Worcester City (part 56 of 58)

L. H. Sawist & Co - In this connection it seenn proper to mention the immediate predecessors of the last-named company as now located, even though their name has disappeared from the list of those engaged in the distinguishing industry of the town. The senior member of the firm of L. H. Sawin & Co. is one of the oldest practical chair-makers in town, and has been identified with the business as workman and as manager for more than half a century. When but eighteen years of age, Levi Heywood Sawin learned the trade of making chairs under Messrs. Amasa Bancroft and Frederick Parker, who carried on a small business in an insignificant shop on Elm Street. He went thence to the Heywood factory, where he remained for fifteen years, when, in 1851, he purchased the shop and privilege, just below, of Ezra Baker, to whose hands it had reverted after the occupancy of it by Mr. Elijah Putnam. It had been used for some years previous to Mr. Sawin's purchase by the firm of Levi Heywood & Company for getting out stock. It was immediately put in order for the manufacture of chairs, and the business was carried on in a small way for four years, when, larger and better accommodations being needed, Mr. Sawin removed the old building and erected a new and more commodious one, the beginning of the spacious establishment now occupying the site. The work increasing, Mr. Sawin, in 1861, received as a partner Mason J. Osgood, constituting the firm of Sawin & Osgood, which continued till 1869, when Mr. Osgood withdrew, giving place to Reuben H. Twitchell, son-in-law of Mr. Sawin, and Edward H. Sawin, his son, thus forming the new firm of L. H. Sawin & Co., which conliaued till the ter- mination of business, as heretofore stated, and the consequent dissolution of the partnership. An enhirgement of the factory was made in 1865, bringing it to its prtsent size of one hundred and twenty by forty feet, to which later subordinate additions were afiixed for necessity or convenience' sake. As in all the shops on the Crystal Lake stream, water-power was originally used as the motor, but was gradually superseded by steam-power, which has alone been used in later years. For some years thirty-five or forty men were employed here, producing goods to the value of fifty thousand dollars annually.

A. & H. C. KxoWLTON & Co. - The establishment of this prosperous and reliable firm is located on North Main Street, forming one of the series of chair factories deriving power originally from the Crystal Lake outlet, which has now become practically extinct. It was started in 1848 by Abner AVbite, who, having obtained possession of the site, purchased the old Cooledge house, in the northwest part of the town,and moved it thither, fitting it up with machinery suited to chairmaking purposes. Going on alone for two years, he took as a partner his brother Leander, whose share was purchased later on by Philander Derby, and the business continued under the name of White & Derby till 1857, when Mr. Derby became sole owner and manager. In 18G1 Augustus Knowlton became associated with Mr. Derby under the name of Derby & Knowlton. Two years later Henry C. Knowlton, brother of Augustus, entered the firm, the name being changed to Derby, Knowlton & Co. In 1868, Mr. Derby and the Knowltons, who had been operating the present Derby factory for half a dozen years, separated, the latter retaining the site which they still occupy and conducting business under the name of A. & H. C. Knowlton. In 1881, Alec. E. Knowlton, son of H. C, entered the firm, the name being changed to A. & H. C. Knowlton & Co. A large addition was made to the original shop in 1857, and still another in 1881, extending it to its present capacity. The main factory is one hundred feet by thirty, a part of it three stories high, with a basement. Attached to this is a twostory extension and store-houses, afibrding ample accommodations for the business. The machinery, with which the factory is fully equipped, is of the best known to the trade, and is run by an engine of ninetj-- six horse-power. Both cane and wood-seat chairs are produced, of a grade and quality of material and workmanship that give them a high standing wherever known. The firui has a branch house in Philadelphia and also in Los Angeles, Cal. Fifty or sixty men are employed in Gardner, and the sales in 1887 amounted to eighty-five thousand dollars. The firm has an honorable reputation iu the business community.

EpHR.iiM Wright & Co. - This firm manufactures the standard kinds of cane-seat chairs, and gives constant employment to about thirty men. It occupies a site first improved about the year 1845, by

Abner White, a man with a seeming genius for starting new enterprises, who moved to it a two-story house from Green Street, which he furnished with suitable machinery, and associating others with liim, went on with the manufacture of chairs until about 1853, when he sold to Ephraim Wright, who had been doing a small business previously at South Gardner, and his son William, the two being associated under the name of E. Wright & Co., by which the firm is still known. Subsequently another son, Edwin L. Wright, was received into the partnership, who is the present head of the establishment. The father died in 186G, and the two sons went on together till 1882, when William also deceased, leaving his interest in the business to his widow, who still retains it. In 1871 the present main factory was erected, one hundred and twenty-five feet long by forty feet wide, three stories high in part and partly two. All requisite out-buildings are attached. Adequate power for the machinery of the concern is supplied by a steam-engine, all of the most approved kin<l. Without ambition for display or for startling results of any sort, the management of this enterprise is content to move on in the even tenor of its way, maintaining a well-earned prosperity and an honorable reputation for fair dealing and the production of an excellent quality of goods for the market. The annual business done is about fifty thousand dollars.

Wright & Read. - The senior member of this firm, David Wright, is believed to be the oldest living chairmaker in Gardner, with the exception of S.imuel S. Howe, who exceeds him in connection with the trade by about two years. He began service with Elijah Putnam in 1826, and afterward worked for Horatio N. Bolton in the old Bickford potash-shop and for others till about 1836, when he entered a co-partnership with the late Calvin S. Greenwood, thus establishing the firm of CTreenwood & Wright, so well known in former days. This firm conducted business under varying auspices at the privilege now utilized by the C. S. Greenwood's Sons and elsewhere for many years, purchasing the present Wright & Read location, which they had previously rented about the year 1858 of Marcius L. Gates, who had bought the property after the relinquishment of the manufacture of pine furniture in it by Bradford & Baker. Upon the dissolution of the firm of Greenwood & Wright a few years later, and the consequent division of property, Mr. Wright received the shop and fixtures under notice. Associating with him John M. Moore, the manufacture went on under the name of Wright & Moore. A disastrous fire in 1866 destroyed the shops with their contents, but they were at once rebuilt substantially as they now are and made ready for occupancy. In 1872 Charles F. Read, the son-in-law of Mr. Wright, took an interest in the business, and the firm-name was changed to Wright, Moore & Co. Five years after, Mr. Moore withdrew, and the business was con- tinued by the others, taking the name, still borne, of AVright & Rend. The e.-tablishmeiit imludes a capacious, well-lurnirhed factory, partly four and partly three storie-f high, a two-story paint-shop and other needful buildings adjacent thereto. This firm produces many kinds of bent work, facilities for bending constituting a part of their equipment. Dining, library and otfice chairs, with both fixed and rotary seats, are found among its goods; also children's chairs of different patterns and styles of finish. Forty hands are employed, with a yearly production of about fifty thousand dollars. The works are run by water-power, which has the benefit of the series of reservoirs above, while a steam-engine used for heating purposes could be called into service as a motor if needed. Mr. Wright has practically retired from the management of the business, although he retains an interest in it, his good name contributing still to its prosperity and success.

C. S. Greenwood's Sons. - This firm, consisting of Charles H. and Frederick M. Greenwood, occupy the site in the easterly part of South Gardner Village, opposite the Baptist Church, where Albert Bickford, in the early days of chair-making, built a dam on land belonging to his father's estate, erected a shop and fitted it up with sawn and lathes for the preparation of chair stock. Mr. Bickford carried on this business for some years, when Greenwood & Wright, who had associated together for the manufacture of chairs, purchased the property and, having supplied the requisite facilities, commenced operations there. They went on, for about twenty years, increasing their accommodations to meet the demands of their growing business by enlarging their shops, by renting additional room in the vicinity, and ultimately by the purchase of the premises referred to above, mw owned by Wright & Read. About the year 1857 the partnership was merged into and succeeded by the Sauth Gardner Manufacturing Company, a jointstock corporation, in which the employc-j and others were privileged (o hold shares and participate in whatever results might be realized. Not proving satisfactory, this experiment was abandoned at the e.\- ])iralion of a year and a half, the several enterprises^ combined in it resolving themselves into their previous conditions under their old names. Soon after. Greenwood & Wright dissolved partnership and divided the properly, the original stand being assigned to Mr. Greenwood. He continued the business, associating with himself about this time William Hogan, who subsequently died, by which event Mr. Greenwood became sole owner and manager, going on by himself till his death, in 1873. He was succeeded by his sons, named at the head of this sketch, who continue to this day.

The large, though somewhat inconvenient, shops of the firm were burned on the day following the town's Centennial Celebration, in June, 1885, but a building better adapted to the special needs of the establishment was immediately erected and filled with improved machinery, so that work can go on with greater efficiency than before. About twenty men are employed, and business is mostly done under contract. Fancy chairs of various patterns are a specialty, and much is done in the way of producing, upon order, new styles of goods, which are in great demand.

Greenwood Bros. & Co. - The site upon which this firm is located has been in possession of the same family for four successive generations. It was included in the original purchase of the great-grandfather of the present proprietors, Jonathan Greenwood, who came from Sherburne to Gardner about the time of its incorporation. He located at first on the old County Road from Lancaster to Athol, - the first thoroughfare through the town, - some twenty or thirty rods ?outh\vest of the present mill-site, where he lived till the opening of the Fifth Massachusetts Turnpike, in 1800. He then erected the large twostory house now standing on the premises, opened a hotel which he kept during the remainder of his life. He died in 1821 and was succeeded by his son, Walter, who was a cooper by trade, carrying on business in a little shop near by, and having as an associate for a time one Jonas Childs. Thiit business failing, Mr. Greenwood converted his cooper-shop into a chairshop, and began making chairs in 1827, with a single man, Joseph Maynard, to help him. The new business proving profitable, he built, in 1834, a dam across Pew Brook, which flowed in the rear of his house, erected a shop in which he put a few simple kinds of machinery to be operated by water-power, for carrying on the work. For some years he did quite a large business with flag-seats, but later used cane-seats, preparing the cane on his own premises. He continued in the manufacture until his death, in 1861, when his son, Thomas, followed him in the same line of production. In 1870 the shop was considerably enlarged and an improved water-wheel was put in, greatly augmenting the available power. A large store-house was built in 1882, adding increased accommodations to the establishment.

Thomas Greenwood died early in the year 1888, but the business is going on in the same lines pursued by him under the direction of hi-< two sons, Charles W. and Marcus J. Greenwood, who, with their mother, constitute the firm whose name appears at the head of this sketch. Cane rocking-chairs are a specialty among the goods produced. The lack of railroad facilities is a hindrance to the highest success of this enterprise, though it is otherwise well-equipped for bu>iness, has a good market secured and a reputation for honest and honorable work, all of which gives the young men upon whom the burden of management has fallen, an excellent opportunity to attain for themselves an enviable reputation and a successful career. They employ some twelve or fifteen hands and p.oduce an excellent quality of goods.

James Sawyer. - Mr. Sawyer, whose place of business is on Travers Street, near its junction with South Main Street, occupies the oldest improved mill privilege in the town. It was first used in or before the year 1770, when Mr. Bickford, from Beading, came to the place, then Westminster, and, purchasing a large tract of land in the vicinity on which was this site, proceeded to erect a saw and grist-mill for the convenience of the new settlement. In this double capacity it served for many years, under the management of the builder and his son, Captain William Bickford, of later memory. In 1829 the property, still consisting of a saw and grist-mill, with the privilege and rights thereto belonging, was sold to Elijah Travers, who, after a time, added to his original purchase a shop for the manufacture of chairs, in which his sons carried on business under different auspices for many years. After their decease the property passed through the hands of Stearns & Whittemore to those of James Sawyer, who has since been engaged there in making cane-seat chair frames, doing a small but prosperous business in that department of the general trtide.

Lumber Manufactuke. - In the early days of the history of Gardner tliere were six saw-mills erected in different localities upon its territory, for the tupply of the new and growing community with lumber for building purposes. These were severally the Bickford Mill, which stood where James Sawyer's shop now is, owned by William Bickford ; one where the Lewis A. Wright & Co.'s works now are, on High Street, owned by Jonathan Greenwood ; one at the Pail Factory, owned by Joshua Whitney ; one on Kneeland Brook, near Parker Street, where the Dr. Parker Mill now stands, owned by Simon Stone ; one on Bailey Brook, near the junction of West and Bridge Streets, and one on Wilder Brook, north of Clark Street, the ownership of the last two being unknown. Subsequently one was built in the northeast part of the town, near the present homestead of Ebenezer Ballou, and at a still later date one in the east part, on a stream running into Westminster, near where it is crossed by the railroad. The products of these mills found, for the most part, a ready home market, little being done in the way of exportation. After a time, the original growth of wood being cut off, some of these mills were abandoned altogether, while others were converted into shops for the getting out of chair stock or the making of chairs. Two only have remained true to their original purpose through all the passing years. One of these - the Simon Stone Mill - was for a long time run by the late Dr. David Parker, or by agents to whom he relinquished the business in the latter part of his life, some eight or ten men being employed in getting out about twelve thousand dollars' worth of lumber annually.

Wright & Co., on High Street, occupying the site of the original Jonathan Greenwood Mill. Near the beginning of the present century, Mr. Greenwood sold to Joseph Wright, then recently from Sterling, whose descendants have retained possession of the privilege to the present day. It passed first to Joseph's sons - Joseph and Nathaniel - the latter of whom had charge of it for many years. Upon his death the property came into the hands of his son, Marcus A. Wright, who associated with himself David A. Wright and Calvin S. Greenwood, under the firm-name of Marcus A. Wright & Co., and continued business till 1S57, when the whole thing was united with other interests in the formation of the South Gardner Manufacturing Company. Upon the abandonment of that undertaking, the mill, fixtures and appurtenances reverted to their former condition and management. In 1877 Mr. Marcus A. Wright bought out his partners and went on alone till his death, in 1883. He was succeeded by his son, Lewis A. Wright, a young man just coming to maturity, under whose charge the business has been greatly enlarged and abundantly prospered. The enterprise bears the name of Lewis A. Wright & Co., the mother of the present manager having an interest in it. In addition to the manufacture of lumber the firm deals largely in the product of other localities - -in Michigan and Canada pine, black walnut and a good assortment of the harder woods. During the present year this department has been greatly enlarged by the purchase of the extensive concern of George E. Utley & Co., wholesale and retail lumber dealers, located at the junction of North Main and Mechanic Streets, near the railroad, which will add very much to the convenience both of the firm and of their customers, it being the design to make this hereafter the chief depot for the sale of goods. The business of this establishment has doubled within the last ten years, and the present outlook is better than ever before.

Children's Carriages, Chairs and Toys. - In the year 1868, Levi Warren bought the premises on Mill Street, where this industry is now carried on, of Mr. Henry Whitney, building a dam and erecting a shop for the purpose of getting out chair-backs. Prosecuting this kind of work for awhile, he afterward converted the building into a factory for the manufacture of toys. Subsequently he received as a partner John Lovewell, who at the expiration of three years purchased his interest and became sole proprietor and manager of the business. Not succeeding in the enterprise, Levi B. Ramsdell, one of Mr. Lovewell's creditors, bought the property in 1877, and, associating with himself G. C. Goodell, under the style of Ramsdell & Goodell, continued the business for two or three years, when Mr. Ramsdell became sole proprietor by purchase, and has s-ince gone on by himself. The business has increased rapidly under Mr. Ramsdell's management, a large trade having been built up, extending throughout the United States and even to England, necessitating an addition to the shop and greater facilities generally. Unfortunately, a destructive fire in April, 1887, resulted in a complete loss of buildings and their equipment. With commendable enterprise and zeal, the proprietor immediately rebuilt his establishment, supplied it with new and improved machinery, and is going on prosperously as before. The South Gardner stream furnishes power for running the works. Employment is given to thirty-five or forty men, who turn out goods to the value of forty thousand dollars annually.

Eave Troughs, Pumps, Ladders, Etc. - In the year 1874 Charles O. Stone, with his brother E. A. Stone, came to Gardner from Hubbardston, where they had been associated in business for two years, and, after erecting what is known as the Carney Building, at Kendall's Crossing, set up there their former line of manufacture. At the e.xpiration of five years C. O. Stone sold his interest to his brother, who was sole owner for a time, when Charles bought the whole and has been going on by himself to the present time.

In 1882 Mr. Stone disposed of his building on South Main Street, and erected a new one on Chestnut Street, where he is now located. Without power till 1885, he then put in an engine, and introduced machinery suited to the manufacture of his own goods, many kinds of which he had previously procured ready-made. He also added to his original business that of getting out house- finishing stuff for carpenters' use. A Weymouth lathe and other facilities for variety-turning were put in a year later. Mr. Stone has recently sold the house-finish and turning department to A. Priest & Son, who conduct it on their own account, while he confines himself solely to his original line of work. His trade has increased one hundred per cent, during the past five years. A branch shop is maintained at Fitchburg, though all the manufacturing is done at Gardner. Sales are generally made in the region round-about, teams being upon the road for the distribution of goods through the greater part of the year.

Chair Machinery. - As has already been suggested, the larger factories for the production of chairs have a machine-shop attached thereto for doing their own repair-work, and, in some instances, for making their own machines. Of these no note needs to be specially taken in this review. There is, beside these, one establishment devoted exclusively to the manufacture of chair machinery and appliances pertaining to such machinery - the only one of the kind, it is claimed, in the country. It was founded in the year 187G, when Levi G. McKnight, from Connecticut, came to Gardner and, associating with himself a Mr. Carter, leased shop-room of P. Derby & Co., and began business in the line under notice. At the end of two years they moved to the Foundry, where the business was carried on two yeare more, Mr. Carter meanwhile leaving the firm.

In 1880 another change was made to a building belonging to A. & H. C. Knowlton, Mr. McKnight taking another partner, the style of the firm being L. G. McKnight & Co. During that year the present spacious accommodations were provided, and at its close were occupied. They consist of a main building, fifty feet by forty, two stories high, with a basement for storage purposes. A fifteen horse-power engine, with a twenty-five horse-power boiler, drives the machinery. Twenty-five men are employed and goods are sent all over this country, and also to Canada and some of the countries of Europe. Seventyfive machines, designed particularly for the making of chairs, are produced, many of them the fruit of Mr. McKnight's own inventive skill, who has the reputation of being a superior mechanic and a trustworthy and honorable business man. .

Iron Ca.stings. - The Heywood Foundry Co. was established in 1876, and prepared for business by erecting, off Chestnut Street, below Cross Street, near the railroad track, a brick building fifty feet square, two stories high, with a moulding-room attached, eighty feet by fifty, and furnishing the whole with fixtures and conveniences for making all kinds of iron castings. The furnace is of ample dimensions, and a steam-engine of thirty-five horse-power runs the works. Three tons of iron are melted per day, and the business amounts to about .'S-10,000 per year. Thirty men ai'e employed. The firm, as now constituted, consists of Alvin M. Greenwood and Jonas K. Davis, Mr. Davis being the active manager of the establishment. As germane to their special work, the firm were interested for some years in the manufacture of a cooking-range, which had an extensive sale. They are now making what is called the Royal Steam Heater, of which they have the entire control. It is said to serve an excellent purpose and is being introduced quite largely, in town and elsewhere.

Oil-Stoves, Lamps, Etc. - This industry was started in 1884 by an incorporated body of gentlemen, of which Calvin H.Hill was president; William H. Wilder, treasurer, and Charles A. Fletcher, business manager ; with a capital of $10,000. At the expiration of three years, Mr. Fletcher having sold out his interest, Messrs. Hill and Wilder, with Alvin M. Greenwood, formed a partnership, and have since carried on the business. The chief work done is the manufacture of oil-stoves of a special pattern (of which they are the exclusive owners), and lamps corresponding thereto, adapted to healing purposes. They claim to produce an article superior to all others of a similar kind, with none of their defects. The businet-s has had a remarkable growth, and is in an exceedingly prosperous condition, the demand for goods but recently put upon the market, exceeding the ability to supply them. Beginning four years ago, with a single workman, in a small room in the Foundry Building, they now employ forty hands, and occupy an entire factory, built and equipped for their own use in 1887. It is located in the rear of the foundry, and has unsurpassed railroad facilities. Every part of the articles produced is made in the establishment. Work is done mostly on orders received through special agencies at Baltimore, Chicago, Atlanta, Ga., and other large cities. A considerable export trade has also been secured.

Tin-Ware Manufacture. - The establishment representing this industry is a lineal descendant of the little shop started in Templeton in 1825 by John Boynton, whose success in the business enabled him to found by bequest that excellent institution at Worcester - the " Worcester County Technical Institute." Mr. Boynton late in life associated with himself David Whitcomb (having had other partners previously), under the name of Boynton & Whitcomb. They were followed in the business by Colonel Henry and William Smith, brothers, who had charge of it till 1870, when, the former having retired, the latter formed a partnership with Andrew H. Jaquith, the senior member of the present firm. In 1877 the business was transferred to Gardner, the interest of Mr. Smith passing into the hands of Charles F. Kichardson. Buildings suited to the manufacture had been erected on North Main Street, near the railroad stations, which were destroyed by fire in 1883, when the more spacious and convenient ones, now occupied, took their place. For five years the present company, bearing the firm-name of Jaquith & Richardson, restricted themselves to the old line of production, the making of tinware and corresponding goods, but in 1882 a stove and furnace department was established, whereby the field of ojieration was materially enlarged, and the enterprise greatly benefited. The efforts of the proprietors have been duly rewarded by a healthful increase of business, including a large traffic in paper-stock, the whole amounting annually to about $50,000. They have one of the largest and best appointed warehouses in the county, and are continually introducing new features to their trade, which inure alike to their own advantage and that of their patrons.

Harness-Making. - This branch of handicraft was started in a small way in 1869 by George K. Godfrey, who, by close attention to business, excellence of work, promptness and reliability in the fulfillment of contracts and gentlemanly demeanor, has built it up to its present proportions and condition of thrift and prosperity. It is located in the Bank Building at the Central Village, where may be found not only a fine array of the proprietor's own manufactured articles but an extensive assortment of kindred goods, such as trunks, valises, carriage robes, whips, &c., and where there are ample facilities for carrying on the work. The production is largely custom made, though considerable supplies are furnished the general trade. The goods are regarded as of superior quality in respect to both stock and workmanship, and the Godfrey harness, the work of which is performed by hand, has attained an enviable reputation throughout New England. Some twenty or twenty-five men are employed, who turn out twelve or fifteen thousand harnesses a year, besides considerable corresponding work.

Photo-Mechanical Printing. - Warren P. Allen is the oldest photographer in Gardner. He came to town in 1864, from Keene, N. H., with a traveling car fitted up for making pictures, and located at the South Village, where he remained several years. He then opened rooms in Market Block, on Chestnut Street, ne;ir Central, in which he practiced his art eleven years, and gained for himself a wide reputation as a faithful and skilKul workman. When the Lithotype Publishing Company, mentioned below, was first organized, in 1879, Mr. Allen connected himself with it for a time, helping to give it a start and to put its work before the community. Afterwards he commenced at the West VHlage what he denominates photo-mechanical printing, an invention partly his own, where he remained three years, developing and improving his specialty and getting his art recognized and appreciated by the general public. The demand for his style of pictures increasing, lie outgrew his accommodations and sought the larger and better ones in the building of Howe Bros., on Chestnut Street, near North Main, where he noAV is. He does his own work mostly, and his productions are deservedly popular. Excellent specimens of what he can do are to be found in the views he has furnished for illustrated sketches of Bellows Falls, Vt., Holyoke, Mass., Elgin, III., Wellesley and Princeton Colleges, &c., the character, standing and high culture of his patrons attesting to the artistic excellence and thoroughness of what he gives in his line to the world.

Lithotype Publishing. - In the year 1879 Mr. A. G. Bushnell, who since 1869 had been connected with the Gardiur News as editor and general manager, becoming interested in a new style of producing pictures, associated with himself Mr. W. H. Cowee, Charles Hey wood, and perhaps others, and started what is called the lithotype publishing busine^s. Before getting fairly established. Mr. Heywood, an important member of the partnership, died, causing a partial suspension of the work for awhile, although Mr. Cowee assumed the care of it and continued it on his own responsibility for several years. In 1886 new interest in the enterprise was awakened, and a corporation was constituted called the Lithotype Printing and Publishing Company, with a capital of ten thousand dollars, of which Charles D. Burrage was president, W. H. Cowee, secretary, and Herbert S. Stratton, treasurer and manager. The following year the capital was increased to twenty-five thousand dollars, the business going on as before. In 1888 a private company, consisting of Burrage & Stratton, bought out the corporation and arc now going on under the name of the Lithotype Publishing Company, prosperously and promisingly. Twenty-five lith- otype presses are in use, and fifty-five or sixty persons, mostly young women, are employed in the large, well- Curnished establishment on Green Street. The work now done amounts to sixty or seventy thousand dollars a year, and is of excellent quality, growing continually in popular favor. Much attention is given to furnishing illustrations for fami!_v and town histories, sketi-hes of interesting localities, popular resorts, manufacturing centres, educational institutions and .similar kinds of delineation for which there is a constantly increasing call. The company has recently purchased an engraving establishment in New York City, which is running in connection with the Gardner house, under the care of Mr. A. G. Bushnell, agent.

Silver- Ware. - One of the later industries now in operation in Gardner is that of the manufacture of the more substantial and serviceable articles of silver-ware, which was started in the year 1887 by Frank W. Smith, who came from Concord, N. H. where he had previously been engaged in the same business. A commodious brick building three stories high, with a basement, was erected on Chestnut Street near the corner of Walnut, and thoroughly furnished with the most modern machinery and appliances for carrying on the work. Only skillful hands are employed, of whom there are forty-five in number, including several women, and only solid sterling silver goods are produced. This is a valuable acquisition to the mauutacturing interests of the town, having the promise of a prosperous future before it, and destined to shine with a lustre distinctively its own, varied, enriched and beautified at times with golden hues.

Buick-MakIjSTG. - A large section of territory in the southern part of the town has an aluminous or clayey subsoil unusually free from foreign substances and lying in many places quite near the surface of the ground, which renders the manufacture of brick at numerous points comparatively easy of accomplishment. At what particular date, or in what locality, this business was first started here has not been ascertained. But it is understood by the older inhabitants that the material of which the Bickford house in South Gardner was built, shortly after the town's incorporation, was obtained on the premises and moulded and burned theie ready for final use. Abel Jackson at an early day made brick near by where the yards and factory of George N. Dyer are now located, some tokens of which are still to be seen. And the present stand of Abijah Hinds has been devoted to this industry for a long term of years. For two generations or more the only brick made in town were the product of this establishment, the father of the present proprietor carrying on the business in his day. The demand of the community could then be met by this one concern, and there was no necessity for another yard. With the growth of the place and the increasing tendency to put up brick buildings, even the home market was greater than Mr. Hinds, with all his facilities, which he had multiplied as time went on, could supply. And so Mr. H. N. Dyer, an old brick-maker of Templeton, seeing the opportunity, came to town, purchased the property where his son, George N. Dyer, now carries on the business, and there, near the site of the old Jackson yard, started anew. He soon gave way to his son, who has been highly prospered, his trade increasing from year to year, necessitating a constant increase of productive power. He has made the present year one and a half million bricks, for most of whiih he finds a ready sale within the limits of the town. For several years he produced a fine quality of pressed brick, the clay on his grounds being suited to that kind of goods, but at present he deems it more profitable to limit his production to the more common grades. Both Mr. Dyer and Mr. Hinds employ steam-power to run their machinery, which is of the latest and best pattern, and their iiicilities for speedy and etlicient work are excellent and unsurpassed in all the region round-about. Mr. Hinds turns out about seven hundred and fifty thousand bricks a year, making the entire production of the town two and a quarter millions.

Carriages and Sleighs. - The principal establishment fur the manufacture of carriages and other vehicles is located in South Gardner village, near the railroad crossing, and is conducted by Lyman Sawin and his son, Wm. O. Sawin. The senior member of the firm came to Gardner from Ashburnham more than thirty years ago, and entering into partnership with Amasa Lovewell, carried on the general blacksmithing business for a dozen years, when he sold out and went to Ashby. After an absence of a year or two he returned, and having erected the buildings since occupied by him started anew, combining the wheelwright business with his former trade. The call for his work increasing, he took his son into company with him and subsequently consolidated his business with that of Albert Barron, who had for some years made carriages in a portion of his shop, assuming the style of the South Gardner Carriage Company. Besides common carriages, the firm made a specialty of heavy team wagons and gained a reputation for thorough and substantial work. They also manufactured open and top buggies and sleighs of various patterns. The carriage business declining somewhat, more attention latterly has been given to repairs, other work being done chiefly upon orders. Half a dozen men find employment in the establishment. A similar enterpri.se of some years' standing has recently been re-organized, bearing the name of the Chestnut Street Carriage Manufactory, in which James D. Gay and others are interested, and Townsend L. Bennett, Ko. 10 Cross Street, does something incidentally in the same line of manufacture.

early settlers of Gardner in respect to the grinding of corn and otlier cereals for domestic use was originally met by the putting in a set of stones in connection with facilities for sawing lumber by William Bickford as early as 1770 or 1775; and a few years later a gristmill was built in tlie north part of the town near the school-house on the site, probably, which was afterwards occupied by the Cowee Brothers as a chair factory. More recently an extensive business has been done in the same direction by T. Augustus and Marshall M. Howe, under the name of Howe Brothers, who succeeded by purchase the late Charles W. Bush in the nianutaeture of meal and flour at the factory on Mill Street near Sawyer. This privilege had a varied and somewhat unfortunate his'.ory during the earlier years of its occupancy. In or about the year 1824, Luke Sawin and Dr. David Parker, then a new resident of the town, bought the Abel Jackson farm, which covered a large tract of land in the vicinity, including the site under notice. Mr. Sawin soon built a dam and erected a shop, which he fitted up for the purpose of getting out chair stock. The business went on but a sliort time, the shop being burned. Henry Whitney then purchased the privilege and lands adjoining, erecting a saw-mill upon it, which was also destroyed by fire in 1834. The mill was immediately rebuilt and run a few years as before, when it was sold to Daniel J. Goodspeed, who converted it into a factory for the making of chairs, having enlarged the facilities by putting up an addiliojial building to suit bi.s needs. In 1852 a third fire destroyed the buildings and their contents. Charles Travers bought the premises and put up a new chair-shop, which was run by himself for awhile and then sold to Charles Britton, from Westmoreland, N. H., who, being a carpenter, used it for getting out moldings, trimmings and stock in general for his trade. It afterward passed into the hands of Calvin Conant, who reconverted it into a chair-shop for his own use. Subsequently it came into the pos-ession of Charles W. Bush, who removed the old machinery and fitted it up as a meal and flour-producing mill, in which capacity it has remained till now. Howe Brothers, the present proprietors, have occupied it for eighteen years, doing a large and gi'owing business, amounting at this time to an annual value of $60,000.

RiiADY-MADE Clothing. - The Monadnock Clothing House may be regarded as the representative of one of the important industries of the place, inasmuch as the goods in which it deals are to a large extent manufactured on the premises. Its stock embraces every style, grade and quality requisite for the wear of men, boys and even children. The establishment was founded by E. Ballard and A. A. .Terould in 1809, it being the first ready-made clothing store in town. Passing through some changes, it came into the hands of Mr. Samuel Despeaux, a veteran in the trade, in 1880, who gave it the name it now bears. It has one of the largest and best appointed sales-rooms in this section of the State, carrying a heavy stock and doing an extensive business. There are several other readymade clothing stores in town, besides some half-dozen merchant tailors, so that the needs of the public in this regard are abundantly supplied.

Marble-Cutting. - Mr. T. J. Staff'ord, an experienced marble-worker, came from Cambridge in 1870 and commenced the marble-cutting business in Market Block near tlie head of Chestnut Street. Building up a resi>ectable and satisfactory trade, he, after several changes, located in the shop erected for his use toward the lower end of the same street, where he now is. Numerous tomb-stones and monumental pieces of various design and styles of finish in the burial-places of the town and vicinity testify to the artistic excellence and superior quality of his work. Messrs. John E. Partridge & Co., located near the railroad station, and .loseph C. Sargent, 105 Chestnut Street, are engaged in the same line of business.

Contractors and Builders. -Milton M. Favor, a native of Bennington, N. H., came to Gardner in 1867, and after working awhile for Heywood Bros. & Co., started business on his own account. He has had a large patronage, having erected, since locating in the place, over five hundred buildings in this and adjacent towns, or about twenty-five a year. He employs a force of from sixty to seventy-fi ve men, according to the season and demand for work. In the same business are John E. Hosmer, Wm. N. Moore, Cyrus F. Boutelle, Michael J. Ryan, George B. Hager, Joseph J. Gale & Son, Silas Holt and Thomas Wheeler.

Printing and Publishing. - The first printingoffice was opened in Gardner in the year 1868, when A. G. Bushnell, formerly of Templeton, took possession of one room in the third story of the bank building, where he was engaged in doing job work till the following spring, when, his business having increased sufficiently to warrant it, he employed an assistant. About that time the project of starting a local weekly paper was agitated, resulting in the organization of an enterprise for the purpose of carrying that project into effect. Charles Heywood associated himself with Mr. Bushnell under thefirm-uame of A. G. Bushnell & Co., and a prospectus for a paper was immediately issued. Satisfactory patronage being promised, the first number of the Gardner News was published July 3, 1869. The original subscription price was two dollars a year, but the patronage increasing, it was soon reduced to one dollar and fifty cents. The size of the paper, to begin with, was twenty-two by thirty-two inches folio, containing twenty-four columns of matter, or six columns to a page, but has been much enlarged since. Though chiefly a local journal, it yet contains much general news, and has correspondents in all the neighboring towns, thus representing a wide constituency and securing a circulation far beyond the limits of Gardner. It claims to be independent in religion and politics.

fearless in expressing honest convictions upon questions of private and public morality, and especially desirous of promoting the welfare and prosperity of the town. It has always been a bright, wide-awake publication, displaying more than average editorial ability and maintaining a creditable standing among its contemporaries. Upon the death of Charles Heywood, in 1882, Mr. Bushnell became sole proprietor, as he had been sole manager from the inception of the undertaking. In 1885 he sold the whole establishment, including the paper, to Asa E. Stratton, of Fitchburg, who now has its several departments in charge, conducting the business on the .same general lines as before. The circulation of the Neim is twenty-one hundred. The business of job printing has increased from year to year, making frequent additions of materials and machinery necessary as well as new accessions of room, so that the entire floor of the third story of the bank building is required for the use of the establishment, which now commands the service of from twelve to fifteen employes.

In the year 1880 Mr. E. J. Fuller, from AVinchendon, started a second paper in town, called the Gardner Record, having his headquarters in Stevens' Block, West Village. In the fall of 1883 the office was removed to the building of Howe Brothers, near the depot. The following June Mr. Fuller sold to Charles Adams and Daniel Rowe, when the name of the sheet was changed to the Worcester County Democrat, in order that its title might indicate the politics which the new proprietors designed to have represented in its columns. Struggling on for two years under much difficulty, the experiment of a daily issue was tried for a few weeks in the hope, apparently, of retrieving its falling fortunes, but it had practically the opposite eifect, and late in 1886 yielded to the inevitable, and ceased to be. At the end of about three months R. W. and C. A. J. Waterman, of Athol, purchased the stock and fixtures of the office, removed them to Opera-House Block, Pine Street, near Lynde, and commenced the publication of the Gardner Journal under the firn'-name of Waterman & Son. The first number was issued April 12, 1887, and was favorably received by the public, obtaining at the start a respectable list of subscribers, which has increased since, until at the expiration of twenty months they number seventeen hundred and fifty. The paper is independent in spirit and purpose, and aims to be a general news sheet as well as a medium of local intelligence, seeking to maintain and promote the general welfare by fair dealing and an honest expression of opinion upon all matters pertaining thereto. A good business at job printing has been built up in connection with the publication of the Journal, the whole giving employment to nine persons.

Mercantile Interests. - A few general statements in regard to what may be called the mercantile affairs of Gardner will no doubt serve the specific purpose of the present volume and satisfy the desire of those who may read it. The first merchant in the place was Mr. Jonathan Prescott, from Lancaster, son-in-law of John Glazier, who located on the east side of Green Street, opposite the Common, where the residence of the late Francis Richardson, Esq., now stands. His was the only store in town for many years, and even down to a date within the memory of large numbers now living, a single oldfashioned country store supplied all the needs of the Central village and a large section around it, reaching in some directions into neighboring towns. A store was opened in South Gardner early in this century, or perhaps shortly before its opening, and for several decades this and the one at the Centre were amply sufficient to meet all the existing needs of the community in this respect. But to-day the shop-keepers of the place are numbered by scores, if not by hundreds. Certain sections of the different villagts are almost wholly given up to traffic of one sort or another, and one in them need not go far to find, with rare exceptions, whatever may be desired in the line of merchandise for personal, domestic or more general use. Dry-goods merchants, grocers, clothiers, furniture and crockery dealers, druggists, jewelers, traders in hirdware, paper-hangings, gentlemen's and ladies' furnishing goods, cutlery, stoves and furnaces, sewing-machines, stationery, meat, flour, grain, farm produce and venders of all sorts of siuall wares, confectionery, fruit and peanuts - all these have a place in this busy town, and stand ready to serve the public need.

Before leaving the manufacturing interests of Gardner altogether, it is desirable that a statement be made respecting an important adjunct to that portion of them located in the southern part of the town, to which reference has been several times made in the foregoing pages, to wit: - The South Gardner Reservoir. This body of water covers an area of about one hundred and eighty acres, of which nearly threefourths are in this town, the remainder in Westminster. Up to a comparatively recent date the owners of what is known as the Wright Mill were allowed to flow the broad expanse of meadow-laud which the dam was high enough to cover, only through the later autumn, winter and early spring months, so as in no wise to lessen or damage the grass grown thereon. As a consequence, a large amount of water would pass by that and other privileges on the stream below when the pond was drawn down to its summer level, with advantage to no one, while, later in the season, a scarcity of water would compel the stopping of the machinery at all of those privileges for weeks, or perhaps months, before the autumn rains came on. It was evident to practical men that, if the amount of water which thus ran wholly to waste could be held in some way for use when needed, the mills, so often idle in the drj^er parts of the year, could, with rare exceptions, be kept in operation the twelvemonth through. It was for Mr. David Wright, who was eager for improvement, and who had sagacity to discover chances for improvement, to turn tliis thought to practical account. He set himself about interesting his co-manufacturers on the stream with him in a project for a reservoir for the purpose indicated. The dam mentioned, as it was and had been for years, was capable of holding an immense body of reserve water, and, by raising it a i'esv feet, which could be easily done, the quantity could be greatly augmented. The rai.sing of the dam would involve some expense, and the using it for [jermanent flowage would involve still more, since it would necessitate the payment of heavy damages to the proprietors of the meadows above, or the purchase of those meadows. Mr. Wright, therefore, when the subject had been sufficiently discussed, circulated a paper and secured subscriptions enough to buy the lands in question, which put the matter on a permanent basis. Previous to the consummation of this scheme, however, a canal had been cut from the Walter Greenwood mi!l-pond to the proposed reservoir, in order ihat whatever surplus water existed there might be diverted i'rom its natural course, and held in reserve with the other, to the extent of the capacity of the new pond. And so tho plan of Mr. Wright was carried out to the fullest extent, and all the advantages to be gained from it were secured. The expense of keeping the reservoir-dam in repair is met by occasional assessments upon the owners of the privileges benetited by it.

Nor was this all. The owners of certain mill-sites on the stream, desirous of gaining still other benefits of the same sort, bought two dams, and the meadows flowed by them, situated above the reservoir itself, while, still later, S. K. Pierce & Co. purchased a third one, - the Minot Meadow, so-called, - and dam thereunto belonging, which now constitutes a part of his estate. So that, in fact, there is a series of four reservoirs on the upper part of the stream, eaoh one of which contributes directly to the value of every millproperty below, and indirectly to the prosperity of the whole town.

Chapter Cxiii

At an early day in the hi.itory of the Pilgrim settlement at Plymouth the subject of education became a matter of general interest and the question of the public instruction of children and youth entered very soon into the deliberations that pcrlaiiied to the i)ermanent policy of the colony. And the Puritan founders of Massachusetts, animated by the same spirit, soon after acquiring a foothold on these shores, made provision for the establishing of schools of different grades to the end, as they .said, "that learning may not be buried in the graves of our fathers.' So, under a wise inspiration and guidance, the founders of New England built the school-liouse beside the church, making education and religion, inttlli^'enceand piety, co-ordinate factors in the new civilization they proposed to establish on this virgin soil - living forces to energize, direct and give character to its advancing life. True to their noble descent, the founders of Gardner did the same thing. At the first annual meeting, held March 7, 178G, action was taken which resulted in the division of the town into four district', or squadrons, as they were called, in each of which a school was soon after established. These were respectively in the parts of the territory corresponding to the four cardinal points of the compass and were designated accordingly. One-half of the money appropriated for schools, which was thirty pounds, was to be divided equally between the four squadrons, and the other half according to the number of scholars in each between four and twenty-one years of age. The complex duty of providing a place for the schools, of selecting and employing teachers and of caring for and expending the money was assigned to four persons, one in each squadron respectively. The names of this first School Committee were William Bickford, David Foster, Ebenezer Howe and Jo^iah Wheeler. There was but one school-house in the town, which was built by Westminster some years before, " on Mr. Biikford's land on the County road, or the road leading to Mr. Timothy Howard's (Hey wood's) house, where the major part of the squadron sh.all appoint." It actually stood on the site of the house built and formerly occu])ied by Amos B. Minott on South Main Street. It is likely that this building was used by the South Squadron for some years, although in 1791 it was declared to be " so old and shattered that it is not fit to keep school in." It would seem by this record, and by the absence of any record regarding the erection of school-houses previous to this date, that the schools in other squadrons were held for some years in private dwellings. At the annual townmeeting in 1795 it was voted to build four schoolhouses, but the appropriation of four hundred and fifty pounds to pay for the same was not made till April, 1796. In March, 1797, the town voted to provide a chair and table for each house, so that it may be presumed that about this time Gardner was fully and satisfactorily equipped with the institutions and accompanying facilities for public education. The school-houses were indeed small, incommodious and unpainted, but they served the needs of the time and were important helps to the laying the foundations of that more complete system of common-SL'hool instruction, with its large array of instninientalities and appliances, which now exists - a blessing unspeakable to the entire community and an honor to the town. In 1802 an article was inserted in the warrant calling the regular March meeting, " to see if the town will choose a committee to see what repairs, if any, the school-houses need and paint them Spanish brown and lye." The town voted " to pass over the article," though it has an inherent interest to the present generation, since it shows what was used in those impecunious days as a substitute for oil in the preparation of paint. In 1807 an attempt was made to increase the number of school districts by certain individuals asking the town " to build a school-house in tlie middle of the town or otherwise give the petitioners and others the privilege of building on the Common." The town decided to do neither of the things desired. The same request was made at several times afterward with the same result, though it appears from the records that a school building had been erected at the place designated about the year 1814, probably by private funds, for the special accommodation of the families living near. In 1809 the citizeas evinced their sense of the need of more careful supervision of the schools as well as an interest in their prosperity, by choosing "a committee of four men to inspect the schools " " at the opening and closing of said schools the year ensuing." This was the inauguration of a new policy in that regard.

With the growth of the town came the demand for increased school accommodations. So far as the records show, the original plan of having four districts continued in operation till 1818, although, as a matter of fact, the people of those districts living near to the central village had for several years been privileged to draw their portion of the school-money and spend it in support of a teacher in the private school house referred to above. But in the year mentioned, the desirableness of new districting the town became so apparent that a committee was chosen for the purpose of putting the matter in proper shape for final action. This committee reported in favor of making six districts agreeably to an accompanying detailed plan, which provided for a district in the east, the southeast, the southwest, the northwest, the north and the central portions of the territory, each in its order, and under the name designated by its locality. These six districts included in the aggregate one hundred and fifty-three families, - the east one containing thirty ; the southeast and southwest, twenty-seven each, and the remaining three twentythree each. Each district was to build its own house and to locate it, if those concerned could agree upon a spot; otherwise the town should do it. This division continued for over half a century, or until the abolition of the district system according to public statute, in 1869.

Different rules prevailed at different times in regard to the division of the public-school money among the several districts. What the policy was at the beginning has beea stated, - that is, one-half equally between the districts and one-half according to the number of children between the ages of four and twenty-one. In 1820 the town voted that "the school money be divided according to the number of families that shall be in each district on the first of May next." This method prevailed till 1837, when it was decided to divide one-third of the money according to the number of scholars in the res[iective districts of the ages named before, the remainder equally between the districts.

In 1840 the rule was so far changed as to have the children numbered between four and sixteen years of age. In 1844 one-half was divided equally between the districts and one-half according to the number of pupils, which proportion was changed in 1850 to onefourth and three-fourths respectively, and in 1854 to one-third and two-thirds respectively. In the same year the " Annual Report of the School Committee " was first printed and circulated among the families of the town.

The changes in the appropriations for educational purposes can be indicated only in a general way. The fir-it sum voted was thirty pounds, or about a hundred dollars in United States currency. Up to the year 1800 the annual amount averaged thirtyfive pounds, or one hundred and seventeen dollars. In that year it was two hundred dallars. It rose in 1806 to three hundred dollars, where it remained many years. In 1817 it was three hundred and thirty dollars ; in 1818 four hundred. The same figures prevailed till 1832, when they were increased to four hundred and fifty dollars, and in 1833 to six hundred. They rose to seven hundred in 1840 ; to eight hundred in 1847; to nine hundred in 1849; and to one thousand in 1852. From that time on, with the growth of the town and the increase of its inhabitants, the increase of school appropriations was rapid, reaching two thousand dollars in 1859 and 18G0, but falling off somewhat during the four years of the Rebellion. After that period it went up again more rapidly than before. It was thirty-five hundred in 1867, forty-five hundred in 1871 and five thousand in 1873. In 1875 it had risen to six thousand five hundred dollars, and in 1878 to seven thousand dollars. Since that date the increase has been very rapid, reaching, in the year 1888, the generous sum of fifteen thousand dollars, which sufficiently indicates the degree of interest the citizens take in the public schools and the value at which they estimate the American system of popular education as related to the welfare of the community and to the strength, perpetuity and glory of the republic. Besides the High School, which has one principal and two assistants, there are twentyfour schools of the lower grades, each supplied with competent instructors and all in prosperous condition.

At the time of the abolition of the old district system, in 1869, there were six school-houses taken by the town, whose appraised value was $19,758, of which that on School Street, built ten years before, was estimated at $10,666 ; the one in the Southeast District at $2,550 ; and the one in the Southwest, on Broadway, at $'5,150. In 1878 a house ibr two schools was erected on West Street, at a cost of about $5,000, which has recently been enlarged to double that capacity at an additional expense of $3,500. Within a few years, also, a two-room wooden building has been put up on Park Street (Little Canada) at a cost of $3,600; a brick house with four rooms, on Pleasant Street, costing 110,000, and a very fine brick edifice, on Prospect Street, South Gardner, with all modern conveniences, costing about $15,000. Whole school property valued at $69,000.

Gakdnek High School. - For some years previous to 1856 a growing interest in the establishment of a High School had existed among the more intelligent and thoughtful people of the town, but it was not till that date that such interest assumed a definite form and crystallized into a practical effort to accomplish the contem])lated result. But the time had now come when the statutes of the Commonwealth required such a school, and the matter was brought up in a meeting held February 5th, and referred to a committee of seven persons, who subsequently reported adversely to the proposition. The town accepted the report, and the subject rested for ten years. On the 2d of April, 1866, " Voted, on motion of Allen Folger, that a High School be established in town, according to law, and that the Selectmen and Superintending School Committee be a committee to carry into effect this vote." Pursuant to this action a High School was opened the following autumn in the old school-house of the Central District, which had been vacated upon the occupancy of a new building a few years before. This house furnished the best accommodations that could readily be obtained at the time, but it ere long became apparent that a more commodious and better arranged one, as well as one more centrally located, was needed, and in 1872 the town took definite action looking to the supply of the need. The subject was referred to a committee of three persons, who reported unanimously that " after examining the building now occupied by our High School, they were of the opinion that the accommodations and conveniences which it affords are not what the best interests of such a school demand." " Its location is also unsatisfactory to a large portion of those now sending children to the school, and to others who would send if its location was more central." They therefore recommended a new building to be placed on a lot selected by them lying on Chestnut Street, below the " Atherton House," so called, in the Heywood pasture. They also conveyed to the town the gratifying intelligence that after deciding upon this location they consulted with the owner, Mr. Levi Heywood, in regard to the terms upon which it could be obtained, who generously proposed to donate it to the town, if it should be accepted for the purpose specified. The report was accepted, and steps were immediately taken to carry its recommendations into effect. As a result, the proper deeds transferring the site finally fixed upon from Mr. Heywood to the town were passed, plans for a building were secured and the present neat, commodious and attractive structure was built under the direct superintendence of Francis Kichardson, Esq., since deceased, and made ready for occupancy December 21, 1874. It is a substantial brick edifice, with foundations of Fitchburg granite and brown sand-stone trimmings. The main partis fortysix by seventy feet with a front projection and porch seventeen by twenty-two feet, the whole being two stories high and surmounted by a tower rising to an altitude of ninety feet. It has three front entrances, reached through open porches and leading into spacious halls. Its internal arrangement, including a commodious basement with cemented floors, is such as to serve well the uses for which it was designed, and the grounds outside are ample and well graded. The entire structure with its furnishings and surroundings, cost twenty-two thousand dollars, and is an ornament and an honor to the town. The citizens are to be congratulated upon having so admirable a High School building, and upon the excellent standing the school has maintained since its establishment.

Public Libraries - The South Gardner Social Library. - Some time about the year 1840 a number of ladies and gentlemen in the south part of the town became interested in a movement for furnishing themselves and the neighborhood a higher and more extensive range of reading than had hitherto been enjoyed. Enlisting a goodly number of their friends and fellow-citizeus in the matter, they secured the formation of a society bearing the name of the South Gardner Social Library Association, with a constitution and by-laws duly providing for the orderly government and administration of its affairs. It was a joint stock company, each member being required to pay two dollars on every share subscribed for, to be devoted exclusively to the purchase of books, for the purpose of founding a library ; all other expenses to be met by equal assessment on the shares in proportion to the amount thereof. This institution started out under favorable auspices, and for many years was liberally patronized and successfully maintained, deriving support from levies made upon the stock, from annual fees for drawing books and the contributions of friends. In 1852 the association received a bequest of one hundred dollars from the estate of Abijah M. Severy, who died some years before, and in the following year it began to receive an annual income of about twenty-five dollars from a fund created by the same generous donor. This has continued year by year to the present time and of late has been the principal source of supplies for the purchase of new books, the fees of members, the number of which has become greatly reduced, and of book-drawers being little more than sufficient to meet current expenses. The multiplication of libraries connected with the Sunday-schools of the town, the increased facilities fjr getting reading matter from other quarters, and more recently the opening of the large and attractive library and reading room at the Central Village, have had a tendency to diminish interest in this institution and to weaken its suj^port. It has upon its shelves about twelve hundred volumes, to which additions are made from time to time as the condition of its finances will allow.

Some years ago a public library was started at the centre of the town, which contained many valuable books and was well patronized for a time, but no records of it have been found and none of the details of its history can be given. The public lost interest in it, and as a result it gradually fell into decay and finally disappeared.

The Levi Heijwood Memorial Library Association. - A few years before the death of the late Levi Heywood, he became personally interested in thequestion of a Public Library and instituted some measures with a view of making that interest felt and of turning it to some practicable account. In order to call attention to the matter, he caused a lecture to be given in town upon the value and importance of such institutions by Hon. Theodore C. Bates, of North Brookfield, at which many influential citizens were present. As a result of this lecture and of the impression it made upon the hearers, a paper providing for contributions to a fund for the establishment of a library was circulated and money was pledged to the amount of about three thousand dollars for the realization of the object proposed, whereupon a petition was presented to the town for a vote authorizing the erection of a building for the proper housing of the contemplated library, "to be located within sixty rods of the Town Hall." The town, probably on account of the designated location, refused to grant the request. This action put the whole matter at rest for the time being, and nothing further was done about it till after the decease of Mr. Heywood in 1882.

A year or two subsequent to that event. Rev. Lawrence Phelps, then pastor of the First Congregational Church and Society of the town, revived the subject and brought it once more before the public. By personal influence and efl^ort, aided by the co-operation of other interested parlies, he secured the formation of an association which took the name of the Gardner Library Club, afterward changed to the Gardner Library Association, under which title it was chartered by the Massachusetts Legislature, June 19, 1884. The name of the corporation sufficiently indicated the object it was designed to promote. Under its auspices papers for subscriptions were again circulated, and pledges amounting to seven hundred dollars were obtained for the specific purpose of purchasing books and creating a nucleus of an institution, such as was hoped for at an early day. But as yet no place had been found in which to locate this germ of a library yet to be, and something must be done in that direction before proceeding further in regard to purchasing books.

Happily for the undertaking and for all concerned, while the question of a library building was under serious, if not anxious, consideration, Mr. Calvin Heywood and Mrs. Helen R. Greenwood, the only surviving children of Mr. Levi Heywood, recalling their father's interest in the matter of a Public Library, and desiring to honor his name and memory, proposed, without solicitation, to erect or cause to be erected, a library building, at a cost of not less than $25,000, to be presented to the corporation, when completed and made ready for use, on condition that that body should take the name of the Levi Heywood Memorial Library Association, and provide for the running expenses and general proper maintenance of the institution, - the building to be called "The Levi Heywood Memorial Building." The corporation voted to accept the generous offer on the terms specified, and work on the building began at an early day, and was carried on to completion as rapidly as possible.

Meanwhile the corporation was busily engaged in carrying out their plans as best they could with the means in hand, and in preparing for the occupancy of the building when it was ready for use. The money subscribed for books was expended. An old library, belonging to the Young Men's Christian Association, consisting of about two hundred volumes, was donated to the association, as was also a circulating library of James Emerson, M.D., numbering about one hundred volumes - making a collection of eight hundred books, which were properly arranged, catalogued and offered to the public in February, 1885, in the drug-store of Dr. Emerson, under the Town Hall. The association also qualified itself for receiving the title-deed of the property to be conveyed to it, by a new act of the Legislature, passed April 14, 1887, authorizing the change of name required by the donors, and granting power to hold real estate to the value of $80,000.

Before the completion of the library building Mrs. Fanny B. Heywood, widow of the late Charles Heywood, son of Levi, and her children, Mrs. H. S. Stratton, Mrs. Charles D. Burrage and Charles Heywood, came forward of their own free will and generously offered to supply an appropriate room in it, to be called the Charles Heywood Memorial Reading Room, with a good variety of magazines, papers and current literature of the day and to make adequate provision for the continued support and renewal of the same: thus greatly enlarging the field of the association's influence and much augmenting its power for good as an educating and elevating force in the community. Moreover, for the perpetual maintenance and increased usefulness of the library itself, Mrs. Helen R. Greenwood, since the death of her last surviving brother, and her husband, Alvin M. Greenwood, have laid the public under renewed obligations by creating an endowment fund of $25,000, the income of which is to inure, year by year, to the benefit of the iiistilulioD. In addition to the means thus put at the disposal of the Library Association, the town for the past two years has voted it the amount of the dog-tax, about $440 per year, (which will, it is hoped, be continued in time to come), and numerous donations of books, pamphlets and public documents from different sources have been received.

The Levi H eywood Memorial Library Building was completed, lurnished and made ready for occupancy early in 1886, and on Thursday, the 4th day of February of that year, was formally dedicated to the important uses for which it was erected, an address appropriate to the cccasion being delivered by Mr. S. S. Green, the accomplished and widely-honored librarian at the Public Library in Worcester. Since that date both the library and the readingroom have been open to the public - the former on Wednesday and Saturday afternoons and evenings from two o'clock to six, and from seven to nine; the latter every afternoon and evening during the week, except Sundays, at the same hours. The number of volumes in the library is now about twenty-six hundred, seven hundred and nineteen having been added during the present year. The whole number of books loaned in 1887 was 11,404. Two hundred and thirty-six new names were added to the roll of subscribers during the same period. Miss Nellie S. Osgood has had charge of the institution from the beginning, performing the duties of her position with credit to herself and to the satisfaction of all concerned. The officers of the Levi Heywood Memorial Library Association are: Rev. Lawrence Phelps, president; Charles D. Burrage, secretary; Volney W. Howe, treasurer; Herbert S. Stratton, James Emerson, M.D., vice-presidents ; Eev. Lawrence Phelps, Alvin M. Greenwood, Martha W. Burrage, Helen R. Heywood, Helen R. Greenwood, Laura A. Heywood, James Emerson, M.D., Sarah L. Conant, Geo. W. Cann, Herbert S. Stratton, Mrs. Franklin Eaton and Charles D. Burrage, directors.

The library building is located in what is called the Central Village, directly east of the First National Bank, and is a neat and pleasing soecimen of the Romanesque style of architecture, with enough original variations to give it a character distinctively its own. It is fifty by seventy-eight feet in size, one story in height, with large gables on the south and east sides fronting spacious rooms on the second floor. Its foundations, which rise five feet above the sidewalk, are of faced granite, and are crowned with a fine-cut water table. It is built of pressed brick, with brown-stone and terra-cotta trimmings. In the upper part of the front gable is a triangular panel of terracotta, bearing the name "Levi Heywood," while underneath, on a brown-stone frieze, are the words ''Memorial Building." Below this are three large double windows, arched and flanked with decorated pilasters, giving ample light to the interior. In front is a massive open porch, nine by sixteen feet, floored with variegated tiles, and entered on either hand by broad circling granite steps. This porch has a large brown-stone arch in front with smaller ones at the sides, all supported by polished granite columns of a reddish hue, which rest on solid bases, and all surmounted by a terra-cotta cornice and balustrade.

Ou ornamented spandrels above the main arch are the figures 1885, indicating the date of the erection of the structure. The entrance opens into a spacious waiting-hall, fourteen by twenty-eight feet in size, and twelve feet high. On the right is the directors' room, fifteen by twenty feet, and on the left the reading-room, twenty by twenty-five feet in size. Back of the reading-room is a large referenceroom, and, correspondingly, on the other side are there a librarian's room, lavatory and a stairway to the second floor, where there are a parlor, ten by twenty feet in size, and a hall, measuring twenty-four by thirty-six feet. In the rear of the waiting-room, below, and occupying the entire back part of the building, is the book-room, thirty-eight feet long by twenty-five feet wide, in a semi-circular form, having a height of eighteen feet, which will allow a gallery and additional shelving when needed. Alcoves radiating from a common centre, but not extending to the walls, aflTord the necessary conveniences for books. This room is sufficiently lighted both from the sides and from above as the other rooms are from the sides, and all are finished in excellent manner and handsomely decorated. The basement is divided into various apartments, having cemented floors, and devoted to such uses as convenience requires. The whole building is heated by indirect steam radiation and lighted at night by gas, - both generated in a basement room, set apart for that particular service. The architects of the structure were Messrs. Fuller & Delano, of Worcester, whose skill and efficiency in their distinctive profession this piece of work abundantly attests. It is unquestionably the most chaste and elegant specimen of architecture in town, a beautiful memorial, not only of one of its leading citizens for half a century, but of the wise generosity of its donors.

Chapter Cxiv Religion, Houses Of Worship, Parishes, Etc

" It concerneth New England always to remember," said the pious old minister of Salem, John Higginson, " that these are a plantation religious and not a plantation of trade." And this she did remem- ber through all her earlier history, to her own eaduring honor and glory and to the welfare and happiness of many generations, over whose fortunes and destiny she exercised, unconsciously to herself, magic and mighty influence. And so it was that the founders of the town of Gardner, sons and daughters of New England, true to their ancestral heritage, regarded well at the outset the moral and spiritual interests of the people at large and took active measures to have them properly guarded and promoted. One of the first things done by the new town as a corporate body was to provide a place for the public worship of God and a minister to serve at the altar of religion. A site for a meeting-house, with a burying-ground and Common or train ing-field adjoining, according to the custom of the time, had been selected midway between the extremes of population, so as to accommodate the largest possible number of people, probably by mutual arrangement of those most interested, and at a Jegal meeting held on the 7th of November, 1785, four months after the act of incorporation was granted, steps were taken to secure the same to the perpetual use of the town by proper title deed. That site was very near the spot where the present church of the First Congregational Parish stands - the buryingground in the rear and the Common in front substantially as they are to-day. At the same meeting Joseph Bacon, John White, Captain Kelton, Moses Hill and David Foster were chosen a committee " to draw a plan of a meeting-house and to see what stuft'it will take; " and Simon Gates, Elisha Jackson and Captain Kelton a committee to hire preaching. It was also voted " To hire four days' preaching." At an adjournment of this meeting a week later, the committee on a meeting-house reported, whereupon it was voted " to build a meeting-house, forty feet wide and sixty-five feet long, with three porches," the size of which was afterwards modified to forty-five feet by sixty, with two porches. The material for the construction of said house was divided into more than a hundred lots, according to a schedule still preserved, and let out by auction to the lowest bidder. The work of providing material for and laying the underpinning was divided into ten lots and let out in thesame way. The material was to be delivered before April 1, 1787, and the underpinning was to be completed June 20, 1787. The responsibility of erecting and finishing the building to the extent of framing and covering it, setting the glass, painting the outside, laying the lower floor and making the inside doors was committed to Joseph Bacon, the leading carpenter in the place, who was to do it for £172 10«., "he assisting with his hands in raising " it. On the 27th of June, 1787, the frame was ready to be put up, and that part of the work is supposed to have been done on that day. It was a great occasion. Help from neighboring towns had been sought and was on the ground in due season. A crowd of spectators gathered to witness the proceedings, which began early in the morning and continued lill sundown. With commendable forethought, authority was given Joseph Bacon by the town to keep the Common so far clear of spectators as that they should not interfere with the raising of the house. With equal forethought, a committee was appointed to furnish food and drink for the workmen and instructed, with prudent hospitality, "to give the spectators one drink." An accident, whereby a Mr. Day, of Winchendon, and a Mr. Gregory, of Templeton, came near losing their lives by the falling of a stick of timber, marred somewhat the harmonies of the day and gave it a tinge of sadness. Neverthe - le;s, the frame was up, strong and sure, bsfore night, its pitiih-pine sills twelve inches square and posts of oak of equal size and other timbers in proportion , including two hundred oak braces, giving it a sol idity and power of endurance which might defy storm and tempest, if not time itself.

But the building, though raised and soon after enclosed and covered, and so made available for public uses, was not completed according to the original plans for several years. Work in the way of finishing it and making it comfortable was done upon it as the means of meeting the expense involved would allow. To raise money, the pews, seventy-one in number, were sold in 1788, long before they were put in, a method of dealing in "futures" not unknown to the modern commercial world. At that date, indeed, the galleries were not built, nor the floors wholly laid, nor the doors and windows cased, nor the lathing and plastering done. There was ihe shell of a building and nothing more. At length, in January, 1789, the town closed a contract with Lieutenant Foster to finish it, "as Westminster Meeting-house is finished," by the 1st of November, 1790, for £199,10s., all the material to be furnished as he needed it. Under this arrangement, the house was finally completed, though not to the satisfaction and acceptance of the town, till the summer of 1791, four years after the frame was erected. It was a plain, unpretending structure, scarcely larger than a moderate-sized chapel of these days, painted stone-color, with green doors and white trimmings, quite unlike the elaborate, complex, highly decorated, fully-equipped piece of ecclesiastical architecture which no w stands in its place.

During these years of the building of the meetinghouse, preaching had been maintained the greater part of the time, for awhile in private houses, but afterward in the unfinished building, seats and pulpit being improvised in true primitive style. Four days' preaching were provided for at first, then three months, then a year. There is no record of any action of the town in regard to the employment of a minister during the year 1787. Whether this was an omission of the clerk, or whether the citizens felt obliged to economize in this particular on account of straitened circumstances, is left to conjecture. If the latter, the experiment was never tried afterward, no year having transpired since in the town, and but very few Sundays, when the voice of the preacher has not been heard, when public prayer and praise have not been offered to God.

A place of worship having been provided, even though it was as yet unfinished and in a crude condition, some one must be found to preside at its altar and lead in its service as the permanent minister of the town. A church had been formally organized February 1, 1786, but under what auspices or by who.se agency, no one can tell. And who were the first preachers in the place - "the transient supply " - has not been ascertained. But after a time, Mr. Frederick Parker seemed to commend himself to the people as a suitable man to fill the responsible position, and received from the church a formal call " to settle in the work of the Gospel ministry in this place." Tile town, at a meeting held May 11, 1789, concurred. The terms of the proposed contract were : " for the settlement £150, to be paid in neat stock at the market-price, and for the salary, £60 a year for five years, and £66 afterwards; one-half to be paid in produce from the farm, viz. : beef, pork, grain, butter, cheese at the market-price ; also twenty cords of hard wood yearly, cord-wood length, delivered at his dwelling-house." Mr. Parker seems not to have been I'eady to accept the invitation on the terms proposed. The call was renewed the next year with the same result, and that ended all negotiations with Mr. Parker.

The town in appropriating money for preaching the following year, 1791, instructed the committee on pulpit supply, in terms indicating a wise caution worthy of emulation in later times, " to hire some person of good character for four Sabbaths." The person of good character very soon appeared, and proved so satisfactory that he received an invitation to settle from the church in the usual order, which was ratified by the town, July 21st, the same year. The acceptable candidate vvas Jonathan Osgood, a native of Andover, Mass., and a graduate of Yale College in the class of 1789. The terms upon which the call of Mr. Osgood was offered, were, " £160 for his settlement and £75 annual salary," to which was subsequently added " twenty cords of hard wood, to be delivered at his dwelling-house, beginning three years after his settlement." On those conditions Mr. Osgood accepted the invitation in a letter dated September 21, 1791, which is preserved in the town records, with the proviso that "if at any future period, as you increase in wealth, I should stand in need, I trust you will be ready to afford me relief," adding significantly, "I shall depend that you punctually fulfill the proposals you have made." Mr. Osgood was duly ordained and installed as minister of the town of Gardner, October 19, 1791, the five neighboring churches, together with the two churches in Andover, the second church in Boxford, the church in Littleton and the church in Bolton, ten in all, with their pastors, being invited to representation in the council called to aid in his settlement. Mr. Osgood was a "cure" ofbodiesaswell as of souls, and served in both capacities with such skill and efficiency as to secure the confidence, esteem and cordial support of the people of the town and community at large. For over thirty years he filled the two positions of minister and physician, his labors ending with his life, May 21, 1822.

For two years the town was without a minister, at the expiration of which period Mr. Sumner Lincoln, a native of Warren, and a graduate of Yale College, in the class of 1822, having studied theology at New Haven, and qualified himself for the profession, was invited to the vacant place with the offer of "a salary of five hundred dollars and a pew in the meetinghouse." Mr. Lincoln accepted the call and was regularly ordained and installed as pastor of the First Church in Gardner June 16, 1824. Mr. Lincoln was settled as minister of the whole town, according to the old custom, and served in that capacity for about three years, when the secular and religious interests of the inhabitants were separated, the town yielding all its hitherto exercised rights in ecclesiastical affairs to the newly-formed religious society called the First Parish of Gardner, which became the lineal successor of the town in such matters. Under this new regime things went on as before Until 1830, when the controversy between the Unitarian and Trinitarian branches of the Congregational denomination, which had been going on elsewhere in the State for several years, reached the place and became so decided and marked in its expression as to cause a division among the members of the church and parfsh, which resulted in a separation of the two opposing parties and the formation of a new religious organization, representing the views of those who withdrew from the previously existing body. The turning-point of this matter was the vote of the parish, dismissing Eev. Mr. Lincoln, who had assumed the Trinitarian position in the discussion, thereby committing itself fairly and unmistakably to a strictly Unitarian position. In accordance with the now declared views of the parish - the dissenting members having severed their connection with it - the Rev. Jonathan Farr, a minister of pronounced Unitarian views, was settled December 9, 1830, by a council composed wholly of ministers and delegates in full theological sympathy with himself. He was dismissed, after a pastorate of two and a half years, in July, 1833. His successor was Eev. Curtis Cutler, a native of Lexington, and a graduate of Harvard College and Divinity School, who was settled October 30, 1833. This relation was dissolved in 1839, when Rev. George W. Stacey took charge of the pulpit. He remained but a year or two and was followed by Rev. William H. Fish, who was the last acting minister of the First Church and Parish of Gardner in its distinctively Unitarian character and fellowship.

suspended animation, whicli continued for several years, no minister being employed and none of the functions of a church being exercised, when, in 1846, the house of worship having been remodeled and made convenient and suitable for religious services, the question of a resumption of the public exercises of religion within its walls arose, awakening considerable interest and feeling in the community. This question involved another of deeper import, to wit: Under what auspices, theologically considered, shall the re-constructed edifice be opened ? In other words, Shall the old lines of religious opinion and affiliation be taken up and followed out, or shall a new departure be made, ignoring the history of the sjciety for the past sixteen years and starting out independently of all previous professions, declarations and alliances? It was finally decided by those who had been chiefly instrumenlal in re-constructing the meeting-house, and who had the larger pecuniary interest in it, that thenceforth the parish should act in sympathy with the more popular branch of the Congregational body, and maintain ecclesiastical relations with the so-called Orthodox Churches of the general community, retaining its old name and all the prestige, historical and ecclesiastical, properly belonging to it.

In accordance with that decision, overtures were made to the Evangelical Congregational Society, under which name those withdrawing from the First Parish in 1830 had organized and were legally known, for a union of the two bodies, which were favorably received, but which finally failed, by reason of the inability of the two parties to agree upon the conditions of the proposed intermarriage. Whereupon a call was extended to Rev. Mr. Banister to become the pastor, which was so far accepted as that he acted in that capacity for about a year, when Rev. John C. Paine, a native of Ashfield, succeeded him, being formally installed in office January 12, 1848. Mr, Paine proved to be a man of ripe cultui-e, of pleasing manners and a popular preacher. After sixteen years of service he left, in May, 1864, and in the following October Rev. Wm. D. Herrick, a graduate of Amherst College in 1857, who had studied theology at Andover, and been settled four years at Redding, Cnnn., was installed in his place. Rev. Julius H. Seelye; D.D., president of Amherst College, preaching the sermon. He remained four years, when the union of the two societies, attempted twenty years before, was consummated, and he was dismissed, agreeably to the terms of the consolidation of the two distinct organizations and the churches connected with them referred to. The Articles of Faith and Covenant of the Evangelical Church were to be retained, while the names of the religious and secular departments, under the new arrangement, were to be the First Congregational Church and the First Parish in Gardner, respectively.

Thus it came to pass that, after t\fenty years, during which time there had existed two churches in town nominally of one form of theological doctrine and both struggling for existence, their houses of worship only a few rods apart, yet with more or less of alienation, if not bitterness of feeling, between the members of them, not altogether becoming those who the same faith profess and " the same Lord obey," these separate religious bodies came together, their two lives blending in one common life thenceforth as time went on. If, at the time of the union there was not, as the historian of Gardner intimates, that spirit of cordiality and co-operation between all the parties concerned that could be desired, yet since then, we are assured, "the old lines of separation have become less distinct," a growing harmony is displacing former unfriendliness or distrust, and there seems to be a disposition prevailing more and more to "keep the unity of the Spirit in the bonds of peace."