Epitor.

A committee, previously appointed, now presented rules for the management of a public library: the report of the committee, and its recommendations, were adopted by the town, and a Board of Trustees was chosen at the same time.

The Uxbridge Free Public Library, thus established, went into operation for the delivery of books, January 20, 1875, and had on its shelves six hundred and eightynine volumes; five hundred and fifteen of which were received from the '* Uxbridge Library Association " and the «¢ Aoricultural Library Association ;" ninety-seven were received as presents from individuals, and seventy-seven volumes were bought by the Trustees.

The library has now been used four years, and the number of books on the catalogue has increased to two thousand one hundred and fifty-four, with many pamphlets and bound volumes, valuable for reference, not on the printed catalogue.

The number of readers has increased annually since the opening of the Library, and the indications are that a large increase in the present year over the past may be expected. The readers come from all classes and from every part of the town.

The annual expenses, met by appropriations made by the town (which includes the '*Dog Fund"), have been a little more than four hundred dollars. This includes the sum received for fines for books kept beyond the time allowed by the rules.

cation to the Trustees, enclosing a check for five hundred dollars, with the request that it should be spent for books for the library. This request was complied with, and the generous giver was heartily thanked for this munificent gift. By this means, an otherwise unlooked-for and most valuable addition was made to the library.

It is well to add, that the library has gained so much in favor with the people of the town, that its future increase and usefulness are rendered certain, unless some great abuses creep into its management.

Editor Appendix Xx

The Blackstone Bank was incorporated August 27th, 1825, with a capital of $100,000, divided into one thousand shares. In 1865, the name was changed to Blackstone National Bank ; - the capital remaining the same as before.

Ebenezer White Hayward, from October 3d, 1836, until his death, May 5th, 1875, a period of nearly forty years. Mr. Hayward deserves something more than this passing notice.

Appendix Xx

was discontinued, he was in 1836, chosen Cashier of the Uxbridge Bank, with whose prosperity he ever after most thoroughly identified himself, proving a most diligent, faithful and trustworthy officer. He was a true gentleman, an humble christian and the embodiment of integrity in all the relations of life. A pleasanter face and a more cheerful voice one seldom sees or hears. His name is a legacy to all who knew him.

Mr. Hayward married Miss Susan Burbeck in Mendon, February 27th, 1827, who died in 1872. Two sons and two daughters are now living. During the latter years of Mr. Hayward's service, Mr. Charles S. Weston was appointed Assistant-Cashier, and he succeeded to the office on the death of Mr. Hayward, and now holds the office.

On the night of July 12th, 1874, masked men, having first forced their entrance into the house of Mr. Hayward, compelled the Assistant-Cashier to go with them to the Bank, and under threats of death to open the safe. The amount of money taken was about $13,000. The robbers. were never discovered ; but some private property, deposited in the Bank, was found in Boston at a place designated by the robbers. |

Appendix Xxi

The lot of land, where now stands the Town House, the High School, the Methodist Church, is the lot that Daniel Taft gave the town for a burying-place. The deed is dated March 20th, 1737; and according to the deed, he gave the land ** for, and in consideration of the love and affection I bear to y® town of Uxbridge ;" and '* for diverse other valuable considerations me moving hereunto." I find, that previous to the gift, the land had been used for a buryingplace.

In 1761, November 13th, the town voted to fence the burying-ground with a stone wall, four and a half feet high. ein 1768, the town voted to fence the burying-ground - the money to be raised by subscription.

By a deed, dated April 13th, 1795, and recorded August 26th of the same year, Jonathan Farnum conveyed to the town the land commonly known as the new burying-ground, 'in consideration of the sum of 20£ lawful money paid me by the inhabitants of Uxbridge." This lot of land contained one and a half acres. Mr. Farnum reserved to himself and his heirs forever, six square rods of land, where his father, David Farnum, was buried; provided the town would make, and keep in repair, a good fence around said tract.

Ebenezer White, August 21st, 1793. This was some four and a half years before the division of the land into lots made by order of the town: for in 1797, September 6th, it was voted to choose a committee to divide the new buryingground into lots, so as to accommodate families in the most convenient manner, and to take a plan of the same, and lay the same before the town for their approbation. The committee reported a plan February 12th, 1798, which was adopted. But the plan does not appear on the records.

The old burying-ground continued to be used until about 1854. Mr. Scott Seagrave says, the last adult bgyried in the old ground was a man named Stone, who did not belong here - he was employed as an hostler and was killed by the kick of a horse. The last, belonging to the town, buried here, were Patty Peirce and Mrs. Caleb Farnum.

In 1855, Dea. W. C. Capron opened his land, containing eight acres and fifty-one rods, adjoining the new buryingground, for a new cemetery, calling it Prospect Hill Cemetery. The first body buried here was the wife of Josiah S. Knowlton, in the autumn of 1855. The first deeds were made out May Ist, 1856. The first deed was given to Asa Newell, of Providence, Rhode Island, and conveyed the lot now owned by Ebenezer H. Davis.

At first, Mr. Capron generously spent all the money he received from the sale of lots, in embellishing the grounds, laying out walks and drives, setting out trees, and grading. Afterwards he retained one half of the purchase money.

a record of the bodies, as obtained from the gravestones, may be found on the town records ; - the body of Rev. Nathan Webb, the first settled minister of Uxbridge, being among the number; but the order of the names on the town records is not the order in which the bodies were removed : - these bodies were interred in lots bought by the town of Deacon Capron for the purpose. Three were purchased in 1869, December 20th, and three more in 1871, September 20th. In March, 1876, in town meeting, the town considered the question '' to see if the town will vote to appropriate a sum of money for the purpose of improving the town's lot in Prospect Hill Cemetery," - and chose a committee to carry the same into effect. <'' Voted, to refer it to the selectmen, who shall report at a future meeting." Upon Article 21st, March 12th, 1877, the town voted that Henry Capron, Moses T. Murdock and Henry G. Taft be a committee to carry into effect the suggestions of the former committee, at an expense not exceeding $250. In March, 1879, the town voted to increase its appropriation $150 for repairing and fixing up its lot in the cemetery.

In 1863, a suit was brought against the town for trespass on the old burying-ground. The position taken was, that the land being given by Daniel Taft for a burying-ground '* forever," precluded the town from using it for any other purpose, as it was intending to do. It was decided by the Supreme Court, that a grant of land which is to be used for a burying-place '' forever," '* in consideration of love and affection," and '* for diverse other valuable considerations," is not a grant upon conditions, and the town gained the suit.

He says, '' The oldest burying-ground in Uxbridge, we think, is owned by the heirs of George Southwick. It contains about three-quarters of an acre." The southern part of the town was first settled by the Southwicks, who came from Salem about the year 1700. Daniel, called '¢ Preacher Daniel," is the first of whom we can speak with certainty ; and by him, this place for burial was probably laid out. He and his wife lie here. The first burial of which we have authentic record was in 1746, but many were buried here at an earlier date. Friends in those days did not use marked stones, but would use common flat stones to indicate where a body was placed. The oldest marked stones now visible, bear the date of 1811. The burial-ground owned, and now used, by the Uxbridge meeting of Friends, was purchased by them of Moses Farnum in 1800, containing half an acre, and is situated very near the brick meeting-house, builtin 1770. The stones, marked 1749, 1759, 1776 and 1780, were removed from other grounds and placed here.

Appendix Xxii

We give, in the following list, the names - so far as we have been able to procure them, and we have tried to be very accurate in making it up - of the soldiers in the armies in the United States engaged in putting down the rebellion, who enlisted as residents of Uxbridge. The list, therefore, does not include the names of those who stand to the credit of the town, nor do we give the regiments in which these men enlisted, because it scarcely seemed necessary to do so.

Schofield, Ed. Seagrave, Chas. S. Seagrave, Frank Seagrave, James Seagrave, Geo. L. Seagrave, Lawson A. Seagrave, A. Mason Seagrave, W. H. Searles, Andrew J.

Appendix Xxii. Pna Appendix Xxiii

In the Uxbridge Compendium of May 15, 1875, appeared the following notice of Margaret L. Bennett, daughter of Hon. Bezaleel Taft, Jr., and Hannah (Spring) Taft, who was born Noy. 14, 1818, and died-May 9, 1875. It seems appropriate to give place here to the mention of one whose memory lives in many hearts, and who was closely associated for many years with the best interests of her native

Uxbridge has sustained an irreparable loss 'in the death of Mrs. Margaret L. Bennett, wife of Dr. A. W. Bennett, whose earthly pilgrimage closed on Sunday, May 9th. Mrs. Bennett was prominently identified with the Sunday School work of the Unitarian Church, and was peculiarly fitted for a teacher and director of the young. She had charge of the infant class for a period of nearly sixteen years.

Mrs. Bennett was a woman of literary tastes, and possessed more than ordinary strength as a writer of Sunday School Books. Among the productions of her pen are: «¢ Karly Lessons on the Life of the Saviour," '* Every hers, adapted for older readers, are entitled: '* Day unto Day," and '' The Bible Rule of Life," and have been highly spoken of, and widely circulated, both in this country and abroad.

We can add nothing which will more fittingly illustrate the importance of Mrs. Bennett's work, than the following extract from an article written by Hon. Henry Chapin, and published in the Worcester Spy:

'' No brief tribute can do justice to Mrs. Bennett's life and character. Many have known her in her Sunday School Books, and in the little volume for every day in the year, entitled: ' Day unto Day,' but those who have known her for so many years, the devoted teacher of a large infant class in the Sunday School, and have met her in the charming intercourse of her daily life, realize more clearly the purity and nobility of her nature. Always busy, yet always at leisure for the exercise of christian hospitality, she blended in herself the qualities of mind and heart which made her a blessing in her home, and a benediction to the whole community. It needed not that she should pass on, to leave a record that all should cherish. She bore with her, day by day, the love and homage of all who knew her.

The true blessing of such a life ceases not with the life of the body. Although her angelic presence is no longer with us, the sanctifying influence of her example shall remain, to hallow and bless the world in which she so

Hon. Henry Chapin

From the various appreciative tributes paid to Mr. Cuapry's life and character, and published soon after his death, the following selection is made and offered to his

At a special session of the City Council of Worcester, called by Mayor Prarr, October 14th, 1878, for action on the death of Judge Cuarin, both boards met in joint convention, and the Mayor spoke as follows:

I have summoned you together this morning, Gentlemen, in obedience to the calls of a sentiment of sorrow and sadness which prevails in our community, occasioned by the loss of one of the earlier chief magistrates of our city, and one of its most prominent and distinguished citizens.

Few men have been more closely or more intimately connected with our city and her public institutions, or more actively engaged in the promotion of her material interests for the last thirty years, than Mr. Chapin.

Coming here from the town of Uxbridge in this county in 1846, he rose so rapidly in the esteem and confidence of all classes of our people that, in 1849, only three years later, he was, with comparatively little opposition, elected mayor of the city, in the second year of the city's history. He was re-elected in 1850, but declined a third nomination for that position. In 1871, when a vacancy was occasioned by the death of Mayor Blake, he was elected by the board of aldermen to administer the affairs of the city government, and consented to act in that capacity until an act was passed by the legislature providing for an election by the people to fill the vacancy : - the contingency of the death of the mayor-