Westminster Town

Preface

In the summer of 1883 it was my privilege to attend, for the first time, one of the annual gatherings at Wachusett Park, known in the general neighborhood as "The Old Folks' Picnic." As I conversed with different elderly people there, and listened to the formal addresses of the occasion, composed largely of reminiscences and tales of by-gone days, I was impressed with the desirability and importance of having a comprehensive History of Westminster published, not only to rescue from oblivion many interesting facts, incidents, and events, which otherwise would soon be irretrievably lost to human knowledge, but also for the purpose of collating, condensing, and having in readily accessibly form, whatever might be found in any public records relating to the town, of permanent value to the citizens, to the public at large, or to the student of past times. And in the same connection it occurred to me that, possibly, I might be prompted to undertake the task indicated myself at some future day, should circumstances permit; little realizing, however, what an amount of time, research, and wearisome labor would be required for its accomplishment.

Not long after this I took up my abode in the city of Boston, having been called to a post of professional service there, locating in the immediate vicinity of the rooms of the New England Historic-Genealogical Society, - a vast repository of such lore as the name indicates, - and of the State House, where are extensive stores of information pertaining to the settlement and early affairs of the older towns of the Commonwealth. Under the influence of the impression alluded to, I very soon fell into the way of visiting one or the other of these places whenever I had a leisure hour, and of collecting such data as might be of service to me should I ever conclude to carry the suggestion accompanying it into effect. The continuance of this practice for three or four years, and the custom of spending several weeks each summer in town, interviewing the older portion of the population, and indeed all whom I thought could aid me in my investigations, or at Worcester or Cambridge, in searching the various registries and documents there, resulted in such a growing interest in the matter on my part, and in such an accumulation of valuable material, that the question of going forward and completing what had been so effectively begun became one of serious moment to me, and one not to be put aside or answered without due deliberation.

Before a satisfactory conclusion in regard to it could be reached, it was necessary to ascertain where and how the money that would be required to publish the proposed work was to be obtained. An application was therefore made to the citizens of the town in this behalf, the response to which was highly gratifying and satisfactory. At the annual meeting in 1 888, it was voted, with very few dissenting voices, that the town purchase four hundred copies of the History when it should be published, at the rate of three and a half dollars per copy, making an aggregate sum of fourteen hundred dollars. A committee consisting of Artemas Merriam, Joseph Hager, Daniel C. Miles, Theodore S. Wood, and Edward S. Kendall was chosen to advise and co-operate with me in promoting the end in view. At the same meeting, as a token of good faith and of kindly feeling on the part of the citizens, a gratuity of five hundred dollars was voted me, and paid at an early day.

Thus encouraged and assured, I entered at once upon the labor of preparing the material at my command, with such additions as subsequently were made to it, for the press, and from that date to the present have devoted to it the greater part of my time and energy. That labor has grown upon my hands to such an extent that the volume resulting from it exceeds the limit first proposed by more than one hundred and fifty pages, increasing the cost thereby some twenty per cent., which, with the introduction of several illustrations not included in the original estimate, will virtually consume the gratuity received.

In what I have written, it has been my endeavor to produce a history and not a romance. I have verified the statements made for the most part by referring to original authorities, or, when this was impracticable, have found reasons for them that seemed to me sound and satisfactory. Doubt in any instance has been duly expressed by some qualifying word or phrase. Town, County, and State records have furnished me, essentially, the foundation upon which the superstructure has been built, and these have been supplemented by personal interviews, diaries, and memoranda, family registries, tomb-stone inscriptions, hundreds of circulars and letters scattered far and wide, even to the most remote parts of the country, published town and family histories, and by every known device by which I could gain the information I desired and make the work complete and trustworthy.

I have also striven to write in a spirit of strict impartiality, purposing to treat all with whom I have had to do with fairness and equity. I have, as far as possible, divested myself of all personal and partisan feeling or prejudice whenever I deemed it necessary to exercise and express an opinion or pass judgment, and have tried to deal justly and honorably by all concerned. No doubt I have erred in some instances, partly from a limitation of knowledge, partly from misinformation, but never, I can honestly say, intentionally or from unworthy motives.

Moreover, it has been my resolute determination, from the beginning and at every point involving moral considerations, to commend and honor virtue and piety - all those qualities which adorn, ennoble, and glorify human character, and tend to make human life the image of the life of the all-perfect God. Under the same guidance, I have sought to exert a salutary influence upon the social relations of men, expressing admiration for, and lending encouragement to, whatever is calculated to promote the welfare, prosperity, and happiness of the community, and make of this present world an outlying province of the kingdom of heaven.

In the prosecution of my work it has been a source of constant and profound regret that I have not been able to do what I believe to be full justice to zvoman, - to bring her into greater prominence, and assign her to her rightful place in the com- munity and town whose historic features this volume assumes to portray. But this has been found to be practically impossible. Society, in its present organic form, not only makes little account of woman, but, for the most part, excludes her from view. In all public concerns man is at the front: man alone, with rare exceptions, appears in all public records. And history, general and local, is written accordingly. Yet, woman is an essential part of every community, and constitutes a vital factor in every problem affecting the common welfare and happiness. In the home, which is the heart of modern civilization, in moral and religious concerns, in church work, in humane and charitable enterprises, in educational activities, she has proved herself to be a great power for good, contributing her equal share to the promotion of the higher interests, and to the development of the best life, of all classes and conditions of people. Such, in my judgment, has been the case in Westminster, and not to recognize and record the fact in some positive way in this History would render it radically defective, - would be to withold the tribute of respect and honor from great numbers of those to whom such tribute is due.

This book, in all important respects, is emphatically my own. The general plan of it is of my devising, and I am alone responsible for the selection, classification, and general treatment of the numerous subjects represented. With the exception of the "Sketches" of the First Congregational and Baptist Churches, which were prepared by Revs. Charles M. Palmer and Lyman Partridge, respectively, - favors hereby gratefully acknowledged, - I have written every word to be found within its lids. The material kindly furnished me by others, I have examined, condensed, arranged, and put in proper shape for the printer's use. The illustrations are virtually of my selection, although most of them were introduced by the consent and approval of the "Committee on the History," chosen by the town. I have also had charge of all the business details connected with the printing and binding of the work, and with whatever was needful to make it ready for its readers, and for a place in the lengthening catalogue of the town histories of New England.

Of the illustrations it may be said that the full page portraits were furnished by the persons they represent or their immediate relatives or friends; private residences and places of business by their owners; and houses of worship by the societies to whom they belong. The expense of landscapes, with a single exception, of the Soldiers' Monument, the Second Meetinghouse (the internal plan of which, mentioned on page 277, I am obliged to omit), and also of the map and Proprietors' plan is included in tne aggregate cost of the book. For the electrotype engraving of Gen. Nelson A. Miles I am indebted to S. F. Blanchard & Co., of Worcester; and for the wood-cut of the "Garfield House," to the American Antiquarian Society and its accomplished librarian, Edmund M. Barton, as I am for many other favors.

In this connection it may be stated that of the more than forty pictorial embellishments which appear in the following pages, all the landscapes and other out-door views were made by W. P. Allen, of Gardner, whose work in that line of art is of unsurpassed excellence. About half of the personal likenesses were also the products of his labor and skill ; the remainder coming from the establishment of the Lux Engraving Co., Boston. The map of the town was made by the Boston Heliotype Printing Co., and the wood-cut of the meetinghouse by John M. Keenan, Worcester. The printing, by S. W. Huse & Co., Lowell, and the binding, by N. Wilson & Co., Boston, speak for themselves, and reflect much credit upon those under whose supervision they were respectively done.

I cheerfully and gratefully acknowledge my obligations to the very many persons who have furnished me with information, or with facilities for obtaining information, suited to my purpose, or who have in any way aided me, by word or deed, in carrying that purpose into effect. The list of such, including town and parish clerks, librarians and their subordinates, custodians of public records, historical and genealogical writers and students, and a multitude of private individuals, is too long for insertion here. I can only therefore, in a general way, express my profound sense of their kindness, and extend to them, one and all, my hearty thanks for their many favors and tokens of friendly interest in my long and arduous undertaking.

The History of Westminster, so far as it is condensed and embodied in the present volume, is at length completed and ready for distribution. Li the hope that in some good degree it may serve its purposed end, gratify the sons and daughters of the place of my own nativity, and prove to be a not unworthy contribution to the historical literature of the last deca'cle of the nineteenth century, I send it forth on its proper mission, commending it to the considerate attention of those for whom it was specially designed, and of all who are interested in the particular field of exploration and inquiry which it distinctively represents.