Worcester City (part 39 of 58)

It was also voted that the sum of six hundred dollars be worked out on the roads as a labor tax. The following is a list of the selectmen of the town since its incorporation, chosen in the years set against their names :

Jacob Dupee served as clerk from 1848 to 1857, inclusive; E. Hutchins Blair, from 1858 to 1879, inclusive, and in 1880 H, W. Bush, the present clerk, was chosen, Lucius Tomblin served as treasurer from 1848 to 1851, inclusive ; Oliver S, Cook, from 1852 to 1856, inclusive; Hammond Brown, from 1857 to 1859, inclusive ; E. H. C. Blair, from 1860 to 1866, inclusive ; A. C. Gleason for the year 1867, and E, H, C. Blair from 1868 until his death, in May, 1887, George H, Fales was then appointed to fill the vacancy and was chosen by the town at the annual meeting in 1888.

While presenting lists of the most prominent officers of the town, it will not be out of place to include in this narrative the names of those who have represented the town in the General Court, In the act of incorporation it was provided that for the purpose of choosing these, West Brookfield should form a part of Brookfleld until the next State census in 1850, In 1848 the two towns chose no representative and in November, 1849, Oliver C, Felton, of Brookfield, was chosen to represent them. Those chosen in West Brookfield at the election in the following years were ; Chosen in 1850, William Curtts ; 1851, Horace J. Rawson ; 1852, none; 1853, Baxter Barnes; 1854, William R. Thomas; 1855, none; 1856, John M, Fales,

Twenty-first Amendment to the Constitution, which was approved by the people May 1, 1857, providing that a census of the legal voters of each city and town should be taken on the first day of May, 1857, and returned to the Secretary of the Commonwealth on or before the last day of June, and a census of the inhabitants of each cily and town in 1865, and every tenth year thereafter, including the legal voters. The amendment also provided that the House of Representatives should thereafter consist of two huudred and forty members, who shall be apportioned by the Legislature, at its first session alter the return of the census, to the several counties of the Commonwealth, according to their relative numbers of legal voters and the apportionment certified to the mayor and aldermen of the city of Boston and to the county commissioners of other counties than Suffolk, who shall, on the first Tuesday after the receipt of the apportionments, divide their counties into representative districts and assign to each its number of representatives. Under the apportionment of 1857 the towns of Warren, West Brookfield and New Braintree constituted the Eleventh District of Worcester County and were entitled to one Representative. The following is a list of the Representatives cho.-en to represent that district in the nine succeeding years :

Chosen in 1857, Samuel E, Blair, of Warren ; 1858, Nelson Carpenter, of Warren ; 1859, George Crowell, of West Brookfield; 1860, Joseph Rawson, of West Brookfield; 1861, Lucius J. Knowles, of Warren; 1862, Sexton P. Martin, of New Braintree; 1863, John M. Fales, of West Brookfield ; 1864, Lucius J. Knowles, of Warren ; 1865, Nathan Richardson, of Warren.

Under the apportionment of 1866, based on the census of 1865, the towns of Sturbridge, Brookfield, West Brookfield, North Brookfield and Warren constituted the Eighteenth Worcester District and the following were chosen to represent that district in the ten succeeding years :

C, Morse, of Sturbridge, Joseph B. Lombard, of Warren ; 1868, Ezra Batcheller. of North Brookfield, Daniel W. Knight, of Brookfield ; 1869, Benjamin A. Tripp, of Warren, John Harvey Moore, of Warren ; 1870, Martin L. Richardson, of Sturbridge, George S, Duell, of Brookfield ; 1871, Daniel W, Knight, of Brookfield, Simon H. Sibley, of Warren ; 1872, Noah

D. Ladd, of Sturbridge, William B. Stone, of West Brookfield; 1873, Warren Tyler, of North Brookfield, Stillman Butterwprth, of Brookfield; 1874, Charles B, Sanford, of West Brookfield, George T, Lincoln, of Sturbridge ; 1875, Charles Fuller, of Sturbridge, John Wetherbee, of Warren,

LTnder the apportionment of 1876 the same towns constituted the Twelfth Worcester District and were represtnted as follows during the ten succeeding years :

Chosen in 1876, William H. Montague, of North Brook6eld, George W. Johnson, of Brookticld ; 1877, George C. Lincoln, of North Brookfield, Alvin BChamberlain, of Sturbridge ; 1878, Theodore C. Bates, of Norlh Brookfield, Joseph Smith, of Warren ; 1879, George W. Johnson, of Brookfield, George N. Bacon, of Sturbridge; 1880, George A. Parratt, of West Brookfield, George M. Newton, of Warren, died (Lucien M. Gilbert, of Warren, filled vacancy) ; 1881, Hiram Knight, of North Brookfield, David W. Hodgkins, of Brookfield ; 1882, Emory L. Bates, of Sturbridge, Horace W. Bush, of West Brookfield; 1883, Allen Batclieller, of North Brookfield, Joseph W. Hastings, of Warren; 1881, Edwin D. Goodell, of Brookfield, David B. Wright, of Slurbridge; 1885, Edwin Wilbur, of West Brookfield, Marcus Burroughs, of Warren.

Under the apportionment of 1886 the towns of Brookfield, West Brookfield, North Brookfield, New Braintree, Oakham, Slurbridge and Warren constituted the Fifth Worcester District and the following Representatives have been chosen to represent it :

Chosen in 1886, Edwin D. Goodell, of Brookfield, Samuel Clark, of North Brookfield ; 1887, George H. Coolidge, of West Brookfield, Henry D. Haynes, of Sturbridge ; 1888, George Bliss, of Warren, John B. Gould, of Warren.

In the early life of West Brookfield little occurred to arrest the attention of the historian or interest the reader. Its current flowed wiih gentle tide, bearing satisfactory prosperity to its enterprises and peace and happiness to its people. Its real history lies back of its incorporation far in the past and is owned in common with its sister towns. Brookfield, though the Third Precinct, inherits the name and records of the original town, while West Brookfield, really the mother instead of sister of the towns at the north and south, and holding within its borders the ancient landmarks of Quabaug, has scarcely passed the fortieth year of its municipal age. It would be a fitting acknowledgment of its historic record to place in its keeping the ancient archives and christen it anew with the name which rii;htfully belongs to it. South Brookfield is the title which Brookfield often bears in the records, and to an impartial eye it seems more applicable to-day to the town from which West Brookfield was separated in 1848.

As owners in common of the memories of the good old town, the citizens of the three towns of Brookfield, North Brookfield and West Brookfield celebrated the anniversary of our national independence on Saturday, the 3d of July, 1858. The purpose of the celebration was a double one, - both to celebrate the event which the day commemorated and, as stated by the committee in their circular, sent to the sons of the three towns, to make preliminary arrangements for the two hundredth anniversary of the settlement of the town, which would occur in 1860. The circular was signed by Aaron Kimball, Francis Howe, Lewis

Abbott, S. W. Banister, Perley Stevens, Luther Stowell, Oliver C. Ftlton, Calvin Jennings, Otis Hayden, Emmons Tvvichell and Alfred Rice, of Brookfield ; Araasa Walker, Daniel Whitney, Hiram Edson, Charles Duncan, William Adams, George H. Lowe, Royal Pickard, Ezra Batchellor, Lysauder Brewer, James H. Hill and Bonum Nye, of North Brookfield, and Alanson Hamilton, Nathaniel Lynde, Ebenezer Merriam, John M. Fales, Augustus Makepeace, Ebenezer Fairbanks, David A. Gleason, David L. Merrill, Raymond Cummings, George W. Lincoln and Warren A. Blair, of West Brookfield. At that time the population of the three towns, in the order here given, was 2007, 2.307 and 1363 respectively. A dinner was held in a tent pitched on the Common in Brookfield and nine hundred guests were seated at the tables. A procession, under the Chief Marshal George D. Clapp, with Tyler Hosman and Henry L. Mellen as his aids, contained four divisions in the following order and marched through the principal streets to the tent:

Hon. Amasa Walker, of North Brookfield, presided, assisted by the following vice-presidents: Hon. Francis Howe, Hon. Oliver C. Felton, Abraham Skinner and Aaron Kimball, of Brookfield ; Hon. Alanson Hamilton, Nathaniel Lynde and Ebenezer Merriam, of West Brookfield, and Colonel Wm. Adams and Pliny Nye, of North Brookfield. D. L. Morrill, of West Brookfield, was toast-master. The speakers, besides the president, were Hon. Pliny Merrick, Hon. Dwight Foster, George Howe, of Boston, Wm. Howe, of Brookfield, Henry Upham, of Boston, Rev. C. Cushing, of North Brookfield, and Dr. Hitchcock, of Newton.

On the 15th of March, 1860, the following circular was issued, preliminary to the celebration of the two hundredth anniversary of the settlement of the town. The original grant was made May 31, 1860, but for some reason it was thought expedient to celebrate the event on the 4th of July.

Brookfield, March 15, ISGU. Dear Sir; The present year marks the two hundredth Anniversary of the settlement of the town, and it is thought desirable and proper that the event should be commemorated in a suitable manner

A general meeting of the citizens of the several towns, into which the ancient town of Broolitield has been divided, has been held, and the undersigned appointed a Committee to make arrangements for the occasion and invite tlie attendance of all who may feel au interest in it.

We, therefore, respectfully extend to you an invitation tube present on the Fouith of July next, the day fixed upon, as on the whole the most eligible and convenient.

The Sons and Daughters of Brookfield are scattered far and wide in all the States in the Union ; but the Committee trust they will be happy to come together on an occasion so fraught with interesting associations and reminiscences.

The first settlejnent having been made in that part of the old town now incorporated as West Brookfield, and the site of the first Bleeting- House, the old garrison which stood successfully the Indian Siege of 1675, the Gilbert Fort and the first Grave Yard being also in that section, the Committee have decided to hold the proposed celebration in that town. Kev. Lyman Whiting, of Providence, R. I., has been invited to deliver the address, aud every effort will be made to give interest to the occasion.

A large tent will be erected upon the Common, in which the services will be held and the dinner be provided. Tickets to the Tent and Dinner, one dollar.

The celebration was cariied out in accordance with the plans of the committee. The streets and houses were decorated, and Wednesday, the 4th of July, will long be remembered by the sons and daughters of the ancient s-ettlement. At nine o'clock the citizens of V/est Brookfield, uader escort of the Oakham Band, proceeded to Foster's Hill, the site of the first church and fortification, aud there met the citizens of Brookfield and North Brookfield, attended by the Brookfield Cornet Band, and marched to the Common. There a formal procession was organized under Chief Marshal S. D. Cooke and marched to tlie old burial-ground, and thence to the tent on the east end of the Common, where the tables, set for twelve hundred, were completely filled. Hon. Amasa Walker acted as president of the day, and called on Rev. Dr. Joseph Vaill, of Palmer, to invoke the divine blessing. After the dinner Mr. Walker addressed the assembly and Rev. Lyman Whiting, of Providence, followed with an historical address of nearly two hours in length. After the addnss speeches were made by Rev. C. Gushing, of North Brookfield, Dr. Eliakim Phelps, of Philadelphia, a former pastor of the First Prtcinct Church, N. B. Chamberlain, of Boston, Rev. Mr. Burr, of Brookfield, Rev. C. M. Cordley, of West Brookfield, T. M. Duncan, of North Brookfield, Rev. W. H.

Beecher, of North Brookfield, Wm. B. Draper, of New York, Dr. John Homans, of Boston, Dr. Jabez B. Upham, of Boston, Rev. Hubbard Winslow, of Brooklyn, Judge Danforih, of New York, and Josiah Gary, of St. Charles, Missouri.

But the memories of the early settlers of Brookfield were destined to be soon revived by events less joyous and peaceful. The hill-sides and plains of this ancient settlement, so accustomed to scenes of warfare in their earlier days, within a year after the celebration again witnessed preparations for hostile strife. Since the grant of 1(!60 no generation had passed away without learning something of the hoirors of war. They had fought for years with the Indian hordes at their doors; they had fought for independence; they had fought to assert the rights of an infant nation against an insolent foe; they were now to take up arms to preserve a Union which had been dearly purchased in Revolutionary days.

During the War of the Rebellion West Brookfield was not behind other towns in the Commonwealth in patriotic endeavors to sustain the government and till the ranks of the army. At a town-meeting held April 29, 1861, at which George W. Lincoln was chosen moderator, it was voted to pay each volunteer twenty dollars when mustered and furnish each with a revolver. The tov/n also pledged itself to properly support families of soldiers in the service, and passed the necessary votes to enable the selectmen to borrow money for the purpose. When ninemonths' men were called for, a bounty of one hundred and fifty dollars was paid to each volunteer credited to the quota of the town, and in 1864 one hundred and twenty-five dollars in gold was paid to the men enlisting on its quota for three years or the war.

The following list of soldiers enlisting in the town, taken chiefly from the town's Rebellion Record, but enlarged and corrected by the Adjutant-General's Roll, is as nearly accurate as it is possible to make it:

November 7th. Emersun H. BuIIard, died June 15, 18G2. Albert W. Liverniore, died January 8, 1803, Justus A. Wellington, killed in October, 18113.

Wm. A. Mullet, wounded at Spottsylvania, and died May 23, 1864. Edwin T. Brown, wounded at Petersburg, and July 27, 1864. Leonard F. Alexander, killed June 2, 1864. George E Adams, killed at Newmarket, Va., May 15, 1864. Edwin W. Barlow, killed at Snicker's Gap July 18, 1864. Daniel Boyle, died in Danville Prison in 1865. Lorenzo Chickering, wounded at Winchester September, 1864, and

May 4th. Harvey E. Truesdell, died in hospital March 7, 1864. Alfred D. Washbuin, died in hospitjil June 3, 1864. S. Waldo Allen, died July 12, 1863. John Mundell, killed at Fredericksburg May 8, 1864. Daniel Lawler, killed October 24, 1864. George E. Howe, killed at Petersburg, May 6, 1864. Charles E. Cutler, died in I'. S. Hospital at Baltimore, July 30, 1864. Lewis Bovier, died July 20, 1865. Moses Renier, died February 23, 1865. Herman A. Gilbert, died at Alexandria, September 23, 1864, the establishment of a public library. No town can have a complete educational system without such an institution. It supplements the public schools, and carries on and perfects the work begun by them. The time is not far in the past when education was said to be finished at the schools. There was little of general instruction after the school-days were over, except what a greedy mind here and there, from a keen observation of the world and from a native gift of absorption, could unaided and with difficulty acquire. The consequence was that there were to be seen in all our towns men of fair business and social standing who, from its want of use and development, had lost the little general knowledge obtained at their desk at school, retaining only that which their special business or trade had made demands upon. They were, perhaps, shrewd, industrious and prosperous, but they were nevertheless ignorant men. Now, since the introduction of libraries into our small communities, education is never finished. The school-boy grows into manhood holding fast to the fruits of public school instruction, while craving and reaping more from his constant use of these store-houses of knowledge. And, indeed, in these latter years, when immigrants from abroad, well advanced in life, are finding their way into every city and town without early education, and too old to use our public schools, these institutions have become the indispensable means of that popular enlightment without which the standard of our republican government would be dangerously lowered, if not permanently weakened and destroyed.

The West Brookfield Free Library and Reading- Eoom owes its origin to a law passed in 1869, requiring towns to appropriate the annual dog fund for the support of schools or for a public library - that fund being created by fees paid annually for the licenses of dogs, and being the residue after the deduction of amounts paid to owners of sheep for damage inflicted by dogs.

In the early days of the Plymouth Colony it was provided by law that "all such profits as might or should annually accrue to the Colony from time to time from fishing with nets or seines at Cape Cod, for mackerel, bass or herrings, should be improved for and towards a free school in some town of the jurisdiction." Thus the fathers of New England set an example in the thrifty use of the tribes of the sea in the establishment of free schools, which their sons of to-day have followed in a similar use of the creatures of the land for their permanent preservation.

In the autumn of 1873 the town voted to establish a public library, and the dog-funds of 1871, 1872 and 1873 were appropriated in its aid. It was placed in an ante-room of the town-house, and opened to the public January 5, 1874, with two hundred and ninety-eight volumes. The room was fitted up and lighted by the liberality of Mr. Lemuel Fullam, a public-spirited citizen. In March, 1874, Mr. T. S. Knowlton was chosen librarian, and still holds that office. During the first year Mr. Charles Merriam, of Springfield, a native of the town, presented five hundred volumes to the library, and five hundred dollars in money, and at the close of the year there were fourteen hundred and eight volumes on its shelves. Mr. Merriam continued his gifts of books until they reached finally the number of about one thousand volumes. In 187(> he gave to the town fifty shares of New York Central and Hudson River Railroad stock, valued at that time at fifty-six hundred and fifty dollars, - "to be kept permanently invested safely, and never on personal security only, the annual income to be used for the benefit of the Library or Reading Room, which are to be kept always free to all the citizens of the town of a suitable age, and under such rules and regulations as the town may establish." He further provided that in case the library should be abandoned, the money should be paid to the public town libraries of Brookfield or North Brookfield, if such should be in existence; but, otherwise, the town of West Brookfield might appropriate the sum to any general educational purpose for the benefit of the town.

At a town-meeting, held April 15, 1876, the town formally accepted the gift, and thanked Mr. Merriam for his liberality. But his liberality had not reached its limit. In 1880 he addressed the following letter to the town, which, as a memorial of his enlightened generosity, is made a part of this narrative :

It is, I believe, already known to many of your citizens tliat I have formed the purpose of erecting within your limits a buildiug to be used for a Free Public Library and Reading Room, and presenting it to my native town. The site has already been purciiased, ou tlie so-called Tainton lot, next west of the Town Hall, and the contract closed for the erection of the building. It had been my intention to complete the edifice, and then ask its acceptance by the town. But it is to be fiuished next October, and there will then remain four or five months before your usual town-meeting in the spring, and it seems proper and desirable that the town should own the property before entering upon its occupation. I understand there is no legal difficulty in making the transfer, although the building itself is yet to be erected.

I therefore propose to the town to make a present formal and legal transfer to it of the lot mentioned, with the Imildiug to be erected on it, to be used perpetually as a free Public Reading Room and Library for the town of West Brookfield. The town will maintjiin it as such under any By-laws and regiiiations it may think proper to establish ; but under such regulations it is to be free to all, with no fee or charge to any citizen for admission to the privileges of the library and reading room. The town shall keep the building 'constantly insured for sucli a sum that, if destroyed, the town engages to replace it by another equally convenient. It is not required that the same site should always be used if a ch.ange becomes necessary or desirable. I am to be at liberty to go ou and complete the building according to my plans. Three of your own citizens - Dr. Blodgett, Mr. Fullam and Mr. Knowlton, have been kind to act as an Advisory Committee in the matter, and can give the town any desired information in regard to these plans.

From long observation I have come to feel strongly the undesirableness of attaching any other than indispensable conditions to matters looking far into the future, as unforeseen circumstances may greatly change the conditions. I will not, therefore, add any to my donation other than these I have mentioned. I would, however, recommend -

First, That the upper hall, which I intend shall be a large and convenient one, be not used, unless rarely and occasionally, for religious worship, for the reason that the town is made up of different religious denominations, and such use by one might awaken jealousy in others, and I would like this buildiug and its pui-poses to be such as that all shall feel in them a common interest.

Fourth, Let the hall for purposes of mere amusement and entertainment, especially such as sorae may bonestly deem objectionable, as balls, theatrical and minstrel performances, etc.

A general reason, perhaps in itself sufficient for not using the hall for purposes I have mentioned, would be that all the citizens of the town may be united in regard to its use. Then, too, tbe little sums to bo obtained for rental for objects with regard to which there was a difference of opinion, would hardly compensate for the objections, and you have other places available for these purposes and it would seem desirable to keep the hall for uses somewhat in sympathy with the general design of the building. There will be many of these, as lectures, debates, scientific exhibitions, farmers' clubs, etc., wholly unobjectionable, and tbe income from which will help towards making the library and reading room selfsustaiuing. Yet if the town at any time think it expedient to use the building for the foregoing or similar purposes, I would not be understood as interposing any objection but that becoming the property of the town the gift in these respects be absolute and unqualified.

In case tbe donation, lapses from a failure of the conditions or tbe town's declining or neglecting to use tbe building for the objects for which it is given for any considerable period, the properly shall revert to the same purposes as provided for the lapsing of the endowment of $5,(100 given by me for a library fund in March or April, 1870.

Upon the town's passing a vote of acceptance of my proposition, recording the vote on its records, placing my proposal on file and sending me a certified copy of tbe vote, I will make out a deed of conveyance.

I have been prompted to make this proposition by a desire to do something for my native town, which shall be an expression of my gratitude for the early educational advantages it afforded me, and at the same time be of permanent benefit to its citizens, especially the young. I recall, too, the value such an institution would have been to me in my own early life, and entertain, I trust, a not improper wish to be jdeasantly remembered by a good influence perpetuated.

I may be allowed to express the hope that the town will cherish the institution as one in which all its citizens have an interest, and may find it of lasting value. Such value will, of course, depend largely upon a wise discretion being exercised in selecting and encouraging the reading of books and periodicals, instructive and improving, as well as a due pro' portion of those of a right character more especially designed for entertainment, amusement and relaxation,

At the annual town-meeting held April 5, 1880, the gift of Mr. Merriam was formally accepted by the town, and at a lown-meetiug held in October steps were taken for the dedication of the building, which took place on the evening of Friday, November 12th, in the same year. On that occasion Homer B. Sprague, of Boston, delivered the dedicatory address, and short speeches were made by Rev. Mr. Gushing, William B. Stone and L. H. Chambirlain. Letters were read from Governor Daniel H. Chamberlain, a native of West Brookfield, and from Mr. Merriam, the benefactor, who was prevented by the infirmities of age from being present. Mr. Merriam died at his residence in Springfield, July 9, 1887. According to the report to the town of the Library Committee ma^e for the year ending February 29, 1888, the number of books in the library, at that date, was 5754, and 11,231 had been taken out during the year by 595 persons. During that year the library was credited on the treasurer's books with $200 income from the Merriam Fund, Dog Fund $192.89, and appropriations amounting to .1300, making a total of $()92 89. It may be proper to add, in closing the sketch of the library, the items of Mr. Merriam's various gifts, exclusive of one thousand volumes of books presented by him in the earliest stages of its career:

The public schools of West Brookfield, as well as its library, reflect credit on the town. According to the liist report of the School Committee, for the sake of convenience of description, the town is divided into five districts, containing in all nine schools, with rolls of 286 scholars, and an average attendance of 87 per cent. In Distiict No. 1, there are five schools - a grammar school with an average attendance of 24; a first intermediate, with an average attendance of 26 ; a primary, with an average attendance of 27; a primary, with an average attendance of 36; and another primary, with an average attendance of 36.

The Second District school has an average attendance of nineteen ; the Third District of nine, the Fourth of seven, and the Fifth of five. The grammar school teacher receives $50 per month ; the first intermediate, $36 ; the first primary, $36 ; the second primary, $32 ; the third primary, $32 ; Second District, $28; Third District, $28; Fourth District, $24, and the Fifth District, $24. The amount of money available for the support of schools for the year was $3217.54, of which the sum of $3,000 was appropriated by the town, and the sum of $217.54 was received from the State fund. The appropriations made by the town for the various departments for the year ending at the above date, February 29, 1888, were :

At the time of the incorporation of the town, in 1848, the ancient First Parish of Brookfield was the only one within its borders. A meeting-house was built in, or soon after, 1673, probably on Foster's Hill, but was burned during King Philip's War. It is probable that John Younglove and Thomas Millet preached to the settlers during the short time they remained on their grant. Mr. Younglove wai at Quabaug, the Indian name of Brookfield before the settlement, as early as 1667. After the destruction of the settlement he removed to Hadley, where he taught school. In 1681 he is mentioned as living in Suliield, .ind there he died June 3, 1690. Thomas Millet seems to have succeeded Mr. Younglove and died early in 1676, before Philip's War was over. It is not probable that either Mr. Younglove or he were ordained ministers. After the resettlement of Brookfield, in 1686, it is not believed that any meeting-house was built until 1715. Religious servicei had probably been held in the garrison on Foster's Hill, and the preacher seems to have been styled chaplain, and to have been appointed by the government of the Province, with an annual allowance towar Is his salary from the Province treasury. On the 22d of November, 1715, the inhabitants agreed to build a meeting-house, which was erected on Foster's Hill, about half a mile southeast of the first meetinghouse. On the 16th of October, 1717, it was so far completed that it was used on that day for the ordination of Rev. Thomas Cheney, who had accepted an invitation to settle as pastor. On that day the First Church of Brookfield was formally organized, and a church covenant signed, which may be found in a more detailed history of the church, in the history of Brookfield in these volumes. At the ordination of Mr. Cheney, Rev. Solomon Stoddard, of Northampton, preached the sermon. Mr. Cheney was born in Roxbury in 1G90, and graduated at Harvard in 1711. He died December 11, 1747, and his grave is at Brookfield. Rev. Elisha Harding, a Harvard graduate in 1745, succeeded Mr. Cheney, and was ordained September 13, 1749, on which occasion Rev. Nathan Bucknam, of Medway, preached the sermon. During his ministry the Second Precinct (now North Brookfield) was incorporated, March 28, 1750, and the Third Precinct (now Brookfield) November 8, 1754.

In 1755 the First Church built a new meetinghouse and abandoned the old house on Foster's Hill. It was voted, January 22d, in that year, " to build a meeting-house for public worship at the turning of the county rode, near the northeast corner of a plowed field, belonging to John Barns, being on the plain in said First Precinct." It was also voted that the house should be built " with timber and wood," and be forty-five feet in length and thirty-five feet in width. The location of this church was near that of the present Congregational Church, on the west side of the Common.

On the Sth of the following May Mr. Harding was dismissed, and on the 1st of February, 1757, Rev. Nehemiah Strong, of Hadley, was chosen pastor, but declined. Rev. Joseph Parsons, Jr., son of Rev. Joseph Parsons, of Bradford, and a graduate of Harvard in the class of 1752, was then engaged, and was ordained November 23, 1757. At his ordination Rev. Joseph Parsons, of Bradford, Rev. David White, of Hardwick, Rev. Joshua Eaton, of Spencer, Rev. John Tucker, of Newbury, and Rev. Isaac Jones, of Western (now Warren), took part in the services. He continued in his pastorate until his death, January 17, 1771, at the age of thirty-eight years.

Parsons and was ordained October 23, 1771, serving until his death, February 9, 1818. Dr. Lyman Whiting, in his address on the two hundredth anniversary of the settlement of Brookfield, said of him that " he was esteemed throughout his pastorate, which was little short of forty-seven years, as the urbane Christian scholar, illustrating the graces of the village pastor, so admirably pictured by the godly Herbert :

At his ordination Rev. Jason Haven, of Dedham, preached the sermon, and the churches of Western, Ware, Spencer, Sturbridge, Newton, Weston, Waltham and Dedham were represented.

On the 23d of October, 1816, Rev. Eliakim Phelps, a native of Belchertown and born March 20, 1790, was settled as the colleague of Mr. Ward, and at his ordination Rev. Jedediah Morse, of Charlestown, the distinguished geographer, preached the sermon. In 1818, on the death of Mr. Ward, he became his successor in the pastorate. He was a graduate, in 1814, of Union College, of Schenectady, and received the degree of Doctor of Divinity from his alma mater in 1842. On the 25th of October, 1826, he was released from his charge to assume the preceptorship of a " Classical Female School," which at one time flourished in West Brookfield. At a later date he was the principal of the Female Seminary at Pittsfield, and in 1860, at the time of the Bi-Centennial Celebration, he was living in Philadelphia, and was present and spoke on that occasion.

On the day of the release of Dr. Phelps from the church. Rev. Joseph I. Foote, also a graduate of Union College, was installed, and was dismissed May 1, 1832. Mr. Foote was born in Watertown, Conn., November 17, 1796, and graduated at Union College in 1821. At his ordination Rev. Herman Humphrey, president of Amherst College, preached the sermon. In 1833 he had a pastorate in Salina, N. Y. ; in 1835 in Cortland, N. Y. ; in 1839 in Knoxville, Tenn. ; and in the latteryear was chosen president of Washington College, in Tennessee, but died April 21, 1840, before his inauguration.

Rev. Francis Horton, a graduate of Brown University in 1826, was installed August 15, 1832, on which occasion Rev. Thomas Snell, of North Brookfield, preached the sermon. He was dismissed September 15, 1841, and succeeded by Rev. Moses Chase, who was settled January 12, 1842, and dismissed October 28, 1842.

Rev. Leonard S. Parker, born in Dunbarton, N. H., December 6, 1812, and a graduate of Oberlin Collegiate Institute, was installed December 19, 1844, and dismissed April 7, 1851. At his installation Rev. Thomas Snell preached the sermon.

Eev. Swift Byington succeeded November 7, 1852, and served until his resignation, November 1, 1858. At his ordination Rev. Henry M. Dexter, now living in New Bedford, preached the sermon. Mr. Byington was born in Bristol, Conn., February 4, 1824, and graduated at Yale in 1847.

Rev. Christopher M. Cordley, born in Oxford, England, January 2, 1821, was settled June 28, 1859, and continued in the pastorate until June 23, 1862.

Rev. Samuel Dunham, a Yale graduate in 1860, was ordained October 4, 1864, and dismissed October 27, 1870. At his ordination Rev. E. C. Jones, of Southampton, Conn., preached the sermon.

Rev. Richard B. Bull was installed March 12, 1871, and dismissed July 6, 1874. The pulpit has since been supplied by Rev. S. C. Kendall, Rev. Mr. Stebbens. Rev. Frederick Allen, Rev. E. S. Gould and the present acting pastor, Rev. Thomas E. Babb.

Among the prominent members of this church have been Henry Gilbert, his son, John Gilbert, Joshua Dodge, Joseph Jennings, Comfort Barnes, John Cutler, Jedediah Foster, Thaddeus Cutler, Othniel Gilbert, Thomas Rich, Joseph Cutler, Levi Gilbert, Samuel Barnes, John Ross, Nathan Bucknam Ellis, John Wood, Josiah Gary, Alfred White, William Spooner, Reuben Blair, Jr., Jairus Abbott, Josiah Henshaw, Baxter Ellis, Jacob Dukes, Liberty Sampson, Solomon L. Barnes, Moses Hall, Samuel Newell White, Enos Gilbert, Nathaniel Lynde, Ebenezer B. Lynde, Avery Keep, John M. Fales, Raymond Cummings, Adolphus Hamilton, Wm. B. Stone, George Merriam, S. D. Livermore, A. C. Gleason, Edward T. Stowell, Warren A. Blair and others too numerous to mention. This list includes nearly all the deacons of the church since its organization and some laymen of later years.

On the 29th of October, 1792, it was voted to build a new meeting-house on the land given to the precinct by Lieutenant John Barnes for that purpose, and its dedication occurred November 10, 1795, on which occasion Rev. Enos Hitchcock, of Providence, preached the sermon. A bell was hung in its tower in 1799, and in 1838 it was remodeled and turned round to a right angle with its former site and rededicated January 1, 1839. Rev. Hubbard Winslow, of Boston, preached the dedicatory sermon. In 1855 the present bell was hung, and in 1856 a new organ replaced an old one which had been in. use since 1826.

The old meeting-house was removed to another lot and for a time devoted to town and parish purposes. In 1809 it was sold by auction for one hundred and eighty-six pounds. The last meeting-house mentioned was burned February 28, 1881, and, having been rebuilt on the same site, was dedicated September 15, 1882.

The first burial-ground, probably, in consequence of the hard clay found near the old meeting-house on Foster's Hill, was located in the fields about one hundred rods distant from the meeting-house, and remains of the old grave-stones have been found sufficiently preserved to mark the spot. At a later day a second burial-ground was laid out in the westerly jiart of what is now West Brookfield, and at a still later day a third one was laid out neartr the village.

A Methodist Episcopal Church was organized in October, 1851, and purchasing a meeting-house in Templeton, removed it to West Brookfield, where it has since been used as a place of worship. Rev. Mr. Winslow was its first pastor and he has been followed by Rev. Mr. Clark, Rev. Alpheus Nichols, Rev. J. S. Barrows, Rev. G. H. W. Clark, Rev. William Blackman, Rev. Mr. Miller and others.

A Catholic Society was organized a few years since, but has neither church nor pastor. Its services are held in the town-hall under the ministrations of Father Grace, of Brookfield.

The business of Brookfield is moderately large, but not sufficient to indicate any considerable immediate growth. The boot and shoe establishments are those of Mcintosh & Co., employing about fifty hands; M. J. Savage & Co., employing about thirty ; George H. Fales, about fifty ; J. T. Wood & Co., about fifty, and Allen & Makepeace, employing a somewhat smaller number. Besides these industries there is a condensed milk factory carried on by W. K. Lewis' Bros. & Co., and a branch of the Bay State Corset Company having its main establishment in Springfield. The farming interests of the town are considerable, and its product of butter and cheese for distant markets is by no means insignificant. The town is well situated on the line of the Boston & Albany Railroad, about midway between ^Vorceste^ and Springfield and accessible by express and other trains in about two hours from Boston. It is laid out with wide and pleasant streets, and though bleak in winter is fiinned in the heat of summer by airs from Long and Coy's and Foster's Hills, and across the meadows of the Quabaug. An attractive Common ornaments the central village, graced by a fountain presented by George M. Rice, of Worcester, and surrounded by a fence, the gift of Hon. J. Henry Stickney, of Baltimore, a grandson of Rev. Ephraim Ward, who gave the town thirty-five hundred dollars for the purpose. Few towns can be found along the hill-sides and in the valleys of Ma.ssachusetts presenting greater attractions to those who seek relaxation from the toils of business or the invigorating influences of a pure and healthy clime.

The Common above referred to was the gift of David Hitchcock, who, November 7, 1791, "granted and quit-claimed to the first parish in Brookfield a certain tract of land in said parish, containing three acres, more or less, to be held by said parish in its corporate capacity forever; provided said tract shall never be sold to any individual or individuals, but shall always remain open as a common for public use."

J. Henry Stickney, of Baltimore, through whose liberality the Common was graded and fenced, is a native of West Brookfield. He belongs to a branch of the Stickney family which settled in Essex County in the first half of the seventeenth century, and which had its estates in the town of Stickney, in England. Thomas Stickney, the grandfather of the benefactor, removed from Boston to Leicester and occupied an estate which makes one of the illustrations in the history of that town by Emory Washburn. His son Thomas removed to West Brookfield and married a daughter of Rev. Ephraim Ward, already mentioned as a pastor of the First Church. Mr. Ward was a cousin of General Artemas Ward, of the Revolution, and his wife was Mary Colman, of Boston, a relative of Rev. Benjamin Colman, of the Brattle Street Church. J. Henry Stickney was a son of the last-mentioned Thomas and was born in the parsonage house facing the Common. At the age of nine or ten years he went to Worcester, where his father had at one time lived, and from there went to Hopkins Academy in Hadley, where he closed his school-days. After leaving Hadley he entered the hardware store of Jlontgomery Newell, of Boston, as an apprentice, receiving a compensation of fifty dollars a year. At the age of twenty-two years he went to New York, where he spent a year and then joined some relatives in Baltimore, where he was employed for a term by his uncle, Benjamin Colman, who was at one time a partner of Nathan Appleton in Boston. In November, 1834, he began what was a new business in Baltimore, the American hardware business, and became the agent in that city for a large part of the manufacturers of the country. He had accounts in nearly every State in the Union, and by his exact methods and rigid integrity commanded the confidence of the business community. Having acquired a competence, he retired from active business pursuits and is now living at his home in Baltimore at a somewhat advanced age, but with a health and vigor of body and mind which enables him to gratify and enjoy the refined tastes in literature and art which in his busy life he has not failed to cultivate. He is a lover of the past and its representative men, and to the pursuits of an antiquary he has devoted time and money, to the satisfaction besides himself of others who were less able to follow them with success. The towns of Plymouth and Topsfleld and Duxbury and West Brookfield have cause to remember his liberality long after the hand which has dispensed it shall have lost its power to give.

The town has two hotels, a commodious town-house, built in I860, a savings bank, incorporated in 1872, a Fire Department with steam apparatus and an abundance of water, supplied by aqueducts from copious springs on the slopes of neighboring hills. In earlier times two newspapers were published in the town, but, as in many other New England communities, the facility and cheapness with which the metropolitan press furnishes everywhere its supplies have rendered the local press both unprofitable and unnecessary. The Moral and Political Telegraph or Brooifield Advertiser, published by Thomas & Waldo, and the Political Repository and Farmer's Journal, by E. Merriam & Co., are scarcely remembered by any now living.

The population of the town, which from the date of its incorporation until 1880 had slowly, but gradually, increased, was found in 1885, in consequence of the destruction of one of the shoe establishments of the place, to have fallen off nearly two hundred. There is no reason, however, to doubt that from this new starting-point another gradual increase will set in. The population at each census since the incorporation has been as follows : 1850, 1.344; 1855, 1.364; 1860, 1548; 1865, 1549; 1870, 1842 ; 1875, 1903 ; 1880, 1917; 1885, 1747.

Some of the distinguished men who, in earlier times, were born or lived within the limits of the town have been referred to in the history of Brookfield accompanying this sketch. Most of those who in later years have been conspicuous in the various walks of life have served the town in responsible offices, and have been referred to in the lists presented on earlier pages of this narrative.

It would be improper, however, even at the risk of repetition, to omit particular reference to a few of the men who have given West Brookfield distinction in the past. General Joseph Dwight, a graduate of Harvard in 1722, who lived in the town for a time; Joshua Upham, a distinguished Loyalist, a graduate of Harvard in 1763, who became a judge of the Supreme Court in New Brunswick ; Jabez Upham, a Representative in Congress ; Jedediah Foster, a graduate of Harvard in 1744, who became judge of Probate and member of the convention for framing the State Constitution ; Dwight Foster, a graduate of Brown University in 1774, who became Senator of the United States, and others of equal or less reputation served to give to West Brookfield, or Brookfield, as it then was, a standing in the councils of the Province and State of which few towns in Massachusetts could boast.

Among those who have obtained distinction in broader fields of labor than were open to them at home may be mentioned Charles Merriam, of Springfield, already referred to as a benefactor of the town ; Daniel H. Chamberlain, a graduate of Yale College, and the distinguished ex-Governor of South Carolina; Rev. Leander T. Chamberlain, of Norwich, Conn.; Rev. Enos Hitchcock, of Providence; Rev. Caleb Sprague Henry, the well-known professor and author ; Lucy Stone Blackwell and Rev. Austin Phelps.

Lucy Stone was descended from Francis Stone, who lived before 1742 in that part of New Braintree which was annexed to North Brookfield in 1854. Francis Stone, son of Francis, was born in 1742. He was with his father in the French wars, and his father was killed at Quebec under Gen. Wolfe in 1759. Francis, the son, was a captain in the Revolution, and one of the leaders in Shays' Rebellion. After the dispersion of the insurgents at Petersham in February, 1787, he fled to Vermont, where he remained until the decree of amnesty jiermitled him to return. He married, September 11, 17G0, Martha, daughter of Abel Chase, of Sutton, and second, in June, 1777, Sarah Witt. Her children were Amy, Sally, (who married Hugh Barr, of New Braintree), Luther, Jonathan, Calvin and Francis. Francis, the last-named of these children, born November 9, 1779, lived on Coy's Hill, in West Brooktield. He married, March 27, 1804, Hannah Matthews, and had Bowman, 1805; Francis, 1807 ; Elizabeth Matthews, 1808 ; Wm. Bowman, 1811 ; Luther, 1813; Rhoda, 1814; Luther again, 1816; Lucy, 1818 ; and Sarah Witt, 1821. Lucy was born August 13, 1818, and graduated at Oberlin College. She early attached herself to the anti-slavery cause and to the advocacy of woman's rights, in which she distinguished herself as a forcible and eloquent speaker. She was married in 1855 to Henry B. Blackwell, but is usually called by her maiden name.

Austin Phelps, the son of Rev. Eliakim and Sarah (Adams) Phelps and grandson of Deacon Eliakim and Margaret (Coombs) Phelps, was born in West Brookfield Jan. 7, 1820, and graduated at the University of Pennsylvania in 1837. He was ordained pastor of the Pine Street Congregational Church in Boston in 1842, and in 1848 was appointed Bartlett proffssor of sacred rhetoric in Andover Theological Seminary. He married, in 1842, Eiizalieth, daughter of Professor Moses Stuart, who is well known as the ailthor of "The Sunny Side," and other works. Their daughter, Elizabeth Stuart Phelpa, is better known than her mother as the author of "Gates Ajar,'' and other works too numerous to mention.

With the mention of these distinguished sons and daughters of West Brookfield this imperfect sketch must close. The reader who would learn more of the early history of the settlement of Quabaug and of the three towns into which its territory has been finally divided, is referred to the able and exhaustive history of North Brookfield, written by J. H. Temple, and published by that town in 1887.

John M. Fales

In the middle of the seventh century James Fales came from Chester, England, and settled in Dedham. His children were James, John, Mary, Peter, Hannah, Martha, Rachel and Ebenezer. John Fales, one of these children, had Hannah, Martha, Rachel, Ebenezer, John,' Joseph and Mary. .John, one of these children, had a son Daniel. Daniel Fales married Sally Pratt, of Sherburne, and had Leander, Mary Ann, Elmira L., John M., Charles, Martha S., Sarah E. and Daniel H. Leander lived in Shrewsbury; Mary Ann married a Parker, and lived in Holliston; Elmira L. married a Lincoln, and lived in Brookfield; Charles lived in Brookfield; Martha S. lived, unmarried, in Shrewsbury; Sarah E. married a Flagg, and lived in Westboro'; and Daniel H. married a Thurston, and lived in Brookfield.

John M. Fales, the subject of this sketch, \vas born in Shrewsbury August 25, 1805, and married Mary S. Trask, of Leicester, May 12, 1831, by whom he had Ann Eliza, who married Dr. J. Blodgett, now of West Newton; George Henry, who married Laurinda T. Tomblin, daughter of Lucius Tomblin, of West Brookfield; John, who died at the early age of twelve years; | Leander, who died at the age of seven-teen years; ' Francis Theodore, who married Esther Grifiin, of Enfield; and Mary, who died in infancy. From James Fales came the Fales families of Holden, Troy, Bristol, Taunton, Foxboro' and Milford. The Fales family was a very prolific one, David, of the third generation, the son of the second James, having had twenty-four children, and more than fifty of the descendants of the first James having had ten.

John M. Fales attended school in Shrewsbury, and afterwards went to Dedham, where he learned the trade of making shoes. The trade he learned included all the branches of the trade, and it is said that the first pair of shoes he ever wore he made himself About the year 1831 he went to Brookfield and there opened a custom boot and shoe shop. After a short time his success in business warranted the initiation of a new enterprise, and with good business qualities and ample experience he entered into the wholesale manufacture of boots and shoes. In this business he was the pioneer in Brookfield, and before his death, which occurred in 1867, he established a large trade, in which he employed about one hundred and seventyfive hands. Before the war his business, like that of other shoe manufacturers, was largely at the South, but his adherence to principle saved him when the war broke out from those serious losses which many less conscientious than himself incurred.

In 1860, at a time when dealers at the South boycotted Northern manufacturers who advocated measures opposed to the extension of slavery into the Territories, he was asked, in a letter from S. Kirtland, one of his customers in Montgomery, Alabama, if he intended to advocate the Republican cause. To this letter he made the following answer:

Tours of the 3"* inbt. is received, neliirg bij" views in relation to the Republican pai'ty, and saying, if I endorsed their principles, you should not trade vvitli me. In reply I v^ould fay tluit I sell lioots. not principles. I shall vote the coming Fall, if I am alive and well, lur the nonnnee of the Itepublican party for pre(^iclent, and if you see fit to give nie your orders, I shall lie pleased to fill thini, hut not under any consideration will I sellniy jirinciples tosell hoots. H Yours Respectfully, John M. Fales. " fidelity which did not always characterize negotiations with the government. After the war his business was largely in the West, and his orders were received directly at the factory and filled without the intervention of middle-men in Boston or elsewhere.

Mr. Fales, at the time of his death, which occurred October 27, 1867, was a member in full standing of the Orthodox Congregational Church in West Brookfield, and made its interests and prosperity his chief concern. He was an active member of the Republican party, and as its candidate represented his native town in the House of Representatives in 1847, and his Representative district, composed of Warren, West Brookfield and New Braintree, in 18G4.

Mr. Fales was a man of indomitable courage, firm will, strict integrity and judicious benevolence. He sought no public station, and attended with thorough devotion to the demands of his business, but whenever appealed to in the interests of the community in which he lived, was lavish in the use of time and money to develop and promote them. George H. Fales, the son of John M. Fales, was appointed town tre.-tsurer of West Brookfield in May, 1887, on the death of E. H. C. Blair, and was chosen to that office by the town at its annual meeting in 1888. Mr. George H. Fales carries on the business of the manufacture of shoes at the factory occupied by his father, and is a successful business man and an esteemed citizen.

Ebenezer B. Lynde

The subject of this sketch is descended from Enoch Lynde, a merchant of London, who married Elizabeth Digby and died in London in April, 1636. Enoch had three children, two of whom died in infancy. Simon, the surviving child, born in London in June, 1624, followed the occupation of his father and finally, after carrying on business for a time in Holland, came to New England in 1650 and settled as a merchant in Boston, where he married, in February, 1652, Hannah Newgate. He had seven children, one of whom, the seventh child, Benjamin, became chief justice of the Superior Court of Judicature, and had a son bearing his name, who was elevated to a seat on the same bench. Simon Lynde was made a justice for the county of Suffolk and died November 22, 1689, at the age of sixty-five years. Hannah, the wife of Simon, daughter of John Newgate, by his last wife, Ann, born June 28, 1635, died December 20, 1684. John Newgate, her father, was born in South wark near the bridge in 1580, and came to New England. He had three wives. By the first two he had Sarah, who married Capt. Peter Oliver, and another daughter, who married .Tohn Oliver. By his last wife, Ann, he had, besides Hannah, Nathaniel, who married a daughter of Sir John Lewis and left Capt. Nathaniel Newgate his heir. John Newgate died September 4, 1665, at the age of sixty-five years. Ann Newgate died in 1679, at the age of eighty-four years. Nathaniel Lynde, son of Simon, took with him to Saybrook the old parchment containing the family record and family arms, which is still in the possession of the branch of the family to which the subject of this sketch belongs. Nathaniel Lynde, the fourth son of Simon and brother of Benjamin, was born in Boston, November 22, 1659, and became a merchant. He removed to Saybrook, Conn., and married, in 1683, Susanna, daughter of Governor Willoughby. He was a man of undoubtedly large means for the times and held a prominent po.sition in the government of the Province. He was one of the early benefactors of Yale College, having given a house and land for the foundation of a college at Saybrook, which afterwards was absorbed by the institution at New Haven.

Nathaniel Lynde had eight children, all of whom but Samuel were girls and died in infancy.'^'^amuel Lynde was born at Saybrook in October, 1689, and educated at Yale. He was first justice of the peace and member of the Council for the county of New London and married Rebecca Clark. The preci.se location of the residence of the Lynde family at Saybrook was at what is still called Lynde's Point, at the mouth of the Connecticut River.

Samuel Lynde had three children, two of whom died in infancy. The third child, Willoughby Lynde, was born at Saybrook in 1711, and also educated at Yale. He married, November 19, 1736, Margaret Corey, and had one child, Samuel, who was born at Saybrook October 14, 1737. Samuel was also educated at Yale, and married, in July, 1758, Phebe Waterhouse. He also lived in Saybrook and had nine children, the last of whom was Nathaniel, who was born at Saybrook May 18, 1784. Nathaniel removed to that part of Brookfield which is now West Brookfield in 1805, and following the occupation of a farmer, soon became, as he continued to be until his death, a large owner of land. He married, July 15, 1806, Sally, daughter of Caleb Hitchcock, and died February 25, 1865. At the organization of the town, in 1848, he was one of a committee of three appointed to ascertain the financial condition of the town and report recommendations for appropriations. His judgment was largely relied upon in placing the new town on a sound financial basis. In 1858, on the occasion of the celebration by the three towns, Brookfield, North Brookfield and West Brookfield, of the anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, and in 1860, on the occasion of the bi-centennial celebration of the settlement of Brookfield, he was one of the committee of arrangements. The children of Nathaniel and Sally (Hitchcock) Lynde were Caleb Hitchcock, who died early; Mary Pemberton, who married Elijah Albord, of West Brookfield, afterwards president of the Northwestern Stage Company, and living in Indianapolis and Washington City ; Samuel Willoughby, living in Richmond, Indiana; William Waterhouse, who die 1 in Cincinnati ; Sarah, who married James Van Uxum

BIr. Lynde married a second wife, Eunice Phelps, daughter of Ebeuezer Bissell, of Windsor, Conn., and had Ebenezer Bissell ; Eunice Phelps, who married James M. Diirkee, of Pittsfield ; Ellen Augusta, who married Horace White, of Boston ; and Albert, who died young.

Ebenezer Bissell, one of these children and the subject of this sketch, was born in West Brookfield August 31, 1823, and was educated in the public schools of his native town and at the Leicester Academy. Like his father, he is an extensive owner of real estate and the occupation of farming, which came to him by inheritance, he has pursued with energy and success. He married, January 23, 1850, Minerva Jane, daughter of Joseph L. White, a successful manufacturer in North Adams, and has had the following children : Augusta, who was born July 28, 1851, and died February 5, 1852 ; Annie Dewey, who was born January 12, 1854, and died October 21,1854; Herbert Bissell, who was born January 15, 1857, and is now living in West Brookfield unmarried ; Nathaniel White, who was born .Tanuary 4, 1859, and, after graduating at the Yale Scientific School and the College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York, became, as he now is, physician at the Inebriate Asylum at Fort Hamilton, New York ; Mary Finney, the youngest child, born November 4, 18G8, who is now pursuing a course of instruction at the Wheaton Seminary in Norton.

Mr. Lynde early won a prominent position in his native town and has always continued to occupy it. Though at all times reluctant to assume public office, his clear head and sound judgment, combined with a strong will and an unusual executive ability, have often been sought by his fellow-citizens, and, when sought, they have been freely and willingly lent. He has served on the Board of Selectmen and as moderator of town-meetings, and in various ways he has brought his active influence to bear in the promotion of the interests and welfare of the town. As a general adviser and friend, as a promoter of peace and good-will, as the earnest advocate of philanthropic, educational and religious enterprises, in a word, covering all, as a kind neighbor and good citizen, he oc cupies a place which every man should be proud to fill. The affection and esteem in which he is held by the community at large he possesses also in the narrower field of the Congregational Church, of which he is a member. To his energy and fidelity much of its prosperity is due, and to his business foresight may properly be attributed the insurance of its meetinghouse, burned in 1881, without which the injury inflicted upon the society would have been well-nigh irreparable. But the reputation of Mr. Lynde has not been confined to his church or town. Beyond their borders his influence has been felt and his usefulness acknowledged. In 1877 and 1878 he represented his district in the Massachusetts Senate, and the position there sought by him as a member of the Committee on Agriculture enabled him to do something to advance and promote the welfare of the farming interests of the State, to which, during his life, he had been actively and intelligently devoted.

Chapter Lxxxii By Leuyard Bill. '

If lines were drawn diagonally across the Commonwealth, from and to each of its four corners, the point of crossing would be within, or nearly so, the borders of the little town of Paxton ; hence it might be truly said, speaking geographically, that this town is the " axis " of the State, and that the high point of land known as Asnebumskit Mountain is the " hub " itself; thus may the least of towns aspire to rival, in some senses, the greatest !

This town lies about fifty-five miles west of Boston, and some seven miles from the city of Worcester, and is bounded and described as follows, namely: On the north by Rutland, on the east by Holdeu and Worcester, on the south by Leicester, and on the west by Spencer and Oakham. The town is situated upon high and rugged lands, and belongs to that class of towns known as the " hill towns " of the State. The general elevation above tide-water would not be very far from eleven hundred feet; indeed, the village " common " is, to be tolerably exact, eleven hundred and thirty -five feet above the sea, while the southernmost spur of the White Mountain range, Asnebumskit, is about fourteen hundred feet above water level, and is, with the exception of Mount Wachusett, the highest land lying east of the Connecticut River. The land surface is not so broken and irregular as might be inferred from its considerable elevation, but is rather a succession of rounded hills on which are situated some of the best of farming lands and farms, and again the valleys stretch away, here and there, into level tracts both fertile and pleasant, and between the hills and valleys of this town are found many thrifty homes and a comparatively contented population.

This town does not rank among the ancient corporations, but yet it has passed its first century, and may be said to have seen "generations come and go." The reasons which moved the early settlers to ask to be incorporated were various, but chief among those they gave in their petition was " the great difficulties they labored under in attending public worship, in consequence of the great distance they were from its places in the towns to which they belong." The foregoing petition was presented to the Legislature in 1701, and was unsuccessful, as nearly every petition of this nature is apt to be on its first presentation.

The people thus petitioning for a separate municipality were citizens of Leicester and Rutland, and the tract of land desired by the petitioners was that portion of the two towns lying contiguous, viz. : the southern part of Rutland and the northern portion of Leicester, making a tract of about four miles square. They comiilained in their fir.-t petition and subsequent appeals to the General Court that the distance to places of worship was great, and doubtless the same reason held good when it came to the transaction of the business of the two towns, since the centre of each of these towns was full five miles distant, and we can well imagine the condition of the highways in those early days, when the best were but very indifferent roads, while the side-ways were mere bridle-paths, making it quite a task in the inclement season to perform those public duties incumbent upon them.

The inhabitants, however, had the merit of persistency, and the following year they again petitioned and were again rejected; but nothing daunted, they still worked for the accomplishment of their final purpose ; so in 1763, feeling, doubtless, the inconvenience of their position more and more, they again renewed their importunities and received some support from one of the towns, but the other (Rutland) opposing, the case was still deferred.

The following petition was presented to the authorities of Leicester by the undersigned, and this town, at a town meeting held on May 16, 1763, voted affirmatively on the petition, which was the first favorable action looking towards the establishment of the new town :

The fietition and desire of the subscribers hereof humbly showeth, - Tli.1t wliereas, in the government of Divine Providence, our iuhubitauts are sy a great distance from tlie place of public worship in thiH town, which, together with the snow and moisture of the land, it is exceedingly difficult, a great part of the year, to attend on the public worship of God in this town ; We look upon it ajs our bounden duty to endeavor to Bet up the Gospel among us, by which we, with our families, might more constantly enjoy its means of grace.

In order to accoiuplish the good end of setting up the Gospel, we propose, if possible to obtain leave so to do, to erect a town or district between the towns of Leicester and Rutland, by taking two miles oflF each town to make up the contents of four square miles. Wherefore your petitioners humbly and earnestly desire that, for the good end above jirupused, you would now sett off, by a vote of this town, two miles at the north end of this town, the lands with the inhabitiince thereon, to be laid out and connected with the south part of Rutland that is a<I.iotuirig the same, to be erected into a town or district by order of the Great and General Court of this province, as soon aa may be, that we may set up a Congregational Church and settle a gospel minister, according to the constitution of tlie churches in the land ; winch we judge will be for the advancement of religion and our comfort if it be obtained in the way of peace. So wishing your health and peace, as in duty bound, we subscribe your petitioners :

Finally a fourth attempt was made by these people, and the petition this time headed by one Oliver Witt, followed by many others, was duly presented to the Legislature, and this time with better results, for it was ordered " that Jedediah Foster, of Brookfield, and Col. Williams, on the part of the House, and Benjamin Lincoln, of the Council, be a committee in the recess of this court to repair to the place petitioned for to be erected into a parish, at the charge of the petitioners, anjl that they hear all parties interested for and against said corporation, and report at the next sesiion whether the prayer thereof should be granted."

This committee held several meetings, at which there were hearings of all the parties interested, and at the succeeding session of the General Court reported, on June 23, 1765, a bill entitled, " An Act for Incorporating the Southerly part of Rutland and the Northerly part of Leicester, in the county of Worcester, into a District by the name of Paxton." This bill, after brief reference to the appropriate committee, was reported back to the full house and speedily passed both branches of the General Court, and received Governor Francis Bernard's signature on the 12th of February, Anno Domini 1765. Thus was the frail bark of Paxton duly launched, possessing all the rights, privileges and immunities of any other town, except the right to send a representative on its sole account, but gave the right to "join with the town of Leicester and the precinct of Spencer" in choosing a representative to the Legislature.

It is proper to make some reference to the name given the town by the ait of incorporation, and perhaps no better account can be given than the following, which has come under our observation, viz.: " When the. bill for incorporating this town passed the House of Representatives no name was inserted ; the blank was filled in the Council by the word Paxton, in honor of Charles Paxton, who at that time was marshal of the Admiralty Court and a friend and favorite of Francis Bernard, the Governor, and of Thomas Hutchison, the Deputy-Governor. It is said that Paxton promised the town a church-bell if it was named for him; this promise was never fulfilled. (Charles Paxton, although poli.shed in manners and of pleasing address, was an intriguing politician and a despicable sycophant ; ' every man's humble servant, but no man's friend,' as his paper figure was labeled, when, on Pope's day, as the anniversary of the gunpowder plot was called, it was paraded through the streets of Boston standing between the effigies of the Pope and the devil. He was the tool of Charles Townsend, the Chancellor of the English

Exchequer, and with him devised the scheme of raising a revenue from the coloniei) by a tax on glass, paper, painter's colors and tea. The passage of this bill by the Parliament of England was greatly aided by Paxton, and returning to Boston, he was put at the head of this internal tax system, and made himself especially obnoxious to the people by reason of his issuing search-warrants to discover supposed smuggled goods, and his course was so insolent and tyrannical that he became an object of public hatred, was even hung in effigy upon Liberty Tree, and was subsequently, by tlie wrath of the people, driven into Castle William, and finally, at the evacuation, he departed with the British troops and went to England, where he died in 1788."

The course of this man, who had christened the town with his own name, was such that the bad odor of it reached the inhabitants of the newlyfledged district and they were intensely disgusled, and among the earlier public acts of the citizens was to petition for a change of name, and why the Legislature did not grant this reasonable request is a marvel. It should be attempted even at this late day, and there is no good reason why a new name would not be readily granted.

There have been several additions at sundry times to the territory of Paxton. At one time, on the petition of John Davis, Ebenezer Boynton, Nathan Harrington, Samuel Harrington, Micah Harrington and Ephraim Harrington, of Holden, their estates were set oft' from Holden on February 13, 1804, and attached to the town of Paxton, and, by this act, the town line was extended so as to border on Worcester. Still another addition from Holden was made in April, 1839. Again, in 1851, a small strip was added from the same source, and there is still room for improving the present zig-zag boundary line between Holden and Paxton. The total acreage is now about eight thousand five hundred acres. The population of Paxton at the time of incorporation is not known, but it is presumed to " have been some hundreds," says an unknown writer in the Worcester Ifigazine, published a half-century or more ago. It is quite likely that the settlement of this portion of the country was well under way the latter part of the first century after the landing of the Pilgrims. It was, indeed, about 1720 that Rutland was incorporated and Leicester settled, and all this region of country taken up gradually by natural gravitation of the population westward, this section being at that period of time the "great west," and had its border-wars and conflicts with the aborigines and their allies. Doubtless there were wise men in- those days who were wont to say to the wayward and the self-aspiring in the crowded centres of population along the seaboard : " Go west, young man, go west." And so, in the lapse of time, these hill-towns, with those in the valleys, have filled up and the great army of emigrants has continued from that day to this to flow westward, founding new

Thus these hill-towns, so despised in the eyes of some ephemeral writers who draw distressing pictures of "abandoned farms, dwindling villages, decayed meeting-houses, diminished schools and poor highways," have contributed largely to the public weal.

The marvelous strides this country has made in the last century are chiefly by reason of the inexhaustible supply of men and women drawn from the hills and valleys of New England, where they have been trained in the schools of industry and frugality. These have given direction and force to the upbuilding of the great region of the West. Thus, while it is true that the populations of the hill-towns, with some of those even in the valleys here in New England, have diminished, the cause is not permanently disturbing - since the era of cheap lands is about closing and the reflex tide cannot be far distant when New England will be filled to overflowing, and then this assumed prophecy of a premature decay will have been forgotten. The country is to be taken as a whole and not judged by any of its minor members.

The statement that there " were some hundreds " of people in the district of Paxton at the time of incorporation could hardly have meant more than two or three hundred at the most, for in 1790 the number was but 558; in 1820 it rose to 613 and in 1850 to 870, while in 1880 it had fallen to 592, and in 1885 the State census gave the town only 5G1.

The population in 1870 was, we believe, well towards nine hundred, but, in part owing to the destruction of one of the chief industries by fire, which, unfortunately, was never re-established, it has gradually fallen to a point in numbers to about what it was one hundred years ago.

In former years the boot and shoe industry was the principal business, or, at least, monopolized a very great share of the attention of the people ; and the product of the shops was equal, if it did not greatly exceed in value the products of all the farms in town.

In 1820 John Partridge established the boot business in Paxton, and continued in the same line to the time of his decease, which occurred some fifteen years since, having been in business over half a century. The next notable firm to follow in the same line of industry was that of Messrs. Lakin & Bigelow, and they were succeeded by R. E. Bigelow & Son. All of these parties accumulated quite large fortunes, but none of their descendants reside within the town at the present time.

The town of Paxton is so situated, and has such natural beauty of landscape, and from its summits such extended and charming views of the surround- ing country, that its ultimate destiny is by no means uncertain. Already many scores of visitors rest here during the summer months, and annually come back to "view the landscape o'er" and breathe again the wholesome and health invigorating air of these primeval hills and valleys. From the top of Asnebumskit, on a clear day, a score of towns may be seen, and from its summit a fine bird'seye view of the city of Worcester can be obtained, which alone well repays the tourist for all his labors. There is still another eminence, known as Crocker Hill ; this swell of land lies a few rods east of the village, and from the top there is a fine view of Wachusett, also of Monadnock and the Hoosac Mountains. This point is a charming spot to all who have any taste for the beautiful in nature. The wonder is, that some capitalist does not secure it, pitch his tent on the same and invite the world to dine with him and spend all of the " midsummer nights" at this breezy and delightful place. On "Christian Hill," west of the village church, is another landscape to the northward which is unsurpassed for quiet loveliness. Some day an artist will discover it, and it will then be famous for its exceeding beauty.

It may be thought unusual for elevated lands to hold many ponds or lakes ; but, however that may be, Paxton has a goodly supply, inasmuch as there are some half a dozen artificial or natural ponds within the town's boundaries.

Of these. Lake Asnebumskit is by far the most interesting. This is located at the northern slope of the mountain whose name it bears, and covers, perhaps, sixty acres, "more or less," as the legal phrase is. It is elliptical in form and has an average depth of perhaps seven feet. All the sources of supply for this attractive sheet of water come from the springs in and around it. These springs are uniformly cold and clear ; especially is this true of one at the southern shore, near the present carriage-way to the lake. The outlet is at the extreme northern end, and the flow is considerable. It supplies the Haggett Pond, and in its rapid descent furnishes power for Harrington's grist-mill, planing-mill and saw-mill, and then turns abruptly eastward, flowing through Holden, and on to the Quineposet and Nashua Elvers, and thus to the sea.

This lake has been famed for its fine pickerel and perch, and for many years afforded most excellent fishing for many people far and near. Latterly, liowever, its supply diminished, and some dozen years ago a i^yi citizens formed a club and, securing a lease from the Commonwealth, stocked it with black-bass, and these were left for several years to increase, but when fishing was recommenced it was discovered that the bass had destroyed th« most of the native fish, and, .as many of the bas3 made their escape through the lake's outlet, little headway was made in stocking the pond. The club subsequently relinquished to the town all their rights, whereupon the town took

Bottomly Pond is the largest body of water in the town. It is about one mile in length, has irregular shores, and is of varying width, while its depth must average ten feet or more. It is for the most part an artificial pond, and is used as a storage-pond for the mills below, of which there are quite a number. This pond liei just south of the village and west of the Worcester and Paxton county road, but only the southern end is in view from the highway mentioned. It is there that the joke concerning the " Paxton Navy-Yard" was perpetrated, which is so frequently mentioned even to this day. It was some years ago, and in the lateautumn, as the stage-coach with its complement of passengers reached this place in the highway (Arnold's Mill), where there was aflbrded a tolerable view of the lake. A sailor passenger, who had at least " three sheets in the wind," on gazing out and seeing the forest trees at the left, with their bare trunks and branches in close proximity to the water, recalled his wanderingsenses sufliciently to exclaim '' Is - hie - this - hie - the navy-yard?" The solemn quiet which had prevailed with the passengers in the coach up to this time was suddenly broken. The ludicrous remark, and the very absurdity of the whole subject, as applied to a section of country twelve hundred feet above tide-water and fif"ty miles inland, and coming, to 3, from a furloughed sailor just ofTship, was too much, and ail, as it were, "tumbled "to the same, and the ioKe seems ever fresh in the mouths of men inclined to poke a little fun.

Turkey Hill Pond is a natural body of water near the Barre county road, about two miles north of the centre of the town. It is perhaps a fourth of a mile in width. Its waters are dark and the fishing is fair, though not nearly as good as in former years. The outlet is at the southern extremity, and forms what was once known as Jennison's Brook, crossing the highway near what is now known as the " town-farm," and empties into Comins' mill-pond, formerly Jennison's mill-pond, and thence southwesterly through Spencer and the Brookfields to the Chicopee River. Formerly there was at the outlet of this pond a fullingmill and carding-factory.

There are several small streams flowing into this Jennison Brook within the limits of the town. One of these rises in the southwesterly part of Rutland, passes into Paxton, and unites with the brook above named in the meadow below Comins's mill. Another rises about five hundred yards southeast of t-he meeting house, on lands owned by the late John Partridge, and flows southerly across the village farm of the writer into Lakin's meadow and thence northwesterly to Howe's meadow, where it unites with the brook above named. The third takes its rise in the southwesterly portion of the town, and joins the above brook just over the Spencer line. These three forks are the head- waters of the Chicopee River, that rising on the Partridge land being the most easterly, and, perhaps, is the true head of the Chicopee.

The head-waters of the Blackstone River are found on the old Col. Snow Farm, and near the road leading from Paxton to Holden. The spring is on land now owned by Peter Daw. There are numerous other springs lower down the brook which is known as Arnold's Brook. The stream was given the last name of Oliver Arnold, who lived in the present old red house, adjoining thehighway at the junction of the Worcester and Leicester roads ; he kept a saw- and grist-mill there, and had an artificial reservoir, which has since been enlarged and repaired, and, like the brook flowing into it, was and is called Arnold's Pond. The old saw-mill site is still visible, a few rods west of the county road. Mr. Arnold had a son Elisha, who is living in this town at the present time. The pond last named is used as a storage reservoir for the mills below, and its waters flow into Bottomly Pond, previously mentioned.

There is another small stream, which has its source in a spring on the southeast face of Asnebumskit Mountain, and flows across the county road southerly, and is the head-water of Lynde Brook which forms a source of supply for the city of Worcester.

While speaking of these brooks, we are reminded of a house in this town, owned and occupied by Tyler S. Penuiman, situated about a mile east of the village.

This house stands on a slight rise of ground, in such a way that rain falling upon the roof flows away into the waters of the Blackstone River on the one side, while upon the other the water goes to the Chicopee. There is, too, a well-known spring, famed for its cool, sweet water, which bubbles up near the trunk of a large tree just west of the Rutland highway, and less than a mile from the centre, where the water flows a short distance into a marshy tract, out of which two streams come, one going northerly into the Quinepoxet, while the other goes southerly to the Chicopee.

The original growth of forest trees here must have been quite large and very genera!. At the present time pine and hemlock predominate, though there are samples of about every other sort of timber found in New England. As an illustration of the size of some of the earlier timber, it may be interesting to note that this sketch is penned on a table made of a single pine board, three and a half feet in width, manufactured from a tree cut in this town some fifty years ago. The older growth of wood disa)>peared long since, and at the present time the second growth has about all been removed, and yet it would be diflTicult to say whether there i8,*or is not, as much land given up to the growtli of forest trees as at any time within the past hundred or more years.

Among the early settlers in what is now Paxton, the names of Josiah Livermore and his brother, Jason Livermore, appear. This was about 1748. They came from the town of Weston, and settled in what is now the southwestern part of this town, on lands considerably improved. About the same time came Abijah Bemis, and from the same town, or Waltham. There were also living near the Livermores : William Thompson, James Thompson, James Beniis, William Wicker, Jacob Wicker, John Wicker, Isaac and Ezekiel Bellows.

Captain Raljih Earle, an early settler, owned and lived on the farm which once belonged to the late .Joseph Penniman ; and his was one of the first fifty families which settled in Leicester, and he was one of the grantees named in the deed of the proprietors of Leicester, and was assigned to Lot No. 47. On the other hand, in the Rutland portion of the new town, Seth Metcalf made an early settlement, as did Phineas Moore, who lived on the Rutland road, a mile or so north of the present meeting-house, and, by the way, it is proper to say that the line dividing the towns of Leicester and Rutland ran east and west, by the present north side of the meeting-house as it now I stands. Othersof the early settlers were: John Snow, David Davis, Benjamin Sweetser, Samuel Moore, Jonathan Witt and Oliver Witt.

We have seen that the act of incorporation of the " District of Paxton " transpired on the 12th of February, 1765. Very speedily " a warrant," dated the 25th of February, 1765, was issued by John Murray, of Rutland, a justice of the peace, the same being addressed to Pbineas Moore, "one of the principal inhabitants " residing within the new district, requiring him to warn a meeting of the inhabitants for the choice of officers. We append a copy of the first warrant calling the first district meeting :

Worcester 88. To Mr. Phineas Moore of Paxton in the county of Worcester and one of the principal Inhabitants of Said District. Greeting - Whereas I tiie subscriber am Impowered hy an act of tliis Province to call a meeting of the Inhabitants of the District of Paxton to Choose Town Offlcers &c.

[Seal] These are therefore on his Majestys name to Require you forthwith to Warn and Notify the Said Inhabitants of Paxton Qualified to Vote in Town AflTairs to meet at the House of Mr. Jno. Snows Innholder in Said Paxton on Monday the Eleventh Day of Blarch Next at nine of the Clock in the forenoon then and there to Choose a Moderater, District Clerk, Selectmen, assessor, warden, Constables, Surveyors of highways, Tythingmen, Feuceviewers, Sealers of Leather, Sealers of weights and measures. Sealers of Boards, and Shingles, and all other ordinary Town Officere as Towns Choose in the month of March annually ; hereof Fail not and make Due Return hereof with your Doings hereon unto me at or before the Said meeting. Given under my hand and Seal at Rutland in Said County this 23th Day of Fob. 1TG5 and in the fifth

This first town-meeting was at the house of one John Snow, who kept a tavern or hotel, and who lived just east of the present village, on the Holden road, on the place known to the present inhabitants of Paxton as the old Colonel Snow or Bellows place. | This place has now no farm buildings upon it, they having been destroyed by an incendiary fire about ten years since.

The meeting was held on March 11, 1765. Captain Samuel Brown was chosen moderator, and Ephraim Moore district clerk, and the following district ofiicers

They probably had a jollification at the close of this meeting. Remembering that in those early days the inhabitants had no town halls, either old or new, in which to meet, their next be<t place was at some public house, or tavern, as they were then called, and we have seen that they first gathered at an inn. In those they found good cheer, even if the accommodations were circumscribed. Here, too, the old-time flip-mug, or glass, served for the whole company, and was I'requeutly replenished, as everybody in those days indulged, more or less, in the "flowing bowl." It is sometimes asserted in these days that temperance has not made any progress, but in these century mile-stones we can note a world of advancement. Why, a hundred years ago the clergy, as well as the people, partook of the ardent, even at the laying of the corner-stones and dedication of church edifices, and also after the Sabbath sermon all would repair to the nearest tavern for " refreshment." Now, in New England these things have all passed away, so far as the public eye or public approval is concerned. Strange to say, however, the people did not lack for piety in those sturdy days, for among the very first things done, of note, by this district of Paxton was to provide by vote for the building of a '' meetinghouse."

At the next district meeting, held on April 1, 1765, " it was put to vote to see if the district will Build a Meeting House in said Paxton and of what dimensions they will Build it, also to see if the district will agree upon some place for to Sett Said meeting House on." It was also voted " to build a house of worship fifty feet in length and forty in width with twenty two foot posts and to set the house at the Gate behind John Snow's farm in Mr. Maynard's pasture." ' In the following autumn a grant was made of £13 6«. 8rf. for the support of the gospel during the winter. In the following spring (March 3, 176(i), the sum of £250 was voted " for a meeting house and a meeting house place." When the building had advanced to the

1 During the year a good deal of dissatisfaction was manifested about the location, and several efforts were made, at subsequent meetings, to change the decision, and we believe it was finally located on land of Seth Snow, who subsequently gave the town the land around it for a town *'common."

point of raising the frame there was a general turnout of tlie citizens interested, and the records say a supper was provided for the occasion. The building was so far completed by the end of the year that its use commenced. Its appearance has been described by Mr. Livermore,^ in his Centennial address, as " a plain, square structure, standing in the middle of the Common in primitive simplicity, without dome or spire, destitute of external ornament and internal embellishments, its prominent sounding-board above, and its deacon seat and its semi-circular communion table at the base of the pulpit; its uncarpeted aisles and pen-like pews, with their uncushionedand hinged seats, to be turned up and let down at the rising and sitting of their occupants, with a clatter sufficient to have awakened a Rip Van Winkle ; its negro seats in the rear of the front gallery and the old people's in front of the pulpit, for the use of the deaf; its two corner pews perched aloft over the gallery stairs.

Thus did the inhabitants of this new district of Paxton keep faith with the General Court. They had asked to be set up in housekeeping, and gave as a reason that it was burdensome and extremely inconvenient for them to go so many miles to attend upon church service, and it cannot be denied that they were sincere and honest in their request. They had, indeed, other and important reasons for separation, but the foregoing was the chief one given.

One writer says that there was an attempt to form at first an Episcopal Church, but it failed, and had the effect to put off' the formation of any other till September 3, 1767, when the present Congregational Church was organized, and the meeting-house completed during this year.

Regular preaching heretofore had not been established, but yet services had been held by the Rev. Henry Carver and by Rev. Mr. Steward, who also taught school here at this early date in the history of Paxton.

The names of those subscribing to the covenant at the time of organization were Phineas Moore, John Snow, Jason Livermore, David Davis, Benjamin Sweetser, Silas Bigelow, Samuel Man, Oliver Witt, Stephen Barrett and Samuel Brown.

In the early part of 1767 a committee was appointed to secure a permanent pastor, and they subsequently reported in favor of the Rev. Silas Bigelow. On May 14, 1767, the district voted him the sum of £133 6s. Sd., as a settlement grant, and also voted a yearly salary of £53 6s. 8d. for the first four years, and £66 13s. 4d. as long as he shall continue his relations as a minister.