Worcester City (part 13 of 58)

A change, however, was approaching. About the middle of March the Indians were repulsed at Westlield, Northampton and Hatfield - a grievous disappointment. Many of them became tired of the war, and returned to their fishing-places and huntinggrounds. Admonished by recent suffering from scarcity of food, many a sunny slope was being planted with corn, beans and other crops. The old wigwam was patched up, and their desire was for peace.

But that was not to be ; they had carried the torch, the tomahawk and the scalping-knife to many a home of the white man, had commenced a war of extermination, had sown the wind, - the whirlwind was upon them.

Into the valley of the Quinebaug, beneath the green foliage, in the first week in June, 1G76, came Major John Talcott, of Connecticut, with two hundred and fifty mounted Englishmen, accompanied by Oneko, son of Uncas, with two hundred Mohegan warriors. They crossed the river in Dudley and coming up the Springfield Road, rushed in every direction upon the surprised inhabitants. Along the Quinebaug, by the shores of our ponds, or wherever the dwelling of a Quabaug might be, the Mohegans hunted them out

When the war was over some of the hostile Indians who had escaped drifted away in small parties and became absorbed into other tribes. Some went towards Maine, some to Canada, and some to the westward, near Albany.

Their corn-fields, wheth.er on the hillside or upon the plain by the river, were quickly seeded to pines, and thereon were standing when the settlers came here forests of fifty years' growth. Their wigwams entirely disappeared. Stone implements alone speak of former inhabitants.

Depopulated Tantousque was included in a tract of the Nipmuck country, which a remnant of the Indians, the former owners, made over to the Massachusetts government, February 10, 1681, for the sura of fifty pounds and a reservation of land five miles square, which is now in Dudley and Webster.

After the settlement of Woodstock, in 1656, and the second settlement of Brookfield, about the same time, a road from one place to the other, in their isolated and feeble condition, became a necessity, and was doubtless opened between these nearest neighbors at an early period. The Brookfield and Woodstock path came down on the west side of South Pond, and was essentially the " New Boston Road," so called, as far as Mr. C. D. Russell's, where it united with the Old Springfield Road, and followed that about a mile and a half to the old camping grounds, now the northwest mowing lot on Mr. J. H. Lyon's farm. Turning southward past where stands the Levins Fisk house, then by Hosea Cutting's house and into the present road west of Mrs. Emmon's house ; then down the hill and across by Mr. P. Bond's house, over by Mrs. Malcom Ammidown's residence, and down the slope by the brick-yard to the river, where a bridge was built of logs.

This was also near the fording-placeof the old Indian trail. The path is traced by record southward from the river to near the residence of Mr. Lewis Morse. The present Woodstock road by the " Brown brickyard,'" so called, was laid across this old path, not far from where Mr. Henry H. Wells' lane intersects it, and may have passed from there over Lebanon Hill.

This Brookfield and Woodstock path followed in a general way the previous Indian trail. Massachusetts acquired the title to these lands, with power to grant the same, in 1681, as has been stated.

Tracts of land, of whatever size, granted to an individual were called farms, - a name distinguishing such lands from grants made for towns. Individual ownership of land in Tantousque was established for the first time by lines and bounds November 24, 1714, the date of the survey of the Saltonstal farm. At an early date in the history of the colony the province of Massachusetts Bay gave to Sir Richard Salstonstal, Knight, one of the patentees named in the old charter, a tract of two thousand acres on the banks of Connecticut River. This property was handed down among liis descendants, and was owned in 1713 by his great-grandson, Rev. Gurdon Salstonstal, of Norwich, Connecticut.

An agreement entered into by the province of Massachusetts and the colony of Connecticut in the year 1713 established a new division line, south of which was found to be Mr.. Saltonstal's two thousand acres, as well as many other grants of Massachusetts along this border. In accordance with the terms of the agreement, Massacliusetts paid to Connecticut, for these former grants, an equal number of acres of land by other grants within her now undisputed territory ; and these new grants took the name, and for many years were known as, " equivalent lands."

The following year Rev. Gurdon Salstonstal, then Governor of Connecticut, agreed and accepted of the General Assembly of the colony the right to " take up to his own use the said quantity of acres, among the equivalents allowed to this Colony, where it shall best suit him, proviiled that the tract be taken up in one entire piece," May, a.d. 1714.

It suited His Excellency to select the tract now called the central Valley of Sturbridge. He obtained his first view of the valley upon his arrival at the camp, ing-ground, where the Woodstock road united with the Old Springfield. He made that point the eastern limit of his farm, the top of Shumway Hill the western extreme ; the bend of the river near Mr. A. J. Morse's was made a southern angle, and the north line of the old Bullock place, Mrs. Luther Hamant's and J. J. Shepard's, defines the northern bounds. It was called by his children Pineland.

The Demick Farm was west of and adjoined Salstonstal's farm. The origin of this grant is unknown. The most part of the village of Fiskdale is built upon this tract.

The Eliot Farm. - In "Ancient Plans,'' i. 285, is found a plot of John Eliot's one thousand acres, endorsed : "Purchased by Rev. John Eliot the 27th of September, 1655, of Wattaloowekin and Nakin, Indians - said 1000 acres of land lies Southward of, and contiguous to the township of Brookfield alias Quabaug, at a place called Pookookappog Ponds."

December 5, 1715, the title to this land was confirmed to the heirs of Mr. Eliot by the General Court. About eight hundred acres of the tract lie within the bounds of Sturbridge, owned by the following parties, viz. : Heirs of Mr. Austin Allen, Mr. G. H. Adams, Mr. Monahan, Mr. Griffin and Mr. S. F. Bemis.

Mr. Eliot petitioned the General Court in 16ii4, in ''. . . behalf of the Indiana of Putikookuppogg, . . ." and was granted "... a plant tion to the Indians not to exceed fower thousand acres . . ." It was not to interfere with any former grant, and the Indians were not to convey it away, or any part of it, without the consent of the General Court. This grant was in view of Rev. Apostle Eliot's plan of establishing a " praying town here, alter the model of th.it at

Natick." The consummation of this enterprise was prevented by the breaking out of King Philip's War, and the removal from this vicinity of the Putikookuppogg Indians. No survey of the laying out of this grant has been found.

Judge Wait Winlhrop, who inherited this property from his father, died 1718, intestate. He left two children - John Winthrop, of New London, Conn., and Ann, the wife of Thomas Lechmere, of Boston.

The son's claim under English law, that the real estate was entirely his own, and the claim of Mr. Lechmere, in behalf of his wife, under the colonial law, occasioned a suit which coijtinued ten years or more, being finally decided according to the colonial law.

The settlement of Brimfield was " hindered by the extent and uncertain tenure" of the Winthrop farm, and the committee for laying out the town petitioned the General Court in 1723 for a reform of the survey. This petition was refu.sed. But it was renewed in 1727, accompanied by one bearirjg the same request from Mr. Lechmere. The result was a new survey, which was accomplished and accepted by the General Court December 18, 1728. It was in a square form, four miles each way, with the Connecticut line for the southern boundary. The farm formerly owned by Mr. Lyman Janes occupies the northeast corner; the road by the residence of Mr. John Hamilton is on the east line. The farm extends into Holland one and a half miles, the north line of that town being identical with that of the farm.

It is presumed that the position and " uncertain tenure" of the Winthrop farm may have postponed decisive action of the General Court upon "The petition of several of the inhabitants of Medfield and sundry others," ..." lor a Grant of the Province Land between Oxford, Brimfield and Brookfield."

The first petition of 1725 called out the action of the court, in so far as to order, June 2, 1725, the lands to be surveyed. The repirt, one year later, was made by John Chandler, Jr. The survey was made the 1 1th, 12th and 13th of May, 1726 - Wm. Ward, surveyor; Ebenezer Learned and Joseph Plimpton, chairmen. The report gives thirteen tliou-and seven hundred and thirty-two acres as the amount of province land, exclusive of the liirms which have been described. The subsequent re-location of the Wiuthrop farm diminished that amount to the extent of about three thousand acres.

The second petition, with twenty-seven names, came up June 13, 1728, and was ordered to be referred to the next lull session ; iii the mean time a committee was sent to view the land and estimate the value, who reported it to be worth o.ne thousand pounds.

September 3, 1729, William Ward, Esq., and Joshua Morse, by petition to the General Court iu behalf of themselves and associates, obtained the object of several years of persistent effort, - the grant for

A New Township. - The evidence does not appear that the one thousand pounds were exacted by the General Court, but the grantees were put under certain obligations in^tead. They were "obliged in seven years' time from this date to settle, and to have aciually on the spot fifty families, each of which to build a house of eighteen feet square at least, to break up and bring to fit for plowing and mowing, - and what is not fit for plowing, to be well-stocked with English grass - seven acres of land; to settle a learned orthodox minister and layout to him a houselot, equal to the other house-lots, which house-lot shall draw a fiftieth part of the province land now granted, and to be accounted as one of the fifty that shall be settled." Following were suitable regulations for managing the business of the association.

Proprietary History. - The following are names of the grantees in the order by them established. Most of those whose residence is not here given were of Medfield.

Twelve at least of these became inhabitants of the new plantation. Many others of the Medfield pro- ])rietors sent their children and grandchildren. So many came from that town, that after calling the

Several early settlers became proprietors by purchase. Ezekiel Upham bought of John Shearman ; David Shumway of Ebenezer Learned; Hinsdale Clark one of the shares of James Denison ; John Harding had one of the shares of his " father, Abraham ;" Edward Foster bought of Joseph Plimpton ; Moses Marcy becoming acting proprietor in November, 1735, by power of atturney from absent members. Abraham Harding, of Medfield, served as clerk for the proprietors for many years.

At the first meeting, Novembers, 1729, a committee of five, viz. : William Ward, Esq., Joshua Morse, Capt. Ebenezer Learned, Capt. John Dwight and Abraham Harding, were empowered to act in all the affairs of the proprietors for the year ensuing.

They were " directed to lay out one hundred lots in the best of our land, adding to the poorest lots a quantity of acres according lo the best of their judgment to make them as equal in value to ihe best as they can." " None of the one hundred lots to be less than fifty acres." " And then to couple two lots togethtr and make them as equal in value, each couple or pair as they can." This was accomplished, and the drawing was carried out "July y° 9th, 1730."

This first division comprised nearly all the proprietors' lands north of Quinebaug River ; also south of the river the west side of Shumway Hill, and several lots where now are situated Globe Village and the centre village of Southrbridge.

As early as June, 1780, the " Committee^of Affairs " received a letter from the heirs of Governor Salstonstal containing proposals for locating the meetinghouse on their land. In the following November, Jonas Houghton, of Lancaster, and Ebenezer Learned, of Oxford, in behalf of the proprietors, obtained a deed - free gift - of "... "six acres of land to set a meeting-house upon, out of a farm or tract of land containing two thousand acres, lately granted to the Hon. Gurdon Salstonstal, deceased, by the General Assembly of y'^ said Province, lying in Pine-land, near or upon where y° road wliich runs from Brookfield to Woodstock meets with the road now used from Brimfield to Oxford." Land was given for highways four rods in width through their lands where most convenient, east and west, north and south.

This deed contained no description of bounds, and the locaticm within certain limits was left to the proprietors. This was well; and the names of William Ward, Esq., of Southborough, Jonas Hougliton, of Lancaster, Joseph Plimpton, Joshua Morse and Abraham Harding (last three of Medfield), who located the meeting-house, the common, and planned the tys- tern of roads which diverge therefrom, should be held in remembrance. The suitable place was found about one-fourth of a mile southeast of where the road from Brookfleld united with the road, as then used, from Brimfield to Oxford.

The heirs of Governor Salstonstal were four daughters, viz.: Elizabeth, wife of Ricliard Christopher; Mary, wife of Jeremiah Miller; Sarah, wife of Samuel Davis (all of New London, Conn.); and Catherine, wife of William Brattle, of Cambridge. The farm was divided, and Mrs. Christopher and Mrs. Miller had the eastern half, one thousand acres, which they sold, in 1732, to William Ward, Esq., who had been for two years preceding chairman of the committee for forwarding the settlement. He built a saw-mill on Sugar or Hobb's Brook, and the large pine trees found standing near by, perhaps on what is now Sturbridge Common, were cut and siwed into lumber, which was used in building the meeting-house in 1733-34, The meeting-house was built by John Comins, Jr., of Oxford, after a plan of one at Grafton. The first meetinghouse stood upon the site now occupied by No. 1 School and public library building.

The money, five hundred and twenty-five pounds, received for the seven supernumerous shares sold was, by vote, donated to the purpose of building the meeting-house. Twenty pounds were raised in November, 1733, "for y° completing and finishing y" meeting-house at New Medfield (-lo-called)." In January, 1734, it was not finished, but meetings were held the latter part of that year. A Mr. Cowell was paid twenty-eight pounds, and eight pounds for board. Ninety-eight pounds were raised for preaching in 1735, and a like sum for 1736. It was an assessment of forty shillings to each share per year.

Thesettlers in New Medfield made choice, in March, 1736, of Rev. Caleb Rice, who was accordingly "called" to be their minister. Preliminaries being arranged, Mr. Rice accepted the call in August, was ordained September 29th, and installed pastor of a church formed at that time.

In the matter of roads and bridges nothing whatever was done during the eight years that the public charges were paid by the proprietors. The members of the association, who were settlers, were a minority. From time to time - nearly every meeting - articles were inserted in the warrants asking for action about roads and bridges. A piece of road was laid out by the proprietors in 1736, and nothing expended upon its construction. A committee was appointed in 1731 to select the most necessary and convenient place or places for a bridge or bridges over Quinebaug River.

There is no record of any report of that committee. At a meeting of the proprietors. May 31, 1738, it was "Voted: That Joshua Morse shall have £1 : 16:0, for a journey to New Medfield in y" year 1736, to a

This policy of the association occasioned much inconvenience and hardship to the settlers. The Old Springfield Road and the Brookfield and Woodstock were the only ways of ingress and egress, and, besides those, such paths as individuals made for themselves.

The time specified in the grant of the township expired in 1737. The court's requirement in every respect having been fulfilled, the "Committee of Affairs" elected November 9, 1737, were instructed, by vote, " to petition y' General Court at their next session, that the settlers or inhabitants of New Medfield (so called) be invested with such privileges as other towns in this province by law Injoy."

The response of the Legislature, in May, 1738, was an "Act of Incorporation," entitled "An Act for Erecting a New Town in the County of Worcester, at a Plantation called ' New Medfield,' by the Name of Sturbridge."

The settlement having arrived at the dignity of a municipality, with the same privileges and rights of other towns in the province, the proprietors had no longer any oflicial power in her affairs.

All the lands which had been received from the heirs of Hon. Gurdon Salstonstal, also the meetinghouse, were given to be the property of the town, " for the use and benefit of the town of Sturbridge forever." This was voted at a meeting of the proprietors, April 10, 1740.

Sturbridge. - When first incorporated, no portion of "The Country Gore" was included. This was a tract often thousand acres, in the form of a gore, left between Oxford and Leicester, when the latter town was set off, which extended westward to a line running through Walker and South Ponds, the wide end of the gore.

In answer to a petition of John Davis, Caleb Child and others of the inhabitants, in 1741, the General Court annexed about one-third of the tract to this town. "Brookfield 500 acres" was annexed to that town in 1717, as compensation for the same amount previously laid out to Col. John Pynchon, on Coy's Hill, and occasioned the peculiar form of the lines between said town and Sturbridge.

Including what was called "The Neck," lying between Oxford or Dudley and Woodstock, the southern bounds of the original town extended east as far as Southbridge now does on the Connecticut line.

Those settlers who were inhabitants of New Medfield (so called), fulfilling the " Court's requirements" before the incorporation of the town, also the homesteads which they originated, are the following:

Moses Allen (brother of the preceding), born 1708. He was a proprietor. He began on the next lot north of his brother, now Henry Weld's. He had no family here, and removed from the town after a few years.

Joseph Allen, with the preceding, were the three sons of widow Miriam (Wight) Allen, who came with them from Medfield. He was born 1702 ; married, first, Abigail Gold; second, Sarah Parker; began the homestead long known as the " Squire Jabez Harding place." He and his family left the town after a few ears.

Nehemiah Allen (Joseph, James) born 1699; married Mary Parker. He came from Sherborn and settled the site called the " Old Allen Place," north of the Baptist Church in Fiskdale. He was a proprietor.

Joseph Baker, from Dedham, probably (wife Keziah) ; was a grantee, and settled lot 47, his own right. The homestead is abandoned, and now included in the farm of Mr. C. G. Allen.

Joseph Cheney (Josiah, Joseph), from Medfield ; born 1709 ; married Margery Mason ; settled the | Cheney place on Shuraway Hill ; now abandoned.

Henry Fiske (Nathan, Nathan, Nathan), from Watertown ; born 1707 ; married Mary Stone; house Bite upon E. T. Brooks' farm on Fiske Hill. He was a grantee.

Daniel Fiske, brother of the preceding; born 1709; married, first, Dilliverance Brown; second, Jemima Shaw ; located next north of his brother.

Henry Hooker (Henry), from Medfield ; married, 1733, Mary Parker, of Needham ; first settler on the Brackett place ; site now owned by Mrs. F. W. Emmons.

Joseph Smith (Nathaniel, Samuel, Henry), born 1707 ; married Abiel Hamant. He was the first who stayed through a winterin this town, probably 1730-31. His location was between W. H. H. Ormsby's on the north and the George Plimpton place on the south.

Daniel Thurston (Daniel, Daniel, John), born Medfieid, 1702; was in Marlborough 1732, in New Medfield (Sturbridge) in 1737 ; wife Miriam - -.

From items of record, gathered here and there, the foregoing are known to have been here before the town was incorporated. They constituted the main portion of those who fulfilled the court's requirements.

There were a few more, probably, on the ground, whose names cannot now be given. The number of families were increased to over one hundred in about twenty years, and after that, by the formation of new families by the sons and daughters of the early settlers, the town continued rapidly to increase in population during the period previous to the Revolution.

Many new names appeared. As founders of wellknown families here, the following may be mentioned : John Weld, Nathaniel Walker and Jabez Nichols were brought into our limits by the annexation of over three thousand acres of the "Country Gore," in 1741 or '42. Rowland Clark, Benjamin Hyde, John Marsh, Benjamin Robbins, Jeremiah Streeter, Nathaniel Smith and Daniel Plimpton were here 1745. Ralph Wheelock,,. William McKinstry and Jabez Harding in 1755 ; Gershom Plimpton, 1759 ; James Plimpton, 1764. James Gibbs and the Howards settled in the lead-mine district before 1770. David Wight moved here in 1774.

The first meeting for the choice of officers for the organization of this town was held the 18th of September, 1738. The freeholders and other inhabitants qualified to vote in town affairs were assembled at the meeting-house, which was new and unpainted. The house was fifty feet long, forty wide, and twenty feet between sills and plates. It had three doors, east, west and south ; and galleries along the same three sides; the north side of the hall being occupied by the pulpit. The pews had not at this time been made. The house stood on a knoll, and all about the slopes and the small plain to the eastward were the slump?, half-trimmed logs, broken snags, bushes, and the usual appearances of a recent clearing ; beyond which was a small saw-mill on the brook, and two or three houses and some cleared land along the slope of the rising hill farther on. For two miles westward, and about one mile north and south, lay an unbroken forest - Salstonstal's Farm, held for rise in value. There were no highways. A path cut through the woods northward by where the cemetery now is to the "Old Springfield Road," and such ways as individuals made for themselves, was all that appeared.

Those who emerged from the woods and gathered at the meeting-house, upon the day above mentioned, were all young men, sanguine, full of the romance of life and the excitement and novelty of their position, They, upon that day, organized a municipal government, and began the following list of officers, reaching down to our time.

The names of moderators, town clerks, treasurers, selectmen and representatives will here be given. Other officers elected by the town have been : Assessors, constables and collectors of taxes, wardians - an office of ecclesiastical character, ranking in secular authority next after the minister. They were first elected in this town in 1762, and dropped after 1790. Two, sometimes three or four, were chosen each year. " Informers of the breaches of the lavy for the preservation of Deer," called later deer-reeves, were elected annually as late as 1825. Tythingmen were elected until 1840 or later, "Clerk of the Market," until 1775, after that called sealer of weights and measures. Haywards were elected at first, and the office was continued under the name of field-driver. Surveyors of highways, fence-viewers, hog-reeves, sealers of leather, surveyors of lumber, measurers of wood and bark.

It is designed in the following town officer lists that no individual should appear more than once under the same office, the name of each citizen being followed (1) by the first and last years of his election to that oftice; and (2) by the total number of times elected for annual terms of service during the intervening years. The first years after each name, reading downwards, show the order of elections in regular sequence.

In reference to Representatives previous to 1771, particular record has not been found. It is believed that Moses Marcy, Esq. (Capt., Col.), served in that capacity anterior to that time. The dates given in the following list are the years in which the election occurred :

Thirty-five years after the incorporation of this new town the central valley was still, for the most part, wild, unoccupied land. Five hundred acres adjoining Sturbridge Common on the northeast and northwest sides, extending to the brow of Fisk Hill on the one hand, and to the fair grounds on the other, and northward to the " Old Pauper farm " and Mrs. Hamant's, was owned by Dr. Francis Borland, of Boston, and so remained for fifteen years afterwards. West of that, and southward, was one thousand acres of unoccupied land owned by Mr. William Brattle, of Cambridge, which was purchased in 1774 by Mr. David Wight.

Good roads had been made each way through this central valley, and in all other parts of the town highways had been constructed, all tending toward the meeting-house, or the "great road." Large and productive farms had been wrought from the wild land, and more than a hundred homesteads, many of them commodious and substantial, had been built.

Two hundred times had sympathizing neighbors gathered at the house of mourning. The story of hardship and privation is told by the records of mortality among-women and children.

Of the seventy early settlers mentioned on a preceding page, ten only had passed away. These were : Adam Martin, Noah Mason, Solomon Rood, John Streeter, Rev. Caleb Rice, Deacon Isaac Newell, Nathaniel Bond, Samuel Freeman, George Watkins and Jonathan Mason. Most of the first settlers who, when young men, had organized the municipality, were still active in the affairs of the town.

Their early assumption of responsibilities without the presence and support of elder men, their practical and long experience in the affairs of social government, bred self-reliance and a positive and strong feeling repellant of all foreign intervention.

The spirit and the enlarged view taken here upon the affairs of the public in the time of the Revolution are abundantly shown by the following extracts from the records. At a meeting called by the selectmen "y* 27th day June, 1774, to consider of some measures proper to be adopted for the safety and defence of the Province in this distressed condition by reason of several late Acts of the British Parliament." After solemn prayer to God for direction, they proceeded after this manner, the selectmen to preside in the meeting - Deacon Daniel Fisk, speaker. " After considerable debate ..." it appeared to be the mind of the town, universally, " not to purchase anything which shall be imported from Great Britain after the time stipulated and agreed to." " After making some small alterations" in the Worcester and Berkshire covenants, both were at that time signed, " universally."

September 28, 1774, in accordance with an article in the warrant, the town chose " military officers for the companies, and for their movements," viz.: Daniel Plimpton was chosen major ; Timothy Parker, Timothy Newell and Ebenezer Crafts were chosen captains. The same day the town voted to provide four half-barrels of powder, five hundred pounds of lead and five hundred flints. Also a committee of seven, viz.: Ensign James Johnson, Captain Joseph Cheney, Lieutenant Henry Fiske, Mr. Hinsdale Clark, Captain Ezekiel Upham, Mr. Stephen Gerould and John Marsh, were appointed to make provision for the men in case they should be called into the service, and a vote was passed " by a great majority," to pay the men, if called, for the service rendered.

Voted, November 17, 1774, unanimously, " that the constibles of this town pay the Province tax to Henry Gardner, Esq., of Stowe ; and his receipt therefor shall ever hereafter opperate as an effectual discharge to them for the same."

The November meeting was adjourned " to Monday, December 1st, at ten o'clock A. M., with the request that all the men in town, from sixteen years old and upwards, then assemble at the meeting-house with arms and ammunition, in order for reviewing." The old men formed a company of " alarm men." The young men were organized in companies called " minute men." They were marshaled and marched into the meeting-house in military order. After ap-

Tlie alarm men, to the number of one hundred and three, some sixty and some over seventy years old, were, many of them, found to be deficient in equipments. The clerks of the other companies reported most of them present and generally equipped, or would be soon. Captain Crafts reported his company of cavalry well equipped and prepared. A few men belonging to the alarm list, who did not make their appearance at the review, were visited by a committee, who took their names and an exact account of their preparations. Report being made, the town voted: "It is the sense of this meeting that every man in town able to furnish himself with arms and ammunition do forthwith fix himself complete ; and be it further recommended in the strongest terms to all in town unprepared to defend our just rights and privileges, and all that is dear to us, in this time of great danger and distress, to exert themselves to the utmost to be prepared immediately."

A committee of one from each school district was appointed to obtain signatures to the " Articles of Association," and a pledge for the strict observance of the laws and resolves of Congress.

Agreeable to the advice of the General Congress, the town chose, January 20, 1775, the following Committee of Inspection : Deacon Daniel Fiske, Deacon Joshua Harding, William McKinstry, Major Daniel Plimpton, Aaron Allen, Benjamin Freeman and Deacon Moses Weld.

Deacon Daniel Fiske, Major Timothy Newell and Colonel Daniel Plimpton were appointed a committee to prepare instructions for Captain Timothy Parker, the delegate to the Provincial Congress, which were presented to the town and adopted May 29, 1775. The first article was:

"1st. Respecting civil government (in case the petition or address to his majesty should be rejected), we think it highly necessary to assume government by and with ihe advice of our sister colonies as soon as may be."

At a special town-meeting, June 27, 1776 (the selectmen presiding), " being duely warned to know the minds of the town respecting Independence, &c.; after the resolve of the late house being read, & some debate thereon: The question was put, whether, should the Honorable Congress, for the safety of the colonies, declare them Independent of the Kingdom of Great Britain, the inhabitants of this town will solemnly engage with their Lives & Fortunes to support them in the measure: - past in the affirmative by a great majority." '

For the year 1776 the Committee of Inspection and Safety was: Jlajor Timothy Newell, Captain Ralph Wheelock, Benjamin Freeman, John Salmon, Isaac Stacy, William McKinstry and NathanieVWalker.

the present House of Representatives, Council, &c., should form and ratify a plan of government as proposed in a late Hand Bill : & it passed in the negative without one dissentant."

A committee was chosen to "draw up some reasons for their so voting;" viz., Dea. Daniel Fiske, Dea. Moses Weld, Col. Daniel Plimpton, Mr. John Holbrook and Lieut. Henry Fiske.

At an adjourned meeting, the first Monday in November, the committee laid before the town their report, from which the following is quoted : " As the end of government is the happiness of the people, so the sole right and power of forming and establishing a plan thereof is in the people; consequently, we think it unadvisable and irrational to consent that any set of men should form and ratify a constitution of government for us, before we know what it is. . . ." " Also, we look upon the present House of Representatives to be a very unequal representation of the State." The reasons being repeatedly and distinctly read, were approved by a vote of the town.

Committee on Inspection and Safety (1777) : Major Timothy Newell, Col. Daniel Plimpton, William McKinstry, Capt. Abel Mason, Lieut. Benjamin Freeman, Lieut. John Salmon, Mr. Job Hamant.

" Whereas, the Continental Congress have formed and proposed to the Legislative Body of this State articles of Confederation and perpetual union between the States, therefore, voted : To instruct our representatives to use their influence that the confederation and perpetual union be ratified, & it past in the affirmative. January 26th, 1778."

The town had now taken its stand for independence and a " perpetual union between the United States." - a position which has, first and last, cost so much in the blood and treasure of her citizens.

Colonel Daniel Plimpton died in June, 1777, and Deacon Daniel Fi.ske in March, 1778 ; and with them passed away something, it may be, of the ""Spirit of '76," in this town. The enthusiasm and energy of Colonel Plimpton, the sterling character, superior education and easy command of language of Deacon Fiske, had done much to mold the sentiment and action of the town. Also died, October 9, 1777, "Moses Marcy, Esq.," who had in his day been one of the principal men of the town - to whom a generation of the inhabitants had looked for guidance, but of whom our records are silent after the opening of the Revolutionary struggle.

The town's financial efl^orts began 1775, April 27th, when the town, having ordered the constables having money in their hands, to pay it to Henry Gardner, Esq., of Stowe, appointed Deacon Daniel Fiske, Deacon Moses Weld and Major Daniel Plimpton a committee to see what money was in the hands of the constables and " to stir them up to their duty."

The town having voted in 1774 to pay the minutemen if called into service, a committee was chosen in January, 1777, consisting of Colonel Daniel Plimpton,

At a special town-meeting, October 14, 1776, the question was put : " Whether the town consent that Mr. Jonathan Gould, Ensign James Johnson, Mr. Job Haniant, Captain Ralph Wheelock, Captain Adam Martin and Captain Isaac Stacy, to " adjust or estimate the past services of Sturbridge soldiers in the present war, and to form some plan for the town to act or proceed."

The bounty was fixed at thirty pounds for each enlisted man for three years' service, and so remained through the years '77 and '78. In '79 one hundred pounds each was voted to nine months' men, forty pounds to be paid before they started. February, 1781, the town "voted to pay three hundred hard dollars to each man agreeing to serve three years," to pay one hundred at the time of marching, the remainder at the end of one and two years.

Clothing for the town's proportion of soldiers, in the army was obtained mainly by voluntary contribution. The receipts from that source being short of the requirements in 1778, April 14th, the selectmen were directed by vote of the town to purchase -shirts, shoes and stockings, which they did, and brought in their bill in May to the amount of £217 18s. 2d.

A large quantity of beef was furnished for the army, and when unable in 1780 to procure the amount called for (fifteen thousand nine hundred pounds), the town borrowed money and paid that instead to Colonel Davis' agent.

The foregoing is the list collected by George Davis, Esq., and is found in his historical sketch of this town. The following names have been found by the writer upon our town records, and State Archives :

We have here only the names of survivors, a few of whom moved into this town after the war. The Rev. Joseph S. Clark states, in his centennial address upon the history of this town, July 4, 1838, " that he had obtained the names of two hundred and thirty-nine men from this town that served in that war. Among this number was one colonel, one major, eight captains, eight lieutenants and two ensigns; besides, the Rev. Joshua Paine officiated two months as chaplain."

War of 1812-15. - At a town-meeting in 1812 November 2d, on the question, " To see if the town will grant any additional pay to soldiers doing duty in defense of our country :" " Voted to pass the article by," is the only record upon our town's books referring to that war. It proves that Sturbridge men were at that time "doing duty in defence of our country." Their names, for the most part, are unknown. In 1840 there is mention upon our records of Levi Simmons having served in the War of 1812. In an old account-book kept by a trader of that period, an article of charge against Charles Coburn is written across " Settled . by death in the Army." A trace of the foundation of a small house and a lilac bush mark the spot of Charles Coburn's humble home. He was a son of Edward Coburn,whose name is on the Revolutionary list.

Captain Benjamin Bullock, a sea captain, whoFe home was on the site now occupied by the residence of the writer, was captured by a British armed vessel in 1812, he being on the route home from the East Indies in command of a vessel in the merchant service. He was subsequently exchanged and immediately entered the service of the United States and returned his compliments with much vigor and success. He was wounded in an engagement with the enemy, from the effects of which he died soon after reaching home.

War of the Rebellion. - The efforts of the town to aid and encourage men to enlist is about all that is found upon the records having reference to the war. From time to time money was raised to carry out the intention of all the acts of the Legislature relative to aiding the families, or those dependent on the volunteers on duty; also for the support of the widows and children of those that died while in the service. A bounty of one hundred dollars was offered by the town in 1802, August 28th, to those who volunteered and were mustered under the " Order of the President for a draft of three hundred thousand men." A bounty of one hundred and twenty-five dollars for volunteers was offered in 1864, May 31st. The real war history of this town, as well as all over the land, was

On the occasion of choosing Presidential electors and State officers, November 8, 1864, there came into the town hail Dea. John Phillips, who was then one hundred and four years, four montbs and nine days old. He had been a soldier in the Revolutionary War, had served three terms as Representative in the State Legislature, and had frequently held other office in town affiiirs. He was a man of large frame, and a long, strong and intelligent physiognomy. A ticket of each of the great parties of that time was held in front of him, and he was asked to designate which he would deposit in the ballot-box. He said, in a voice audible throughout the hall, "I wish to vote for Abraham Lincoln." After that he requested that all the soldiers who had been in the service, who were present, should place themselves in a row in front of him, and then that each man be introduced. Thus comrades of the two great wars met and shook hands. He requested to be borne to his carriage by soldiers - his comrades - and the writer was one of the four selected to have that honor.

At the time the town preserved no list of Sturbridge soldiers in the war, and the one here presented is the result of much labor, yet may not be complete. They are as follows :

15«/i Infnutrif. - 'RmeTy F. Baily, William L. Blood, killed at Antietaiu, September 17, '62 ; Abrara Benjamin, William Carter, William H. Clark, died of wounds, October 1, '62, at Antietam. Md. ; Lucian G. Lamb, Alexander Oakee, Charles M. Plummer, Alfred L. Russell, killed Sept. 17, '62, at Antietam ; Charles E. Stoue.

nth Iii/antry. - John B. Blodget, died Feb. 25, '65, at Newbern, N. C. ; Henry Pepin, Albert Remington. Ezra Remington, Charles M. Wliittemore, died April 25, 'G5, at Raleigh, N. C. ; Simeon Young, his second enlistment.

2l8( /»/a»i(ri/. - George L. Bracket served three yeai-s, then re-enlisted ; George Burr, John Crosby, re-enlisted ; Curtis H. Dodge, Henry S. Edgerton, William H. Macomber, Ferdinand Rogers.

'2-2(1 Infanti-y. - James Brigham, died of wounds, May 15, '64, at Laurel Hill, Va. ; Jerome D. Childs, John B. Cooper, died July 18, '62, at Harrison's Landing, Va. ; Edmund Mason, Henry G. IHiller, John F. Moore, died of wounds, July - , '63 ; John Newton, Amasa Phetteplace, Isaac G. Plimpton, died of wounds, July 4, '6'2, at Malvern Hill, Va. ; John A. Plimpton, Nathan L. Stone, killed June 27, '6J, at Gaines' Mills, Va. ; Kausom W. Towne, Jefferson Wellington, David Wilson, Alvi R. Woodward, Simeon Young.

34th Iiifautry. - W'aido J. Allen, died Mar. 26, '65, at Sturbridge; George A. Blood, Michael Cleary, Asa F. Crosby, killed Sept. 19, '64, at Winchester, Va. ; Patrick Gavin, died Aug. 27, '64, at Amlersonville Prison-pen, Ga. ; John Hilton, James Hurst, William King.' William W. Lombard, John Martin, Darius Moon, James Moon, Simeon G. Newton, died Oct. 7, '6:j, at Webster, Mass. ; Richard Shannuck, died of wounds, Nov. 30, '64, at Middletown, Va. ; James Shepard.

5Gth Infantry. - Andrew H. Barrett, Charles H. Brown, killed May 31, 1864, Cold Harbor, Va. ; J. Arthur Johnson, second enlistment, died May l:i, 1865, at Spottsylvania, Va., and his name is given to Post No. 173, Department Massachusetts, G. A. R.; William D. Marsh, second enlistment, died July 14, 1864, at Sturbridge ; Homer Smith, second enlistment, killed May 24, 1^64, at North Anna River, Va.

Five of these men, of the Second Heavy Artillery, some way became credited to Charlton. It is but justice to say that they intended to serve for their native town of Sturbridge, where three of them still reside.

1st Cavalry. - Loren W.Johnson, Alphonso F. Childs, died Augnst 20, 1864, at Andersonville prison-pen, Ga.; William S. Fuller, died January 111, 1S63, at Annapolis, Md.; Amasa C. Morse, Ebenezer Smith and Farnum Soutliwick enlisted for Springfield.

Orsamus Kenfield ' (34tli Inf.), from Brimfield ; S. Dana Merrill' (23d Inf., Maine) ; William H. H. Ormsby' and Ezekiel M. Cooper' (l?th Inf.), from Brookfield ; Andrew B. Fletcher (36th Inf.), from Charlton ; Edward Hazzleburst' and Jeremiah J. Shepard,' from Rhode Island; Charles Vickers' and John Day,' from Connecticut; W. L. D. Lombard.'

W. E. Maynard, Maurice Cogan, Jerome Carlo, Joseph L. Ballon, Joseph Kenworthy, in Sturbridge; B. C. Bennett, N. Alexander, W. Lilly B. W. Charles, E. H. Davenpc-rt, E. W. Carder, A. N. Moulton and James Scarborough reside beyond the border of the town, in Brimfield and Hultand.

Religious Societies, Churches and Ministers. - A Congregational Church was organized in 1736, Wednesday, September 29th, consisting of fourteen male members, viz. : Rev. Caleb Rice, Henry Fiske, Ezekiel Upham, Joseph Baker, Joseph Cheney, Ebenezer Stearns, Joseph Allen, George Watkins, Solomon Rood, Daniel Fiske, Josiah Perry, Jonathan Fosket, Moses Allen, Daniel Thurston.

The same day Mr. Caleb Rice, a native of Hingham and a graduate of Harvard University, was ordained to the work of the ministry. As first pastor he became one of the associate proprietors, owning one-fiftieth part of the township. He died in 1759, September 2d, on a Sabbath day. Fifteen persons separated near the close of his ministry and established a Baptist Church. About one hundred members remained in his church.

Mr. Joshua Paine, a native of Pomfret, Conn., and a graduate of Yale College, was next called to minister to this church. He was ordained here in 1761, June 17th. To accommodate the multitude expected on this occasion a platform was erected on the Common at the foot of the hill, east of the present meeting-house, and the interesting cerfmony there performed where all could see. Rev. Joshua Paine died in 1799, December 28th, and the funeral took place the first day of the year and century of 1800. By precept and example he nobly sustained the people in thtir struggle for independence.

A new meeting-house was built in 1784, on a site about ten rods northeastward of the old house, but was not completed and dedicated until the autumn of 1787.

The successor of Mr. Paine was Mr. Otis Lane, of Rowley, a graduate of Harvard University. A colony of twenty were dismissed from this society in 1801 to form a church in the Poll parish, now Southbridge. Mr. Lane was dismissed in 1819, February 24th, and was succeeded by Rev. Alviu Bond, a native of Sutton, and a graduate of Brown University. He was ordained in 1819, November 30th, and served a twelve years' pastorate, during which Sabbath-schools and Bible-classes were established here, and one hundred and twenty-three members were added to the church ; also a temperance society was formed.

Rev. Joseph S. Claik, of Plymouth, a graduate of Amhferst College, was ordained pastor in 1831, and remained seven years. With his ministry commenced the voluntary method of supporting religious worship by subscription, in this town. During Mr. Clarke's pastorate 203 members were added by profession, and 56 by letter. The whole number of members was 335. In the same period this church and society contributed for objects of Christian charity $4,000, besides aiding several young men in preparing for the ministry. The interior of the meeting-house was remodeled in 1835, giving more seating capacity than the old-fashioned pews.

The following are the pastors since 1838 : 6. Rev. David R. Austin, 1839-51 ; 7. Rev. Hubbard Beebe, 1852-54; 8. Rev. Sumner G. Clapp, 1856-62; 9. Rev. Marshall B. Angier, 1863-67; 10. Rev. Martin L. Richardson began his labors herein 1867, October 20th, and, rounding out his twenty-one yeara' service, resigned in 1888, October 20th, much to the regret of his people.

Baptists. - In 1847 a new church was formed in Sturbridge, and Mr. John Blunt was ordained as its pastor. Henry Fiske and David Morse were the ruling elders - the only persons ever appointed to that office in this body. Two years later thirteen of their number were baptized by Rev. Ebenezer Moultnn, pastor of the Baptist Church at South Brimfield. Soon afterwards upwards of sixty were baptized, including their pastor, Mr. Blunt, and at that time this church is supposed to have fully conformed to the Baptist faith. Records of this society prior to 1780 are wanting. In 1784 a meeting-house was erected on the height of Fiske Hill, upon a piece of land given to the society for the purpose by Henry Fiske. This house and location was used for the meetings of the Baptist Society for nearly half a century.

Among the twelve who were added to the membership of the church in 1786 was John Phillips, who presided at a meeting in the Baptist meeting-house at Fiskdale, in 1860, June 29th, on the occasion of the celebration of his one hundredth birthday. He died in 1864, aged one hundred and four years.

The society built a new meeting-house, which was finished and dedicated in 1833, January 8th, on the site now occupied by No. 1 School-house.

After occupying that spot five years, this house was removed and located on ground given to the society for that purpose, by the Hon. Josiah J. Fiske, at Fiskdale.

A revival occurred in the early part of the ministry of the Rev. S. M. Reed, resulting in the addition of some thirty new members to the church, including two or three admitted by letter.

Persons named in the following list have served as deaci>ns of this Baptist Church: Daniel Fiske, John Newell, Jonathan Phillips, Henry Fiske, John Phillips, Jonathan Lyon, Moses Fiske, Priuce Bracket, Rufus F. Brooks, Edward Richardson, P. L. Goodell, Jonah Giflord, D. W. Harris, N. Underwood, E. T. Brooks, H. A. Chamberlain. Deacons Goodell and Chamberlain hold office at this time, 1888.

First Unitarian. - This society was organi«ed in 1864, June 3d. Theapplication to E. L. Bates, Esq. justice of the peace, requesting him to issue his warrant to call a meeting for the organization of a re. ligious society for the support of liberal preaching was signed by Eliakim Adams, Liberty Allen, Nathaniel Upham, Wm. H. Upham, Bowers S. Chace, Levins Hooker, E. W. Moffitt and Wm. H. Skerry. The society started with about forty male members. The next year, 186.5, the invitation of the National Convention of Unitarian Churches was accepted, and Emerson .Johnson and Bowers S. Chace were chosen delegates to attend the convention with the pastor. A tasty and comfortable house of worship was built in 1872, and dedicated December 11th. A parish committee is chosen annually, and the following persons have served in that office: Nathl. Upham, Chas. N. Allen, Eliakim Adams, Saml. M. Edgerton, Ethan Allen, Farnum Southwick, Bowers S. Chace, Wm. H. Skerry, A. C. Morse, H. W. Nichols, Henry Weld Edw. Nichols, Wm. H. Upham, Emery L. Bates' (Jhas. V. Corey, G. Norval Bacon, .Jonas Rice, Alvin B. Chamberlain.

Hectors. - Rev, Samuel Spear, 1870-72; Rev. Levi Boyer, 1873-76 ; Rev. De Estaing Jennings, 1877, and continued several years; then the services were dropped.

Catholic - The Fiskdale mission was instituted as early as 1872. The Irish and the Canadian-French have always had their separate meetings, and while a mission, they were attended by the priests of their respected nationalities, who had charge at Southbridge. Two very tasty and well constructed churches were erected in 1885, and in 1886, September 1st, the Fiskdale Mission was made a distinct parish. The Reverend Father Jules Gratton was placed in charge as priest. The census of the parish in 1886, was: Irish, 45 families and 175 souls; French, 110 families and 610 souls.

Educational. - Rev. Joseph S. Clark, in his centennial address of 1838, says: "The first step towards the advancement of common education in this place was the establishment of four schools at the average expense of £5 per school. The names of the four teachers who had the honor of laying the foundation of learning among us (peace to their venerated dmt I) were Margaret Manning, Mary Hoar, the wife of Jeremiah Streeter, and the wife of John Stacey, 1742.

Five school districts were formed in 1761, and referring to that, Mr. Clark says, such indeeil, is the present law of the Commonwealth, but the plan was devised and adopted by the citizens of this town long before our law-makers had suggested such a thought.

The School Committee of 1825, Rev. Z. L. Leonard, chairman, made a report of the schools - the first on record in this town. In that report it is found that " The whole number that have attended school the winter past is five hundred and sixty, of which a respectable number in each school have attended to the higher branches of study." There were twelve school districts. The age of attendance at common schools was at that time extended at option to twenty years, more or less.

From the 1888 printed reportof theSchool Committee of this town, we find that " the .school year of thirtythree weeks was divided into a spring, fall and winter term, of ten, eleven and twelve weeks, respectively."

Public Library. - In 1873 "The Quinebaug Library Association " gave their librnry of between four and five hundred volumes to the town, " on condition that the town appropriate not less than $100 annually for its increase and support and proper accommodation for the public." The town accepted the gift and the conditions, and the public library has been well cared for and increased to over 3000 volumes. It is located in the upper story of the Centre School-house build, ing. In the year ending March 1, 1888, the number of persons drawing books was 352. Total number of books drawn, 6041.

Industrial. - The first saw-mill in the town wsia built in 1732 by William Ward, Esq.,of Southborough, upon Hobb's Brook, not far above the crossing of the

Fiske Hill road. In 1795 the number of saw-mills upon the Quinebaug and tributaries had increased to fifteen. There were nine in 1837, and at the present time six. A large share of the sawing is now done by portable steam mills. Nehemiah Allen's corn-mill is mentioned upon our records iu 1769, and may have been in operation at an earlier date. It wa.s located near where the large dam owned by the Fiskdale Mills has been constructed. Moses Marcy's corn-mill, which accommodated the early settlers, was over the line in Oxford (Charlton after 1754). In 1795 there were four grist-mills in the town ; in 1737, three ; and at the present time, one - that owned by Mr. George Wight, which accommodates this and the borders of adjoining towns.

A tannery was established near the site of the first saw-mill by Mr. Samuel Hobbs, a native of Weston, and a member of " The Boston Tea Party," who came to this town about 1780. Samuel Hobbs & Sons, Josiah Hobbs, P. B. & J. B. Johnson, Southwick & Tyler, and Nelson Bennett have successively owned and operated the tannery. The business has been dropped in that locality and the buildings are taken away.

The "Old Tannery," at Fiskdale, was established not far from the year 1780 by Abuer Allen, who carried on the business about fifty years. Mr. Liberty Allen (living 1888), grandson of Abner, succeeded to the business in 1830, and has carried it on fifty-eight years. Henry Allen, father of Liberty, was a pumpmaker.

Carriage and Harness Shop at the Centre Village. - Mr. Henry Haynes, then called junior, started in the business here in March, 1834. Mr. Melvin Haynes, a brother, was admitted a partner in 1844. H. & M, Haynes continued until 1861, when Melvin sold his interest to his nephews, Henry D. and John P., and the firm took the name of H. Haynes & Sons. John P. sold his interest in 1865, and the final letter s was taken off the firm-name. The number of hands employed has varied from one, at first, to fifteen or six. teen at the highest. Since carriage-making, in later years, has gone into larger concerns, H. Haynes & Son have reduced their force, and confine their attention to orders and repairing. The senior member of the firm, who is still active, has been in the business fifty-four years.

Boot and Shoe Business at the Centre. - Elisha Southwick, having obtained permission, and a lease of the ground from the town, built a shoe-shop on the Common in 1850, and went into business. In 1859 he leased to Henry Merrick and Charles N. Allen, but soon afterwards bought in, and when Mr. Merrick and Mr. Allen left the firm, continued the business alone until he gave it up to his son-in-law, Mr. A. C. Morse, about 1868. Mr. Hiram Carter bought an interest in 1869, and the firm of Morse & Carter did a business of about $120,000 a year. Mr. Carter withdrew, and Mr. Morse went on alone until the business was closed, about 1877.

Mr, Charles N. Allen, after leaving the firm of Southwick & Allen, did a large business on the opposite side of the Common. He operated for the greater part of the time between 1865 and 1875, usually doing a business of $100,000 a year.

At Fiskdale. - Mr. Emery L. Bates, in connection with Mr. Judson Smith, began in the boot and shoe business about 1846. The firm of Sessions Bates & Co. was formed about 1850, and did a business which, at the maximum, amounted to over $300,000 a year. The firm dissolved before the war, and Mr. Bates continued the business here. His trade was largely Southern, and the cloud of the Rebellion covered about $80,000 of his as^sets, of which he finally realized only about $10,000. Mr. Bates then discontinued the manufacture of boots and shoes, and organized the Snell Manufacturing Company, as described in another place.

The Ladd's Shop Privilege. - Mr. David K. Porter, iu the spring of 183(!, built a dam across the ancient " Sugar Brook," exactly where the " Old Springfield Road," which was opeued in 1635-38, had passed, and flowed what was known to the wayfarer along this route, before the settlement of the town, as " Knotch Meadow." A very durable and valuable water-power was obtained, it being situated upon the outlet of Walker Pond, which is improved as a reservoir. Gibbs, Tiflany & Company, composed of Enoch K. Gibbs, Brigham Gibbs, Lucian Tiflany and Dr. John Seabury, began the manufacture of pistols here as the first enterprise. Town & Chafl'ee, from Rhode Island, began to make augers and bits here iu 1841, the first made in this town. Mr. Sumner Packard began to make awls and general shoe-kit tools in 1846, and was succeeded in 1855 by Mr. Charles Varney, who commenced to make cutters and dies in 1857. He sold to F. W. & H. Slayton in 1863, who transferred a third interest to Mr. Noah D. Ladd in 1804, and the whole property to Ladd & Wight the next year. In 1867 Mr. Daniel R. Wight went out, and Mr. Ladd, taking his son Henry J. into the business, has continued under the firm-name of N. D. Ladd & Son. The shop was burned in June, 1878, and they had it rebuilt and running in sixty-one days after the fire. They manufactured shoe-knives, awl-hafts and a variety of small tools until about 1875; since that time they have given their attention principally to cutters and dies for cutting cloth, paper, rubber, veneering, leather, etc.

At Westville there is to be seen the ruined foundation of an old mill ; also a canal and a broken-down dam. This is the site of the first cotton -factory in the town - including Southbridge. It was built by the Sturbridge Manufacturing Company in 1812. This asaociation was incorporated the 5th of December, 1811, with the following names: Kev. Zenas L. Leonard, Stephen Newell, Lieut. John Plimpton, Moses Fiske, Jephthah Plimpton, Ziba Plimpton, Moses Newell, Eleazer Rider, Comfort Freeman, Nathaniel Eider, Franklin Rider.

The factory building was thirty feet by forty-five, and three stories in height, with preparations for manufacturing cotton yarn. The mill began to run for the company in the fall of 1812, and continued to run with profit until the close of the war, when British manufactures were introduced below the cost of any similar production in these States. Southbridge was set oft' in 1816, and although the factory building was on the Sturbridge side of the river, it was subsequently owned and occupied by Southbridge parties. The mill was unoccupied a number of years ; then it was struck by lightning and burned about 1882.

Charles Hyde's Box-Shop is on the Quinebaug, about half a mile above the ruins of the old factory. This mill site was first utilized for a saw-mill owned by Dea. Edward Foster at an early period, and came into the possession of Mr. James Plimpton about 1770, who had a saw-mill and a grist-mill there. The place was called "Plimpton's Mills" for a period of fifty years or more. Stephen Bracket had a cottonbatting mill there; then it was "Bracket's Mills." Pails were made there a few years. Sawing of lumber, planing and matching, and the making of packing-boxes is the business now carried on there.

Wight's Mills. - Above the box-shop the Quinebaug may be followed nearly two miles in its winding, quiet course, before another mill-site is found ; and that was originally found by the boys who followed the path the cows made going down through the bushes to drink. The river ran into a pocket surrounded by sand-hills, and had to go back and flow quietly out at the door. David Wight, Jr., built a dam across the door, or place of outflow, dug through the sandbank and made a canal to conduct the water away down through the meadow to the river again, and thus obtained a very valuable water-power, which has been used by three generations of his descendants. A grist-mill, saw-mill, planing and matching is the business now carried on there.

Snell Manufacturing Company's Works. - In 1798-99, Mr. Alpheus Wiglit excavated a canal about half a mile in length, conducting the water from the Quinebaug, where a dara was constructed, to a convenient locality near "the great road," and established a water-power tliere, which has been of great public, as well as private utility. In his day it was utilized for a saw-mill, a grist-mill and a fulling-mill.

The manufacture of augers and bits was commenced at Wight Village, in the old fulling-mill building, as early as 1845, by Towne, Snell & Co. The following year Lauriston Towne went out, and the firm-name became Smith, Snell & Co., until 1850, when Lucius Snell bought out Judson Smith. The firm was then composed of Mr. Melville Snell, and two of his nephews, Thomas O. Snell and Lucius, and took the name of Snell & Bros. The old mill was burned in 1852, after which the firm bought the privilege and built the first stone mill, one hundred feet by thirtytwo, and two stories in height. Then Dea. Thomas Snell, the father of Thomas O. and Lucius, sold his shop in Ware and removed his business to Sturbridge, went into partnership with his brother and two sons, and the firm-name was changed to Snell Bros. They built two stone mills in 1853, one thirty-six by fortysix, and the other one hundred by forty-five feet ; the latter three stories in height. About seventy-five workmen were employed in 185-1.

Deacon Thomas Snell was the son of Thomas Snell, of Ware, who originated the Snell auger and bit, the first of the kind made in this country. Thus, the hereditary skill and long-established business (from 1790) being transferred to this locality, when Mr. Emery L. Bates, of this town, formed a copartnership with Messrs. Clarke & Wilson, an old hardware firm in New York, and purchased the entire business in 1862, they very appropriately took the firm name of The Snell Manufacturing Company. Mr. Bates has been the business manager to the present time. In 1883 they-added the business of making ship-augers, of which there is but one other manufactory in this country ; and with improved machinery and skilled mechanics are said to make the finest goods in the world.

It is now a corporation with a capital of sixty thousand dollars and employing about one hundred and thirty workmen, manufacturing auger-bits and carbits, millwright and nut augers, boring machines and boring machine augers, ship-builders' augers and the various kinds of augers and bits used for power machines, producing about one hundred and fifty thousand annually.

FiSKDALE AND FiSKDALE MiLLS. - Nchemiah Allen, who was one of the proprietors and drew lands in various parts of the town, bought of Moses Allen, who had bought of Shubael Goram, original proprietor, the " Dimick Farm " and " lot No. 25, west," adjoining it on the north, now known as the "old' Benson place," and also lot No. 37, now owned by Mr. Liberty Allen, the Fiskdale Mills (Taylor Place) and others, which bounded said " Farm " on the west. The south line of Demick's was identical with the north bounds of Mr. C. G. Allen's farm, and the eastward the same as the west line of J. D. Underwood's and D. W. Wight's pasture-lands on the hill, and continued the same course after crossing the river, northeastward to the lot 25 west above mentioned. The line last described was between the Salstonstal and Demick " Farms."

upon the homestead, " Captain Jacob " had the south part of the lot No. 37, and the grist-mill, and originated the liomestead called the Taylor Place. Abner had the north end of 37, and built the house now the residence of his grandson. Liberty AUe'n; also originated the tanning business there.

In the third generation Moses Allen succeeded his father, John Allen, on the origin.al homestead, having for a farm that part of Demick's north of the river. Dr. Abraham Allen had the real estate of his father. Captain Jacob, and Henry succeeded Abner.

These men of the third generation had become old, their family had had peaceable possession and quiet for over ninety years, when two brothers, Henry and Josiah J. Fiske, sons of David, of Fiske Hill, and grandsons of Henry (see grantees), bought Moses Allen's farm, erected the first factory and laid the foundation of the village that bears their name. Moses Allen's farm was deeded to Henry and Josiah J. Fiske in 1826. Hon. Josiah J. Fiske was a lawyer residing in Wrentham, but was largely interested in the Quinebaug Company, the iirst company formed for operating at this point on the Quinebaug River. Henry Fiske became resident proprietor here and erected the first brick mill and a suitable number of tenement houses in 1827-28, and to him is due the credit of performing the pioneer work of founding this village. The dimensions of this first cotton-mill were eighty-four feet by forty, and five stories high. It was put in operation in May, 1829, under the superintendence of Mr. Harvey Hartshcrne, of Wrentham. The Quinebaug Company constructed the upper dam in a thorough manner and began the erection of the ''stone mill " in 1S.34. Henry Fiske retired from the concern, and the old Quinebaug Company was merged in the Sturbridge Cotton-Mills, which was incorporated in 1835 with a capital of one hundred thousand dollars. It v.'as through the efforts, the energy and perseverance of Hon. Josiah J. Fiske that the Sturbridge Cotton-Mills Company was formed and the construction of these mills carried to completion. After the retirement of his brother, he gave more of his personal attention to affairs here, residing here more or less, and died at Fiskdale in 1838. These first mills had ten thousand spindles and two hundred looms. Mr. Simeon A. Drake was the agent from 1832 to 1854, followed by Mr. Wm. B. Whiting.

In 1859 Mr. James C. Fisk, of Cambridge, was chosen treasurer, and assumed charge of these mills, with Mr. Bowers S. Chace as agent. Mr. Fisk held the office of treasurer until his death, in 1885. The corporate name of the Sturbridge Cotton-Mills was chanyed by an act of the Legislature in 1869 to Fiskdale Mills; and an increase of capital stock to five hundred thousand dollars was authorized.

When the property first came under the management of Mr. James C. Fisk the buildings were in a dilapidated condition, tilled with old and worn-out machinery. The corporation houses were in equally as bad shape, and the general appearance of the mills and village was that of a run-down and worn-out concern.

Mr. Fisk tore down the old mills and built new ones ; put in new machinery, remodeled the houses, - and to-day the village of Fiskdale stands as a monument to the energy and success of this man who has made it as pretty, healthy and successful a factory village as can be found ; with its large and well-built mills, comfortable and neat houses, well-kept yards, and large farms, keeping some forty head of stock and twelve horses, it can well be called a model village.

The Fiskdale Mills property consists in part of two mills, the machinery of which is operated by one Hercules wheel of -100 horse-power, and one of 250 horsepower. These mills run 34,000 spindles, and 800 looms ; using some 6000 pounds of cotton daily ; producing some ten and a quarter million yards of 64x64 standard print cloths in a year.

Mr. James L. Fi.sk, son of the late Mr. James C. Fisk, is now (1888) president of the company; Mr. C. Curry, the treasurer, and Mr. O. B. Truesdell the agent.

Agricultttee. - As early as the beginning of the century the " Massachusetts Society for Promoting Agriculture," sent to all parts of the State a series of questions relative to the then existing condition of agriculture. In the report of the Massachusetts Society mention is made that replies had been received from "Sturbridge, where there is a Sucieli/." Aulograph rejdies, written in the blank spaces between the printed questions, are under the name of Erasmus Babbitt, and the pamphlet bears the date of 1800. Mr. Babbitt reports a medium-sized farm in Sturbridge to be "130 acres, divided: one-third pasture - one-fifth mowing - one-fifteenth tillage - ^onethirtieth orchard and one-third woodland; the orchards are generally increasing and yield a competent supply of cider." That "this farm will keep 15 head of n cat cattle, 2 horses, and 15 sheep." "All the coarse fodder and meadow hay is fed to tlie cattle in the yards." "Provender is little used except for horses that work hard, or creatures fatting." On this medium farm "about 7 acres are planted or sown to grain." "Average crop of corn is 25 to 30 bushels to the acre;" potatoes, "130 to 150 bushels to the acre" - "12 or 15 bushels for seed," and "the largest are thought to be best." "About J of an acre of potatoes is planted on a medium farm." We have the rose-back species of swine of the largest kind - killed twenty months old, weigh two hundred and forty pounds. The product of a cow, all the cream being churned, is seventy pounds of butter, and about as many pounds of skimcheese can be made from the same cow.

The foregoing presents the main points of the replies to the questions of the Massachusetts Society, of Erasmus Babbitt, Esq., a lawyer then residing in this town and probably an officer of that early Agri-

The present agricultural condition of the town may be indicated by the following extracts from the census of Massachusetts, report of 1885: - Amount of land, cultivated, uncultivated and woodland, 19,111 acres; cultivated land, 16 per cent.; uncultivated, 40 per cent. ; woodland, 44 per cent. Number of farms, 145 ; average size, 131 acres; number of farms reported over one acre and under two, 1 ; over three and under four, 4; over five and under ten, 8 ; over ten and under fifteen, 5; over fifteen and under twenty, 5; over twenty and under thirty, 9; over thirty and under forty, 8; over forty and under fifty, 6; over fifty and under sixty, 7; over sixty and under seventy, 4; over seventy and under eighty, 6; over eighty and under ninety, 8; over ninety and under one hundred, 19; over one hundred and under one hundred and fifty, 29; over one hundred and fifty and under two hundred, 13; over two hundred and under three hundred, 8; over three hundred and under four hundred, 4; over eight hundred and under nine hundred, 1. Aggregate value of these 145 farms: - Land, §262,930; buildings, $219,103; machines, implements, etc., $19,- 521; domestic animals, etc., $50,781; fruit trees and vines, $11,377. The total yearly product from these farms amounts to $125,152. Farms owned, 123; hired, 13; on shares, 5; not given, 4 - total, 145. Number of persons owning or having charge of farms : - Males, 159; females, 8; farm laborers, 86.

Formation of the Second Agricultural Societij of Sturbridge. - An informal meeting of citizens was held at the house of Mr. J. N. Chamberlain, October 31, 1843> and Maj. S. A. Drake was called to the cliair. It was voted to hold an exhibition, November 8th, on the Common. Three were appointed to "extend and give notice over the town in general." The exhibition was lield as appointed, and at an adjourned meeting, November 15th, a committee was chosen to draft a constitution and by-laws. At anotlier adjourned meeting, November i^7th, a constitution containing eight articles was adopted, and tlie following list of officers chosen, viz.: - President, S. A.Drake; Vice-President, Caleb Weld, Jr.; Secretary, Benj. D. Hyde; Corresponding Secretary, A. M. Merrick; Treasurer, Benj. Bullock; Directors, Thos. Merrick, John Boyden, David Wight, A. P. Taylor, Peter Belknap, Geo. V. Corey, Simeon Hooker, Samuel Hobbs, S. F. Marsh.

Out of this was evolved the Worcester South Agricultural Society, incorporated in 1854, "for the encouragement of agriculture and the mechanic arts by premiums and other means in the town of Sturbridge, in the county of Worcester." The fine park of this society, containing the buildings and conveniences for a first-class fair, the whole plant being valued at upwards of $16,000, is situated near the centre of this town.

Chapter Xvii

TeMPLETON is in the extreme northerly portion of Worcester County, in the middle of the second tier of towns from the New Hampshire line. Royalston lies next it on the nortliHcst, and Winchendon on the northea^t. Gardner, whose territory was taken partly from this town, lies on the eastern side. Hubbardston lies to the southwest, separated from it by a straight boundary line. Phillipston, originally a part of this town, extends completely along the western side. The extreme length of the town is about eight miles. It varies in breadth from about three miles in the northerly portion to five miles in the middle and southerly portions. It contains from nineteen to twenty thousand acres of surface. The town lies filteen miles west of Fitchburg, twenty-six miles northwesterly from Worcester and sixty-five miles from Boston. It is in latitude 42' 32' north and longitude 72° 5' west from London.

Templeton is situated on a high elevation. The village at the centre of the town is not less than twelve hundred feet above the level of the sea. Some hills rise even higher than that. There is an elevated plateau reaching from Wachusett Mountain, in the central part of Worcester County, to Monadnock, in Southern New Hampshire. This town lies on the western edge of this plateau, where it begins to slope toward the Connecticut River, as the eastern side of the plateau slopes toward the Merrimac. There are no mountainous elevations in the town, although the whole surface is hilly. The hills are rounded masses, usually fertile to the summit. The crests of some of these hills and ridges command extensive views of the surrounding country, as from Dolbear Hill, near the village at the centre of the town. Mine Hill, in the eastern part of the town, and from the high ridges of laud in the southern and also in the northwestern parts of the town. It is a notal.ile feature of this portion of Worcester County that it lies in long ridges or swells of land extending in a northerly and southerly line, with corresponding valleys between. Roads running north and south find locations quite nearly level ; but running east and west it is one continuous couree of up hill and down. The Ware River Railroad finds ea.sy grades through one of these valleys. The situation of this town, just on the western edge of the plateau, brings it just barely within the Connecticut River basin, into which river all of its surplus waters flow. The towns lying next easterly of this, send a portion of their waters into the Merrimac. The largest stream of water in town is Otter River. This stream has its sources in Hubbardston and Gardner, flows through the southeasterly portion of this town, and the southwesterly part of Gardner, forms the boundary line between the two towns for some distance, then flows in a northwesterly direction through the northerly part of the town, yielding an abundant water-power at the villages of Otter River and Baldwinville. Just outside of this town it unites with Miller's River, a tributary of the Connecticut. Otter River has several tributaries in this town. Mill Brook, with several reservoirs for the storage of water, furnishes several water privileges at P^irtridgeville and East Templeton. Trout Brook, with several mill privileges, flows in a direct northerly course through one of the valleys and falls into Otter River a little below Baldwinville. Beaver Brook flows in a northerly course through another of the valleys in the extreme westerly part of the town, falling into Miller's River near South Royalston. There were formerly two saw-mills on this brook. There are several small tributaries of Otter River, some of which have in the past furnished mill-sites. The Burnshirt River drains the southwesterly part of the town and furnishes several mill privileges. This stream falls into Ware River, and thence by way of the Chicopee River reaches the Connecticut. On these various streams there are not less than thirty-five mill-sites, the water-power of which has at some time been turned to practical use. But some of them have in later times been given up.

Several neighboring towns, whose situation is much like our own, have their surface dotted with natural ponds, forming an attractive feature in the landscape. The artificial pond is suggestive only of utility ; the natural pond seems to be almost wholly for the gratification of the eye. This town has only two natural ponds, and both are of small size. Snake Pond is in the extreme easterly part of the town, lying partly in Gardner ; Cook Pond is in the southerly part of the town, small in area, and with no attractive features. The artificial ponds, for the mill privileges and reservoirs, are numerous and scattered over the town.

The soil of this town is not sterile; neither can it be called fertile. It yields fair crops when replenished by fertilizing material and stimulated to activity by the energetic hand of the owner. But the land is not easy of cultivation, and we cannot compete with Western States in the production of oats and corn. The usual agricultural products are raised here in moderate quantities. Gra»s is, perhaps, the most important product. The fruits are not produced in abundance here. The peach does not thrive. The season is hardly long enough for the grape. Apples are produced in moderate quantities, but not nearly enough for the home supply. The white pine is the most abundant of the forest trees. Spruce and hemlock are common, and also maple, birch and beech. The oak and the ash are not so often found, and chestnut trees have become quite rare. The American larch, sometimes known as tamarack, and the hard pine grow in some localities. The black cherry, leverwood, hornbeam, poplar, basswood and balsam are found in small quantities. The elm is rarely found, except where it has been set out as a shade-tree. The poison dogwood is found in some of our forests, and the usual wild shrubs grow in abundance - the laurel, common alder, black alder, withewood, sumac and hazel. Doubtless the town at its first settlement was densely wooded. We read from time to time in the Proprietors' Records of their sending persons " to burn the woods." An important product in the early times was the potash obtained from the ashes of the burned trees.

The valuation of the property in the town in the year 1800 was less than one hundred and fifty thousand dollars ; in 1840 it was somewhat less than six hundred thousand dollars; in 1887 it was a little over one million dollars. According to the assessor's lists for the year 1887, there were in the town 592 dwelling-houses, 429 horses and 4.50 cows. The number of polls taxed was 788 ; the number of legal voters in 1888 was 569.

Templeton has its population gathered chiefly in the four principal villages. Each of these villages has a post-office and a hotel ; each has one or more churches and stores ; each has a public hall ; and, beginning with the year 1887, each, with a portion of the contiguous territory, constitutes a voting precinct for the purposes of the State election. The Centre village is at the summit of one of the high ridges of land of which this region is made up. Here the first houses were built ; here was the meeting-house of the olden time ; here was the public Common, serving as a military training field and muster-ground. The militia of this and the neighboring towns gathered here for the autumnal muster. On the west side of the common is the town hall. Near by is the Unitarian Church and chapel. On the east is the brick building of the Boynton Public Library. Next is the Trinitarian Church edifice. Opposite is the location of the summer school of Mr. Charles W. Stone, of Boston. At the south end of the Common Mr. Percival Blodgett keeps, in more than the usual quantity and variety, the miscellaneous assortment of dry goods and groceries usual in a country store. Mr. J. O. Winch deals in boots and shoes. For several years the hotel, now burned, was kept by Mr. Charles E. Ellis. Miss Delia Damon manages the affairs of the post-office. Westerly of the village is the station of the Ware River Railroad. Near it is an establishment for painting and finishing furniture, carried on by Messrs. Kilner & Bourn. On Trout Brook, near by, Messrs. Bourn, Hadley & Co. are extensively engaged in the manufacture of pine and ash furniture.

Two miles easterly of Templeton Centre, and well toward the borders of the town, is the village of East Templeton. The Methodist Church has its location here. And here also is Memorial Hall , on whose walls are two marble tablets bearing the names of those soldiers who lost their lives in the Civil War. Ericsson Post, No. 109, of the Grand Army of the Republic, has its place of meeting in this building. There is a co-operative store in its lower story. Mr. F. L. Sargeant is the postmaster of the village, and has a grocery store. Mr. Henry J. Wright keeps a hotel and livery stable, and has a miscellaneous business besides. Mill Brook runs directly through this village and furnishes abundant water-power. Three shops on the upper part of this stream have been burned within a few years. A little fariher down the stream is the factory of Mr. Chester N. Johnson, who makes children's carts and wagons in large variety and quantity. The next factory is that of the sons of T. T. Greenwood, who are largely engaged in the manufacture of furniture. They have a furniture store at Gardner. Chairs are manufactured at the lowest mill on the stream by the East Templeton Co-operative Chair Company, a prosperous organization of several mechanics of the village, which has carried on business here for several years.

The village of Otter River is in the northeasterly part of the town, about three miles from the Centre village. It has a station on the Fitchburg Railroad. There is a public hall in connection with the schoolhouse. St. Martin's Church, Catholic, is in this village. Frederick Warner is the postmaster and keeps a store. Francis Lelaud has built a large brick store on the site of the former hotel, and keeps groceries, dry goods and miscellaneous articles in great variety. Otter River furnishes water-power, on which are three factories, two of which are owned by the Hon. Rufus S. Frost, of Chelsea, Mass., and are occupied with spinning for his other factories «(lsewhere ; the third has always been a woolen-factory. Messrs. Lord, Stone & Co. make a great many stoves, and send out agents to sell them in various parts of New England. There are two brick-yards at this part of the town. One has been .somewhat recently established. The other was for many years carried on by Mr. Horatio N. Dyer, and more recently by his son, Charles C. Dyer. The annual product at this yard has recently been one and a half million of bricks.

Baldwinville is in the northerly part of the town, well toward the Winchendon line and about four miles from the Centre village. It has excellent railroad facilities, being situated at the junction of the Ware River Railroad with the Fitchburg. The Baptist Church and the Goodell Memorial Church are both in this village. There is also a public hall, named Union Hall. George E. Bryant is postmaster of the village. For several years Mr. George Partridge has been the proprietor of the hotel. The Templeton Savings Bank has its place of business in this village. Mr. Louis Leland has kept a store at the " Lee" stand in this village since 1870, keeping a supply of dry goods, groceries and miscellaneous articles. In the Cady & Brooks block, near the railroad bridge, Mr. C. S. Dickin.son keeps drugs and medicines and a slock of furnishing goods in one store, and Messrs. C. S. Dickinson & Co. keep groceries in an adjoining store, in one portion of which is the post-office. Supplies of coal are furnished by Messrs. Evans & Bowker. Otter River Hows directly through the village and furnishes a liberal supply of water-power, which is industriously used. The shop at the uppermost privilege is owned and occupied by Messrs. Smith, Day & Co., in the manufacture of chairs. A portion of the water-power here is used to turn the machinery of the paper-mill, where sheathing, roofing and fire-proof paper is manufactured by Mr. H. M. Small, formerly Small, Gould & Co. Mr. George A. Brooks is a contractor and builder, as well as a dealer in lumber. Following down the river, we come to what was formerly known as the " Red Mill." Here the Waite Chair Company manufecture children's chairs in a variety of patterns and with various ingenious devices for changing their form and rolling them about. At the "Lower mill " chairs of various patterns are manufactured by Messrs. D. L. Thompson & Son. On the north side of the river Messrs. Baker & Wilson manufacture children's wagons and carts at the lower shop, and carry on an extensive business of grinding and selling corn at the upper shop, formerly known as the "Hat-shop." There is a machine-shop near the railroad bridge in which William E. Nichols manufactures band-saw machines and chair machinery of various kinds and does other machinist's work. Messrs. Holman & Harris have built a new shop in the northerly part of the village, close by the railroad. They use steampower only, and make large quantities of pails, buckets and other wooden-ware. This account of the business of the village would not be complete without mentioning an enterprise in which Mr. Frank L. Hosmer and Mr. E. W. Lund are separately engaged. Each has a green-house, heated by steam, in which cucumbers are raised during the winter, and are ready in the very early spring for the New York and Boston markets, to which they are daily sent.

The lands lying in this region were regarded as the property of the Province of Massachusetts. They were granted to persons with a view to the promotion of the settlement of the country rather than as a means of increasing the revenues of the Province. There were many persons in the towns of the eastern part of the Province who had rendered military service in the war against the Narragansett Indians, which terminated in 1675, ending with the destruction of the Indian tribes. Promises had been made to the soldiers in these wars that they should receive gratuities in land in addition to their wages ; but for fifty years these promises had remained unfulfilled. The soldiers who survived and the heirs of others urged their claims and finally, June 15, 1728, the General Court recognized their claims by granting to them two townships, each six miles square. A convention of those who brought forward their claims met at Cambridge in 1730. At that meeting the number of those who presented claims was much greater than had been expected. Thomas Tileston, Esq., and others were appointed a committee to request the General Court to grant more townships. This petition was acted upon favorably by the House of Representatives, which voted that each one hundred and twenty persons whose claims shall be allowed by this court may be allowed a township of six miles square. The concurrence of the Governor and Executive Council was necessary to give validity to the grant. The House of Representatives sent to the Council a message setting forth earnestly and eloquently the valor and merit of the soldiers engaged in the Narragansett exjiediiion and calling the attention of the Council to the fact that a " proclamation was made to the army, in the name of the government, when they were mustertd on Dedham Plain, where they began their march, that if they played the man, took the fort and drove the enemy out of the Narragansett country, they should have a gratuity in land beside their wages." Additional lists of claimants were afterwards brought in, making the full number of officers and soldiers whose claims were allowed eight hundred and forty persons. A committee was appointed to lay out five more tracts of land in some of the unappropriated lands of the Province, in accordance with the order of the General Court. The grantees were also ordered to meet within six months to make choice of committees to regulate each propriety or township which was to be held and enjoyed by each one hundred and twenty grantees in equal proportion. The grantees of each township were to pass such rules and orders as to oblige them to settle sixty families, with a learned minister, within the space of seven years from the date of the grant. The grantees chose such committees June 6, 1733.

The Proprietors of the Township. - Each of the townships granted by the General Court to soldiers of the Narragansett Indian War seems to have borne the name Narragansett, with a number attached to distinguish the one from the other. Some of these townships seem to have been in New Hampshire. The neighboring town of Westminster was Narragansett Number 2. Templeton was, until the time of its incorporation, known as Narragansett Number 6. The proprietors of this township seem first to have drawn a township somewhere in New Hampshire, as at their first meeting they voted to accept of the township " on the back of Rutland, in lieu of the township assigned us, west of Ponocook and Suncook."

The first meeting of the proprietors of the township Narragansett Number G, was on October 19, 1733, at the tavern of Jonathan Ball, in Concord, Mass. They chose Samuel Chandler, Jonas Houghton and John Longley as a committee to lay out a township " on the back of Rutland, if the land there be acomadable." At an adjourned meeting of the proprietors, December 3d, they voted to accept of the township. A survey of the township was made by Jonas Houghton, and a plot of the same was returned to the General Court, which was accepte<l by that body in February, 1734. A meeting of the proprietors was held April 1, 1734, when they chose Jonas Houghton, John Longley and Joseph Fassett a committee " to finish the lines of the township, and burn the woods from time to time until further orders;" they also voted that a tax often shillings should be paid by each proprietor.

The first step towards making a division of the land of the town among the proprietors was taken at a meeting held in Concord, October 30, 1734. At that meeting it was " voted that the township be laid out in part as soon as may be. Voted that there be laid out a hundred and twenty-three forty-acre lots of the best of the upland. Voted that Samuel Chandler, Captain James Jones, Mr. Joshua Richardson, John Longley and .loseph Fassett be a committee to lay out the lots aliove-mentioned. Voted that the lots be made as equal as may be, and in as regular form and as compact as the laud will allow of. Voted that said committee order ttmys (roads), and where the meetinghouse and the three public lots shall be, and to order land for a burying-place and for a training-place, and for other public use, according to their best discretion."

It will thus be seen that land for the public use was provided for at the earliest possible time, even before the settlement of the town. In accordance with the preceding vote, the committee proceeded to lay out the one hundred and twenty-three forty-acre lots - house-lots these were called - one for each of the one hundred and twenty owners of the towuship, and the tliree public lots, of which one was for the support of wlinols, one for the first minister, and one for the support of the ministry. The committee employed surveyors, and spent about thirty days in the work of surveying the lots.

At a meeting held at Concord, January 24, 1735 (old style), the lots were distributed among the proprietors by a chance drawing. Any proprietor who did not like his lot was permitted to drop it and take an equal amount in the undivided land, provided he did so within a given time. The full list of the names of the original proprietors, with the numbers of the lots which fell to each, may still be seen in the book of Proprietors' Records. Very few of these original owners of the fots in the township ever settled here. Their lots were sold to others.