Worcester City (part 36 of 58)

Military. - The military record of Sterling has been an honorable one. In 1755, when the French and Indian War broke out, Sterling furnished her quota of men and supplies - precisely how many men is not known - but the names of more than twenty of her young men have been preserved whose lives were sacrificed in that war, in one or another of its campaigns. So also when the War of Independence came, the call for men was duly responded to. The name of Colonel Asa Whitcomb is rendered famous by his military service and ardent patriotism. Another honored soldier who gave eight years' service was Lieutenant Joel Pratt. Reuben Blood, Sr., and Nathaniel Houghton were veteran soldiers of the Revolution. There were others also, but history has failed to record their names, and tradition has but imperfectly transmitted an account of their service. The several wars in which the country was involved, and in which many of our citizens participated, served to keep alive the military spirit and encourage military organizations and exercises in times of peace. If now they were of no great practical benefit, they at least served a holiday purpose. Company trainings and regimental musters were great social events, and drew together multitudes of people. In the early part of the present century two military organizations existed in the town, known as the North and South C )mpanies. The distinction was made by the road running easterly from Princeton to Lancaster, bisecting the territory of the town into two not very unequal parts ; those whose residence was on the south side falling into the South Company and those on the north side into the North Company.

In 1822 a volunteer company was formed out of the two already existing, called " The Sterling Light Infantry." In its elegant uniforms of dark blue cloth, with gilt trimmings and tall black plumes tipped with red, it presented an appearance of which the great Napoleon himself would have been proud. The officers in command were: Phineas B. Dana, captain ; Josiah Pope, lieutenant ; Mark Kendall, ensign. Ensign Kendall died the following year, and was buried with martial honors.

Such was the popularity of military exhibitions at this time, that four years later, in 1826, another finely-uniformed and finely-equipped volunteer company was raised, called "The Sterling Guards." The uniforms of this company were blue coats with silver trimmings, white pantaloons, and tall white plumes tipped with black. The officers first chosen to command were : Captain, Cheney Kilburn ; Lieutenant, the venerable Eli Kilburn, now in his ninety third year ; Ensign, Silas Buss. For a period of more than a quarter of a century these companies were the pride of the town, but with the general decline of the military spirit, and the increasing sentiment among the people that war was unchristian and unneces.sary, they at length went down and were disbanded. From that time there was but slight manifestation of military fervor until the tocsin of war rang out over the country at the bombardment of Fort Sumter on the 12th of April, 1861. Sterling now shared the indignation felt by the whole body of the people of the Northern States at this audacious insult to the flag of our country. The patrioti-sm of her citizens was aroused. Public meetings were held to encourage enlistments and to adopt measures necessary to assist as far as possible in crushing the Rebellion, formidable as it was, and in maintaining the government. Money was generously appropriated to meet necessary expenses in furtherance of the object. Young men came forward with alacrity and voluntarily offered themselves to the service of their country. But little difficulty, comparatively, was experienced by the authorities of the town in filling the quotas of men required by the government during the four years of terrible warfare. Company K of the Fifty-third Regiment was mainly recruited from Sterling and Princeton. The commissioned officers were : James A. Pratt, of Sterling, captain - promoted to major ; Samuel B. Beaman, of Princeton, first lieutenant - promoted to captain ; P. T. K. Burpee, of Sterling, second lieutenant - promoted to first lieutenant ; Edward W. Toombs, of Sterling, second lieutenant. This regiment did service in Louisiana under General Banks. The whole number of soldiers engagfd in suppressing the Rebellion, residents of Sterling or of Sterling birth, was, as near as can be ascertained, one hundred and sixty-two. The number whose lives were sacrificed in the war was twenty-one. The names of these heroic sons of Sterling are engraven upon the " Soldiers' Monument," where they may ever be read and known of all men "until brass and marble shall have crumbled into dust."

The ladies of Sterling were not idle, disinterested observers of the great civil conflict. The " Ladies' Relief Society " was an important factor in prosecuting the war. By its unceasing labor in preparing hospital stores and other articles of comfort it did much to alleviate the hardships and sufferings of our soldier boys both in camp, on the march and in the hospital.

The following condensed statement of the part Sterling bore in the struggle for national life is taken from the Sterling Advertiser, published by Post 59, G. A. R., Sterling, January, 1874: '

On Monday, April 22, 1861, one week after evacuation of Fort Sumter, her citizens held in the town hall their first general indignation meeting, though many a small one had been previously held in almost every house, store, workshop and lieM. On Tuesday, April 2:id, the ladies from all parts of the town assembled to consult together and enter upon whatever duties might await them. Six ladies (two of whom. Miss Josephine Bartlett and Miss Esther K. Waite, have since passed over the dark river) gave their names as ready for hospital service, if required. A Relief Society was organized, which continued its meetings and labors for more than four years.

voted to appropriate a sum not exceeding three thousand dollara to equip and uniform auch fellow-townsniBn as might volunteer to serve in the military service of tlie United States and to assist their families during their absence. November 5, 1861, one hundred dollars waa appropriated to aid the ladies in procuring articles for use in the army hospitals, the same to be paid by the selectmen to the Relief Society. As the months of 1801 glided by, many a man who had his birth in Sterling or whose boyhood was passed among the hills and valleys, became numbered in his country's army for three years or during the war, having enlisted wherever he might be, whether far removed or hut slightly distant from the heart of the old Bay State. Most of these have left an intei'estitig record, several met death on the battle-field, others were wounded, some maimed for life and yet others died from sickness and exposure.

July 21, 1862, the town authorized the Selectmen to pay a bounty of one hundred dollars to eacli citizen of Sterling who should enlist in the company then forming in the town for nine months' service.

July 4, 1865, the town voted to raise a sum equal to one hundred dollars per man of the quotas of this town, under the President's orders of October 7, ISH:^, and February 1, 1864. April 15th the town voted to raise seventeen hundred and fifty dollars to procure fourteen men to fill her quota under the President's late call.

Sterling continued to raise money, recruit volunteers and pay bounties till the end of the war. Her official record is that she furnished (including substitutes) one hundred and seventj'-eight men for the war, eight of whom were commissioned oRicers - this being a surplus of thirteen over and above demands ; and she appropriated and expended S20,472 60, this sum being 2 l-ll per cent on tbe valuation of the town, and about $10.67^^ to each inhaoitant in ISiO. Her number of men were in proportion of one for every 10 4-5 of her population at that time.

From various sources of information we learn that the number of Sterling boys who had active part in the contest was at least one liundred and sixty two. Fifty-four of these belonged to Company K, Fiftythird Regiment Massachusetts Volunteers. To more than thirty of this entire number their enlistment and service meant death; some fell in the strife, some died in hospitals from wounds and sickness and others came home bearing in their systems the seeds of fatal diseases sown therein by hardships and exposures. One more point of review. Summing up the work of our Relief Society, we have a record of thirty-seven barrels, vaUied at sixty dollara each, and five boxes containing smaller quantities sent forth on their comforting missions ; these were filled with such various articles as our hospitals required - ours were not less than forty-eight in kind - and they were the free will offeringsof women anxious to bear their part of the heavy burdens imposed by the struggle for national life.

It was dedicated by appropriate ceremonies on the ]7th of June. The services, on account of the rain, were held in the church near by, and were as ibliows: Organ voluntary and singing by the choir; prayer was offered by Rev. A. S. Nickerson ; an eloquent and highly appropriate address was delivered by Rev. George Pumam, D.D., of Roxbury ; a i>oem by Miss Esther K. Waite, and the following by Mrs. Mary S. Rugg, were each read on the occasion.

Fills our souls with strong emotion. We heard the cry ring o'er our land, - " Freedom must live ! Lend every hand !" And with rapt gaze we then did see Self-sacrifice to our country.

And our young men rose in their might And rushed unwavering to the fight. They thought of Anderson's starving band. With those supplies so near at hand ; And then the story of that ship Sprang forth like fire, from lip to lip.

Thus they left us - left here and there - Left in our homes a vacant chair ; And our hearts were so full of i>ain We felt we should see ihem ne'er again. Yet even then, when we could but cry. We knew it was duty thus to fly ; And we raised to God the earnest prayer, 0, watch them, guard them, ever there.

How well they fought, how nobly fell, The records of the war shall tell ; One strain of trutli is breathed about. In duty's path their lamps went out.

0, then was need of courage rare ! Forgetting every wound and scar, His face all glowing with a light Reflected from the dreadful sight, He raised aloft hie flashing blade, ** Come 00, my boys, come on," he said- God drew aside the sacred shield That saved his life on many a field - And, rushing up that parapet, The sun of his life grandly set.

1 Captain Charles Goss, son of William Goss, member of 2lBt Mass. Regiment, killed near Petersburg, Va., June 17, 1804. The adjutantgeneral's report says : "Brave ofticers went ahead, among whom was Captain Charles Goss, who, in that terrible moment of trial, brought out all the resources of his soul, proved and tempered in more than twenty battles of this war." "A noble courage filled him."* *' H« seemed to forget the times when he had been wounded 'nigh unto death,' and when the line was well formed and advancing nobly, he fell never to rise again till a louder trumpet summon him than was sounded for that advance."

A moment more - can I forbear To Itty one flower on another's bier ? - One ^ wlioBe life, for hie comrade given. Has a record, we know, in heaven.

A soldier's life was ebbing fa«t, lie felt each moment might be his last ; "MIflp ! " he cried, " is there none to yield OrieUind hand on this bloody field ? " Our brother heard tluit fainting cry ; ' The voice of i)ity Bounded high. Thoufih lead around him fell like rain, He would bo true to manhood then ; He reached at length that soldier's side, And brought him furth, then calm'y died; The canDOD'8 roar, the shell's shrill scream. Was that brave brother's requiem.

We know the valiant Western man, ^ Who fiercely fought in thebattle's van ; South Mountain's war-worn, crimson side Drank the blood when this soldier died. ]Ie was rocked here by bia mother, And wo knew him as our brother ; His tireless spirit, spurning rest, Turned to the vigorous, thriving West ; He learned to love his country free On prairies boundless as the sea ; And, diiuking deep nf inspiration, He gave his life to save the nation.

And could I here in this poor rhyme Eecount the many deeds snblime, Justice and honor still would say. But mean and meagre is the lay. Ah ! fond memories, fraught with pain^ Come thronging o'er me once again, And the red path that war has trod, Like Jacob's ladder, reaches God. Angels bright are now descending, This, their song, in music blending, -

" Greater love can there never be Than dying for humanity." Do we weep that they are dead, When g'ory circles o'er each head? Death ! death >- What is it we call death ? It is but yielding up our breath ; Earth, reaching forth to take her own. The life immortal just begun.

Where are these, our warrior brothers? Ah ! they ait here with the others ; Only could tlje veil be drawn. We should see them every one. We should see them in their places. We should know their radiant faces, All gleaming with celestial truth, And their forms of immortal youth.

In their deep and heavenly eyes Mingled wonder and gladness lies ; They Bce the wrong by which they died. And now our country purified ; And as the freedman walks right on Into his future, shot with sun. Clasp we this truth close to our heart : In freedom's war each bore his part.

1 Lyman Broad, son of Krastus Broad, member of GTth Mass. Regiment, killed while bringing olT on his shoulder a wounded, bleeding comrade, whose life ho saved while he lost his own.

2 George H. Richardson, sun of Deacon Wm. B. Richardson, member of 19th Indiana Reginnint, enlisted August .'iO, 18G2, and fell at the battle of South Mountain September 14, 18G2.

While the silent earth is keeping All that's mortal of the sleeping, Resting still in her close embrace, Here and there, in many a place, We have thought to raise some token To these lives abruptly broken, Thatshall speak till stone shall crumble, Of those lives so grandly humble. Enduring granite we have brought, Hewu and fashioned as we ought ; And, rising now mid summer's beauty. Our monument to love and duty.

Rest, then, embalmed and sainted dead ! Where valor lifts her radiant head, And reaching to God's white throne, Clasps hands with faith, and they are one. Hark ! triumphant bells are ringing I Celestial choirs, too, are singing. While these blest words out spirits greet, - '* Behold the sacrifice complete."

The Major James A. Pratt Post, of the Grand Army of the Republic, was organized July 6, 1868, wilh ttn charter members. The whole number of member-* belonging to the post since its organization is sixtyseven. The present number of members is forty-two. The post has received into its treasury, from various sources, the sum of Ihirty-eight hundred dollars, and has expended the sum of thirty-three hundred dollars, twenty-five per cent, of which has been for charitable purposes.

A very convenient Grand Army Hall has been fitted up in the old brick school-house, the free use of which is granted to the post by the town.

Industries. - Sterling is almost exclusively a farming town. Owing to the absence of an abundant water-power, the town has never been favored to any great extent with those mechanical and manufacturing industries which have given such vigorous growth to adjoining towns. The only considerable manufacturing concern at the present time is the Wachusett Pottery and Sterling Emery Wheel Co. at West Sterling. The company has here quite an extensive phint, using for power either steam or water. The business was established and formerly carried on by M. L. Snow, now of Saji Bernardino, Cal. The company has an invested capital of forty thousand dollars. In the pottery department the manufacture is chiefly confined to plain and fancy flower-pots. The annual sales in this line are about twelve thousand dollars. The goods are sold mostly in the New England State?. The emery wheel department is much the larger - the annual sales amounting to about forty-eight thousand dollars. The goods are largely shipped direct to New York, where the company has a wholesale and a retail establishment. Twenty-two men are employed in the business.

The chair business is carried on to a very limited extent as compared with former years. Mr. Edward Burpee, who has carried on the business for fifty years, is still the principal manufacturer. He employs now only three or four hanch. Mr. Elisha Stuart also and Mr. Edwin Stevenson are in the business, but the amount of their production is not, at the present time, very extensive. Aside from these the pursuit of the people is agriculture alone.

Formerly, before the use of machinery propelled by water or steam-power, when all kinds of manufactured articles were produced by hand-labor, the state of things was altogether difterent. It may surprise some persons to be told that, three-quarters of a century ago. Sterling was a leading manufacturing town in the county. Yet such was the fact. The principal article of manufacture tbtn, as now, was chairs; but the amount of production was more than ten times greater. Over a large section of the town a chairshop was connected witli many a farm. There was a turning-lathe on almost every brook, and the forests abounded with pine, birch and maple - the material chiefly used - which, in being converted into chairs, gave profitable employment to the young men, built up the population, and gave life, energy and thrift to the inhabitants. Among the leading chair-makers, who made a success of the business and accumulated respectable fortunes, were such men as Gilson Brown, Joel Pratt, Benjamin Stuart, Nehemiah Pierson, Samuel Houghton and Eli Kilburn ; and, of a later generation, we may add James W. Fitch and Edward Burpee. At the period of which we write there were various other trades besides, in which portions of the people were employed. The coopering business was an item of some importance. The two principal men engaged in it were Mr. Silas Wilder and Captain John Davis. There was a large demand lor cider barrels, and the trade was remunerative. Plows and hayforks were manufactured in the north part of the town by Mr. Silas W. Arnold. These articles of Mr. Arnold's make were decided improvements upon those previously in use. They were of belter finish, more evenly balanced, and could be more effectively handled by the farmer. But, in the rapid march of improvement, they have long since given place to others of more artistic construction. A large number of shoemakers found constant employment in supplying the demand for boots and shoes. Shoe stores were unknown outside the populous city, and the supply of these needful articles for all classes was furnished, by special order, at the shoe-shop. But the manufacture often exceeded the demand for home consumption, and the surplus found sale in Boston.

The manufacture of hats by Blood & Rice was quite extensive for a period of twenty-five or thirty years, and gave employment to forty or more persons, including some females. The amount of annual sales was said to be about forty-five thousand dollars- About seventeen thousand fur and felt hats was the annual production, the larger part of which was sold in Southern markets.

south part of the town by Silas Limson & Sons. Lamson's snaths were very popular, and much in demand by farmers. The annual sales amounted to ten thousand dollars. Owing to the scarcity of ash timber Mr. Lamson rrmoved to the western part of the State in 1833, where he increased the business to something like two hundred thousand dollars per year. With the advent of mowing-machines the sales were very much diminished.

All articles of clothing were the result of domestic manufacture. The raw material, such as flax, cotton and wool, was spun and woven into cloth, the cloth dyed and made into garments for each member of a household by the females of the family.

But with the introduction of labor-saving machinery came a change in the employments of our people. Owing to a want of .sufficient water-power all these mechanical industries had to be abandoned here, and were transferred to those towns having greater natural facilities for their prosecution on a grander and broader scale.

Hence farming became, many years ago, the chief pursuit of the people. But agriculture, like every other human industry, is subject to change and improvement, and surely no occupation requires greater practical and scientific knowledge for its successful execution.

For a hundred years following the first settlement of the town but little was accomplished in the way of farming beyond the clearing of the land, the enlargement of the area of cultivation, and the production of an abundant supply of everything necessary to a comfortable existence. Good living and contentedness was the characteristic of our ancestors. In their homespun they were independent, peaceful and happy.

About the year 1820 an important change is to be noted in the farming industry of the town. Previously there was comparatively but little money in circulation. There were neither banks nor markets at which the farmer could sell his surplus products. A Mr. Weatherly, of Marlborough, who had started the enterprise of running a weekly two-horse marketwagon to Boston from his own vicinity, now extended his business to" the easterly part of this town, inducing some of the leading farmers to turn their attention to the making of butter, putting it up neatly in onepound lumps, in boxes holding from twelve to thirty pounds each. He was soon followed by Mr. Wilkins, also from Marlborough, and by Mr. Randal of Princeton. The advent of these marketmen wrought a remarkable change in the farming interest in the town. Dairying, or butter-making, soon became the leading business ; but not butter alone, but veal, pork, poultry, fruit, vegetables, and whatever else of a like nature the farm produced, found, through these marketmen, a ready sale in Boston, and brought a sure and quick return id cash the following week. This change led to important improvements in farm man- agement, and also to a neater and more comely appearance of the general surroundings. The hay crop now became the chief object in the cultivation of the land, and was considered the most valuable production of the farm. Whether wisely or unwisely, sheep husbandry fell into discredit, and was soon entirely abandoned.

During this period, which continued nearly forty years, the productiveness of the farms was greatly increased, money became more plenty, many farmers freed themselves from debt and secured positions of financial ease and independence.

This season of prosperity was followed by another change in the farming interest of the town. Since 1850 Sterling has enjoyed the advantage of three different lines of railroad - the Worcester and Nashua (now leased to the Boston and Maine R.R. Co.), the Worcester and Fitchburg, and the Boston, Clinton and Fitchburg. The two last are combined under the name of the Old Colony Northern Division. These lines of railroad afford direct communication with Boston, Worcester and Fitchburg three times daily. With the incoming of these swift messengers between town and city, the traditional stage-coach and the tardy market-wagon became obsolete and useless. All transportation was now by railroads, and this circumstance rendered possible the selling of milk in the Boston market, which privilege the farmers gradually availed themselves of, until now that article is the principal farm-product sold in the market. The daily average number of cans sold is estimated at one thousand. The average price per can at the railroad station is twenty-six cents the present year. The annual income to the citizens on this basis of calculation would amount to nearly or quite one hundred thousand dollars.

Fruit-raising is an important branch of farm industry. For the last thirty years the farmers of Sterling have given increased attention to this subject, until the production has assumed giant proportions. There are many orchards which, in favorable years, like the present, produce from one hundred to one thousand barrels of the choicest varieties of apples. Prominent among these is the Baldwin. But the R. I. Greening, the Roxbury Russet, the Northern Spy, the Palmer and the Gravenstein are profusely cultivated as especial favorites. Peal's are raised in variety, but not to a great extent as a market crop.

The Farmers' Club. - The Sterling Farmers' Club had its birth on the evening ot the 12th of November, 1857. It had a noble parentage; but most of the original members have passed on to their reward. We recall their venerable, manly forms, the genial expression of their countenances and the words of wisdom and experience which fell from their lips.

Pursuant to public notice, a meeting of the citizens was held, and after being duly organized, a committee appointed for the purpose presented a constitution, which was unanimously adopted. ^The first article declares that the as-ociation shall be called the Sterling Farmers' Club. The second defines the object in the these words : " Its object shall be to promote the interests of agriculture and the welfare of the farmer and disseminate such knowledge, practical and scientific, as shall conduce to that end."

Another article prescribes the order of business at each meeting as follows: "There shall be a meeting of the club once a fortnight, and at such meeting a discussion upon a topic previously announced, which shall be commenced by four members designated .at a previous meeting by the presiding officer, and such other exercises as the club shall deem proper." Fifty-one gentlemen signed the constitution and at once became members. For more than twenty years the meetings of the club were well attended, its discussions carried on with earnestness, often with enthusiasm, and much practical information diffused among its members.

The work of the club has been educational in an eminent degree. By the discussion of the multitudinous questions of farm interest it has awakened thought, led to inquiry, investigation, experiment and practical knowledge. It has encouraged enterprise and promoted improvement in methods of farm work. In a social way, also, it has had a beneficent infiuence. With the exception of two years during the late war it has held its annual cattle-shows and exhibitions. Among those who have given addresses on these occasions are the Hon. Charles L. Flint, of Boston ; the late Hon. John A. Goodwin, of Lowell ; the late Rev. George Putnam, D.D., of Roxbury and the present Secretary of War, the Hon. William C. Endicott, ofSalem.

Another instrumentality designed to promote the welfare of the farmer and the farmer's family is that of the order of the Patrons of Husbandry, which has been a successful experiment in this town. " The Sterling Grange, No. 53, Patrons of Husbandry," was organized in April, 1874. In some of its methods of operation it varies from the Farmers' Club, but is not, in any sense, in conflict with it. The objects of the two associations are identical. The Sterling Grange at the present time is an active force and has a membership of sixty persons.

The Centennial. - The centennial anniversary of the incorporation of the town was observed on the 15th of June, 1881. The subject was brought up before the town, informally, at the annual town-meeting in November, 1879, and a committee was appointed to take the matter into consideration and report at a future meeting. The committee reported at the annual meeting in March following in favor of a suitable observance of the event, which report was unanimously accepted, and a Centennial Committee was chosen and empowered to make all necessary arrangements therefor. The committee consisted of the following persons: Samuel Osgood, Captain Eli Kilburn, Dr. William D, Peck, Ezra Sawyer, Esq., Mr. William H. Burpee. Captain Kilburn, owing to the infirmities of age, declined to serve and Mr. Charles H. Loring was chosen in his stead.

The committee held frequent meetings during the summer and winter following, and made such arrangements as were deemed proper. An act was procured from the Legislature of 1880 authorizing the town to raise money by taxation to an amount not exceeding five hundred dollars, for commemorating the centennial anniversary of its incorporation and for publishing the doings of the celebration. The anniversary of incorporation occurred on the 25th of April, but on account of probable bad traveling and unpleasant weather at ihat time the celebration was postponed until the 15th of June, when it to k place according to the following

Bells wore rung and Salntes fired at Sunrise, at Noon and at Sunset. At 9^ o'clock A. M. a Procession was formed under the direction of Chief Maislial, Capt. P. T. K. Burpee, in the following order: A platoon of Police Fitchburg Cornet Band. Maj. James A. Post, No. 59, G. A. R. Town Officers and Invited Guests in carriages. Fire Company. The Sterling Grange. Representatives of Ancient and Modern Costumes. The School Children. Tho Citizens in carriages and on foot. Route of Procession - through the principal sti-eets to the Unitarian Church. Th« exercises in the Church, commencing at 11 o'clock, were : Voluntary on the Organ, lat - Prayer by Rev. Henry P. Cutting. 2d. - Hymn by the Centennial Choir under the direction of Prof. Birney

We have assembled on this beautiful June morning to observe In a fitting manner the One Hundredth Anniversary of the Incorporation of the Town of Sterling.

As tlie Ciiairman of the town's Centennial Committee it becomes my pleasant duty, in behalf of the town, to extend to you all asiuceie and hearty welcome to the joys and festivities of this occasion.

To-day Sterling extends her hand in cordial greeting to all her friends and to all her sons and daughters from far and from near, and bids them "welcome home " - welcome to her hills and valleys - to her green fields and to her many homes smiling in peace and plenty - whose doors are open to receive you.

And may it prove a benediction and a blessing to us all, that leaving our cares and labors and anxieties behind us, we have gathered here at the old homestead to revive the fond recollections of earlier years, and exchange friendly greetings amid the familiar scenes of our childhood and youth.

One Hundred years ago, on the 25th day of April, this rural town, then known as tlie Second Precinct of Lancaster, was, by an Act of the Legislature, invested with all the rights and privileges and duties of a town, and took her place among her sister towns in the Comuu-nwealth aa the town of Sterling.

One Hundred yearsl As a grain of sand on the globe, so is a Century in the Cycles of time. But as compared with human life, it is a long perioil and most wonderful are the changes that are wrought therein.

At the close of the eserci'^es in the Church, which was completely filled, dinner was served in a tent on the Common by Augustus Marrs, caterer of Worcester, and was followed by toasts and speeches by di-tinguished speakers, and the reading of letters and poems.

In the Town Hall there was a display of portraits and photographs of past and present inhabitants of the town, antique articles and interesting relics.

Town Officers Sincf, 1794

1820. - Town Clerk, Manassoh Bailey ; Selectmen, John Porter, Francis Butterick, John Davis; Assessors, Joseph Pierson, Joseph Palmer, Jonathan Wilder; School Committee, the same that served last year; Representative t»> the General Court, Samuel Sawyer, Esq ; Delegates to the Constitutional Convention, Tliomas H. Blood and John Bobbins.

1822. - Town Clerk, Luther AUer. ; Selectmen, J>.hn Robbins, Harrison Wilder, Jamea Kilburn; Assessur--?, Moses Sawyer, Luther Rugg, Thomas Wright; Schotd Connnittee, the number chosen this year was 20, consisting of former members with two new members, viz.: Ezra Kendall, Jr. and Samuel Sawyer {S"*).

1824. - Town Clerk, Luther Allen ; Selectmen, Isaac Goodwin, Thomas Wright, Tyler P. Osgood ; Assessors, Nathan Waite, Luther Rugg, Moses Sawyer ; School Committee, same as last year, except Oliver Blood and Josiah Pope instead of Mark Kendall and L. Buss.

Ephraini Fairbank ; School Conmiittee, Rev. 0. Cunningham, Samuel Osgood, Torry Houghton, J. N. Stevenson, Prentice M. Rugg; Representative to the Legislature, Jonas B. Goodnow.

1853.- Town Clerk, William D. Peck ; Selectmen, John H.Davis, Moses Sawyer (2d), Charles M. Bailey ; Asfeoesors, John M. Stevenson, James W. Fitch, Henry E. Kendall ; School Committee, Sanuiel Osgood, P. M. Rugg, John 5L Stevenson ; Delegate to the Constitutional Convention, Samuel Houghton ; Representative to the General Court, William D. Peck.

1868. - Town Clerk, William D. Peck; Selectmen, Prentice M. Rugg, Clinton Heywood, S. Thuistou Wilder; Assessors, Moses B. Heywood, James A. Pratt, Jonathan Davie ; School Committiee, Rev. A. S. Nick-* erson (for three years) and Henry S. Sawj'er (for one year),

1888. - Town Clerk, Edward P. Bartlett ; Selectmen, W. S. Walker, George F. Davidson, H. W. Burpee; Assessors, W. S. Walker, H.W.Burpee, Ezra Sawyer; School Committee, Dr. A. M. Tyler; Representative to the Legislature, Albeit H. Newhall.

Captain Eli Kilbdrn

Eli Kilburn was born in Princeton, Mass., April 3, 1796. His father, Calvin Kilburn, was a native of Sterling, but spent most of his life in Princeton, where he died, January 23, 1852, in the ninety-fifth year of his age. His mother, Mary Stratton Kilburn, was a native of Rutland. She died in Princeton, September 15, 1847, at the age of eighty-nine.

Eli was the youngest of three sons, with two si.sters, one older and one younger than himself. He is now, and has been for many years, the sole survivor of his father's family.

Eli was educated in the common schools of Princeton, and at the Leicester Academy. At the age of eighteen he came to Sterling, and began learning the chair-making business. Soon after attaining his majority he became a manufacturer on his own account.

In 1856, at the age of sixty. Captain Kilburn closed his prosperous career as a chair manufacturer, and bought a lot in Sterling Centre, on which he built a house, where he has since resided.

His wife, Mrs. Lucinda Bailey Kilburn, died in February, 1867, and in April, 1868, he married Mrs. Jane H. Powers, widow of Ezra S. Powers, and halfsister to his first wife.

Captain Kilburn during his long and active life has held many positions of trust and responsibility. He served a,« justice of the peace for twenty-eight years, and was chairman of the board of trustees of Oak Hill Cemetery for twenty-nine years.

For several years he was chairman of the Boards of Selectmen and of the Overseers of the Poor, and has served on numerous important committees in town affairs.

He has settled many estates, and acted as guardian for sixteen minors. For thirty years he has been the agent in Sterling for the Worcester Mutual Fire Insurance Company. About two years ago he gave up this business, finding that his private affairs needed all of his time and strength.

Captain Kilburn has been a successful business man, and, by persevering industry, good management and habits of thrift, has amassed a handsome fortune.

During recent years Captain and Mrs. Kilburn have made many pleasant excursions, visiting the White Mountains, the Sagueuay Eiver, Niagara Falls, Saratoga, Washington and other places of interest, visiting Saratoga Springs for thirty consecutive years.

Happy in his domestic life, prosperous in his business, honored and respected by hv3 fellow-citizens, sound in mind and body at the age of ninety-two, cheerful, hopeful, serene. Captain Eli Kilburn is today one of the best representatives of our New England life.

Edward Burpee

Edward Burpee is one of the most substantial and highly respected citizens of Sterling. He comes from a line of honored ancestry, reaching back nearly to the first settlement of the town.

His great-grandfather, Jeremiah Burpee, came to Sterling from Rowley, in Essex County, probably about the year 1745 and settled on Rowley Hill (so called), where he died in 1817 at the advanced age of ninety-two years.

The subject of this sketch was the son of Jonathan Burpee - a citizen of Sterling universally respected for the rectitude of his character - and was born June 13, 1814. His mother's name, before marriage, was Fanny .Johnson, daughter of Edward Johuson.

As Mr. Burpee was an only child he remained with his parents, assisting them in their labors, and, by their example, acquiring habits of industry and strength of moral character, until he was eighteen years of age. At this time his father obtained for him a situation with Joel Pratt, Jr., at that time one of the m( St prominent chair manufacturers in Worcester County. He remained with Mr. Pratt three years, serving him faithfully for the sum of one hundred dollars, with board and clothing and with the privilege of attending the district school in the winter; his entire education being such only as the common schools of the town at that time afforded. At the close of his apprenticeship to Mr. Pratt he left his employ and engaged service to Mr. Thomas Lewis (2d), a near neighbor.

He renewed his engagement to Mr. Lewis three years successively. At the end of this period, in 1838, he purchased Mr. Lewis' place and business and commenced the manufacture of chairs on his own account. In April of that year he married a Sterling lady, Miss Lucy Ann Smith, a daughter of Manasseh Smith, and began housekeeping in the same house he now occupies.

death, but in the following year he again entered into the marriage relation with Mrs. Mary Curtis, who now faithfully presides over his liousehold and devotedly ministers to his comfort as the intirmities of age begin to creep upon him.

Thus, for fifty years, with varying fortunes, he has been constantly, and at times quite extensively, engaged in the chair business, by whicli, through industry, economy and forethought, he has secured such a competency as relieves him from all anxious thought in respect to present wants or future needs.

His home and attention to his own private business was always more congenial to his nature than crowded aiserablies or public office. Nevertheless, he has several times held the office of selectman and other responsible positions, and his fellowtownsmen have ever had implicit confidence in his intelligence, sound judgment and uprightne-s of character. He is still in business, doing a larger amount than any other concern of the same line in the town. He receives his friends with a hearty welcome, and entertains them with generous hospitality.

Chapter Lxxviii

A LITTLE south of what is nearly the centre of Massachusetts there is a territory about eight miles square lying for the most part within the limits of Worcester County and including a small tract of land in Hampshire County, which, as early as the year 1647, attracted the attention of settlers along the coast, who were seeking favorable spots for farming and pasturage. It was occupied by the Quabaug tribe of Indians, and had been cleared by them to such an extent that its hillsides and plains, together with the meadows watered by the rivers and streams flowing through them, offered a rich prize to those who were adventurous enough to wander into the wilderness so far from the more thickly-settled villages and towns along and near the shore. The Quabaug Indians by some historians have been called a distinctive tribe, and by others they are supposed, with the Agawams and Waranakes and Naunotuks and Pacomptucks and Squakheags, along the Connecticut River, the Nipmucks proper, a little farther to the eastward, and the Nashaways, a little farther to the north, to have formed the great Nipmuck tribe. They exhibit, however, in their history, an individuality which warrants the belief that they were an independent tribe, acting only by voluntary association with other tribes and under the rule of sachems not their own. It is stated on undeniable authority that when suffering from the hostile attitude of other tribes they ajjpcaled to Massasoit, the chief of the Wampanosgs, for assistance, and that late in life that sachem dwelt among them and became their ruler. Indeed, it is more than probable that the famous warrior of Mount Hope was the sagamore of the Quabaugs in 1661, and that in that year or the next, while Wamsutta, his son, was the acting sachem of the Wampanoags, died among his new-found followers.

At the time at which this narrative opens Springfield, settled in 1636, was the only town on the west and the nearest towns on the east were Lancaster, planted in 1643 ; Concord, settled in 1635, and Sudbury, in 1639. These new settlements were reached by the Indian trails or paths, along which the immigrant could only travel on horseback or on foot ; but these trails leading from the villages of the Indians to various points on Massachusetts Bay, Mount Hope Bay and Long Island Sound were looked on by the early settlers, inured as they were to hardship and fatigue, and eager in their efforts to secure the ownership of land, as easy avenues to the prizes they sought.

The territory to which we have referred was called Quabaug, and gave its name to the tribe occupying it. As pronounced by the Indians, it was Squapauke or Squabaug, and signified "'red water place," or "red pond,'' and was so called from the reddish color of the bottom underlying the various sheets of fresh water with which it abounded. According to J. H. Temple, whose exhaustive and interesting "History of North Brookfield'' hasaftbrded much material for this narrative, the various villages of the Quabaug tribe lay along the different trails which intersected its territory, the largest of which was the Wekabaug village, in what is now West Brookfield. The native word was Wekapauke, meaning " at the end of the pond," and was adopted by the English as the name of Wekabaug Pond, containing about three hundred acres and lying near West Brookfield village. Another large village was Quobagud or Quobacutt, in the east part of Brookfield, near wh.at is now called Quabaug Pond, and still another was Ashquoach village, north of Great Pond, in Brimtield, and others still were the Quassuck, in what is now Sturbridge, and Putikookuppog, on the south side of the Quinebaug River, near the present line between Sturbridge and Bromfield.

The Quabaug territory is watered by the Quabaug River, which is formed by the union of the Five Mile River and the Seven Mile River and flows into Quabaug Pond. It leaves the pond at its westerly end and flows through what is now the town of Warren, uniting afterwards with Ware River, where it takes the name of Chicopee River, and empties into the Connecticut in the town of Chicopee. Numerous brooks, of more or less size and importance, enter Quabaug River at various points, including Moore's Brook, Stone's Brook, Coy's Brook, Sucker Brook, New Mill Brook, Cheney's Brook, Mason's Brook,

Salmon Brook, Dean's Brook, Wigwam Brook and miuiy other small streams, some of which in early and later times have furnished water for wheels of industry. Among the ponds which dot the territory, are the Quabaug Pond, more than five hundred acres in extent; South Pond, nearly two hundred acres; Wekabaug Pond, three hundred acres, and Cranberry, North. Horse and Perry Ponds, of smaller dimensions. Such was the territory when, in 1647, it first came within the notice of the government of the Massachusetts Colony. In that year the Quabaug tribe suffered from the raids of marauding Indians of other tribes, and applications for aid were sent by Quacunquasit, the sachem of the tribe, to the Massachusetts Governor. At the same time John Eliot became interested in the tribe, and in 1649 made a visit to their vilUiges, an account of which he gave in a letter, from which the following is an extract, dated Roxbury, December 29, 1649:

There ie another iigtd Sachem at Qviobagud, three score miles westward, and he dotb greatlj' desire that I would come thither and teach them and live there ; and I made a journey thither this summer and I went hy Nashaway ; but it so fell out that there were some stirs betwixt the Narraganset and Monahegan Indians, some murders committed, etc., which made our church doubtful at fii"stof my going; which, when llie Nashaway Sachem (Sholan) heard, be commanded twenty armed men {after their manner) to be ready, and himself, with these twenty men, besides sundry of our near Indians, went along with me to guard me ; but I took some English along with me also, so that hereby their good aftection is manifested to me and to the work I have in hand. Here also (at Quobagud) I found sundry hungering after instruction; but it pleased God to exercise us with such tedious rain and bad weather that we were extreme wet, in so mucli that I was not dry night nor day from the third day of the week unto the sixth, but so travelled, and at niglit prll off my boots, wring my stockings and on with them again and so continued. The rivers also were raised, so as that we were wet riding through ; but that which added to my afiBiction was my horse tired so that I was forced to let my horse go empty and ride on one of the men's horses, which I took along with me. Yet God slept in and helped ; I considered that the word of God (2 Tim. 2: 3), "Endure hardship as a good soldier of Christ," with many other such like meditations. . . - And I thank the Lord neither I nor my company took any hurt.

The Indian trail followed by Eliot was doubtless one of the Connecticut trails which ran through the present towns of Weston, Sudbury, Stow, Lancaster, Princeton, Barre, New Braintree, Wa'-ren, Brimfield and Springfield. This simple record of the Indian a(..ostle shows the bold and adventurous spirit which characterized the early settlers of New England, who, having migrated from comfortable English homes and experienced the comparative discomforts with which a life in the towns and villages along the coast were surrounded, were willing and even eager to push still farther into the wilderness to unknown regions, where to hardship and exposure and want were added the dangers which the nearness of savage Indians constantly threatened. No explanation of this spirit is satisfactory that does not emphasize the greedy desire which every Englishman must have felt for that which the opportunity offered - the possession of land. To most, if not all, of the immigrants to our shores such a po>^ses>ion was a new privilege. Landed possessions, which in the old country were confined to the noble or wealthy classes, inspired them with hopes newly born, with aspirations never before experienced, and laid before their eyes visions of untold prosperity and worldly success.

Such as has been here described was the Quabaug territory, when only a few years later, in 1660, some of theinhabitantsof Ipswich petitioned the General Court for a grant of land, which was accorded ia the following language of the records:

In ansr to the peticon of severall the inhabitants of Ipswich this Court Judgeth it meete to Graunt the petitioners sixe miles square or so much land as shall be coutejned in such a Compasse in a place nere Quoboag ponds provided they have twenty lixmilyes there resident within .3 yeai-s & that tbey have an able minister settled there within the said terme such as ther court shall approve & that they make due provision in some way or other for the future either by setting apart of land in what else shall be thought meete for the Continuance of the ministry amongst them ; and that If they shall faile in any of these particulars above mentioned this Graunt of the Court to be Toyd & of none etfect.

Precisely who the grantees were is not known, but John Warner, John Ayres and William Prichard were probably among their number. John Ayres and John Warner appeared first at Ipswich in 1648, and William Prichard in 1G49. These three men are supposed to have visited Quabaug in 1660 with the view of selecting definitely a place of settlement; but owing to Indian troubles no further action was taken under the grant until 1665. In that year it is believed that John Warner, with his son Samuel, John Ayres, Thomas Parsons and Thomas Wilson, took up a settlement, building houses and making other preparations for a permanent home. Wilson was probably a young man, and was the sonof Theophilus Wilson, who first appeared at Ipswich in 1636. Parsons was also a young man, only twenty years of age, and was born in Windsor. It is not unlikely that his father had removed from Essex County and was thus naturally associated with the settlers of Quabaug.

Previous to this settlement in 1665 and since 1647, at which date this narrative opened, new towns not far distant had been organized. Hadley, earlier known by the Indian name, Norwottock, was incorporated May 20, 1661, and Northampton October 18, 1654, and these towns with Springfield constituted Hampshire County at the date of its incorporation. May 7, 1662.

These three towns, though they had long enjoyed the privileges of municipal government, had not previously been included in either Suffolk, Essex, Norfolk or Middlesex Counties, the four counties into which the colony of Massachusetts was divided in 1643. Special enactments were at various times passed providing for the administration of justice within their limits, but they were associated with no county organization. As will be seen by the following act incorporating Hampshire County in 1662, the Quabaug territory fell within its boundaries, and

Forasmuch as the inhabitants of this jurisdiction are much encrsased 80 that niiw tliey are planted farre into tlie country upon Conecticott River, who, by reason uf tlieir remotenes cannot conveniently be annexed to any of the countyes already setled &, that publicke affaires may, with more facility, be transacted according to lawes heere established, it is ordered by the Court & authority thereof that henceforth Springfeild, Northampton and Hadley shall be & hereby are constituted as a county the bounds or Ijmitts on the south to be the south Ijne of the pattent, the extent of other bounds to be full thirtj" miles distant from any or either of the foresajd tonnes, & what tonnes or villages soever shall hereafter be erected w'tiin the foresajd precincts to be & belong to the sajd county ; and further that the sajd county shall be called Hampshire, & shall have & enjoy the libertjee & priviledges of any other County ; & that Springfeild shall be the ehiie toune there, & the Courta to be kept one time at Springfeild & another time at Northampton ; the like order to be observed fur their ehire meetings, that is to say, one yeere at onetouuo A the next yeare at the other, from time to tjine. And it is further ordered that all the inhabitants of that shire shall pay their publicke rates to the countrey in fatt catle or young catle, aiich as are fitt to be putt off, that so no unnecessary damage be put on the country ; &, in case they make payment in corne, then to be made at such prices as the lawo doe comonly passe amongst themselves, any other former or annuall orders referring to the prices of corne notwithstanding.

The settlement of these western towns, together with the grant of fonr thousand acres near Quabaug to John Eliot, stimulated the Quabaug grantees to occupy the lands before it was too late. Even at the date of their occupation the three years' limitation of their grant had expired, and a petition was presented to the General Court by the settlers, asking for a new grant, to which the court responded by the passage of the following order :

May 15, 1GG7. In ans' to the petition of the inhabitants at Quabaug ; This Court having perused the grant which the Generall Court made anno 1060 to the tirst undertakers from that place, doe fiude that

1. By their non observance of the condition of their grant, the same is altogether vojd, & that now the ordering & disposing tbereof i* wholly in this Court's power ;

2. Considering that there is already at Quabatige about sixe or seven familyes, &, that the place may he capable of receiving many more, this Court will readily grant them the liberty of a township when they shall be in a fitt capacity.

3. In the meane time this Court appoints Cap*. John Pynchon, John Aires, W"'. Prichard, Richard Coy & John Younglow, or any three of them, whereof Capt. Pinchon to ho one of the three who shall have power to admitt inhabitants, grant lands & to order all the prudentiall affaires of the p!ace in all respects untill it shall appeare that the place shall be so farr settled with able men, aa this Court may judge meete to give them the full liberty of a touneship according to lawe.

4. Because the inhabitants of Ipswich made the first motion for that plantation, A some of them have hinn at charges about it, although by their remisse prosecution they have now lost all their right, yet such of them as shall setle there by midsummer come twelve moneth, they shall have an interest in the lands there in proportion with others ; but if, by that time, they shall not he there setled, they shall then loose their lauds &. all their charges, which they have been att upon ye place.

5. They are to take care for the getting & mayntayning of a godly minister among them, i- that no evill persons, enemjes to tbe lawe of this commonweale in judgment or practice, be receaved as inhabitants.

G, For promoting of tbe aforesajd plantation &, incouragemeut thereof tl'.is Court dooth now grant that plantation seven yeares freedom from all publick rates & taxes to tbe country, provided these inhabitants of Ipswich, which intend to inhabit at Quabauge by midsummer come twelve month, doe engage to give security to the abovesajd committee, within three moneths after the date hereof, that they will performe accordingly, that so others that would setle there may not bo hindered.

Richard Coy was probably an Essex County man, though not of Ipswich, and John Younglow was probably son of Samuel Younglove, who appeared in Ipswich in 1G35. Captain John Pynchon was born in England in 1G27, and came to New England in 1630 with his father, William Pynchon, a leader iu the settlement of Springfield in 1636. William, the father, who was at one time treasurer of the Massachusetts Colony, and for many years an assistant iu the government, published in England in 1650 a book entitled "Meritorious Price of Christ's Redemption," in opposition to the Calvinistic view of the atonement, which caused his deposition from the magistracy. His book was burned on Boston Common by order of the Court, and, in consequence of persecutions which followed, he returned to England in 1652. His son, John, mentioned in the grant above-quoted, was for fifty years a magistrate of Springfield and one of the founders of Northampton in 1654. He died January 17, 1703. It was undoubtedly thought judicious by the General Court to appoint one alien member on the committee, and that, unlike the occupants of Quabaug lands, who were men probably of no experience iu public affairs, he should be familiar with the methods and requirements of municipal administration.

In the mean time, before the regrant was made by the court, the old grantees took measures to secure a release from the Indians of their title in the lands which their grant covered and negotiated with Ensign Thomas Cooper, of Springfield, to take a deed in his own nacbe. This he did, but afterwards assigned his interest to the grantees. The following is the Indian deed :

These Presents Testify That Shattoockquis, alias Shadookis, the sole & propper owner of certayne lands at Quabauge, hereafter named, Hath for gootl & valluable Considerations, him, the said Shattooquis thereunto moveinge given, graunted, bargayned & Sold, And by these presents Doth fully, clearily & absolutely give grant, bargayne & sell unto Eusigne Thomas Cooper, of Springfield, for the use & behoofo of the prsent English Plantera at Quabaug & their Associates & their successonj, & to them & their heires for evuer certayne pcells of land at towards or about the North end of Quabauge pond, that is to say, beginning at a little Jleddow at the North end of the pond Qua bauge, wch meddow is called Podeek, wth the land about it & soe to a little bill Wullamauick & from thence Northward or North & by East about Tliree nn'les, & soe Westward off to ye North end of Wecobaug Pond, taking in all the playnes, meddowes & upland from Podunk by Quabaug to Wecubaug pond, all the lantl betwixt as that called Nacommuck (vis' a brook where meddow is), and soe to Massequockummes vis* another brook where meddow is and soe through the playn to Wecobaug pond & then down to Lashaway, vis* the River wch comes from Quabaug pond all ye land as aforesaid on the East or Northeast side of that River, and about three miles North or North & by East from the River together wth the said River & the lands on tbe west side, or south, 'or southwest side of the said River, & particularly from Lashaway down the River to a brook or streame called Naltaug, & 800 up that brook to the head of it Southward, & then from the head uf tliat brook to verge of a hill called Asqiioach, A soe down Southward or Southeast to ye pond Quabauge, taking in all the wett meddow & nieddows called Masquabamick & Nanantomqua, it being about foure miles from the river to the verge or foote of the hill aforesaid, called Asquoach, and about six miles or neere thereabouts from the River at tbe mouth of ye brook called Naltaug to Quabaug pond. All tbe coinodityes & adrantages thereof & thereunto belonging the said Ensigne Thomas Cooper, for himself and for the present Plantere at Quabang; and their Associates & successors is to have, hold and enjoy, & that for ever.

And the said Shattookquis, as well for other considerations, as alao for & in consideration of the sunime Three Hundred fadom of Wampanipeage in hand Received, doth grant, bargayne & sell All & Singular the aforenamed Tract of land to Ensigne Thomoa Cooper, his sue cessors & assignes as aforesaid, & to their heires for ever. And the said Shattoockquis doth hereby covennate & promise to & the said Ensigne Thomas Cooper that he will save ye said Thomas Cooper harmless from all manner of clamyes of any person or psons lawfully clayuiing any right or interest in the said lands hereby sold, or in any part thereof, & will defend the same from all or any molestation & incumbrence by any Indians lawfully laying clayme or title thereunto. In witness whereof the said Shattoockquis hath herewith sett his hand, this tent^j day of November, lliGfj :

An Indian witness, who, challenging some interest in the land above sold, received part of ye pay & consented to the sale of it all. Subscribed & delivered in ye presence of

Elizue Holtoke, Samuell Chapin, ,Japhett Chapin. Shattoockquis, an Indian above-mentioned, did own & acknowledge this to be bis act & deed, resigning up all his right, title & intrest in the lands above-mentioned unto Thomas Cooper, his Associates & Assignes, as above said, this Tenth day of November, 1065.

The wampumpeage, three hundred fathoms of which were paid for the land, was made from the purple and white parts of the quaw-haug shell, and consisted of flat, round, button-like pieces of shell, about a sixteenth of an inch in thickness, and a quarter of an inch in diameter, with a hole in the middle for stringing on strings of bark or hemp. The purple and white pieces alternated on the string, the purple being of double the value of the whi e, and tlie whole valued at five shillings per fathom. After wampumpeage went out of use as currency, it long retained a place among the Indians for the adornment of their persons. Before the days of the Pilgrims, it had a very limited use, and that only among the tribes on the seaboard. In 1627, when the Plymouth Colony effected a settlement with the London merchants, by which they were found to owe an indebtedness of twenty-four hundred pounds to them and other creditors, the debt was assumed by William Bradford, Miles Standish, Isaac Allerton, Edward Winslow, William Brewster, John Rowland, John Alden and Thomas Prence, together with their friends, James Sherley, John Beauchamp, Richard Andrews and Timothy Hatherly, of London, and the trading privileges of the Colony were assigned to them as security. In order to pay the debt, these gentlemen caused all the inland tribes to be instructed in the value and use of wampumpeage, and by its use they carried on so profitable a trade in the purchase of furs and their exportation to England as within nine years - the time prescribed in their settlement -

Until 1673 the committee appointed by the court held in their hands the entire management of the lands, and by them the allotments were made. They kept their Books of Records and Mr. Pynchon was the recorder. Their first book was probably destroyed by fire in 1676, and the only knowledge extant of the methods and plan of land distribution is derived from memoranda and extracts found among the papers of Mr. Pynchon. From them it appears that what were called the home-lots were laid out so as to take in what is now known as Foster's Hill, extending from Hovey's Brook on the southeast to Coy's Brook on the nor.hwest, including in all about five hundred acres. Beginning at Coy's Brook, the lots lay in the following order: 1. Richard Coy; 2. Thomas Parsons; 3. John Warner; 4. Samuel Kent; 5. Samuel Warner ; 6. John Youuglove ; 7. Thomas Wilson ; 8. Thomas Millet; 9. Meeting-House ; 10. John Ayres ; 11. William Prichard ; 12. James Travis; 13. Judah Trumble ; 14. Daniel Hovey; 15. James Hovey; 16. Thomas Hovey. The lot on which probably the first meeting-house was built was in the middle of the allotted territory, and was probably a little northwesterly of the present barn of Mr. D. H. Richardson. These lots contained twenty acres each, with a right to twenty acres of meadow and eight or ten acres of plain land, and larger lots were assigned to the minister and to fathers of grown-up sons. Each home-lot was also entitled to forty acres of upland and all undivided lands were held in common.

After this liberal division of lands, it was found, nevertheless, that the demand of the settlers for pasturage, mowing land, timber and fuel was far from being met, and the following petition for a further grant was sent to the General Court :

This honored Court being pleased upou petition presented to them by some of the inhabitants of Ipswich for land to settle a plantation at Quaboag ; so far to favor their notion or to grant them a tract of land of six miles square for that end, and farther since to encourage the poor inhabitants that are upon it. The humble petition, therefore, of the poor inhabitants of Quaboag to this honored Court is, that according as they were pleased to intimate their readiness to grant us the liberty of a township (whereby meet inhabitants upon the place we should be capable of it) so they would be pleased at this time to do it. Our humble petition to this bon'd C't is farther, that they would be pleased to enlarge our grant, if they see good, for that we may go six miles every way from the centre. The reason of this, our request to the hon'd C't, is because we find the meadiw to lie very much scattered about the place in many small parcels far distant one from the other, and therefore we fear that unless the hon'd C't grant us some considerable further enlargement, we shall not be able to fetch within our bounds a sufficient quantity of meddows to accommodate families enough to make a comfortable society in a place so remote in the wilderness as ours is. We would further crave leave to acquaint the honored C't that there is a great farm of land laid out very near our plantation for Peter Taft, as we do adjudge, within a matter of three or four miles from the river, which runs through our place to Springfield, as we humbly conceive that it will fall within our bounds. If it should not, we humbly crave that the hon'd C't would grant that it may pay public charge with us ; it being very difficult to carry on a place so remote from all otlier plantations in the wooda as ours is. And tbis hon'd C't BO fiir countt-nancing us as they have already, doth persuade, as by way of humble petition, to prcseut theee tbiugs to this hood C't, submitting ourselves tbeir good pleasure concerning ub herein. Wee, whose nauies are here underwritteu, have sub&ciibed , hereto in the behalf o(

In 1673 application was made to the General Court for an act of incorporation as a town. We are told by Mr. Temple that the original petition was found in a junk-shop by Dr. John F. Pratt, of Chelsea, and he has saved it from oblivion by giving it a place in his valuable history. The petition reads as follows:

The humble Petition of the inhabitants of Quaubauge Sheweth That whereas wee being not yet allowed a Township, wee are disabled as to comfortably carrying on ye aflTaires of the place as is requisite for the publieke &. our own conveniences in diverse respects as for the ordering the Prudentiall affaires of the Town proper, to select men, makeiug & collecting of Rates, &c. Wee have, indeed, a Committee to heipe in these mattere, but in regard we caunot rationally desire or expect the p'sence & assistance of One of the Committee (vest the Honno'd Major Pynchon) soe often as we need by reason of his remoteness. And yett w^iiout his p'sence or concurrence the Committee cannot make a valid act. The p^mises considered, Our Humble request is, that this much Honno'^ Corte would be pleased to grant us the Priviledge & Libertyes of a Township, whereby we may be the better iuabled to carry on our onne matters wtiiout too much disti-action.

It is probable, judging from the names in this petition and from the allotment of lands, that most, if not all, of the old Ipswich grantees had taken advantage of the privilege accorded to them in the re-grant. John Warner, Samuel Warner, John Younglove, Thomas Wilson, John Ayres, William Prichard, Daniel James and Thomas Hovey were all from Ipswich, while Richard Coy, Samuel Kent, Jymes Travis and Judah Trumbull were Essex County men and probably associated with the Ipswich men in the original grant.

Accompanying the petition was a letter from John Pynchon, desiring to be discharged from the committee for Quabaug, and this letter also Mr. Temple has reproduced in his history. The deputies of the court, as the record states, judged

The record also states that the *'magis'« Consent hereto, provided they divide not the whole land of yo Tounsiiip till they be forty or fiv«ty familyes in y" nieane time, yt their dividings, one to another, exceed

On the 19th of December in the year of the incorporation Thomas Cooper, the grantee in the deed from Shattoockquis, assigned his interest in the lands conveyed to him to the inhabitants of the new town by the following instrument:

I, Thomas Cooper.above mentioned, doe hereby relinquish & resigne up all my right & title in ye lands within mentioned, to be bouglit of Shattoockquis, hereby declaring that my acting in ye p^^mises was only In the behalfe &. for the use and behoofe of the inhabitants of Quabauge (now called Brookfeild) & their successors. The purchase of the abovementioned land being at their pper cost and charge, who had obteyned a grant thereof from ye Honn""* Gen'^* Corte, & are now allowed a Toune ; I doe therefore hereby deliver up this instrument, or deed of sale to John John Warner, Richard Coy & William Pritchard, of Quabauge, alias Brookefeild, for the use & as the prop^i^ right of the inhabitants of Brookefeild , the said Persons beiugo betrusted by the Toune, or present inhabitants of Brookefeild, for taking in & receiving this present Deed; wherefore I doe hereby deliver it up to them, hereby declaring it &. the land therein mentioned to be sold to be & belong to the present Inhabitants of Brookefeild, as they are a Township, and to particular psons only, according as they have or shall have grants of land confirmed to them. The whole tract of land above mentioned I doe fully & absolutely resigne up to the Inhabitants of Brooketield aforesaid, and to their successors & their beires for Ever, As witness my hand this 19th day of December, 1073.

December 19*i», 1073. Lieut. Thomas Cooper, above mentioned, subscribed hereunto & acknowledged the resigning up this De«d & all his intrest in the premises to the Inhabitants of Brookefeild,

Thus it will be seen that by the early part of 1673- 74 the town was organized, had acquired full possession of the lands, and was ready under favorable auspices to begin a career of municipal prosperity. But unforeseen disasters befell the town. In 1675, within two years of its incorporation, it was entirely destroyed by the Indians in King Philip's War, its meetinghouse and ail its dwellings were burned, some of its leading men, among whom were John Ayres, Richard Coy, William and Samuel Prichard, and James Hovey, were killed and families were otherwise broken up by the murders of wives and children. The Quabaug Indians, with whom for ten years the settlers had lived in harmony, were under the sway of Philip, and among the most earnest in the relentless war he waged. It is not necessary in this narrative to recount the details of this war, as they may be found in a score of historical works to which readers have easy access, and may at almost any time and place refer.

With the death of Philip, on the 10th of August, 1676, the war ceased, and with the return of peace the Quabaugs left their old homes, and the scattered remnants of their tribe retreated westward beyond the Hudson River never to return.

So the young frontier town of Brookfield disappeared. Its twenty families, with all their remaining provisions, migrated to new homes; the meetinghouse, in the erection of which, as the seal of their municipal union, they had taken special pride, and in which John YouDglove and Thomas Millet had preached to them the word of God, was burned, their fields were devastated and their houses in ashes, and for ten years the territory of Quabaug was a deserted waste. The memory of past disasters and the fear of their recurrence prevented during that long period its renewed occupation and settlement. So far as the incorporation of the town was concerned the privileges of a town were annulled by the following act of the General Court, passed May 28, 1679, and approved on the 9th of the following month:

For the greater comfort and safety of all people who are intended to resettle the villages deserted in the late war or the planting any new Plantation within this jnrisdiction.

It is ordered and enacted hy this Court and the authority thereof That no deserted town or new Plantation shall be inhabited until the people first make application unto the Governour and Council or to the County Court within whose jurisdiction such Plantation is. And tlie Council or County Court are hereby ordered and empowered to appoint an able and discreet committee (at the charge of the people intending to plant) which Committee are ordered and impowered to view and consider the place or places to be settled and give directions and orders in writing under their hands in what form way and manner snch town shall be settled or erected, wherein they are required to have a principal respect to nearness and conveniency of habitation for security against enemies and more comfort for church communion & enjoyment of God's Worship and education of children in schools and civility with other good ends.

And all such planters are hereby injoined to attend and put in practice such orders and directions as shall be given by such committee upon the penalty of five hundred pounds fine to the country to be inHicted upon them by order of the Council or County Court for their neglect or refusal to attend this order.

In 168G, as has been already mentioned, the resettlement of Brookfield began, but only the family of John Ayres, of all the original settlers, returned. The new occupants of the land w'ere chiefly from Marlborough, Springfield, SuflSeld and Hadley, while a few were from the more distant settlements of Essex County. The first effort in behalf of a reorganizaiion is to be found in the following petition :

*' Whereas there was a Township formerly granted by the Hon'>i General Court at a place called by the Indians Qnaboag & by the English Brookfield which was settled but by the Incursions and outrages of the Indians Wiis depopulated and layd waste & and hath been so for many years: the Ancient Inhabitants wholly deserting the same and it being a place very commodious for scittuation in the Road to Springfield Ac and may bo beneficial and profitable as well to the Country as to particular pei-sous ; and whereas some are already seated and others would be willing to settle the said place againe were there some encouragement from the Honi Council and one to guide & order the prudential affaires for such a Plantation.

Yor Petitioner humbly requests your Hou^a -would be pleased to appoint and impower some prudent and able persons as a Committee to admit Inhabitants and order the affaires of the place in forming yo Tonne granting Lotts & directing & ordering all matters of a prudential Nature till such time the Place be sattied and a competent number of Inhal'itautH A persons of discretion to order the affaires thereof and your Petitioners as in duty bound shall even pray &c.

In response to this petition, and doubtless others sent by the inhabitants, action was taken by the Council, which is stated in the records as follows:

November 9, 16SG, Maj. John Pinchon, Joseph Hawley, Capt. Samuel Glover. Mr. Samuel Marshfield, Mr. Samuel Ely, & Mr. John Hitchcock all of Springfield, are appointed a Committee for settling the Town of (^uabaag & the Petition of the said Town is grant«d and the aforenamed tientleinen are to receive the claims of the sd Inliabitants, grant lotts to others & give necessary orders for the more orderly settlement of the said Toune.

Under the operations of this committee lands were allotted as required, and new settlers continued to come in until 1688, when new troubles arose with the Indians and the growth of the settlement was checked. Its inhabitants lived in constant fear of savage raids, and what was called Gilbert's Fort, which contained barracks for soldiers and refugees, served as a garrison to which those in the neighborhood might flee in case of an alarm.

In 1693 an Indian raid was made on the houses of Joseph Woolcott, Thomas Lawrence and Joseph Masfm, which stood at some distance from the fort, and Mr. Lawrence and Mr. Mason, with his son and the wife and two children of Mr. Woolcott, were killed. But notwithstanding the cons' ant fear of Indian depredations, the town increased in numbers, and a determination was manifested to make the settlement, under any and all circumstances, a permanent and prosperous one. Indeed, not only was every effort made by the General Court to aid and encourage the outlying settlements, but direct and positive measures were taken to prevent their abandonment. On the 23d of March, 1699-1700, it waa voted by the court that no town or precinct being a frontier of the province which the towns hereafter named are to he accounted ; that is to say Wells, York, Kittery, Amesbury, Haverhill, Dunstable, Chelmsford, Groton, Lancaster, Marlborough, Brookfield, Peerfield, Mendon and Woodstock; nor any of the towns following to wit Salisbury, Andover, Billerica, Hatfield, lladtey, Westfield and Northampton . . shall bebroken uporvoluntardy deserted without application first made by the inhabitants and allowance had & obtained from the Governor and Council in Court & Council for their drawing off if it appear to them that it may be of public advantage or that the place is not tenable. Nor shall any inhabitant of the frontier & other towns or precincts before named, or any of them having an estate of freehold in lands or tenements within the same at the time of any insurrection or breaking forth of any war, remove from them with intent to sojourne or inhabit elsewhere without special license firet had and obtained as aforesaid.

Firstly. That we seenie to be called of God to continue our habitation In this place ; we are low in the world and it would be a breaking thing to our estates to remove to any other plantation, and the Land here ia very capable of entertaining a considerable body of people ; the inhabitants have been slow to come to us by reason of ye War, yet the land ia very Incouraging, capable to afford a comfortable subsistence to many ffamilies. /

2, That it is an Intolerable burden to continue as we have done without the preaching of the Word. God doth require his people to attend not only ffamily woi"ship but His public worship ; it is the ordinance of God that on the Sabbath Day there should be an holy convocation, and that his Word be preached by those that are able and faithful, and our necessitys put us upon it earnestly to desire it. Both we and our Children need the Instructions, rebukes and encouragements of the Word, the darkness and deadiiees of our own hearts, together with the many snares that are in the world, are nn experimental conviction to us that we need al those helps and advantages that God hath sanctifyed for our good.

3. That we are not aljle at present to maintain the Worahip of God. We are biit twelve ffaniilies, and we are not of estate sufficient to give suitable encouragement to a minister. We are willing to do to the outside of our ability, but tho' we do as much as can be expected from us, it will not amount to such a Bumra as a Minister may reasonably require for his labour.

4. Thnt if this Hon^ Court would please to pity us and grant us some help fur a few yejins for the maintenance of a godly, able Minister, besides the advantage it may be to these few familys that are here, it would be a means to draw many other Inhabitants to us, whereby we shall be BO far assisted that we may, of ourselves, be able to uphold the Worship of (_Jod and not be burdensome to others.

Under th<;so circumstances we humbly beg that this Hon** Conrt would exercise compassion to us & arregne some reliefe to us out of the Publick Treasury, which we shal look \ipon not onely a testimony of your zeal for the worship of God, but alsoe of your tender compassion to the souls of those wliom God hath made you ffathers of. And your Petitioners shall ever pray, Ac.

In response to the above petition the court ordered that twenty pounds be paid out of the public treasury towards the support of an orthodox minister for one year. The payment of this sum was delayed until 1701, when Rev. George Phillips, a graduate at Harvard in the class of 1686, and son of Rev. Samuel Phillips, of Rowley, was engaged to preach one year, and the money was drawn from the Province Treasury.

Whereas, by the Providence of God by allowance from the General Court and our nwu necessites and inclinations we have and are now settled at Brookfield and altbo' we are now but fewe in number, yethere is accommodations for a considerable Township; being new in our beginnings, and througli the difficulties and hazzards of the times people tho* otherwise well inclined to come & settle bore, yet have been slow in motion ibis way by reason whereof wo labour under many difficulties at present - Therefore move to this Court that they would be pleased to grant us some allowances for oure encouragement & help as foUoweth :

First, that we may. in some measure, be in a capacity to obtain the benefit of an orthodox ministry of God's word (which we are in necessity of). That this Court would grant us such allowances towards the maintenance of such an one a year or two or three, which together with what we might do among ourselves, might incourage a minister to settle amgbt us which would tend much to advantage both as to £cclesiastical and Civil alliiii-s.

Second, With reference to Publick chargesiamongst us. That this Court would order that all men that make good a claim of a proprietie within the bounds of our place might he engaged to bear their part in due proportion of all charges arising, and when notified of their Rate or proportion be obliged to pay on the place from time to time or quit their lands, etc.

Third, That this Court do settle and state the bounds of our Township, the centre to be the place wheie the fii-st meeting-house stood and to extend six miles Ka«t, West, North and South, viz., twelve miles B<]iu»re extending from said centre as aforesaid.

These things we apprehend might be a means to promote tlie welfare of our place so as in tiiu(* wo might be beneficial to the publick interest

John Pvnchon, Saml. Partrtgo, John Hitchcock, In the name of the Committee. Henry Gilbert, Thomas Barns, Thomas Rich, Sani^i Davis, Steven Jennings, Abijah Bartlet, Samei Wheeler, Benj. Bartlett, Samuel Owen, Thom s Parsons, Thomas Gilbert. Brookfield, May 2G, 1701.

As a result of this petition a i>]an was made of eight miles square, the quality of land stated and boundary lines described and the whole reported to the court in obedience to its order. In consequence of the loss of this plan another survey was made by Timothy Dwight in 1719 and the boundaries of the town were established by the court.

Shortly after the engagement of Rev. Mr. Phillips the coming on of what was called Queen Anne's War once more subjected Brookfield to the dangers of Indian warfare. In this state of things, upon a renewed application to the General Court for assistance, the sum of twenty pounds were allowed to be paid towards the support of a chaplain to the garrison in the town. No meeting-house had been erected since the first was burned in 1675, and it is probable that until the erection of the second house of worship in 1715 Sabbath services were held in the garrison. Rev. Joseph Smith, a son of Lieut. Philip Smith, of Hadley, and a graduate at Harvard in 1695, was appointed chaplain and was the second minister of the town since its reconstruction. Mr. Smith remained tuitil 1705, and was afterward settled in Cohansey, New Jersey, and Middletown, Connecticut. During the whole of his ministry in Brookfield and for some years after the sum of twenty pounds was annually paid by order of the court for the support of the ministry.

In 1704 the condition of the town had again reached a low ebb. The war continued and though some new settlers came into the town, they for the most part were refugees from more exposed settlements, and brought little with them for the promotion of their own comfort or of the public good. This unhappy condition is well illustrated in the following petition :

We hues names are underwriten do humbly beage your Excelancy's favor and that you wod consider our weke condishone ; the favor we beg is that we all ov us, not that such of us as find they are under such disadvantages that they cant subBist there, might remove into some other towne where they may works fore there liveinge. by the deficulty of the times we are reduste to such pverty that we cant subsist except your onors will plese to grant us wages as soldiers k pay for our diat, for we raize little or none of our provision by rezen of our being draun so far frome our improvements of Lands. Our families are so large and our means are so small that we cant live without sume other imploye than any wo have at present. And if the honoured Cort ceases to put us in as soldiei-s we will as we do account it our duti conform to the orders of authority - but we rather, if it may be granted, choose to remove into other towns, and we humbly intrete that the onors of the Corte would pk'so to grant us pay for our diat for the time we have served as soldears. No more at present, but we remain youavs as foUoweth :

Tills petition was probably acted on favorably by the court, as the records show that the muster-roll for wages and subsistence of .soldiers posted at Brookfield and Springfield was increased from £271 9s. Id. for the four mouths ending October 18, 1704, to £426 15«. lOd. for the three months ending January 31, 1705.

On the 24th of October, 1705, Rev. William Grosvenor was engaged to take the place of Mr. Smith and remained until August 25, 1708. Mr. Grosvenor was the son of John Grosvenor, who came from Chester County, in England, to Roxbury, and who was one of the settlers of Pomfret, Connecticut, who obtained a grant of land from the General Assembly in 1686 and an act of incorporation as a town in October, 1713. The son William graduated at Harvard in 1693. After the departure of Mr. Grosvenor, as far as can be learned, the people of Brookfield were without a minister until May 1, 1711, when Rev. John James was engaged and received, as his predecessor had done, a stipend of twenty pounds from the province. Mr. James remained at Brookfield until May 1, 1714, when he removed to Wethersfleld, Conn., where he died August 10, 1729.

The year 1713 brought to a termination the Indian hostilities, which during nearly forty years had intimidated the inland towns of the province and checked their growth. The people of Brookfield almost for the first time since its original settlement could now without distraction and alarm turn their attention to the pursuits of peace. In that year, in consequence of the death of Joseph Hawley and John Hitchcock and the age and infirmity of Medad Pomroy, Samuel Porter, Ebenezer Pomroy and Luke Hitchcock were appointed on the town committee, which now consisted of these gentlemen and John Pynchon, Medad Pomroy and Samuel Partridge the surviving members. At a meeting of the committee held on the 4th of September, 1713, it was agreed that all grants of land should thereafter be upon the following conditions: 1st, that the grantees should work on the land within six months from the grant ; 2d, that they should live on it within a year; 3d, that they shall live on it three years from the date of the grant, and 4th, that in case the grantees fail in any of the above conditions the grants should be void.

On the 1st of May, 1714, Rev. Mr. James terminated his ministry, and in the same year Rev. Daniel Elyier was engaged to preach. Mr. Elmer remained only six months and consequently received only ten pounds from the province treasury. He was a graduate at Yale in 1713, and after leaving Brookfield preached at Westborough, Mass., and at Fairfield, New Jersey. On the 17th of September, 1714, it is recorded that the committee unanimously agreed

That the inhabitants build a meeting-house wherein to attend the worship of God, which shall be set up and erected in said place where fornierI.v the meeting-house was built uear old John Ayers' House Lett, lying near about the center of the Town ; And the Committee here and do by these presents order that the Constable, together with Edward Walker, Sen., and Joseph Banister, talce an exact list of the ratable estates, both real and personal, within the precincts of Brookfield, and cause a rate to be made for the payment of their minister and other charges.

The inhabitimta of Brookfield agreed by the consent of the conmiittee to build a mecting-houee wherein to carry on the worship of Gwl ; in the form and manner as followetli, viz. : 45 feet in leusth and 'J^i feet in width and to put in Galery pieces so that they may build galeriee when they shall have occasion ; and to carry ou the building the said house as far as they can conveniently with their labour ; aud what shall be required in money for the carrying said work to be raised by a Town rate ; and if any person or persons refuse to labour having suitable warning by the committee hereafter Darned shall pay their proportion in money. The inhabitants likewise agree to get the timber this winter. The committee chosen to oversee and take care for the carrying on of said work are Thomas Barns, Henry Gilbert, Lieut. Philip Goss, Ena. Thomas Gilbert Joseph IJanister, Edward Walker, Joseph Jennings, John Woolcott, Wm. Old. TlTen ordered that a rate of 15U pounds be made towards building the meeting-house.

On the same day that the above vote was pas-*ed, Rev. Thomas Cheney was engaged to preach. On the 16th of October, 1716, the church was organized and he was ordained. On that occasion the new meetinghouse was for the first time used. The inhybitants voted to give him fifty-two pounds annually for three years and to raise the salary forty shillings a year until it reached seventy pounds. He was to have also all the land which the committee proposed to give him, to have a house and barn built for him suited to his wishes, he finding the glass, nails and iron, to have twenty-five cords of wood annually during his life, and one day's labor annually from each man. He was also to have eight acres of land fenced and made fit for sowing, four of which were to be on the hill. At his ordination Rev. Solomon Stoddard, of Northampton, preached the sermon, and the following covenant was subscribed :

Ton do now, in the presence of the great and holy God, the elect Angels and this assembly of witnesses, enter into a solemn and perpetual covenant, never to be forgotten, never to be broken.

You sincerely and cordially give up yourself to that God whose name alone is Jehovah; taking God the Futher to be your God and Father, God the Son to be your only Saviour and Redeemer, God the Holy Ghost to be your sanctifier and comforter.

You submit yourself to Christ and accept him as the Prophet Priest aud King of your soul the Great Head of the Church, and the only Mediator of the covenant of grace ; promising that by the assistance of the Holy Spirit you will keep the coveimnt of the Lord invioUbly ; that you will cleave to the Lord Jesus Christ by faith and Gospel obedience ; and will endeavor to reform your life us to all known sin whether open orsecret - will live in the conscientious discharge of all duty towards God and man - walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blumelessly ; that you will endeavor that the inward temper of your mind be conformed to God's will and word ; and that you will follow the excellent example which Christ has set you for the rule of your life.

nant and bind yoiireolf tu walk as a regular member of Cbrist's Church ; to obey tbeni tluit have rule ov*-r yon in the Lord : to read God's word and to live in the practice of social an<l secret prayer and in diligent attendance on the word preached and ordinances administered ; - relying on the grace and all-sufticiency of Christ, which are sufficient for you - you promise to walk according to what you now know, or shall know, to be your duty.

We then receive you as a sincere disciple of Christ and a member of the same church with ourstdves - promising so long as God shall continue you among us, to watch over you with meekness and brotherly love ; - and may the Lord add to the numbers and graces of bis church, and finally bring us all to join tlie general assembly and Church of the Fii-stborn, whose names are written in heaven. Amen.

So far as the church is concerned this may be considered to have been its birth. Though religious services had been held for many years and ministers employed, there was no formal church organization until the date above mentioned, October 16, 1717. The meeting-house, though occupied, was not completely finished for several years, but the church was fairly launched, and afterwards, with few interruptions, successfully maintained. The salary of the minister was paid by a rate or tax, which included also the current expenses connected with the erection of the meetinghouse. This rate was made on the 22d of April, 1717, and amounted to £121 3s. Sd. The names of the persons taxed with the amounts of their tax are included in the following list of laud-owners who had received grants from the town committee from the date of the earliest grants down to 1768, which was the last year in which the aft'airs of the town were managed by the committee :