Worcester City (part 12 of 58)

New Trinity Lodoe. - On the evening of September 8, 1858, E. J)ana Banciolt, of Ayer, Geo. L. Thurston, of Lancaster, and Henry Bowman, Alfred A. Burdett, Daniel Marsh, Charles W. Odiorne and A. JM. Eaglesham, of Clinton, met in Harris Hall, in what is now known as C. W. Field's Block, to open a lodge for instruction in Masonry. E. Dana Bancroft was chosen Master, and gave instruction to the brethern in the work and lectures. At this meeting Mr. Bancroft was appointed a committee to ascertain if Trinity Lodge, No. (>, formerly existing in Lancaster, could be revived in Clinton ; or, if that could not be done, to make such further inquiry .is he might deem material for the establishment of a new lodge. At a meeting one week later the coniniittee reported that in the opinion of the secretary of the Grand Lodge, Old Trinity Lodge could not be revived, and that the proper course was to organize a new lodge. The brethren at once voted to ask for a dispensation for a new lodge in Clinton, to be called Trinity Lodge, and the following were elected officers thereof: E. Dana Bancroft, W. M. ; Henry Bowman, S. W. ; Alfred A. Burdett, J. W.; Daniel Marsh, Treaa. ; Geo. L. Thurston, S. D. ; A.M. Eaglesham, J. D. ; C. W. Odiorne, 8. S. ; Henry E.ldy, .T. S.

The Grand Lodge granted the prayer of the petitioners; the new dispensation was received and accepted September 29, 1858, and the list of officers previously selected was confirmed.

On the 21st of September, 1859, the charter, dated September 8, 185!>, was received, and the lodge formally constituted and organized by the officers of the Grand Lodge, John T. Heard being Grand Master. The following were the charter members : Henry Bowman, Alfred A. Burdett, Daniel Marsh, George L. Thurston, Charles W. Odiorne, Luke Bigelow, Levi Greene, Josiah H. Vose and Henry Eddy. Of these all but Josiah H. Vose were Masons prior to the date of the disi)ensation, though Henry Eddy had received two of his degrees in Trinity Lodge under the dispensation ; and George L. Thurston, Levi Greene and Luke Bigelow were members of Old Trinity Lodge, No. G.

Tiie first list of officers under the charter were Henry Bowman, W. M. ; Alfred A. Burdett, S. W. ; Geo. L. Thurston, J. W. ; Josiah H. Vose, Treas. ; Henry Eddy, Sec. ; Samuel T. Bigelow, S. D. ; Daniel Marsh, J. D.; John T. Buzzell, S. S. ; A. A. Pevey, J. S. ; Gihnan M. Palmer, Marshal ; Levi Greene, Tiler.

The establishment of the lodge w.as largely due to the ze.al and eflorts of the three firet officers - Bowman, Burdett and Thurston. The following is a list of the members of Old Trinity Lodge who joined the new organization : George L. Thurston, Levi Greene, Luke Bigelow, Joel Pratt, Artemas Barnes, Reuben Blood and A. M. Eaglesham. The lodge, when firmly established, grew rapidly, though the War of the Rebellion made heavy inroads upon its membership.

The records of that period illustrate the loyalty of Masons to the supreme civil authority, and their ardent patriotism in behalf of the Union cause. Some of the brethren entering the array were presented with substantial tokens of respect and aftection ; several of the lodge's most beloved and, up to their enlistment, active members fell upon the field of battle or died of disease contracted in the military service, and were brought home and tenderly laid at rest with the impressive funeral ceremonies of the order. The following is a li.st of those who served in the army. It includes only those who were Masons at the time of or during their military service.

The lodge first leased a hall in C. W. Fields' building, then called " Harris Hall," which it continued to occupy until April 6, 18G9, when it removed to a new hall in Tyler's Block, which was formally detlicated January 28, 1870. On the completion of the New Bank Block, in 1882, it again removed to the new hall in that building, which had been finished and elegantly fitted up by the brethren at an expense of about twelve hundred dollars, and where it now remains. The new hall was solemnly dedicated to INIasonry October 20, 1882, by the officers of the Grand Lodge, Samuel C. Lawrence, Grand Master, with impressive ceremonies, at the close of which a grand banquet was served in the Clinton House Hall. The following brethren have served as Masters of the lodge : E. Dana Bancroft, 1858-5!), under dispensation; Henry Bowman, 1859-00, one year; Alfred A. Burdett, ISGO-Gl, 18G1-G2, 18G3-64, 1873-74, four years; Josiah H. Vose,' 1862-G3, one year; Daniel Marsh, 186G-67, one year; Levi Greene, 1864-65, 1865-66, two years; George W. Burdett, 1867-68, one year; Henry N. Bigelow, 1868-69, one year; Charles W. Ware, 1869- 70, one year; Charles F. Greene,^ 1870-71, one year; Daniel B. Ingalls,' 1871, 1871-72, one and a half years; Sylvester S. Welsh, 1872-73, one year; Henry A. Putnam, 1874-75, one year; Henry O. Sawyer, 1875-76, 1876-77, two years; G. Walton

I Entered tlie military service soon after bis iustallatioD, and fell in battle before the close of bis Masonic year. Died in office. ^ Elected to fill vacancy.

In 1885 Col. Gilman M. Palmer left a legacy of two thousand dollars to the lodge, the income thereof to be devoted to the relief of the widows and orphans of its deceased members. The lodge has had a steady growth, and now numbers one hundred and forty members. It has upon its rolls many of the most substantial and honorable citizens of the towns within its jurisdiction, whose zeal and fraternal love for its honor and welfare deservedly place it first, a^ it is by many years the oldest, among all the societies of the community.

Clinton Royal Arch Chapter. - In April or May, probably in April, 1869, the following Royal Arch Masons met in Masonic Hall, in Tyler's Block, to organize a Rf)yal Arch Chapter in Clinton : Henry N. Bigelow, Alfred A. Burdett, Levi Greene, Henry A. Putnam, Charles W. Field, Charles W. Field, Jr., George M. Lourie, Albert Shattuck, John Bennett, Marcus E. Amsden and C. L. S. Hammond. All but John Bennett were then residents of Clinton - Mr. Bennett lived in Lancaster - and all belonged to chapters in Worcester, Marlborough and Fitchburg.

The meeting organized by the election of Henry N. Bigelow chairman, and C. L. S. Hammond secretary. It was voted to petition the Grand Chapter for authority to form a chapter in Clinton, and the name of " Clinton Royal Arch Chapter " was selected for the new organization. Choice was made of the following officers : M. E. H. P., Alfred A. Burdett ; E. King, Henry N. Bigelow ; E. Scribe, C. L. S. Hammond. These officers were also chosen a committee to obtain the recommendation of the chapters in Worcester and Marlborough, and also to draw up and obtain signatures to a petition to the Grand Chapter the following June for a dispensation to work.

In September of that year the Grand Chapter granted leave to the new body to work. The dispensation was dated September 7th, and was addressed to the petitioners, which included, besides those at the first meeting, Henry E. Starbird, J. E. Hitchcock, C. W. Odiorne, Reuben Blood, E. W. Bigelow, Quincy A. Whitney, H.Stevens and Benjamin Whittemore. The three officers chosen at the first meeting were appointed High Priest, King and Scribe respectively, and the dispensation was signed by Henry Chickering, Grand High Priest, and Thomas Waterman, Grand Secretary. On the evening of September 8th, of the same year, the chapter held its first meeting under the dispensation, and the necessary steps were taken to procure an instructor in the work, a hall for meetings and the proper regalia and jewels for the officers. For the first year

September 15, 1870, having worked a year under a dispensation, Clinton Royal Arch Chapter was formally constituted and consecrated by the officers of the Grand Chapter. The list of charter members includes those petitioning for a dispensation the previous year, and also the names of Elisha Brimhall, George H. Evans, Robert J. Finnie, Charles F. Greene, Alonzo S. Davidson, Lucius Field, Henry O. Sawyer, Wellington E. Parkhurst, Albert T. Bigelow, A. S. Jaquith and Charles M. Dinsmore, twenty-five in all. The charter dated from September 7, 1870.

The chapter leased rooms of Trinity Lodge, in Tyler's Block, which it occupied until September 4, 1882, when it removed into the new and more commodious rooms fitted up by Trinity Lodge in the new Bank Block, where it still remains. Since 1870 the chapter has had a steady and prosperous growth and now numbers sixty-one members. The following are the names of those who have filled the office of High Priest, in the order of their service: Alfred A. Burdett, three years, one under dispensation and two under charter ; Henry N. Bigelow, two years ; Charles W. Field, Jr., one year ; Lucius Field, two years ; Alonzo S. Davidson, two years; C. L. S. Hammond, one year ; G. Walton Goss, one year ; C. C. Stone, two years ; George B. Dinsmore, two years ; Jonathan Smith, two years; George Sutherland, Jr., in office.

Biographical Sidney Harris

A fitting tribute to the life-work of an honored citizen cannot be given in the brief sketch herewith presented, but the people of Clinton can see that in Sidney Harris they had a citizen whose influence for good was widely spread in all directions and will continue to be felt for generations to come.

Mr. Harris was born in Lancaster (in that part now called Clinton) in 1804, the youngest son of Daniel and Abigail (Reed) Harris, and always resided in the town of his birth.

His father was a Revolutionary pensioner, a strong temperance man, as was likewise the son, who bore the mantle of his fiither with the fearless, independent spirit which is required to successfully carry on a good cause in the face of opposition.

In early manhood he established the business of manufacturing horn-combs, many of the methods being original with himself, and from a small beginning built up a business which became national in its reputation and yielded an ample fortune. The territory bounded by his works became known as " Harrisville," in which resided many happy families, contented with their lot and surrounded by that neat-

He was noted for his kindness to his employes and to those who were associated with him in business, and showed his appreciation of their faithfulness and honesty by many kind and generous deeds, so that the few surviving him still hold his name in grateful remembrance.

Mr. Harris was married in Lancaster by Rev. Nathaniel Thayer, D.D., in the year 1829, to Sally Kilburn, daughter of Daniel and Rachel (Mcintosh) Kilburn,of Lunenburg, Mass.

In religion he was a Unitarian, a pillar in the church of his faith. As a citizen he espoused every good cause and became identified with every movement which pertained to the welfare of the town.

The last few years of his life were enfeebled by disease, and after relinquishing his business to his sons, he slowly declined until November 21, 1801, when death released him from his suft'erings. His widow survived him until March 9, 1872.

Edwix A. Harris

One of Clinton's young and active business men forms the subject of this sketch, and though passed from this life, his influence is still felt among the living, and his memory cherished in grateful remembrance.

Mr. Harris was born May 31, 1837, at the Harris homestead, in Clinton, Mass., the fourth child of Sidney and Sally (Kilburn) Harris. His boyhood was passed at school and in his father's workshops, so that when he came to years of manhood he was thoroughly prepared to assume the responsibility of the business which was relinquished by his father on account of failing health. He was connected with one of our most successful business establishments. The father, Sidney, long and well known in this community, commenced the comb business in 1823, on the site of the present works, and upon his death was succeeded by his sons, Edwin A. and George S. ; the subsequent death of the younger brother threw the entire responsibility upon the elder, the business being conducted throughout these changes under the firm-name of S. Harris & Sons. From the start Mr. Harris was remarkably successful, and under his vigorous eflbrts the works rapidly increased in size and capacity, until they became the largest comb works in the United Slates. He was one of the most active and earnest men in business life, giving to his business all his powers of mind and body ; a practical believer in industry and all that it can do; though a young man, he was able to show what earnestness and perseverance may accomplish.

His excellent business traits commanded the admiration of his fellow-citizens, and his death in the prime of life, while fulfilling a mission of great usefulness, was mourned by all, particularly by the residents of the village which bore his name.

Children's names as follows : Herbert Christopher, born April 28, 1862, deceased June 24, 1863; Plora Kate, born July 20, 1865, deceased January 6, 1883.

In religion Mr. Harris was a Unitarian, and gave generously to the support of the church. Like hisfather, he was active in reform, and manfully defended the right on all occasions. Ever interested in the public welfare, he was one of the first projectors and supporters of the Agricultural Branch Railroad, and the town is greatly indebted to him for the successful culmination of this important enterprise, which marked a new era in the growth of the town. Besides being one of the railroad directors, he was also one of the directors of the First National Bank of Clinton, and greatly interested himself in the growth of this institution.

But ere he had reached the age of thirty-eight, when his future seemed full of promise and the remaining years of his life prospectively free from the harassing cares of business, was he called to a higher stage of existence, his death occurring May 28, 1875. The funeral procession to the beautiful Harris lot in Woodlawn Cemetery was one of the largest ever seen in town, and well attested to the worth of the citizen whose departure was mourned by the whole community.

Samuel Willard Tyler, the subject of this sketch, settled in Clinton in 1864, coming from Attleboro', his native town, Bristol County. His emigrant ancestor, Job Tyler, who came from England about 1653, was one of the pioneer settlers in the domain of the good Massasoit, the steadfast friend of the English.

When but twelve years of age his father died, leaving him and an only sister to the care of a widowed mother. He remained on the farm, spending the time in rural pursuits, until he was twenty-one. The only pride he was taught to desire was that which arose from the exercise of an honest industry, and he found full scope for its indulgence during his early years. Though not of age, he was permitted to act for himself, and to dispose of the results of his labors.

Possessing a talent for music, all the hours of recreation were spent at the key -board of the home instrument; while only a boy, the Sabbath found him presiding at the organ of the country church. Later, in his adopted town, he was identified with various church choirs, and officiated as organist in more than one of the leading churches.

Large knowledge of the outside world was gained in the War of the Rebellion, where he served as musician until orders were issued from the War Department discharging all regimental bands from the United States service.

His honored father and grandfather served in preceding struggles, the latter being an officer in the Revolutionary War. In the military and civil departments of the annals of his native town, from the date of incorporation, in 1094, the names of grandfather and great-grandfather appear conspicuously, and are suggestive.

While in the South Mr. Tyler formed the acquaintance of a comrade and brotlier-musician, and in 1S(>4 the two formed a co-))artnership in business under the firm-name of Tyler & White. Four years subsequently he disposed of his interest in the business, and himself engaged in the musical instrument trade.

If we were to select any traits of character for which Mr. Tyler was especially remarkable, they would be his almost stern justice and fidelity to what he believed to be right. His honesty made him not less exacting with himself than with others. His accounts were always correct, liis dealings always just.

In these days, when chicanery, malfeasance in office, embezzlements, breaches of trust and fraud are so prevalent, it is pleasant to write of one who kept himself free from any kind of stain on his integrity.

He wrought continuously, ungrudgingly and unselfishly for the public weal ; and no fruits of his labors were so grateful to himself as those garnered in connection with public service.

He enjoyed always the esteem of the best elements of the community. The public is ever willing to place res|)onsil)ility on competent, trusted and willing shoulders. During bis residence in his adopted town he was one of (Hinton's most active and honored citizens in every line of business enterprise, activity and public service. Though not a member of the Board of Trade, on its records may be found the following: "The Clinton Board of Trade hereby expresses its hearty appreci.ation of Mr. Tyler's unfi^ltering interest in our town, and his constant devotion to its welfare, as shown in liberal and successful eflbrts to enlarge and improve the business facilities of Clinton."

He was selectman for a period of four years, assessor ten years, and water commissioner two years, serving always with an enthusiastic api>reciation of responsibility and opportunity.

While possessing a quick discernment, he was cautious in adopting new measures; weighed all matters in the balance of a clear judgment, and, after forming an opinion, was very decided, rarely finding any rea.son to alter it.

So far we have sjioken of Mr. Tyler only in his business and (lublic life; but, as is ever the case, that lile is the most real and important of which the public sees but little and can know but little, - the life each man lives in his family. In 1804 Mr. Tyler married Persis Eldora Beniis, of Paxton, M.ass., with whom he passed more than twenty years of wedded life.

Joseph B. Parker

.Toseph B. Parker, son of Quincy Parker and Patience Brooks, was born in Princeton, Mass., in 1805. His ancestors were of Puritan origin, and for several generations lived in Jlassachusetts. Aside from his home training, bis early education was limited to the common district school of his town. At the age of fifteen he was apprenticed to Mr. Joel Howe, a blacksmith of Princeton, with whom he remained six years. Completing his apprenticeship, he entered the machine-shop of Samuel Flagg, of Oakdale, a village in West Boylston. In this position he developed at once an uncommon tact for his new employment; for within a year he w.as appointed foreman of the shop, on account of which some of the senior workmen, refusing to work under so young a man, left the shop ; but his apparent ability as a mechanic held for him his position, and his manly demeanor won back his disall'ected shop-mates and made them ever after his true and faithful friends.

This position he held for eight years, until the failure in business of his employer - 1834. A year prior to this he had built himself a house and married, in October, IS.'W, Miss Mary A. IMorgan. In -July, ]S;?5, he was chosen deacon of the Orthodox Congregational Church in West Boylston. His engagement with Mr. Flagg terminating, he commenced the machine business on his own .account, occupying the shop formerly occupied by Mr. Flagg.

Meanwhile, K. B. Bigelow, then of West Boylston, and since so distinguished as an inventor, had conceived the idea of building a loom for weaving counterpanes. In his struggle to bring forth his invenf2> ^ tioii, he sought the aid of Deacon Parker. The coming together of these two men resulted in the formation of a company to complete the undertaking and put the loom in operation. The company consisted of E. B. Bigelow, Deacon Parker and Eli Holbrook, all young men, and all about the same age.

This loom, however, was not a success. The company wanting means to carry on the work further, the enterprise was, for a time, abandoned, though the company fully believed in the final success of the work. From this, the inventive genius of E. B. Bigelow was turned to his coach-lace loom, which at once came to better results.

This loom was built by Deacon Parker and put in operation in Shirley Village, and later was removed to Clinton. In 1S40, Deacon Parker removed his business t o Providence, R. I. The success of the Messrs. Bigelows being assured, they, with others, formed a company, jiurchased the water-power in Clinton, built a machine-shop and made extensive preparations for operating their new inventions. After the trial of other machinists to build their machinery, the Bigelows again sought the aid of Deacon Parker. He was called from Providence to Clinton and put in charge of the new machine-shop built by the Clinton Company.

This new position brought more fully his mechanical ability to the test. Following the coach-lace loom came the reconstruction of the counterpane looms then running, but had not done satisfactory work. These were all rebuilt, resulting in the mann facture of a much improved fabric. Following these were the gingham and the Brussels carpet looms, each of which was the first power loom of its kind ever in operation. All these were made under Deacon Parker's supervision. All were new ; there being no models to work from or workmen experienced in thai line of machine building. Everything was wrought out step by step, without the suggestion or aid ol' others. In the coach-lace loom was found the germ of the Brussels carpet loom, which was brought to its present state of perfection only by the protracted study of years. To invent or make such a master piece of machinery is honor enough fitr any man, and justly entitles him to lasting fame. It may seem invidious to institute comparisons between men of eminent qualities in any profession. No one is greatest in everything. Each has his weak as well as his strong characteristics. The weak points of one man are exactly those in which another is strongest. This was especially true in case of E. B. P.igelow and Deacon Parker. One was the counterpart of the other. The two ought and did work together. Neither could have accomplished alone what they achieved unitedly. E. B. Bigelow was an inventor of the highest order, but was not a practical mechanic. Construction was not his fi>rte. But where he was weakest Deacon Parker was strongest. The idea of a machine being given him, he could make it, which oftener than otherwise is the most difficult part to perform. In 1851, Deacon Parker was sent by the Messrs. Bigelows to England, to .superintend the setting up of Brussels carpet looms. He remained there some six or eight months, when he returned to Clinton. Soon after his return ho built a shop and commenced the machine business again on his own account. His business at once increased, his machine-shop was twice enlarged and under his management became an important business interest of Clinton.

His strong points as a man of business were his strength and clearness of mind. These were seen in everything. United with his intense application this ((uality was invaluable to him as a machinist.

He was a man of superior judgment. This also appeared in all matters of every-day life. He was every man's counselor, though he never wore a title. In his business few men were his equal as a judge of machinery. Young men esteemed it a privilege to be taught the business of a machinist by him.

His ideal of a machine was perfection. Great care was taken to make every machine perfect. Nothing was allowed to leave his shop that was not so. This had much to do with his success in after-life.

His attention to all the details of his business was unremitting. He trusted nothing to others. And as it was continuously on the increase, it was almost a matter of necessity that he be more and more industriously occupied with its cares and management. In the summer of isr>9 he and his family spent a day at the seashore in York, Maine, whit h up to that time was the only holiday of the kind he had enjoyed.

Few men are identified with the almost model town of Clinton more than Dea. Parker. In the variety and extent of its manufactures, in its rapid growth and continued prosperity, he took a constant interest, and bore a conspicuous part. And could the town be photographed in its moral, as well as in its material aspects, it would appear that he was even more an important factor in it. A man of clear head, sound judgment, and a Christian character that always commanded respect and confidence, he, with others, did most valuable pioneer service in laying the foundations of the moral and religions in.stitutions of the town. He exerted a .strong infiuence over young men, and by his counsel and example was most useful in aiding them to make a good start in life.

Though sufficiently conservative, he was a man of reform ; always headed in the right direction, always standing for the best things, no man ever doubting how he would talk, and what he wonld do, when the common good was at stake.

Levi Greene

Prominent among the early pioneers of this town was the subject of this sketch, who was born in Berlin, Mass., October 12, 1801, the son of Aaron and Lydia (Goddard) Greene.

After serving his apprenticeship at carpentering, under the famous Jacob Stone, of Lancaster, Mass., he married Achsah, Jacob's daughter, November 5, 1829, settled in Lancaster and became a builder and lumber dealer on his own account, in which occupation he was very successful, which, with judicious investments in the then small village of Clinton, laid for him the foundations of his ample fortune.

The death of his first wife occurred October 21, 1843, and September 19, 1844, he married Lucy Harris, of Lunenburg, Mass., daughter of William and Betsy (Spaulding), who survived him.

In 1848 he served the town of Lancaster as selectman, also in 1846-47 as assessor, iu which latter capacity he also served the town of Clinton in 1855-56, '58, '60-62, '65, most of the time as chairman of the board.

In Masonic circles Mr. Greene took an active interest, and Trinity Lodge and Clinton Royal Arch Chapter elected him to their highest offices.

The Congregational Church also found in him a faithful supporter, he being one of the original founders. Always discharging his duties with perfect honesty, he held the respect of his fellow-citizens, and his opinion was sought by all classes, with full confidence in his judgment. In his family and personal friendships he was kind and affectionate, and few men were more conscientious than he and none felt more deeply the responsibility of citizenship and the duties devolving upon him.

Hon. Elisha Brimhall

Mr. Brimhall was born in Oakham, Mass., March 25, 1825, and died in Clinton, after a brief illness from pneumonia, April 9, 1887. Age, sixty-two years and fifteen days.

He was the only child of Jonas and Caroline (Nye), of Oakham, whose names for many generations were prominent in the history of that town. His first work was on his father's farm, but at the age of twenty he commenced to learn the trade of a carpenter, which, with fortunate circumstances, enabled him to lay the foundation of his successful fortune. Coming to Clinton at its first formation, he quickly became a successful busine.ss man, and among those early pioneers he was one of the most active and energetic, adding much to the growth and progre.ss of the then small village.

In 1857 he erected the large block on High Street, known as Brimhall's Block, while the Courant Block, Oxford House, and the large tenement block, bearing his name, followed in quick succession to become, not only ornaments to the principal streets of the town, but enduring monuments to his zeal and business enterprise. Before his decease he completed an elegant mansion on Prescott Street, where ho was permitted to reside but a brief period, ere he was called away. During the Rebellion he was on the Board of Selectmen, and to him the town was largely indebted for his valuable services during those trying times. As an example of his energetic and persistent nature, his special trip to Washington may be cited, where, through a personal interview with President Lincoln, he secured a credit to the town of seventy men, thereby saving a draft. From 1866 to 1871 he was the treasurer of the town, having been unanimously elected twice in the five years.

In politics Mr. Brimhall was a life-long Republican, and also a firm believer in temperance principles, carrying out his belief in every-day life.

In 1871 he was elected to the Legislature from the District then comprising Clinton, Northboro', Berlin, by 170 majority over Jonas E. Howe. In 1870 he was elected to the State Senate by 1048 majority, and reelected the following year by 1920 majority.

In financial matters Mr. Brimhall's .services were almost constantly employed. He was a director of the Lanca-ster National Bank, which failed through the defalcation of the president. With his sharp eye, Mr. Brimhall detected methods of business distasteful to a man of his habits, and rather than be identified with anything which had the semblance of dishonesty he withdrew from the institution entirely. At the time of the failure of the Lancaster Savings Bank his services were secured asoneof the receivers, which position he held at the time of his death. The Congregational parish, of which he was an efficieut member, is largely indebted to him for generous financial aid and hearty co-operation in all good works.

To enjoy an honorable position in the business world was Mr. Brimhall's great ambition, and that he attained it his fellow-citizens bear cordial testimony by holding his memory in grateful esteem. He acquired the high regard of hjs fellow-citizens by his exemplary methods of life, in his business or social relations, and he won the esteem of all by undeviating rectitude. He belonged to that class of men whose motives are always honest, and who, in the pursuit of wealth, never sacrifice their honesty for a single moment.

Perley P. Comey, M.D.

Holliston, Mass., January 14, 1852. His father was born iu Hopkinton, Mass., was a farmer and returned to Hopkinton to reside when the subject of our sketch was eight years of age, - a man of sterling integrity and exemplary character. Perley P. Comey received his early education in the common and high schools of Hopkinton, being also kept busy upon his father's farm.

In 1868, his father having died, he was sent to the Oread High School, in Worcester, a classical school connected with the Oread Institute, afterward learning the apothecary business in Worcester. Later he began the study of medicine with Dr. A. P. Richardson, of Boston, and at the Harvard Medical College, at which institution he graduated in June, 1878, and in August of the same year he began practice in Clinton, Mass. He almost immediately began to have a very liberal patronage and soon had a very extensive practice, not only in Clinton, but in all of the adjoining towns. Ever ready to sympathize with and advise the afflicted and suflering, he seemed to possess the qualifications which make a man popular in the medical profession. Few men bring to the study and practice of their profession more of those varied qualifications which help to make up the true physician and surgeon. Always on the alert in everything relating to his profession, quick to see and prompt to act, make him a successful surgeon as well as physician.

He married Marion L. Jones, daughter of John O. Jones, of Boston, and granddaughter of Col. Jas. Estabrook, of Worcester, with whom she resided. They have three children, two daughters and one son - Effie M., Gertrude J. and Clifton J.

He in a member of the Massachusetts Medical Society, a prominent Mason and Odd-Fellow, a member of the Improved Order of Red Men, Knights of Honor and United Order of Golden Cross.

Lyman Leighton

Mr. Leighton was born in Upton, Mass. His father. Hazard Leighton, was strongly built, over six feet tall, and an athlete. The stories of his suppleness, physical feats and strength are quoted to this day. His mind and judgment, though little schooled, were as vigorous and self-poised as his powers of body. He was highly skilled in agriculture. In 1839 he married Lydia Aldrich, of the same place. Lyman was one of six children born to them, and the eldest of three boys. He was early sent forth to earn something for the family, or at least his own bread. The first place open to him was as a boy on a farm, and in this humble way he began his battle with the world.

Mr. Leighton's school advantages were meagre. In them, however, he acquired elements of an education that have enabled him to use well such advantages as came to him in life. He importuned his parents to let him learn the trade of a carpenter, and with their consent entered the employ of Thomas J. and Nahum B. Hall, a then active co-partnership of contractors in Upton. The old-fashioned days of apprenticeship were on the wane, and the firm allowed him to work with them and under their instruction for what he could earn. He was a mere boy, but being permitted to enter the ranks as a fellow-workman aroused his manliness and called out his best traits. With these men, who were skillful workmen and led their men as well as planned and directed them, he had a fine opportunity, not only to train his hands in the use of tools, but to study their ways as successful builders. They did not suppress but encouraged every laudable effort, so that he found full play for his ambition and energy, and while he learned the details of the art of his choice he also gained an insight into those ways that laid the foundation for his future successful business career. He ajiplied himself diligently and faithfully to his chosen profession until the breaking out of the Civil War. He enlisted at the age of eighteen years iu that fine regiment which was the pride of Worcester County, - the Twenty-fifth Ma.ssachusetts Volunteers, - and in September, 1861, went to Annapolis, Maryland, where he entered at once upon the train and drill of a soldier. He was here stricken down by an attack of the measles and was sent to the hospital, and though receiving the best possible care, came from it with a weakened voice and wasted frame, and the experienced surgeons felt he would not be able to go through the hardships of an active campaign. He did not shirk his duty, however, but went with his regiment to North Carolin.a. After two battles he was so reduced in strength that a court of surgeons recommended his discharge for disability, which he received in July, 1S62. He returned home at once, and in his native air and with good nursing he so far recovered as to be accepted by the examining surgeon, and again became an enlisted man. He joined a company of heavy artillery in September, 1863, and served until the close of the war with credit to himself and to his company.

He returned to his native town to take up again the pursuits of peace. His trade had not been completed, and its work was now found to be very dull, and he was compelled to accept any chance offered him. In these new fields of labor he enlarged his knowledge and gained valuable information that was afterwards turned to good account in the management of his afi'airs as a contractor. It was about this time that he made the acquaintance of Miss Carrie Clark, a young lady who resided in Upton with her mother, and they were married in November, 1866. She was of patriotic stock. Her ancestor, Edward Clark, was a soldier in the Colonial army, and was present at the surrender of the fortress of Louisburg to the English in 1758.

After his marriage, finding he was unable to com. mand a sufficient income to satisfy his household requirements, Mr. Leighton removed to Clinton, Mass.

boots and shoes there extensively and successfully for many years, giving employment to a large number of workmen. G. Bickford Brigham continues the business there, and employs about one hundred hands ; and his annual sales of boots and shoes amount to $165,000.

William B. Wood also erected a factory in Southville, in which he manufactured cotton and woolen cloths for many years, giving employment to a uum ber of people.

Soon after the erection of those factories, Milton H. Sanford, Esq., purchased a large tract of land in the south part of the town, and in 1846-47 he erected thereon a large stone factory for the manufacture of cotton and woolen goods. He also built tliereon many dwelling-houses and other buildings. This thriving village he named Cordaville, in honor of his wife, Cordelia. The same factory was burnt October 31, 1855. Two persons lost their lives in consequence of the fire, and others were injured. On the same spot he erected the present stone factory. He manufactured very extensively various kinds of cotton and woolen fabrics, and jute blankets. He became very wealthy. In 1864 he sold the real and personal property to a stock company, called the "Cordaville Mills Company," Eranklin Haven, Esq., being president, John H. Stevenson, Esq., treasurer, and Judge Thomas Russell, clerk. In 1871 said property was sold by auction to Adolphus Merriam, Esq., of Framingham. For some years large quantities of goods were there manufactured by Merriam & Wilson. March 9, 1876, a stock company was formed under the corporate name of " Cordaville . Woolen Company," Hubbard Willson, Esq., president and superintendent, and Adolphus Merriam, Esq., treasurer, said Willson, Merriam and Joseph Merriam, directors. This company now manufacture blankets. They employ about one hundred operatives, and the sales amount to about one hundred thousand dollars per year.

In 1860 one Kidder commenced the manufacture of brick near Fayville ; after his death the property was owned and the business continued by Ball & Hoiman. They were succeeded by the Framingham Brick Company. By the aid of steam-power and improved machinery the latter company are able to manufacture yearly one and a half millions of brick. Fayville was so named in honor of a large portion ol its former business men, to wit: Colonel Dexter Fay. and his two brothers. Colonel Francis B. Fay and Honorable Sullivan Fay, Colonel Artemas Fay and his brother, Elijah Fay. Colonel Dexter Fay commenced business as a butcher. He afterwards built a small store about fourteen feet square. His trade so increa.sed that he had to enlarge his store from time to time. It became a famous place for trade and eventually the yearly sales therein for many years exceeded $125,000. His brothers formerly were more or less interested with him in this business; so, latterly, were hia sons, Emery B. Fay, Caleb T. Fay, Sylvester C. Fay and Augustus F. Fay. Colonel Dexter Fay was also a noted cattle broker, and was a constant attendant at the Brighton Cattle Market for over forty years. Colonel Francis B. Fay, after having filled many important offices in town and county, moved to Chelsea, Mass. He became a very successful commission merchant, was several times in his lifetime honored with a seat in both branches of the Legislature, and was once elected representative to Congress. He was the first mayor of Chelsea. Honorable Sullivan Fay was conveyancer, settled many estates, was clerk of the Agricultural Branch Railroad Company, was elected to both branches of the Legislature, and was president of a Medical College in Worcester, Mass. Colonel Artemas Fay was a manufacturer of boots, shoes and bonnets. Elijah Fay was a currier. The phrenological poet once wrote concerning the organ of weight in the head of Colonel Dexter Fay : " This organ is very large in your friend. Colonel Fay - Colonel Dexter, of course. There are many of that name on the records of fame - there is Francis of Boston, in the mercantile trade ; and Artemas, here at home, by whom bonnets are made."

In those days beef cattle were sold in market by estimated weight or by weight of the sides after they were killed and dressed. In estimating droves of heavy cattle his judgment was most always sought, as no broker who attended the cattle market could ex<el him in that art. He was a very honorable man in his dealings, was very active in business, and was honored and respected by his townsmen. He held many of the principal offices and represented the town in the General Court. He was an excellent colonel in his regiment. Fayville received the following distinguished honor:

General Lafayette, in about the year 1815, while journeying from New York to Boston with his bodyguards, stopped at the hotel in Fayville for refreshments. The people of the village assembled to do him honor, and he shook hands with them all.

John L. Whiting was born in Shrewsbury, Mass., May 28, 182.3. He was the son of Seth Whiting and Mary Kendall, and was one of nine children.

The Whiting family in the United States is descended from Rev. Samuel Whiting, who came to this country in 1636, and was the first minister of Lynn, Mass. (1636 to 1679).

Seth Whiting and family moved to Southboro' in 1841, and from that date until 1850 the brush business was carried on by the father and son in Fayville. Mr. Whiting, Sr., was one of the earliest and one of the best brush-makers in New England ; he made several valuable improvements in the art, and did more than any other man to supersede English with American paint-brushes in the Boston market. He considered it a sin to make a poor brush, or one that was not exactly what it

John L. Wliiting married Mary, daughter of Moses Sawin, of Southboro', in 1852. He commenced the manufacture of bruslies in Boston in 1864, and has for years been the largest brush manufacturer in the United States. Whiting's patent bruslies have a national reputation, and have been introduced to some extent in other countries. Mr. Whiting has introduced machinery into his factory, thus eftecting a great saving of labor. The brushmakers of the olden time used but one machine) while John L. Whiting & Son have in use between seventy-five and eighty.

Several of Mr. Whiting's inventions effect a very material saving in the length of bristles used in brushes; this U accomplished by mechanical devices which secure the bristles iu the ferrule by a shorter hold than any of the old methods, thus practically extending their length and increasing their value, without injury to the quality of the brushes. This economy of stock of course reduced the prices of the brushes ; the result has been more of a public than a private benefit, as other brush-makers have been stimulated to extra exertions, in order to accomplish, as far as possible, the saving eft'ected by Mr. Whiting's inventions.

In 1872, Curtis Newton and Dexter Newton, sons of Stephen and Sally Newton, having purchased the large estate of the late Col. Dexter Fay, erected, with the assistance of Daniel H. Thompson, Joseph Fairbanks, Allan D. Howe and Lewis Brewer, a shoefactory in Fayville, forty by fifty feet. Since that time the factory has been twice enlarged, so that now it contains over forty-six thousand feet of flooring. The last addition was made by Dexter Newton, Joseph Fairbanks, Allan D. Howe, Henry H. Newton and Augusta E. Brewer, who are the present owners of the factory. It is leased to H. H. Mawhinney & Co.; Allan D. Howe, superiutendent.

The montlily pay-roll amounts to about twelve thousand dollars. They employ about three hundred operatives. The sales amount to about four hundred thousand dollars annually.

Chapter Xv

The number of inhabitants in town at the time of its incorporation is not positively known. There were about fifty families, and probably about two hundred and eighty inhabitants. In 1757 it appears that the number of enrolled men was 75, and the number of minute-men 5G. In 1790 the number of inhabitants was 837. At the close of each subsequent decade the number of inhabitants was as follows, viz.: 1800,871; 1810, !I2(J; 1820,1,030; 1830,1,080; 1840,1,145; 1850,1,347; 1860,1,854; 1870,2,133; 1880-85, 2,100.

Of the names of the inhabitants, the Newtons, Fays and Brighams have always predominated. The number of Newtons born iu town since its incorporation is 443 ; and the number of Fays born in town during the same time is 334.

By order of the General Court, the first townmeeting was held August 28, 1727, at the house of Timothy Brigham, which stood where is now located the St. Mark's School-house. William Johnson was moderator. The first town-meeting, under warrant of selectmen, was held March, 1728 - James Newton, moderator ; Moses Newton, Scth Bellows, Doe Mathea, and Captain Ward were selectmen. The principal business of this meeting, besides the choice of officers, and of several town-meetings which followed, was to arrange for procuring a minister of "good conversation to preach God's word," and to devise ways and means to build a meeting-house. Money for both purposes was promptly raised. The first meetinghouse built was 50x40 feet, aud 20-foot posts ; £300, or $1,000, was appropriated for same. It was built in 1727-28. This house lasted seventy-nine years, at the end of which time it was sold for .$76.99, aud taken down. It was located a few feet south of the house now owned by the Pilgrim Evangelical Society, and on a portion of the land given by the inhabitants of Marlborough to the inhabitants of this section thereof, previous to the incorporation of Southborough(said land was given and set apart for the accommodation of meeting-house, burial-place and for a training-field forever). In 1806, December 17th, the second church edifice was dedicated ; it cost .$7,778.

The pews sold for 12,658 above the appraisal. In 1856 said meeting-house was conveyed by the First Parish Society to said Pilgrim Evangelical Society, and by the latter it was remodeled and fitted up in its present modern style at a cost of about $13,000, and dedicated. In 1828, September 10th, the Baptist Society dedicated the brick church which is now occupied for a dwelling. For want of sufficient room in the church, the dedicatory services were held in the grove near "Mount Vickory." The present Baptist Church was built in 1845. The first church of the Pilgrim Evangelical Society was built in 1832. It is now the high school-hou.se. The Episcopal Church was dedicated August 15, 1862. The Second Congregational Church was located in Southville, was built in 1872.

St. Miiltliew's Catholic Church, located between Cordaville atid Sdutliville, was built in 1S79. St. Anne's Catholic Church was built in 1887, and located between Fayville and Southboro' Centre. Rev. John F. Redican is rector of both societies. He was born in Worcester, April 2, 1858 ; is a graduate of the public schools of Worcester, also of the Holy Cross College, Worcester, Mass; studied theology in Montreal University ; was ordained in Montreal ; spent five years as assistant in Webster ; came to Cordaville as first pastor of St. Matthew's Church November 26, 1886.

The first minister settled by the town was Rev. Nathan Stone. He was ordained October 21, 1730, and continued their pastor until his death, May 31, 1781. June 1, 1791, Rev. Samuel Sumner was settled. He was dismissed, agreeably to his request, December, 1797. In 1799, October 9th, Rev. Jeroboam Parker, a native of Southborough, was ordained, and became their pastor. He was dismissed at his own request in 1832. The First Parish Society afterwards settled Rev. John D. Sweet, Rev. William Lord, Rev. Alden and Rev. Barnard. The salary first paid to Mr. Stone was £120 or $400, and thirty cords of good wood. In 1734 his salary w;us raised to X150 and thirty cords of good wood.

Only one religious society existed in town until 1825. The Baptist Society have settled Rev. Jonathan Forbush, Rev. Abiasaph Sampson, Rev. W. Morse, Rev. Aaron Haynes, Rev. M. Ball, Rev. John Alden. They have had several acting pastors, the present one being Rev. H. G. Gay. The Pilgrim lOvangelical Society was organized February 17, 1831, and have settled Rev. Walter FoUett, Rev. Jacob Cummiugs, Rev. E. M. El wood, Rev. G. D. Bates, Rev. W. J. Breed, Rev. John Colby, Rev. H. M. Holmes, Rev. A. L. Love, Rev. J. E. Wheelcrand Daniel E. Adam.s, D.D. Rev. Alansou Rawson was acting jiastor from April 28, 1843, to April 12, 1852. Rev. Andrew Bigelow, D.D., was acting pastor from Aj)ril 1, 1874, to April 1, 1875.

The Episcopal Society have had for rectors Rev. Joshua R. Pierce, Rev. A. C. Patterson, Rev. Charles Wingate, Rev. Robert Lowell, Rev. J. I. T. -Coolidge, D.D., and the present rector. Rev. Waldo Burnett.

The Second Congregational Society have settled Rev. C. A. Stone, and have had for acting pastors Rev. John Le Boscjuet, and Rev. Truman A. Merrill.

The first appro|>riaticin made by Southborough for teachers was in 1732, viz. : to Timothy Johnson, six pounds ; and to Samuel Bellows, four pounds ten shillings. Subsequently, for several years, Solomon Ward was employed to teach in rotation the four schools located in difl'ereut sections of the town.

In 1859, Henry H. Peters, Esq., a wealthy citizen, feeling a deep interest in the education of the youth, and having a desire that the scholars of Southborough should have as good advantages for obtaining an education as was enjoyed by the scholars in the neighboring towns, donated the present school-house, nicely finished and furni.?hed, and the land connected therewith, to the town, on condition that it should be u.sed for a high .school, to be taught by a master (jualified to teach the branches usually taught in a high school, and to be kept at least eight months in each year. The town accepted the very liberal donation at a regular town-meeting ; and as a token of their ai)preciation of his generosity, they directed that it should be called the "Peters High School- House."

The citizens generally have manifested great satisfaction with the good results of the school. They have been willing to appropriate a liberal sum yearly for the support of this as well as for the other ten schools. The School Conuuittee, in 1878, expended for schools, $5,854. In 1852 a free i)ublic library was est.iblished. The opening of the same was properly celebrated. A public meeting was held in the Town Hall February 12th. The occasion was enlivened by speeches, songs and music. A. L. Hobart, JI.D., then of Southborough, nuule the principal address. The following extract from his address will quite fully ex- [ilain the character of the preliminary measures incident to its establishment :

Col. FranciB B. Fay, in the fulllicgsof his KonI aud liborHlity of his j^pirit, conceived in Iiis heart to do a good thing unto tlie inliahitants of the good old town of Soutlihorough, which gave him birth ; and so, iiiisolicited, and of his own good-will and iileasnre, he thnist his hand deep into his pocket, an<! drawing forth live hundred pieces of silver (ff-^iOO), held them ui> before the eyes of the iidiahitanis of the town, while he thus spoke: "Fellow-citizens! Fellow-townsnien ! I was born, and nnrtnred, and rocked, and reared in your midst. lam one of yon, and you are dear unto nie. And now, as you are dear unto me, and as my heart atid hands are drawn towards you in aflection, and as the enligiiteunient and elevation of your minds are things near my heart, therefore, if all together, or any of you, will give a like simi, I will give these live hnndied pieces of silver to form the nucleus of a Town Library, which shall bo free for all the inhabitants of the town to use for their improvemout, and for their children's children forever.

The town appropriated the other five hundred dollars, and directed that as a token of their esteem for the generous donor, it should be called the " Fay Library."

In 1870, April 20th, Col. Fay tlonated to the town the additional sum of one thousand dollars, for the benefit of the library. There is now a fund of fifteen hundred dollars in the hands of the trustees of the library, the interest of which, with various other items contributed uud appro])riated, eiialile Ihe trustees to expend about two hundred dollars annually for books. There are iiiiw in the library five thousand six hundred and thirty-five volumes. The people of Southborough have great cause to hold iu fond remembrance the names of aforesaid donors; and not only we, but, in future years, full many a son and daughter, who shall inhabit this land, read books and learn in this school, - looking back, perhaps, through time's long vista, - will aho exultingly claim these donors as their immortal benefactors.

In 1865 the St. Mark's School was incorporated under the laws of the Commonwealth, and was founded for the classical education of boys. Its course of studies is prepared with the purpose of giving a thorough preparation for the admission to the universities and colleges of the country. It is a school for the Episcopal Church, and its order and management are in conformity with the principles and spirit of the Church. Its scholars number about sixty, and are required to board at the institution. It is said to be one of the most thorough and best-dis- [ ciplined schools in the State. The establishment of 1 this school and the erection of the beautiful Episcopal Church are the results of the great enterprise and perseverance of our honored and esteemed fellowcitizen, Dr. Joseph Burnett. The school is under the management of the following officers:

Board of Trustees. - Rt. Rev. B. H. Paddock, D.D., Rev. D. C. Millett, D.D., Rev. George S. Converse, A.M., Rev. Thomas R. Pynchon, D.D., Joseph Burnett, Esq., Joseph Story Fay, Esq., Francis C. Foster, [ Esq., H. N. Bigelow, Esq., Rev. S. U. Shearman, George P. Gardner, Esq. Bead Masler. - Winiam E. Peck, A.M. Treasurer. - Joseph Burnett, Eeq. Dr. Joseph Burnett was born in Southbnrough, November 11, 1820. He married Josephine Cutter, June 20, 1848, by whom he has had twelve children. He received his education from the common schools L in Southborougli and the English and Latin schools ' in the city of Worcester, commencing business as an apothecary in that city, where he remained two years. He then removed to Boston, where he continued the business for several years. He is now a manufacturt ing chemist of great notoriety.

The beautiful appearance of the Centre Village is largely due to his benevolence, influence and taste. In 1840 the town built its first town-house. Previous to that time the town-meetings were held in the church of the First Parish Society. Said town-house cost about $4,000. It was burnt in 1869. Without delay the inhabitants proceeded to erect another. The present handsome, substantial and commodious brick town-house was built in 1869-70, at a cost, including fixtures and furniture, of about S30,000. The building committee, consisting of Dr. Joseph Burnett, Dexter Newton, Dr. J. Henry Robinson, Franklin Este and Curtis Hyde, delivered the keys thereof to the selectmen April 20, 1870. In 1824 the young men organized a lyceum. Hon. Francis B. Fay was presidentof the same for several years. This is said to be one of the first lyceums ever formed in this vicinity. One of the most exciting debates participated in by the then young America was : " Is an untruth ever justifiable?" Disputants appointed in the affirmative were Peter Fay and Blake Parker ; negative, Joel Burnett and Brigham Witherbee. The discussion waxed warm. The disputants, pro and con, fought the battle inch by inch during the allotted time. Question was finally decided on its merits, in the negative. This lyceum accomplished much good.

Another lyceum was formed in 1842. Its members at one time numbered forty-four. Many momentous questions were considered. Interesting and instructive free lectures, through their exertions, were given to the public. Southborough has raised many noble men and women, and several distinguished scholars.

The following is a list of those reared in town wlio have availed themselves of the benefits of a collegeeducation, viz. : Jeroboam Parker, graduated at Harvard in 1797, became a minister; Nathan Johnson, graduated at Yale in 1802, judge of Court of Common Pleas ; Sherman Johnson, graduated at Yale in 1802. minister; Luther Angier, graduated at Amherst in 1833, minister ; Marshall B. Angier, graduated at Yale in 1884, minister ; Henry M. Parker, graduated at Harvard in 1839, teacher; Joel Burnett, graduated

Burnett, graduated at Harvard Medical in 1849, naturalist; Edward Burnett, graduated at Harvard in 1871, M.C. ; Harry Burnett, graduated at Harvard in 1873, chemist ; Waldo Burnett, graduated at Harvard in 1875, rector ; Clarence Thompson, graduated at Amherst in 1874, civil engineer; George E. Brewer, graduated at Amherst in 1874, insurance broker ; Charles T. Murray, graduated at Dartmouth College in 1882, teacher ; Winfield Scott Hammond, graduated at Dartmouth College in 1884, teacher; Charles C. Burnett, graduated at Harvard in 1886, railroad manager.

Jeroboam Parker, mentioned above, was for many years the minister in Southborough. Joel Burnett was a noted physician in the town, was particularly interested in her schools and was greatly honored and respected. He delivered the first lecture on the subject of temperance given in the town. His son, Waldo I. Burnett, was a zealous student and became a distinguished naturalist. By the Boston Society of Natural History he was elected curator of entomology. In successive years he gained many of the prizes offered by said society. In the winter of 1851 he delivered, at the Medical College in Atlanta, Ga., a course of lectures in microscopic anatomy. In 1852 he prepared the essay which received the prize from the American Medical Association. He died of consumption July 1, 1854, in the twenty-sixth year of his age. From an address concerning his life and writings, delivered before the Boston Society of

Natural History, July 19, 1854, by Dr. Jeffries Wyman, is taken the following extract: " We cannot but sensibly feel that in his death we have lost an associate of no ordinary talents; we can point to no other member of our society, and not more than one other naturalist in our country, who has given such proofs of zeal and industry, and who, in so short a life, has accomplished so large an amount of scientific labor. Had he been spared to future years, we cannot but feel the assurance that he would have acquired for himself a far higher place and still more honorable name in the annals of science. Let us cherish his memory and profit by his example."

The records of the town show that the people have always taken a forward rank in the cause of freedom. Capt. John Taplin went in command of a company of forty-nine men on the Crown Point expedition in 1756; was out from February 18th to December 20th. Capt. Aaron Fay commanded a company sent for the reduction of Canada, and was out fioni March to November, 1758.

Dilenton Johnson was at Fort William Henry when it capitulated, August 9, 1757, and was exposed to the Indian barbarities of that terrible day. Elijah Reed and Joshua Newton, also of Southborough, were in that battle.

In 1765, in town-meeting, the following unanimous vote of instruction was given to their representative, Ezra Taylor, Esq.: "That you would in the most effectual and loyal manner firmly assert and lawfully maintain the inherent rights of the Province, that posterity may know that if we must be slaves, we do not choose by our own acts to destroy ourselves, and willingly entail slavery on them."

To Ezekiel Collings, One of the Corporals of tlie Military foot Oompany, in tbe Town of Soutliborougli, in the County of Worcester, under the command of Josiah Fay, Captain, and in the Riginmnt whereof Artemas Ward Esq, of Shrewsbury is Colonel - Greeting.

To appear in tbe Common training field By the Meeting House in said Southbr" with their fire-arms Compleate on the ninth Day of thia Instant November, att Eight of the Clock, in tbe fournoon of said Day then and thair Renuiin attend to and Obay further orders Hereof fail Not and make return of thia Warrant with your Doings thereon Unto me att or Before Said time. Given under my hand att said Southb** the seventh Day of November anno-dom 1774,

Capt. Josiah Fay's company of fifty -six minute men, who were disciplined and supported at the expense of the town, marched to Lexington and Concord, April 19,1775. Every able-bodied male citizen, sixteen years old and upward, was armed according to law. They were required to be in constant readiness to repel any attack of the enemy.

In town-meeting April 29, 1861, on motion of Sylvester C. Fav, Esq., it was voted, unanimously "that the town is ready to respond to the proclamations of the President with every able-bodied citizen and every dollar, if necessary." The town furnished two hundred and nineteen brave and patriotic men, being thirtythree more than enough to fill her quota under every call of the President during the great Rebellion. Seventeen of those men died in the service of their country, and these names appear on the monument erected to their memory. Said monument, erected on the common in Southborough Centre, is of Fitzwilliam granite, and was built by E. F. Meaney, olBoston, from a design of A. R. Esty, Esq. It was dedicated January 1, 1867. It is twenty feet high. On the south (front) side are inscribed the words, "Erected by the citizens of Southborough;" on the east, "In Memoriam ;" on the north, " Our Country's Defenders ;" and on the west, "Rebellion, 1861."

This monument cost $1613.50, and was paid for mostly by subsciiption. Some of the money, however, was contributed by various as-emblies and societies. Henry H. Peters, Esq., subscribed $.500; Dr. Joseph Burnett, $100 ; the ladies, nearly $200 ; Curtis Newton, E. D. Rockwood, Peter Fay and S. N. Thompson, each $25; and ninety-two other persons contributed smaller sums. This town has a very perfect record of her soldiers who enlisted in the late war. To William P. Willson, Esq., great credit is due for his alacrity and perseverance in its preparation and completion. The following is a list of the names of said soldiers :

Among the names of many prominent men of this town - part of whom are now living and the others have recently deceased - who have done much to promote its highest and best interests, are the following :

Moses Sawin purchased the grist and saw-mill and a small lot of land situate one-half mile west of Town Hall, in Southborough, of Deacon Gabriel Parkei, in 1833. The year following he bought of said Parker seven acres of land adjoining same, and on south side of Mill Pond, and built thereon a spacious dwelling-house, barn and other buildings. The estate is now owned and occupied by Charles B. Sawin, youngest of his three surviving sons. Said Moses Sawin was a lineal descendantofa long- list of millers. His ancestor, Thomas Sawin, was the third son of John Sawin, of Watertown, who was the father of the American Sawins. Thomas Sawin bought of the Natick Indian (a branch ofthe Massachusetts) fifty acres of land in South Natick, for which he paid ten pounds of lawful money. The following conditions were agreed upon in their transaction, viz.: The said Thomas Sawin was to build a mill on the premises for the grinding of corn, and he ?ind his heirs and assigns were to maintain said mill forever, and on the other part it was agreed that there was to be no other corn-mill built in town without the consent of said Thomas Sawin, his heirs and assigns. Said mill remained in possession of said Thomas Sawin and his descendants from 1685 to 1833 - one hundred and forty-eight years. Said Moses Sawin possessed and carefully preserv^ed through life the curious old deed, signed and sealed by the Indian chiefs of whom his said ancestor purchased the land. They are now in possession of said C. B. Sawin, at the old homestead, where antiquarians and others interested in curious legal documents can examinfe them.

Moses Sawin was thrice married. In 1820 he married Joanna T. Lane, of whom he had one child, Joanna L. Sawin. In 1823 he married Mary B. Morse, of whom he had eight children, viz.: John B., Mary B., Sarah C, Maria A., Moses M., Lucy A., Charles B. and James H. Two of these passed over the daik river in early childhood, viz.: Lucy A. and James H. Sarah C. died in early womanhood, August 9, 1853. Joanna L. (Mrs. Libby) died November 15, 1860. The other five children are still living, and earnestly laboring to carry forward the great principles of progress and reform, which their father labored so assiduously to promote. In 1852 said Moses Sawin married Mrs. Catharine A. Rice, who still survives him and is loved and cherished, as a good mother should be, by all his children. Mr. Sawin was an active and excellent citizen. He took a lively interest in town affairs, was a faithful member of the Board of Overseers of the Poor for many years, and was enthusiastic in promoting the best interests of the town. He was very active in aiding the great temperance reform. When the clarion notes of William Lloyd Garrison rang through the land calling the nation to repentance for supporting and maintaining chattel slavery, Mr. Sawin did not hesitate to enlist in the great cause of humanity. He was convinced it was a sin against God and a crime against his brother man.

He had the courage to ask the members of the church to which he belonged to testify against the sin ; when his request was rejected he refused to commune with them as a church of Christ, and when, for this refusal, they cast him out of the church, he exultantly quoted to them the words of Christ, viz. : " Inasmuch as ye did it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye did it unto me." He was especially gratified that he had lived to see slavery entirely abolished ; it was what he had long labored for and sought. But the crowning glory of his latter days was in hearing his former opponents acknowledge the righteousness of his cause, and labor earnestly with him in the overthrow of American slavery.

John Thomas Cotton was the son of Rev. Ward Cotton and his wife, Rebekah (Jackson), and one of the numerous descendants of John Cotton, first minister of Boston. Said John Thomas Cotton was the oldest of six children, born in Boylston, Mass., February 25, 1801. In youth and early manhood he had a long and severe sickness, which left him in a feeble condition, and although he lived to a great age, he never enjoyed good health. He was a very conscientious man, firm in his convictions, and was greatly beloved by his fellow-citizens. He served as representative to the General Court for several years, and long held the office of town clerk of said Boylston. In consequence of the failing health of his mother, 10 whom he was entirely devoted, he was induced to give up all public employment. His mother died October 11, 1854, after which he purchased a small place for a home and sold the old homestead in Boylston. He lived in Southborough in great contentment and comfort, near his sister (Mrs. Hannah S. P. Whitney), for near a quarter of a century. Though he lived alone, he was no recluse, but was very sociable and very fond of his neighbors and flowers. He spent his last days with his sister, and passed over the dark river to beloved ones beyond, October 17, 1884.

Peter Fay, Esq., was born in Southborough, October 15, 1807. He married Roxanna Whipple, December 29, 1829. She died November 28, 1853. March 15, 1858, he married Dolly Collins. By his first wife he had six children - two girls and four boys. He lived on the old homestead formerly owned by his father, Peter Fay - and which is now owned and occupied by Charles F. Choate, Esq., president of the Old Colony Railroad Company - until March 1, 1855, having previously sold the same to Henry H. Peters, Esq. He then bought the Parker farm, which for many years was owned and occupied by the former ministers of the First Parish Society. He lived there about two years. He built the fine house in which he now lives in 1857. He has held many of the highest offices in town, and has received many honors from the citizens thereof. He represented the town at the General Court in 1845. He has served as selectman some nine years. He was very active, during the late war, in obtaining men to fill this town's quota under every call made by President Lincoln. He served on the Board of School Committee about nine years ; assessor, one year; overseer of the poor, nine years; deacon of the Pilgrim Evangelical Church for about fifteen years. He settled the estate of his sister, Mrs. Dolly Bond, late of. Shrewsbury, deceased. This estate amounted to over $100,000. He received great credit for his faithfulness and energy concerning the settlement thereof.

On the old homestead he kept some forty head of cattle, and he took great pride in having extra nice ones. He made butter until 1840, and was the first farmer but two in town who sold milk to go into Boston. He had fine apple orchards on his farm, which often yielded him one thousand barrels in a year. He was president of the first temperancesociety of Southborough for fifteen years.

Daniel S. Whitney was born at Danvers (now Peabody) on February 4, 1810. He is one of the many descendants of John and Elenor Whitney, of Watertown, and the eighth in descent from the original stock. Mr. Whitney was early engaged in the great reforms of the century. In 1830, at the age of twenty, after listening to an address by the celebrated Dr. Pierson, of Salem, he signed a pledge to abstain entirely from ardent spirits as a beverage, and from that time he has labored on through all the phases of the great temperance reform abstaining from all

In 18.S6, while keeping school on the Marhlehead coast, he first listened to the Gospel according to antislavery. Samuel J. May was the heavenly-tongued apostle on that occasion in the Branch Church of Salem, and from that lecture dates his interest in the great anti-slavery agitation begun three or four years before by William Lloyd Garrison. In the ranks of that grand army of freedom he was ever happy to be found. He was ordained as evangelist by the Massachusetts Association of Restorationists, and occupied pulpits as a supply for a few years. While thus engaged he became deeply interested in the undertaking of Rev. Adin Ballou, at Hopedale, Milford, Mass. This attempt to realize in actual life our highest conceptions of Christian principles was entered upon with great enthusiasm, and for eight years under several changes of business arrangements he ioyfuUy labored on at the great moral problem. He still clings to the hope that under more favorable surroundings, and profiting by past experiences, what was there attempted will yet be accomplished. All the great reforms of the age - temperance, anti-slavery, peace, the equal rights of women with men, and the golden rule as the law of intercourse and labor - constituted the policv of this attempt to realize the ideal of the great Master. The weakness of the undertaking, was found in the joint stock property of the undertaking which placed the continuance of the experiment in a few hands, and so brought it to a premature end. But while it lasted it formed a grand standpoint for living souls to utter and live their highest convictions.

Mr. Whitney married, in 1842, Miss Hannah S. P. Cotton, youngest child of Rev. Ward Cottton, of Boylston. Three children were born to them - Daniel Cotton, who left them at the age of seven years; Mary P. C. (Billings), and Alice G. C. (Burton).

After leaving Hopedale in 1850 Mr. Whitney spent one year in Beverly and two years in Boylston. In 185.3 he was chosen delegate from Boylston to amend the Constitution of Massachusetts, and removed to Southborough, that he might return daily to his family while attending on that convention. The conservative Whigs managed to quash the proposed amendments before the people, but Mr. Whitney had the satisfaction of voting to leave the term " male " out of the amended Constitution. The conservatives of that day looked upon the proposition as the wildest of political dreams; but the thirty-five years since that convention has brought it near even to our doors here in Massachusetts.

During the years of darkness and violence following the enactment of the Fugitive Slave Law, Mr. Whitney was ever ready and glad to do duty in the ranks of the Garrisonian Abolitionists. The flying fugitives were ever welcome to his home, and the sharp encounters with his pro-slavery neighbors were frequent. On a town-meeting day a zealot in a bad cause addressed Iiim with, " Mr. Whitney, you have nigger on the brain." "Oh, no, Mr. B., you have nigger on the brain ; I have negro on the heart," was his reply.

When the final crash of arms came it was not difficult to see that the end of slavery was near. Mr. Whitney, during the last year of the war, labored in the Sanitary Commission at City Point, and was greatly pleased with the magnanimity of the Northern soldiers, and the absence of all disposition to take vengeance on the fallen traitors, as is common with other nations.

He was delighted when the great silent man, who brought the Rebellion to grief, brought our mother, England, who treated us very shabbily during the war, to a sense of her duty, or interest to pay the damages. And since that day every effort and every advance towards a permanent arrangement between the two great English-speaking nations to settle all their differences by arbitration, instead of the sword, has given him the liveliest pleasure.

He believes in the good time coming, when nations shall have outgrown the barbarism of war, and the injustice, oppression and ignorance which constitutes a chronic state of war. And he believes, further, that this good time is to come through the instrumentality of his beloved country. He knows that he must pass over the dark river befi>re these great events transpire, but a firm faith of the final triumph of righteousness on earth and beyond the earth makes the evening of life joyful.

Curtis Newton was born in Fay ville, November 1 3, 1803. He married Lydia Ball Smith. He died October 11, 1880. In early life he was much interested in military matters ; was Captain of the Rifle Company for several years, and was chosen major, but declined to serve. He represented his district to the General Court, was many years assessor, was selectman fourteen years, deputy sherif}', auctioneer for more than twenty years, was moderator of town-meetings several years, justice of the Peace.

R-isolved, Tliat in the death of our late townsman, Curtis Newton, Esq., which occurred on the nth day of October last, we realize that the town has lost a beloved citizen, a man who has filled many of its highest offices, represented it in the General Court, and has ever performed the duties intrusted to him in a manner and with a degree of fidelity that has done himself honor and has given satisfaction to his constituents. He has contributed liberally in many ways to the cause of freedom, and has always manifested a great love for the prosperity of this, his native town.

IlemlL^efl, Tliat as a mark of respect due to so faithful a servant, we direct our town clerk to record these resolutions on the town book of records, and send an attested copy thereof to the widow of said deceased.

Dexter Newton was born in Fay ville, January 13, 1823. He married Arathusa A. Brigham, December 9, 1846. In early life he was engaged in the provision busines-. He taught achool in this town three winters.

He received his education in the common and high schools in Southhorough and in the academy in Westfield, Mass. He was station agent at Faj'ville and Cordaville about eleven years; kept store in Cordaville about three years ; has been postmaster in Fayville since July, 1869; United States assistant assessor of internal revenue about five years; represented the district in the General Court in 1861 and 1877 ; has been auctioneer about twenty years, selectman ten years, served on the Board of School Committee ten years, asse.'sor twenty-seven years, overseer of the poor five years, moderator of town-meetings over thirty years, land surveyor, justice of the peace, notary public, and has been Justice of the First District Court of Eastern Worcester since June, 1879; has dealt largely in real estate, ha-s built nine houses and has settled and helped to settle over two hundred estates of deceased persons. He has zealously advocated the principal reforms of his time.

Jonas Fay, Esq., a native of Southhorough, was twice married. He was selectman, assessor and member of School Committee for many years. Was a school teacher when young ; represented the town in General Court; deacon of the Pilgrim Evangelical Church ; settled many estates of deceased persons and was active in town affairs.

Deacon Francis Fisher was twice married; held the office of selectman ; represented the district in General Court ; in his younger days was a seafaring man , and for a number of years a sea captain.

Ezekiel D. Rockwood was twice married ; was a very prominent man ; served as selectman, overseer of poor for many years, and represented the district in the General Court. He was very liberal in his donations for the cause of freedom and temperance.

Harvey Newton, Esq., son of Hezekiah Newton, was born September 26, 1819, married Ann S. Gamage, July 30, 1844; served as selectman one year. Was once chosen to represent the district in the General Court, but declined to serve - a very remarkable case. He manufactured boots and shoes with .John Hartt, in Soutliville, some seventeen years, and afterwards carried on the business alone about eight years. He built and now owns the shoe factories in that village, and has contributed largely towards building up said vill.ige. He was never blessed with children, but has been highly blessed in many things.

-Tames Henry Robinson, M.D., born February 9, 1831, married Charlotte K. Rl' e, November 9, 18.57. He graduated from Albany Medical College in 1856, and commenced practice as physician at Deer Island tlie same year. He practiced also in Ivan>as, and while there was tiie family physician of the famous John Brown. Since that time he has practiced in Southhorough and vicinity. He has represented the district in the General Court. .

William H. Buck, Esq., born August 26, 1813. He married Sally Maria Brigham, June 20, 1850. He was in the meat business some four years, and for many years has been a cattle broker. He served as selectman eight years, and has held various other important offices in town. He represented the district in the General Court one year.

Benjamin F. Prentiss, Esq., born July 25, 1820 ; married, July, 1850, to Susan S. Johnson, of whom he had five children. He has held the office of selectman eight years, overseer of the poor eleven years ; is a master-builder by trade, and has erected nearly three hundred buildings.

Sylvester C. Fay was born May 28, 1825. He married Eliza Bell Burnett, daughter of Dr. Joel Burnett, February 16, 1858. He kept store in Fayville with his father and brothers many years. Lately he has been engaged in the manufacture of corsets. He is a man of much energy ; has served as selectman. He has long been engaged in the temperance cause and oiher reforms. His wife and her sister. Harriet Burnett, have caused to be erected a large schoolhouse, in which is kept by them a school for about thirty-five small boys, who are here prepared for entrance to the St. Mark's and other classical schools.

Leander W. Newton was born in Southhorough November 26, 1838. He married Emma M. Muzzy February 27, 1861. He has served as overseer of the poor ten years, and as collector nine years. He has represented the district in General Court. He is an active business man.

Horace F. Webster was born January 22, 1829. He married Ann M. Fox February 13, 1852. He has been town treasurer six years, He also represented the district in General Court one year.

Chapter Xvi By Levi B. Chase

Sturbridge is located in the southwest corner of Worcester County, bordering south upon the Connecticut line, and west upon the county of Hampden.

The upheaval of rock is mostly of the gneiss formation, the dip of the strata in some instances, as at the lead-mine, being almost perpendicular. Laterally, the trend of the strata is invariably northeasterly and southwesterly. The ridgts liave their uniformity broken up by differences in height, and the rounding and excoriating action of the glacial period.

Right across these formidable barriers, and from its entrance at the west to its outgo at the east line of the original town, nearly - if it held a direct course - at right angles with the rock system, the Quinebaug has its way, dividing the territory into two nearly j equal portions.

The streams affluent to the Quinebaug take the water-shed from both directions, their general course being governed by the same rule as the rock formation.

In the present town we have Breakneck Brook and Hamant Brook from the south, the former discharging at the south bend of the river, the other higher up, near the centre of the valley. On the north side is Hobbs, or Sugar Brook, which takes the flow from Walker Pond, passes near the Common, and with its long series of meadows forms a large portion and the lowest level of the Central Valley.

Cedar Pond Brook, near the Fair Grounds, and Long Pond Brook, near the western border, discharge the water of the respective reservoirs of the same name into the Quinebaug.

Allum Pond is a notable natural body of water situated about two miles northerly of Fiskdale Village. It is about one mile long and half a mile wide. It has Mount Toby upon the west of it, and is bordered by elevated land. The water is held in a rocky basin above the surrounding country. Fed by springs, its clear water abounding in fish, the salubrity of the air and the romantic scenery has given the shores of this pond a local reputation as a camping-ground.

Walker Pond, in old times called Salstonstal's Pond, is noted as a pleasure resort. Here the country road skirts the eastern border beneath tall trees, while upon the opposite side of the pond rises the abrupt precipices of Walker Mountain, over which winds the "mountain road," making up a drive which is highly appreciated by the people in the vicinity.

Shumway Hill throws out its northern point as if to stop the Quinebaug about two miles from the western border of the town. The river is forced to turn and go around the hill close under the northern slope. Along the northern hank of the river, just where it curves, are situated the factories and the village of Fiskdale. From the opposite slope of Shumway Hill the view of thi-< village is enchanting. From the pinnacle of the hill very fine views of rural scenery are obtained in every direction except the southward, where lie the wooded hills and rocky ridges that environ the lead-mine region. To the eastward lies the central valley of the town, and beyond the mited Fisk Hill.

Looking westward across the valley, the Quinebaug is seen emerging from Fiskdale along the base of Shumway* Hill, and seems to loiter idly along by grassy meadows and cultivated fields, winding abtmt in many a romantic nook and charming retreat - a blending of water, meadow and f )rest scenery seldom surpassed.

going a little more hurriedly until it turns and plunges eastward between high, rocky hills, and then turns again to the northward, washing the opposite side of the hill which turned it from its former course. The river is again turned eastward by a high, rocky precipice and by ihis time charged with power, which is utilized for the purposes of man along the villages of Southbridge. t

To the inhabitants of this town this valley has the additional charm of ancestral and historic associations - of being where are clustered the religious and secular institutions of civilization which gives value to life, and of being the resting-place of departed and loved ones. To those who have their home here it is the very centre of the world.

Tantous(jue in Nipnet. - In September, 1633, John Oldham, with three companions, passed through Nipnet to the Connecticut River, " lodging at Indian towns all the way."

While being entertained by the Indians at Tantousque, he was shown some specimens of what proved to be plumbago, or black-lead, and was shown, or told, where the substance was to be found in large quantities, near a pond called by the Indians Quassink. That this took place in the valley of the Quinebaug, in Sturbridge, is probable from following circumstances.

A path to the Connecticut River passed through here, and there could have been none siuth of it until beyond the abrupt ridges of the Breakneck region ; the extent of which tract would carry any southern route nearer, and probably south of the deposit of plumbago at the hill of Ocquebituque, "near the cornfield where one Namaswhat lives."

The last-mentioned lead-mine was known to John Pynchon some ten years later, but appears not to have been discovered by John Oldham in 1633. The hill of Ocquebituque is situated near the south line of Union, Connecticut, six miles or more from the Sturbridge mine. Hence, clearly John Oldham went by the Quinebaug Valley path through this town, about two miles north of the Sturbridge lead-mine, and about len miles from the cornfield where Namaswhnt lived.

William Pynchon established a trading-post for furs at Agawara (Springfield) in 1635.' He had a monopoly of the trade over a large territory, and for a number of years the profits were considerable. One of his first enterprises was opening a road to the Bay settlements.

Preserved in the archives of Sturbridge are records of roads whiih were used before the settlement, and afterwiirds until the town was incorfiorated. By plotting the toivn according to the original survey and

The one that will be described was called, upon the records, " The road from Brimfield to Oxford." From the west line of the town to Fiskdale there is no record ; from a point back of Bacon & Bates' store to No. 2 School-house ; from there to the lower crossing over Cedar Brook, near the residence of Mr. Geo. Wight, it was identical in location with the present road ; passed the south side of Mr. Wight's house, and a small pond-hole near Mrs. Kansom's, then across the present highway, and to where Mr. C. D. Russell now resides; then across to near Mr. W. T. Lamb's, and along there with the present road to Mrs. H. Plimptoo's ; then crossed Sugar Brook, where N. D. Ladd & Son's mill-dam now is, on over a field ; then through pasture and woodland (where the tracks are still to be seen) to the northwest mowing lot, on Mr. J. H. Lyon's farm ; thence through the north part of his farm, passing Mr. N. Eggleston's, to the southeast corner of Mrs. McGilpin's farm, to where there was a ford way over Mc- Kinstry Brook by old Oxford line, and may be traced in the direction of Dudley. It was the road used by the first settlers of Sturbridge when they moved from Medfield, Watertown and other places.

It is here suggested that this may be the exact location of a section of the road opened by William Pynchon, about 1635-38, and that it then followed the general course of a previous Indian trail, which, in its course westward, doubtless passed a little north of Fiskdale, near the wigwams of the Putikookuppogg Indians, and on to Ashquoash, in the north part of Brimfield.

Ten years later, 1648, Gov. John Winthrop writes in his journal (ii. 325): "This year a new way was found out to Connecticut, by Nashaway (Lancaster), which avoids much of the hill way." Thi.s new way is described by Mr. Temple (" Hist. North Brookfield ") as passing down the valley of the Quaboag and " struck the south trail east of Steerage Rock," in Brimfield. Other evidences of record furnish satisfactory proof that we have here the " Bay-Path " of Dr. J. G. Holland's admirable historical novel with that title.

Two important Indian paths, one from Providence and another from Norwich, united at Woodstock, and continued as one path through Sturbridge to Brookfield. The course was quite direct from Lebanon Hill to Fisk Hill, thence over Walker Mountain, south of the pond and onward to South Pond, a branch passing up the east shore to the ancient village of Quobagud, while the more important route skirted the west side of the pond, going on to Wickabo.ig (now West Brookfield). It will be again noticed farther along, when opened for an Englishman's road, about 1680-90.

The 13th of November, the same year, the General Court granted to John Winthrop, Jr., '"y" hill at Tantousque, about sixty miles westward, in which the black lead is, and liberty to pu/chase some land of the Indians." (Winthrop by Savage, vol. ii. p. 213.) He purchased some land of the Indians, as it appears.

A plot of land containing ten thousand two hundred and forty acres was surveyed for Major-General Waitstill Winthrop in 1715. Its east line ran across Saltonstal's two thousand acres, which had been surveyed the previous year, taking off nearly one-third. A reasonable inference is, that there was a prior claim, based upon a bargain between the ancestor, John Winthrop, Jr., and the Indians. In this town the bounds were by natural features, Indian style : from a rock in a meadow south of Leadmine Pond, to an angle in Quinebaug River, north of Geo. Wight's mills; then northward on the west side of Cedar Pond to a point against the north end of the original pond ; then west and onward, covering the site of Brimfield Centre; then southeastward to the rock in the meadow.

The bounds of the tract were located with the evident design of taking in the valuable lands along the " Old Springfield Road," and, if fixed in 1644, or in the days of John Winthrop, Jr., may be taken as evidence of the antiquity of said road.

The lead-mine was being operated in March, 1658, by employes of William Paine and Thomas Clark, of Boston. The gentleman last named, it is supposed, was the Captain Thomas Clark who, the latter part of the same year, obtained a grant of the southern mine of plumbago, or the hill of Acquebituque. It appears that the Boston merchants carried on the works at Tantousque for a share of the products, it being included in the bargain that they should have the owners' share at a stated price. A path was opened from the lead-mine, passing a little south of the house formerly owned by the late Otis Davis, through Holland and Brimfield to the Springfield road.

Richard Fellows kept a tavern, the site of which is in the northeast part of Monson, and he was " very willing to undertake to haul the lead to the waterside," past his own door, to Connecticut River.

In the great war of 1675-76, known as " King Philip's War," the Quabaugs were among the first to take arms against the English. The Quinebaug flowed between the land of the Wabbaquassets and that owned by the Quabaugs.

from Pocasset Neck, passed through Woodstock and Tantousque to Quabaug Old Fort. They were at that time pursued by Captain Henchman, aided by Oneko, son of Uncas, with fifty Mohegan warriors.

The fugitives crossed the Quinebaug and skurrled up the forest-covered slope of what is now known as Fisk Hill, in the land of their allies, the Quabaugs. Their English pursuers, looking up the broad expanse stretching away to the northward, knew that beyond were the Quabaug Ponds, and that somewhere about there were collected, in large numbers, their savage foes. Captain Henchman here ordered the pursuit to cease, and turned toward Boston.

Philip being reduced to a feeble following of forty men, and "women and children many more," was unwilling to advance in the direction of the English forces at Brookfield, and at Tantousque passed on to the Old Springfield Road, and arrived at Quabaug Old Fort on the 6th of August. Quabaug Old Fort, called by the Indians Ashquoach, was situated just north of Sherman's Pond in Brimfield. A few days later another party of Wampanoags, endeavoring to get on the Nipmuck path to follow their chief, was intercepted before it reached the Quinebaug River, and one hundred and eleven men, women and children were taken and delivered over to the English.

The spring of 1676 came on with smiling sunshine, awakening vegetation and the song of birds; but among the colonists was a feeling of gloom and discouragement. The Indians had been successful at every point.