Worcester City (part 28 of 58)

On the 2d of January, 1829, Mr. Howard sold his interest to Samuel Slater and his sons, George B. Slater and Horatio Nelson Slater, who thus, as Samuel Slater & Sons, became the owners of all the property which had been puchased since 1811, including all the water-power supplied by French River within the limits of what is now Webster and by Chaubunnagunganug Pond. During the year immediately following the purchase of the entire property the firm of Samuel Slater & Sons became involved in embarrassments, from which they were, however, happily and entirely extricated. Mr. Slater died in Webster April 20, 1835. He married, October 2, 1791, Hannah, daughter of Oziel Wilkinson, who died in 1812, and about 1817 he married Esther, daughter of Robert Parkinson, of Philadelphia. His children, all by his first wife, were : William, born August 31, 1796, died January 31, 1801 ; Elizabeth, born November 15, 1798, died November 4, 1801; Mary, born September 28, 1801, died August 19, 1803 ; Samuel, born September 18, 1802, died July 14, 1821; George Bassett, born February 12, 1804, died November 15, 1843 ; John, born May 23, 1805, died January 23, 1838; Horatio N., born March 5, 1808, died August, 1888; William, born October 15, 1809, died September, 1825; Thomas Graham, born September 19, 1812, died 1844.

After the death of Mr. Samuel Slater, in 1835, the business was carried on by George B. Slater and Horatio N. Slater until the death of the former, in 1843, after which date Mr. Horatio N. Slater conducted the business until his death, in August, 1888, and was succeeded by his son, Horatio N. Slater, who is the present manager. The three establishments belonging to the concern are the H. N. Slater Manufacturing Company at the North Village, incorporated in 1836, manufacturing cotton dress-goods, checks, lawns, silesias, jaconets, etc. ; the H. N. Slater Manufacturing Company at the East Village, employed in the finishing of cambrics, silesias, cotton dress-goods, lawns, etc., and the Slater Woolen Company at the East Village, incorporated in 1866, manufacturing broadcloths, flannels, tricots and doeskins. In the three about fifteen hundred hands are employed. The cotton and woolen factories are located on French River and the finishing factory on the outlet from the pond. The water with which the inhabitants of the town and the Fire Department are supplied is furnished from a reservoir belonging to one of these establishments, through pipes of the town water-works, first laid in 1867, for which an annual rental is paid by the town.

new town began to be agitated. His property and interests lay, for the most part within a territory made up of a part of Dudley, a part of Oxford and what was calif d Oxford South Gore, which was a tract of land included in no incorporated town. There were eleven hundred and sixty-eight inhabitants living on this territory, whose wishes in the premises were expressed in a petition to the General Court, which may be found at length in another part of this sketch. An act of incorporation was passed March 6, 1882, ol which the following is the text:

An Act To Incorporatk The Town Of Webster

Sec. 1. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled and by the authority of the same, That the territory in the Southerly part of tlie County of Worcester comprised within the following limits that is to say beginning at the southwest corner of said territory where the line between Massachusetts and Connecticut intersects French Kiver ; thence running easterly by said line to the southwest corner of Douglas ; thence nortlierly by the line which divides Douglas from Oxford South Gore until it intersects the line between Oxford and Douglas ; thence due west two and three-fourths miles and thirty rods to a stone monument about eighty-eight rods west of French River; thence Southerly in the direction of a stone monument in the line of Oxford and Dudley near the house owned by Daniel Greenwood and Samuel Slater to the middle of said river ; thence southerly by said river to the fiiBt mentioned corner together with all the inhabitants dwelling thereon be and they hereby are incorporated into a town by the name of Webster and vested with all the powers, privileges and immunities and subject to all the duties and requirements of other incorporate towns agreeably to the constitution and laws of this Commonwealth.

Sec. 2. Be it further enacted, That the inhal)itjints of said town of Webster shall be bolden to pay all arrears of taxes which have been legally assessed upon them by the towns of Oxford and Dudley before the passing of this act ; and all taxes assessed and not heretofore collected shall be collected and paid to the treasurer ol the towns of Dudley and Oxford respectively in the same manner as if the act had not been passed.

Sec. 3. Be it further enacted, That the said town of Webster shall hereafter be liable to pay two-seventh parts of the expenses necessarily to be incurred in the support of all i»auper^ who at the time of the passing of this act were actually in need of relief and were receiving support from the town of Dudley and one-fourth part of the expenses so to be incurred by the town of Oxford in the support of paupers at present receiving relief from the said town of Oxford. ,\nd that in all cases of paupei-s who shall hereafter stand in need of relief as paupers whose settlements have been derived or obtained in either of the towns of Oxford or Dudley previous to the passing of this act the said paupers shall be supported by the town within the territorial limits of which such settlement was gained, the said town of Webster being required to support all such as have acquired or shall hereafter acquire a settlement within the territory herein described.

Sec. 4. Be it further enacted. That the said town of Webster shall he holden to pay .and discharge two-seventh parts of all expenses which may accrue to the s-aid town of Dudley in the construction of a county road leading from a point near the dwelling-house of Ralph Vinton to the line of Oxford, which the county commissioners for the county of Worcester have heretofore located and ordered to be wrought ; and shall also pay and discharge two-seventh parts of all debts and obligations duo and incurred by the town of Dudley before the passing of this act by virtue of any contract a'ready executed and shall be holden in the same proportional amount for all legal liabilities heretofore incurred by the said town of Dudley not otherwise provided for in this act, Provided, nevertheless that all monies now in the treasury of the said town of Dudley or which may hereafter be paid into the same as the proceeds of taxes already assessed or of obligations now due or owing to the said town of Dudley shall first be applied to the payment of the debts and expenses and the discharge of the liabilities due from or incurred by the town of Dudley as aforesaid.

Sec. 5. Be it further enacted, That the bridge over French River near Preston's cotton-mill and the bridge on the same stream near Slater's cotton thread-mill shall forever hereafter be maintained and kept in repair by said town of Webster and that the bridge on said river near the line of the State of Connecticut shall be maintained and kept in repair by said town of Dudley ; and that the said bridges in regard to all legal liabilities shall be reBpectively deemed and takun to be within the limits of the towu which by this act is required to maintain and repair the same.

Sec. 6. Bo it further enacted, That of all state and county taxes which shall be required of said towns previous to a new valuation the said town of Webster shall pay thereof in the proportion in which the said town of "Webster is liable as aforesaid to the payment of expenses to be incurred as aforesaid in the support of paupers now chargeable to the towns of Oxford and Dudley.

Sec. 7. Be it further enacted, That any justice of the peace for the County of Worcester, upon application therefor is hereby authorized to issue his warrant directed to any freeholder in the said town of Webster requiring him to notify and warn the inhabitants thereof to meet at such time and place as may bo appointed in said warrant for tlie choice of all such towu oflRcers as towns are by law required to choose at the annual t«wn meetings.

On the 27th of February, 1841, an act was passed by the General Court providing that *'from and after the passage of this act the boundary line between Webster and Douglas is hereby coofirmed aud established as follows, viz.: beginning at Nipmuc corner on Oxford line; thence running south seven and a quarter degrees, east one thousand five hundred and seventy-eight rods to the Bald Hill monument on Connecticut line erected by the commissioners of Massachusetts and Connecticut in the year one thousand seven hundred and twelve."

The undersigned iuhabitants of Dudley Oxford and Oxford South Gore BO-called in the County of Worcester represent that they are residents within a territory containing about ten thousand acres of land bounded as follows beginning at the south west corner where the lino between Massachusetts and Connwcticut intersects French River thence Easterly by said line which divides the States to the south west corner of Douglas thence Northerly by the line which divides Douglas from Oxford South Gore till it intersects the lino between Oxford and Douglas thence due west to French River and thence d^-wn said river to the piece of beginning that said Gore which is not within the limits of any municipal corporation contains about four thousand five hundred acres ; that about three thousand five hundred acres are within the limits of Dudley and about two thousand acres witliin the limits of Oxford, that the whole population is 8upi)0sed to be from fifteen to sixteen hundred from seven to eight hundred uf which is in Dudley frOm five to six hundred in Oxford tSc from one hundred to one hundred and fifty in said Gore that said territory was rough and very thinly inhabited until the water-power afforded by said river and a large natural pond invited the enterprise of manufacturers and mechanics from which time it began to fiuurish vigorously and is destined undoubtedly to increase in capital & business and to afford at no distant period a support to a much more numerous population - that there are withiu said territory two religious societies each of which has a meeting-house also a post-office five cotton-mills three woolen-mills ajmachine-sliop, five forge-shops, boe & scythe-shop, a^dyeing and bleaching establishment and six stores in all which extensive and active business ia carried on, that most of said iiopulation is distant from Dudley from three to four miles - from Oxford from fuur to five miles, that the great public highways leading to Boston to Hartford to Providence and other large towns do not pass through Dudley or Oxford so that said population has little nutural connection or connection in business with the villages in the c(;n(ro uf those places, that it is burdensome and inconvenient to travel so great a distance to attend town-meetings and fur other town purposes that it would greatly promote the prosperity happiness and convenience of said population to be admitted to separate municipal privileges, as nearly one-half of said territory has hitherto been denied all pai'ticipation in such rights and the other half is so situated as to be subjected to unreasonable expense and loss of time in obtiining them - that a separation would not be injurious to Dudley or Oxford as each would be left with a large population and territory. Your petitioners therefore pray that they may be incorporated into a town with the

This petition was signed by George B. Slater and one hundred and fourteen others of Dudley, William Kimball and thirty-six others of Oxford, and Paraclete Morris and twenty-one others of Oxford ISouth Gore. It bears no date, but was presented to the General Court in 1831, and referred, June 3d of that year, to the Committee on Towns. On the 8th of June that committee reported through its chairman, David Wilder, that a copy of the petition '* be served on the town clerks of the towns of Oxford aud Dudley, and be published three weeks successively in the Massachusetts Spy and National JEgis^ two newspapers published in Worcester, and that Messrs. John Wyles of Brimfield, Elijah Ingraham of Pawtucket, and William J. Otis of Boston be a committee to view the premises at the expense of the petitioners and report to the nest General Court. This report was accepted, and the matter went over to the Legislature of 1832, and the petition was then re-enforced by another dated December 31, 1831, and signed by Joseph Bracket and five others, who claimed to be residents in Oxford, Dudley and Oxford South Gore.

Commonwealth of Massachusetts. To the Honorable the Senate nud H"use of Eepresentativea to be assembled on the Jiret Wednesday of January, A. I). 1832 : The subscribers, inhabitants of the town of Dudley, in the County of Worcester, beg leave to represent to your honorable body that whereas George B. Slater and a number of other persons, inhabitiints of the town of Oxford and Dudley, and Oxford South Gore, did, at the last session of the General Court of said Conunonwealtb, held on the last Wednesday of May last, present a petition, praying that all of that part of Dudley lying Easterly of French or Stony Kiver, and a part of Oxford defl(?ribed in said petition, together with siiid Oxford South Gore, might be incorporated into a Town, aud whereas there was an order of notice issued on eaid petition, returnable to the next General Court, to be held on the first Wednesday of January, then next following ; we therefore humbly pray that if your Honorable Body shall see fit and proper to grant the prayer of the aforesaid George B. Slater and others, that the following described tract of land, lying in Dudley aforesaid, and westerly of the aforesaid Kiver (containing by estimate eight hundred acres, bounded as follows), viz. : Beginning on the west bank of siiid River being at the southeast corner of the farm formerly owned by Nathan Ward, but now by Zera Prcstou and Joseph Scholfield ; thence on the soutli line uf sjiid farm, westerly about eighty rods, to the southwest corner of said farm ; thence northerly on the west line of said farm to the northwest corner of the same ; thence in a northerly direction to the outlet of Peter Pond (so-called) ; thence in a straight line to a monument on Oxford old line, where Dudley projects northerly into Charlton ; from thence, on Oxford old line, easterly about two hundred rods, to a monument northerly of Olney Esten,in Oxford ; thence southerly, on Oxford line, to the River aforesaid, and down said River to the first-mentioned corner, may be incorporated into the same Town, and be a part thereof as fully and effectually asif the same had been included in the aforesaid petition. Our reasons for earnestly requesting that our petition may be granted are that we are owners of land on both sides of the aforesaid River; that we live from two and one-half to three and onehalf miles from the centre of the Town in Dudley, where public business is done ; that we are but from half a mile to a nnle from the centre of population of the contemplated new Town, and where it is conteml>lated that the town business will be di>ne. That three or four years ' since, we, together with a number of inhabitants on the easterly side of said River, composing a large and respectable School District, erected a larj;;e and commodious stone school-house on the westerly line of said River ; that if the Town is divided by saiil River, our School District will be SLi small that we shall receive but very little advantage of schooling. That our business is almost wholly connected with the first-mentioned petitioners, having very little intercourse with the Town of Dudley, most of us, that we are almost wholly connected, and attend religious meetings at the houses of public worship, east of said River, we therefore humbly beg that your Honorable Body will take this, our petition, under your consideration, and act thereon as you, in your wisdom, shall see fit and proper.

On the 17th of September, 1831, a legal meeting of the inhabitanta of the town of Oxford was held, and Ira Barton, Stephen Davis and Kichard Stover were appointed a committee to confer with the committee appointed by the General Court, and a remonstrance against the petition of George B. Slater, presented by Mr. Barton, was adopted.

At the same date, a meeting of the inhabitants of Dudley was held, and a committee, consisting of George A. Tufts, Morris Larned, John Eddy, William Hancock and Joseph H. Perry, was chosen to oppose the petition for a new town. On the 14th of November, in the same year, another meeting was held in Dudley, and a remonstrance prepared by the committee chosen in September was adopted.

Another remonstrance was presented by Joseph Kingsbury, who represented himself to be a resident in the territory proposed to be incorporated, and asked that he, together with his estate, might remain in the town of Oxford.

The committee appointed by the General Court at the session of 1831 made a report dated September SO, 1831, which, on the 17th of January, 1832, was referred to the Committee on Towns of the General Court of that year. The committee stated that the territory within the towns of Oxford and Dudley and Oxford South Gore contained 39,943 acres, of which Oxford contained 18,250, Dudley 17,200, and the Gore 4,493. The territory included in the petition would take 1,350 acres from Oxford, 3,280 from Dudley, and the whole of the Gore, thus constituting a town of 9,123 acres, and leaving to Oxford 16,900 acres, and to Dudley 13,920 acres.

As regards population, they stated that Oxford contained 1900 inhabitants, Dudley 2155, and the Gore 134, making a total of 4189. The town petitioned for would take 312 inhabitants from Oxford, 722 from Dudley, and all the inhabitants of the Gore, making a total of 1168, leaving in Oxford 1588, and in Dudley 1433. They also stated that in 1731 a portion of the Gore had been annexed to Oxford, and ia 1887 another portion, and that the school ID the Gore wjas supported by voluntary contribution. The taxable property in Oxford in 1830 was $693,333, of which $90,200 belonged to the proposed town, and was owned - by Samuel Slater, $54,450; George and John Slater, $12,316. The valuation of real and personal estate in the Gore for the same year was $28,034. In the part of Dudley proposed to be included in the new town there were twentyfour "eehoklers, with real estate valued at $41,624.40; the Slaters owned real estate in it valued at $63,374, and the personal estate in that portion, including that owned by the Slaters, was valued at $53,886. The committee also stated that the inhabitants of the South Gore in 1831 petitioned for certain highway and school privileges analogous to those of incorporated towns, and that fourteen of the remonstrants were now petitioners for the new town. The committee stated in conclusion, "that, all things considered, the towns of Oxford and Dudley and Oxford South Gore are well calculated to constitute three convenient towns, and that the prayer of the petitioners ought, in the deliberate opinion of the committee, to be granted."

The Committee on Towns, in accordance with the recommendations of the foregoing report, reported the bill, the text of which has been already quoted, and the bill was duly passed, as before stated, March 6, 1832.

It ia only necessary to refer in this sketch to that part of the town of Webster which was popularly known for many years as Oxford South Gore. The remaining portions of the town, prior to the incorporation of the town of Webster, will be appropriately treated in the histories of the towns of Oxford and Dudley. This Gore was simply a tract of laud which had been included in grants to individuals, but in the formation of towns had never been included within their boundaries. In 1831, when surveyed under a resolve of the Legislature, it contained, as already stated, four thousand five hundred and ninety acres, was irregular in shape, and was bounded by lines running in seven different courses, and by the irregular margin of a part of Chaubunnagunganug Pond, which separated it from Douglas, Dudley and Oxford. It is largely covered by either woods or water, and possesses a soil which did not, in tlie creation of early towns, make it a desirable possession. On the 8th of December, 1731, a small portion of the Gore was annexed to the town of Oxford, in reference to which the following extract from the records of the General Court may not be without interest :

WEPNESDAy, December 8, 1731. A petition of Isaac Larned, in behalf of the town of Oxford, showing that Jogiah Kingsberry and Theodore Kingsberry live upon a farm adjacent to the said town of Oxford, and nearer to the meeting-house there than to any. other meeting house, and are very desirous to be annexed to the said town. Therefore praying that the said farm between the south end of O.xford village and Chaubunnagunganug pond 6o running westward till it comprehends all the said farm and the land of the said Isaac Larned lying eiist of the Road passing from Oxford to Woodstock, be annexed to the said town of Oxford, the saitl petition

In the House of Representatives read and ordered that the petitioners witli their lands within mentioned, be and hereby are to all intents and purposes whatsoever annexed to the town of Oxford.

An act to annex a part of a tract of land commonly called The Oxford South Gore, with the inhabitants and estates thereon to the town of Oxford.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same. That Lemuel Cudworth, Craft Davis, K/.ekiel Davis, David Fitts, Abijah Harris, Joseph Kingsben-y, Epliraim Kingsberry, Samuel Kingsberry, Jereniiah KingsVierry, Jr., John Larned, John Larned the 3d, living on or being owners of a tract of land lying between the towns of Dudley, Douglas and Oxford, commonly called The Oxford South Gore, together with James Wallis, of Dudley, and all others, the inhabitants living on or owning lands in that part of said Gore hereby set off with th*-ir fann'- lies and estates, although not particularly named in this act and witlu)nt the line of the town of Oxford, as the same is described by the following bounds, be, and hereby are, annexed to and made a part of the said town of Oxford, viz.; Beginning at the line at the southeast corner between Dudley and Oxford, and running north thirty-four degrees west three hundred and twelve rods ; thence east eight degrees north two hundred and ten rods; thence north eight degrees and twenty minutes west two hundred and thirty-two rods; thence east eighteen degrees north three hundred and eighty -eight rods; thence s-JUth two degrees and forty minutes west one hundred and thirteen rods; thence west two degrees and forty-five minutes north eighty-five rods; theuce south twenty-one degrees and forty-five minutes west four hundred and thirty rods; thence south eight degrees and twenty minutes east eighty-nine rods to the corner first mentioned.

At the time of the incorporation of the town of Webster there were within its territorial limits a Baptist and a Methodist Episcopal Society. The Baptist Society had its origin at an early period in that part of Dudley which was included in the town of Webster, probably as early as 17-14, though it was not formally organized as a religious body until October 26, 1814. It was then called the Baptist Church of Dudley, and consisted at the time of its organization of twenty- seven males and twenty-eight females. The organization was formed in the district schoolhouse by an ecclesiastical council consisting of Rev. P. Crosby, of Thompson, Conn.; Rev. William Bentley, of Worcester ; Rev. James Boomer, of Charlton ; Rev. Z. L. Leonard, of Sturbridge ; Rev. James Grow, of Pomfret, Conn. ; Rev. Luther Goddard and Messrs. Jeremy F. Tolman and John Walker. Rev. Mr. Bentley was chosen moderator, and Rev. Mr. Leonard scribe, and the sermon was preached by Rev. Mr. Grow. The members of the society as then organized were Smith Arnold, John Baker, Stephen Bartlett, Jr., Stephen Bracket, Thomas Brown, Esek Brown, Nathan Cody, Nathaniel Crosby, David Freeman, Michael Hill, Liberty Ide, William Leonard, John Larned, Eliakim Robinson, John Stockwell, John Stone, Gardner Stone, Jubal Wakefield, Aaron Wakefield, Joel Wakefield, Simeon Wakefiel.l, Luther Whitman, William W. Webster, Nathan Wood, Luther Wood, Lucy Arnold, Lucina Bartlett, Catherine Bartlett, Fanny Bracket, Phebe Brown, Jerusha Bracket,

On the 8th of November, 1814, Mr. Stephen Bartlett and Mr. Nathaniel Crosby were chosen deacons, and on the 15th of June, 1815, Mr. Esek Brown, who had been a deacon of the Sutton Church, was invited to become pastor. The ordination was conducted in a tent, and Rev. Samuel Waters and Rev. Zenas L. Leonard were chosen moderator and scribe of the council. Rev. Mr. Leonard, then of Sturbridge, preached the sermon ; Rev. James Grow, ot Pomfret, made the ordaining prayer ; Rev. Samuel Waters, of Sutton, the charge; Rev. William Bentley, of Worcester, gave the right hand of fellowship, and Rev. Isaac Dwinell, of Auburn, made the concluding prayer. In September, 1818, Mr. Brown removed to the Baptist Church in Lebanon, Conn., and until the spring of 1826 the society was without a pastor. At that time Rev. John B. Ballard was settled and served until the spring of 1828. Mr. Ballard was born in Dudley, October 25, 1795, and was a graduate of the Hamilton Theological Institute in 1820. Before his settlement in Webster he was settled in Masonville, whore he was ordained November 13, 1823. After leaving Webster he was settled in Bloomfield, Conn., and for thirteen years lie was the agent of the American Sabbath-School Union. He died in the city of New York, January 29, 1856, while in the service of the Tract Society. In the year of his settlement the first meeting-house was erected and dedicated on the 26th of December of that year, on which occasion Elder Jonathan Going, of Worcester, preached the sermon.

In 1828 Rev. Joshua Eveleth was ordained and served one year, when he was succeeded by Rev. Hubbard Loomis, who also served one year. Mr. Loomis had been tor twenty-four years a settled Congregational minister in Wellington, Conn., and in 1832, after leaving Webiter, he founded the Theological Seminary in Alton, Illinois. Rev. Thomas Barnett, a native of Belchertown, succeeded Mr. Loomis in 1830, and served two years and five months. During his pastorate Webster was incorporated, and the church became by name the Baptist Church in Webster. In December, 1832, Rev. Abiel Fisher was ordained and served one year and six months. Mr. Fisher was born in Putney, Vermont, June 19, 1787, and graduated at the Burlington University in 1812. He studied theology with Rev. Nathaniel Kendrick, of Middlebury, Vermont, and was licensed to preach June 18, 1813. In January, 1816, he was ordained pastor in Bellingham, where he served twelve years. In September, 1828, he went to West Boylston, where he preached three years, and then to Sturbridge,

In April, 1834, Rev. James Grow was settled and remained one year. Mr. Grow died in Thompson, Conn., March 17, 1859, at the age of ninety years. Rev. Loorais G. Leonard, a graduate of the Newton Theological Institute, succeeded in September, 1836, and served six years and seven months. He was dismissed, at his own request, March 3, 1843, and removed to Thompson, Conn., and afterwards to New London, and to Zanesville, Marietta and Lebanon, Ohio. Rev. John F. Burbank was settled in April, 1843, and served three years and five months. He graduated at the Newton Theological Institute in 1840, and died in Worcester November 22, 1853, at the age of forty-two years. Rev. Lyman Jewett, also a graduate of the Newton Theological Institute, succeeded Mr. Burbank, in March, 1848, and Rev. Joseph Thayer, of South Sutton, followed, in April, 1849. Mr. Thayer afterwards was settled as a Freewill Baptist minister in Mendon, and finally removed to Minnesota. Rev. Frederick Charlton, of Plainfield, was settled in April, 1850, and served three years. After leaving Webster he removed to Wilmington, Del., and finally was settled in Sacramento, Cal. In April, 1853, Rev. George W. Dorrence, who had been a chaplain in the navy, was settled, and preached two years, followed in March, 1856, by Rev. J. L. A. Fish, who served seven years and three months. Mr. Fish was a graduate of the Newton Theological Institute. He resigned in June, 1863, and removed to East Tisbury. In April, 1863, Rev. Charles W. Reding was settled, and preached six years, followed by Thomas T. Tilman, in August, 1869, who still remains. During the pastorate of Mr. Reding the present stone meeting-house was built at a cost of $31,067. During his pastorate also the fiftieth anniversary of the formation of the society occurred on the 30th of October, 18fi4, on wliich occasion he delivered a commemorative address.

The Methodist Episcopal Church was organized in September, 1823. Samuel Henderson and John McCausland came from Ireland and settled within the territory afterwards included in the town of Webster. They established class meetings, and in the same year founded a society together with Samuel J. Booth, William Archer, Parsons Tourtellot, Olney Esten, Ebenezer Pluramer, William Harbenson, William Hurd, Hezekiah Davis, Calvin Aldrich, Charles Wait, Henry Davis, John Dixon, William Andrews, Daniel Dwight, Oliver Adams, Jr., ai)d Jeremiah Upham.

The first meeting-house of this society was erected in 1828 and dedicated June 29th of that year. Its cost was $1,467.40. A second and larger meetinghouse was built in 1833 and dedicated January 14, 1834. Its cost was $4,626. A third meeting-house, larger and more commodious as the growing necessities of the society demanded, was built at a cost of $22,000, including land, organ and fixtures, in 1866, and dedicated September 12, 1867.

The above two societies - the Baptist and the Methodist Episcopal - were the only religious societies existing in Webster at the date of its incorporation, March 6, 1832. The first religious society organized alter its incorporation was the First Congregational Church and Society, which was formed Juae 13, 1838, with a membership of forty-one persons, most of whom had previously been attendants on public worship in the Baptist Church. At the first meeting of this society Jonathan Day was chosen moderator, and James J. Robinson, clerk, and George B. Slater, Dexter W. Jones and Lyman Johnson, assessors and standing committee. Its first services were held in the old meeting-house of the Methodist Episcopal Society, where they continued to be held until the present meeting-house was built in 1842. The new house of worship soon proved too small for the needs of the society and was enlarged in 1849.

The Catholic Church and Society was organized in 1844, and placed under the charge of the pastor of St. John's Church at Worcester. The foundations ol the St. louis Church edifice were laid in 1853, while the society was under the ministrations of Rev. Mr. Gib^^on, and cost eight thousand dollars. It was built of brifk, but soon proving too small, was enlarged in 1865 at a cost of twenty thousand dollars,,and soon after a parish-house was built at a cost of seven thousand five hundred dollars. Mr. Gibson was succeeded by Rev. Napoleon Magnault, and in 1858 Rev. James Quan became pastor and still remains. The large number of Catholic French belonging to the church, who could with difficulty speak and understand the English language, soon rendered the formation of a new society desirable, and in 1870 the French-speaking portion of the St. Louis Church organized the Parish of the Sacred Heart in the old Methodist Episcopal meeting-house, which they bought and enlarged, with Rev. J. Cosson as their pastor. Mr. Cosson left in 1871, and was succeeded by Rev. A. A. Landry, of North Adams, who remained until his death, in 1885. He was succeeded by Rev. H.H.Landry in 1885, who was followed in 1887 by Rev. Joseph A. Legris, the present pastor.

The Webster Universalist Society was organized April 22, 18(51, and on the 1st of May, 1864, Rev. George J. Sanger was ordained as its pastor. On the 2d of June, 1866, the society was incorporated under the General Laws. In that year and the next, their meeting-house was built at a cost of about twenty thousand dollars, and dedicated August 21, 1867. Mr. Sanger was followed in 18G9 by Rev. J. W. Keyes, and in 1874 Rev. J. W. Moore was settled and served until 1877. In September, 1878, Rev. J. F. Simmons became pastor, during whose pastorate Mrs. Julia Clemens Murdock, a devoted friend of the society, died on the 27th of April, 1879, and gave to it by her will a bequest of several thousand dollars in value. Rev. Edgar W. Preble is the present pastor, and succeeded Bev. Mr. Simmons in January, 1887.

There is also a Polish Catholic Society, who.se church was dedicated on the 1st of April, 1888, of which Rev. Franz S. Chalupka is the pastor.

The Protestant Episcopal Church of Webster held its first service in the town-hall at East Webster, July 18, 1869, with Rev. William H. Brooks, D.D., rector of Grace Church, at Oxford, as the oflBciating clergyman. On the 3d of January, 1870, a parish was formed under the name of the Church of the Reconciliation. On the 23d of January, 1870, the church held services in Webster Hall, and on January 30th in Good Templars' Hall, where it continued to hold services until April 10th of that year, when it occupied the Congregational Chapel, which it continued to occupy until its church edifice was erected. On July 18, 1870, the corner-stone of its church was laid on land presented by Mr. William 8. Slater, and on the 3d of January, 1871, it was dedicated by ceremonies conducted by Right Rev. Mantou Easthurn. At the laying of the corner-stone. Dr. Brooks officiated, on which occasion Rev. Thomas L. Randolph, of St. John's Church, of Wilkiusville, made the prayer,

Rev. William N. Ackley, rector of Trinity Church, at Newtown, Conn., delivered the address, and Rev. James W. Clark, of St. Philip's Church, at Putnam, Conn., made the concluding prayer.

Rev. Doctor Brooks, the rector of Grace Church, at Oxford, held one service in Webster, after the formation of the society, until October 1, 1869, and after that date until April 1, 1870, he devoted his whole time to the interests of the society at its urgent request. On the 19th of March, 1870, he was called to the rectorship, and accepted the call at the termination of his temporary service on the 1st of April, serving as rector until his resignation, April 2, 1872. He was a graduate of the Theological Seminary of the Protestant Episcopal Church of Virginia, July 15, 1852, and was ordained deacon by Right Rev. William Meade, D.D., in Christ Church, Alexandria, Virginia, the next day. On the 13th of January, 1855, he was ordained priest by Right Rev. Alfred Lee, D.D., in St. Thomas' Church, Newark, Delaware. Before his pastorates in Oxford and Webster he was for a time rector of Christ Church, in Plymouth, and is now rector of St. Andrew's Church at Hanover, Mass.

Rev. Roger S. Howard succeeded Dr. Brooks, and resigned in January, 1879. He was followed in 1880 by Rev. Langdon C. Stewardson, who served until 1884, when Rev. A. U. Stanley officiated until 1887, who was succeeded by Rev. J. Eldred Brown, the present pastor.

The Reformed Methodist Church of Webster was organized in 1872, under the direction of Rev. Harvey Wakefield. In 1872 its meeting-house was built at a cost of two thousand five hundred dollars, and dedicated January 1, 1873. Ou the occasion of its dedication the dedicatory pr.ayer was made by Rev. Mr. Wakefield, and the sermon was delivered by Rev. William H. Kirk. Mr. Wakefield still has charge of the pulpit of this society.

The Second Advent Society was established in 1883. Rev. J. E. Cross served as its pastor from 1884 to 1886. Rev. D. Matherson from 1886 to 1887, and its present pastor is Rev. George D. Smith.

The public schools within the territory of Webster were far from being in a satisfactory condition at the time of its incorporation. At a town-meeting held April 23, 1832, a committee consisting of the Board of Selectmen, with Dexter Rawson and Turner Cudworth added, was appointed to divide the town into school districts. At a meeting held on the 28th of May, the committee reported the formation of five districts, as follows :

No. 1. All that part of the town formerly a part of Oxford, and east of French River, including the Oxford South Gore, which lies north of the farm of John Rawson, and a line extending easterly to the Douglas line.

No. 2. All the remainder of the Gore bounded east by Douglas, south by District No. 1, west by what wasDudley east line, and south by the Connecticut line.

Webster

No. 3. That part of Dudley bounded east by what was the Gore west line, north by the road leading from Unionville to the four corners near the house of Eev. Thomas Bassett, west by the road leading southerly from said four corners to the Thompson road, and by said Thompson road, including the farm on the we^t side thereof and adjoining the same, and south by the Connecticut line.

No. 4. The territory bounded east by District No. 3, north by the road leading from the Thompson Road, west to the central turnpike and a line extending therefrom in the same direction to the French River, and west by said river and south by the Connecticut line.

No. 5. The remainder of the town bounded east and north by Districts 3 and 1, including the territory that was formerly a part of Oxford, situated on the west side of French River, west by said river and south by Districts 3 and 4.

The district system was abolished in 1867 by law, and since that time.a steady improvement has marked the schools of the town. There are now fourteen schools besides an evening school. There are a High School with an average attendance of 47, a High Grammar School with an average attendance of 34, the No. 1 Centre School with an average attendance of 34, the Fenner Hill School with an average attendance of 29, the Prospect Street Intermediate with an average attendance of 27, the Prospect Street Primary School with an average attendance of 31, a Grammar School with an average attendance of 34, the Gore School with an average attendance of 10, the Kingsbury School with an average attendance of 7, the First Primary, No 4, with an average attendance of ;17, the Second Primary, No. 4, with an average attendance of 38, the Intermediate, No. 4, with an average attendance of 29, the Grammar Room, No. 4, with an average attendance of 33 and the North Village School with an average attendance of 29.

To support these schools appropriations were made at the annual meeting of 1888 of $2000 for the High School, §4200 for the common schools, SIOOO for school incidentals, $300 for books and supplies and $400 for evening schools.

The appropriations for other purposes made at the same meeting, which may properly be mentioned in this place, were: For roads, $2200; sidewalks, $1500 ; repairing sidewalks, $G00 ; Fire Department, $2000 ; water supply, $.565; hook-and-ladder truck, $1000; Memorial Day, 1100; street lights, $1500; salaries, $1500 ; interest, $500 ; insane poor, $4400 ; Poor Farm, $1200 ; railings for dangerous places, $150 ; snow, ice and gutters, $300 ; town incidentals, $2000 ; buildings at town farm, $2600, and repairs of Harris Street, $1000 - -making the total appropriation for the year $30,265, or a valuation of $2,290,844.

During the War of the Rebellion the inhabitants of Webster faithfully performed their duty in the enliijtment of soldiers and in the appropriation of money. There was no military company within the limits of the town and consequently the patriotic rather than the mere military spirit of the young men inspired enlistments in the service. These enlistments began at the earliest period of the war and were kept up with vigor as long as demands were made on the town for recruits. At the close of the war it was found that Webster had furnished three hundred and sixty-seven men, a surplus of fifty-seven over its required quotas.

On the 29th of April, 1861, at a legal town-meeting, it was voted "to pay each volunteer, belonging to Webster, five dollars a month while in active service, and to his wife and mother, dependent upon him for support, one dollar and a half per week, and to each child fifty cents per week, and if the family should need more the amounts to be increased at the discretion of the Selectmen." It was also voted to pay volunteers one dollar per day while drilling, the aid to families beginning when the soldiers were sworn into service. At the same meeting the sum of four thousand dollars was appropriated for the establishment of a war fund.

On the 6th of July, 1861, the town voted " to furnish the Slater Guards, then drilling, with uniforms preparatory to its entering the service as Company I of the Fifteenth Massachusetts Regiment of Infantry." On its departure a dinner and the sum of one thousand dollars were given to the men, and swords and belts to the officers. The ladies of the town gave also to each man mittens and socks, and William T. Shumway presented the company with a flag.

On the 5th of November the town voted " that we hereby tender our thanks to the Slater Guards for their bravery at the battle of Ball's Bluff." On the 10th of July, 1862, it was voted " to pay a bounty of one hundred dollars to each soldier enlisting for three years on the quota of the town." On the 8th of December, 1863, the sum of six thousand dollars was appropriated for a war fund and a like sum for recruiting purposes. On the 14th of July, 1864, it was voted to increase the bounty to one hundred and twenty-five dollars. The money appropriated by the town during the war for war purposes, exclusive of State aid, was $28,674.61, and the amount paid for State aid was $18,920.63.

The following is a list of the soldiers furnished by the town with the terms of their enlistments and the organization to which they belonged. The terms of enlistment of those not marked were, in each case, three years, those marked (') enlisted for nine months; those marked (^) for one hundred days; those marked {') for one year; and those marked (*) for three months.

1862. Marcus M. Corbin, died at Newbern, N. C. Louis Dupey, killed at Cold Harbor, June 2, 1864. Samuel Emerson, died at Antietam, September 26, 1862. Charles G. Foster, died at .\ntietam, September 17, 1862. John George, died a prisoner, 1864. John Grady, killed at Gettysburg, Pa., July 3, 1863. John E. Holland, died November 29, 1864. Joseph Holland, died at Alexandria, Va., November 28, 1862. William Kelley, died at City Point, Va., June 25, 1864. Frederick Levoice, killed at Chantilly, Va., September 1, 1862. Thomas P. Mungan, died of wounds received at Antietam, Md., October

1862. Antoine Phillips, died at Andersonville. Mitchell Prevost, killed at Malvern Hill, Va., July 1, 1S62. George O. Raymond, died of wounds received at Gettysburg, Pa., July

22, 1863. Gottfried Reidman, died of wounds received at Antietam, Md., September 30, 1862. John D. Reynolds, killed at Cold Harbor, Va., May 30, 1864. Francis Sarturn, killed at Gettysburg, Pa., July 3, 1863. Abraham Sargent, killed at Antietam, Md., September 16, 1862. Joseph D. Scholfield, died at Fort Lyons, Va., February 16, 1863. William Scott, drowned at Ball's Blufr, Va., October 21, 1861. William L. Sholes, killed at Antietam, Md.. September 17, 1862. Albert H. Snow, died of wounds received at Gettysburg, Pa., July Id

1863. Frederick Soden, killed at Ball's Bluff, Va., Oct. 21, 1861. Frederick Stanton, killed at Gettysburg, Penn., July 3, 1863, Egbert M. Stevens, died Feb. 8, 1863. James Stevens, killed at Ball's Bluff, Va., Oct. 21, 1861. Alfred Tourtellote, died of wounds received at Antietam, Md., Oct.

The first meeting of the town was held under a warrant issued by Charles Allen as justice of the peace, and directed to Jonathan Day, one of the freeholders of the town of Webster, requiring him to notify and warn the freeholders and other inhabitants of the town qualified to vote in the choice of townofficers to meet at the Baptist meeting-house on the 2d day of April, at two o'clock in the afternoon, to choose all necessary oiHcers. The warrant was dated March 7, 1832. On account of the sickness of Judge Allen the meeting was called to order by Ira M. Barton, a justice of the peace, who read the act of incorporation and then put the question to the town, " Will you now proceed to the choice of a clerk '? " which was responded to unanimously in the affirmative. Mr. Barton then read the law prescribing the qualification of voters, and the election followed, which resulted in the casting of oue hundred and three votes, eighty-four of which were for Charles P. Baldwin, and nineteen for Charles Waite, and Mr. Baldwin was chosen.

Charles A. Hodges. James H. Lynch. Asher T. Moore. Asher T, Moore. Charles A. Hodges. Patrick Condren. Charles A. Hodges. Patrick Condren. Austin C. Burnett. Austin C. Burnett. Lyman R. Eddy. Patrick Condren.

The following list will show the persons who have been chosen moderators, clerks and treasurers at the annual lown-meetings since the incorporation of the town -

Clert. John Q. Adams. John Q. Adams. Newton Tourtellotte. P. \V. Bruce. P. W. Bruce. P. W. Bruce. P. W. Bruce. S. A. Tingier. S. A. Tingier. S. A. Tingier. S. A. Tingier. S. A, Tingier. S. A. Tingier. S. A. Tingier. S. A. Tingier. S. A, Tingier, S, .\. Tingier. S. A. Tingier. S. A. Tingier. S. A. Tingier. Cortland Wood. Cortland Wood. Cortland Wood. Cortland Wood. Cortland Wood. Cortland Wood. Cortland Wood. Cortland Wood. Charles H. Burr, Louis E, Denfield, Edward P. Carter. Edward P. Carter. Edward P.Caiter. Edward P. Carter. Edward P. Carter.

The following persons have served as Representatives from Webster in the General Court in the years set against their names, down to the representation of districts, in 1858 :

By an amendment of the Constitution, adopted by the Legislatures of 1856 and '57, and ratified by the people May 1, 1857, it was provided that a census of the legal voters in the Commonwealth, on the 1st of May, 1857, should be taken, and returned to the Secretary of the Commonwealth on or before the last day of June, on the basis of which census the Legislature should create representative districts. Under the new arrangement Webster and Douglas formed the Twenty-second Worcester District, which was represented as follows :

Under the census of 18G5 a new apportionment was made, and the Sixteenth Worcester District, including Douglas, Webster, Dudley, Oxford, Sutton and Millbury, was entitled to three Representatives, as follows :

Under the apportionment based on the census of 1875, Webster, Douglas and Dudley formed the Fourteenth Worcester District, with one Representative, as follows :

Under the apportionment based on the census of 1885, Webster, Oxford and Auburn constituted the Eighth Worcester District, with one Representative,

Besides the Slater factories there are only a few other manufacturing industries worthy of mention : A. J. Bates & Co. employ about one hundred and fifty hands, and B. A. Corbin & Son about three hundred and fifty hands in the manufacture of men's and youths' shoes. The Webster Gas Light Company began business in 1865; and is controlled by the Stevens Linen Works, in Dudley, on the other side of French River. Among the institutions may be mentioned the First National Bank of Webster, incorporated in 1875, and having a capital of one hundred thousand dollars. Its present officers are Chester C. Corbin, president ; E. L. Spaulding, cashier ; and C. C. Corbin, Cyrus Spaulding, Josiah Perry, J. M. Morse, L. R. Eddy, George Tracy and E. L. Spaulding, directors. The Webster Five Cent Savings Bank was incorporated in 1868, and had, at the time of its last report, deposits of $683,091, undivided earnings of $7,118.16. and a guaranty fund of .$11,336.26. Its officers are Cyrus Spaulding, president; Waldo Johnson, John F. Hinds, Darius Wood and E. P. Morton, vice-presidents; F. A. Stockwell, treasurer; and L. E. Pattison, secretary. In 1869 the Webster Mutual Fire Insurance Company was incorporated, but was never organized.

The following societies are now in existence in the town: The Sovereigns of Industry; the Webster Lodge, A. F. and A.M. ; the Webster Lodge, No. 56, A. O. U. W. ; the Sigel Lodge, No. 93, D. O. H. ; the Benjamin Franklin Council, No. 333 ; the Loyal Order of Tonti, No. 107 ; the Maanexit Lodge, No. 117, I. O. 0. F. ; the Nathaniel Lyon Post, G. A. R. ; the Assembly, No. 4060, K. of L. ; the Royal Arcanum Relief Association ; the St. Jean Baptiste Society ; La Ligue Du Cffiur de Jesus ; the Gesangverein Deutschen Liederkranz; the Deutsch Dramatischen Verein ; the Deutsche Liederkranz Band ; the Turnverein Vorwiirts ; the Deutsehen Theater Club ; the St. Patrick's Temperance Society ; the Sodality of the Sacred Heart ; and the Ladies of St. Ann.

The post-office, now located at the main village of Webster, was located at the time of the incorporation of the town and had been for some years at the east village and was called the South Oxford oifice, but, in 1841, nine years after the incorporation, was moved to its present location. The main, or depot village, as it is called, shows many signs of prosperity. It is the chief business section, and there are located the banks, the town offices, the apparatus of the Fire Department, the hotel, and most of the stores. It lies on the Southbridge section of the Boston and New England Railroad, and also on the Norwich and Worcester Railroad, thus having easy access to Boston by two routes, and also to Providence, Worcester and New York. It not only enjoys its own local trade but the people in the settlements at Jericho, Marino Village, Chaseville and Perryville, in Dudley, across the river, not inconsiderable in numbers, patronize its shops, its shows, its various societies, and attend its churches. The population of the town, which, at the time of its incorporation, was 1168, increased to 1403 in 1840, to 2371 in 1850, to 2912 in 1860, to 4763 in 1870, to 5696 in 1880, and to 6220 in 1885. The valuation, which was $277,118 at the time of the incorporation, increased to $2,466,428 in 1885.

Two newspapers are published in Webster, The Webster Times and the Worcester County News, biith published weekly in Webster and both are enterprising and successful journals. The former is edited by John Cort and the latter by John T. Miniter, and a job printing office is connected with each.

In concluding this sketch the following list of the present town officers is added : Selectmen, Charles A. Hodges, Patrick Condren, Austen C. Burnett; Town Clerk, Edward P. Carter; Treasurer, Oscar Shumway ; Overseers of the Poor - for three years, John Flint ; for two years, Elisha N. Bigelow ; for one year, John F. Hinds; Assessors, William F. Gale, William Shanley, Monroe H. Corbin, Michael Scholfield, Russell B. Putnam ; Auditors, James Maguire, James Cocks, John B. McQuaid ; School Committee - for three years, Edward P. Carter; for two years, Henry F. Thompson ; for one year, Charles B. Kendrick ; Constables, Thomas Farrell, William Hanley, Joseph C. Spaulding, Patrick H. Grimley, O. W. Emerson, John J. Dwyer, Uzziel Gleason, Joseph P. Love, Daniel G. Blackman> Solomon Shumway, George D. Adams, John Sullivan, Collector, Charles E. Brown ; Deputy Sheriff, Solomon Shumway.

Frederick D. Brown, M.D.

Frederick Davis Brown, M.D., was born in the town of Sutton, Mass., on September 5, 1824. His early life was in many respects similar to that of most country boys of the period, working on the farm in the summer and attending the district school in the winter. But, unlike many of his boyhood associates, he was not "bound out" for a term of years to the farmer or the blacksmith, but was given the opportunity of pursuing such course of study as best suited his inclination. He chose that of medicine, and at the age of seventeen entered the office of Dr. George Rawson, of Grafton. Reading with a country doctor of that time meant chiefly the care of the doctor's horse, doing the numerous chores about the premises, assisting his instructor in gathering and drying the herbs and simples 80 commonly used in those days, and in preparing the powders and pills, and on rare occasions helping the doctor in some minor surgical operations.

After two years of such training he removed to Worcester and entered the Baptist Academy. He did not, however, abandon his medical studies, but continued them with Dr. Samuel Green, until the doctor accepted the position of medical missionary to Ceylon, tendered him by the Board of Foreign Missions. Dr. Green placed his young charge in the care of his relative, Dr. John Green, at that time the most eminent physician in the county. After two years' reading with this learned preceptor he continued his studies at the University of Pennsylvania, and at Castleton (Vt.) Medical College, where he was graduated in 1849. He served for about a year at the Bloomingdale Asylum Hospital in New York, and in 1850 located in Webster, when he at once entered upon an active professional career, which he followed with unremitting energy for thirty-six years.

He was widely known throughout the southern part of Worcester County as a most devoted and successful practitioner, gaining the confidence and esteem of all with whom he came in contact. He was a zealous member of the Massachusetts and the Worcester District Medical Societies, at one time being president of the latter. His close application to his practice did not debar him from taking an active part in the affairs of his town, and he identified himself with many of its political and social organizations. For nearly twenty consecutive years he was elected to the office of School Committee. In 1864-65 he served on the Board of Selectmen ; in 1863 he represented his district in the Legislature, and in 1868 was sent to the State Senate.

During his term of service in the latter body he was instrumental in securing the incorporation of the Webster Five Cent Savings Bank, of which he was president at the time of his death. To him work was never a hardship, but a pleasure ; its perplexities only added to his zeal and stimulated his ambition. His ready willingness to do what was asked of him, and the liberality of his views, made him the counselor of many.

Chapter Liv Pioneer Life

Mendon the Mother of Towns - Comparative Antiqititjj - Number of Towis once a Part of Mendon - Thc First Hlovemenl for a New Plantation - The Deed from the Indiaiu - Dioifion of Land - Names of Proprietors - The First Map - Incorporation - The Town in 1 675 - The Nipmucks' Attack - Tlie SeUlers' Retiini.

On the 15th day of May, 1867, in a small town iu the southeastern part of Worcester County, ''a vast assemblage," as one of those addressing it justly de- scribed it, were gathered together. Orators, poets, distinguished jurists, clergymen, statesmen and men of military renown were present, or regretfully sent excuses for their absence. The inhabitants of Milford, Blackstone, Uxbridge, Northbridge, Upton and Bellingham, with hundreds from more remote parts of the State and nation, had met to celebrate the two hundredth anniversary of the incorporation of what they lovingly called the "Mother Town of Mendon." The distinguished speakers seemed to feel it a high' privilege to recount the story of the ancient town, and found the day far too short for their purpose. Several of them had names borne by six generations of Mendon's inhabitants now passed away, as well as by many of its present citizens, and they felt they were telling the story of their ancestors as they narrated how the Aldrichs, Staples, Holbrooks, Thompsons, Chapins, Tafts and others painfully made their way from the coast to this fertile, hilly region, established homes, church, schools, and laid the foundation for all the abounding life of these busy towns of to-day.

Mendon, next to Lancaster in antiquity among Worcester County towns, was and is, well deserving of noticehistorically. Eighteen of these are at least a hundred years younger than she. The town of Worcester was incorporated sixteen years later than Mendon, and she is more than forty-five years older than any other town in the county, except Lancaster, and sixty-three years older than the county itself.

Her original territory is now held by eight Massachusetts towns, but she still retains the spot first settled on her ancient possessions, and her people believe it one of the most fertile and beautiful of all.

In 1659, eight years before Mendon's incorporation, the records of the General Court of Massachusetts show that the people of Braintree and Weymouth had expressed a desire for " a new plantation ;" " whereupon the Court judgeth it meet to grant them liberty to seek out a place and present their desires, with the names of such persons as will carry out the work, unto the next session of this Court." Accordingly, in 1660, upon a petition by seven of the inhabitants of Braintree, a committee of five was empowered to accept persons for the settlement, which was to be eight miles square, and four commissioners were authorized " to make a valid act there." It was nearly two years later. May 22, 1662, before the commissioners reported their rules and regulations for the " Plantation at Netmocke," with the names of persons then accepted, viz.: thirteen of Braintree and ten of Weymouth. Moses Payne and Peter Brackett had already secured a deed of Netmocke from the Indians and a double allowance of land for themselves. They never settled there, but, after the incorporation, transferred their rights under the deed to the town by a writing dated December 9, 1669.

both by Christian and Indian names, and the land was described as eight miles square, lying about fifteen miles from Medfield, " and is to lye to the south or southward of the Parth to Nipmugg Great Pond and five milles on the other side of that Parth north or northwards." The deed has always been supposed destroyed when the town was burned by the Indians in 1676.

By the committee's rules each settler was to have for " one hundred pounds estate '' thirty acres " to the home lot," ten of meadow, five of swamp and one hundred and five for"greate lott." This was assigned by the committee, but later divisions, some eleven in all, proportioned to the amount of land first held, were made by lot and made up the " Doubling Lot."

Before July 7, 1663, John Moore, George Aldrich, Matthias Puffer, John Woodland, Ferdinando Thayer, Daniel Lovett and John Harber had settled at Nipmugg, Netmocke or Squinshepauge, for all these names written variously by diflferent authors, were now applied to the plantation, probably the last most generally. Before March 24, 1664, John Gurney, Walter Cook, Joseph White, John Thompson, Abraham Staples, Joseph Aldridge, John Jepson and John Rockett had settled, making fifteen families in all. There are no means of knowing what took place from 1664 to 1667. Joshua Fisher's map was filed in April, 1667, in the General Court, a copy of which, with title and " explanation," are printed below.

SURVEY OF THE PLANTATION (1667). The desire of the inhabitants to tliis Honered Courto is that they would .iccept of this Retourne of their Plott of theire Plantation wich is layd according to their Graicte of eight Miles square by Joshua iBaher.

An explanation of this Plott, being the Township of Sqninehapauke ad it WRB hiyd out according to the Grant of the Generall Courte by ma, Joshua ffisher, Aprill 1GG7.

from A to B is bounded by Charlea River, a white oake beinge marked on the south side of Charles River at A, a Black oake on the north side of Charles Ri^ er at B, and a line of marked trees and heapes of etones to C, from C to D a line of marked trees and heapea of stones, to C, from C to D a line of marked trees and heapes of stones, and aoe from D to E and from E to F, a line from F to A of Marked Trees ; And from A to B is one mile Runninge according to the River Eaat and West, from

The incorporation of the town of Mendon followed May 15, 1667. The name undoubtedly was taken from Mendham, the name of an ancient English town, and years after the incorporation the name Mendham was applied to Mendon in military reports and in various records. The Indian titles seem to have been seldom used later than 1667.

The town clerk of the new town, Colonel William Crowne, in the preamble to his records, sets forth the title of the inhabitants as based on the Indian deed as well as on the authority of the " Honoured Generalle Courte," and say.i the court had "adorned " the town "wth severall large Priviledges." It was indeed a goodly land. Meadows, springs, brooks, rivers and noble forests abounded. The Blackstone River, entering its northwest corner, crossed to its southeastern portion, now in Woonsocket, Rhode Island. The West River, the Mumford, with many smaller tributaries of the Blackstone, were largely or wholly within its limits, and the Charles crossed its eastern portion. High hills with commanding prospects - Wigwam, Misquoe, Calebs, Magormiscock, Goat Hill and others - with the numerous meadows, upon whose grassy products the early settlers greatly relied, added their charms to the scene two hundred and twenty-one years ago. All was peace and hope. The records of 1667 and years following to 1675 are filled with interesting incidents of the settlers' pioneer life, so soon to be broken up by the Indian's torch and tomahawk.

The minister, Rev. John Rayner, had been secured, the meeting-house and parsonage built, land set off for the use of the ministry and for school purposes, roads had been laid out, some of them ten rods wide, provisions made for exterminating wolves, for establishing the town's boundaries, for compelling observance of the Lord's day, and the performance by each man of his share of the public works, for punishing the refractory, for procuring more meadow land with which, in their view, they were as yet but " meanly provided," and everything needful for securing Christian homes in an orderly. God-fearing community. In 1672 the fifteen families of five years before had become thirty-four, and in the list of proprietors receiving swamp lands at that date are found the namts Hayward, Holbrook, Read, Bartlett, Tiler, Gurney, Juell (Jewell), Sprague and Peck. A few others came before 1675, but several best-known in the later history of the town not much, if any, earlier than 1680, among them, Josiah Chapin and the brothers Robert and Matthew Taft.

or five persons were slain. Later the Indians killed Matthias Puffer's wife and child, possibly others. Hostilities had been dreaded by the colonial authorities for some days preceding and scouting-parties ordered out. Mendon was located in the midst of the country of the Nipmuck Indians, and from the beginning had taken special precautions to secure friendly relations with them.

Thelaborsof theapostleEliothadbeen untiring, and bands of praying Indians had been organized at Wacantuck (now Uxbridge), Hassanamisco (Grafton) and elsewhere. One indication of Eliot's influence is probably seen in the Indians' signatures to the Mendon deed by such names as William, John and Jacob, to which signatures, indeed, the Eliots, senior and junior, are witnesses.

In 1668 the Nipmucks in the vicinity of Mendon and Marlborough had executed a formal submission in writing to the government of the colony, in which is found a solemn promise to obey God and do Christian duty. After the slaughter in July, the settlers exerted themselves to secure the removal of the Grafton Indians, with their weapons and supplies, to Mendon. The effort failed. The records show colonial soldiers attacking the Nipmucks at Grafton, in November, 1675. The Indians soon after abandoned Grafton, or Hassanamisco, and, doubtless with the Nipmucks generally, aided King Philip and the Narragansetts against the English. Immediately after the first attack, of which Cotton Mather is quoted as saying, '" Blood was never shed in Massachusetts colony in a way of hostility before this day," many Mendon settlers fled. By November, we are told in military reports, those remaining had been "drawn into two houses." A fortified garrison had been established, from which raids upon the Indians were made. The Colonial Council, November 2, 1675, ordered " that the people of Mendon should not remove from the place without leave, and that those who had done so should immediately return ; " but neither the presence of soldiers, nor the promises, orders nor threats of colonial authority, proved sufficient to overcome the dread of the Indians, and, probably before Christmas, 1675, the town was completely abandoned. During that winter the enemy burned all the buildings. The town records, though all preserved, so far as we know, make no mention of the war, but it is evident, from records of births, that soon after King Philip's death, in August, 1676, some of the fugitives returned, probably not, however, till the Nipmucks had at Boston again submitted formally to the English, and by their own hands, under colonial authority, executed Mattoonas, the Nipmuck leader of the July attack. We know that at least twenty out of the thirty-eight escaping families had returned to Mendon at the beginning of 1680.

Territorial And Political Changes

Tilt ToKn's Poverty After the War - Claimi of Rhode Inland Territory - The ^* North Purchaae^^ ^Annex4Uion of " The Farms ^^ - Towns Claiming to be " Children of Mendon " - Mendan to-day.

For several years after 1680, Mendon was considered as a frontier town, and its poverty, even in comparison with other Massachusetts towns of the time, was notorious. The proprietors of nearly half iis lands never returned after the war, and delayed or refused payment of taxes levied on their property. Repeated petitions were sent to the General Court asking for compulsory action against these absent owners, and for relief from colony taxes. Most of the petitions were granted. In spite of this poverty, within ten years from the close of the war about fifty families had settled in Mendon, and began to feel crowded and seek additional territory. The southern boundary was not well defined, and was later a subject of much controversy, which continued till 1725. The second map, made by Sergeant Ellis in 1683, and numerous records, show that Mendon claimed much of what was finally yielded to Rhode Island, including the " Falls," now in Woonsocket, and what is known as ''The Branch." In 1692 about three square miles lying on the northern boundary, now in Milford, and still known as the " North Purchase," were bought from the Indians. In 1685 Edward Rawson, secretary of the colony, had become owner of about two thousand acres, now wholly or partly in Bellingham. He held title by deed from the Indians as well as a grant from the colony. Till 1710 he escaped taxation by town or county, paying tribute to the colonial treasury only, but in that year the Farm, as the tract was then called, was annexed to Mendon.

In 1719 thirteen families occupying this farm, or " The Farms," four dwelling on other land in Mendon, and twenty-three families of Dedhara, asked the General Court for incorporation as a town. Their petition was granted, November 27, 1719, against the protest of Mendon, however, and Bellingham became a town.

As early as 1720 the settlers in Waentuck, or Wacantuck (now Uxbridge), agitated the question of separation. Their efforts were renewed in 1722, voted on and rejected in 1726, but Uxbridge was nevertheless incorporated in 1727, taking about four miles in width from the western portion of Mendon.

Upton, at its incorporation in February, 1735, took a small part of the remaining territory and the same year the inhabitants of what is now Milford and Hopedale sought separate town existence. All these attempts were resisted by dwellers in the original settlement, and in the last case successfully for about forty-five years, or till April 11, 1780, when Milford's existence as a town, by full agreement of all parties interested, began. She had formed a separate parish precinct in Mendon, known as the Easterly or Mill River Precinct for thirty-nine years.

Mendon also stoutly opposed her separation from Suffolk and assignment to Worcester County, which took place February IS, 1730. As late as 1734 she voted a petition to the court to be joined with Dedham in a new county, then in 1798 in favor of dividing Worcester County. It may be here noted that Mendon, duringthe first four years of town existence, was a part of Middlesex County. In 1671 she was decreed, evidently in harmony with her own wishes, "to be and belong to ye county of Suffolk."

After the incorporation of Milford no serious attempt to secure a further division of Mendon is known to have been made till 1816, when ten inhabitants of the South Parish (now Blackstone) petitioned the town, without avail, to vote that that precinct be set off as a town. It had continued in apparent content as a parish in Mendon since 1766, though in 1779 we find record of one feeble movement for division. In 1823, and during the four succeeding years, the South Parish sought for separate existence, appealing in vain to the town and to the Legislature. Again, in 1843, the vexed question arose and was discussed at brief intervals with great bitterness till the division was effected and Blackstone incorporated March 25, 1845. The petitioners therefor numbered seven hundred and sixty-seven, the remonstrants three hundred and fourteen, and they were divided on other than local or usual lines. In fact, strange to say, it appears that very probably a large majority living in what is now Mendon desired division, while divisionists were so unpopular in Blackstone as to be excluded from town office at the first town election. Closing the story of the construction of towns from Mendon's territory, it should be observed that the town of Northbridge was taken from Uxbridge in 1772, and Hopedale from Milford in 1886, and can both claim Mendon as their mother or, perhaps, with more accuracy, their grandmother town. By this course of disintegration, not, however, likely to be extended further, forty thousand acres and more, her original holding, with its substantial additions by annexation, have beeu reduced to eleven thousand three hundred and seventy-five acres.

Mill River alone is the only considerable stream which crosses the Mendon of to-day, but the Charles, as of old, forms a part of its eastern boundary and the lovely " Nipmuck Great Pond " is still retained within its limits, with shores now somewhat famous as a summer resort. Pond Hill remains, also Wigwam Hill in the south and Misquoe in the north, both distinguished for magnificent views. Mendon shares with Blackstone at the south a right in Daniels or Southwick Hill, and with Hopedale on the east it claims jurisdiction over Neck Hill. Muddy Brook flows between the elevation last named and the beau-

The above glimpse of Mendon as it now is must suffice till its manufacturing, military, educational and ecclesiastical history have been outlined.

Chapter Lvi

T\e Firtt Oritt-MiU and Saw-MUl - The Successive Occupants of the Old Griat'Mill 9lte - Contracts leith Milters and Blacksmiths - Torrey antl Warjield Saw-Milts - Factories, Miscellaneous and Modem.

In Mendon's colonial life early efforts were made to utilize its water-power. In the beginning of 1664 the committee conditionally granted to Benjamin Albee twenty acres on the town site and fifty acres near the proposed mill, to encourage him to establish a " come mill " on Mill River, near Hopedale's present town line. It was probably built in 1672, and till then the settlers ground their grain at Wrentham or Medfield, twelve or fifteen miles distant.

Ten years later Josiah Chapin had eighty acres granted him near the village and east of Muddy Brook, for his encouragement to build on that treacherous stream the first saw-mill. April 24, 1668, the town voted to build its fir.-t meeting-house " neere to Joseph White's saw-pit, in his house-lott." There can therefore be little doubt that for the first ten years, and till Chapin's mill was started, all boards were manufactured in the primitive manner of pit-sawing.

In 1684 Matthias Puffer's corn-mill was built on the site of Albee's, destroyed by the Indians. Three years later his son James occupied it; and we can trace an occupation of this place for the same purpose for more than one hundred and seventy-five years, and for more than a hundred years the town appears to huve exercised control over it through conditions under which both Albee and Puffer and their succe.s-iors held their rights. It is not important to name all the millers, but David How, 1724, Lieut. Wm. Shefiield, 1735-70, after him Jeremiah Kelley, 1779, then one Ellis and finally Nathan and Alvin Allen, occupied the place.

The latter mill became a ruin about 1847, and the town claimed a forfeiture in consequence, under the contract of 1662. There was a vote to investigate, but the claims were never pressed in court.

James Bick's contract, made in 1686, somewhat resembled Albee's. He was " to doe the town's smithery work for the next ten years upon reasonable conditions, unless death or disablement hinder,'' otherwise the land granted was to revert or fifteen pounds to be paid. Long wrangling between Bick and the town followed ; he would neither do the work, vacate the premises, nor pay the forfeiture; but finally, in 1695, he left the town, and some years after, 1713, it seems the eminent Quaker, Moses Aldrich, was the town blacksmith.

In 1691 Josiah and Angel Torrey were authorized to build a saw-mill dam upon the town's land, between School Meadow and Rock Meadow, and were granted necessary land therefor, so long as they maintained the mill. A mill on this spot, which is not far from P. W. Taft's residence, and two miles west from the village, was used till within a very few years.

In 1711 Samuel Warfield was granted land near the old saw-mill on "Fall Brook," an uncertain location, but probably on Mill River, in Hopedale, near Spindleville Shop.

There were " Iron-works" (probably a smelling furnace) and a saw-mill at or near "The Falls" (Woonsocket) in 1698, and iron-ore had been found at or near East Blackstone.

A saw-mill and a grist-mill had been started, in 1712, on the Charles River, and one in Uxbridge, on the Mumford, many years prior to the incorporation in 1727.

Samuel Thompson's grist-mill, on the Blackstone, where Millville village now is, was begun about the same time ; as also iron-works and perhaps mills at Whitinsville.

Before 1800, within the present limits of the town, there were two or more establishments for making potash, several small distilleries and some brick-kilns. One of the last-named, near Albeeville, was used within forty or fifty years. All the others were abandoned many years before.

Manuflxcturing, as the term is generally understood and applied, never long flourished here and is now almost extinct. From 1845 to 1878 there were important boot-factories in operation. One Leiand, W. H. Comstock and Dennis Eames each had a factory before 1850. Enos T. Albee and Edward Davenport were not much behind these. After them came J. R. Wheelock & Co., who for a year or two produced in their large shop, then new, some three or four hundred cases of boots weekly.

Albee maintained his business, averaging about sixty cases a week, for twenty years or over, ending in 1870. N. R. & J. A. George began boot manufacturing in the Wheelock shop in 1863, but the partnership was brief. J. A. George continued the business till 1879. Charles H. Albee has within a few years been engaged in making boots and shoes in the building occupied by his father, which is in Albeeville, about two miles southwesterly from the Centre Village, where all the other boot-makers named had their factories. Those factories have one by one been removed or converted to otlier uses, and no boots nor shoes have been made in Mendon for several years. The largest factory built by the Wheelocks was torn down the present year (1888).

George R. Whiting in 187.3 bought the ancient Albee "privilege," erected a new dam and a_ mill near the one first built in 1682, remains of which still exist, and with some interruptions has ever since utilized the property for shoddy-making. His buildings, burnt in 1887, have been replaced by improved ones made of brick.

W. H. Swan has made shoddy on Muddy Brook for about twenty years. He has a steam-engine as well as water-power, and formerly sawed lumber and made boxes - and for a time boats.

Samuel G. Wilcox made boot and .shoe-boxes at the junction of Muddy Brook and Mill River, using water-power from both, for over forty years, and since his death, in 1882, his son. Hamilton C. Wilcox, has carried on the business at the old stand.

All these manufacturing establishments now in operation are near each other in the southeasterly part of the town, and their production is small.

Chapter Lvii Military History

In the French War, 1755-63, Mendon furnished her full quota of soldiers. There were forty-one in one company, serving in 1759 in the expedition to Ticonderoga and Crown Point; many more served during the war, but the town records do not reveal much concerning the popular feeling nor town action on military matters. The lists of soldiers contain many names familiarly known all through the town's history. We only know the people did their part well and loyally, scant though the record may be.

There is much more known of the Revolutionary period. The first mutterings of discontent with British rule found an echo in Mendon. Its inhabitants approved the action of those who were willing to pay the damage done by the mob to Governor Hutchinson's property in 1765, but were eager to pardon the rioters, although later, in general terms, they denounced such riots. They voted, in 1767, to concur with the men of Boston in their famous agreement not to sell or use any article, tea in particular, on which Parliament should lay a tax ; indeed, their records are crowded with patriotic utterances ; nineteen resolutions denouncing British wrongs to the Provinces, and declaring in sounding terms their " Rights and Liberties," " The gift of God Almighty," were discussed and passed March 1, 1773. About a year later three more stirring resolutions were passed, suspending intercourse with Great Britain, and refusing to buy or use her goods while Boston is blockaded, and until a " Restoration of our charter-rights be obtained," and denouncing as " inimical to their country" all persons acting otherwise. A Committee of Correspondence was chosen to confer with similar committees in other towns, and the selectmen were authorized, in their discretion, to add to the town's stock of arms and ammunition. September 28, 1774, Joseph Dorr, Esq., was chosen delegate to the Provincial Congress, to be held in Concord, October 11th.

Dr. William Jennison gave the town a six-pounder field-piece about the same time, and two more, with other arms, were purchased by the town. One-third of the soldiers on the military list were enlisted as minute-men, and made ready to march at a moment's notice.

In common with other towns, Mendon contributed in aid of blockaded Boston and Charlestown, and promptly sent delegates to every convention called to organize colouial strength, or declare or guide colonial sentiment.

In 1775 the town was ready with arms and men. Promptly following the battle of Lexington, one hundred and sixty-two men in four companies were in arms, and one hundred and sixteen men appear to have enlisted for the three months ending August, 1775. Mendon, with Concord and other towns, had been designated as a place of deposit for army supplies.

Till the spring of 1776 every town-meeting since 1667 had been loyally called in His Majesty's name ; but now Mendon's liberty-loving people openly discarded his authority, and met " in the name of the Government and People of the Massachusetts Bay," and thereupon voted " that the town advise and instruct their Representatives to acquaint the General Assembly, that if the Honorable the Continental Congress shall think it for the benefit and safety of the United American Colonies to Declare them independent of Great Britain, said Town will approve the measure and with their lives and fortunes support them therein." The immortal Declaration of Independence passed soon after and appears in full with the town's approval upon its records. Through all the years of the great contest, all testimony goes to show that no community surpassed this in devotion to liberty, influence in the colony or in patriotic service. Men of Mendon fought at Bunker Hill, marched to Canada with Arnold and were at Long Island, Valley Forge, Bennington, Saratoga and Yorktown.

son, Judge Joseph Dorr, Jr., the son of the minister, Thomas Wiswell, Lieutenant Benoni Benson and several others appear to have enjoyed the coofldence of the colonial authorities in a high degree. Judge Dorr was especially prominent, and from his pen came many of the patriotic utterances on the records.

We note some miscellaneous matters apparently worth recording as illuminating somewhat the history of the period. A few years before the Revolution the town had been compelled to receive several of the French neutrals cruelly driven from Nova Scotia in 1755 by English authority represented by General John Winslow, descendant of the Pilgrim Governor. The same British power in 1775 turned its cruelty against Charlestown, and by order of the Provincial Congress, Mendon was " to take thirty of the people of Charlestown," made homeless by the burning of their town. Eleven years before, five of the banished Acadian French were still living in Mendon. If they saw the thirty homeless Charlestown people entering Mendon, and we have no reason to suppose they did not, they must have thought it savored of retribution.

In 1776 seven officers of the Seventy-flrst British Regiment Highlanders, supposed taken prisonei's at sea, were quartered in Mendon. They forwarded many complaints to the Colonial Council of abusive treatment from the inhabitants, especially of language reflecting on the prowess of British soldiers generally and that of the prisoners in particular. There was also complaint of tyrannical treatment in many respects, and the citizens complained on their part of being obliged to keep the officers' servants, and expressed suspicions of the prisoners conspiring with Tories. Captain Colon McKenzie was the chief officer. How long they remained is not known - perhaps till exchanged.

A bitter quarrel arose between Uxbridge and Mendon members of the Third Massachusetts Regiment concerning the election of field officers. It could only be settled by a committee from the Colonial Council and an order on their report for a new election and an assignment of the Uxbridge soldiers, who were from the first in a minority, to another regiment. This was in 1776.

A census, taken January 1,1777, gives Mendon five hundred and seventy-two male inhabitants, sixteen years old and upwards. She had seventy-five soldiers in the field in March, 1778. During the year 1776 twenty-eight had enlisted for three years. In 1779 there is a list of thirty-three nine-months' men in the Rhode Island service, but neither State nor town records enable us to make complete military lists or give the town exact credit lor its labors and losses in the cause of liberty. Tradition has brought down the names of but one or two Tories in the whole town. Some were suspected of disloyalty, and petitions for stringent laws against them went from Mendon, whose Committee of Safety never relaxed in vigilance, if we may trust the records.

Those records also show with what wise adjustments of business the evils of the depreciated currency were met, and the careful attention given to their regular municipal affairs. Throwing aside the old-time local strifes, Mendon voted at last that the East Precinct, Milford, might become a town. The new Constitution of Massachusetts was laboriously and fully discussed, article by article, the voters amending, rejecting or adopting, as if on them alone depended the making of the organic law of the Commonwealth, and, finally, as the clouds of war rolled away, they set themselves resolutely at work to do their part as an important town in the new State of Massachusetts.

No proof is found of any Mendon citizens taking part with Shays in his rebellion, in 1786, though petitions with lists of grievances uncounted went to the General Court. Among the complaints were named the sitting of the General Court in Boston, the want of a circulating medium, the exorbitance of the lawyers' " fee-table," the doings of the Court of Common Pleas, " too many office-holders, and their salaries too large," etc.

But the town, nevertheless, furnished its quota of men, sixty in all, to march against Shays, and seems to have had no thought of resisting the government, imperfect as it was, which had cost so much.

In 1797 fears of a war with France arose. While Milford was plainly of a martial spirit, Mendon appears memorializing Congress against arming ships, and expressing its dread of the horrors of war.

There is nothing to show the town's zeal in the War of 1812, unless it be that it voted seven dollars per month extra pay to such of its militia as should be called into actual service. Six officers and twenty-six enlisted men of Mendon were paid by the United States in 1814 for service in the army. According to " Ballou's History," Milford was earnestly in favor of the war, and furnished many men.

When the great Rebellion broke out this town took its stand promptly, and, with a spirit which never faltered, sent men and expended money most freely to crush out traitors. In 1861, after a preamble declaring loyalty, and their duty and purpose to sustain the government, the voters unanimously passed resolutions appropriating five thousand dollars in aid of the families of volunteers. In 1862, while adopting patriotic resolutions, they voted to pay a bounty of one hundred and fifty dollars to each soldier volunteering, and later they increased it to two hundred dollars. This action was in harmony with their course to the end of the war, and when President Lincoln was assassinated, the town records show the horror of the citizens. The votes and resolutions passed in relation to the Rebellion were generally passed unanimously. Aside from town action, the people called meeting after meeting to encourage enlistments, volunteers were honored, their families aided, and, if a word in defence of the rebels was ventured, the overwhelming popular sentiment in opposition prevented its repetition. In Mendon, from 1861 to 1888, traitors and copperheads have always heen odious, as Tories were to the fathers.

The town's ordinary appropriations were little over five thousand dollars a year, but it paid in bounties over sixteen thousand dollars, of which the town furnished all but about twenty-five hundred dollars, which was raised bw subscription. The State's records show one hundred and fifty-six residents of Mendon who served in the army or navy from 1861 to 1865, and one hundred and thirty-two are credited on her quotas, being sixteen over all calls to which she was required to respond. Nineteen were killed or died in service, namely, - Franklin B. Wilcox, Charles H. Wheelock, Juba F. Pickering, Alanson E. Bathrick, Samuel Hall, John B. Rockwood, Martin S. Howe, George W. Wilcox, David 8. Thurber, Lawrence B. Doggett, William Cosgrove, Albert Cook, Patrick Wallace, Robert Wallace, Samuel Everton, Franklin Freeman, Anthon C. Taft, Benjamin H. Smith and James Burns.

Chapter Lviii

Ministers and Mseting-HoKsee, 1663 to 1818 - The Change to UnUaHanism - The Meeting-Home of 1S20 - Pastors to ISHS - Tlte yorth Congregational Church and Pantora - The Methodists in Mendon - The Quakers.

Like every New England settlement of its time, Mendon was founded on the idea that religious worship and religious life should be established and maintained at every sacrifice. Grants of privileges to establish a plantation or incorporate a town or precinct were made on the express condition that the inhabitants settle and support "a learned Orthodox Minister of good conversation," which, indeed, in every case they promptly did.

Rev. John Rayner was accepted as a settler by the committee ou the Mendon plantation May 22, 1662, and in 1667 is recorded as having an allotment of meadow land. In 1669, in a petition to the General Court, he is named in terms showing plainly that he was the minister then preaching in Mendon.

Mr. Benjamin Eliot, son of the apostle Eliot, received a call in 1668 to settle there, but it was not accepted. Late in 1669 the church appears to have been fully organized and the Rev. Joseph Emerson made the first settled minister of the place.

At the beginning land had been set apart for the ministry and for schools, and when divisions of the common lands were made, the same allotment was made to them as to individual proprietors. Before Mr. Emerson came, the minister's house was advanced towards completion. It evidently, as well as the early meeting-houses, was built by the combined labor and gifts of the settlers. The town voted to build, and the selectmen employed a master workman who supervised the labori* of the workers. Several records concerning the obstinate and sometimes insulting refusal of one Job Tiler to work on Mr. Emerson's house at the summons of the selectmen, their threats to report him to the Colonial magistrates, and his final surrender and giving satisfaction "for that offence" with others, make up a curious comment on the management of an early New England town.

Mr. Emerson fled with his people from the Indians in 1675, and died in Concord June, 1680. He was the ancestor of Ralph Waldo Emerson. His house and the first meetinghouse were burned with the rest. It is supposed his house stood on the Caleb Hayward place. The first meeting-house, which stood near the building now occupied by the Taft Public Library, is described in the quaint language of the time as " the breadth 22 foote square, 12 foote studd, the Ruffe gathered to A 7 foote square w"" A Turrett." It was built under the direction of Deacon Job Hide in 1668.

The first town-meeting after the settlers' return was held January 3, 1680, and at the second, held ten days later, it was voted to build for the minister " A house 26 foot in length 18 foot In bredth, 14 foot between joj'nts a girt house and a gabell end In the Roofe and a Leantowe att one end of the house the breadth of it."

January 17, 1680, Samuel Hayward had agreed with the selectmen to "begine and manige the frame of a meeting-house, 26 feet in length and 24 foot in breadth, a girt house 14 foot between joynts."

October 4, 1680, "the towne Agreed, and it pased by a clere vote, that they would give Mr. Grindall Rawson a call to the work of the ministry for this yere In order to his further settlement; for j£20 in money, his bord and a hors to be kept for his servis." After three years of preaching, he was settltd April 7, 1684, at £55 a year, with house and forty-acre lot.

The third meeting-house, thirty feet square, with sixteen-foot posts, was built 1690, "by subscriptiou," doubtless under town control, at a point not now known. Four years later the old one was sold. None of these meeting-houses had pews, seats being assigned by a committee, of whom the pastor was one. In 1709 the town voted to enlarge the meetinghouse by an addition of ten feet at each end, with changts in the galleries, new floors and seats, and it appears the minister and a few others had pews therein built by themselves. In 1737 " Pew Room " was sold, the elderly men paying most for church matters to have first choice.

preaching in Mendon thirty-five years. He was twelfth son of Secretary Rawson. His body, with that of his widow, who died in 1748, lies in the town's ancient burial-place. In 1744 the town made provision for the memorial stone at his grave. He was a class-mate and friend of Cotton Mather, and renowned in the Colony for his learning. He kn>-w the Indian language well, and preached regularly in different parts of the town week-days as well as on the Sabbath, to Indians and whites with equal fidelity.