Worcester City (part 40 of 58)

I liiiVo fiilteii very serious Notire of ye Sovereign Hand of Divine Providence in Condnctinp: me to yon, and would in some suitable and Grateful manner attend to ye kind acceptance my labours have met with among yon ; and ye Regard which you have manifested to nie (how unworthy so ever) in Electing me to be your Pastor. I observe ye Degree of unanimity and undeserved Affection with which you have Done this, and I can't but be apprehensive of Harmony and unanimity afford some of ye Best encouragements to hope for success, and yt ye Great End of ye Gospel ministry may be obtained in the Conversion of Souls to God and ye edifying of Saints in Faith and Comfort to Salvation. Nor would I fail to take Due Notice also of ye Provision which you Have made for my Settlement and Support among ,vou ; and it is Fit you should give Praise to God who both enabled you to maintain ye gospel and ye ordinences thereof, and so far inclined your hearts thereto ; At ye same time I am obliged to appraise you (not, I hope. From any avoricious Disposition, nor Because I would rather seek yours than you, but because I would fain Promote your real Benefit and highest welfare) that after Taking ye Befit Advice I can get, not merely From those in Ministerial life, but From others in Civil Character, I fear I shall not be able (from The Sujtport you have offtred) to answer your expectations from me in ye office I must Bear, nor to sustain the Dignity and Discharge the duties thereof But having sought earnestly to ye God of all Wisdom and Grace for Direction in the most weighty and important affair ; Considted such as are esteemed Respectable for their Capacity and Integrity, and Deliberatel.v considered everything as well as I could within myself, I accept of your Call, Determining by the Grjice of God to Devote myself to ye work of ye Gospel Ministry among you ; not Doubting your Readiness to Do what you can to free me from ye unnecessary cares and Incumbrances of Life; yt so I may more fully give up myself to this Great and arduous work. Concluding with Rom. 15 : ao and 32. Now I Beseech you, Brethren ; for ye Lord Jesus' Bake and for ye love of ye spirit yt ye strive together with me in your prayers to God for me ; That I may come unto you with Joy by ye will of God, and may with you be refreshed. So Prays your Friend and Servant in the Gospel of Christ.

Mr. Bigelow was ordained on October 21, 1767. His pastoral labors were compf.ratively of brief duration, since his decease occurred on November 16, 176!), at the age of thirty years. He was buried in the public cemetery, near the southeast corner and but a few paces from the present meetinghouse. All accounts agree that this first pastor was a devoted minister of the Gospel; a man of unusual intellectual endowments, coupled with great dignity of manner, and he was also a man much esteemed for his high Christian character and greatly beloved by all of the parish over which he had so briefly presided.'

Under his ministry the kindliest of feeling had sprung up among all the members of the society, and had his valuable life been spared to this people,

1 The undersigned met on Nov. 9, 17G7, and made choice of pews in the cooipleted church. The prices they were to pay ranged from fourteen to twenty-two dollars. The district voted to give them the preferonce as to choice, since the.v were the heaviest tax-payers on real estate. The district also voted to give them deeds of the pews.

much greater good must have been accomplished. The Rev. Mr. Bigelow was from the vicinity of Concord, it is believed ; of his early education we have no present data. He was of a family, however, quite celebrated for their learning and promiuence in public affairs.

He lived on the western slope of Asnebumskit, on what is now known, and has been these many years, as the "old Bigelow place." His first wife was from Lexington. There is one memento of this family still preserved. It is an antique clock, one of the well-known " grandfather's clocks," socalled, reaching from floor to ceiling It was a bridal present from her parents in Lexington, where the clock was made, as indicated on its face. It remained in the family several generations and on the farm more than one hundred years, and is now in the possession of the wife of the writer (a descendant), and is doing duty as faithfully as when first set in motion by the hand of the bride, a century and more since. His second wife was a Mrs. Sarah Hall, of Sutton ; intentions of the marriage were published September 22, 1769, as shown by the records.

On Noveniber 28, 1770, the Rev. Alexander Thayer ' was ordained as the successor of Rev. Silas Bigelow. His paslorate continued for nearly twelve years. He was dismissed on August 14, 1782. His relations with the church during the last half of his ministry were anything but agreeable. He was suspected of being a loyalist. " This suspicion (says one writer), whether well or ill-founded, was sufficient to create a degree of coldness, and, in some instances, a fixed dislike, ei^pecially among those, who, from other causes, had become disaffected." It is reported that his salary was another cause of trouble, lie complaining that the currency had much depreciated, and that he was justly entitled to a grant to make it equivalent to what it was when first settled, and it is not unlikely, from a review of the whole matter, there was really just ground for complaint upon both sides, and entire condemnation of either party would be very unjust.

The Rev. John Foster' followed Mr. Thayer. He found the church divided and inharmonious. He endeavored to reconcile them, but was unfortunate in being a positive man, and in expressions was perhaps injudicious.

At all events the old troubles were not healed, but broke out afresh, when it was proposed to settle him. The first council refused to grant a settlement, but a short time afterwards a new council, composed of different members from the first, voted to ordain and settle him, which was accordingly done on September 8, 1785. He was dismissed in 1789. During his ]>astorate there was a secession of about twenty, who

Mr. Livermore relates several anecdotes of Mr. Foster, one of which will interest the general reader. " In those days, when capital punishment was to be inflicted it was the law that public religious exercises should be held, and the criminal had the privilege of selecting the preacher. Mr. Foster was selected, and at the appointed hour the house was crowded, and in the audience were many clergymen. Mr. Foster being selected only to preach, asked the first minister he saw to offer prayer. The invitation was declined, and several others were similarly invited and all declined, whereupon Mr. Foster stepped to his piece, with the remark in an undertone, though loud enough in the general hush of the occasion to be heard by all, 'Thank God, I can pray as well as preach.' It is reported that his prayer was so soul-stirring and sincere that all were moved to tears, and many wept aloud."

Mr. Foster is reported to have been a man of brilliant attainments, and a very eloquent preacher, but possessed some other qualities that neutralized greatly these gifts. The Rev. Daniel Grosvenor was installed on the 5th November, 1794, as the successor of Mr. Foster. He came to this people from a church in Grafton, where he had been pastor. There was, for a season, quiet and considerable religious interest manifested under this aflable and able pastor. But the old trouble would not wholly down, but, ghost-like, came to the surface.

Mr. Grosvenor's health was poor at best, and he felt unequal to the task of reconciling the factions, and finally asked to be dismissed, which was granted on November 17, 1802.

One proof that the old troubles were the causes of the unhappy condition of things at the time, and prior to the retirement of Mr. Grosvenor, is that they continued to be a disturbed church for several years alter he left, and some years came and went before a pastor was again settled over them.

In 1808, February 17th, the Rev. Gaius Conant was ordained, and he remained with the society for many years. He lived and died in the square-roofed house now occupied by Deacon Levi Smith, situated about half a mile due east from the church. He was dismissed September 21, 1831, and the same council ordained the Rev. Moses Winch. It was in 1830 that the Congregational Society was organized separately from the town. Mr. Winch's ministry must have been a very quiet one, and without any very disturbing circumstances, since very little is said respecting his stay here. He was discharged in 1834, August 28th.

and continued his labors till May 7, a.d. 1840. He was succeeded by the Rev. William Phipps, A.M., who was ordained November 11, A. d. 1840. Something more than a passing notice should be given this eminently gifted divine. He was for more than twenty-eight years connected with the history of the Congregational Church in this town. He was born in Franklin, this State, on October 31, 1812. He was the son of William and Fannie (Moulton) Phipps, with a line of ancestry traceable back to old England ; to the father of Sir William Phipps, one of the early Governors of Massachusetts Colony. He was a quiet, gentle man, and true, yet did not lack force or bravery. He was resolute for worthy ends, and brave in self-denial. He early learned the trade of a cabinetmaker in his father's shop, which trade, in those days, meant quite as much an ability to manufacture a violin as a bureau, and as an illustration of his mechanical genius in this direction, it is told that he made in the days of his apprenticeship a fine bass-viol, with five strings, on which he was wont to play as an accompaniment to his vocal songs. He was a great lover of music and possessed a fine, rich, bass-tone voice, and always sang with an enthusiasm never to be forgotten by sympathetic hearers. He found his trade especially useful to a " country minister" in a small place, and on a small salary, since many of the things he needed he either had to make or go without. His inventive faculty was by no means inconsiderable. He constructed models of an improved school-room, a turret wind-mill, a drawing globe, a seed-sower, an upright piano and other u?elul and fancy things. He was a natural student, ever fond of the companionship of good books, and was diligent in everything. He attended Day's Academy in Wrentham; from there he entered Amherst, and graduated in the class of 1837. On leaving college he taught, as principal, in the academy at Edgartowa, for one year. He married, in 1837, Miss Mary C. Partridge, of Franklin, who still survives at the age of eighty-eight. They had seven children, of whom five are living - two sons and three daughters. The sons, George G. and William H., have taken up the profession of their father. The former is settled at Newton Highlands, while the latter is preaching in Prospect,Conn. Mr Phipps was first settled in thistow'n. He was an earnest preacher and profounily interested in all good works. He served for very many years as the head of the School Committee, and his school reports are good reading to-day, and display much thought, earnestly and gracefully expressed. He wns wont to do anything he had in hand with "all his might," whether tuning a piano, or raising the finest vegetable in town. Those, whether in the church or out who became intimate, were not the ones to turn from him, for they best realized his largeness of heart and generosity of spirit.

Of the latter, it was as easy for him to write the poetical stanzas as the melodies that floated tbeni. Had he been more favorably situated, as to leisure and means, he might readily have made his mark as an inventor or author, but he preferred to remain where he felt an all-wise Providence had placed him. His mark was, however, made honestly and deeply on the generation of youth that grew up under his long and faithful ministry here.

The Rev. Thomas L. Ellis succeeded Mr. Phipps, and was installed November 26, 1871. He died, after a brief pastorate, on November 12, 1873. He was followed by the Rev. Francis J. Fairbanks. He was hired in the early part of 1874, and continued his labors here till October, 1877. He was a well-educated man, and devoted in his work. The Rev. Otis Cole, a Methodist divine, was next hired by this society, and commenced his labors on January 1, 1878, and continued for two years, when he removed to New Hampshire. He was a man of great simplicity, and yet of very great power as a preacher and much beloved by all, both by those in and out of the church. The following summer tlie society engaged Mr. John E. Dodfje, who was licensed to preach. He filled the pulpit for several years and was then ordained and settled, continuing his labors a couple of years thereafter. In June, 1887, he asked for a dismissal, having been called to the church in Sterling. Both Mr. and Mrs. Dodge were earnest in their labors in behalf of the church and community.

The Rev. Alpha Morton succeeded to the pastorate. He was engaged in June, 1887, and still continues his active labors with this people. He is an able man and of the highest character.

The old church edifice erected by the district of Paxton in 1767, paid for by a general tax, was used for all town-meetings after its erection, and the " deacon's seat " was the place occupied by the moderator of the town-meetings. In 1835 it was voted to remove the building to its present site and both enlarge and repair it, the town putting in a basement story for a town-hall, and it is now a very dignified edifice of the usual village style. Subsequently the church, feeling the need of a room for vestry purposes, entered into an agreement with the town, otlering to light and warm and care for the said town hall for all town purposes on condition of its use by them as a vestry. In 1888 the town, stimulated by the gift of one Simon Alien, erected a new town hall, concerning which additional particulars are given further on in our history.

Leaving the history of the church and taking up that of the town, it will be remembered that the " District of Paxton " was chartered in 1765, Feb.

12th, and was "to join Leicester and the precinct of Spencer" in electing a Representative to the Legislature. This restriction was removed by an act bearing date July, 1775, viz. : " Whereas there are divers acts or laws heretofore made and passed by former General Courts or Assemblies of this Colony for the incorporation of towns and districts, which, against common right and in derogation of the rights granted to the inhabitants of this Colony by the charter, contain an exception of the right and privilege of choosing and sending a representative to the Great and General Court or Assembly. Be it therefore enacted and declared by the Council and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by theauthorityof the same, that henceforth every such exception contained in any act or law heretofore made and passed by any General Court or Assembly of this Colony for erecting or incorporating any town or district, shall be held and taken to be altogether null and void, and that every town and district in this Colony consisting of thirty or more freeholders and other inhabitants qualified by charter to vote in the election of a representative, shall henceforth be held and taken to have full right, power and privilege to elect and depute one or more persons being freeholders and resident in J such town or district, to serve for and represent them 1 in any Great and General Court or Assembly hereafter to be held and kept for tliis Colony according to the limitations in an act or law of the General Assembly, entitled an act for ascertaining the number and regulating the House of Representatives, any exceptions of that right and privilege contained or expressed in the respective acts or laws for the incorporation of such town or district notwithstanding."

On August 22, 1774, the following committee was chosen to consult and report on the state of public affairs, viz. : Capt. Ralph Earle, Lieut. Willard Moore, Dea. Oliver Witt, Phineas Moore and Abel Brown. They also voted to purchase a barrel of powder in addition to the stock (some two barrels) then on hand. All the able-bodied men of all ages, capable of bearing arms, were formed into two military companies, one of which was called the " Standing," and the other the " Minute Company."'

On the 17th of January, 1775, thirty-three men were ordered by the town to be drafted as minutemen. They chose Willard Moore to be their captain. He went with his command on April 19, 1775, to Cambridge, on receiving intelligence of the beginning of hostilities at Lexington and Concord.

We the Subscriboi'S, Do engage for to Joyn the Miinite Men f>f this District and to March with them Against oiiv Common Eneinys When we are called for, if so be tliat the Minute Conipiinys are kept np as witness our hunda : Marmaduke Earle, Joniih Newton, ttiTifJ Goo<1enow,

1 A Committee of Safety was chosen on March 20,1775, consisting of Willard Moore, Pliineas Moore, Abraham Smith, Ralph Earlfi and David J>avis.

The duties of the committee named abave were various ; among other matters, to observe and report to the people the action of Congress, and also the acts of the colonists and the doings of the home government, and last, but perhaps not least, to keep watch of certain susjiected Tories in the district, of whom there were a number.

Captain Willard Moore, with a number of his men, soon enlisted in the Continental Army. He was promoted to the rank of major and took part with his men in the battle of Bunker Hill, where he was killed, t'lgether with several of his men. The " standing company,'' already named, was commanded by Captain Ralph Earle,' with John Snow as lieutenant, and Abel Brown as ensign. They were chosen as officers at the district-meeting on January 17, 1775, and did valiant service, and bore their share of the hardships of the long campaigns for liberty and independence. At the town-meeting held April 6, 1775, Lieutenant Willard Moore was chosen delegate to the Provincial Congress, held in Concord, Mass., and was instructed to " use his influence in Congress that government be assumed in case that it shall prove certain that Great Britain intends to enforce the late acts of Parliament by the sword."

The town, at various timesduring the Revolutionary period, appropriated about ten thousand pounds as bounties, besides paying heavy taxes to the Provincial government amounting to many hundreds of pounds. Then, too, there were frequent purchases of beef for the use of the army, sending as high as nine thousand pounds at one time as their quota of the supplies needed by the government " at the front.''

In addition to the regular companies named, there were, the record4 say, many volunteers going forward on their own responsibility and their own patriotic impulse to defend their imperiled country.

There is a warrant dated May 13, 1776, calling a meeting on the 23d of that month, for the purpose of choosing " a person to represent them in the Great and General Court " that year, agreeably to a precept directed " to the town " for that purpose.

On May 23, 177G, the town made choice of Abraham Smith as its first representative to the General Court, and the record shows the clerk of the meeting to have signed himself as the town clerk, all records prior thereto having been signed by the district clerk.

In June, 1779, there was a special call for representatives to meet in Cambridge, for the purpose of framing a State Cjustituiion, and under this call, on August 10, 1779, Adam Maynard was chosen as the delegate. This very year it would seem by the records that Abraham Smith continued as the representative to the General Court, while Phineas Moore was the delegate to the convention held in Concord.

These w-ere stirring times with the colonists, and besides the care of founding States was the added one of taking up arms to maintain them and establish liberty. In all of these serious affairs the new town of Paxton discharged all of her obligations with highest credit. In the earlier contests between the French and Indians this town furnished, in 1766, five men as her quota in a call for one thousand men from Worcester and Hampshire Counties. Their names were : Ezekiel Bellows, Jacob Wicker, Jason Livermore, David Wicker and John Wicker. These men were in the command of Gen. Ruggles, and saw service at Crown Point, Fort Edward and Ticonderoga.

This town is proved by all the ancient records to have been eminently patriotic in the time of the Revolution. All of the demands for men and means were met, though doubtless their efforts at times were very great. The prolongation of the war, saying nothing of the cost incurred in getting Veady for the contest, was a very serious matter, but through all these trials the true patriots never flinched.

Among their first acts was an attempt on their part to rid themselves of the name of Paxton, nowodious by reason of his loyalty to and influence with the enemy of the colony. They failed in their patriotic endeavor to secure a change of name, as we have seen.

The Hon. George W. Livermore, of Cambridge, a native of Paxton, relates the following incident which happened here: Jason Livermore and his three sons were plowing in the field when informed by a messenger of the incursion of the " regulars " to Lexington and Concord, and that the company of which they were members would march forthwith. The father said : " Boys, unyoke the cattle and let us be off." No sooner said than done; and they at once made ready and marched, with the household pewter dishes melted into bullets, to Cambridge, and there joined the Continental army, and on June 17, 1775, they bore a part in the great battle of Bunker Hill. The wife and mother, Mrs. Jason Livermore, was left with a lad but twelve years of age, to cultivate the farm and care for the stock. This was successfully done, and it is further stated that she made a hundred pounds of saltpetre for the army, during the summer, in addition to her other duties." Mrs. Livermore died at the extreme age of ninety-nine years and ten months. In the following year this same Jason Livermore, together with one Samuel Brewer, of Sutton, raised a company and proceeded to Charlestown, and from there were ordered to Tlconderoga and Mount Hope, where they were stationed for some time. It is fully believed that the town of Paxton must have sent more than a hundred men into the ranks of the patriot soldiers of the Revolutionary army ; and history declares that few, if any, towns contributed, proportionately, more for the achievement of our independence, according to their means, than this. It is also reported that towards the close of the war '" their individual and public suffering was extreme, and at times almost intolerable; " yet at no time did their courage flag or the fires of patriotism grow dim.

The qualification for voting in 1770 was the possession of sixty pounds' worth of property or an annual income of three pounds sterling. At the first State election there were twenty-four votes cast for John Hancock for Governor. The amount assessed at this time in the town on both polls and real estate was £29,400. The State tax in 1780 was as high as £5,120, old tenor.'

Provision for the education of the young was made as early as 1769 in the new district. On January 9, 1769, a warrant was issued calling a meeting to consider, among other things, the division of the town into " squadrons " or school plots, as per the recom-

- Among the ijames found in the early records it is interesting to note the following, viz. : - Dr. Sanil. Stearns, who married in 1773 Sarah Witt. This Dr. Stearntj was the practicing physician in this town at and before the Revolution. Then there appear the names of Samuel Gould, Capt. Kalpli Earle, Ephraim Moore, Marniaduke Earle, Willard Moore, Paul How, Kev. Silas Bigelow, Ithamar Bigelow, who had sons Timothy, Silas, Lewis and Ithamar ; Samuel Brown, \Vm. Thompson, who had sons William and James ; Danl. Upham, Hezekiah Newton, John Newluill, .lames Earle, Oliver Earl, Wm. Livermore, John Livermore, Braddyl Livernioro. Wm. Martin, Thos. Lamb, Silas, Ezekiel and Joseph Bellows, Jacob Sweetser, Saml. Sweetser and Stephen Sweetser, David Davis, Kphin. Davis, ^roji. Hunt, Jonathan Ames, Seth Swan, Jabez Newhall, John Warren, Daniel Steward, M. B, Williams, .\dam Maynard, Ptoses JIaynard, David Goodenow, John Knight, Wm. Whitaker, David Wicker, Abel Brown, Danl. Knight, Joltn Flint, Clark Earl, Nathan Sergeant, Danl. Bemis, Heiy. Cutting, Dexter Earl, David Peirce, who had sons David, (^ad, Aaron and Job ; James Washburn, Joseph Penuinian, Hezidtiah Ward, Phiny Moore, Pliineas Moore, Sanmel Brigluun, Seth Metcalf, Benj. Wilson, Dr. Tliad. Brown, Dr. Saml. Forrest, Dr. Caleb Sliattuck, - these were all residents and practicing physicians, between 17G5 and 1800, in this town - Samuel and Ebenezer Wait, Jude Jones, Timothy Bigelow, married .\nna Earl in 1797 ; Itliamar Bigelow, Jr., married Sophie Earle in 1801 ; Daniel \bbott, D. H. Grosvenor and Jonathan P. Grosvenor, Levi Boynton Dr. Absalom Russel, Dr. Loaini Harrington, was married to Delia Newton in 18011 by Nathaniel Crocker, Esii. ; Taylor Goddard, Frederick Flint, .Joseph Knight, Benj. Wilson, Thomas Wbittemore, Wm. Howard, Henry Slade and his sons .Vntliony, John and Henry ; Wintlirop Earle, Braddyl Livermore, Amos W^are, Klisha Ward, Ebenezer Bointon, had children, Ebenezer, Jr., born in 1770, Silas, Jeremiah, .Vlpheus, Phebe, Levi, Uanuati, Asa and David ; Samuel Jennison, Ebenezer Estabrook, William Earle, Robert Crocker, Emory Earle, Seth Jletcalf, Jr., John Pike, Francis Pike and Clark Pike, Thomas Read, Jiicob Earle, Rnfus Earle, Artenias Earle, Nathan Cass, Bloses Gill Grosvenor, son of Rev. Daniel Grosvenor, Geo. W. Livermore, son of Brjiddyl Livermore, born Oct. 15, 17H4 ; ThmldeuH Estabrook, Ephruim Carrllth, .John Brigham, Joseph Day, Nathaniel Lakin, Samuel Partridge, John Partridge, Klbridge Gerry Howe, son of .lonah Howe, born .\ug. 14, 1799 ; .lohn Howe, Jonathan Ctiase and son, Horner Chase ; Ralph Earle Bigelow, son of Ithamar Bigelow, Jr. ; Oliver .\rrmld, .Vmasa Earle, Silas D. Harrington, f>Hniel Lakin, .lolin Bellows, Sam'l Wait, Daniel Estabrook, son of J..iiah l'>fabr.iol.-, Ii.irn in IH07 ; Jacoh Karle, Dr. Edward M. W'heeler.

mendation of a previously-appointed committee who had reported favorably. This committee (chosen in October, 1768) consisted of Captain Oliver Witt, William Whitaker, William Thompson, Willard Moore and Jonathan Knight.

There were (in 1769) five districts established, and the committee for each " school plot " were as follows : For the Northeast, Phineas Moore, Hezekiah Newton and Stephen Barrett ; for the Southeast, Daniel Stewart, James (Hover and Francis Eager; for the Southwest, Abner Moore, James Thompson and Jason Livermore; for the Northwest, Abraham Smith, William Whitaker and Jonah Newton ; for the Middle plot, Captain Paul How, John Snow and Ralph Earle.

The following names of the heads of families living in the several .school plots or divisions, together with the number given the said divisions, must be of general interest even at this date, viz. :

The Northwest (or West, as it is now known) Schoolhouse was located, in these early days, just west of the road leading from " Hows Hill," now " Davis's Hill," to Jennison's Mills (Comins' Mills), a few rods southward of the pond and across the highway. About 1820 the present brick school-house was erected just west of the mill-dam. Some fifty years ago or more Homer Chase taught this school, and lived at the house near by. It will be recollected by the older citizens that years ago the seats were arranged in two rows, which brought the scholars in two lines, one directly back of the other.

prompted by his neighbor behind him, who could overlook his book. It was the habit of this dull reader to use his finger to keep his place, and as he was being coached, his finger prevented the party prom[)ting from seeing the words ahead, so he whispered to this dull reader, " Skip it;" the reader supposed they were the next words in order for him to repeat, and he drawled out, '*S-k-i-p i-t," which had the result to *' bring down the house,'' as modern people speak.

At the Southwest School, forty years ago, there were as many as sixty scholars in attendance, and this was true of most of the other schools in town, whereas, at the present time, they would not average a dozen pupils to a school-house, outside of the Centre District; and what is true of this town is nearly true of all the back towns in New England. The Centre School building used to stand north of its present location, near where Hiram P. Bemis now lives, on the Rutland road. It was a square-built house, and when abandoned, it was used to erect the house now owned by H. C. Eamcs, on the Barre road. Mr. D. Gates Davis remembers when more than sixty scholars attended at this school.

Agreeably to late act of the Great and (ieiieral Court of Massachusetts Bay To Prevent Mocopoly and oppresiuu ; The Selectmen and Committee of correspondence for the Town of Paxton have Agreed upon and affixed the Prices hereafter set down to the Following Articles in the Town of Paxton, X'v/,. : -

Men's Labour at Fanning Work in the months of July and August. 3 shill. per day ; The months of May, June and September, 'Zs. 'id. per day; The months of April and October, Is. 9rf. per day; The months of November, Deceuibex*, Jan., February and March, \s. id. per day ; Wheat, 68. per Bushel ; Rye, 4s, 3<l. per Bushel ; Indian Corn, 3». ; Oats, Ifl. Sd. per Bushel ; Barley, '.is. 'id. per Bushel ; Spanish Potatoes, Is. per Bushel in the fall of the year and not to exceed \s. 4(i. at any other se:ison ; Beans, G.s. per bushel ; Peas, 7s. per bushel ; Sheeps Wool, 2s. per lb. ; Fresh Pork, well fatted, 3 pence 3 farth. per lb. ; Good Untss-fed Beef, 2 pence 3 farth. per lb. ; Stall-fed Beef, 3 pence 3 farthing per lb. ; Raw Hides, 3 pence per ib. ; Green Calfskins, G pence per lb. ; Imported Salt, 13 shillings per bushel; Salt manufactured of Sea water, 15s. per bushel ; West India Rum, S«, 2rf. per Gallon; New England Rum, os. per Gall. ; Best Moscorado Sugar, £3 (>s. Srf. per Hundred Wt. aud .'« pence 3 farthings- by the single pound; ilohuises, 4«. 8(i. per Gallon ; Chocolate, is. 9d. per lb. ; Best new milk Cheese, 5 pence 1 farthing per lb. ; Butter, 9 jience per lb. ; Tan-i Leather, If. 3d. per Ib. ; Curried leather, in Proportion; Homespun yard-wide Cotton . . . ; Cloth, 38. Gd. per yard ; Mutton, Lamb and Veal, 3 pence per lb. ; wheat Flour, 18s. per hundred Wt. ; Best English Hay, 28. Sd, per llundreii Wt. ; Teaming work, Is. Gd. per mile for a Ton; Turkies, Dunghill Fowls and ducks, 4 pence per lb. ; Geese, 3 pence per lb. ; Milk, 1 penny 3 farthing per quart ; Good Merchantable white pine Barn boards, 2b. Sd. per hundred feet ; Men's best yarn Stockings os. 4rf. per pair ; Sleu's best Shoes made of neat Leather, Ss. per pair ; Women's best Calf Skin slioes, Gs. SJ. per pair; Making Men's Shoes, 2s. Sd. ; Making Women's leather shoes, 2s. Srf. ; Good Salt Pork, 8 pence per lb. ; Cotton, 3s. Sd. per lb. ; Good well-dressed merchantable Flax, I shilling per lb. ; Coffee, Is. Hd. per lb. ; Yard wide tow Cloth, 2 shillings per yard ; Good yard-wide Stripped Flannel, 38. per yard ; Fried Tallow. 7 pence per lb. ; Rough Tallow, 4 pence 2 farth. per lb. ; Men's board, r>s. per week ; Women's board. 2s. Sd. per week - .Taverners ; Oats, 2 pence 2 farthings for 2 Quarts ; A mug of Flip made with half a pint of West India Rum, Is. Id. ; a mug of Flip made with half a pint of New England Rum, 9 pence ; a Common meal of Vituals, 9 pence ; lodging a person a night, 4 pence; Keeping a horse a night or 24 liours on English Hay, 1 shilling : Keeping a yoke of oxen a night or the pit ; Shoeing a horse round and Steeling toe and heel, Gs. 3d. ; Weaving Plain Towel Cloth yard-wide, not to exceed 3 pence2 farthings per yard ; sjiwing White pine hoards, Is. Id. per Hnn'* feet; Tanner's Bark Oak - Delivered at the Yard, 128. per Coid - j)rice for tanning,! penny 3 farthings per lb. ; horse hire, 2 pence per mile ; Cyder not to exceed Gs. at the press in time of the (ireatest Scarcity ; Carpenter's work, 3 shilling per day ; Price of Taylor's work to be advanced oneeighth part above what was usual when Labour at farming work in the Summer Season was 26. M. per day ; Best Homespun Woolen Cloth of a Good Colour full"* and Press** not to exceed Ss. per yard, and all other articles not her enumerated are to hear a price in a just Proportion to the Particularly Montione<l, According to former Customs and urfages. Dated at Paxton, Feby. 7, 1777. Agreed to by the Selectmen and Committee of Correspondence of Paxton. Attest,

On September 14. 1791, Beth Snow, of Paxton, gave by deed to the town, one and a half acres and fifteen rods, " whereon the meeting-house stands," the whole forming nearly a square tract for " the use and benefit of thetonn." The bounds are given in Book llA, page 134, as certified to by Artemas Ward, register of deeds, Worcester, and are as follows, viz.:

A certain tract or parcel of common land lying in Paxton aforesaid, whereon the meeting-house stands, for the use and benefit of the said town, and is bounded as follows, viz. : beginning at a stake and stones on the south line of the burying-yard, thence East 3° S. nine rods and nine tenths to a stake and stone, being the Northwest cornci of Frederick Hunt's land ; thence South 13° 40' W. eighteen rods and eight-tenths of a rod to a heap of stunts on the West side of said Hunt's barn, said line strikes the Nortliwest corner of SJiid barn ; thence South 29^ Ejist ten rods and seven-tenths to a stake and stone.'* ; thence West 12° 30" N. fouirods to a stake and stones by the Southeast corner of Tteacon Timothy Barrett's horse-shed ; thence N. .32° West seven rods to a stake and stones near the Northeast coiner of the store ; thence W. 8° 4i' N. eight rods and six-tenths to a stake and stones by the Northwest corner of my dwelling-house ; thence S. 4o°30' W.six rods to a stake and stones ; thence W. 10° N. two rods and five-tenths to a stake and stones ; thence East 42° N. nine rods to a stake and stones near the Southeast corner of Abner Morse"s horse-stable ; thence N. 8° E. running on the West side of the horse-stables eighteen rods to the first-mentioned corner; said tract contains one acre and a half and fifteen rods by measure.

The town, after about 1800, moved along the even tenor of its way, without alarming incidents, until 1812, when, at a special meeting of the town, held August loth, of that year, it was voted to clioose a committee to attend a county convention called to consider the state of the country, and Nathaniel Crjckcrand liraddyl Livernaore were appointed as the delegates. There was also a petition or memorial ordered at this meeting to be sent to the President, and the following persons were appointed to prepare the same, viz. : - Nathan Swan, Nathaniel Lakin, David Davis, Jr., Braddyl Livermore and Jonathan P. Grosvenor. The war was of short duration, terminating in a successful issue for the government.

Of Indian history little is known. Paxton was for many years a part of other towns, and their history would in part be its history, but long before the surrounding towns were incorporated there were conflicts with the aborigines in this vicinity, though yet not much that can be localized as having happened within the present territory of the town. Yet there was one Indian resident of this town who made it his home during the greater portion of his life, and his name was Aai'on Occuiii.' He was the last remnant and representative of his race. He lived al^out one hundred years ago, and had las home near the southwest noint of Turkey Hill Pond. He lived in peace and quiet with his white neighbors, who learned to like him, and were, at times, much interested in him : "He was a tall, well-formed man, very lithe and strong, and in feats of running, jumping, wrestling lifting, no white man in the town could approach liim. He clung to his ancient arms, and always was seen with bow and arrows, and with these primitive weapons his aim was unerring and fatal. He was a temperate and peaceful man and came to be respected and was a frequent visitor during the long winter evenings, at the dwellingH of his neighbors, whom, in broken English, he would entertain by his wonderful stories of his ancestors and their exploits. Close by his cabin was a large flat rock, on which he pursued his occupation of beating brooms and making baskets, in which arts he was a master, and his wares found ready sale in the vicinity. Thus he lived till one eventful winter night, when he went to visit at the old red house on the hill, a half-mile or so west of his cabin, now the home of Oris Howe. It was an icy time, bitter cold having followed a storm of sleet. The face of the country was glass, with ice. Occura finally departed, and with a bound he started forward down the hill, but he never reached his cabin home alive. The ne.\t morning he was found di^ad at the foot of a sharp declivity, with a gash in the back of his head caused by a sudden fall on a sharp stone above the ice. He, in the darkness, had, doubtless, miscalculated his footing and thus came to his sudden death. He was buried in the public cemetery of the town."

Of Indian relics there are few ; still, some arc found of course, but not in numbers that would lead us to think any tribe made its permanent home on these liilis. There is, however,just west of the Barre road, beyond the causeway, adjacent to the house of the late Benjamin Maynard, "a low, hollow rock," which tradition says was an Indian " Mortar," u-ed by them for grinding corn. The story of the " Indian Oraves" was related by John Metcalf, who lived to be ninety years old and had a clear memory up to the close of his long life. He died about 1884. His statement was that southwest of said Turkey Hill Pond, on a long ridge, is the spot where a party of Indians killed a number of white men, as described in a book giving an account of the Indian Wars. Here seven white men were killed and were buried under a large oak tree. The mound may still' be seen surrounded (or was) by flat .^^tones, not far from the stump of a large oak tree. The original account stated "that a party of white men were attacked on a hill at the southwest corner of a pond with a large hill on the east side of it, about ten miles from Quinsigamond

(Worcester) and on the road from Quabog (Brook- I field) to Wachusett, and were buried under a large oak tree." Jlr. Metcalf showed this account to one Artemas Howe, of this town, and together they iden- J tifled this place as the spot referred to. 1

George Maynard states that at one time he sank a shaft into this mound and below yellow earth became to a black mound, such as might appear in any very ancient grave.

Of murders there have been several within the present limits of the town since its first settlement. The first great crime of this character occurred on what is known as the o'd " Carruth Road," which formerly led from just below "Comins l^Iill " (once " Jennison's Mill ") to the north into the Barre Road and on to West Rutland. Less than a halfmile from the mills named lived Daniel Cam])bell, a Scotchman, who was killed March 8, 1744, by one Edward Fitzpatrick, an Irishman who was in the employ of Campbell. Fitzpatrick disposed of the body in the wood-pile, the whole covered over with a few rails. There was a general rally of the neighbors to search for the mi>sing man. It was agreed that should the body be found the horn (conch-shell) should be blown to give notice. At the sound of the horn Fitzpatrick, who was standing in the doorway of the house, e.Kclaimed, " My God ! it is all up with me," or words to that effect. Fitzpatrick was tried the following September, found guilty and sentenced to be hanged on the 18th of October following. Campbell was buried in the old cemetery at Rutland Centre, and on his tombstone is the following inscription, viz. : " Here lies buried y' body of Mr. Daniel Campbell, born in Scotland, who came into New England A. D. 1716, and was murdered on his own farm in 1774, aged 48 years. . . . Man knoweth not his time." This Carruth Road was much used in the days of which we write, it affording a short route to Barre and that section, to people in the vicinity of Jennison's Mills; besides, many came over this road to trade at .lennison's.

One Aaron Coggswell lived on the right as you go up this road. He is the ancestor of the present Coggswells of Leicester. Beyond Mr. Uoggswell lived Ephraim Carruth and further on Daniel Camp- 1 bell and others. This Mr. Carruth, for whom the road was named, caipe from Marlboro' along with the Hows. After the murder of his neighbor, Campbell, his family, which was quite large, became discontented and he returned to Marlboro. He was a surveyor and once surveyed the farm of David Davis, who lived at C. A. Streeter's. Mr. Carruth was not in favor with Jonah How, who lived on what is now ' called " Davis' Hill." This How had a pasture up on the Carruth Road where he kept his sheep in summer, and each year he lost a good lamb. At the close of the season, finding a lamb gone as usual, and happening to meet Carruth, said to him that he had got a new name for his pasture and now called it Pilfershire. After that no Iambs were missed. The locality still goes by the new name among the old people of the neighborhood.

Some twenty-five years ago, at the time of grading the Great Road, as the Barre Road was then called, many men were employed, among whom was one Doyle, an Irishman. He boarded at the first house beyond the brook on what is now called the West Road (New Braiutree Road), a quarter of a mile or less west of the Common. In the evening of May 11, 1862, one Henry Watson, an Englishman, was going by to his home, known as the Stillman Smith place, beyond Pudding Corner. As he came opposite the house some conversation occurred with this Doyle, who demanded some rum of Watson, which he refused, whereupon Doyle became angry, and stepping to the woodpile, took up a hemlock stick and chased Watson, who ran to the next house, where Samuel Peirce lived, and as he passed on to the veranda at the west side of the building he was struck and killed. Doyle at once fled to Worcester, where he was arrested, tried and sentenced to a long term of imprisonment at hard labor. There was, some years ago, a human skeleton found in the front yard of a small farm-house, now occupied by H, Sweetser, on the road leading to Pine Hill, in the northerly part of the town. This brought to mind the fact that a peddler by the name of Livermore, who staid over-night in this neighborhood, some years prior, was suddenly missed from the community, and was thought to have been foully dealt with, as a quarrel was believed to have occurred at Widow Samuel Sweetser's that night. An inquest was held, but nothing was established, though Benjamin Maynard, who was present, stated that some of the parties living there were much disturbed and seemed guilty. At all events, the principals soon after left, and have never returned.

A man by the name of Charles Conners, in February, 1802, was frozen to death in his sleigh at the foot of the hill near Pudding Corner, on the New Braiutree road, east of the school-house. He had been to Worcester, and, addicted to drink, had procured a bottle of liquor, and, over-indulging, had become insensible from two causes, - the liquor and the cold. The day had been somewhat mild and fairly pleasant, but in the early afternoon the wind rose and it grew cold rapidly, and before sunset the wind had risen to a blizzard, and the thermometer dropped during the night to 30° below zero. He was found in the morning, sitting nearly upright, with his hat oft" and an empty bottle beside him. The reins had become tangled, and had turned the horse to the side of the road, where he stopped, and was yet alive. The man lived at North Spencer, and the team belonged to Samuel Cunningham, of that place. The day he was found the thermometer at noon stood at 28° below, the coldest day for three-quarters of a century in this locality.

At one time in the spring of the year, as a company of workmen were engaged repairing the road near the present town- farm. Captain B was holding the plow when a skeleton was turned up. All were horror-stricken, and the captain left and went to work elsewhere, being unable to witness the scene. It was told by him that it must be the body of a Mrs. Hunt, who had lived on the cro.s.s-road near by, and who, having died of the small-pox, was hurriedly buried there. But this was not credited by the citizens. The other theory was that a young man, who, a year before, was working for the captain, had suddenly disappeared without any very good explanations, and it was believed the body was his, especially as an investigation showed the remains to be those of a male person.

Among the notable people who were born or lived in Paxton was the Livermore family. .Tason Livermore was one of the early settler.", and lived in the southerly part of the town, near Pudding Corner, and had several children.

He was in the engagement at Bunker Hill, as has already been shown, and was a man of high courage and great patriotism. He was for many years a prominent citizen here. His son Braddyl also became prominent, and was well known for his capacity to transact business, and stood high among his townsmen. His son, George W. Livermore, a graduate of Harvard, and now of Cambridge, became a distinguished citizen of that place, and returned on June 14, 1865, and delivered the historical address at the centennial celebration, and to him, as well as to other writers, are we much indebted for many of the facts herewith embodied.

Few men in our early history were as distinguished as Doctor Samuel Stearns. He was a somewhat celebrated man in his day, as well as prominent as a practicing physician. He traveled much between 1778 and '85, and he made the journey from Southern Georgia to Mafsachusetts on horseback. He relates leaving Georgia in February, with the trees blooming, and he so timed his journey as to reach Massachusetts in early June, having a succession of bb ssoms for a thousand miles. He married Sarah Witt of Paxton March 7, 1773.

In 1782 he was in Europe, and continued his travels there for several years. He published a volume of his letters from England and the Continent written in 1784.' He speaks of meeting Minister John Adams at the Hague, and spending some time with him in driving about the country. Doctor Stearns was very fond of art, and greatly admired the painting of Rubens, as well he might. He visited the Hague in the summer of 1784 and was a guest of John Adams, the American minister, of whom he speaks in

1 This vulume was published by Isai.ih Thomas of Worcester, in 1710* entitled, " A Tour in Holland," with a preface by John Trumbull, the celebrated author of "McFingal."

the highest praise. Iii speaking of the ambassador he says hij livery is the same as the American uniform. He also says that in popularity and influence at that court Mr. Adams bore the palm of the diplomatic body. He adds that Mr. Adams talks but little, but what he says is direct and forcelul; that America .stands indebted to him principally for three important acquisitions - the defeat of Sir Joseph Yorke and securing the patronage of Holland in a critical moment, the extension of our limits and the security ot our fisheries. The head(iuarters of the embassy was the Grand Hotel, which Mr. Adams had purchased for the permanent quarters of United States ministers. Dr. Stearns relates an incident which, but for him, the life of Mr. Adams might have been in great jeopardy, viz. : - They were driving along the banks of a canal in Delft when a child was discovered struggling for life in the waters of the canal. Mr. Adams drew oft' his overcoat and was about ready to leap into the water when the Doctor interfered. At this juncture, a workman close by had made the plunge and saved the.drowning child.

The Earles were numerous and prominent in the town's early history and for many years afterward. Marmaduke Earle came from Leicester and settled where Nathaniel I'arkhurst now lives, about a mile west of the centre, on the Barre road. He had fourteen children.

Capt. Ralph Earle, of Leicester, was the best-known of any of the Earle family. He took a part in the Revolutionary War and performed other and valuable service. One of his sons, R. E. W. Earle, became famous as an artist. He made a painting of Niagara Falls which attracted much attention, and subsequently he resided in the South, where he became an inmate of the family of General Jackson, at the "Hermitage." He painted several portraits of the general and his family. He died there in 1837, and was buried in the garden, beside the graves of Jackson and his wife. Captain Ralph was a member of important committees raised by the town at sundry times during the Revolution ; was for a time chairman of the selectmen, and occasionally served as moderator. He was also captain of the Standing Company in the Revolution.

Philip Earle' was a public man and was engaged in the manufacture of scythes, below Jennison's Mills, just west of the highway. Here he had a trip-hammer and carried on quite a business. The mills above named were lirst owned by one Silas Newton ; he lived on Brigham Hill, where one Brigham subsequently lived. Newton had a fulling mill, besides a saw and grist-mill and shingle-mill. He sold to Samuel Jennison, who is reputed to be a rough sort of a man. He kept a wet grocery store in the basement of his house, and it used to be a much frequented resort. He sold to Homer Chase, his son-in-law, who con-

The Davis family was likewise conspicuous, and the first Simon Davis came from Concord to Rutland, where he had a son David, who settled in Paxtou, where Charles A. Streeter now lives. He had a son David, Jr., who lived at the foot of the hill, just west of his father's place. There was a tan-yard just back of this last-named house, where considerable business was done annually. At this time there was another tan-yard near Pudding Corner, on the Bellows place, where an equal amount of tanning was done. This Davis family are the ancestors of Mr. D. Gatej Davis, who, until lately, lived where Jonah Howe formerly lived.

The Peirce family came here from New Hampshire, but of all the members perhaps John D. Peirce is the most conspicuous. His father was Gad Peirce, and his grandfather David Peirce. The subject of this brief sketch came to live at the Peirce homestead, in the easterly part of the town, on the farm now owned and occupied by Horace Peirce. He lived with Job Peirce, an uncle. He, at the age of siyteen, decided to secure a liberal education, and, with the assistance of the Rev. Mr. Conant, a near neighbor, he went to Leicester Academy. He joined the church at that place. He fitted for college, entered Brown University and graduated with Elbridge Gerry Howe, of this place. He married in Sangerfield, New York, studied for the ministry and settled in York State as a Congregational minister. He subsequently went to Michigan and preached for a time at Marshall, and at same time kept the post-oflice (in a cigar-box). When Michigan was admitted into the Union he was appointed State Superintendent of Instruction. He took an active part thereafter in all educational art'airs and advised a liberal policy for the State, which was adopted, and has left its impress on that great Commonwealth to this day. He was at one time prominently named for United States Senator, but being a Whig and they in the minority, he decided to change his politics, and soon after ihe party he espoused became the minority and so he died a disappointed man in some respects. But his life was made valuable to his fellow-men in the founding of a new State.

Of the Harrington-, first came Nathan Harrington from Weston and settled on the farm just north and under the shadow of Pine Hill. He had children - Nathan, Lemuel and Samuel. The first son settled in Barre, Vt., the second lived and died in Hardwick, Mass., while Samuel remained at home and had children - Lucy B., Elizabeth F., Samuel D., Lemuel, David, Simon G., Abigail and Lucinda. Samuel D. had children - Samuel, who lives in Boston ; Nathan, living in Toledo, Ohio ; and Eliza, who married Rev, Charles Morris aud lives in Gloucester.

on his farm in Paxton. He celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of his marriage on October 29, 1880. There was a large company of relatives and friends from far and near present on that occasion. Mr. Simon G. Harrington is still living at the advanced age of eighty years and upwards, at his farm on the Rutland Road. He represented the town some years since in the Legislature and is one of the brightest and ablest men in this vicinity.

Silas D., son of Dr. Loami Harrington, was a very prominent man in the public affairs of this town. On November 17, 1877, he celebrated his fiftieth wedding anniversary. He died suddenly soon after, while on a visit to Millbury. He was for many years one of the selectmen and much respected. His portrait can be seen in the new town hall.

The Howe family is a numerous one in Paxton, and the first settler here was one John How, who came from Marlboro', Mass., in 1742, and purchased lands of an agent of the Crown, and the old deed, now in possession of Dr. A. J. Howe, bears the seal of the colonial government. The place purchased by John Howe is now owned by Deacon Keep, and is situated about a mile west from the centre. This John Howe deeded the place to his son Paul Howe, and he to his son John, and he to Samuel H. Howe, the father of the present Dr. Andrew Jackson Howe, of Cincinnati. Of the Howe family born in Paxton, Dr. Howe is the most distinguished. His father moved to the edge of Leicester, where Mr. Watts now lives. At the age ot twenty, Andrew bought his time of his father, agreeing to pay one hundred dollars for his " freedom," a transaction not unknown in those days. Young Howe worked in a saw-mill and thereby kept Ins engagement with his father as to the payment of the "time" or freedom money. He then went to Grafton, where he worked for an uncle in a shoe-factory. While thus engaged he made the acquaintance of Dr. Calvin Newton, who, being interested in him, consented to take Andrew as a student on condition that he acquire the education requisite to enter college. The young man, nothing daunted, subsequently entered the Leicester Academy, where he attended two years, taking high rank as a student, From there he went to Cambridge and was admitted, and during the four years there he held a reputable place in his class, thatof 1853. While fitting for college he was obliged, out of study hours and during vacations, to labor at whatever his hands could find to do ; sometimes he was busy with wood-chopping and threshing and boat-building. After graduation at Harvard he prepared his way as best he could pecuniarily for entering upon a course of medical lectures at Jefierson College, in Philadelphia. The next year he attended hospital instructions in New York. The year following he took temporary charge of Dr. Walter Burnham's piactice in Lowell, Mass. In 1855 he was appointed to the professorship of

He is the author of a treatise on General Surgery, and also of works on special branches of surgical science. He has, during his residence in Cincinnati, performed all the great operations of a surgical character and he is favored with a wide range of patronage. In 1886 Dr. Howe made a tour of Europe, visiting the famous hospitals of the Continent, and became acquainted with the distinguished men of his profession. As a recreative indulgence. Dr. Howe has cultivated a taste for biological investigations, and has acquired some distinction as an anatomist. For many years he was one of the curators in the Cincinnati Society of Natural History. Dr. Howe married, in 1858, Georgiana, the oldest daughter of George Lakin, of this place.

The familiar faces of Dr. and Mrs. Howe are occasionally seen in town revisiting the places familiar in their childhood, and renewing old acquaintances, by whom they are ever cordially welcomed.

Rev. Elbridge Gerry Howe, son of'.Tonah Howe, was a graduate of Brown University, and went West on missionary work and established the first Congregational Church at Waukegan, 111. He was four times married. He leaves two sons, E. G. Howe, Jr., and Ira Howe. Rev. Mr. Howe was one of those men who left the world better by having lived in it. He was pre-eminently adapted to missionary labors, in which he had great success. He was always an earnest speaker and always found on the side of right on every jiulilic question. He was an honest man and of exalted cliaracter.

The Grosvenor family were among the notable people during their residence in this town. A brief sketch has already been given of the Rev. Daniel Grosvenor. Jonathan P. Grosvenor was a prominent man, occupying offices of trust and honor for many years. He was a justice of the peace, and lived on the farm now owned by Peter Daw. Here met some of the most cultivated people in town. His daughter, Lucy Grosvenor, married David Manning, Sr., of this place, and subsequently they removed to Worcester, where they at present reside.

Capt. Tyler Goddard, who lived just north of the meeting-house at the junction of tlie Rutland and Holden roads, was the first postmaster in Paxton. The office was established December 10, 1816, and he held the place till 1841. He kept a small grocery store just across the road west of his house, in what is now the new burying-ground. An anecdote is related of him that one time, in order to cure David Sweetser of the bad habit of borrowing jugs, filled one for him in which oil had been kept. This ^ug came back and with it the lost jugs, and a pretty free expression of miscellaneous statements on the part of Sweetser, to the great amusement of Capt. Goddard. Luther Goddard, of Worcester, is a son of Tyler, and was for some years the town clerk of Paxton. The next postmaster was S. D. Harrington, followed by Otis Pierce, and in 1801 Nathaniel Clark was appointed and still holds the office. ( )f town clerks Ephraim Moore was first and William H. Clark, the present incumbent, the last chosen.

The Bigelows have ever been prominent in town since the advent of the Rev. Silas Bigelow. He had a brother, Ithamar Bigelow, who also lived on Asneybumskeit and he had sons Silas and Ithamar, Jr. Silas Bigelow had children : John Flavel, George Xorraan, Artemas E. and Adaline E. Ithamar Bigelow, Jr. had children : Ralph Earle, Walter R. and Lewis. Ralph Earle Bigelow had children : Caroline, Emelineand John C. Lewis Bigelow bad children': Henry, Charles, Edward, George, Phoebe and Eliza.

In the late Civil War this town contributed seventyfour men, and of this number fifteen lost their lives while in the service. The records show that on the 26th July, 1862, a bounty of one hundred and ten dollars was voted. On August 9th the amount was raised eighty-five dollars. On December 8th the town offered one hundred and ten dollars for nine months' men, and one hundred and sixty dollars for those enlisting for three years. These otters were in addition to any bounties or gratuities proffered by the State or United States governments. There was an additional bounty offered in June, 1864, of one hundred and twenty-five dollars. In the year 1871 a granite monument was erected on the "Common " in memory of those losing their lives during the four years' contest with the Southern States. An iron railing surrounds this shaft, and within the inclosure there are four cannon donated by Congress. On this shaft are the names of twenty-one of our soldiers who died by reason of the Rebellion.

On June 14, 1865, the town celebrated the centennial of its incorporation. There was a large assemblage of the sons and daughters of the town on that occasion. There was a public meeting in the church, at which Hon. George W. Livermore, of Cambridge, Rev. John F. Bigelow, D.D., of Brooklyn, Prof George N. Bigelow, also of Brooklyn, and Rev. George G. Phipps, now of Newton Highlands, delivered addresses. They were all natives of this town. A public dinner was served on the " Common," opposite the church, of which many hundreds partook. It was a grand gala occasion, and the reunions were many and most cordial, and the memory of them is as a sweet savor to all participating.

In 1888 the town erected a new town hall, in part out of tlie proceeds of the estate of the late Simon Allen, who left by will his entire property in trust to the town, which was to be used in the building of a town hall, the same to be called Allen Hall. The amount of his estate was twenty-two hundred dollars, but the prolonged illness of his widow reduced this, amount to fifteen hundred dollars. During the lifetime of his widow the property could not be used for the purpo.se designated by the testator, but on her decease, which occurred in 1887, the Allen fund was turned over to the town treasurer, and at the annual meeting of the town in March, 1888, it was voted to add a thousand dollars to the Allen fund and go forward with the building, the town appointing the following persons as a building committee, viz. : L. Bill, William Brown, A. S. Graton, E. P. Keep and H. H. Pike.

The land for the location was given by the writer, and in the following July the contractor began his work, and by the 20th of the following October the building was completed, and was formally dedicated on November ], 1888. The <ledication address was delivered by Col. William B. Harding, of Worcester, the i30em by George Maynard, also of Worcester, with remarks by Rev. George H. Gould, D.D., and Scripture reading and dedicatory prayer by Rev. Alpha Morton.

The chairman of the selectmen,' Ledyard Bill, received the keys from H. H. Pike on behalf of the building committee. The church choir, under the leadership of Oliver Goodnow, who for over fifty years has been connected with church music here, gave choice selections ; the exercises in the main hall closing with America, in singing which, all joined. A public dinner was served in the lower hall by the Ladies' Union, of which Mrs. Nathaniel Clark is president. The building stands on the west side of the Barre Road, opposite the '' Common." It is a plain appearing structure, but inside it is all that will be reijnired for yeilrs to come. The total cost will not be far from forty- five hundred dollars. Simon Allen was born in 1806, in Holden, in the house near the foot of the big hill, on the Paxton and Holden Road, on the south side of the highway, and east of Mr. Metcalf's. He attended the Northeast School in Paxton a portion of his youth. He moved to Shrewsbury, where he married Miss Fannie Norcross. He was a boot and shoe-maker, and followed that trade while in Shrewsbury. He moved to Paxton in 1840, and bought a farm of the elder John Slade, on the Rutland Road, where George A. Brown now lives. He was a plain, unassuming, honest man, and respected by all who knew him. He died December 29, 1880, and was buried by the side of his first wife, near the west entrance to the Public Cemetery. He was twice married, but left no children.

1 The first boHnl of selectmen chosen in ITO.'j was Oliver Witt, Ephraim Moore and Saninel Hruwn, while the last hoard chosen in tSSS was Ledyard Bill, A. S. Graton and I,. T. Kirhy.

By Horatio Houghton

West Boylston is situated seven miles Crom Worcester, by wliicli it is bounded on tlie south, and is about forty miles from Boston. Its territory extends about five miles from north to south and about three and a half miles from east to west. In shape it very much resembles an Indian tomahawk without a handle. Its territory has been covered in part by the organization of six other towns, previous to its incorporation as the town of West Boylston in January, 1808. At the first incorporation of Lancaster, in 1653, its soutliwesterly corner boundary did not toucli tlie present limits of West Boylston, it being near the house on the Robert Andrews place in Boylston. The extension of Lancaster in 1711 covered all of the territory of this town lying east of the Stillwater River and north of a line drawn from near the present central bridge, nearly east to near the southwest corner of the first Lancaster grant in Boylston.

At the incorporation of Worcester, in 1722, it included the territory afterwards set off as Holden in 1741. Shrewsbury was incorporated in 1727 and included all the territory lying between Lancaster and Worcester, the strip of land lying between the Stillwater River and what was afterwards Holden, of about a mile in average width and about four miles in length, receiving the name of " Shrewsbury Leg." That part of this strip now within the town of Sterling still retains the name of "The Leg." In 17(iS all of this leg lying north of the Quinnepoxet River and covering the present village of Oakdale was ceded to Lancaster.

"A petition, dated May 15, 1780, asking to be set off from Lancaster to Shrewsbury, was sent to the General Court, signed by the following persons : - Aaron Sawyer, Nathaniel Lamson, Silas Hastings, John Glazier, John Dunsmore, Ezra Beaman, Nathaniel Davenport, Wm. Dunsmore, Silas How, Joseph Sawyer, Robert Andrews, Jr., Nathaniel Hastings, Oliver Sawyer, Frederick Albert, Micah Harthan, Elijah Ball, Hugh Moor, Levi Moor, Josiah Bennet, Sam'l Bigsby, Phineas How, Jacob Winn, Edmund Larkin."

Several of these men were then living within the limits of Shrewsbury, but it is probable that some of their landed estates extended into Lancaster; a part, too, were residents of territory now in Boylston and part in West Boylston. This petition was granted February 2, 1781, making a new line between Lancaster and Shrewsbury; but just where this line was located cannot now be given.

lying within the present limits of West Boylston. Boylston came next as a town, in 1786, and took a part of this territory from Sterling. In 1796 the "Second Precinct of Boylston, Sterling and Holden " was formed, taking from Sterling about two thousand three hundred acres, from Holden a strip of land about sixteen hundred rods long, one hundred rods wide at the north end and about one mile wide at the south end, and from Boylston all the rest of the territory was taken, now embraced in West Boylston, except the long neck of land extending to the line of Shrewsbury. This neck, which is about a mile wide at its northern end and about one hundred rods at its southern extremity, is about two miles long and covers about one-half of the grant of one thousand acres made to the town of Maiden in 1665, by the colonial authorities of Massachu-etts, and which is more particularly described hereafter, was added to the said precinct territory, when the town was incorporated in 1808.

It will be thus seen that all that part of the " Shrewsbury leg," lying north of the Quinnepoxet River, now embraced in the limits of this town, and covering the village of Oakdale, has been within the limits of five different towns, - first to Shrewsbury, from 1727 to 1768 ; then to Lancaster until 1781 ; then to Sterling, until 1786 ; then to Boylston, until 1808, when it became a part of West Boylston. Several other portions of the town have be(n within the limits of four different towns, and there are no portions of it which have not been in three different ones.

The natural scenery of the town is multiform, and in many places somewhat romantic in appearance, as it strikes the eye of a stranger, being diversified with hills and valleys, and in all directions interspersed with streams and springs of water, suited to the needs and wants of its inhabitants. Much of its soil is fertile, and with good management and cultivation well repays the labor of the skillful and industrious husbandman. Legendary history points to the fact that before its occupation by white men it had been peopled by Indians, and many places have been pointed out as the location of their corn-fields and dwellings, its first white settlers often finding specimens of Indian stone implements. The first white persons, of whom we have any history, locating within its territory were Jacob Hinds, Joseph Wooley, Ebenezer Frizzol, Benjamin Bigelow, Jonathan Fairbank, Aaron Newton, Ezekiel Newton, Edward Goodale, Stephen Belknap, William Whitney, Phineas Bennett, Jonathan French, Jonathan Lovell and Josiah Wilder, who came here from older towns below about 1720. These men, with their families, settled in the southeastern part of the town, and to protect themselves from any possible trouble from their Indian neighbors they built a garrison, or block-house, to which they could repair for the night as a place of security when danger was apprehended. This block- house was situated about forty rods north of the line of the Worcester and Nashua Railroad, and about half a mile from Boylston town line. A well, connected with ihi-i fort, is still in excellent preservation, and the outlines of an old cellar are plainly to be seen. Other families soon followed these first spoken of, and within a few years are known to have had settlements in nearly all the parts of the town. There are no accounts that any of these early settlers were troubled by the Indians, and it is not known that any lived within the town limits after its first settlers located here.

The circumstances which finally led to the formation, first, of the Second Precinct, and afterwards of the town, are given in the sketch of the life of Major Ezra Beaman on other pages of this history.

At the time of the incorporation of the town there were in it ninety-eight dwelling-houses and about the same number of families, one hundred and sixty ratable polls and one hundred and five legal voters. There were three school -houses, one church, one cotton-mill, two grist-mills, two saw-mills, one clothiersmill, one tannery, four blacksmith and one cabinetmaker's shops, two book-binderies, three stores and one tavern. There were sixty farmers, ten or twelve mechanics, several laborers, one clergyman and but one person of foreign birth.

At the first election in West Boylston, held on the first Monday in March, 1808, the following town officers were chosen : Moderator, Silas Beaman ; Town Clerk, Robert B. Thomas ; Selectmen, Ezra Beaman, Jonathan Plim])ton, William Fairbank, Silas Beaman and Amos Lovell ; Assessors, Robert B. Thomas, Silas Newton and Moses Perry ; Treasurer, Ezra Beaman ; Constable, Silas Beaman. At the first election for State officers, in April, 1808, there were eighty-five votes cast fiir Governor - Christopher Gore had si.'ity-six; James Sullivan had eighteen: and Levi Lincoln had one.

The town is made up of seven different villages. West Boylston proper covering the Central, Valley, Lower Factory, Depot and Old Common villages, and comprises about three-fifths of the town, with its outlying farm population. Oakdale, covering the vilage of Harrisville, makes the other two-fifths of the town. The Worcester and Nashua Railroad passing from south to north, and the Central Massachusetts Railroad passing from east to west through the town, crossing each other's tracks at Oakdale, gives the town full and constant connection of travel to all parts of the country. There are also lines of telegraph and telephone wires connecting with the main lines throughout the continent.

At the time when the precinct was incorporated, by a provision in the act, any persons, with their families, living within its limits, and who did not sign the petition for it and preferred to retain their connection with the old parishes, were allowed to do so by notifying the clerk of said Second Precinct within six months after the passage of the said act. The following-named persons availed themselves of this privilege: Jonas Temple, Jacob Hinds, Thomas Keyes, Thomas Keyes, Jr., Micah Harthan, Elijah Goodnow, Aseal Partridge, and Jesse Dana, of Boylston ; Saul Houghton, Joshua Houghton, Jonas Mason and Jonathan Prescott, of Sterling.

At the incorporation of the town in 1808, three of the.se individuals were allowed to retain their citizenship, and pay taxes on their estates in the old town to which they belonged. They were Jonas Temple and Thomas Keyes, to Boylston, and Jonas Mason, to Sterling; and they tenaciously adhered to the privilege, so liberally granted, until their decease, when their real estate, within the limits, came under the jurisdiction of West Boylston.

Moderators. - The following persons were severally moderators of the annual March Meeting, for the first fifty years, from 1808 to 1858 : Silas Beaman, Silas Newton, Paul Goodale, William Fairbank, Robert B. Thomas, Dr. John M. Smith, Andre Taft, J. F. Fay, E. M. Hosraer, D. C. Murdock, Benj. F. Keyes, J. C. Lovell. Since 1858 the jjosition has been filled by D. C. Murdock, J. C. Lovell, W. N. White, Geo. H. Jefts and Geo. F. Howe, Mr. Howe having presided for twenty-one years.

Chairman of Selectmen. - The following gentlemen served as chairman of the Board of Selectmen in the years from 1808 to 1858: Ezra Beaman, four years; William Fairbank, one year; John Temple,

West Boylston

The office of treasurer of the town was held during the first fifty years by the following persons: Ezra Beaman, Ezra Beaman, Jr., Barnabus Davis, Jonathan Plyrapton, Andre Taft, Francis Davis, John Lees, Seth White, Thomas Holme.-i, Ezekiel Peirce,

A. E. Winter, E. B. Newton, Moses Brigham, Samuel Brown, E. W. Holbrook, Dennis Harthan, Oliver B. Sawyer, who continued to hold the office until 1862. Since that year George F. Howe has served as treasurer 22 years, and Henry A. Sawyer, 5 years.

B. Thomas, 1 year; Joseph Hinds, 4 years, Ezra Bigelow, 10 years ; Francis Davis, 2 years ; Seth White, 5 years; Ephraim Bigelow, 7 years; B. F. Keyes, three years ; Barney Howe, 10 years ; O. B. Sawyer, five years; H. F. Holt, 1 year; Edward Howe, 3 years ; H. O. Sawyer, 1 year ; H. Houghton, 29 years.

Represextatives to the General Court. - The following persons represented the town in the House up to the year 1857, after which the district system went into operation: Ezra Beaman, 4 years; Barnabus Davis, fj years ; Joseph Hinds, 5 years ; Robert B. Thomas, 5 years ; Silas Newton, 1 year ; Thomas White, 1 year ; Silas Walker, 1 year; Dennis Harthan, 1 year; B. F. Keyes, 1 year; Levi Pierce, Jr., 1 year; Samuel Brown, 1 year; Brigham Prescott, 3 years; Addison Lovell, 1 year; Amos Child, Jr., 3 years; Eli W. Holbrook, 2 years ; E. M. Hosmer, 2 years ; O. B. Sawyer, 1 year; D. C. Murdoch, 2 years. The Fourteenth District of Holden, Paxton and this town, was represented in 1859 by Winson N. White; in 1862 by L. M. Harris, and in 1864, by D. C. Murdoch. The Eighth District, of Sterling, Boylston and this town, was represented in 1867 by W. McFarland ; in 1870, by Stephen Holt; in 1872, by Rev. J. W. Cross; in 1875, by Geo. F. Howe. The Sixteenth District, of Boylston, Northboro, Shrewsbury and this town, was represented in 1876 by Henry Pierce; in 1880, by H. O. Sawyer ; in 1884, by H. Houghton. For the Thirteenth District, composed of seven town?, and entitled to two representatives, H. E. Morton went from this town for two years, 1886 and 1887.

At the date of the incorporation of the town there were within its limits three school-houses. The first year the town voted fifty dollars as an appropriation for scliools. In December, 1808, the town voted to " divide the town into four school districts, two south of the river and two north." These houses were located, one near where the present South Schoolhouse stands ; the second, about eighty rods northwest of the old (Common ; the third near the present location of the double house in the Northeast District ; and the fourth above the village of Oakdale, or near the house of Pliny W. Stearns. A fifth one was built soon afterwards on " French Hill," at the Lower Factory village. The sixth house was built in 1843, and the seventh and eighth within the next eight years. For several years the town used the schoolroom in " Thomas Hall " for a high school. It was not until after the close of the late Civil War that the town took decided steps to relieve the overcrowded condition of our schools. Four two-story and one single-story house were built, and the town now has fourteen fine school-rooms, several of which have extra recitation and play-rooms attached. There is one high school and one grammar school, both in the same building, which have sessions of about forty weeks in the year. This building has, within the past two years, been much enlarged, with additional recitation and other rooms, making it a model house. A valuable apparatus for illustrations has been collected and is being added to from year to year. A valuable library of scientific, historical, biographical and mechanical works has been started, and now numbers over two hundred volumes.

Besides these two schools, there are three intermediate, one mixed and seven primary schools, holding sessions of thirty-three weeks each during the year.

Previous to 1840 the schools had not probably averaged sessions of more than twenty to twenty-four weeks in the year. To show their gradual increase, a few items are given, and as a further contrast of causes and effects, pauper expenses for the same years are given.

In 1810 the town made an appropriation of $150 for schools. In 1840 the sum was S600. In 1888 the appropriation was S'oOOO. In 1810 the town appropriated for the support of i)aupers S290. In 1840 the amount was $500, and in 1888 the sum was $2000.

The Public Town Library was established in 1878. Previous to that year some individuals had endeavored to start an interest in such an institution, but up to that time no action had been taken by the town in the matter. To David Childs, of Wayland, a native of the town, and his widow, Lydia Maria Childs, are we indeljted for the starting influence which finallyestablished this valuable addition to the town's property. Mr. Childs, in his will, left the sum of one hundred dollars for the town library of his native town, sujjposing no doubt that the town had one. His widow, who was the executrix of the will, proposed to pay this sum over to trustees provided the town would take steps to establish a library. She afterwards added a collection of about one hundred volumes to this bequest. By individual elforts and several other donations, with an appropriation by the town of six hundred dollars, the sum of over twelve hundred dollars was raised, and the instilution was successfully started on a small scale. Since that year it has constantly grown, and at the present time has a valuable collection of over three thousand volumes. It has a fine, large room, as a book and reading-room, large enough for its needs for many years to coiue.

Over the large streams the town has five bridges. Of these, one is built of stone, with three arches, over the Nashua River at the Valley village, and was built in 1856 at a cost of about four thousand dollars. The river at this point rendered it difficult to build a permanent structure, owing to curves in the banks and of quicksands at the bottom. Much expense has been laid out since the bridge was built, in walling the banks and in flagging the bottom of the river. It is now considered a substantial and enduring structure, likely to withstand all action of the water for centuries to come. This bridge is known as the " Beaman Bridge," and is the lowest one on the river-

The next one above, at the Central village, is an iron bridge of one hundred feet span, built in 1875, at a cost of about three thousand dollars, and is considered a strong and substantial structure. This bridge is also over the Nashua River.

The third bridge is over the Stillwater River at Oakdale, and was built in 1879, of fifty feet si)an, and another of the same span was built over the tiuinnepoxet River, at Harrisville, in 1880. Both these bridges are of iron, and believed to be strong and durable ones, certainly great improvements over the old wooden bridges of former times.

The fifth bridge is a wooden one over the Quinnepoxet River in Harrisville. It has been built but a few year:*, but shows evidence that it must be replaced ere many more years pass.

decided improvements to theirstreets - first, by naming and erecting the signs at the principal crossings, and second, by putting up of lamps for lighting the streets by night, on all the streets of the villages.

There are in the town a Masonic Lodge, one of Odd Fellows, a Grand Army Post, a Grange of Husbandry, a Council of Royal Arcanum and five diftereat religious societies.

A Masonic Lodge, " The Boylston," was instituted in this town March 8, 1876, and has kept in good condition to the present time. A very neat and pretty lodge-room was fitted up for its use over the Baptist Church, where all its meetings are held.

The Centennial Lodge of Odd Fellows was organized here October 24, 1876, and holds its meetings also in the Masonic Hall. This hall was formerly a difficult one about getting an easy access to ; but by the rtmodeling of the church, a few years since, the way to it was made much more easy, and possibly access to a membership to the two lodges has also become less difficult.

A " Grand Army Post " was organized here soon after the close of the war, - the " George D. Wells Post, No. 28," - and has been kept in a flourishing condition ever since. An auxiliary society, ''the Ladies' Relief Corps," was connected a few years since, and the two societies are doing a large amount of relief work for soldiers and their families. They have a very neat and convenient hall for their use, located at the Valley station.

A Grange, No. 106, was instituted here a few years ago, and has kept up a good- work! ntr lodge, - holds its regular meetings with full numbers and no abatement in the interest manifested at the time of its start. Thomas Hall has been fitted up for its use.

The first church (Congregational) in the territory now West Boylston was formed in 1796, consisting of thirty-three members, embracing widely different opinions relative to religious doctrines. The majority favored Arminian sentiments, while a minority were decidedly Calvinistic. Rev. William Nash, the first minister, favored the Arminian side, and on that account was opposed by the minority, who were never satisfied with his preaching. In 1802 religious conference meetings were originated and regularly held once a month by a respectable portion of the church, the meetings being open to all who wished to participate in them. ''Mr. Nash, although urged to participate, refused to favor or in any way afford aid and assistance in their maintenance, the majority of the church also refusing any assistance or countenance therein."

In 1809 the first religious revival in this tow'n occurred, and continued with great interest for several months. It caused much excitement and severe opposition, although a large portion of the people were fdvoraljly affected thereby. The meeling-house of this society had been built in 1794, and "was dedicated to the service and worship of God January Ist, 1795," the sermon on the occasion being preached by Rev. Daniel Grosvenor, of Paxton. Several can- i didates were successively heard, and it was not until March, 1797, when the call was extended to Mr. Nash to settle. He was a graduate of Yale College and a native of Williamsburg, Mass. He was not ordained until October 11, 17'.)7, with a stipulated salary of !i?333. 83. Mr. Nash understood that a portion of the society was opposed to his becoming its minister, and in his letter of acceptance he wrote regretting " the want of unanimity," and further siys : " Those gentlemen to whom my services have not been as acceptable as I could wish, I respect."' " In acting agreeably to their own best judgment, they have exercised a right which belongs to every Christian, and ought not, on that account, to receive the censure or dissatisfaction of any." This opposition to Mr. Nash seemed for a while to remain dormant, but was never extinguished, and in 1812 it became so great that an attempt was made to dismiss him. In 1814 his health became seriously impaired, rendering him unable to preach or discharge parochial duties. In 1815 he was dismissed at his own re(]uest. Mr. Nash had purchased the large farm in the south part of the town, which had been known as the "David Childs Place," where he continued to reside to the time of his decease, in 1829, aged sixty years. Mr. Nash married Elizabelh Doubleday in 1801. One son and a daughter - Charles and Elizabeth^are still living in the city of Worcester.

After the dismission of Mr. Nash various candidates preached here, but it was not until December, 1820, that Rev. ,lohn Boardman, from Newburyport, was invited to settle by a vote of sixty-five to twenty-eight, and he was ordained February 28, 1821, with an annual salary of five hundred dollars. In 1834 Mr. Boardman was dismissed at his own request, and he afterwards settled in East Douglas, where he died in 1842. It was during the pastorate of Mr. Boardman that the meeting-house on the old Common, the first one built, was burned in 1831. Mr. Boardman, with a majority of the church, being of the Calvinistic faith, left that location and built the brick house on the north side of the river, where the church and society have since continued to worship.

In September, 1834, Rev. Elijah Paine, a native of Ashfield, Mass., and who had been a settled minister at Claremont, N. H., accepted an invitation to settle over this church and society, and was installed November 3d, of that year, at a salary of six hundred dollars. Mr. Paine died here very suddenly September 14, 1836, aged thirty-eight years.

In 1837 Rev. Brown Emerson was ordained as Mr. Paine's successor, at an annual .salary of six hundred dollars. He was dismissed at his own request November 6, 1839.

Rev. Joseph W. Cross, who had been settled in Boxboro', Mass., was installed over this church and society March 11, 1840, at an annual salary of seven hundred dollars. He remained as pastor until March 16, 1859, when he was dismissed. Mr. Cross still remains a citizen of the town, having just passed the eightieth anniversary of his birth, being active and vigorous for one of his age. Mr. Cross has been followed by Rev. Messrs. H. M. Hitchcock, James H. Fitts, Wilbur Johnson, William W. Parker, Francis J. Fairbanks and Millard F. Hardy, who is the present pastor.

The Baptist Church and Society can date their origin back about eighty years, or about the year 1810, from which time the denomination has gradually increased to the present time. They formed their first society organization in 1813, but had no regular preaching until 1819, when a church was organized of about fifty members. Their first minister was Rev. Nicholas Branch, who has been followed by Rev. Messrs. Allen Hough, C. C. P. Crosby, Abiel Fisher, Joseph G. Binney, Lorenzo O. Lovell, Sewell S. Cutting, Leonard Tracy, Kazlett Arvine, Timothy C. Tingley, Zenas P. Wild, George R. Darrosv, J. M. Follett, Charles F. Holbrook, Edwin Bromley, George Colesworthy, Isaac Sawyer, Alvan M. Crane, J. W. Brigham and L. W. Frink, who is the present pastor. For several years this society worshipped in a small church, located in what is now the village of Oakdale. Their present meeting-house was built in 1832. About five years since this house was entirely remodeled, the old pews taken out, new windows put in, and the wh9le inside changed, making the house very neat, pretty and convenient. At the present time the society is engaged in building a parsonage-house in near proximity to their meeting-house.

The Methodist Society began to hold meetings here, first in different halls, then in the meeting-house of the Liberal Society, on the old Common, then in Freedom Hall at Oakdale. In 1858 they built their present neat and convenient house at Oakdale, and have, up to this day, maintained a strong and flourishing society. In 1854 Rev. David Higgins was their pastor. He has been followed by Rev. Messrs. J. H. Gaylord, I. B. Bigelow, J. W. Coolidge, S. J. Abbott, Daniel Atkins, Burtis Judd, Walter Wilkie, AVm. P. Blackmer, L. A. Bosworlh, William Pentacosl, William Gordon, Elias Hodge, C. A. Merrill, Wm. J. Hambieton and S. L. Rogers, who is now the pastor.

The Liberal Congregational Society was an outcome from the first religious society formed in town. There had all the time, from the first starting of that society in 1794, been in it several grades of belief, and when the first meeting-house was burned, by being struck by lightning, August 23, 1831, a permanent separation occurred.

The Calvinistic portion built the present brick house at the Valley, and the remaining portion organized a Unitarian Society and rebuilt a neat and pretty house nearly on the spot where the old one was burned. This house, together with the brick and the Baptist house, were all completed in 1832. After this time the society never settled a minister, but for several years employed different clergymen, both of Unitarian and Univeraalist sentiments, to supply their puli>it. In 1859 Rev. .1. H. Willis, Universalist, came here and preached until 18(52, when, principally owing to many of its members going into the army, the meetings were discontinued and Mr. Willis removed to Worcester. With this exception the society had had no stated preaching for over thirty-five years. Other denominations have used the house for a few months at a time, and the society has kept up its organization to the present time by the annual choice of parish officers. The house stands in by far the best location for a public building of any one in town, fronting, as it does, on a public common.