Worcester City (part 18 of 58)

ary, east of Prospect Hill. Born at Sherborn and a graduate of Harvard College in 1746, he preached at Douglas till dismissed in 1765. We find no trace of him as a minister here, but he was active in church, precinct and tovifn matters, a capable man and a firm patriot. His daughter Sukey married Wm. Craig and was the mother of Abijah and William Craig and their as peculiar sister. Miss Patty. Mr. Phips died in reduced circumstanciis at Oxford in 1798.

A resolution passed at town-meeting in 1787 rings out its sweeping " Woe unto you lawyers !" Nevertheless, even in those troublous days, one of the most useful and honored citizens was the Hon. Joseph Dorr, born in Mendon, graduated at Harvard, 1752. Leicester and Brookfield also claim him as a resident. His services are conspicuous on our annals from 1786 to 1795. Having assisted in framing the State Constitution and filled already the position of State Senator, he was exceedingly valuable here in drafting petitions for clemency to those engaged in Shays' Insurrection, and was sent as the town's intercessor to lay their appeal before the Governor and Council. His youngest son, Edward, born in Ward, was a large land-owner in Louisiana and died there. Two older sons became eminent in mercantile and financial circles in Boston. Joseph Dorr held the office of justice of the Court of Common Pleas twenty-five years and was judge of Probate for Worcester County eighteen years. He died at Brookfield in 1808.

Deacon Jonathan Stone, of the third generation from Deacon Simon Stone, of Watertown, the immigrant ancestor and the third successively named Jonathan, came from Watertown about 1753, and settled on lands then in Leicester. In 1757 he and others asked to be joined to Worcester, which took place next year. Still later his acres fell into the new parish, soon becoming the township of Ward. His descendant, Emory Stone, Esq., owns the ancestral possessions, the venerable homestead standing till within forty years. Jonathan Stone's name occurs as owner of pew No. 47 in the Old South Church, Worcester, in 17()o. He marched with Captain Bigelow to Cambridge, April, 1775, his sou. Lieutenant Jonathan, going with Captain Flagg. Most of the family name here now are descended from Deacon Jonathan. He was active in the organization of the church and served as its first deacon. As appears in the original plan of the edifice, he bought pew No. 15, on the right of the pulpit, and paid the best price (sixty pounds) of any proprietor. The school District where he lived is named as Deacon Stone's District. After his day that section wa.s known atone time as New Boston. Old family Bibles record his three marriages and the goodly array of his nine sons and daughters. He lived to be over eighty years and his stone stands near the cemetery wall close by the chapel.

spoken of. As teacher, surveyor, bookbinder, and even occasional printer, he was variously and largely useful. Fond of reading and study, he gathered quite a library, and the annotations in his pamphlets and almanacs aftbrd many a desired fact to the antiquary. Specimens of hymns and tunes he composed are preserved. In 1793, with Abraham Wood, he published a singingbook, which circulated widely. The town records, in his clear chirography are a feast to the eye and a delight to the investigator. Some of our elders remember the cloaked figure of this aged worshipper at church. He had been often chosen to public office, and faithluUy discharged every trust. He outlived his wife sixteen years, and died childless, at the age of seventy-nine, February 22, 1835. He gave some of his property to Bangor Seminary, and a memoir of him was written by Dr. Enoch Pond.

Jonah Goulding settled in the west part of the town, coming thither from Grafton. He became noted as the captain of the Ward company, that joined Shays' forces. One Boyden was the lieutenant. After the rebellion collapsed he was arrested at his home and confined forty days in Boston Jail. His business was that of a tanner, and he built the mansion occupied by his grandsons, the Messrs. Elbridge and John Warren. He filled the place of school committeeman and selectman. Naturally firm in purpose, keen in judgment and outspoken in speech, he acted with emphatic earnestness. He was the principal mover in the formation of the Baptist Church, and its lifelong strong pillar. He died in 1826.

Rev. J. G. Warren, D.D., his grandson, and son of Samuel and Sally Goulding Warren, born September 11, 1812, fitted for college at Leicester Academy and graduated at Brown University, 1835, Newton Theological Institute, 1838. He was ordained at North Oxford, September, 1838, and had pastorates at Chicopee and North Troy, N. Y. ; but his chief service was done as a secretary of the American Baptist Missionary Union from 1855 to 1872. At a critical period he filled this position with marked capacity and success. He retired in enfeebled health, and died in Newton, February 27, 1884. He was a trustee of Brown University and Newton Theological Institute.

For seventy years and four generations the Drury family were important persons ; but none of the name are now resident. They owned a large estate, at one time two hundred and fifty acres, reaching from the church site well up on Pakachoag. Thomas Drury, the elder, probably came from Framingham. His name appears, in 1772, on the Worcester records among those eligible for jury duty. His grave-stone dates his death November 3, 1778, in the fifty-ninth year of his age. His son, Lieut. Thomas, had gone forth with Captain Bigelow's minute-men on the Lexington alarm. He deeded to the town, in 1781, the land around the church, two and one-half acres ; improved the water-power, long known asDrury's Mills, and died, aged ninety-one, in 1836. His daughter.

Phebe, married, in 1799, Rev. Z. S. Moore, then pastor in Leicester. Soon he became a professor at Dartmouth College, then the second president at Williams, and died while first president of Amherst College. She is well remembered as a lady of fine character and dignity, a widow many years, and at her death her property was left to Amherst College.

Major Drury, often named as Thomas, Jr., well sustained the family reputation. His residence, from its high location, commands fine views to the north and east, from Cherry Valley across the southern part of Worcester. Rev. Mr. Davis owned the place recently, and the old-time hospitable mansion is now owned and occupied by Mr. John J. Holmes. The worthy major's twin daughters, Almira and Caroline, greatly resembled each other, occasioning amusing mistakes of personal identity. Miss Caroline married Rev. M. G. Pratt, for twenty years pastor of the Congregational Church.

Colonel Alvah Drury (each generation has a separate military title) showed remarkable busincis enterprise. He built the house just above his mills, now Mr. Hilton's, and was much relied on bv his townsmen for his capability and public spirit. He died in his prime, the result of an accident in his mill, and with the removal of his family that well known and oft-spoken name passed out of Auburn annals.

For so small a town. Ward, in its early days, was favored with skilled physicians. Dr. Thomas Green, from Leicester, settled here, probably at the time of Dr. Campbell's removal. Dr. Green had served as surgeon's assistant during the Revolution. He whs town clerk in 1784-85. This branch of the Green family, for a century and a half, have manifested aptitude for the study and practice of the healing art, which Dr. Thomas followed in Ward for twenty-five years. He died in 1812, and was succeeded in his profession by his half-brother.

Dr. Daniel Green, also of Leicester, was born November 9, 1778, a son of Thomas Green, and grandson of Rev. Thomas Green, a noted physician and surgeon, as well as pastor of the BaplisfChurch in Leicester. Dr. Green was of the sixth generation of those who came to Massachusetts from England in 1G30. About 1811 he established himself in Ward, and for over fifty years was the esteemed and successful physician, with a practice extending into all the neighboring towns. A man of excellent judgment, with keen powers of observatiou, and integrity of purpose, he was the trusted practitioner till over eighty years of age. He was an active worker in tbe anti-slavery cause in its earlier days, as well as an earnest advocate of temperance. He married, January 13, 1814, Elizabeth, daughter of Ralph Emerson, of Hollis, N. H. June 1, 18G1, he died, aged eightythree years. " He was closely identified with the best interests of the town through all these years, and is remembered accordingly."

John Mellish, Esq., was born at Dorchester in 1801, came to Auburn in 1839, was a justice of the peace thirty-five years, held the oflice of school committee-man until advanced in years, having held the same position in Oxford and Millbury, and was employed as school-teacher, generally in the winter season, for many years. He took the census of Auburn in 1840 and 1850. His son, John H., graduated at Amherst College in 1851 ; Andover Seminary, 1854; was ordained at Kingston, N. H., February 14, 1855 ; is now preaching at North Scituate, R. I. Another son, David B., learned the printers' trade; became an expert reporter and stenographer, in New York City ; had an office in the Custom House, was elected Representative in Congress and died while filling that post in 1874 at Washington, D. C. A daughter, Mary Louisa, married Rev. Franklin C. Flint, of Shrewsbury, and died in 1881.

The Eddy family have held a prominent place in town for a hundred years. A recent death removes this landmark, and the widow and children have migrated. A boy, Samuel, is the ninth in successive generations bearing that name.

These then form the annals of our quiet neighborhood. Less in aren and population than places adjacent, less of the factory element and more of the yeoman's toil. Auburn follows the even tenor of her way. Its century and a decade of municipal life have been in general uneventful years, aloof from the swirl and roar of the city's whirlpool, yet growing, though slowly. In other States the name Auburn marks thriving cities; here it best comports with rural scenes. Still-life one might disdainfully count this, if restless and ambitious as most Americans are. But a town so accessible to Worcester will some day share its growth, and number residents by thousands. Upon the creditable past may our citizens plan for and attain future thrift, growth and the common weal.

Chapter Xxxv By Ezra S. Stearns, A.M.

Originally the town of Ashburnham included about one-third of each of the adjoining towns, Ashby and Gardner. It is situated in the northeast corner of Worcester County, and is bounded on the north by New Ipswich and Rindge in New Hampshire; on the east by Ashby, in Middlesex County, and by Fitchburg ; on the south by Westminster and Gardner, and on the west by Winchendon. Since 1792, except the addition of two farms, the gift of Westminster, the boundaries and area of the township have remained unchanged. The present area is about twenty-four thousand five hundred acres, including about one thousand five hundred acres of ponds and reservoirs. Situated in tlie line of the water-slied between the Connecticut and Merrimack Valleys, the course of numerous streams is outward ; the only waters flowing into the town are a few small brooks which have their source in Eindge and New Ipswich on the north. There are eight natural ponds in the town ; four are tributary to the Connecticut and four to the Merrimack River. Here the Souhegan and Squannacook and important branches of the Nashua and Miller's Rivers have their source. The altitude exceeds that of the surrounding country on the east, south and west. The summit on the line of the Chcsline Railroad, one and one-half miles northwest of station at South Ashburnham, is one thousand and eighty-four feet above tide water, while the old burial-ground on Meeting-House Hill exceeds the summit by two hundred feet. The rounded form of Great Watatic on the dividing line between Ashburnham and Ashby, towers to the height of one thousand eight hundred and fortyseven feet. In the north part of the town are several lenticular hills with rounded outlines and arable to the summit. These remarkable accumulations of hill are also found in Rindge, Ashby and Gardner, but only a small proportion of Ashburnham falls within the area of this glacial drift. The soil is tliat common to the hill towns of Worcester County. When placed in comparison it is stubborn and rocky, yet generally arable and productive. The subsoil is clay retentive of moisture, and numerous springs gushing from the hill-sides are the perennial source of brooks and rivulets winding through the valleys, and supporting the crystal lakes nestled among the surrounding hills. The fauna and flora of the locality are topics discussed in the general history of tlie county.

Lunenburg, including Fitchburg and a part of Ashby, and Townsend, including a more considerable part of Ashby, were originally granted 1719, and within those grants numerous settlements were made in rapid succession. For several years the territory at the west of the new settlements was unbroken, and the future town of Ashburnham remained the border of the wilderness on the line of the settlements. In 1735 six grants of land, containing three thousand eight hundred and fifty acres, were located within the present township, and are minutely described in the "History of Ashburnham," recently published. Also in 1735, and while these individual grants were being located and surveyed, the General Court made grants of several townships to the surviving soldiers or the heirs of those deceased who served in the expedition to Canada in 1690. The companies from Dorchester, Ipswich, Rowley and other towns each received the grant of a township, and |)reservingat once the names of the towns in which the soldiers resided and the military service in which they had engaged, the new grants which were located in this vicinity were called Dorchester Canada (now Ashburnham ), Ipswich Canada (now Winchendon), and Rowley Can.ada (now

Rindge). The township of Dorchester Canada was surveyed in January, and the grant confirmed by the General Court June 1, 1736. For nearly twenty years and until the date of incorporation, the government of the township was proprietary. In accordance with the conditions imposed by the General Court, three sixty-thirds were reserved in equal shares for the first settled minister, for the ministry and for the support of public schools. The remainder was divided from time to time equally among the sixty proprietors, who individually made sale of their land to speculators and to settlers.

The early roads and mills and the first meetinghouse were ordered and controlled by the proprietors, and by them the call wa.s extended to the first settled minii^ter. Between 1736 and 1744 considerable progress was made in the settlement. A saw-mill was built in 1738, and in 1739 or 1740 the first meetinghouse was erected. The number of families residing in the township during these years is not known, and the names of only a few of the settlers have been preserved in the records. At the outbreak of the French and Indian War two houses were fortified, but before the close of the year 1744 the settlement was deserted. During the ensuing five years there were no meetings, of the proprietors, and no family remained within tlie township.

In 1748 active hostilities between England and France were suspended, but during that and the following year parties of Indians, accompanied by French soldiers, continued to menace the exposed and poorly-defended line of the i-ettlements. The northern part of Worcester County was wholly deserted, or continually in a state of alarm and anxiety. Not until 1750 did a feelingof security invite an occupancy of the frontiers. One by one the hardy pioneers founded homes in the town, and through the eflibrts and encouragement of the proprietors, the settlement of this town slowly increased until the return of peace opened the door to an increasing tide of immigration to the towns in this vicinity. It api)ears that during the first twenty years of effort and danger, dating from 1735, there were a considerable number of temporary residents in this town, and that among these, on account of the insecurity of the times, there were not over a half-dozen families who settled here previous to 1755 and became permanent inhabitants of the town.

Deacon Moses Foster, of Chelmsford, and James Colman, of Ipswich, cleared land and built houses in the northeast part of Dorchester Canada previous to the permanent renewal of the settlement. The sites of these early homes are now in Ashby, having been included within the limits of that town when incorporated in 1767. In times of expected danger they removed their families to Lunenburg, and prosecuted their labor in this town with many interruptions. About 1750 Deacon Foster removed to the centre of the town, and subsequently was an inn-holder many j'ears. He died October 17, 1785, aged ninety-four years. Mr. Colman was a prominent citizen, and was a member of the first Board of Selectmen. He continued to reside at the scene of his early labor in this town, but, after 1767, he was a citizen of Ashby, where he died August 15, 1773. Elisha Coolidge removed from Cambridge, 1752, and settled at Lane Village. He was a mill-wright, and a useful citizen. He died August 29, 1807, aged eighty-seven years. Jeremiah Foster, from Harvard, and a native of Ipswich, removed to this town with hi.s family in 1753, and settled on the Gamaliel Hadley farm. He was a man of character, and influential in the new settlement. He died December 12, 1788, aged seventy-eight years. Next in order appear John Bates, Zimri Heywood and Benjamin Spaulding, an enterprising trio in the northeast part of the town, who were subsequently included in Ashby. Enos Jones, from Lunenburg, at the age of nineteen years, settled on a farm in the north part of the town, on the Rindge road, which still perpetuates a name that remains prominent in the annals of Ashburnham. Omitting mention of several families that removed from town after a few years' residence, to the settlement was added Jonathan Samson, a native of Middleborough, who removed from Harvard in 1762, and settled on the Merrick Whitney farm. He was a useful citizen, and late in life he removed to New Hamp.shire, where he died at an advanced age. Ehenezer Conant and Lieutenant Ebenezer Conant, Jr., from Concord, settled near Rice Pond in 1763. Both died in this town. Their descendants have won a merited distinction in several scholastic callings. In the midst of these arrivals several German families settled in the eastern part of the town, in a locality which still bears the familiar appellation of " Dutch Farms." Soon after their arrival in the colony, and while temporarily living near Boston, Henry Hole, Christian William Whiteman, Jacob Schoffe, Simon Rodamel, Peter Perry, John Rich and John Kiberling, in 1757, purchased one thousand acres of land, and early the following year removed hither, except Peter Perry, whose name does not again appear. At the same time, purchasing land of them and locating among them, came other Germans, Jacob Constantine, Jacob Selham, Andrew Windrow, Henry Stack and Jacob Barkhardst, while John Oberlock and Philip Vorback settled near the site of Gushing Academy. A few years later Jacob Wilker settled on the farm still owned by his descendants. These were born in Germany, and nearly all of them were married in their native land. They were educated, intelligent people, and in full sympathy with the settlement in religion and in hatred of tyranny. By assimilation and intermarriage, in language and manner of living they quickly became equal and common factors in the body poliiic, and in social relations. No traces of caste, or prejudice of race, appear in the records or the traditions of the town. In the second and subsequent generations the name of Hole was written Hall; Kiberling or Kiblinger became Kibling; the Oberlocks assumed the name of Locke; Rodamel was changed to Rodimon, and later to Dimond, while Windrow was Anglicized in Winter. After the Revolution, in which they manifested a conspicuous patriotism, members of the second generation of several of these families removed to Northern New Hampshire.

Among the non-resident proprietors, who were most active in forwarding the settlement, appear many names familiar in the annals of a former century. Timothy Tilestone, of Dorchester, was the first petitioner for the township and for several years a ruling spirit of the organization. He was ably supported by Judge Joseph Wilder, of Lancaster, the Sumners, of Milton, and by Benjamin Bellows and Edward Hartwell, of Lunenburg. The fortunes of the second or permanent settlement of the town were supported and encouraged by Richard and Caleb Dana and Henry Coolidge, of Cambridge, Colonel Oliver Wilder and the brothers, Joseph Jr , and Captain Caleb Wilder, of Lancaster, Jonathan Dwight and Hezekiah Barber, of Boston, Rev. John Swift, of Framingham, Hon. Isaac Stearns, of Billerica, and many others whose association with these primitive affairs of the town adorn the early pages of its history.

Ashburnham, hitherto known as Dorchester Canada, was incorporated February 22, 1765. The proprietors and inhabitants in a joint petition for incorporation, expressed a desire that the town be called Ashfield, but the General Court, with an accommodating regard for an assumed prerogative of the royal Governor in the act of incorporation, left a blank, in which Governor Bernard caused to be written the euphonious name of Ashburnham in honor of an English earl.

At the first town-meeting, holden March 25, 1765, William Whitcomb was chosen town clerk, and Deacon Samuel Fellows, Tristram Cheney, James Coleman, John Rich'and Jonathan Gates selectmen. A long list of minor town oflices were selected with unanimity, and certainly with a rare measure of impartiality, which bestowed an office upon nearly every citizen. From this date to the Revolution the town was prospered in its internal affairs and made considerable advance in population. The more prominent settlers who arrived immediately preceding and subsequent to the date of incorporation were: Jonathan Taylor, Jonathan Gates, Nathan Melvin, Stephen Ames, David Clark, John Conn, Samuel Salter, John Adams, William Benjamin, Joshua Billings, Amos Dickinson, Jacob Harris, Joseph Metcalf, Abijah Joslin, Samuel Nichols, Ephraim Stone, Oliver Stone, Caleb Ward, Samuel Wilder, John Willard, Jacob Willard, Oliver Weatherbee and Phinehas Weatherbee.

Ecclesiastical. - Very early in the proceedings of the proprietors a committee was selected to locate a tract of land for a burial-ground and the site of the future meeting-house. The committee promptly reported November 10, 1736, that the meeting-house lot, containing ten acres, had been located " on a hill 180 rods south of a great pond (Upper Naukeag), and has a very fair prospect." To the present time the original boundaries on the southwest and north sides have suffered no thange, while on the east side a narrow strip has been severed from the public grounds and added to the farm now of Benjamin Gushing. The first meeting-house, erected 1739 or 1740, was not injured during the years the settlement was aban doned, and it silently invited occupancy twenty years before the organization of a church and the settlement of a minister. During the later years of this period several sums of money were appropriated for the support of preaching, but the amount raised for this purpose clearly indicates that the meeting-house was occupied only a small part of the time. A considerable number of the settlers were members of the church in Lunenburg, and there many of the children bom in Dorchester Canada previous to 1760 were baptized. In 1759 a more liberal appropriation was made, and Mr. Jonathan Winchester was here during a considerable p.art of the year. A call was extended November 27, 1759, and he was ordained April 23, 1760. The same day a church was organized. The covenant bears the signature of Mr. Winchester and of twelve, male residents of the settlement, six of whom were Germans. The membership during the first eight years was above fifty. The peaceful and successful ministry of Mr. Winchester was abruptly ended by his death, after a brief illness, November 26, 1767. Rev. Jonathan Winchester was of the fourth generation of his family in this country. He was born in Brooicline, April 21, 1717, and was graduated at Harvard University, 1737. He was a sou of Henry and Frances (White) Winchester, grandson of John and great-grandson of John, the emigrant ancestor. He was a teacher in his native town twenty years, and entering the ministry late in life, his first and only settlement was at Ashburnham. The superior merit and character of the man are clearly reflected in the records and traditions of the town. In him firmness was softened with mercy, and the ministerial austerity of his time was tempered with mildness of manner and gentleness of heart. With these qualities of mind and of heart he secured the willing love and confidence of his parish. He married. May 5, 1748, Sarah Crofts, of Brookline, where six of their ten children were born. Mrs. Winchester died in this town July 27, 1794.

The second minister was Rev. John Gushing, D.D., who was ordained November 2, 1768, and who conducted a successful ministry until his death, April 27, 1823. These many years of service were crowned wilh the rewards of faithful labor and a peaceful administration of parochial affairs. From the " History of Ashburnham " the following lines are borrowed : and vigor. As the infirmity of age grew upon him, liis step was slower but never faltering ; his form became slightly bowed but lost none of its original dignity and commanding presence. His mild blue eye and the serenity of bis countenance were undimmed even when his whitened and flowing locks were counting the increasing furrows of age in his face.

As a preacher he adhered to the fundamental doctrines of his creed and supported them with frequent quotation from the Scriptures. The plan of his discourse was lucid and his methods of reasoning direct and logical. If he was tenacious in the use of set terms and forms of speech, he invariably applied them with aptness and precision. He did not rely on the abundance of words or the exhibition of emotion, but upon the weight and sequence of the central truths which formed the theme of his discourse. His voice was clear, strong and pleasing. He read his sermons closely and without gesture. In delivery he was moderate, earnest and impressive.

He was pre-eminently a minister of the olden time. His parish was his field of labor and no one was neglected. His charge was his constant thought and duty, and while he watched for the fruit of his labor, he toiled on with unfailing hope and courage. Even in the decline of life and under the weight of nearly eighty years his service was acceptable and liis parish \inited in their love and respect for their venerable teacher. At every fireside the serenity of his countenance, the wisdom of his speech and the purity of his life and example were continually deepening the impression and enforcing tlie influences of his public ministrations.

It seems that the affection of his parish increased as he paled and grew feeble in their service. And when death came and stilled the pulsations of bis warm and generous heart, his people paid a fitting tribute in the lines of sorrow engraved on every countenance. From that hour the voice of tradition began to assert that bis genius was solid ; his understanding clear; his judgment strong; his memory faithful ; his emotions cool and restrained, yet his sympathies tender and his affections warm ; that his resolution and perseverance were unusual, that be was faithful to every trust and that his heart was so honest, his friendship so sincere and his tongue under such control, that his smile was a benediction and his speech a sermon.

Rev. John Gushing, D.D. (Harvard University, 1764), was born in Shrewsbury, August 22, 1744. He was the son of Rev. Job and Mary (Prentice) Gushing, and a lineal descendent of the Gushing family of Hingham. He received the degree of Doctor of Divinity from Harvard University, 1822. He married, September 28, 1769, Sarah Parkman, daughter of Rev. Ebenezer and Hannah (Breck) Parkman, of Westborough, who died in this town March 12, 1825. Until near the close of the pastorate of Rev. Dr. Gushing the churches, not only in this vicinity, but in a more extended circle, were closely allied in doctrinal views and declarations of covenant. In many places there were dissenters and here and there independent churches, but a large majority assented to the doctrines of the " standing order." In the midst of more diversity of creed duringthe past half-century or more, the fir.«t church in Ashburnham has remained in full relations with the orthodox or Trinitarian Gongregationalists. Since the death of Mr. Gushing nine ministers havebeen installed over the church, and six have supplied about thirty years. The ministry has been continuous, and no serious contention has arisen between the pastor and the people. In presenting the names of these many pastors the limits of this sketch will preclude extended notices.

The third minister was Rev. George Perkins, son of Dr. Elisha and Sarah (Douglas) Perkins, born iu Plainfield, Conn., October 19, 1783; ordained at Ashburnham, February 25, 1824 ; dismissed at his re- quest July 3, 1S32 ; died at Norwich, Conn., September 15, 1852. Rev. George Goodyear, born in Hamden, Conn., December 9, 1801, son of Simeon and Hannah (Beadsley) Goodyear; installed October 10, 1832; dismissed November 16, 1841; died at Temple, N. H., November 18, 1884. Rev. Edward Jennison, son of William and Phebe (Field) Jennison, born in Walpole, N. H., August 26, 1805 ; installed May 12, 1842 ; dismissed May 12, 1846 ; died in Conway, Mass. Rev. Elnathan Davis, son of Ethan and Sarah (Hubbard) Davis, born in Holden, Mass., August 19, 1807; installed September 16, 1846; dismissed May 21, 1851 ; died April 9, 1881. Rev. Frederick A. Fiske, son of Rev. Elishaand Margaret (Shepard) Fiske, born in Wrentham, Ma.ss., April 15, 1816 ; installed December 30, 1851 ; dismissed April 17, 1854; died at North Attleborough, Mass., December 15, 1878. Rev. Elbridge G. Little, son of Joseph and Rebecca (Webster) Little, born in Hampstead, N. H., November 11,1817; installed August 22,1855; dismissed May 13, 1857; died at Wesley, Mass., December 29, 1869. Rev. Thomas Boutelle, son of James and Abigail (Fairbanks) Boutelle, born in Leominster, Mass., February 1, 1805 ; supplied from the spring of 1857 to January, 1863 ; died in Fitchburg, Mass., November 28, 1866. Rev. George E. Fisher, son of Rev. George and Mary (Fiske) Fisher, born in Harvard, Mass., January 22, 1823 ; installed May 21, 1863 ; dismissed September 2, 1867. Rev. Moody A. Stevens, son of David and Elizabeth (Ryder) Stevens, born in Bedford, N. H., February 7, 1828 ; supplied from 1867 to 1870. Rev. Leonard S. Parker, son of William and Martha (Tenney) Parker, born in Dunbarton, N. H., December 6, 1812 ; supplied 1870 to 1876. Rev. Daniel E. Adams, son of Rev. Darwin and Catherine (Smith) Adams, born in Hollis, N. H., June 22, 1832; supplied from July 16, 1876, to July 5, 1885. The past three years has been an era of temporary supplies.

At intervals between the pastorates. Rev. Josiah D. Crosby has supplied a longer time than several of the pastors named. During the last forty years of a useful' life, with brief interruptions, he resided in this town. He was a son of Fitch and Rebecca (Davis) Crosby, and was born in Ashburnham, March 1, 1807. He died June 8, 1888. The second meeting-house, built 1791, was located on the Old Common, and near the site of its primitive predecessor. The third and present church edifice was erected in Central Village, 1833, and dedicated February 19, 1834.

In the autumn of 1793 Rev. Jonathan Hill preached the first Methodist sermon in this town, and a society was gathered the following j'car. Rev. Lorenzo Dow, Rev. John Broadhead, a presiding elder, and Bishops Whatcoat and Asbury are included among the early preachers at the house of Silas Willard, Esq. In 1831 the Ashburnham and Westminster Societies were united, and constituted a station. A meeting-house was built on Main Street, and dedicated July 4, 1832. This building is now owned and occupied by the Catholic Society. The present commodious edifice was built 1870. Previous to 1832 sixty-five preachers were assigned to the station to which the Methodist Church in Ashburnham belonged, and since that date thirty-six appoinments have been made by the Conference. From the first the organization has been perpetual, and a vigorous society has been maintained.

To accommodate families in that portion of the town, a meeting-house was erected at North Ashburnhan, 1842, and a church with Evangelical proclivities was embodied February 21, 1843. At no time has the membership been large, and public ministrations have not been continuously sustained. In 1860 the church was disbanded, and the "Second Congregational Church of Ashburnham,'' with an amended creed, was organized.

The Catholics of Ashburnham held services in the town hall several years, and since 1871 have owned and occupied the edifice erected by the Methodists in 1832. The church is under the spiritual direction of Father John Conway, who is also in charge of the church in Winchendon.

Military History. - That the inhabitants of a typical New England town were patriotic during the Revolution can safely be assumed ; that they met the trials of the times with heroism and uncomplainingly assented to the severest exactions of their country can be asserted without fear of contradiction. The Revolutionary sketches of towns which crowd the pages of the Gazei/cer laboriously demonstrate that which never has been denied. Many of these local histories of the Revolution written upon the suggested plan are interchangeable. Each possesses so many features common, to them all that the conventional sketch, with a change of local terms, with equal truth would apply to any other town. The repeated requisition of the government for men, for money, for food and for clothing were demands alike upon all the towns of the infant Commonwealth, and quotas were distributed with equal impartiality. The volume varied with the population of the several towns, yet the demand was applicable to them all. The scene and the players wei-e new in every town, yet the drama was universal and everywhere the same.

The population of Ashburnham in 1776 was five hundred and fifty-one. On account of the immigration from the older and more exposed towns near the seaboard, there was a considerable increase in population in this and other towns in this vicinity during the war, yet probably the number of inhabitants did not exceed eight hundred during the years of the Revolution. The records of Ashburnham do not contain the names of any who were in the army. The record of service presented in the following paragraphs has been compiled from the archives of the State, from papers filed in the Department of Pensions and from papers in the possession of societies and individuals. As early as 1773 the under-current of public sentiment found expression in a warrant for a town-meeting, "To see if the town will consider the general grievances that are laid upon us by acts of Parliament, and disposing of our monies without our consent." Whatever debate ensued, there is no record of a vote at this time ; but in July, 1774, the town was again assembled, and it was then voted, " that the Covenant sent from Boston be read, and accordingly it was read ; then a motion was made for an alteration and that Doctor Senter, George Dana, Elisha Coolidge, Samuel Nichols and Jonathan Samson be a committee to alter said Covenant, and adjourned said meeting for half an hour, and then said Covenant was altered to the acceptance of the town. Voted that Elisha Coolidge and Samuel Nichols be a committee to keep the Covenant after it is signed." The covenant which was sent to all the towns for signature was a solemn pledge that those who .subscribed would abstain, from the purchase and use of specified articles of British merchandi.se, and that at the risk of life and fortune they would resist the officers holding commissions under the oppressive acts of Parliament. About this time the town was represented by Jonathan Taylor at the memorable Worcester Convention, which recommended the several towns within its influence to immediately apjwint military officers, to organize minutemen, to procure arms and ammunition, and to provide for any emergency that may arise. In September of this year, and in harmony with the vote of the surrounding towns, it was voted to indemnify the officers in the event they were harmed for not returning a list of jurors, as required by Parliament. At the same meeting Jonathan Taylor was chosen a representative to the Provincial Congress, which assembled October 11th, at Concord.

Following the recommendations of the Worcester Convention the town, September 3, 1774, voted "to buy half a hundred of powder, one hundred of lead and ten dozen of flints as a town stock." At this meeting Abijah Joslin waschosen captain, Deliverance Davis lieutenant and Ebenezer Conant, Jr., ensign, of the minute-men. A committee of Safety and Correspondence was also chosen ; they were Samuel Nichols, Jonathan Samson, Deliverance Davis, Abijah Joslin and Jonathan Taylor. With these preparations for the future, the town awaits the events of another and a more eventful year. Early the following spring Deliverance Davis and Jonathan Gates were captains of the companies in this town, but there is no record of their election or appointment. A prominent, and subsequently an honored, citizen is not named in these initial proceedings, and there is a tradition that Samuel Wilder was a little tardy in espousing the cause of American independence, and that he was waited upon by a self-constituted committee. His hesitation, if any existed, was of brief duration, and his subsequent opinions and conduct were approved by his townsmen, who frequently elected him to office during the war and many succeeding years. Swiftly following these measures ot preparation, the sudden intelligence that a detachment of British troops had left Boston and were marching inland, was brought to Ashburnham in the afternoon of April 19th, and an alarm was immediately sounded. A company of thirty-eight men quickly assembled, and marched that afternoon under the command of Captain Jonathan Gates. Other men from the remoter jiarts of the town continued to assemble on the old Common, and with hasty preparations awaited the dawn of another day. In the gray of the morning a second company, containing thirty-three men, and commanded by Captain Deliverance Davis, hastened forward to scenes of anticipated danger. These companies, in connection with many others simultaneously summoned to the field, marched to Cambridge and remained there with the gathering army about two weeks, and until they were discharged. When these companies were disbanded, nineteen by re-enlistment continued with the army and the remainder returned to their homes. The rolls of the two companies contain the following names :

In the organization of an army from the companies at Cambridge, a company was recruited from the men from this vicinity. They were under the command of Capt. David Wilder in Col. Whitcomb's regiment. In this company Jonathan Gates was lieutenant, Francis Lane and Peter Joslin were sergeants. The other men from Ashburnham were :

Other Ashburnham men who enlisted at this time were David Clark, Uriah Holt and Thomas Dutton. These men participated in the siege of Boston, and remained in the service until the close of the year. It is probable that the whole of Colonel Whitcomb's regiment was not called into action at the battle of Bunker Hill, but it is certain that Captain Wilder's company of that regiment was warmly engaged on that memorable day. Clark, Holt and Dutton were also in the battle, and several others who subsequently removed to Ashburnhara, but at the time were residents of other towns, shared the danger and glory of the engagement. Upon the discharge of Captain Wilder's company, after a service of eight months, there was a call for men to serve a short term, while recruits for a longer term of service were being enlisted. Among these recruits appear the names of Jonathan Gates, Jr., Jonathan Samson, Jr., Joseph Metcalf, his son, Ezekiel Shattuck Metcalf, and David Merriam. At the annual March meeting, 1776, Jonathan Taylor, John Willard, Jonathan Samson, Abijah Joslin and Ebenezer Conant, Jr., were chosen a Committee of Correspondence, The selectmen who were active agents in the prosecution of the war were William Whitcomb, John Kibliuger and Oliver Willard. In May, 1770, the General Court adopted an order calling upon the people to express an opinion concerning a formal separation from Great Britain. The citizens of this town were promptly assembled in town- meeting. The article in the warrant and the vote of the town are transcribed from the records :

Article 2. To see if tlie Inhabitants of said Town are willing to stand .by the Honorable Congress in declaring the Colonies Independent of the Kingdom of Great Britain with their lives and fortunes to Support them in the mcisure.

Voted. We the Inhabitants of the Town of Ashburuham, in Town meeting assembled being sensible of the disadvantage of having any further connections with the Kingdom of Great Britain and are willing to break off all connections with them and it is our Resolution that if the Honorable Congress shall declare the Colonies Independent of the Kingdom of Great Britain that we the said Inhabitants will stand by them with our lives and fortunes to support them in the measure.

In due course of time the Declaration of Independence, which was foreshabowed by similar votes in other towns, was received in printed form by the patriots of this town. It was formally read from the pulpit by Rev. Dr. Cushing, and subsequently transcribed upon the records of the town. Other men who were ctdled into the service during the year 1776 were Ebenezer Bennett Davis, Daniel Putnam, Uriah Holt, Thomas Ross, David Taylor, .John Kiblinger, Jacob Kiblinger, John Hall, William Ward, Jacob Rodiman, David Stedman, Nicholas Whiteman, Peter Joslin, Philip Winter, Daniel Hobart. Of these, Peter Jo.sliu died while returning from the army, Philip Winter died in the service, and Daniel Hobart was killed at the battle of White Plains, October 28, 1776. For the year 1777, the selectmen were Samuel Wilder, John Willard, Jonathan Samson, Jonathan Taylor and Abijah Joslin ; and the Committee of Safety and Correspondence were Samuel Foster, William Wilder, Enos Jones, Joseph Metcalf and Francis Lane. In the rolls of the Massachusetts Regiment, raised for the defence of Rhode Island, appear the names of John Kiblinger, Jacob Rodiman, Samuel Metcalf, Jonathan Coolidge and William Ward.

To avoid the inconvenience experienced during the preceding two years, on account of the short term of enlistment, and to create a more stable and a better disciplined army, orders were given early in 1777 to establish the regiments on the Continental plan, and recruit their decimated ranks with men, enlisted for three years, or during the war. For this purpose the quota of Ashburnham was sixteen, and an earnest effort was made to supply the required number. Thirteen men enlisted and were mustered into service May 26, 1777, for three years, as follows : Ebenezer Bennett Davis, David Clark, David Clark, Jr., John Winter, Thomas Pratt, Samuel Mason, John White, Paul Sawyer, Jacob Lock, Thomas Ross, Joshua Holdeu, Timothy Johnson and Adam Rodiman.

The town hired Francis Lee, of Pepperell, Andrew Foster, of Andover, and Josiah Fessenden, of Boston, to complete the quota. The summer of this year was a season of unusual excitement and alarm. The intelligence of the loss of Crown Point and Ticonderoga, and the uninterrupted advance of General Burgoyne created a widespread sentiment of the most painful apprehension. There was an imperative call for troops, and immediately followed the startling tidings that the enemy were invading Vermont and threatening the western counties of Massachusetts. The town was promptly in arms, and Captain Jonathan Gates with a company of men marched to Charlemont. Other companies from the neighboring towns had manifested equal diligence and were in the immediate vicinity. In the mean time the American army opposing Burgoyne had retreated into New York, and the theatre of war had been removed. These hastily-formed companies were then dismissed, and returned home after an absence of three weeks. It was an unorganized expedition, and no rolls of the companies are found. Scarcely had these men returned to their homes and the labor of their fields, before a renewed and equally imperative call was heard. An engagement was imminent, and the militia was ordered to the support of the American army. Again Captain Gates called out his company, and, hurriedly equipped, they marched again to Charlemont and to Williamstown, and thence to Bennington, Vt., arriving there the second day after the victory of General Stark. Thence they marched to Fort Edward, N. Y. ; here a part of them remained until discharged, while others were engaged in the battles of Stillwater and Saratoga.

The Ashburnham company and the Fitchburg company, and possibly others from this vicinity in this service, had no regimental organization, and were attached to a New Hampshire regiment, commanded by Col. Bellows, of Walpole; but the rolls of the companies do not appear in the roster of that regi- ment. Only the names of a few of the Ashburnham soldiers of this company, found in miscellaneous papers and records, can be stated. They are - John Adams, David Merriara, William Ward, Jonathan Samson, Jr., and in all about thirty. In August of this year there was a dralt, and David Chaffin being drawn, was assigned to Col. Cushing's regiment, in the army of Gen. Gates. He was discharged on account of sickness, three months later ; and of the soldiers in the Continental Army, Jacob Locke and Samuel Mason died in the autumn of this year.

In the year 1778 William Ward, Jonathan Benjamin and Benjamin Clark were among the nine months' levies for the Continental Army, and in the service at Boston appear the familiar names of Jonathan Samson, Jr., John Hall, Nicholas Whiteman, David Stedman and William Ward, while Ezekiel Shuttuck Metcalf, John Chamberlain, David Chafhn and Simon Kodiman were among the recruits for the expedition to Rhode Island. The theatre of the war having been transferred to the Middle and Southern States, there were no subsequent calls upon the militia or minute-men to meet sudden emergengencies, but the demand for men to recruit the decimated ranks of the Continental Army was often renewed. In this service the subsequent enlistments were: Ebenezer Conant, Jr., Jacob Constantine, John Kiblinger, David Bond, William Ward, Samuel Metcalf, David Chaffin, Edward Whitmore, Elijah Mason, Simeon Rodiman, Jacob Rodiman, Isaac Merriam, Reuben Rice, Andrew Winter, Jr., Phinehas Hemenway, Jonathan Merriam, David Clark, Jr., Jonas Benjamin, John Coolidge, James Eegget, Peter Rodiman and William Ward. This was the seventh enlistment of William Ward. An increasing burden of taxation attended the progress of the war, and requisitions for money for beef and for clothing were often renewed, making heavy drafts upon the impoverished resources of the people of Ashburnham. Long before the close of the war they were compelled to meet their pressing liabilities with pledges of future labor and the ungarnered fruits of their toil. In a season of financial extremity, in 1781, the town gave a vivid expression of failing resources in the following entreaty for recruits:

Voted that each man that will engage to serve in tlie army for three years shall have eighteen head of three years' old cattle given him when his time is ont, and if he he discharged in two years then said cattle are to be buttwo yeare old, or if he serve but one year they are to bo but one year old, all to be of juiddliug size.

In other words, the soldier was to receive a bounty of eighteen calves, and the town was to keep them of middling size as long as the soldier remained in the service.

Another vote about this time also reflects the poverty and distress of the time. In the dignified expression of a town-meeting, the citizens of Ashburnham declared their inability to compensate

"Jonathan Samson and Mrs. Hemenway for sending two small deer to the army." The vote was negative, but in the record of a generous deed the town, perhaps unconsciously, extended to the generous donors a more liberal reward. Often during the Revolution the soldier in the distant army was cheered by the presence of a father, a brother or a son, bearing from the scanty store of his home some articles of food or clothing. All were patriots, and whether at home or in the army, they labored for and served their country. Equally meritorious and contributary to the achievements of the Revolution were the arduous service of the soldier in the field and the self-denial and accumulating burden of the patriot citizen in his home experience.

For the information and profit of the present and future generations, a large majority of towns, following the commendable example of a few, will eventually give a full and authentic account of the names and the service of its patriotic citizens who were enrolled in the War of the Rebellion. It is a labor due to the surviving comrades and to the memory of the heroic dead. The limits of a chapter of local history will admit little more than a summary of numbers, or at best the lists of names and the duration of service. These skeletons, however accurate in outline form, are without the flesh and blood of personal exploit and the breath of individual experience and suffering. That the inhabitants of Ashburnham nobly performed their part in crushing the Rebellion and in preserving the Union is seen in the following aggregates: The whole number of enlistments credited to the quota of the town, including thirty reenlistments of veterans, is two hundred and fortythree. In addition to this patriotic record, about thirty residents of Ashburnham enlisted on the quota and are counted among the soldiers of other towns.

In the spring of 1861 the Ashburnham Light Infantry, under the command of Capt. Addison A. Walker, was a well-organized company and in a good stale of discipline. Amidst the echoes of falling Sumter came to the loyal North the proclamation of President Lincoln for seventy-five thousand men. The service of the company was promptly tendered. But it was the policy of Governor Andrew to reserve many of the disciplined companies to be distributed among the regiments subsequently recruited. This reservation of the Ashburnham company, complimentary to its discipline, produced a considerable measure of discontent and embarrassment, and several of the men, impatient of delay, enlisted into organizations that were already under orders. The ranks of the company, however, were promptly filled, and an excellent discipline was maintained. With the organization of the Twenty-first Regiment the expected summons was received. This company, subsequently known as Company G, containing forty men from this town, entered Camp Lincoln, at Worcester, July 19th, and with the regiment was ordered to the front

August 23, 1861. In the mean time there had been fourteen enlistments from this town into the regiments previously organized. Immediately after, twenty men joined the Twenty-fifth Regiment, and nine men, who served in miscellaneous organizations, completed the patriotic record of the year.

In 1862 the number of enlistments was fifty-seven. Of these, five were assigned to the Thirty-fourth Regiment; twenty-three to the Thirty-sixth Regiment, twenty-seven to the Fifty-third Regiment, and two recruits joined the Twenty-first Regiment. To this date every call for men had been promptly met, and at times the town was credited with several men in excess of its quota. These repeated calls had borne hardly upon the community, and the number of men of suitable age was greatly depleted. Everywhere the quota of 1863 remained unfilled, and the government, to fill the decimated ranks of the regiments in the field, resorted to conscription. Sixtyfour men from this town were drafted. Of these, some were exempted on account of disability, others furnished substitutes or paid commutation, while a small minority - fourteen, including substitutes and five recruits hired by the town - entered the service and were assigned to the regiments already in the field.

From January 1, 1864, to the close of the war, fiftythree enlistments and thirty re-enlistments of veterans were credited to the quota of the town. About onefourth of these were strangers to the town, who were ready and willing to accept the proffered bounty, and with an equal alacrity they deserted at the first opportunity. In this constant stream of men to the front, and in the gallant service of her sons, the loyal impulse and the firm patriotism of the town are clearly revealed. By the voice of the town, all needed sums of money were promptly raised and a generous provision was made for the families of the soldier. The Aid Society, sustained by the women of Ashburnham, and the comprehensive liberality of the citizens, are apparent features of a noble record. In addition to several natives of the town who, at the time, were residing elsewhere, eleven residents of Ashburnham were commissioned officers in the service. Lieutenant- Colonel Joseph P. Rice was commissioned a captain at the organization of the Twenty-first Regiment and assigned to the command of Company H. In February following he was promoted major, and, in May, lieutenant-colonel. He was killed at the battle of Chantilly September 1, 18G2. At the organization of the Fifty-third Regiment, Lieutenant-Colonel George H. Barrett was commissioned captain of Company I, and promoted lieutenant-colonel. He was in command of the regiment on its departure from the State, and, with the regiment, was mustered out September 3, 1863. Captain Addison A. Walker, commissioned captain at the organization of the Twenty-first Regiment and assigned to the command of Company G ; resigned May 13, 1862. Captain Samuel A. Taylor was promoted from lieutenant to captain May 28, 1862; resigned January 13, 1863. He was subsequently a lieutenant in the Fourth Heavy Artillery. Captain Asahel Wheeler, promoted from lieutenant to captain January 14, 1863 ; resigned April 25, 1863. Subsequently he was commissioned captain in the Sixty-first Regiment. Lieutenant Alonzo P. Davis, commissioned first lieutenant at the organization of the Twenty-first Regiment; resigned in January, 1862. Lieutenant Charles H. Parker, commissioned lieutenant M.ay 28, 1862; resigned March 2,1863. Lieutenant George E. Davis, commissioned first lieutenant April 26, 1863; honorably discharged August 30, 1864. Lieutenant Joseph H. Whitney, commissioned lieutenant October 80,1862; resigned February 23, 1863. The seven last named were assigned to Company G, Twenty-first Regiment. Lieutenant Charles H. Heald was commissioned lieutenant July 3, I860, and was honorably discharged with the Second Regiment July 14, 1865. Lieutenant Charles W. Whitney, commissioned lieutenant November 13, 1864; honorably discharged with the Thirty-sixth Regiment June 8, 1865.

Beginning with the close of the Revolution and continuing a little more than fifty years, a company of militia, ordered and maintained by the laws of the Commonwealth, regularly appeared at the annual trainings and musters. Until a general revision of the militia laws, about 1835, this service of ablebodied citizens of suitable age was compulsory. At a very early date the citizens of Ashburnham gave evidence of dissatisfaction with this feeble expression of a military spirit. In response to an earnest petition, in June, 1791, the General Court adopted the following resolve:

Resolved, That Ilis ExceUoncy the Governor be and he is hereby empowered and reqnested to issue orders for forming a Company of Liglit Infantry in the town of Ashburnliam, provided they do not reduce the 8t;inding company of militia in said town to a less number than si.\ty privates of the train band ; tlie officers of said Light Infantry company to be appointed and commissioned in the same way and manner as is provided by law for the appointing and commissioning other military officers. Said company when so formed to be under the command of the Colonel or commanding officer of the fourth regiment of the second brigade in said division.

The organization of tlie Ashburnham Light Infantry immediately ensued, and the first officers - Joseph Jewett, captain ; Caleb Kendall, lieutenant; and Charles Hastings, ensign - were commissioned July 13, 1791. From this date the company was vigorously maintained with full ranks and manifested a genuine military enthusiasm, until the War of the Rebellion, with the exception of five or six years, about 1850. In 1866 the organization was revived, and, complying, with the general militia laws of the Commonwealth, it constitutes a company of Massachusetts Volunteer Militia, and at present forms a part of the Sixth Regiment. In the War of 1812 the Ashburnham Light Infantry was ordered into the service and was stationed at South Boston and Dorchester fifcy-one days. They were discharged Octo- ber 30, 1814. At this time the officers were Ivera Jewett, captain ; Timothy Crehore, lieutenant ; and Walter R. Adams, ensign. There were forty-eight non-commi.ssioned officers and privates.

Educational. - " Voted to Keep a School and voted Eight Pounds for y" School and Voted for y' y" School Should be a moveing School, voted to leave it to y" Selectmen to make j" Quarters where y' school shall be Cept and voted it bee a free School." These votes, adopted in 1767, are the beginning of the educational history of Ashburnham. From this date public schools have been maintained, the orthography of the town clerk has been improved and general results have kept pace with the progress of the age. Seen in the light of the present, the sums raised for school purposes in the early history of the town were limited, but they were not less than the appropriations made in other towns of equal ability. With the exception of the years 1768, 1709 and 1776, in which no appropriation was made for this purpose, the town raised twelve pounds annually until and including 1777. During the later years of the Revolution a large nominal sum in depreciated currency was appropriated, and for several succeeding years the annual appropriation was fifty pounds. The substantial and increasing sums raised for school purposes in this town are given in each decade : 1800, ifSOO ; 1810, .$400 ; 1820, $500 ; 1830, |500 ; 1840,1900; 1850,11400; 1860, $1700; 1870, $3000; 1880 and to 1888, $3000. From 1872 to 1875, $3500 was appropriated. For a considerable number of years the town was divided into three school districts, and while under this arrangement, a school was maintained at the centre of the town, another at the Dutch Farms, in the east part, and the third in the south part of the town ; there were no school-houses until immediately after the Revolution. At the close of the past century there were nine districts, and in each a comfortable school-house. In 1829 the Tenth District, including Lane Village, was organized mainly from the old Seventh District, and in 1850, by a division of the First District, the Eleventh District was created.

In other respects the boundaries of the several school districts, with a few temporary and minor changes, have been preserved to the present time. The early settlers of this town divided themselves into communities of convenient proportions many years before the State vested school districts with corporate powers, and a committee " to visit and inspect the schools" was annually chosen by the town several years before a committee of supervision was authorized by the laws of the State. Beyond the slender support of the town the public schools in their infancy were spontaneous in the several neighborhoods, and were not the creation of public legislation.

that it has not been creative, but has seized and solidified with the authority of law the established methods created and approved by the people. From the first the schools have been in advance of the statutes. It is true that law has given uniformity and symmetry to our school system, but all its features originated with and were first approved by thecommunities which make up the people of the Commonwealth. In 1878, after considerable discussion, the school district organization was abolished, and the prudential affairs of the schools were referred to the Committee of Supervision.

During the past twenty years the town has maintained a high school. The early terms were held in the basement of the armory and in the school-houses in the central village. Commencing with the inauguration of Cushing Academy in 1875, a department of that well-ordered institution has given the town a permanent and excellent high school, and for its support an annual appropriation is made.

Cushing Academy bears the name of its founder. Thomas Parkman Cushing, a native of Ashburnham and a son of Rev. Dr. John Cushing, through the active and later years of his life was a merchant and resident of Boston, where he died November 23, 1854. Immediately after his decease, and in accordance with the provisions of his will, the Cushing Academy Fund was safely invested.

At the time of the organization of the academy corporation, in 1865, the sum of ninety-six thousand dollars was transferred to the corporation, which was left at interest until the accumulation was sufficient to meet the cost of a school edifice, and leave the principal unimpaired.

In the mean time George C. Winchester presented the corporation an ample and eligible lot for the site of the academy. Mr. Winchester is a great-grandson of Rev. Jonathan Winchester, the first minister of this town. The grounds accommodating the institution received the name of " Winchester Square," perpetuating at once, through the liberality of their descendants, the memory and names of the first and second ministers of Ashburnham.

The present commodious and attractive building was promptly erected, and dedicated September 7, 1875. The cost of the building, including furniture, was $92,611.75, and the permanent fund in round numbers is one hundred and twenty thousand dollars, of which the income is annually appropriated for the support of the school.

A spacious dwelling, known as " Jewett Hall," and occupied by teachers and pupils, was presented to the corporation by Charles Hastings, and the Crosby house, on Central Street, was presented by Rev. Josiah D. Ci'osby, who was the first clerk of the board of trustees, and who manifested an unwearied interest in the work and mission of the school. From the first this institution has been eminently successful, and under its present able management it commands

Edwin Pierce, A.M., was the first principal. He remained in' charge four years, 1875-79. He was a son of Dana and Diedema (Paul) Pierce, and was born at Barnard, Vt., June 26, 1826; graduated at Dartmouth College, 1852. He was formerly professor of Latin and Greek at Yellow-Stone Spring College, Iowa, and principal of other educational institutions.

Professor James E. Vose succeeded Jlr. Pierce, and remained in charge until his death, May 30, 1887. He was a son of Edward L. and Aurelia (Wilson) Vose, and was born at Antrim, N. H., July 18, 1836. Previous to his labor here he had secured a merited reputation, and had been in charge of several academies of New Hampshire.

H. S. Cowell, A.M., was appointed principal in June, 1887. He is a son of Rev. David B. and Christiana B. (Coffin) Cowell, and was born at West Lebanon, Me., October 10, 1855; graduated at Bates College, 1875. He was principal of Clinton Grove Seminary, Weare, N. H., 1875-76 ; of Francestown (N. H.) Academy, 1876-83 ; of Arms Academy, Shelburne Falls, Mass., 1883-87.

The first president of the board of trustees was Rev. Francis Wayland, D.D., who died 1865, and was succeeded by Hon. Alexander H. Bullock, who resigned 1876, when Abraham T. Lowe, M.D., was appointed. He died July 4, 1888, and his successor has not been chosen. Hon. Amasa Norcross, the only remaining original member of the board, is vicepresident. Hon. Ebenezer Torrey, Hon. Ohio Whitney and George F. Stevens, Esq., have filled the office of treasurer. Mr. Stevens died November 15, 1887, and his successor, George W. Eddy, was appointed November 30, 1887. llev. Josiah D. Crosby was clerk of the board from 1865 to '76 ; upon his resignation he was succeeded by Colonel George H. Barrett, who has been continued in office to the present time.

Mechanical Industbies. - There are fifty millsites in this town where at sometime the water-power has been utilized for mechanical purposes. This unusual number of mill i)rivileges found in a single town have invited the farmers of Ashburnham from the cultivation of a rugged soil to engage in a variety of manufactures. Succeeding the primitive saw-mills, which were numerous in this town and whose only product was boards and other coarse lumber, there have been in times past a largeuumber of small shops in which has been manufactured a great variety of wares. Thread spools, friction matches, knife trays and many other articles of wood-ware have been made here. Tubs and pails were formerly manufactured at several mills and still are made in considerable quan-' titles by George G. Rockwood at the centre of the town. From the first, and independent of the manufactures named, the leading industry of this town, both past and present, is the manufacture of chairs.

In this respect it is the second town in New England. This business, either in the production of chair stock or finished chairs, has been conducted in all parts of the town ; but experiencing the fortunes of the limes the industry has become centralized in a few large establishments. Beginning with 1842, when Charles Winchester purchased the mill and bu.sines3 of Philip R. Merriam, the growth of the business in this town was rapid. In 1848 the firm of Charles & George C. Winchester was formed. They conducted an extensive business and erected new mills and many dwelling-houses. In 1870, when the firm was dissolved by the retirement of the senior brother, they were giving employment to two hundred men. George C. Winchester was succeeded in 1880 by the Boston Chair Manufacturing Company with a capital stock of $150,- 000. The company own and occupy for manufacturing purposes thirty-four buildings, presenting a total flooring of 300,000 feet, or about seven acres. The number of men employed is about 200, beside affording employment to an equal number of persons in filling the cane chairs. The number of chairs annually made and sold approaches one-half a million.

There have been many firms and individuals engaged in this manufacture in South Ashburnham. The more familiar names are Burgess, Glazier, May, Matthews, Flint, Merriam, Allen, and at present Orange Whitney, Benjamin E. Wetherbee, Irving E. Plaits and Luther B. Adams. An extensive plant is owned and conducted by Wilbur F. Whitney, who has been engaged in the manufacture in this town since 1865. His factory was burned six years ago, and immediately he purchased land at Ashburnham Depot and erected the capacious buildings now occupied by him in the business. The two main factories are respectively 172 by 40 and 150 by 40 feet. This manufacture includes rattan and over 600 patterns of modern styles of cane-seat chairs. Mr. Whitney gives employment to 250 hands, demanding a monthly payroll of $9,000. The annual product is $350,000. The number of cane-seat chairs annually produced is nearly 400,000.

Cotton-spinning by power, and the manufacture of cloth completed in hand-looms, was begun in this town in 1811 or 1812. This industry was established at Factory Village. The mill was burned in 1846, and a larger mill was built on the same site, which was also burned in 1877. It has not been rebuilt. The cotton factory on Water Street in the central village was built by a home corporation in 1849. It has been continuously operated, and has contributed to the material interests of the town. The property is now owned and conducted by George Blackburn & Co.

Boundaries. - According to the surveys when the original township was severed from the wilderness, there were included in the boundaries then established twenty-seven thousand oue hundred and ninety acres. The early measurements were extremely liberal, and the actual area of Dorchester

Canada at this time was about thirty-one thousand acres. Encroachments upon these fair proportions has been a favorite occupation of the surrounding towns. Four considerable tracts of land have been taken from the original area, and other attempts have been successfully resisted.

By the adjustment of the province line in 1741, eight hundred and seventy-seven acres now included in Rindge and New Ipswich were severed from the town. Both the original and amended boundaries of the town on the north were right lines, but they were not parallel. The course of the original line was north 78° west, while the amended province line was established north 80° west, with the intention of running a line due west with an allowance often degrees for variation of the needle. The area taken from this town in form was a trapezium extending across the northern border, and about ten rods in width at the eastern, and one hundred and ten rods at the western extremity. The incorporation of Ashby in 1767 severed about one thousand five hundred acres from the northeast part of the township. Ashby was not an original grant, but was composed of parts of Townsend, Ashburnham and Fitehburg. In the same manner Gardner in 1785 was taken from the towns of Ashburnham, Templeton, Westminster and Winchendon. The area severed from this town was nearly three thousand acres. Again in 1792 another tract of land in the northeast part of the town, containing about one thousand and four hundred acres, was severed from Ashburnham and added to Ashby. The town, still containing an ample area, could afford the land, but the loss of several valued and useful citizens by each of the last three dismemberments was a more serious consideration. Again the spectre of disintegration appeared in the southeast part of the town. Beginning with the close of the Revolution and continued for twenty years, the adjoining portions of Westminster, Fitehburg and Ashburnham made ah earnest effort to become incorporated as an independent town. At times the measure was prosecuted with considerable energy, and at all times it was strenuously opposed, and finally defeated by the remainder of the tovi^ns at interest. With the exception of slight changes to correspond with the line of a few farms, no subsequent curtailment of the area of Ashburnham has occurred.

Ashburnham became a post-town in 1811, and from that date a post-office has been continuously maintained at the central village. Since 1850 there has been a post-office at or near the depot for the accommodation of South Ashburnham. The post-office at North Ashburnham was established in 1854.

The First National Bank of Ashburnham was organized in 1873. Under conservative and judicious management, it has been successful. The population of the town in 1885 was two thousand and fifty-eight; in 1S55 the population was two thousand two hundred and eleven, and this number has not been exceeded by any enumeration of the inhabitants. In May, 1887, the number of ratable polls was five hundred and fifty-five, the assessed value of real estate was eight hundred and eighteen thousand eight hundred and ninety-four dollars, and of personal estate one hundred and seventy-fou r thousand eight hundred and ninety-eight dollars. The rate of taxation was sixteen dollars per one thousand dollars.

Personal Notices. - Many useful citizens who have been prominent in municipal affairs, and whose lives refresh and enliven the annals of Ashburnham, the greater number of natives of the town who have won an honorable measure of fame in other fields of labor and the descendants of many of the Ashburnham families distinguished in many callings will receive notice, and their gi>od works will constitute a part of any present or future review of the town.

Samuel Wilder, Esq., was a resident of the town at the date of incorporation. Until his death his career was coeval with the town. A man of good judgment and of marked ability, he received a continuous' measure of honor from his townsmen, to whose service a great part of his life was devoted. Mr. Wilder was a captain of the militia, a magistrate many years, a deacon of the church, and several years a member of the Legislature. He was town clerk twenty-two years, a selectman fifteen years, an assessor twenty years and frequently was chosen on important committees. The current records during the years of his useful life assert the merited esteem of his associates and an appreciation of superior mental endowment. He was the son of Colonel Caleb Wilder, a prominent proprietor of Dorchester Canada. He was born in Lancaster, May 7, 1729, and died in this town. May 9, 1798. Among his children were Caleb Wilder, a noted school-teacher in this town ; Thomas Wilder, a respected citizen of Ware ; Dr. Abel Wilder, a distinguished physician of Blackstone. Hon. A. Carter Wilder, son of Dr. Abel Wilder and grandson of our Samuel Wilder, was a member of the Thirtyeighth Congress from Kansas, and subsequently mayor of the city of Rochester, N. Y. Hon. D. Webster Wilder, another son of Dr. Abel Wilder, is an accomplished journalist and many years State auditor of Kansas. Dr. Charles Woodward Wilder, an esteemed citizen and physician of Templeton and Leominster, was a son of Caleb Wilder, Jr., and a nephew of Samuel Wilder.

Colonel Joseph Jewett, son of Edward Jewett, was born in Stow, May 10, 1761. He was a soldier in the Revolution, and at the close of the war he removed to Ashburnham. Like many of the active men of his time, his energies were enlisted in a variety of pur- - suits. Colonel Jewett was prominent in military affairs, was a merchant, a farmer, a dealer in cattle and lands, and succeeding Mr. Wilder, he was the squire or magistrate. He represented the town in the Legislature eight years, was a selectman fifteen years, an assessor fifteen years, and was ten times chosen to preside over tlie annual March meeting. He died May 3, 1846. His son, General Ivers Jewett, born in this town May 7, 1788, was a gentleman of ability, of attractive personal appearance, tall and commanding in presence and popular and esteemed by his associates. At the age of thirty-four years he had been promoted step by step from the command of the Ashburnhara Light Infantry to the rank of general of the State Militia. Few men in a rural community have been equally honored or more widely known. In 1827 he removed to Filchburg and was there interested in several business enterprises, some of which were not wholly fortunate for him and his business associates. Subsequently he removed to the South and died at Mobile, Ala., April 26, 1871. Rev. Merrick Augustus Jewett, another son of Colonel Joseph Jewett, was born in this town August 26, 1798, was a graduate of Dartmouth College, 1823, and subsequently an able Congregational minister at Terre Haute, Ind. He died April 3, 1874.

Jacob Willard, Esq., was a prominent citizen in this town many years. He was cotemporaneous with Deacon Wilder and Colonel Jewett and divided honors with them. He was bold and aggressive, and his loyalty during the Revolution and the troubles attending the open revolt of Daniel Shays was conspicuous. He was the fir.st Representative to the State Legislature under the Constitution, and four subsequent terms. He was frequently elected to town office and other positions of trust, and exercised at all times a commanding influence. He was a son of Henry Willard, and was born in Harvard .Inly 20, 1734, and removed to this town about 1768, where he died February 22, 1808. His daughter Emma, burn December 18, 1777, married Rev. Thomas Skelton, and died November 3, 1881, aged nearly one hundred and four years.

Silas Willard, Esq., son of Deacon John Willard, and a nephew of Jacob Willard, Esq., was born in this town October 8, 1768, where he died June 14, 1855. He was a selectman and an assessor twenty years ; delegate to the Constitutional Convention, 1820 ; a magistrate twenty-eight years and prominently associated with the affairs of his time.

Rev. Elijah Willard, a brother of Silas Willard, Esq., was born in this town April 19, 1782, was a Methodist clergyman and died at Saugus September 5, 1852.

John Adams was born in Cambridge (now Arlington), January 22, 1745. He was a son of Captain Thomas Adams, who removed to this town late in life. The son, John Adams, settled in the east part of the town, 1766. He was a soldier in the Revolution and subsequently was considerably employed in municipal affairs. He was an intelligent, active man and was held in high esteem by his townsmen. He died with faculties unimpaired February 26, 1849, aged one hundred and four years, one month and four days. His descendants are numerous in this town and elsewhere, and are an industrious, active race. Amos Adams, a son of Jonas R. Adams, and a grandson of John Adams, was a successful lawyer in Chicago, 111., and subsequently was a judge in California. Samuel G. Adams, the popular and able superintendent of police of the city of Boston ; Ivers W. Adams, formerly a successful merchant of Boston and now general manager of the American Net and Twine Company; and Melvin O. Adams, a successful lawyer of Boston and several years assistant district attorney for the district of Suffolk, through different lines of descent are great-grandsons of John Adams, the centenarian.

Dr. Abraham Lowe, son of Jonathan Lowe, was born in Ipswich (now Essex), February 11. 1755. In his infancy the family removed to Lunenburg. He read for his profession under the tuition of Dr. Abraham Haskell, of Lunenburg, and came to this town, 1786. He was a skillful physician and a useful and honored citizen. He died October* 23, 1824. Dr. Abraham Thompson Lowe, son of Dr. Abraham Lowe, was born in this town August 15, 1796 ; graduated at Dartmouth Medical College, and after a few years of professional labor in this town he removed to Boston, 1825, where he was engaged in the wholesale drug trade many years. He was prominently connected with several railroad corporations and monetary institutions. He was the author of several school-books of good repute. He died July 4, 1888.

William J., George and Edward W. Cutler, of the firm of Cutler Brothers, wholesale druggists of Boston ; Abraham L. Cutler, of the firm of A. L. Cutler & Co., paints and oils, Boston; and Charles H. Cutler, of Chicago, III., are sons of Dr. William H. Cutler, an esteemed physician and citizen of this town, and maternal grandsons of Dr. Abraham Lowe.

John Conn, son of a Scotch-Irish immigrant, was born in Harvard, 1740, and removed in early life to this town. He was a lieutenant in the Revolution and was a prominent citizen of the town. His son, John, and grandson, John Conn, Jr., were men of character and ability in this town. Susannah, a daughter of John Conn, Sr., married David Wallace. They are the grandparents of Hon. Rodney Wallace, of Fitchburg.

Deacon Jacob Harris, a native of Ipswich and a former resident of Harvard, removed to Ashburnham, 1767. He was a selectman, and for fifteen years an assessor, a deacon of the church and a conservative, useful citizen. He died September 26, 1826. His son. Rev. Samuel Harris, was a Congregational minister and labored in Alstead, New Boston and Windham, N. H., where he died September 5, 1848.

Jacob Constantine, a son of German immigrants, born 1752, was a good citizen and a Revolutionary soldier. He died March 8, 1814. Lieutenant-Governor Fuller, of Vermont, is a great-grandson.

inent factors in the business and municipal affairs of this town. The former died May 3, 1827, and the latter February 2, 1851. Joseph Gushing, son of Capt. David, established the Farmers' Cabinet of Amherst, N. H., and with him Hon. Isaac Hill learned the art of printing. In 1809 he removed to Baltimore, Md. He was a member of the city government many years and member of the Legislature. Joseph Gushing, a prominent business man of Fitchburg, is a grandson of Capt. David Gushing.

Stephen Gushing, remotely related to the preceding family, removed to Ashburnham, 1830. He was a man of exalted character, and in many capacities faithfully served his townsmen. Rev. Stephen Gushing, his son, born March 13, 1813, has been a successful preacher and officer of the Methodist Conference.

Col. Enoch Whitmore, son of Isaac Whitmore, was born in this town September 8, 1796. He was a farmer and manufacturer. He was a man of clear convictions and (tecided opinions, a radical, but not a fanatic. In politics he was an Abolitionist, and for many years his well-known opinions were a bar to political preferment, and yet, while in a minority, his worth and recognized ability secured a frequent election to oiEce. Living until his views were endorsed and accepted by a large majority of his townsmen, he died September 13, 1860.

Jerome W. Foster, son of Joel Foster, and a descendant in the fourth generation of Jeremiah Foster, an early settler in this town, was born September 15, 1810. He was a civil engineer, a justice of the peace, and often employed in the conduct of town affairs. He was town clerk eighteen years, and in all his faithful service to the town he was aided by good jud;;ment and ability.

Gapt. Silas Whitney, son of Samuel Whitney, was born in Westminster October 20, 1752. He removed to this town, 1778, and became the most extensive laud-holder in the town. He was an active citizen and influential in town affairs. He died November 14, 1798. His descendants are numerous. Ohio Whitney, son of Capt. Silas Whitney, born March 22, 1789, was a man of abili.y and great iorce of character. Affable in manner, upright in character and honorable in all his relations with his townsmen, he commanded the respect and esteem of all. He died March 3, 1870. Hon. Ohio Whitney, son of Ohio Whitney, born June 9, 1813, was much employed in municipal and State affairs, He was a selectman and an assessor many years and a moderator of the annual March meeting eighteen years. He was a trustee of several monetary institutions and a director of the First National Bank of Ashijurnham. In 18.56 he represented this district in the Legislature, and the following year he was a member of the State Senate. He died February 6, 1879. Francis A. Whitney, Esq., a brother of Hon. Ohio Whitney, born in this town August 2, 1823, died April , 28th, 1887. He was a successful school-teacher, many years a member of the School Committee, 'electman and assessor. He was a public-spirited, useful citizen. Milton Whitney, E^-q., son of Capt. Silas Whitney, Jr., and a grandson of Capt. Silas Whitney, was born in this town October 9, 1823. He was an eminent lawyer and several years a county attorney of Baltimore, Md. He was a brilliant advocate, and won many laurels in his profession. He died September 3, 1875. Rev. William Whitney, son of William Whitney and grandson of Capt. Silas Whitney, was born in this town July 22, 1829. He resides at Granville, Ohio, and for many years was financial agent of Dennison University and treasurer of the Baptist Educational Society. Rev. Quincy Whitney, of Cambridge, is a son of Samuel Whitney and a grandson of Capt. Silas Whitney.

Hon. Isaac Hill, a distinguished journalist, Governor of New Hampshire, Comptroller of the Treasury and United States Senator, was a well-rtmembered youth of this town, being nine years of age when the family removed hither. His younger brothers, George W. and Horatio Hill, were born in this town.

Hon. Phinehas Randall was born in Ashburnham, June 5, 1787, and resided here until he began his collegiate study. He was a lawyer, and for several years a presiding judge of Common Pleas of Montgomery County, N. Y. Hon. Alexander W. Randall, Governor of Wisconsin, member of President Grant's cabinet and Minister to Rome, and Hon. Edwin M. Randall, chief justice of Florida, are sons of Hon. Phinehas Randall.

General Harrison C. Hobart, an eminent lawyer of Wisconsin, was born in this town January 31, 1815. He won a brilliant record in the War of the Rebellion, and has exercised a commanding influence in civil and political affairs.

John And Elinor Whitney

John and Elinor Whitney, the emigrant ancestors of a numerous family, sailed from England in the " Elizabeth and Ann," Roger Cooper, master, in April, 1635. At this date he was aged thirty-five, and his wife thirty years. He settled in Watertown, where he became a considerable landholder, and was admitted freeman March 3, 1635-6. He was a selectman eighteen successive years, and his name is conspicuous in the records of his time. He died June 1, 1673; his wife, Elinor, died May 11, 1659.

John, eldest son of John and Elinor Whitney, was born in England, 1624; admitted freeman, 1647. He married Ruth Reynolds, daughter of Robert Reynolds, of Boston, and resided in Watertown. He was a selectman several years, and a prominent citizen. He died October 12, 1692. leaving five sons and five daughters.

He married, March 12, 1673-4, Sarah Hagar, born September 3, 1751, daughter of William and Mary (Bemis) Hagar, of AVatertown. His homestead was included in Weston, where he died January 7, 1732-3 ; his widow died May 7, 1746.

William, third of the seven children of Nathaniel and Sarah (Hagar) Whitney, was born May 6, 1683, and resided in Weston. He married. May 17, 1706, Martha Peirce, born December 24, 1681, daughter of Joseph and Martha Peirce, of Watertown. He died January 24, 1720-1.

Samuel Whitney, son of William and Martha (Peirce) Whitney, was born in Weston May 28, 1719. He married, October 20, 1741, Abigail Fletcher, and was one of the early settlers of Westminster, and is a prominent character in the annals of that town. He died January 1, 1782. Capt. Silas Whitney, of Ashburnham, was a son of these parents.

Abner, son of Samuel and Abigail (Fletcher) Whitney, was born in W'estminster May IS, 1748. He married. May 14, 1770, Elizabeth Glazier, daughter of Jonas and Eunice (Newton) Glazier, of Shrewsbury, who died April 3,1778; he married (2d), April 22, 1779, her sister, Levina (Glazier) Ward, widow of Jonas Ward. He died in Westminster, 1811.

Joseph G., son of Abner and Lcviua Whitney, was born June 22, 1783, He married, 1805, Levina Dunn, and resided in Westminster and in Ashburnham, where he died July 31, 1868.

John, son of Joseph G. and Levina (Dunn) Whitney, was born in Westminster September 12, 1806. He was a pioneer manufacturer of chairs in Westminster and in Ashburnham. He was a man of ability and character, commanding the respect and confidence of his associates. He died May 4, 1873. His wife, whom he marrif d May 9, 1832, was Eliza Gushing, daughter of Stephen Gushing, Esq., a prominent citizen of Ashburnham. She died September 1, 1882.

Wilbur F. Whitkey

Wilbur Fisk Whitney, son of John and Eliza (Gushing) Whitney, and of the ninth generation in America, was born December 9, 1839, and from early manhood has been closely identified with the material intertsts of this town. From an indusrial standpoint the town of Ashburnham occupies a prominent position among the manufacturing towns of the State. Here the manufacture of chairs was an early, and through later years remains an important industry. While the Winchesters and their successors have been conducting an extensive business at the centre of the town, Mr. Whitney, in his chosen field at Siuth Ashburnham, from a humble beginning, has enlarged his facilities from year to year, and at present is at the head of a more extensive business than is owneil and conducted by any single individual in this line of manufacture. His monthly pay-roll, distributed among 250 employes, is

$9000, and the annual product of the manufacture includes 380,000 chairs, valued at wholesale at $350,000. Much of the labor-saving machinery is special, and is covered by patents. The chairs made by Mr. Whitney are the modern styles of cane-.seat and a great variety of rattan chairs. The designs and styles are original, and frequently change to meet the demands of the trade. la mechanical skill, in ability to personally supervise all the minute details of an extensive business, and in a prompt and clear comprehension of the growing demands of the trade, Mr. Whitney has advanced to a prominent position among the manufacturers of the present time. While his success in business has been founded on industry, perseverance and the fortuitous issue of well-matured plans, his honesty and ready appreciation of the rights of others have been important factors. He has continually maintained fraternal relations with his employes, and has had no experience with strikes nor contests with labor organizations. With the spirit of a good citizen, his success has been reflected in the growth and prosperity of the town, and he has ever manifested a lively interest in local and in municipal affairs. In this direction his eflort has been the fruit of principle anil the thoughtful act of method and wisdom rather than the sudden and fitful oflering of a generous impulse. For many years, with system and exactness, ten per cent, of his annual income has been given to religious and charitable objects, and, with a liberality of sentiment characteristic of the donor, no one sect or class has been the sole recipient.

With the experience of years Mr. Whitney has joined the fruit of an attentive study of the social and political problems of the times. His conclusions are intelligently formed, and his judgment of men and of measures is free from partiality and prejudice. In debate he is apt and logical, and if he is decided in his opinions, he is tolerant in judging of the faith and charitable in weighing the conduct of others. His political opinions have been pronounced but conservative. He has not been closely allied with any party, but his political faith has embraced the purposes of good government, and has been unrestrained by the school of politics. In his daily life he has seldom wounded or disappointed his friends, and he has cultivated no enmities. His sympathies, quick and steadfast, lead him to the presence of the wronged and the suffering, and guided by principle, his ministrations to his fellow-nien are ever kind and substantial. In business and in social affairs he has challenged the respect and good opinion of all who know him. His merit has won, and his future will enjoy, the friendship and confidence of his associates. In the personal supervision of an important industry, Mr. Whitney has found full employment, yet he has been an efficient member of the School Committee many years, and has labored in this worlc with unfailing interest. Ho is a director of the Ashburnham National Bank and of the Nashua Reservoir Company. In 1875 he represented this district in the Legislature. In 1878 he was nominated for Congress by the Greenback party and by a convention of Independents. In the canvass he received seven thousand votes. He was renominated in 1882 and 1884. In 1876 and 1877 he was nominated for State treasurer, and in several instances his candidacy was endorsed by the Prohibitionists.

Mr. Whitney is still in the prime of life, and this brief sketch is but the beginning of a completed chapter. Men of his temperament and character summon energy and wisdom with advancing years.

In his domestic relations Mr. Whitney has been fortunate and happy. He was united in marriage, July 17, 1866, to Miss Emeline S. Jewell, daughter of Dexter and Sarah (Mower) Jewell, of Kindge, N. H. Their eldest child, and only son, a lad of great promise and universally beloved, died at the age of fifteen years. Four bright and sunny daughters, from five to fifteen years of age, bring light and gladness to a happy fireside.

Dr. Nathaniel Jewett

Dr. Nathaniel Jewett, the subject of this sketch, was born in Boston, March 10, 1841, and was educated in the public schools of that city. He afterwards pursued a course of professional studies under private tutors.

He graduated with honors from the Boston Dental School in 18G9, and from the New York Eclectic College in 1871, having attended also, lectures in Harvard Medical College, and at the College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York.

He has been president of the Worcester North Eclectic Medical Society, and for many years secretary and treasurer ; also president and counselor of the Ma:isachusetts Eclectic Medical Society, and a member of the National Medical Association.

Through his mother's active interest and sympathy in charitable organizations and reforms during the early years of his life in Boston, his naturally sympathetic and generous qualities were early enlisted in efforts to aid the unfortunate.

Dr. Jewett came to Ashburnhara and commenced the practice of medicine in 1871. Of the eighteen physicians who have practiced here, none have been more constantly or successfully employed. Many serious eases have been under his treatment calling for surgical skill and patient care. With much mechanical ability, and quick to feel for all who suffer, he has been very successful and ingenious in devising mechanical appliances and aids, and inventing means for the comfort and convenience of his patients.

welcome in the sick-room, where so much depends on gentleness and encouraging words. Many a family have looked to him as a support in the hour of sorrow, and found him ever ready to aid when the last rites of affection are needed fur the dead.

Dr. Jewett is social in his nature, ardent, generous and loyal in his friendships, and keenly sensitive to disloyalty or broken faith in those he has trusted. In his tastes he is very artistic, and music is one of his greatest pleasures. IJondof books and study, he has accumulated a large library of medical, scientific and other works.

With a large share of the trials, discouragements and constant requisitions upon a physician's life, he has always been faithful in filial duties. To his mother, who was long an invalid, he gave the best of his care and life, freely relinquishing all that would prevent him from ministering to her needs, and faithfully attending her until her death here, in 1887.

The doctor has long been connected with Masonic orders, active and enthusiastic in interest for all that concerned the fraternity. He has held various positions, and is one of the Past Commanders of Jerusalem Commandery, Fitchburg; also a member of the Grand Commandery of Massachusetts and Rhode Island, and is a thirty -second degree Mason. He has also held offices in various other secret orders.