Winchendon Town

Winchendon Town

Whereas I am ordered and inipowered by tlie Great and General Court to issue my warrant directed to some principal inhabitant of said Town, requiring him to warn the inhabitauts of said Town, (|ualified to vote in Town affairs, to assemble in some sviitable place in said Town to choose all necessary officers to manage the affairs cf said Town, and also to assess and levy, and collect the land tax. These are therefore, in his majesty's name, to re<iuire you, the said Richard Day, forthwith to warn the inhabitants of said Town of Winchendou, qualified, as aforesaid, to assemble and meet at your dwelling-house, in said Town, on Monday, the fifth day of November next, at one of the clock in the afternoon, then and there being assembled, to act ou the several articles hereafter mentioned, viz, :

3d. To choose a collector to gather the land-tax and make due return of this Warrant and your doings therein. Hereof fail not. Given under my han<t and seal, at Lunenburg, this sixteenth day of Octob<-i, in tlie fourth year of bis IMajusty's Reign, a.o. 17t>4.

In obedience to the within-written Warrant, I have warned all the freeholders and other inhabitants of the town of Winchenilon to appear at the time and place within mentioned.

The meeting was held in accordance with the warrant, and Richard Day was chosen moderator. The officers chosen for the year were Abel Wilder, town clerk; Theos. Mansfield, Benoni Boynton and Ephraira Boynton, selectmen; Kichard Day, constable; Nathaniel Bixby, town treasurer; Daniel Goodridge, collector of the land tax ; Silas Whitney and Reuben Wyman, church wardens; John Darling, tithingman ; Daniel Bixby, deer-reeve ; Aaron Hodgkins, fence-viewer; William Oaks, Timothy Darling, Amos Spring and Abel Wilder, surveyors of highways ; Jonathan Fo.ster, sealer of weights and measures , Silas Whitney, surveyor of boards and shingles ; Reuben Wyman, field-driver ; Nathaniel Bixby, sealer of leather; Stephen Choate, stave-culler; and Nathaniel Burnham, fire-ward.

As the officers chosen at the first meeting of the town are here given, it may be as well at this point in the narrative to present a list of those who, up to the present year, have occupied the various positions of moderator, selectmen, town clerk and treasurer. The moderators have been, since 1761:

1 Mr. Whitney died after election in 1872, and David H. Barnes was chosen to fiU the vacancy, and wus rechosen in 1873 and '74, and died in tlie middle of his term. Frank B. Spalter was appointed in 1874 by the selectmen, and chosen in 1875.

The following persons have represented in the General Court since 1776 eitherthetown orthe representative district of which Winchendon has formed a part :

The twenty-first article of amendment to the Constitution was adopted by the Legislatures of 1856 and 1857, and ratified by the people May 1, 1857, providing for Representative Districts based on a census taken in that year, and under the new arrangement Ashburnham and Wincheudon constitnted the First Kepresentative District fif Worcester County. This district was represented until the next apportionment by the following persons :

Under the apportionment based on the census of 1865 the same towns constituted the same Representative district and were represented until the next apportionment as follows :

Under Ihe apportionment based on the census of 1875 Ashburnham, Gardner, Princeton, Westminster and Winchendon constituted the Seventh Representative District <)f Worcester County and were represented until the next apportionment as follows:

Undertheapportionmentbasedon the census of 1885 Ashburnham, Gardner, Teuipleton and Winchendon constitute the Second Representative District of Worcester County, and have been represented as follows :

But the new town, entering with promise as it did on its municipal career, was destined to receive in its earliest life a serious check to its development and growth. After a settlement, long delayed by the annoyances of the French and Indian Wars, an act of incorporation had been secured, after the peace of 1763, which seemed to relieve its people from all doubts as to their future comfort and prosperity. The relations of the colonies with Great Britain becoming daily more critical, as the breaeli was daily widened by the obstinacy of the crown on the one hand and the determination of the colonists on the other to resist aggression, soon passed into that state in which an open rupture became inevitable. In the patriotic efforts of the people of Boston to assert and maintain their rights the people of Wincheudon enthusiastically joiued, and though the prospects of war were specially gloomy to a town just entering on its life, they were ready to bear their full share of the sure burdens of a war of revolution.

In 1773, in response to a letter from the selectmen of Boston, a town-meeting was called "to see if the town will take into consideration the distressing cir- cumstances of the present affairs of province ; and so far as concerns particular towns and individual persons to act thereon by choosing committees or otherwise as they shall see fit." At the meeting held on the 15th of February, in pursuance of the above call, Moses Hale was chosen moderator, and a committee of five, consisting of "Moses Hale, Levi Nichols, John Boynton, John Homer and Dudley Perley, was appointed to draft such measures as they might consider proper and report to the town. At an adjourned meeting held on the 1st day of March, the committee reported the following resolves, which were unanimously adopted : jResolvd, that having taken into serious consideration tiie state of tlio rights of the Colonies, and of the Province in particular, as men, as Cliristianfi and as MibjectB, and a list of infringements and violations of lights as specified and set forth by the Committee of the town of Boston, We are of opinion that the rights of this Province are well and trnly stated in said list, as they are well supported aid wairanted hy the laws of God, of natnre, of the realni of Great Britain and the cliarter of this Province ; that a list of infringements and violations of these rights and privileges inherent to the inhabitants of this Province are well stated, vindicated and supported by a great variety of uncontestable facts, whereby it appears to us as aforesaid (hat the time is speedily hastening when we shall be rednced to the most abject slavery,

Resotvcii, that having consulted our charter, we Hnd that by the afoiesaid infringements and violations, our rights and liberties thereby derived are sapped to the very foundation.

liesoh-cd, tliat it is of the utmost importance the Colonies in geui'ral and the inhabitants of this Province in particular, stand tinn as one man to support and maintain all their Just rights and privileges.

liestilvedy that this town will at all times heartily Join with our brethren of this Province and with every true friend to liberty, in ail law fnl measures which may be proper, salutary and effectual for the redress of our grievances and the establishment of our charter rights, privileges and liberties.

Resolved, that this town choose a Committee to correspond with the Boston Committee and the Committees of other towns to receive and communicate to the town all salutary measures that shall be proposed or offered by any other towns for removing the common grievances of this Province and to communicate the sentiments of this town to the correspondent committee of the other towns of this Province.

Resolved, that the united thanks of this town and of every true son of liberty and friend to the Constitution of the Province is due to the town of Boston for their early and indefatigable zeal iu endeavoring to preserve the Constitutional rights and liberties of this Provit.ce.

At a meeting of the town held August 4, 1774, Moses Hale was chosen a delegate to a county convention to consider the best method of resisting the acts of Parliament. At a meeting held on the 25th of August the following resolves were passed :

Besohed, that we acknowledge ourselves true and liege subjei-ts to his majesty King George III., and that we will, tci the utmost of our power, defend his crown and dignity.

Resolved, that the charter of this Prttvince is the basis of allegiance to his 3Iajesty, the sacred obligation he is under to protect us, his American subjects, and that all Acts of the British Parliament which tend to vacate our charter, without our consent, have a tendency to destroy our allegiance to the King, and also the obligation he is under to protect us, his most loyal subjects, which consequently reduces us to a state of nature.

Resolved, that the uncunstitutioual act«, lately passed in the British Parliament, wherein they claim a right to tax the Americans without their consent, and to alter our free Constitutions at their pleasure, has a direct tendency to break otT tho affections of hia Majesty's true and loyal subjects in America from tiie King, and therefore most certainly weaken the British nation, and will, if persisted in, unavoidably endanger, if not actually be a means of the destruction of, the King and the whole British realm.

Resolved, that we will, to the utmost of our power, oppor-e all such unconstitutional acts which, in our opinion, are rlirectly against tlirdignity of the King and the Constitution of this Province, and are ready to risk our lives and fortunes in defense of our rightful sovereign, and to maintain our free Constitution in order to save ourselves and posterity from ruin and slavery, which seems like a torrent rushing in upon us.

Resolved, that we will do all that lies in our power to maintain pente and good order amongst us according to the laws of this Province, and that we will break of!" all dealings, as far as possible, with all ofticcrs who hold their commissions under unconstitutional laws.

Ret'dved, that those men who are appointed ''ounsellors by mandamus from England, dii'ectly contrary to tiie charter of this Province, and have taken the oaths reipiired to serve iu that office, are destitute of any regard to the good of their country, and ought to be treated as open enemies to the once free Constitution of this Province.

The patriotic and determined tone and spirit of these resolutions was not excelled by those of any other town in the Province. They were evidently drawn by men of intelligence and courage, who knew that the united voice of the community for which they spoke would enthusiastically sustain them. Indeed, so far as is known t(» the writer, no open su])- porter and defender of the crown marred the unanimity which marked the action of the town at this exciting period.

On the 15th of September, 1774, Moses Hale was chosen a delegate to the Provincial Congress to be held in Concord on the second Tuesday in October, But it is unnecessary to describe in detail the action taken at various times by the town, by which, in successive steps, in common with other towns in the Province, the feeling of the people was raised to the point of open resistance to the crown.

On the reception of the news of the battle of Lexington two companies marched from Winchendon, one under the commaud of Captain Abel Wilder, and attached to the regiment of Colonel Ephraim Doolittle, and the other under the command of Captain Moses Hale, and attached to the regiment of Colonel Nathan Sparhawk. The Winchendon men in Captain Wilder's company were as follows:

The following enlisted January 1, 1778, for one year, in the company commanded by Captain Benjamin Edgell, attached to the regiment of Colonel John Jacobs :

The following were drafted in 1778 for nine months' service and attached to the company of Captain Bowington in Colonel Sparhawk's regiment:

In the same year Abel Brown, Daniel Day and Daniel Mixter served on Castle Island and Governor's Island in the company of Captain William Henry, and Ephraim Parmenter enlisted for nine months.

In the same year the following enlisted for six months in Captain Jonathan Sibley's company, attached to the regiment of Colonel Luke Drury :

The amount of money expended by the town during the Revolution it is difficult to state with precision. In March, 1777, it was voted to pay a bounty of twenty pounds to soldiers enlisting in the Continental Army, and in November of that year the bounty was raised to one hundred and forty pounds. In 1781 ten thousand pounds were granted to procure beef for the army, and in that year 1412,000 were needed to defray the expenses of the town. It must be remembered, however, that at that time the currency was largely depreciated, and that large sums represented small values. Of course the town of Winchendon came out of the struggle with the purpose for which its people fought accomplished, but largely in debt, and with means so crippled that financial recuperation seemed almost impossible. So extreme was the destitution and so harassed were many of its inhabitants with debts pressing on them for settlement, that much sympathy was found to exist in Winchendon with those who instigated and jiromoted the Shays' Rebellion in 178(). Notwithstanding that rebellion was suppressed, the purposes for which it was excited were to a limited extent accomplished, by the enactment of relieving laws, and after its suppression the people, as best they could, struggled to revive their fallen fortunes, and place themselves once more on the road to prosperity and content.

The history of the First Church, which was dropped in this narrative at tlie point of its formation on the 15th of December, 1762, and the ordination of Rev. Daniel Stimpson on that day, may now be properly resumed. After the incorporation of the town the proprietors kept up their organization, and aided the town in their support of a minister. Mr. Stimpson died on the 20th of July, 1708. He was born in Weston, in 1731, and graduated at Harvard in 1759, in the class with Jonathan Trumbull (Governor of Connecticut), Samuel Allyne Otis, Abiel Leonard, John Pickering, Lemuel Hedge and /abdiel Adams. He left two children, - Luther who was a soldier in the Revolution, and Sarah, who married Beamsley Lord, who was also a soldier in the Revolution.

Rev. Joseph Brown was ordained May 24, 1709. At the ordination Rev. Francis Gardner, of Leominster, made a prayer ; Rev. Mr. Clark, of Lexington, preached the sermon ; Rev. Mr. Lawrence, of Lincoln, gave the charge ; Rev. Mr. Cushing, of \Valtham, gave the right hand of fellowship, and Rev. Mr. Woodward, of Weston, made the concluding prayer. Owing to difficulties which it is not worth the while to include in this narrative, Mr. Brown was dismissed by the decision of an ecclesiastical council held September 3, 1799. Mr. Brown was a graduate of Harvard in 1763, in the class with .Tosiah Quincy, John Jeffries, Joshua Upham, Samson Salter Blowers, Timothy Pickering and Caleb Gannett, and died in 1810. During the pastorate of Mr. Brown a new meetinghouse was built. On the 1st of March, 1790, the town voted to build a house, and chose a comiriittee of five, consisting of Abel Wilder, Esq., Deacon Moses Hale, Mr. Thomas Gratoii, Benjamin Hall, Esq., and Deacon Samuel Prentice, to devise ways and means and report at an adjourned meeting. On the 4th of October it was voted to set the new house on the meeting-house common, and to build it sixty feet long, fifty feet wide, with posts twenty-.seven feet long, and a porch at each end ten feet on the house and fourteen feet deep. It was al.so voted to have fifty-four pews on the floor, twenfcy-four in the galleries, and three seats on each .side below and three in the galleries. There were to be twenty windows (forty squares in each window) below, and twenty-one windows (thirty-five squares in each) in the galleries, and the frame was to be raised in the early part of the year 1792. A committee, consisting of Abel Wilder, Thomas Graton and Benjamin Hall, was chosen to make the necessary arrangements and superintend the building of the house. On the 1st of November, 1790, before the house was built, the pews were sold by auction, and the pews on the floor, after the assignment of one to the minister, brought the sum of two thousand one hundred and eighty-three dollars. Those in the galleries brought three hundred and si.xty-si.x dollars. On tiie 21st of November, 1791, it was voted to reconsider the vote fixing the location of the meetingliouse, and a committee consisting, of Abel Wilder, Esq., Deacon Samuel Prentice, Doctor Ziba Hall, Lieut. John Burr, Mr. Thomas Graton, Mr. Jame.^ Steel and Samuel Crosby, E<q., was chosen to select a location and report at an adjourned meeting. On the 24tb of November the town accepted the report of the committee, selecting a lot "one hundred and twenty feet south of Luther Slimp.son's house, and thirty-one feet east of the stone wall by Mr. Brown's garden." But the town did not rest satisfied. On the 20th of December another committee, consisting of Abel Wilder, Moses Hale, Samuel Crosby, Wm. Whitney, Benjamin Hall and Samuel Prentice, was appointed to make another selection of a location, and report to the town. After one or more meetings it was definitely voted on the 7th of May to place the north side of the house one hundred and seventy feet from the north line of the Common. At a previous meeting it had been voted thitt the selectmen should buy " a barrel of West India rum and a quantity of sugar sufficient to make it into toddy, and that it be expended paitly upon the men that assist the day preceding the day set for raising the meeting-house in laying the timber in order for raising ; and the remaining part upon the people that attend as spectators at the raising, and that the selectmen see that it is properly dealt out." The house was raised on the 24tli of May, 1792, and dedicated January 1, 1793, and the old meetinghouse was sold.

On the 16th of March, 1801, the town voted "to give Mr. Levi Pillsbury $400 for his annual salary so long as he shall continue to be our public teacher of piety, religion and morality; the said Pillsbury relinquishing all claims to ministerial lands and rents belonging to said town.'' Mr. Pillsbury was ordained June 24, 1801, and served until his death, which occurred April 5, 1819. There had been estrangements during his pastorate owing tii political differences between pastor and parish, but these had been [)artially, if not wholly, reconciled before his death. In 1815, during the pastorate of Mr. Pillsbury, a tower was added to the meeting-house and a bell hung, which was bought by funds raised by subscription, but not before 1823 was a stove used to heat the house.

On the 10th of May, 1819, a committee of five, consisting of George Coffin, Isaac Morse, Samuel Prentice, Phinehas Whitney and Samuel Moore Brown, was chosen to select a new minister as the successor of Mr. Pillsbury, but it was not until the 12th of October that a decision was reached, when it was voted to ask Rev. Elam Clark to settle as pastor. The invitation was declined and Rev. Eber L. Clark was then invited and accepted. He was ordained on the 13th of October, 1820, on which occasion Rev. Thomas Robbins, D.D., preached the sermon. His ministry continued until his resignation, .Tanuary 2, 183.5. Mr. Clark was born in Mansfield, Conn., March 23, 1786, and graduated at Williams College in 1811. He was licensed to preach in February, 1812, and ordained, September 24th in the same year, pastor of the First Church in Chatham, Connecticut. He was dismissed from that church August 13, 1815, and installed pastor of the church in Granby, Conn., July 3, 1816, from which he was dismissed July 5, 1820. After his resignation as pastor of the Winchendon Church, he served a pastorate of three years in Berlin, Mass., and afterwards a pastorate of fifteen years in Richmond, Mass. In 1853 he was installed in Washington, Mass., and died in that town in 1857. Julius L. Clark, formerly theeflicient chief clerk in the State Auditor's office in Boston, and at a later day the much-respected insurance commissioner of Massachusetts, was his son.

The successor of Mr. Clark was Rev. Daniel O. Morton, then settled in Springfield, Vermont, who was installed March 2, 1836. At his installation Rev. George Goodyear, of Ashburnham ; Rev. Sumner Lincoln, of Gardner; Rev. Cyrus Mann, of Westminster; Rev. Ebenezer Perkins, of Royalston; Rev. Amos W. Burnham, of Rindge; Rev. Alexander Lovell, of Phillipston ; Rev. Lemuel P. Bates, of Templeton, and

Rev. Giles Lyman, of Jaffrey, officiated. Mr. Morton was dismissed June 29, 1841, and was afterwards settled in Bristol, N. H., where he died, March 25, 1852. i

During the next five years the pulpit was supplied by Rev. Edwin Leigh two years, Rev. Robert W. Fuller, Rev. Abijah P. Marvin six months, and Rev. Benjamin Rice from 1843 until his death. Mr. Rice was born in Sturbridge May 9, 1784, and died July 12, 1847. He was a graduate of Brown University, and had before going to Winchendon been settled in Skaneateles, N. Y.; South Deerfield, Mass., and New Gloucester, and Buxton, Maine. On the 19th of November, 1846, Rev. Malachi Bullard was ordained and served until his death, in 1849. He wjis succeeded by the Rev. John Storrs, who was installed August 22, 1849, and died in his pastorate in 1854. During the pastorate of Mr. Storrs the old meeting-house, which was found too large after the organization of a new society in the north part of the town, which will be hereafter referred to, was taken down and a smaller one built, largely from the old materials, a little northwesterly of the old location.

Rev. Benjamin F. Clark was settled October 25, 1855, and was dismissed in April, 1865. Since that time the pulpit has been occupied by Rev. Milan H. Hitchcock, Rev. David Brigham, Rev. Levi Brigham, and the present pastor. Rev. Abijah Stowell, who has served three or four years.

The Baptists in Winchendon held religious services as early as 1783, but not until 1798 was a church organized, in the southwest part of the town, called New Boston. In 1811 a society house was built, and the first settled minister was Elder Samuel Siraonds, who was ordained in 1810. In 1820 a meeting-house was built. In 1837 Mr. Simonds died, and was succeeded by various occupants of the pulpit, among whom were Elder Brown, Elder Jones, and in 1840 by Rev. Warren Cooper. In 1842 Rev. Andrew Dunn became the pastor, and was followed by Elder Fay and Elder Culvert and others.

The Methodist Episcopal Church was organized in the year 1800. Until 1807 meetings were held in a private house, but in that year a meeting-house was built on land given by Stephen Weston. In 1833 a new meeting-house was erected, and dedicated October 11th in that year. In 1851 the house wa-s remodeled and rededicated on the 2d of October. In 1875 a third house was built and is now occupied by the society, under the pastorate of Rev. Wm. F. Lawford.

The North Congregational Church was organized December 7, 1843, a meeting-house having been built earlier in that year. There were sixty-seven original members, nearly all of whom had been members of the First Church. Rev. Abijah P. Marvin was invited to settle, and was ordained January 10, 1844, on which day also the meeting-house was dedicated. At the dedication, which took place in the forenoon, Rev. Richard M. Chipman made the introductory prayer, Rev. Mr. Marvin preached the sermon and Rev. Sam uel H. Peckham made the dedicatory prayer. At the ordination, in the afternoon. Rev. Benjamin Rice, of the First Church, read the Scriptures and made the introductory prayer ; Rev. Mr. Tyler, of New Haven, preached the sermon ; Rev. Mr. Jennison made the ordaining prayer; Rev.Mr. Burnham gave the charge; Rev. Mr. Sabin the right hand of fellowship ; Rev. Mk. Chipman the address to the people ; and Rev. Mr. Stone made the concluding prayer. In 1848 a bell was hung in the meetinghouse, and in 1855 the house was enlarged and rearranged, at a cost of 12000. Mr. Marvin was dismissed August 22, 1866, in response to a request made by him for the second time. During the pastorate of Mr. Marvin he made himself not only a devoted and beloved leader of his flock, but a useful and respected citizen of the town. Whatever tended to promote the welfare and elevate the culture and morals of the community received his earnest support. He has permanently identified himself with the town, and enlarged the debt of gratitude due to him by its people by the well-conceived and ably-executed " History of Winchendon," which he published in 1868 ; and, at this point in the narrative, the writer desires to acknowledge the assistance afforded to him by that work in the preparation of this sketch.

Rev. Austin Dodge was ordained October 9, 1866, and remained about a year. He was followed by Rev. Davis Foster in 1869, who still officiates as pastor of the society.

The Baptist Church in the northerly part of the town, which is now really Winchendon, was organized April 27, 1848. Their meeting-house was dedicated January 17, 1849, and Rev. Andrew Dunn was settled. Mr. Dunn resigned in 1853, and Rev. Abraham Baldwin was settled in 1854. Rev. Lester Williams followed, and was succeeded by Rev. W. W. Ashley. Mr. Ashley left in 1861, and w:is followed in the same year by Rev. George A. Litchfield, who remained until 1865. After the departure of Mr. Litchfield, Rev. Leonard Tracy supplied the pulpit for a time, and Rev. J. S. Hamblin was settled in 1872. The present pastor is Rev. Windsor H. Wyman. In 1867 the meeting-house was repaired and somewhat remodeled, and the society is enjoying a season of prosperity satisfactory and creditable to its members.

The increasing number of Catholics in the town rendered, many years since, the organization of a church necessary. A meeting-house was built, and for many years Father Moran was the officiating clergyman. The church is called "The Church of the Immaculate Heart of Mary," and is now presided over by Father John Conway.

The Unitarians began to hold services in the town hall in 1851, and were organized as the Third Congregational Society, January 17, 1852. Rev. Theodore Haskell Dorr, a graduate of Harvard in the class of 1835, was installed January 19, 1852, and remained about a year. He was succeeded by Rev.

Benjamin Huntoon in 1856, who left in 1858. Rev. Charles H. Wheeler followed September 1, 1865, and remained in the pastorate until his death, in 1888. The present pastor is Rev. A. J. Gulp. In 1866-67 their elegant and commodious granite church, called the Church of the Unity, was built, and dedicated November 13, 1867. The building committee consisted of 1. M. Murdock, B. D. Whitney, William W. Whitney, Sidney Fairbanks, John Folsom and George Goodspeed, and the result ol their work reflects infinite credit on their judgment and taste. At the dedication the dedicatory prayer was ofi'ered by Rev. Mr. Wheeler ; Rev. Dr. Charles Bartol, of Boston, preached the sermon, and Dr. Edward Everett Hale, of Boston, delivered an address. The house is built of Fitzwilliam granite, and is ninety-five feet long by forty-five feet wide. The spire rises one hundred and thirteen feet, and the cost of the structure, including an organ, was $44,000.

Returning now to the earlier days of the town, reference should be made to two changes which were made in its boundary lines. When the town was incorporated, in 1764, it was supposed that it was bounded on the north by the New Hampshire line. When, however, the line came to be run between the two Provinces, it was found to be one mile farther north than it was supposed, and consequently, a strip of territory a mile wide along the whole northern border of Winchendon, six miles long, remained unappropriated. After Royalston was incorporated, February 17, 1765, thi.s strip was annexed to that town, and was called Royalston Leg. When the strip became settled its inhabitants petitioned to be set off to Winchendon, and on the 17th of June, 1780, an act was passed, granting the petitiou, and thus six square miles, or about 3840 acres, were annexed to Winchendon. When Gardner was incorporated, on the 27th ol June, 1785, the act provided that the southeasterly part of Winchendon, the westerly part of Westminster, the southwesterly part of Ashburnham, and the easterly part of Templeton should constitute the new town. The part taken from Winchendon included 3680 acres, so that after these two changes had been made the town of Winchendon included 160 acres more than it did when incorporated.

The first mention of schools in the town was under the date of May 5, 1765, when the sum of eight dollars was appropriated for the benefit of a school at the centre. In 1766 the .sum of twenty dollars was appropriated, and in 1767 it was voted that "the extreme parts of the town should have a school by themselves, they providing a place and keeper."

In 1774 the town was divided into six sections, each of which was to have a school. In 1780 it was voted to have a school-master for nine months, equally divided between the six sections, and in 1785 the sum of fifty dollars was appropriated for schools. After 1786 five or six school-houses were built, and in 1799

There are at present in the town a high school, two grammar schools, five intermediate schools, five primary schools and six ungraded seliools, making a total of nineteen schools.

The Winchendon Academy was founded in 1843 by Ephraim Murdock, who built a house which was used free of charge at various times by John G. Giles, Levi O. Stephens, Stephen F. Kellogg, Charles L. Brace, A. H. Merriam and Rev. Wm. Wilmarth. The High School was kept in the academy building until the erection of a High School House, and since that time, by direction of Mr. Murdock, the building has been occupied by the lower grade schools of the town.

It is probable that the town of Winchendon had the privileges of a library earlier than any among the small towns in the State. According to tradition, one existed in the early part of the last quarter of the last century. How long it existed, by whom it was managed and to whom it belonged is not known. At any rate it disappeared, and another seems to have existed about the year 1800. This was sold in 1825, and not until the year 1851 can any public library be said to have been established. In that year a corporation was formed, which seems to have been inspired by the efforts of Rev. Mr. Marvin, whose eye was always open to whatever would educate and elevate the community in which his lot was cast. The first officers of the corporation were Elisha Murdock, president; Calvin R. Whitman, vice-president; H. Harwood, clerk ; Amasa Whitney, Jr., treasurer ; Ira Russell, Orlando Mason, Wm. L. Lincoln, Henry Perley and Ebene/.er Butler, Executive Committe^e ; and A. I'. Marvin, B. 0. Tyler, E. Murdock, Jr., 1). L. Morrill and Alvah Godding,library committee. Subscriptions to the amount of three hundred dollars were raised, and the design of the library was to include lectures, from which both instruction and revenues might be derived. This library had a precarious existence until the 16th of January, 1867, when the members of the corporation voted " to present the library to the town at the next March meeting, provided the town will provide for its maintenance and enlargement and proper keeping, for the accommodation of the readers of the town." The town voted to accept the library on the conditions stated, and it is now a free public library, managed by trustees chosen by the town and supported by annual appropriation.

As in the War of the Eevolution, the town of Winchendon kept pace with other towns in its eftbrts to sustain the government in the War of the Rel)ellion. On the 27th of April, 181)1, a town-meeting was held, at which (Jiles H. Whitney acted as moderator, and a committee was appointed to report suitable measures for the town to adopt in the existing state of atfairs. On the report of the committee it was voted to furnish each volunteer with a suitable uniform, a good revolver and eight dollars a month, in addition to government pay. It was also voted to pay one dollar per day for time expended in drilling for a term not exceeding one month. On the 4th of July, 1861, at a town-meeting at which John Cutter presided, it was voted to furnish State aid to soldiers' families in accordance with the provisions of law. At a meeting held on the 19th of July, 18G2, it was voted "that under the recent call of the government for three hundred thousand men, the town is called upon to furnish a certain number in making up the quota for this State ; that this town will pay to such men as will enlist within twenty days to make up the required luimber one hundred dollars each, in addition to the bounty offered by government, to be paid as follows : twenty-five dollars as soon as the recruit is sworn into service, and seventy-five dollars at the expiration of the term for which he enlists, with interest from the true date of his being sworn into service. And if the recruit prefers, the seventy five dollars shall be paid to his family or to those dependent on him for their support, by his order at such times and in such sums as the selectmen may think required. In case of death, what is due shall be paid to his heirs. Provided if any volunteer prefer to receive the whole bounty of one hundred dollars at the time he is sworn into service, he shall be paid accordingly."

On the If.th of August, 18(32, it was voted "that this town will pay to each man that will enlist within the next fifteen days to make up the quota of this town of the last three hundred thousand men called for by the government, the sum of one hundred dollars upon their being sworn into service."

These votes, with others, not included in this narrative, illustrate the activity of the town in furnishing its share of men under the various calls of the President. The amount of money expended by the town during the war for war purposes was $48,000, of which the sum of $17,949.32 for State aid was paid back by the State. The following is a list of soldiers furnished by Winchendon, with the regiments and companies to which they belonged :

The business enterprises on which the town of VVlncbendon thrives are largely those of the manufacture of wooden-ware. In the early days of the town farming was the chief industry, but the abundance of suitable material in its adjacent forests naturally led to the enterprises which have, in later years, characterized it and given it distinction.

The various mills which existed previous and up to 1868 have been so fully described in "Marvin's History," and up to 1879 in his " County History," that it .seems almost useless to recount them in this narrative. They have undergone some changes since that time, but f<ir the most part they continue in the same line of business and under tlie same management. Since that time the establishments of Alvin Streeter, engaged in the manufacture of woodworking machineiy : that of Brown Brothers, at Ballardsville, and Wilder P. Clark, at the North Village, engaged in the manufacture of wooden-ware ; of Taft

& Day, in the manufacture of brush woods ; of Wm. P. Caldwell, of hardware ; of Quimby S. Backus, of oil and gas heaters; of the (xlen Allan Cotton-Mills, conducted by White Brothers ; of M. E. Converse & Co., in the manufacture of rattan chairs and toys; of W. P. Clark & Co., of chairs, and of (leorge S. Loud, of wooden faucets, have been established, and have added to the industry, population and wealth of the town.

Among the older establishments of which some special mention should be made are tho.se of Nelson D. White, Baxter D. Whitney, Orlando Mason, Ozro Hancock and William W. Whitney. The cotton factory of Mr. White, conducted by his sons at Spring Village, stands on the site of an old sawmill, which was in operation in the early part of the century. In 1<82G a woolen factory was erected by Sylvanus Holbrook, which, after running about five years, was converted into a cotton factory, and run by Philip Ridgway and William and John D. Dunbar. For a description of the mills conducted by Nelson D. White and his sons, the reader is referred to a sketch of Mr. White on page 1009.

The manufacture of wooden-ware was begun about fifty years ago by Elisha Murdock, who established it on a firm and lasting foundation. His son-in-law, William W. Whitney, succeeded him, and has shown the skill and good management requisite for the continued successful operation of the business.

The works of Baxter D. Whitney, for the manufacture of machinery for working wood, were begun in 184C. In 1852 his dam and buildings were swept away, but promptly rebuilt. Mr. Whitney his, by his ingenuity and inventive power, reinforced his natural business capacity and in.sured to his enterprises a permanent success.

Among the corporations and organized bodies of the town are the Winchendon National Bank, with a capital of $150,000; the Winchendon Savings Bank, organized in 1854; the Oilman C. Parker Post, No. 153, of the Grand Army of the Republic ; a lodge of Odd Fellows, a lodge of Royal Arcanum, a lodge of the Ancient Order of United Workmen, a lodge of Knights of Labor, and one of Good Templars, and a I.;adies' Relief Corps attached to the (irand Army Post.

The railroads touching Winchendon are the Cheshire, connecting the town with the Boston and Fitchburg and with the Rutland Railroad, the Ware River Railroad, connecting Winchendon with Palmer and operated by the Boston and Albany, the Monadnock Railroad, connecting Winchendon with Peterboro', run by the Cheshire Railroad and the Worcester Division of the Fitchburg Railroad, connecting Winchester with Worcester.

The professional men in the town are Frank B. Spalter and Lafayette Washington Pierce, attorneysat-law, and Frederick W. Russell, John G. Henry, Nathaniel R. Perkins and Peter S. W. Geddes, tlie

Mrs. White " was an accomplished woman, of rare character and worth; her life, which was somewhat retired, was devoted to the happiness and culture of her family and bore fruit in a pure and delightful home. Her manners were dignified and she impressed those who met her with a sense of the most genuine womanliness. It was, however, in the inner circle of her near relatives and friends that her exquisite qualities found full expression - her tenderness of heart, her regard for others, especially for those in need or sorrow, her unselfish and thoughtful kindness and that nameless loftiness of spirit which, respecting itself and respecting others, is superior to the pettishness of the meaner ranges of thought and conduct." Thus spoke one after her death who knew her well and had the best opportunities for estimating and appreciating her character.

Notwithstanding the magnitude of the enterprises in which Jlr. White has been engaged, he has found time to respond to the demands of the community in which he has lived since he reached the years of manhood, for the display of his good judgment and the bestowment of his service in its behalf. The town, the church of which he is a member, the political party to whose principles ho has long been devotedt the financial institutions with which he has been connected and the projects of a more public nature with which he has been identified, are ready witnesses of his wisdom, integrity and conscientious fidelity to trusts confided to him. Directorships in the Boston, Barre and Gardner Railroad and in the Winchendon National Bank, the vice-presidency of the Winchendon Savings Bank, and a seat in the House of Representatives, are among the positions which he holds or has held with credit to himself and with usefulness to his constituents.

Mr. White is a typical representative of a class of men who have made the manufacturing interests of New England conspicuous and successful. His grasp of business enterprises has been comprehensive. He has exhibited a genius for securing the largest manufactured product with the greatest economy in its production. He has himself invented some of his laborsaving appliances. His career is identified with the history of the town in which he has lived so many years, and of the proai^erity and growth of which he is recognized as one of the foremost jjromoters. He is everywhere recognized as a man of liberal and progressive spirit, alive to the progress of the age and open to its advance in all the realms of modern thought and growth. He has a large circle of attached friends, to whom he is endeared by his pleasant manners and his kindly and social nature. Enjoying now, at three-score years and ten, the rewards of an industrious, successful and honorable life, living in the home of his life-work, surrounded by his children and children's children, all provided with abundant store, listening to the hum of the wheels and spindles which he set in motion, witnessing the continued expansion and prosperity of the business he founded and the activities of a village population to whom he has given empToyment, he presents a rare picture of the ripe years of a felicitous life.

Pr. Ira Ru.S.Sell

Among the varied industries of Winchendon there is one which is quite <^utside of its ordinary business, but which is deserving of extended notice. We refer to

The HniHLANDS - (a Family Home for the Treatment of Nervous and Mental Diseases).' - In 1875, Dr. Ira Russell put in successful operation an idea which had been developing in his mind for many years. Quite original with him, it has proven a radical and valuable change in the care of insane and nervous patients. He planned to care for and treat such diseases in a home, with the associations of family life thrown about them, and every possible distasteful feature of sickness removed. How well he succeeded is gladly testified by many patients restored to health and happiness by his kindly and paternal care.

Dr. Russell, whose face on another page shows the strong nature of the man, was born in Rindge, N. H., November 9, 1814, and died at Winchendon, December 19, 1888, at the age of seventy-four years. He was the son of Eliakim and Sarah (Converse) Russell, of English and Huguenot descent. Very early in boyhiiod he was obliged to make his own way in the world, and with great self-denial and perseverance sought for and won his education. He graduated from Dartmouth College in 1841, and began the study of medicine under the direction of Dr. Dixi Crosby, of Hanover, N. H., and with Dr. Abell, of Kludge, and Dr. Alvah Godding, of Winchendon, Mass. He attended medical lectures in New York, and graduated from the University of New York City in 1844. He had received the appointment of district physician to the famous New York Hospital, where he had opportunities for large experience. He was among the very first to study and use the stethoscope, and indeed, in after-life, he was always in the van of medical progress. This was peculiarly shown by his going to New York and spending several months in the study of the microscope, when he was nearly sixty years of age.

He entered private jiractice in ^Vinchendon, M:iss., where, .\pril 24, 1844, he married Rowena Greenwood, daughter of Henry and Sarah (Woodbury) Greenwood ; she died in 1875. At first associated with Dr. Godding, and later on by himself, he practised for nine years with a constantly widening circle of friends, whom he served with unwearied devotion and energy. In 1853 he was invited by a committee of citizens to remove to Xatick, where he soon took a leading position, and had an extensive and pleasant practice. In 1861 he could no longer control his desire for a more active [larticiriation in the great conflict, and he entered the army, by personal request of Surgeon -General Dale, as surgeon of the Eleventh Regiment Massachusetts Volunteers, Colonel Blaisdell cooimanding - a body of citi/.en soldiery whicli won an enviable reputation in " Fighting Joe Hooker's" command.

Soon after the battles about Yurktown he was promoted to surgeon United States Volunteers, and assigned to duty in Hooker's division. His executive ability attracted attention, and he was next ordered to Baltimore, to organize the Stuart Mansion Hospital, of which he remained in charge until November, 1862. He was then ordered to St. Louis, to equip the Lawson Hospital. In December he was appointed medical director of Northwest Arkansas ; while here he had charge of the wounded men after the battle of Prairie Grove, and forwarded to Washington a report more complete than that of any other battle during the entire war. In February, 1863, he was put in charge of the general and post hospitals at Benton Barracks, St. Louis, Mo., which under his isdministration became one of the very largest hospitals of the war. While on duty at St. Louis he was a prominent figure in the benevolent and official life of the city, and made troops of friends. In December, 1864, he was placed on the staft'of General Thomas, and organized the Wilson General Hospital for colored troops, at Nashville, Tenn. Here he did a great amount of scientific work, which has secured a permanent place in medical literature. At the close of the war he was breveted lieutenant-c<ilonel for long and meritorious services; he then spent a year in the service of the United States Sanitary Commission in extensive travel and research in the line of his profession.

man. In 1875 he entered upon the crowning work of his eventful life - his long-cherished idea of a family home for mental diseases - the first of its kind in this country : an idea which came at once into remarkable public favor. He devoted himself to this work for many years, and died in harness, the hero of many a hard-fought battle with disease, displaying wonderful courage to the very last moment of his life.

In 1876 he married Josephine A. Lees, who survives him. He left two children, - Dr. Frederick W. Russell, for many years his associate in practice and now superintendant of the Highlands, and Mrs. S. J. Walcott, wife of E. H. Walcott, well known in newspaper work. The following description will further explain the character of the Highlands, and the system by which it is carried on :

The Highlands was established by Dr. Ira Russell in 1875 for the treatment of nervous and mental diseases, the opium habit and inebriety. It is conducted like a home, where the principles of family life, nonrestraint and open air are carried to the greatest possible extent. The home is not an institution or asylum, and there is no suggestion of sickness or gloom whatever about the buildings.

Each patient, when necessary, is provided with a companion. All male attendants, usually medical students, are obliged to be total abstainers from tobacco and alcohol and of gentlemanly deportment, while young American women of intelligence are the companions of lady patients. The utmost possible liberty is permitted under suitable guardianship to every patient, and each one is regarded and treated as a member of a private fiimily.

with cottages annexed, situated in the midst of ample grounds, on an eminence overlooliing the town of Wincliendon and the valley of Miller"s River. From tlie windows a superb range of hills and mountains can be seen, reaching from Wachuselt in the southeast to Monadnock in the northwest.

A piano-room, billiard-room, bowling saloon, croquet and tennis courts and ample stabling are on the grounds. The drives in the vicinity are eou.sidered delightful, and for healthfulness of location the Highlands is unsurpassed.

A farm, with exceptionally pleasant surroundings, and farm-house fitted with closet and bath-room appliances with hot and cold water, is used to give suitable patients an outing as often as possible.

Orlando Mason

The first American ancestor of Orlando Mason, the subject of this sketch, was Capt. Hugh Mason, who came to New England in 1634 and settled in Watertown. He was conspicuous in town affairs, and in 1653 received the commission which gave him his title. He was a representative from Watertown in the General Court of the Massachusetts Colony for ten years, and died in 1678. By a wife Esther he had a son Joseph, who was born June 10, 1644, and married Mary Fiske. Joseph had a son Joseph, who was born October 2, 1688, and married Mary Monk. Benjamin Mason, a son of the last Joseph, was born July 14, 1717, and married Martha Fairbanks. He removed to Dublin, New Hampshire, about 1764, and Bela, one of his children, was born in Dublin, October 1st, in that year. Another sou of Benjamin, bearing his father's name, two years older than Bela, was a drummer boy at the battle of Bunker Hill. Bela Mason married Sarah Norcross, and had four sons and three daughters. Capt. Rufus Mason, the oldest son of Bela, was born at Dublin, N. H., May 16, 1788, and when still a boy removed to Sullivan, in the same State, where he became a successful farmer and married, June 1, 1815, Prudence Woods. At a time when herds and flocks were more abundant in New England than in these later years he raised many cattle and counted his sheep by the hundreds. He held for several years the offices of selectman and assessor, and tor two years represented his adopted town in the Legislature. He died in Winchendon, December 4, 1873.

Orlando Mason, the subject of this sketch, was the son of Rufus, and was born in Sullivan, N. H., June 3, 1824. He was educated in the public schools of his native town and at the academy in Thetford, Vermont. After leaving the academy he taught school in Nelson, N. H., and thus, by the performance of his duties as a teacher, not only nourished the seeds of knowledge which he had planted as a pupil, but gave them better opportunities for germination and growth. On the 4th of March, 1844, he removed to Winchendon, and GS entered the wooden-ware manufacturing establishment of E. Murdock, Jr., with whom he remained nine years, six years in the factory and three years in the office. On his retirement from the office of Mr. Murdock, to begin business on his own account, his employer, in token of his appreciation of the industry and fidelity which Mr. Mason had displayed, authorized him to draw on him at sight for the sum of two thousand dollars, if ever it might be required in the exigencies of the business upon which he was entering. The offer of such substantial aid was as creditable to the liberality of Mr. Murdock as the fact that advantage was never taken of it by Mr. Mason was to the spirit of independence and high sense of honor of Mr. Mason.

Mr. Mason began the manufacture of wooden-ware in 1853, purchasing one-half interest with Ephraim Kendall, and carrying on the business under the firm-name of Kendall & Mason. In 1863, Mr. Kendall sold his interest to Mr. Mason, and the latter became the sole proprietor, continuing his business alone up to the present time ; in later years, since 1869, his son, Dwight L. Mason, assisting him. His mill is on Miller's River, near the centre of the central village of Winchendon. His goods bear the best reputation and find their way to the markets of both the Old and New Worlds.

But Mr. Mason, though an active and zealous business man, has found time to take part in various movements and enterjirises calculated to promote the religious, moral, social and industrial welfare of the community. He has served at various times as selectman and overseer of the poor, and in 1871 represented Winchendon in the General Court. He took an active part in organizing the Winchendon Savings Bank in 1854, and while since its incorporation, he has been a member of its board of investment, during the last ten years he has been its president. He was also efficient in the organization of the First National Bank in Winchendon, in 1864, and since that time has been a member of its board of directors. His appointment on various town committees illustrates the confidence of his fellowcitizens in his sagacity and prudence and judgment. On the committees to secure volunteers during the war ; to select a suitable tract of land for a cemetery ; to recommend a proper site for a High School building, to ojipose the division of Worcester County, and to consider the subject of town water-works, his business methods and wise council were duly appreciated by the town.

In more limited fields of usefulness he has been no less efficient. As chairman of the Republican Town Committee for many years, as superintendent of the Congregational Sunday-school for twentytwo years, as trustee of the Cushing Academy and a director in the Fitchburg Mutual Fire Insurance Company, his services have been in request as long as he was willing to render them.

Such a record as is here displayed renders it an easy task to form a correct estimate of the character of the man. He is such a man as every town seeking its highest and best development, guiding the footsteps of its youth, guarding the financial interests of its people, looking to progress without extravagance and respecting economy without the taint of parsimony, should possess.

Mr. Mason married, February 13, 1851, Jane S. Fifield, whose son, Dwight L. Mason, was born August 10, 1852. Twin daughters were also born June 26, 1858, one of whom died on the day of its birth and was buried with its mother, and the other at the age of five years. Dwight L. Mason graduated at the Highland Military Academy in ]8(i9, and since that time has been engaged in business with his father.

Mr. Mason married a second wife, Calista Streeter, November 17, 1859, whose children have been Marcus Marvin and Mabel Murdock, both born October 7, 18i)l. Marcus Marvin Mason graduated at Amherst College in 1883, and since 1884 has occupied responsible positions in connection with stock-raising associations in Wyoming Territory, with a central office in Cheyenne. Mabel Murdock Mason, after finishing her education at Mt. Holyoke Seminary, engaged for several years in the occupation of teacher in Lawrence, Massachusetts.

William Webster Whitney

William Webster Whitney is descended from John Whitney, who came, a boy of eleven years, from England in 1635, in the Elizabetli and Anne, and settled with his father and mother, and four younger brothers, in Watertown. William Whitney, the great-grandson of John, was born in Weston April 10, 1736, and settled in Winchendon in 1774. He married, June 14, 1762, Mary Mansfield, of Weston, and had seven children, - William, Phinehas, Mary, Joseph, Amasa, Sally and Luke, - and died July 10, 1817. He was a soldier in the company of Captain Moses Hale and regiment of Colonel Nathan Sparhawk, which marched from Winchendon to Cambridge at the outbreak of the Revolution in 1775.

Amasa Whitney, son of William, was born June 16, 1777, and married, in December, 1802, Mary, daughter of Daniel Goodridge, and died February 2, 1852. His children were, - Webster, born in Winchendon October 6, 1803 ; Amasa, April 24, 1806, who married Mary, daughter of Ephraim Murdock ; Harriet, January 27, 1811, who married C. C. Pierce; William Lowe, March 24, 1815 ; Baxter Dodridge, June 28, 1817, who married Sarah Jane, daughter of Richard Whitney; Mary Goodridge, August 2, 1819, who married William, son of Ephraim Murdock; and John Milton, December 18, 1826.

Webster Whitney, son of Amasa, born as above, married, March 16, 1828, Eliza Parks, daughter of Colonel .Joseph Whitman, of Lincoln, and had Eliza Caroline, born June 16, 1830, who married William Beaman ; William Webster, the subject of this sketch ; and Lucy Ellen, born October 21, 1834, who married ArchusJ?. Kimball.

William Webster Whitney was born in Winchendon May 5, 1833. He attended the public schools of that town, and Phillips Academy at Andover. At the age of eighteen he began an apprenticeship with Captain Ephraim Murdock, an extensive manufacturer of wooden-ware, and remained with him until he was twenty-seven. He then went into partnership with his father-in-law, Elisha Murdock, a brother of Ephraim, in the same business at Waterville, under the firm-name of E. Murdock & Co. In 1862 Mr. Murdock retired from the partnership on account of ill-health, and died in 1870. Under the same title Mr. Whitney formed a partnership with his cousin, .lames Alfred Whitman, son of Ephraim Parks Whitman, which continued seventeen years, until 1879. During the next five years he carried on the business alone, and in 1884 took his son Elisha Murdock Whitney into partnership, still retaining the old firm-name of E. Murdock & Co.

The business originally established by Mr. I-^lisha Murdock, always successful, has, in the hands of Jlr. Whitney, gradually extended, until his establishment is now- not only the oldest, but has been for the last ten years the most extensive wooden-ware manufactory in the country. He married, January 22, 1857, Sophia Morse, daughter of his old partner, Elisha Murdock, and has one son, Elisha Murdock Whitney, who is his present partner.

Concerning this young man, the son of Mr. Whitney, the interesting fact may be stated that his three great-grandfathers - Amasa Whitney, Ephraim Murdock and Isaac Morse - who were three of the most prominent men in Winchendon from 1800 to 1825, lie buried side by side in adjoining lots in the old cemetery of the town.

From the first step taken by Jlr. Whitney in his business life he has devoted himself unremittingly to the enterprises with which he has been connected, and to his industry, supplemented and reinforced by a good education, a marked intelligence, a sensitive honor and an indomitable will, his success has been due. Though avoiding and refusing public office, he has never been inattentive to the wants of his native town, and any project calculated to promote its interests he has pushed with energy and zeal. With the extension of the Ware River Railroad from Gilbertville, in Hardwick, to Winchendon, he was especially identified, and from the time that extension was projected he has been a director of the road. Since its practical purchase by the Boston and Albany Railroad corporation, when it became the Ware River Branch of that company, his early eflbrts in its behalf, and his high business character, have been recognized by continued re-elections to a directorship. He is also one of the trustees of the Winchenilon Savings Bank, and an active member of the Unitarian Society, to which he has been a liberal benefactor, and of the executive committees of which lie was for twenty years a member. Elisha Murdock, liis ftither-in-law, wa.s the pioneer of Unitarianisni in Winchendon, and in later years his interest in the society was largely shared by his brother Ephraim.

Mr. Whitney is a man of marked presence, and with his genial social traits and broad views on the questions of the day, together with good conversational powers, he cannot fail to impress a stranger as a leader among men, possessing the brain to conceive and the ability to execute enterprises which men of less ardent and less hopeful temperament would consider impracticable, if not impossible. He is now in the prime of life, strong in body and mind, with a probable future before him of continued prosperity and usefulness.

Wilder P. Clark, of Winchendon, was born in Chesterfield, N. H., October 12, 1832. His father, Joseph Clark, a son of Solomon Clark, of Chesterfield, and a grandson of Jonas Clark, of Petersham, Mass., married Fanny Gary, who died February 27, 1817, leaving two children; he married, second, Polly Kneeland, who died May 7, 1850, leaving six children ; he died July 2.5, 1852, aged nearly sixty years. He was an industrious man and a good citizen. A prominent member of the Methodist Church, class leader and superintendent of the Sabbath-school, his life was a consistent expression of his religious convictions and professions. For many years he was an earnest and intelligent advocate of the cause of temperance, and frequently spoke in public from the standpoint of a man who never drank liquor at a ]iublic bar, which was an unusually conspicuous record for his time. His kindness was extended to all, and he never grew weary in his eflbrts for the good of his fellow-men.

John Kneeland, Esq., the maternal grandfather of the subject of this sketch, a son of Timothy Kneeland, was born in the southeast part of Winchendon (now Gardner), and in early manhood removed to Chesterfield. He was a man of marked ability, a selectman sixteen years, a representative several years and, living to an advanced age, he continued to exercise a commanding influence in town and State affairs.

The early experience and training of Mr. Clark were those common to the lot of many successful men who have been reared in the country homes of New England. Attending the public schools of his native town, and supplementing a brief prinuiry course by a few terms at the academy, his school advantages were measured more by industry and application than by months or years of study.

At sixteen years of age young Clark began the battle of life. In the autumn of 1848 he found employment in the store of B. L. Marsh & Co., on Hanover Street, Boston, where he remained four years. In the mean time Mr. Marsh retired from the firm, and, in connection with Eben D. Jordan, founded the well-known house of Jordan, Marsh & Co. In this employment he was eminently successful, and enjoyed the esteem and confidence of his employers and his associates.

In 1852 the engagement was terminated by severe sickness, and, after a residence in Texas of a year he returned to the scenes of his first successful efl'ort in mercantile pursuits. From 1853 to 1857 he was a salesman in the emjjloy of Porter & Lawrence and of Locke, Hall & Co., dry-goods houses, on Hanover Street. In 1857 Mr. Clark made his first essay in business on his own account. He bought, and soon sold, with apparent advantage, a stock of goods on Hanover Street, and while contemplating the employment of his modest capital in future business, he saw it melt away, in the failure of his purchaser to meet the notes given in exchange for the stock of goods. In the common usage of the term Mr. Clark did not fail, and no creditors attended him in misfortune. He simply lost of the fruit of h's early labor and the rewards of a few years of self-denial and industry. The career of many successful business men has been prefaced by misfortune, and it is probable that lessons of caution and prudence thus acquired have compensated the loss of capital.

In May, 1858, Mr. Clark came to Winchendon. During the ensuing three years be was in the employment of E. Murdock, Jr., wholesale dealer in and extensive manufacturer of wooden-ware. The succeeding three years he was again engaged in the drygoods trade, and was with the firms of Wm. Locke & Co., of Portland, Me., and Hall, Dame & Co., of Boston, and in February, 1864, he returned to Winchendon, and renewed his business relations with Mr. Murdock, which were continued until 1872, when he began business in this town on his own account as a wholesale dealer in wooden-ware and manufacturers' supplies. During the preceding years of close application and eflicient service, Mr. Clark had commanded a liberal salary. He commenced business in this town under favorable auspices, and from the first he has been eminently successful. For many years Winchendon has been an important centre in the sale and distribution of wooden-ware, and the business of Mr. Clark exceeds in volume that of any other dealer in this line in New England. Since 1883 he has been extensively engaged in the manufacture of tubs, pails and other lines of wooden-ware, having mills in this town and at East Swanzey, N. H.

his chosen line of business, he has accepted several positions of trust. He is a director of the Safety Fund National Bank of Fitchburg, and since 1873 he has been a trustee and one of the board of investment of the Winchendon Savings Bank. He was a member of the House of Representatives 1877-79-83, and was assigned to important committees, including i those of finance and insurance. He is a Royal Arch Mason, and has been a member of Artisan Lodge, F. A. M., since its charter (1865), and has been W. M. three years.

Mr. Clark is a man of keen perception and ready judgment, and while he thinks quickly he acts cautiously. His qualities are eminently practical, and his resources are at his command. His success in business has not been the fruit of hazardous enterprise, nor the result of fortuitous circumstances. From the beginning he aims at well-defined results, and he has the force of character and executive ability to attain them. With such industry and qualities of mind he would have been equally successful in any other calling. Frank and direct in his habits of speech and conduct, his convictions are well defined and are always attended with the courage of expression. In his relations with his fellow-men, he is affable, kind and attentive to the demands of society and of friendship. The achievements of his life and the esteem of his associates, which has never been withheld, are the legitimate rewards of a commendable ambidon and an honorable conduct.

In his domestic relations Mr. Clark has been fortunate and happy. He married, February 3, 1864, Mary C. Merrill, an accomplished daughter of Nathaniel and Caroline W. (Harris) Merrill, of Belfast, Maine. They have three children : Murdock Merrill, born December 9, 1867; Mary Wilder, born June 11, 1873, and Maurice Leonard, born July 13, 1875.

Ozro Hancock

Hezekiah Hancock, the grandfather of Ozro Hancock, the subject of this sketch, lived in Templeton, and died March 24, 1828, .at the age of eighty years. His wife, Jlartha Hancock, died December 16, 1820, at the age of sixty-six. Their children were James, Jonas, Patty Levina, Chloe, Alma, Rufus, Hezekiah, John, Artemas, Hepzibah and Olive Richardson. Rufus Hancock, son of Hezekiah, was born in Winchendon, August 21, 1780, and married Sally, daughter of Samuel Bacon, September 19, 1802. His children were Benjamin Franklin ; Hannah, born in Templeton, November 25, 1803; William Martin, born in Harrisburg, Pa., March 16, 1806 ; Artemas, August 13, 1809, and Ozro, January 10, 1812. Eufus, the father, died April 1, 1821.

at the High School. He left school at the early age of nine years, and served an apprenticeship with Peter Pierce, of Templeton, in the business of chairmaking, remaining with him until he was twentytwo years of age. After that time he worked with several different [)ersons in the same business until 1838, when he connected himself with his cousin, Moses Hancock, son of his Uncle John, in the manufacture of pails at Waterville, on that part of Miller's River about a mile and a half below the central village of Winchendon. During his connection with his cousin, which continued two or three years, the business was carried on on leased premises. After he began business alone, about the year 1842, he built a factory of his own, and continued until 1887 in the manufacture of pail ears and fixings. In 1887 he sold or transferred his business to his son, John, who has added to his product butts and hinges and other small articles of hardware. By faithful application to business in his younger days, by strict adherence to good principles, and by frugality and skillful management, Mr. Ozro Hancock has made himself what he is, and risen from slender means to a comfortable competency. He is one of those men who, no matter what may be said about the natural depravity of man, illustrate, on the other hand, the elastic and rising tendency of human nature, - a tendency which, without direct and positive hindrances, must have its way. They illustrate, too, the opportunities which the free and elevating influences of our institutions aflbrd to the honest, faithful man to occupy a higher station in life. They increase our respect for man as a man severed from all the adventitious aids and circumstances of life. They are the most effective examples to youth, - living examples of what youth, with uncorrupted morals and a determined will, can accomplish in the race of life.

Mr. Hancock married, November 26, 1846, Sarah, a daughter of William Brooks, of Winchendon, and has two children, - John, his succe.ssor in business, who married Mary Allen, of Woburn, and Flora Jane, who married George F. Brown, of Alstead, N. H. He is a Unitarian in religion and Republican in politics, less inclined, however, to be confined within the limits of any theological creed than to rigidly adhere to the principles of his party. He is now at the age of seventy-six, in retirement from business, after sixty-seven years of work, enjoying the comforts of home and a happiness well earned.

Morton E. Conveese

The name of Converse is of French origin and is derived from Coigniers. An earlj' seat of the family was in Navarre, France, from whence Roger de Coigniers emigrated to England in the eleventh century, and during the reign of William the Conqueror. To him the Bishop of Durham gave the constableship of Durham, and amonghis descendants Cony ers, of Hord- en, Durham, was created a baronet July 14, 1628. In the line of descent. Sir Humphrey, the eighth generation, wrote the name Coigners, and Sir Christopher, the twelfth generation, adopted the orthography of Conyers. In Navarre, in the sixteenth century, the seat of a family of this name was styled the Chateau de Coigniers, and families bearing the name in France were Huguenots. In the massacre on Saint Bartholomew's Day, in 1572, many of the family fell victims to the rage of the Papists. Pierre Coigniers, who was attached to the court of Henry of Navarre, having witnessed the assassination of his kinsman, Admiral Coligny, escaped with his wife and two infant children to England. He settled in the County of Essex, where a son married a lady of considerable possessions in that and an adjoining county. Ralph, a son of this marriage, was created a baronet by Charles II. In time, corresponding to the pronunciation, the name became fixed as Conyers, and sometimes by the change of a single letter, as Convers. The coat of arms of Coigniers, Conyers and Converse is substantially the same.

I. Edward Convers, the emigrant ancestor, born 1589, settled in Charlestown, 1629 or 1630. In 1631 he received a grant of the ferry from Charlestown to Boston, of which, under the favor of the General Court, he had the control several years. The same year he was admitted freeman, and he was a selectman of Charlestown, 1635 to 1640. His name is first of the seven commissioners appointed by the church in Charlestown to effect the settlement of Woburn- He removed to the new town and became one of its most useful and honored citizens. He was a selectman of Woburn from 1644 until his death, and for several years one of the board of commissioners for the trial of minor causes. He was a member of the First Church, Boston, 1630, an original member of the First Church, Charlestown, 1632, and the First Church, Woburn, 1642; of the latter church he was one of the first two deacons. His homestead is now within the town of Winchester, where he died August 10, 1663. The name of his wife was Sarah, who died January 14, 1661-62; he married (2) September 9, 1662, Joanna (Corbin) Sprague, widow of Ralph Sprague. The children of Dea. Edward and Sarah Convers were James, Josiah, Samuel and Mary.

II. James Convers, born in England, 1620, came to America with his father, Dea. Edward Convers. In the records he is styled ensign. He married, October 24, 1043, Anna Long, born 1625, daughter of Robert and Elizabeth Long, of Charlestown. He lived in Woburn, where he died May 10, 1715. " Through a long life he was a very valuable and highly esteemed citizen, and was repeatedly honored by the town with the principal oflices which it had to confer."

III. Major James Convers, eldest of the ten children of Ensign James Convers, was born in Woburn, October 16, 1645, and died July 8, 1706. He was prominent in military affairs, and for his gallant defence