So< \ Digitized by the Internet Arciiive in 2008 witin funding from IVIicrosoft Corporation littp://www.arcliive.org/details/briefhistoryofleOOcoolricli s • A BRIEF HISTORY OF LEICESTER, MASSACHUSETTS, By Rev. A. H. COOLIDGE. 1890. PREFACE The brief history of Leicei John Lynde, Josiah Winslow, Josiah Langdon, Joshua Henshaw, Joseph Parsons, Nathaniel Rich- ardson, John Menzies, Joseph Sargent, Daniel Liver- more, James Southgate, Daniel Parker, William Brown, Thomas Baker, Richard Southgate, William Green, Samuel Prince, Dorothy Friar, Thomas Dexter, William Kean, James Winslow, Stephen Winchester, Paul Dudley, John King. Thomas Baker and Joseph Parsons did not settle in Leicester. These men and their families, and those who had already joined them, together with those who soon afterward united their fortunes with the infant colony, were the founders of Leicester. Some of them were men of superior quality. To the hardships and toils LEICESTER. of these pioneer families, to their intellectual and moral character and their Christian fortitude, the town is largely indebted for its prosperity and its worthy standing and honorable history. The settlement of the place began soon after the allotment was made. In a few instances the purchasers engaged families to hold the lots for them, but others took direct possession. According to early traditions, the first inhabitants found upon their arrival a solitary hermit, named Arthur Carey, living on the hill which from him was named Carey's Hill. Whitney, in his County History, states that he " went thither and digged a cave in the side of this hill, and lived there as a hermit many years, while that part of the country was in its wilder- ness state." What were his feelings wlien his solitude was disturbed* by the approach of civilization no one now can tell, nor what had been the romance or the tragedy of his life, nor why he had retired from the world and buried himself in the lonely forest. Leicester was then an unbroken wilderness. Wor- cester was just beginning, for the third time, to be re- settled. There was no settlement of whites, except Brookfield, between Leicester and the Connecticut Kiver. Bears and wolves and wild-cats and moose and other wild beasts roamed undisturbed in the forests, and ihe place was infested with serpents. The dams and curious homes of the beaver were long afterward visible in the meadows. There were, as late as 1740, pits for the capture of wolves; and the names "Moose Hill," "Raccoon Hill" and "Rattle- snake Hill" are suggestive of realities familiar to the early inhabitants, while " Bald Hill " stood peculiar as a tract of land which had been already cleared. The first town-meeting of which there is any record was on March 6, 1721-22, although meetings had evi- dently been held for two or three years previously. A meeting-house had already been built. Judge John Menzes.had served the town in the General Court the year before, and was re-elected the two succeeding years. He declined any remuneration for his services, "being fully satisfied and paid." The precedent thus established was so popular that when, in 1724, a suc- cessor was to be elected, it was voted that whoever should be chosen "should be paid the same as Judge Menzes and no other." Lieutenant Thomas Newhall was then elected "to serve on the above conditions." At the first recorded town-meeting Samuel Green was chosen moderator, first selectman, first assessor and grand juror. The town offices then were the same as those now filled at town-meeting. Two tithing- men were also elected to keep order in the meeting- house. At first the families were sheltered in rude log- houses. The first impression which one of these houses made upon the mind of a little child is indica- tive of their outward aspect. Daniel Henshaw came to Leicester about thirty-four years after its first set- tlement to take possession of a house already built for the family. The household goods had been moved from Boston on an ox-cart. As the family approached the house, by the narrow cart-path, the little daughter exclaimed "Oh, father, this is Leicester jail, isn't it?" In this household was a dog, named Hero, which came with the family from Boston. There was then no regular means of communication with the outside world, and Hero was for several years the mail-carrier of the family. Receiving verbal instructions as to his destination, he hastened at a rapid pace to Boston, with letters fastened to his neck, delivered them as directed, and after rest and refreshment returned with letters to the home friends. In February and March of 1717, when there were only a few families here, and these were provided with hardly more than temporary shelters, the whole of New England was visited with a series of snow storms of almost unparalleled severity. For several weeks no mails could reach Boston, and when they came they were brought by men on snow-shoes. The low houses were covered so that in some cases the chim- neys could not be seen. Families for days were prison- ers in their own houses, and first made their exit from the attic windows. Many domestic animals perished, and some were said to have been rescued alive weeks afterward. After the storm ceased, cattle could be seen walking over drifts twelve feet deep, and feeding upon twigs on the tops of trees. Such was the welcome of these hills to the men and women who settled Lei- cester. It was not far from this time that Dr. Thomas Green, then a boy of eighteen years, was left alone, in the summer, in charge of his father's cattle. Attacked with a fever, he sheltered himself under a shelving rock, by the stream on which his father's mill after- ward stood. Here, alone in the wilderness, his shrewd- ness saved him. He tied one of the calves within reach, and as the cow came to it, nourished himself with her milk. In this distressing condition he re- mained till found by passing laud-owners, in the vicin- ity. They hastened on to inform his friends. His father at once came and removed him back to Mai- den, on horseback — a four days' journey. The progress of the settlement for many years was slow. Its location was isolated, and the people, on their scattered farms, must have been lonely in the extreme. Expected and unexpected difficulties op- posed their prosperity. The soil was hard and cold, although in many parts rich and strong. They cut down the forests and cleared the fields, they were busy "breaking stubble," "ditching meddows," "split- ting ye hills," and making roads. They struggled with rocks, and winds, and snow, and sufiercd from cold, the degrees of which there were no thermometers to mark. Portions of the town were infested with rat- tlesnakes, and as now there were various enemies to vegetation. A bounty of " Six Pence pr. lied " was voted by the town " for killing Battel Snakes." In one year, nearly a quarter of a century after the incor- LEICESTER. poration of the town, Benjamin Richardson received eleven shillings as a bounty for killing twenty-eight rattlesnakes; and in 1740 the town paid in bounties forty-one pounds and three pence "for killing rattle- snakes, jays, red and gray squirrels, red-headed wood- peckers, and black birds," and even then there were " pits '' for the capture of wolves. The life of the town in the last century was primi- tive and rural. The cattle ran at large, and the office of " hog rieve " was no sinecure. In the town records are voluminous minutes of the special marks which each person adopted to distinguish his own cattle; and of the horses, cows, hogs, " hifl'ers," " steares," etc., which had " strayed " and were " taken up in damiag." The (luestion annually came up whether " horses might go at large, being fettered and clogged as the law directs,'' and whether " hoggs " should "go at large, yoked and ringed as the law directs." Even the best of the houses were devoid of archi- tectural attractions, and of the conveniences and com- forts which we regard essential. They are described as "small, low one-story buildings,"' with a "front room and kitchen," and in some cases an added bed- room. The hinges of the doors were of wood ; there were no handles ; and the wooden latch was raised by a " latch string '' passing through a hole to the out- side. The fire in the immense fire-places served to scorch one side, while the other was freezing. The hard necessities of frontier afforded little opportunity for adornment. The people generally rode on horseback, the wo- men often seated behind the men on pillions. In 1790 a lady, attended by her husband, rode from Leicester to Vermont on horseback, holding a child two years old in her arms. In 1733 there were four chairs in town. Daniel Henshaw's family came to Leicester in a chaise in 1748. In his account-book that year and onward there are charges for the use of a " chair." The rate from Leicester to Boston or Maiden was three pounds. There was not a "buggy wagon " in town till 1810. Books were rare. Thomas Earle was repairing watches in 1768 and later. In Daniel Henshaw's account-book is a memorandum of his verbal agreement to " take care,'' for a year " of his watch when wanted, for one cord of wood.'' Watches, clocks and looking-glasses, however, were evidently rare. The hour-glass measured the hours, and " dinner-time" was indicated by the shadow at the " noon-mark " on the window-sill. In 1722 the town voted that if Joseph Parsons would build a" corn-mill itshould not be taxed." Themill was soon afterward erected at the outlet of " Town Meadow," where Sargent's brick factory now stands. The first saw-mill was built by Captain Samuel Green, at Green- ville. He also, in 1724, built a grist-mill on the same stream, where Draper's grist-mill now stands. The " Mill lot " of Thomas Richardson also came, prob- ably, into his possession, so that he became the owner of the original mill lots. The second saw-mill was 2 built by Richard Southgate, in Cherry Valley, on the .Vuburn Road. William Earle had a grist-mill on " Hasley Brook " before 1730. There was a carpenter here in 1717, and a few years later two other carpenters, a mason, a wheelwright and a tailor. There was plenty of land, and land which had been secured at low rates. But, although the first distribution was on equitable terms, the equality of ownership did not long continue, and it came to pass, in the buying and .selling of " rights," that some of the farms contained from twelve to fifteen hundred acres. Even that early period of labor and struggle was not exempt from class distinctions and jealousies. Some of the families that came early to Leicester were in those days regarded as rich. Some were well-edu- cated and refined. Coming'thus from Boston, which had been settled a hundred years, their style of dress and their manners were doubtless somewhat in contrast with those of some of their neighbors. Soon after the family to which reference has already been made came to town, the congregation, one Sunday, was startled by the entrance of a man dressed in small-clothes, a green calamanco coat and gold-laced hat, and with a cavalry sword hanging at his side, which thumped against the floor as he strode to his seat. When asked, at the close of the service, the occasion of this re- markable display, he said, " It is to let the Henshaws know that there is a God in Israel." In 1722, when there were hardly fifty families on the scattered farms in the wilderness, the Indians of Maine and Canada resumed hostilities. This war is called " Lovell's War," from its most tragic incident, " Lovell's fight," in which Colonel Lovell routed the savages, but lost his own life on the shore of the beautiful lake in Fryeburg, Maine, which bears his name. There were no general engagements in this region, but the frontier towns were harassed and kept in fear four years by roving bands of Indians, who lurked in the woods waiting to shoot down or capture their un- suspecting victims. The tidings that Worcester was threatened, and that three men had been shot and scalped in Rutland, naturally alarmed the people of Leicester. Although there are no traditions of similar attacks here, the marks of bullets in the fortified King h<)use remained for a century afterward. In a letter to Lieutenant-Governor Dummer, Thomas Newhall gives information that " a man reaping here, informs us an Indian had got within seven rods of him, and, looking up, he had a certain discovery of him ; and stepping a few rods for his gun, he saw him no more, but hastened home." Draper, also, in his " History of Spencer," informs us that " the earlier .settlers of the town were frequently alarmed and disturbed by small parties or individual Indians prowling about the neighborhood, or through the town." Indians were also said to have been seen LEICESTER. ill the woods southwest of Greenville ; but they were deterred from making an attack by the fact of forti- fied houses in that neighborhood. In 1722 two Worcester men were sent to Leicester as scouts. In the correspondence of those years there are affecting references to the sad, anxious and defenceless condition of the people. In an appeal for help from Worcester, in 1724, to Colonel John Chandler, of Woodstock, who had command of the defensive forces in this vicinity, there is this signifi- cant reference to Leicester : " As to Leicester, the people there more need help from us than are able to render us any." Colonel Chandler himself, in a let- ter to Lieutenant-Governor Dummer, seconding the request for protection, expresses his regret, in view of the disappointment of " the poor people of Worces- ter, Leicester," etc., in not receiving it, and pleads for " consideration of the distressed circumstances of the poor people of these towns." Soon after, twenty- nine soldiers were posted in Leicester. The next April the Lieutenant-Governor gave Col- onel Chandler notice of the approach of several par- ties of Indians from Canada, and ordered him to visit and warn the towns. The whole region was soon thrown into consternation by tidings that two companies of Indians were between them and "the Warchusetts," and the citizens of Leicester applied to the Lieutenant-Governor for speedy assistance of soldiers to defend them. "Our number of inhabit- ants," they write, "is very small, and several were much discouraged ; it was so late last summer before we had soldiers that we were exceedingly behind with our business." That year the towu was, by the General Court, released from the payment of the "Province tax" of seven pounds, on account, as the people in their petition say, "of being a frontier," and "being very much exposed and reduced to very low circumstances by the late Indian war." The house of the minister was, at the first, sur- rounded by a "garrison" or stockade, and in 172G this defense was, by vote of the town, repaired and strengthened. There was also a garrison on the place of Judge Menzes, the outlines of which, near the Henshaw place, remained till the middle of the present century. A house at Mannville was also for- tified. The house of John King, between Leicester and Greenville, was made a fort. This house still stands, a solitary relic of those early times. After its early trials and struggles, the town seems to have prospered generally as a farming community. Some of the early inhabitants were men of means, as well as of culture and standing, and other valuable families came into town. The farms gieatly increased in value, and, with the building of better houses, the removal of the forests and the laying out and im- provement of roads, the prosperity and comfort of the people were increased. Still, the growth of the place was slow, and there were repeated periods of great trial and depression. After forty years, there were less than one hundred families in the Eastern Pre- cinct. At tlie time of the Declaration of Independ- ence the population was ten hundred and seventy- eight. There was no increase during the war. At the opening of the present century the number was eleven hundred and three. During a considerable portion of the last century the town, like other communities, suffered from the depreciation of the currency, and losses from State loans and private banking enterprises. These diffi- culties confronted the settlers almost at the first, and were increased by the heavy demands made necessary by successive wars ; in the time of tlie Revolution paper-money depreciated so rapidly that it became necessary to rate its value every few weeks. It finally became worthless. Even in these circumstances money was counter- feited, and in 1747 we find the town voting Mr. William Green the sum of "2 pounds towards the counterfeit bill he took as town treasurer." The danger of small-pox at times called for town action. The question of establishing an inoculating hospital was evidently a subject of controversy. It was finally disposed of in 1777 (after'being repeatedly deferred) by a vote "that the physician provide a hospital at his own cost, subject to the selectmen." September 17, 1792, the town " voted to have small- pox in town by inoculation." At the March meeting in 1771 the town voted " that a list i)resented by the selectmen of the names of those persons who have come into town, and the place where they came from since June 1, 1767, be put on the town records, in order that posterity may know when and from whence they came, and that the selectmen be directed to present such a list at the town-meeting in March for tlie future." Such a list was presented every year; notices were recorded of persons who came to town until the year 1786 ; and as late as 1793 certificates were recorded of persons taken into houses and families. On the afternoon of July 10, 1759, the town was visited by a remarkable cyclone. Two numbers of the Boston Post of that time are largely devoted to the details. It struck the tavern-house of Mr. Sam- uel Lynde, the last on the road to Spencer, passing from southwest to northeast. The house was lifted a considerable distance from its foundations, " and in the space of two minutes tore all to pieces." Several persons in the house were severely injured. "A little girl, being also at the Door, was carritd by the Force of the Wind upwards of 40 rods, and had an arm broke." Four women were afterwards found in the cellar, "but could give no account how they got there." Articles from the house were found in IIol- den, ten miles distant, and " a watch was taken up above a mile from where the house stood." The barn and farm buildings were " torn to pieces," and a horse was killed. Trees were torn up by the roots, and fences broken down. A negro " standing at the LEICESTER. door of that House was carried near 10 Rods Distance in the Air," and was so much injured that he died; and " a Pile of Boards ('tis said 7,000 Feet), being near the house, was shivered to Splinters, and carried to a great Distance, so that there was not Pieces large enough to make a Coffin to bury the Negro in." It is said that purchasers who drew lots on the Connecticut Eoad, near what is now the line between Leicester and Spencer, expected, as was natural, that this would be the centre of the town, with all the advantages of such a position. But favorable as that locality might have been as the site of a village, the basis of separation between the two parts was laid at the beginning, when the eastern half was selected for )>rior occupation. After disposing of the eastern portion, I he [iroprietors divided the western half among them.selves, and the farms began slowly to be taken up. Befoie 1725 there were only three families in this part of the town. The two sections were so far apart, and the circumstances of their early settle- ment were so unlike tliat their interests were never identical. There were differences with reference to laying out roads and the adjustment of appropria- tions ; and the western portion was not satisfied to be without a minister, and desired to have the money raised by them for the ministry used for a minister in their pare of the town. They also wished to be ex- empted from taxation for the schools, the advantage of which they did not enjoy. In 1741 the inhabitants petitioned to be " set otf" as a town. The General Court readily passed an act of incorporation, but it was vetoed by Ciovernor Shirley. In 1744, July 18lh, they were incorporated as a parish, and called ''The Westerly Parish of Leices- ter." Five years later both precincts petitioned the General Court " to erect the west pait of Leicester into a distinct and separate town." A bill of incor- poration wiis passed, but it was vetoed by Lieutenant- Governor Phlpps, on the ground that it would in- crease the number of representatives to the General Court. The House protested against the arbitrary action of the royal executive, but without effect. In April, 1753, the precinct was made a district, with all the prerogatives of a town except that of sending a representative to the General Assembly. The bill was signed by Lieutenant-Governor Spencer Phipps, April 12, 1753, and his honor condescended to have the town called after his own first name. In 1775, upon the outbreak of the Revolutionary War, the town assumed its right to send a representative to the Assembly, and in 1780 the right was made constitu- tional. Upon the incorporation of Paxton, February, 1765, a strip of land two miles in width was set off to that town ; and when Ward (now Auburn) was incorpo- rated, April 10, 1778, the town parted with a small tract of land. CHAPTER IL LEICESTER— (Cb«/f2««r. Nelson, Later Pastors, Second Meeting-Uottse, Present Meeltng-Honse, (Church Music, Bible Reading, Sttndait-School Parish. Friends^ Meeting: Origin, Meeting House, Second IJouse, Avis Su:ift, Intelligence, Anti-Slavery, Mulben-if Grove School. Greenville Baptist Church: Church in Sutton, Pastors, Dr. Thomas Green, Other Pastors, Sunday-School, One Hundred and Fiftieth .iitniversary. Second Congregational Church : Organization, Pastors, Christ Church, Rochdale, Methodist Episcopal Church, Cherry Valley, Centre, Wesleyan Methodist Church, Roman Catholic Church, St. Thomas^ Church, Chen-y Valley. First Congregational Chltrch.— The records of the First Congregational Church previous to the settlement of the Rev. Zephaniah Swift Moore, in 1798, are lost, with the exception of a few detached pages. The exact date of organization is unknown. The town was incorporated in 1714, and the farms purchased by the settlers began to be occupied soon afterward. It is not probable that church privileges in .some form, and church organization were long neglected. A meeting-house had been built in 1719. It stood on the Common, nearly in front of the present church. It was a small and very plain, rude structure. It had a door in front and one on each end. It was clap-boarded, but not painted. It was without a porch, belfry, gallery or pews. The windows were small and lighted with diamond-shaped glass. It was sealed to " the great girt," but prob- ably not overhead. Like all the churches of the time, it was without heating apparatus of any kind. Later, individuals built in it their own pews on the " pew ground " or " pew spots." There were comfortless " body " seats, the women sitting on the west side and the men on the east. Galleries were added about 1728. Repairs and modifications were made from time to time, by the addition of pews, placing seats in the galleries, adding in 1743 twelve feet on the back side, putting on a new "ruff," moving the pulpit to the back side, re-covering the house with " the old clap-boards taken off the back side," putting up steps, and in 1764 a sounding-board. In this house the peo- ple from all parts of the town came together to wor- ship God. In it they held their town-meetings and all other public gatherings, and it was here that they earnestly, courageously, eloquently and with states- man-like ability and forethought enunciated the prin- ciples of liberty on which our republic was founded. The first town action with reference to the settle- ment of a pastor appears to have been taken Novem- ber 28, 1720, when it was voted that Mr. David Par- sons be our Gospel minister. Two days later a call was sent him by a committee. In this letter they write, " Rev'd Sir, we with one heart and consent Do call and Invite you to be our Minister in the Work of the Gospel amongst us, if you see Cause to accept and see your way clear to remove; but alas if we reflect back upon ourselves, we can't but see we are utterly unworthy of so great a Blessing; but if you have such a Blessing to bestow on us, as we hope you will be, we desire forever to praise his name for his Goodness to us ward." He was to "have the forty- acre lot next the Meeting House," and "rights," "as other forty-acre lots," and a salary of sixty pounds, and sixty pounds settlement. As he hesitated to ac- cept on these terms, thirty individuals agreed to add to the amount, so that the salary should be seventy- five pounds, and the settlement one hundred pounds. Rev. David Parsons was born in Northampton in 1680, graduated from Harvard College in 1705, pastor of the church in Maiden twelve years, where he had a church quarrel and lawsuit with the town; installed at Leicester in 1721, dismissed March 6, 1735, and died in Leicester, where he was buried October 12, 1743. Whitney, in his " History of Worcester (bounty," gives the date of his installation as, "by the beA ac- counts now to be had, September 15, 1721," but the town records Indicate that he was already pastor early in the year. The town, " reduced to low circumstances by reason of the Indian War," soon found it difficult to comply with the conditions of settlement, and pe- titioned the Legislature for aid, which was granted to the amount of ten pounds. But the salary continued to be in arrears and Mr. Parsons appealed to the Leg- islature, and the town was notified to show cause. This was the beginning of a quarrel which lasted for sixteen years. Within six years the town, which had regarded itself "unworthy of so great a blessing," voted "that the town be willing that Mr. Parsons should remove, and remain out of this town." The town strenuously endeavored for years "to be relieved from Mr. Parsons' bondage," but in those days such an endeavor was attended with insurmountable difli- culties. Memorials were made by the parties to the Legislature, complaints to the Quarter Sessions and appeals to the General Court. Those who were con- scientiously opposed to Mr. Parsons were released by act of the Legislature from his support upon six months' notice, on condition of providing "an able orthodox minister, generally to dispense the Word of God among them," or attendance and taxation in 18 LEICESTER. some neighboring congregation. The General Court passed an act releasing the town from Mr. Parsons' support, but the act was vetoed by Governor Belcher. ''Six Worcester gentlemen came as mediators," but were unsuccessful. There were differences among the people and changes of town action in relation to the subject. Successive councils were called, one of which sat four days in Watertown, and adjourned to Boston, where it was continued four days longer. The result of this council reproves Mr. Parsons for "any rashness in his words, and hastiness in his actions," and shows that he had been arbitrary, had called the meetings of his opposers a " Mob," had assumed power not belonging to "a pastor according to the constitu- tion of these churches;" that he, with "rash and inju- rious " expressions, had ordered the deacon " out of his seat," and had recognized the minority, composed of his friends, as the church, and received members into the church without due authority. But they judged, "as a former council did," that he had been "shame- fully treated with respect to his support," and de- prived of his "just and full title to lands in Leicester." The communion service had been withheld from his use and that of the church. "They had opposed his going into the pulpit on the Lord's Day," and "set up another in opposition to him," and had withdrawn from public worship to " private assembling.'' "The like was never done in this land before." He was at length dismissed by a mutual council. This contro- versy with the town, however, continued and he pro- vided that his grave should not be with that of his people, but in his own grounds. The stone stood for many years near the Paxton Road ; it for a time was losf, but at length was found in the house upon the place, used as the floor of the oven. It has now found a resting-place in the church building, together with that of Mrs. Parsons. More than a year intervened before the settlement of the next pastor. In December a fast was ap- pointed " in order to make choice of a minister." The Rev. David Goddard was the choice of the peo- ple. He was born in Framingham, September 26, 1706 ; graduated at Harvard in 1731 ; ordained June 30, 173G; and died January 19, 1754, at Framing- ham of " the great sickness," in that region, of which in the town of Holliston, tifty-four out of a population of four hundreil died in six weeks. He was a man of devoted piety, morbidly conscientious, sympa- thized with the people in their financial straits, and was in full sympathy with the great religious move- ments of his time. In the afternoon of October 15, 1740, Rev. George Whitefield preached in Leicester, and in January, 1742, Rev. Jonathan Edwards, of Northampton, spent several weeks here in evangelis- tic labor. In connection with this work there were evidently some extravagances. Dr. Hall, of Sutton, while preaching here, was disturbed by " a woman somewhat troublesome," "frequent in fainting fits." Mr. Parsons, however, like Mr. Edwards, was judi- cious and cautious, and discountenanced all excesses ; and his ministry was fruitful in spiritual results. The Rev. Joseph Roberts, the third pastor, was born in Boston in 1720, and graduated from Harvard College in 1741. He was ordained October 23, 1754. His avaricious disposition soon occasioned dissatis- faction, and he was dismissed by council, December 14, 1762. He removed to Weston, where he was an active patriot, and was a member of the State Consti- tutional Convention in 1779. Engaging in business, he lost, and refusing to pay the debts of the company, was in prison, as a debtor, three years. He became a misanthrope and a miser, and lived like a beggar. He died April 30,1811, at the age of ninety-one. After his death bags of money were found in his house, the bags so rotten as to burst when lifted. His successor was Rev. Benjamin Conklin, who was barn in Southold, L. I. ; graduated from Prince- ton in 1755 and installed November 23, 1763. He was dismissed, on account of failing health, June 30, 1794, and died in Leicester, January 30, 1798. Dr. Moore, in the church records, gives his age as sixty- six years and six weeks. The inscription on his grave-stone is, "aged 65 years." He was a promi- nent adviser and actor in the Revolutionary struggle, a member of the Committee of Corre.spondence, and supposed to have been at one time a chaplain in the army. He was respected and beloved by his people, and the record of his patriotism, in the struggle with England and in the Shays' insurrection, adds lustre to the annals of the town. It is related of him that when asked if he would preach in the pulpit of a distinguished Unitarian minister, his answer was, "Yes, I would preach on Mars Hill if I could get a chance." Rev. Zephaniah Swift Moore, D.D., was ordained January 10, 1798. He was born in Palmer, Novem- ber 20, 1770; graduated from Dartmouth College in 1793; and was dismissed October 8, 1811; made prefessor of languages in Dartmouth College in 1811 ; president of Williams College in 1815; and of Am- herst in 1821. He left a permanent influence upon the church and the town. He was a man of marked intellectual power and literary culture. His style was clear, simple and persuasive. When he was called to Dartmouth College, his people regarded his appointment as little less than robbery. When he left town they accompanied him in carriages, and the children stood, with uncovered heads, in long lines on each side of the way while he passed. Professor William Tyler, D.D., of Amherst Col- lege, describes him as " a man of medium size, but commanding presence, weighing some two hundred and forty pounds, yet without any appearance of obesity, neat in his dress, retaining the use of short breeches and long hose, which were particularly be- coming to his person. In his manners there was a union of suavity with dignity, rare anywhere, espe- cially in persons bred in the country, which marked LEICESTER. 19 him as a gentleman of the old school, one of nature's noblemen, and which, while it attracted the love of his pupils, invariably commanded also their respect." Rev. Dr. Thomas Snell, of North Brookfield, in his funeral sermon charalcterizes him as " by nature a great man, by grace a good man, and by the provi- dence of God a useful man, a correct thinker and a lucid writer, a sound theologian, instructive preacher and greatly beloved pastor, a wise counselor and sympathizing friend, and a friend and father espe- cially to all the young men of the infant college in which he was at the same time a winning teacher and a firm presiding officer." Rev. John Nelson, D.D., was the sixth pastor of the church. He was born in Hopkinton, Mass., May 9, 1786. He was graduated from Williams Col- lege in 1807, and studied theology with Rev. Samuel Austin, D.D., of Worcester. He remained pastor of the church till his death, December C, 1871, a period of fifty-nine years, nine months and two days. It is said that there were twelve hundred sleighs on and around the Common on the day of ordination, and that there were three thousand people assembled, only a portion of whom could, of course, enter the church. It was during the ministry of Dr. Nelson that the church had its principal growth, there being at the time of his settlement only sixty-five mem- bers. He was an interesting and animated preacher, a favorite in. the surrounding churches, and honored and beloved by his own people. He received the degree of D.D. from Williams College, in 1843, was a trustee of that college from 1826 to 1833, and of Amherst College from 1839 to 1848. He was a trus- tee of Leicester Academy from 1812 to his death, in 1871, and president f}om 1834. He was for many years a corporate member of the American Board of Commis-iouers for Foreign Missions. He was chap- lain of the local regiment of militia sixteen years from 1812. He was often appointed to preach on public occasions, and was personally identified with the great moral and religious movements of his time. " Dr. Nelson descended from a strong, intelligent and pious ancestry. He early became a Christian, and united with the church. He was profoundly reverential and consecrated in spirit. He was pre- eminently judicious and considerate in action, and singularly broad and catholic in his moral and reli- gious judgments. Forgetful of self, he was always thoughtful of the happiness of others. Nurtured in a genial and happy home, inured to labor and hard- ship in his struggles for an education, brought while in college into the atmosphere of a great religious awakening and intense missionary zeal, and actively associated with the great moral and religious move- ments of his time, he vviis trained and fitted for the ministry which he accomplished. His qualities were of the enduring kind. He loved his people and he loved his work. He was pastor of the church for nearly sixty years, and his loving, pure and gen- tle spirit won for him the lasting respect and affec- tion of his people, and of all who knew him." ' The fiftieth anniversary of his settlement and marriage was celebrated May 6, 1802. His sermon was from Job 32 : 7 : "I said days should speak ; and multitude of years should teach wisdom." Governor Washburn presided at the after-dinner exercises, and addresses were made by several clergymen. Rev. George Blagden, D.D., presided at the golden wed- ding. The occasion was as interesting a< it was rare. In consequence of failing health it became neces- sary for Dr. Nelson to have a.ssi&tance in the pastoral office, and on the 4th of March, 1851, the Rev. An- drew C. Dennison was ordained; as his assistant. He was born in Hampton, Conn., June 27, 1822; was graduated from Yale College in 1847, and from Union Theological Seminary in 1850. He was dismissed in March, 1856, and afterward settled at West Chester and Portland, Conn. He is now pastor of the Con- gregational Church in Middlefield, Conn. Rev, Amos H. Coolidge, the present pastor of the church, was born in Sherborn, Ma.ss., August 17, 1827, graduated from Amherst College in 1853 and from Andover Theological Seminary in 1856. He was ordained April 21, 1857. The day was made memor- able by one of the most remarkable snow-storms of modern times. Eighteen inches of snow fell, and the furious winds blew it into drifts which made the roads impassable. Only about one hundred persons attended the services, and but a small fraction of the council was present. The sermon was by Rev. Prof. Austin Phelps, D.D., of Andover Theological Semi- nary. The second meeting-house was built in 1784, a little in the rear of the old site. The pulpit was in front oc- tagonal. It had over it asounding-board, and just below, the "deacons' seat." There were galleries on three sides of the house, which, with the pulpit and dea- cons' seat, wore painted to resemble shaded marble. The pews were square, and each seat was hung upon hinges. In prayer-time they were turned up and their united fall as the congregation resumed their seats justified the fears of the Philadelphian, unused to such an amen, in his movement to escape from the house. A belfry and steeple were added afterward, and in 1828.' the building was moved back to the location of the present church building. In 1829 the interior was entirely renovated. A bell and a clock, made by George Holbrook, of Brookfield, were placed on it January 13, 1803. The bell was re-cast in 1810 and again in 1834, and about the year 1834 Joshua Clapp, Esq., presented the town with a clock. The first organ was purchased in 1827, the second in 1844 and the third in 1867. The house was first warmed by fires about the year 1821. The present meeting-house was dedicated Novem- ' Proceedings of the Worcester Society of Antiquity, 1887. 20 LEICESTER. ber 13, 1867. In 1888 the interior was changed by the removal of the organ-lot't and galleries for the choir to the rear of the pulpit. For more than sixty years the singing was purely congregational. The hymns were read by the deacon, and then suug line by line by the congregation. In 1780 a choir, by permission, occupied the front seat in the gallery. There was a short trial of sound be- tween the deacon and the choir, in which the choir gained the permanent advantage, not, however, with- out greatly scandalizing some of the members, and causing them to leave the house. Bible-reading formed no part of the service here in the last century. The first Bible thus used was published by Isaiah Thomas, and was presented to the society by Col. William Henshaw. It was read for the first time by Dr. Moore, May 4, 1800. The first action with reference to "apian of Sunday-school" was taken May 3, 1819, and at first the schools were held in school-houses in different parts of the town. It is believed that before the year 1887 there had been but three regularly elected superintendents. The first was Deacon Joshua Murdock. Deacon Christopher C. Denny was elected in 1848, and Hon. Charles A. Denny April 6, 1862. He resigned after twenty-five years' service. The parish was at first identified with the town, and its business transacted in the regular town-meeting till 1794. After this time those voters who had not withdrawn to other societies met after the regular town-meeting, on the same day, until February 9, 1833, when " The First Parish of Leicester" was or- ganized. Friends' Meetini;.' — Until about eighteen years after the incorporation of Leicester the people of the entire original township worshipped together on Straw- berry Hill. A Society of Friends was then organized. It belonged to the " Yearly Meeting of Friends for New England," a body composed of several " Quarterly Meetings," each made up of minor " Monthly Meet- ings," which, in turn, embraced subordinate " Pre- parative Meetings,'' containing one or more "Meetings for Worship." The Meeting here was not only a Meeting for Worship, but a Preparative Meeting. "The Leicester Preparative !Meeting"was at first a sub- ordinate of the Smithfield, R. I., Monthly Meeting, but after the division of that Meeting m 1783, it be- came subordinate to the Uxbridge Monthly Meeting. In 1732 Ralph Earle, his three sons — William, Rob- ert and Benjamin — Thomas Smith, Daniel Hill, Na- thaniel Potter and Joseph Potter declared themselves to the clerk of the town to be Friends and asked, on account of conscientious scruples, to be released from 1 For most of the facte relating to the *' Friends' Meeting," the writer is indebted to Dr. Pliny Earle. The history of the Baptist Chnrcli was written by Rev. H. E. Estes, D.D., and that of the Second Unitarian Church by Rev. S. May. The writer is indebted also to Rev. D. K. Mc- Orath, the parish priest, fur the facts relating to the Roman Catholic Church. paying " any part of the tax for the Seport of the min- ister or ministers established by the Laws of the prov- ince." At the Smithfield Monthly Meeting, held Jan- uary 29, 1739, according to the records, "Friends at Leicester make report to this meeting that they have agreed upon a Place for Building a Meeting-House at the Burying Place between Ralph Earle's and Na- thaniel Potter's; and this meeting doth appoint Ben- jamin Earle, Nathaniel Potter, Thomas Smith and John Wells, all of said Leicester, to take Deed of the same; and Benjamin Earle, Thomas Smith and Na- thaniel Potter are appointed to undertake for Build- ing said House.'' The same meeting afterward con- tributed "four Pounds" toward its construction. The lot on which the house was built was a part of the farm which Robert Earle received from Ralph Earle, his father, with a small tract from the farm of Na- thaniel Potter, located by the brook, and added in order that the horses of the worshippers, let loose to feed during the service, might have water. The land was conveyed to Samuel Thayer, of Mendon, Mass., on the 13th of August, 1739, and by him to the per- sons appointed by the Monthly Meeting on the 27th of December of the same year. It was " to go entire and without any division unto ye survivor and sur- vivors of them, and to the heirs and assigns of ye sur- vivors or survivor of them forever.'' The U.^bridge Monthly Meetings were held here three times in the year, and for a time the Smithfield November Quar- terly Meeting. Washliurn describes the house built at this time as "a low, one-story building, twenty by twenty-two feet." It was sold, removed and converted into a dwelling-house in 1791, and has since been destroyed. , The second meeting-house was built in 1791. It remained many years after the meetings were dis- continued. Its location was secluded and singularly attractive. It was surrounded and shaded by ancient forest trees, and stood amid the graves of the wor- shippers of successive generations, some of them buried without reference to family relationship, and with graves marked simply by rough head-stones. It was of two stories, the upper floor being upon three sides a gallery, connected with the lower by an oblong opening in the centre. On a part of the lower floor were elevated seats for ministers, elders and over- seers. The men were separated from the women by a partition, the upper part of which was hung on hinges so iis to open and form one audience-room. The object of this partition was to sei)arate the sexes at the busine.ss meetings, the women as well as the men holding a meeting of their own, the two being theoretically upon an equality. The house was taken down about twelve years ago. In 1826, according to Washburn's history, the so- ciety had about one hundred and twenty members. This number was probably never exceeded. The last minister of the Gospel, recognized by the Yearly Meeting, who was a member of the Leicester Meeting, LEICESTER. 21 was Avis Swift, wife of Josiaii Keene. Slie re^-ided in Leicester from about 1812 to 1820. Slie was born in Nantucket, and was " a woman of much religious experience, of superior intellectual powers and of a large intelligence, and was greatly beloved by all who hud the privilege of her acquaintance." She after- ward lived in Lynn, where she died. In consequence of the removal of members from town, the society be- came reduced in numbers and the meetings were dis- continued in 1853. • The Quakers, as the Friends are generally called, were adverse to ])ublic life. They could not conscien- tiously take or administer an oath, and they were originally disposed to separate themselves as much as practicable from " the world's people." This dis- position diminished with the lapse of years. Dr. Pliny Earle, to whom we are indebted for most of the facts of this history, truthfully says that " during the first quarter of the current century a no inconsiderable part of the most intelligent and highly cultivated society in the town was to be found among them.'' Early in the last century they in theory and practice renounced slavery. They were in this respect evidently in harmony witli the sentiment of the people of the town, which found, as we have seen, an early and emphatic public expression. The Friends, however, were first to adopt the anti-sla.very principle as one of the canons of their organization, and remained true to that principle in all the struggle. In 1827, May lf)th, a boarding and day school for young ladies was opened at the house of Pliny Earle, situated at the junction of Mulberry and Eirle Streets, and continued until 1839. It was known as the "Mul- berry Grove School," and was taught by Sarah Earle and her sisters Lucy and Eliza ; the farm-house near being used for the recitation rooms. Sarah Earle was principal till her marriage,in 1832, when she was suc- ceeded by Eliza. The French language and painting were taught ; but it was professedly an English school, and the instruction was characterized by great thoroughness. The public examinations were in the Friends' meeting-house. At one of them Governor Emory Washburn, being present, remarked that he liad often heard of the excellence of the school, but " the half had not been told." Greenville Baptist Chuuch. — Some of the first settlers in Leicester were Baptists, and among them Dr. Thomas Green. He was dismissed from the First Baptist Church in Boston to aid in forming a church in Sutton in 1735. At least eight other persons re- siding in Leicester — Thomas Eichard-!on, Daniel Denny, ElishaNevers, Martha Green, Joshua Nichols, Abiathar Vinton, Batbsheba Nevers and Lydia Vin- ton — had been baptized in Sutton and Leicester by a Baptist minister, named John Converse, three years before. On the 28th of September, 1737, Dr. Green and Benjamin Marsh were ordained associate pastors of the church in Sutton, " and September 28, 1738, by mutual agreement, the brethren in Leicester be- 3 came a church by themseves, and Green their pas- tor." (" Backus' History," vol. ii., page 31.) Since its organization the pastors of the church have been Thomas Green, 1738-73; Benjamin Fos- ter, D.D., 1776-82; Isaac Beall, 1783-88; Nathan Dana, 1794-97 ; Peter Rogers, 1803-13 ; Benjamin N. Harris, 1827-30 ; John Green, 1830-40 ; Moses Har- rington, 1840-49 ; L. O. Lovell, 18-56-58 ; H. C. Estes, 1860-62; N. B. Cooke, 1862-68 ; L. Holmes, 1869-76 ; J. Sawyer, 1876-77 ; J. W. Searle, 1877-81 ; A. W. Spaulding, 1882-86; H. C. Estes, D.D., 1886. Dr. Estts was graduated from Waterville College (now Colby University) in 1847. Dr. Thomas Green was a man of great ability, prominence and influence. He was largely engaged in business and remarkably successlul. He was a physician eminent in his profession, with a prac- tice that extended into neighboring States, and with many medical students under his instruction. And he was quite as distinguished and successful in his work of the ministry. After his death it was said of him in an English periodical that he had bap- tized not less than one thousand persons. The Rev. Isaac Backus, the historian of the Baptists in New England, visited him in 1756, held a meeting with his people, and the next day wrote the following words in his journal : " Oct. 19th. I can but admire how the doctor is able to get along as he does, having a great deal of farming business to manage, multitudes of sick to take care of, several appren- tices to instruct in the art of physic, and a church to care for and watch over; yet in the midst of all he seems to keep religion uppermost — to have his mind bent upon divine things — and to be very bold in Christian conversation with all sorts of people." His successor, Dr. Foster, was ordained October 23, 1776. in January of that year he had married Elizabeth, the yougest daughter of Dr. Green. He was a graduate of Yale College and distinguished for his learning, faithlulness and successful work. Under his ministry the church was much enlarged and strengthened. He was the author of two learned works published while he preached in Leicester, and in recognition of the ability shown in another work published later, he received the degree of Doctor of Divinity from Brown University in 1792. After having- been pastor of the First Baptist Church in New York ten years, he died there of yellow fever in 1798, at the age of forty-eight years. Under the ministry of the Rev. John Green the church enjoyed much prosperity. In those ten years the additions were ninety-six, and the mem- bership was increased to eighty, the largest in its history, though at one time in Dr. Forbes' minis- try the number of members was seventy-six. The membership is now fifty-four. When the church has been without a settled min- ister it has often had valuable stated supplies from ministers living in Worcester or elsewhere : Nathan 22 LEICESTER. Price, 1799; Ebenezer Burt, 1802-3; Benjamin M. Hill, 1816-18; Luther Goddard, 1821; Ebenezer Burt, 1824-25; Otis Converse, 1850-51 ; John F. Bur- bank, 1852-53; N. Hervey, 1854-56. Benjamin M. Hill was a distinguished man, not yet ordained when he preached in Leicester, but afterwards pastor in New Haven, Ct., and Troy, N. Y., nearly twenty years, then corresponding secretary of the American Baptist Home Mission Society twenty- three years, and widely known and honored as the Eev. Dr. Hill, who died in 1881. In 1747 the church had a house of worship already built and occupied, which, with its grounds and the cemetery adjoining, two acres in extent, was the gift of Dr. Green, of whom, after his decease, the his- torian, Isaac Backus, said, " He was the main support of his society in temporals and spirituals all his days.'' That house was repaired in 1779 at a cost of three hundred and fifty pounds, and again it was re- paired and enlarged in 1824; ihen, after it had been occupied more than a hundred and ten years, it was replaced by a new and attractive house, with organ, bell and clock, which was dedicated in 1860 and is now occupied. The Sunday-school was commenced in 1821. At first it was held in the afternoon " after meetings." For several years its numbers were few, sometimes ten, sometimes twenty-five, and, like most Sunday- schools of that time, it was suspended during the winier. But, in 1829 and 1830, it received a sudden and surprising impulse. In the latter year its num- ber of scholars was increased to eighty, and in 1834 it rose to one hundred and sixty. Since then the school has numbered about one hundred — sometimes more, sometimes less. On Friday, the 28th of September, 1888, the one hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the founding of the church, commemorative services were held, in which the Green family, descendants of the first pastor, took part; and an interesting feature of the exercises was the presentation of a fine brass tablet, which had been placed upon the wall by the Hon. Andrew H. Green, of New York, in memory of his distinguished ancestor. Dr. Thomas Green. Second Congreoationai- Society. — " In the au- tumn and winter of 1832-33," says Washburn, in his "History of Leicester," "several families in the town formed a Unitarian Religious Society." In April, 1833, sixteen gentlemen — among whom were Waldo Flint, Isaac Southgate, Joseph D. Sargent, John Whittemore, Dwight Bioco, Lyman Waite, Silas Gleason and Edward Flint — applied to be incorporated as •' The Second Congregational Society in Leicester," and received incorporation on the 13th of said month. From that time forward regular services of worship were held in the old Town Hall, and in June, 1834, the society gave a unanimous call to Rev. Samuel May, of Boston, to become their minister, which he accepted. On the 12th of August following their new meeting-house was dedicated, when Rev. James Walker, of Charlestown, preached the sermon ; and, on the following day, Mr. May was ordained by an ecclesiastical council, of which Rev. Dr. Aaron Bancroft, of Worcester, was moderator. The sermon of ordination was by Rev. F. W. P. Greenwood, of King's Chapel, Boston ; the ordaining prayer by Dr. Bancroft ; the charge by Rev. Dr. Charles Lowell, of Boston, and the right hand of fellowship by Rev. Samuel J. May, theit of Brooklyn, Conn. A church of twelve members had already been gathered. The sermons of Rev. Messrs. Walker and Greenwood were printed in a neat pamphlet. Mr. May continued minister for twelve years, and in the summer of 1846 resigned the office. Since his time the changes in the ministry have been many ; but the society has been sustained by an honorable devotedness on the part of its members, and the list of its ministers includes the names of men of eminent ability. Those whose terms were of two years' or more duration were as follows : Rev. Frederick Hinckley, 1847-48 ; Eev. James Thompson, D.D., who had just closed a long and prosperous ministry in Barre, 1849-51; Rev. Wm. Coe, of Worcester, 1851-54 ; Rev. Joseph Angier, of Milton, 1855 and 1856 ; Rev. F. Macintyre, of Grafton, 1858-59; Rev. James Thurston, 1862-64 ; Rev. J. J. Putnam, of Worcester, 1864-65. In 1866 considerable changes were made in the interior of the meetfng-house, on the completion of which Rev. Everett Finley became minister, February, 1867, and continued until his death, which occurred early in 1869. His body lies buried in Leicester, in Pine Grove Cemetery. In July, 1869, Rev. David H. Montgomery became minister, and so continued eight years. Rev. S. B. Weston followed. During his ministry a question arose as to the application of the trust fund left to the society by Isaac Southgate, Esq., which being, by mutual agreement, referred to arbi- tration, it was decided unanimously that the fund was not available in Mr. Weston's case. Mr. Weston received the decision with honorable good feeling, resigning his office in 1881. It was not until 1883 that the society were prepared to settle a minister ; but in September of that year Rev. Lewis G. Wilson was ordained by an ecclesiastical council, of which Rev. Dr. A. A. Livermore of Meadville, Penn., was moderator. Mr. Wilson continued two years. Rev. Rodney F. Johonnot was ordained in September, 1866, and his ministry continued until September, 1888. Christ Church, Rochdale.— The fiftieth anni- versary of Christ Church in Rochdale was celebrated July 4, 1873. The sermon of the rector. Rev. B. F. Cooley, preached on that occasion, gives the history of the church to that date. " Divine service, accord- ing to the Liturgy of the Protestant Episcopal Church, was performed for the first time in Leicester, Mass., and for the first time, it is believed, in Wor- cester County, on the sixth day of July, 1823." The LEICESTER. 23 church owed its origin to Mrs. Ann Wilby, an Eng- lish lady who came to Leicester in 1822. She was buried under her pew in the church in 182G. Her family, with that of Mr. James Anderton, were the only Episcopalians in town. Services were for some time held in the hall of Hezekiah Stone's tavern. The church building was erected in 1824, first oc- cupied on Easter Sunday, April 18, and consecrated May 26 by Right Rev. Alexander V. Griswold, D.D. Rev. Joseph Muenscher, D.D., became minister of the parish March 14, 1824. He resigned the cure March 10, 1827. He was also the village school- teacher. He was born in Providence, R. 1., Decem- ber 21, 1798, and graduated from Brown University in 1821, and Andover Theological Seminary in 1825. His marriage to Butb, daughter of Joseph Wash- burn, was the first solemnized in a church, according to the Episcopal form, in Worcester County. Among the positions afterwards held by him was that of Pro- fessor of Sacred Literature, and later, Instructor in Hebrew in the Episcopal Theological Seminary, Gambler, Ohio. He was succeeded by Rev. Wil- liam Horton, D.D. Rev. Lot Jones became rec- tor in June, 1827. He was afterwards rector of the Church of the Epiphany in New York. He died in Philadelphia in 1865, while in attendance upon the General Convention, in consequence of a fall upon the steps of St. Luke's Church. Rev. C. Millett became minister in 1833. He was afterwards rector of the parish in Beloit, Wis. In August, 1834, Rev. Henry Blackaller became rector. He resigned in the spring oi 1838. He died June 21, 1862, at the age of sixty-nine. Rev. Eleazer K. Greenleaf im- mediately succeeded him, remaining one year. Rev. John T. Sabine was minister one year, beginning in 183!). He died March 15, 1851, aged sixty-one. Rev. William VVithington became minister in February, 1840, and remained one year. He was succeeded for one year by Rev. Fernando C. Putnam. From 1842 to 1844 the church had no rector, but was under the missionary charge of Rev. Orange Clark, D.D., who also ministered to the churches in Hopkinton and Montague. This was a period of great depres^^ion, but the church was "saved from utter ruin by the occasional mi:iscopal Church. — In the fall of 1842 a series of meetings, continuing eight weeks, was held in the town hall, under direction of Rev. Horace Moulton, of Oxford. In these services he was assisted by his wife, Mrs. Elizabeth Ann Moulton, a woman of great religious fervor and zeal. As a result of these efforts, a Methodist Episcopal Church was organized October 15, 1844. The first minister of this church was Rev. William C. Clark. In 1845, in consequence of differences of opinion with reference to the Episcopal mode of church administration, and theduty of the church in relation to slavery and temperance, the church was divided, and a Wesleyan Methodist Church was organized. The Methodi>t Episcopal Church then removed to Cherry Valley, and a house of worship was erected for it in 1846. The funds for building were sub- scribed by persons of different denominations, who recognized the need of religious services in Cherry Valley, and the control of the church was committed to trustees. It was stipulated in the compact that it was to be " a house of religious worship for the use of the ministers and members of, and the friends of, the Methodist Episcopal Church in said Leicester, according to the rules and discipline of said Church in the United States of America, except the First Calvinistic Congregational Church of said Leicester, or the Episcopalians of Cherry Valley, shall wish to occupy every other Sunday night for a third reli- gious service, in which case they shall have the right." This house w.is burned in February, 1856, and re- built by the trustees. The appointments for the ministry of this church have been— Revs. George Dunbar, J. T. Pettel, George F. Pool, T. W. Lewis, D. Z. Kilgore, W. B. Olds, Daniel Atkins, G. E. Chapman, J. W. P. Jor- dan, Albert Gould, from 1859 to '60; W. F. La- comb, from 1861 to '62, who enlisted as a member of 'Wearing the Blue In the Mass. Vol. Inf., p. 298. 24 LEICESTER. the Forty-second Eegiment; W. W. Colburn, from 1863 to '64; George Lewis, 1865 ; George F. Eaton, 1866 to '67; Charles H. Hanniford, 1868; Burtis Judd, 1869; J. B. Treadvvell, 1870 to '71 ; A. Cald- well, 1872; N. Bemis, 1873 to '74; F. M. Miller, 1875 to '76; J. W. Fulton, 1877 to '79; W. A. Braman 1880; W. N. Groome, 1881 to '82; W. E. Dwight' 1883; S. H. Noon, 1884 to '86; J. A. Mesler, 1887 to '88. In 1867 a Methodist Episcopal Church was formed in the Centre, worshipping in the Wesleyan Methodist Church. This church continued to hold services and receive ministers appointed by the Conference for a few years, when it was merged in the Methodist Episcopal Church in Cherry Valley, the appointee of that church preaching at the Centre Sunday after- noons. The ministers have been Revs. Mr. Chase, Frederick M. Miller, L. P. Causey, Samuel F. Fuller, Eratus Burliiigham and H. D. Wesion. Wesleyan Methodist Church. — After the sep- aration in 1845, those who objected to the Episco- pacy, and the position of the Methodist Episcopal Church on the subject of slavery and temperance, organized themselves into a Wesleyan Methodist Church, March 1, 1845. The pastor, Eev. Wm. C. Clark, remained with this church, and, indeed, was the active agent in securing its organization. His success'Ts were Rev. Messrs. Christopher C. Mason, David Mason, Simeon E. Pike, J. A. Gibson, Thomas Williams and Benjamin N. Bullock. The house of worship on Pleasant Street was dedi- cated July 15, 1846. The services were entirely sus- pended in 1861. Roman Catholic Church. — The first Roman Catholic Church in town was St. Polycarp's, and was erected in 1854, half a mile east of Strawberry Hill. The corner-stone of the present church, St. Joseph's, wa< laid on the same site, September 1, 1867, Rev. Robert W. Brady, president of Holy Cross College, officiating. The church was dedicated January 2, 1870, Right Rev. John J. Williams, present Arch- bishop of Boston, officiating. The old church. was taken down and moved to Rochdale during 1869, and was dedicated as St. Aloysius' Church, Novem- ber 21st of the same year. Right Rev. John J. Wil- liams officiating. There was no resident pastor of the parish until August 1, 1880. The two churches were attended by the Jesuit Fathers from Holy Cross College, Worcester, in the following order: January, 1854, Rev. Peter Kroes ; August, 1856, Rev. J. C. Moore, S. J. ; August, 1857, Rev. P. M. Jolehi, S. J. ; Jiinuary, 1858, Rev. Eugene Veterneli ; Octo- ber, 1859, Rev. A. F. Ciampi, S. J. ; August, 1861, Rev. J. B. Gafney, S. J. ; January, 1864, Rev. J. B. O'Hagan, S. J. ; August, 1864, Rev. Charles Kelly, S. J.; August, 1867, Rev. P. V. McDermott, S. J. ; June, 1869, Rev. J. B. O'Hagan, S. J. ; September, 1870, Rev. A. J. Ciampi, S. J.; January, 1871, Rev. Albert Peters, S. J. ; August, 1872, Rev. W. F. Ham- ilton, S. J.; August, 1873, Rev. P. J. Blenkinsop, S. J. These clergymen were generally educated in Eu- rope, as they were Jesuit Fathers and professors at the college. Some of them were men of eminent scholarship. Rev. D. F. McGrath became the priest of the par- ish August 1, 1880. He was born in Milford, Mass., August 15, 1848; graduated from Holy Cross College in 1870, and from Grand Seminary, in Montreal, in 1873. When he came to the parish it was incum- bered with a debt of six thousand five hundred dol- lars, which was increased to fourteen thousand five hundred dollars in remodeling aud repairing the church, building a fine parsonage and by accompany- ing expenses. This was the amount of indebtedness January 1, 1884. By February 1, 1888, this debt was entirely paid, and all the parish property, including eighteen acres of land, is held free of indebtedness. According to a census taken in January, 1888, by Father McGrath and his assistant. Father Kmney, there were in town three hundred and twelve Roman Catholic families, with a total of one thou>and five hundred and thirty-six persons attached to St. Joseph's and St. Aloysius' Parishes. St. Thomas' Church. — In the year 1873 the Rev. B. F. Cooley, rector of Christ Church, Rochdale, commenced service in the Methodist Church in Cherry Valley, on Sunday afternoons. These services were continued for several years by him and his successor. Rev. S. R. Bailey. The first service and also later services on week-days were held in the house of Mr. Cheney Barton, in which the Rev. H. Blackaller had held similar services moie than thirty- five years before. The church was alterward made a mission of St. Matthew's Church, Worcester, which relation it still holds, although it has been self-sup- porting since 1886. Rev. E. Osgood took charge, probably in the autumn of 1878, and continued until early in the year 1881. The Rev. Julius Waterberry was in charge from 1881 to 1882. He was a beautiful singer, a man of culture, of wide information, and pleasing and refined manners. He died in Boston, on Good Fri- day, 1882, and his memory is cherished with affection by the members of his charge. It was while he was connected with the church that "Shamrock Hall" began to be used as the place of worship. He was succeeded by Rev. H. Hague, the present incumbent, who assumed charge on the first Sunday of August, 1882 The church was built in 1884, and consecrated February 14, 1885, by Bishop W. R. Huntington, D.D., of Grace Church, New York. Since that time a pipe-organ has been placed in the church. The church contains five memorial windows, one of them in memory of Rev. Julius H. Waterberry. The mission was first named "The House of Prayer," but in 1884 it was changed to "St. Thomas' Church." o H < Pb LEICESTER. 25 CHAPTER V. LEICESTER— ( Continued.) SCHOOLS. Fira Town AclioH—Sclioolmatlerii—School-houtei — Tomi Fined - Dittrkt SgfUm — Amount Raised for Schooh — Dislricia Abolished— High ISchool - -Leiceitcr Academy — Fottnditfj — Bnitdings — Teacftera — Funds — Miti- tart/ — JUorganizatxon — Centennial Anniversary. Although in the original legislative title of the town provision was made for school-houses, no action appears to have been taken upon the subject till the last day of the year 1731. It was then voted "to choose a committee of three to provide a school- master; and that the said committee agree with a man t') keep school for three month-*, and no longer; and that the school be kept in three parts of the town, so as may be most for the convtnienty of the inhabitants' children going to school." The sum of $8.75 was appropriated to meet the expense. He was to teach the children to " reed and wright." His own educa- tion, such as it was, must have been acquired with- out much help from teachers, as he probably came to town when there were no schools, when less than ten year.-! of age. This provision was for the whole of Leicester and Spencer. The next year there was no school, and the town was called to account before the Quarter Ses-ions. Thesuni of S^.-W was appropriated the next winter, and after a delay of nearly a year, the same teacher was employed, and taught three months at $3.75 per month in the house of Mr. Jonathan Sar- gent, oppt)site the spot where the Catholic Church now stands. The next winter Mr. Lynde taught in three ditfereut places, one month in each place. " If the town employed him any more, they was to come to new tarms." In 173G the town " voted to build a school-house sixteen feet in width, twenty feet in length and six and a half feet between joynts; and that it be set in the north side of the meeting-house, about ten rods, in the most convenientest place." It is described by one who remembered it as "an old shell of a build- ing." The next school-house was built as early as 17>72, where Sargent's brick factory now stands. Another school-house in the centre was built in 1791. In 1736 the town was again presented before the Quarter Sessions for failing to provide a school, and fined £4 12«. The hext year John Lynde taught school one month and Joshua Nichols ten days. The school-house was probably built in 1738. Its cost was $4 7,84. Mr. Samuel Coolidge taught the school in 1739 six months, at $1.32 per week. In 1742 the school was taught by John Gibbons through the year, in the f >ur quarters of the town, "so as lo have the remote ends of the town have some benefit of the ^alne." In 1742 it was taught in six places by Mr. Adam BuUard. The amount expended for schools the next twenty years was on an average $133.33 per year. In 1765 the town voted to raise £120 to build five school-houses in the East, Southeast, Northwe=t, and Northeast Districts. The school-houses were all completed in 1767. The amount assessed in each district was finally appropri- ated to its own school-house. This was the beginning of the " district system " in town, which continued until April, 18(59, when it was annulled in accordance with the statute of the State. "Schooling mistresses '' were first employed in 1766. In 1774 the number of districts-was increased to nine, and on April 15, 1776, the nine districts were officially defined, and the different families assigned to their respective districts, and thus recorded. Notwith- standing the heavy burdens of the Revolutionary War, when a proposition was made in town meeting to suspend the schools, it was promptly voted down. A "town" or high school was organized in 1856, of which Mr. C. S. Knight was the fir^t teacher. For several years it was migratory, being held one term each year at the Centre Village, Clappville and Cherry Valley. It was permanently located at the Centre in 1859. In 1867 an arrangement was made by which it was combined with the Academy, and this union has been continued to the present time, with the ex- ception of four years, during which the Academy was temporarily suspended. All the advantages of that institution are now open to the children of the town who are qualified to enter upon a high school course. The annual amount raised by the town for schools at the close of the last century was $300. In 1850 it was $1,200. The appropriation for 1888 was $7,500. Leicester Academy.— Leicester Academy had its origin in the intelligent forethought and unselfish enterprise of its founders, Col. Ebenezer Crafts, of Sturbridge, and Col. Jacob Davis, of Charlton. They were public-spirited, patriotic men. They clearly saw that Christian education was essential to the succe>s and perpetuity of those free institutions which had been won at such a cost. There was no academy iu Central or Western Massachusetts, and the provision for general education was exceedingly meagre. Col. Crafts was a liberally educated man, graduated from Yale College iu 1759. He was an ardent patriot, and marched to Cambridge at the first call to arms, with a company of cavalry which hehad already organized. He also commanded a company of one hundred men under Gen. Lincoln, for the suppression of the Shays' Rebellion. After the close of the war he appears first to have conceived the idea .of establishing in Wor- cester County a school for classical and English edu- cation. He interested in the undertaking Col. Davis, who had also been a soldier in the Revolution, and was a man of wealth and broad public spirit. While they were considering the matter circum- stances directed their attention to Leicester as a de- sirable location for such an institution. Upon the departure of the Jews, the store of Mr. Lopez, with 26 LEICESTER. the land, was advertised for sale at auction as "a large, commodious double mansion, and a noted place for trade." There was one acre of land. It wiis, as nearly as can be ascertained, upon the original lot No. 1. It had been successively owned by John Stebbins, Rev. Joseph Roberts, Rev. Benjamin Conk- lin ; the western half by Benjamin Fosgate, who built on it a small store about the year 1770; by Joseph Allen and Henry Bass. In 1777 Mr. Lopez added to the western half-acre a half-acre purchased of Mr. Conklin, and built upon it "the splendid mansion" now offered for sale. . Col. Crafts, watchful for opportunities to carry out his purpose, was at the sale. While ihere he con- ferred with his associates and decided to make the purchase, and the place was "bid off" to them for £515. It was deeded May 7, 1783, to Col. Crafts, Col. Davis and Asa Sprague, of Spencer, who s .on after- ward transferred his interest to Col. Crafts. Col. Crafts then addressed a petition to the Legislature for an act of incorporation, slating that a " large and commodious building, with about one acre of land," had been secured " with intent and drsign to pro- mote the public benefit in the education of youth, as said buildings are exceedingly well calculated for an academy." He asked for an act similar to that re- lating to Andover, "whereby the same may be made respectable ; whereby the advantages of education of youth may be promoted ; whereby advantages may arise not only to the individuals, but to the public in g'^neral, and prove a blessing to our land of liberty." The petition appropriately bears date of July 4, 1783. The petition was presented to the Legislature by Col. Seth Washburn, February 7, 1784. Final action was deferred until the sum of £1000 should be raised for the academy iu addition to the real estate. There were then only one hundred and fifty families in town, and a population of about a thousand. They were impoverished by the war, but they came to the rescue in a spirit of noble generosity ; and within seven weeks more than the required amount was raised, as stated in the Spy, "by the town of Leicester, and a few gentlemen of that and this place." The town appropriated £500 ; citizens of Leicester con- tributed £367 ; and the amount was raised by Judge Gill, of Princeton, and others to £1355. The act of incorporation was passed March 23, 1784. It was signed by John Hancock, Governor, and Samuel Adams, President of the Senate. The property was deeded to the trustees in May, 1784. In May the trustees made provision for subscrip- tions through the selectmen of the several towns of the county for the institution. It "is devoutly hoped," they say, " that it >fill not be suffered to wither and decay, or, for want of nourishment, to be removed to some more fertile soil." Clergymen were also appealed to, and Rev. Joseph Buckingham, in his Thanksgiving Sermon that year, made an appeal for aid. Isaiah Thomas interested him.self at once in the movement, and in November the S/ji/ stated that 'there would soon be opened at Leicester an Academy, for the purpose of promoting the sciences, &c.," and "the people of this large county" were " urged to exert themselves to' second the endeavors of those gentlemen who have laid this generous and laudable plan of another channel for public educa- tion." Dr. John Pierce, who came as assistant preceptor in 1793, describes this "mansion" as "an oblong, barrack-looking building." The rooms were about seven and a half feet in height. The southwest "parlor "was the school-room of the princij)al pre- ceptor, and the southeast that of the English pre- ceptor. The central front room was used as a dining and rhetorical hall, while the three rooms in the rear were used by the stewards. The southwest chamber was occupied by the two preceptors, who sometimes took a visiting friend as a third occupant of their bed. The other chambers were for students, who were at times crowded six and even eight in a room. There was on the roof a small cupola, with a bell, the gift of Mr. Thoma-s Stickney. The meeting-house stood west of the academy. In the rear were the grave-yard and the training- fiefd. The first meeting of the trustees was held April 7, 1784. They moved in a body to the meeting-house, where public services were held. The Rev. Mr. Con- klin preached a sermon from Proverbs 11 : 25, and the Rev. Thaddeus Maccarty offered prayer. The trustees then partook of an "elegsint repast," in " Commons Hall." Hon. Moses Gill, of Princeton, was elected president, Rev. Benjamin Conklin vice- president. Rev. Joseph Pope (of Spencer) secretary, Joseph Allen, Esq., treasurer, and Colonel Crafts " steward and butler." Committees were chosen to select teachers, and prepare to open the school " with all convenient speed." Benjamin Stone, a native of Shrewsbury, a grad- uate of Harvard in 1776, was engaged as principal preceptor, at a salary of sixty pounds a year, after- wards raised to eighty-five pounds. He left in 1787, and was afterward preceptor of Westford Academy. He died in Shrewsbury in 1832, at the age of seventy- six. He was a well-qualified and faithful teacher, and always retained a deep interest in the academy. The school opened with three pupils, — Samuel C. Crafts, son of the founder; Ephraim Allen, of Stur- bridge ; and Samuel Swan, of Leicester, then six years of age. They were all graduated afterward at Harvard College. Mr. Crafts removed to Vermont, was a member of the first Constitutional Convention of that State, chief justice of the County Court, Representative and Senator to Congress and Governor of the State. Mr. Allen became an eminent physician in Salem, N. Y., and Mr. Swan was established as a lawyer in Hubbardston. He was a valuable friend of the iu- i 5 < < Q O U bl LEICESTER. 27 stitution, and a contributor to its funds. Eli Whit- ney, of Westboro', inventor of the cotton-gin, en- tered the school aoon after. Such was the quality of the first pupils of Leicester Academy. The number rose to twenty before the close of the terra. In the autumn term Thomas Payson was en- gaged as English preceptor and the number of pu- pils was between seventy and eighty. At the time of the next annual meeting of the trustees, July 4, 1785, "the youth of that seminary entertained a large and re^ipectable audience with specimens of their literary improvements.'' Dra- matic entertainments continued for many years to be given by the school, sometimes occupying the morning, afternoon and evening. They were held in the meeting-house, which was crowded to its fullest capacity, the people coming from all the surrounding towns. Oa one of these occasions a Congregational minister of the county played, behind the scenes, the bass viol accompaniment to the "Scolding Wife." " Colloquy," " Poem," " Dialogue," " Greek Oration," " Farce," " Greek Dialogue," " Comedy," the entire (Addison's) " Tragedy of Cato," " Latin Dialogue," " Description of a Mighty Good Man " and " Descrip- tion of a Mighty Good Woman " are among the parts which appear on the programmes of these entertain- ments. The exhibitions, from time to time, were subjects of action by the trustees, in the way of provision and limitation. In 179(5 provision was made for examin- ation by the trustees. In 1840 the custom was intro- duced of inviting some former member of the institu- tion to deliver an address in connection with the anniversary exercise. A statement of Dr. Pierce illustrates the style and dignity of the instructors. " According to the custom of the times, I then wore a cocked, or three-cornered hat. My hair was queued with a ribbon half-way down my back. I had silver knee-buckles at my knees ; my plated shoe-buckles covered more than half my insteps." The range of studies was very varied. Students were fitted for college, while in the English depart- ment the lowest common branches were taught. Dr. James Jackson, English preceptor in 1796, says, " I believe all my pupils had learned the alphabet before I saw them. I taught spelling, reading, writing, English grammar and arithmetic, and perhaps, to a few of the pupils, some of the higher branches." The charge for tuition was one shilling per week for the classics, and nine pence for English branches. The institution soon found itself embarrassed in its finances. The currency was depreciated. The Shays' Rebellion "threatened the country with civil war." The income of the funds was so reduced that it was necessary to dispense with the services of the principal preceptor. The "large and elegant house "soon proved inadequate and uncomfortable, and came to be looked u|>on, in the wordsofan early teacher, as "theold, rick- ety, incou venient Jewish house/'of which the seats wt^re " old and crowded," and which was heated by an " old- fashioned box-stove," 80 that " teachers and students " were "infested and inflated with steam and smoke." Measures were taken as early as 1786 to rebuild, but there were no means, and the institution was forty pounds in debt. It was a gloomy period in the his- tory of the infant academy. In the general depres- sion the school had become greatly reduced in num- bers. In this emergency the town again showed its intelligent appreciation of the value of the institution, and, notwithstanding the embarrassed condition of its own resources, appropriated fifty pounds toward the salary of the preceptor, who received, in addition, the amount of tuitions. The trustees had already appealed to the churches for funds ; they now turned to another source. It was at a time before morali-.ts and Christian men had come to understand the true character and demoral- izing tendency of the lottery system. The trustees obtained permission of the Legislature, and issued a lottery "for the repairing Leicester Academy and making additional buildings thereto." The public were urged to purchase tickets on the ground that " the Academy at Leicc-ster is established for promoting piety and virtue, and for the educatiou of youths, etc." Rev. Mr. Conklin was one of a com- mittee to ask the General Court for an extension of time and an increase of the amount from £600 to £1200 ; $1419.22 was thus raised for the academy. In 1792 the Legislature made a grant of a town in Maine to the academy, which, in a few years, added $9,200 to the funds of the institution. With the adoption of the Federal Constitution confidence and prosperity returned to the country, and the Academy felt the re- action. In 1804 the funds had increased to $16,703.68. After long delay and Vaiious changes of plan, the new building was begun in 1805. A half-acre of land east of the original lot had the year before been pur- chased of Mr. Dall, of Boston, for seven hundred dollars. Still further addition of land was made by gift and later by purchase of Dr. Austin Flint. The architect of the new building was Rand White, of Leicester, who received as remuneration $9.84. The corner-stone was laid on the 14th of May with much ceremony. A procession, consisting of " Artif- icers," the corner-stone drawn by seventeen horses, a band of music, the president of the board, the build- ing committee, and trustees, magistrates, selectmen of Leicester, citizens and students of the academy moved through the streets to the place, the stone was laid by the master-builder and the object of the structure was stated by the president, who offered prayer. The procession then passed into the meeting-house, where there were further exercises. The building was ready for occupancy in January, 1806. It was of three stories, with a cupola. It was dedicated on the 4th of July, 1806. Again a procession was formed on the Common, consisting of the band, students, preceptors and trustees, and moved fro ji the old to the 28 LEICESTER. new building, where the strncture was received by the board, and the president, Dr. Sumner, delivered an address. At the church, whither the proce-sion passed, prayer was offered by Dr. Sumner, and Dr. Aaron Bancroft delivered an address on the " Import- ance of Education." On both of the occasions de- scribed. Dr. Sumner, with great white wig and trian- gular cocked hat, was a conspicuous figure. The cost of the building was $9,054.36. It was built by the "job " in a very unsatisfactory manner. The founda- tions were not sufficiently firm and "settled," causing the building to be "racked and injured." It was hastily and unskilll'uUy covered and finished, so that " the v/inds and storms of heaven " had free access. The subsequent expense and labor of repairs were fruitless, and after twenty-six years it gave place to the present structure. Apparatus for the illustration of the sciences had already been purchased, consisting of globes, a tele- scope, microscope, electric machine, thermometer and surveying instruments. It was at first understood that the principal was re- sponsible for the management of the school, but it is evident that the two departments soon became quite distinct. Dr. Jamfs Jackson, who was English pre- ceptor in 1796 and 1797, says, "The schools were conducted quite independently of each other," and that he believed that the principal "had no right to control 'him.' Certainly, he never did." In 1821, however, the trustees, to prevent all misunderstand- ing, declared the principal preceptor the authoritative head of both departments. The English teacher presided over his own school-room, with power to punish. One of the penalties was the imposition of fines ; this, however, was, by vote of the trustees in 1834, prohibited, and at the same time expulsion was made subject to the approval of a committee of the trustees. For many years corporal punishment was resorted to in cases of discipline, and there are still traditions of severe inflictions and even of struggles in the school-room, and of guilty boys, in thoughtful mood and with sad apprehensions, accompanying the principal from the academy to the gloomy seclusion of his own barti. The funds of the academy after the erection of the second school building in 1806 amounted to $8,992.21. In 1814 Captain Thomas Newhall left a legacy of $1,000, and $1,000 additional for the tuition of pupils in town residing over a mile from the academy. Small sums were afterwards subscribed at different times, and the State gave land in Paxton, which had been held by an alien, and had " escheated " to the Commonwealth, which was sold for $400. In 1828 "sundry individuals in the town of Leices- ter, procured by subscription a philosophical ap- paratus, and presented it to the , academy, cost over $500." That year the academy received its first con- siderable legacy. Cajjtain Israel Waters, of Charlton, " was," iu the language of Governor Washburu, " the architect of his own fortune." He was born in Sutton. A poor boy, he pressed his way to wealth by liia own industry, enterprise and determination. His business wa-i the manufacture of leather, in the northerly part of Charlton. He made the academy his residuary legatee, and established the Waters Fund, " for the purpose of suppoiting an instructor, or instructors, of the Congregational Calvinistic order " " in the town of Leicester forever." The will provided, in case of the removal of the school from town, that the trustees in town should take the fund and use the interest for maintaining a public school, called tbe Waters School or Academy. If the lime should come when there would be no such trustees, the selectmen were to fulfill the trust. The amount received from this estate was something over $8,000. In 1831 the academy received $4,686.36 and also the avails of certain lands in Maine and Vermont from the estate of Hon. Isaiah Thomas, the distin- guished Revolutionary patriot, original publisher of the Worcester Spy, and founder of the American Antiquarian Society; and the same year $250 by the willof Hon. Nathaniel Maccarty, of Worcester. In 1832 the value of the funds was $21,970.67. The building of the new academy in 1834, with the other expenses, reduced the amount, so that in 1844 it was only $13,611.72. The next year Hon. Daniel Waldo, of Worcester, fur seventeen years a valuable member of the board of trustees, left the academy the sum of $6,000, to constitute the Waldo Fund, the interest of which was to be used for the " payment for able in- struction in the various branches of knowledge, etc." It is, however, to James Smith, Esq. of Philadel- phia, that the institution is most largely indebted for its endowment. Ho was born iir' Rutland, January 20, 1788, came to Leicester in 1810 a pale-faced, poor boy, all his worldly goods lied in a pocket handker- chief. First a clerk in the store of Colonel Thomas Denny, whose daughter Maria he married in 1815, he became Kngs-rod ■ in the manufacture of card cloth- ing. The foundations of his wealth were laid in the period of the last war with England. In 1826 he re- moved to Philadelphia, where he continued the same business. Some years ago, addressing the students of the academy, he said: "I early in life formed this determination, that I would be useful." That resolve was the key-note of his life. He helped many who were in straits. He took especial pleasure in aiding young students, especially those who were fitting themselves for Christian work. He gave during his life, and in his will, liberal dona- tions to various literary institutions. In 1852 he gave to the academy $10,000, on condition that $5,000 additional should be raised. The condition was com- plied with. Honorable Stephen Salisbury and Joseph A. Denny, Esq., contributing $1,000 each, Thomas Denny, Esq., of New York, J. Wiley Edmands, of Newton, Ichabod Washburn, of Worcester, and John A. Smith subscribing $500 each, and other Individ- LEICESTER. 29 uil sums varying from $100 to $5 each. In 1877 he ])laced ill the hands of the trustees $15,000, to be added to the amount already given, thus making the Sm'th Fund $25,000. Tliis fund became available in 1879, after his death. Benjamin Stone was principal of the academy from June, 1784, to October, 1787 ; Amo< Crosby from October, 1787, to July, 1788. He was a native of Brookfield and graduated at Harvard in 1786 ; after- ward a lawyer in Brookfield. He is described as " a man of great quickness and ready wit and with con- vivial tastes and habits " which developed into dissi- pation. Samuel Sumner, son of Dr, Sumner, of Shrewsbury, was principal from October, 1788, to July, 1790, a graduate of Dartmouth in 1786, after- ward a clergyman; David Smith from July, 1790, to May, 1792; a native of Ipswich; graduated from Harvard 1790 ; afterward a clergyman. Ebenezer Adams, after teaching one year in the English df-part- ment, wfis principal from May, 1792, to July, 1806; born in Ipswich in 17t)5, graduated from Dartmouth in 1791. He is represented as one of the ablest, most beloved and most succe^sful of the early principals of the Academy. He pacsed with the institution throujih its gloomy period of depression, into the dawn of its returning prosperity, and did much to shape its future character. From July, 1806, to October, 1807, Rev. Zephaniah Swift Moore discharged the duties of prin- cipal, while at the same time pastor of the church. Simeon Colton was principal from October, 1807, to February, 1809. Luther Wilson from February, 1809, to August, 1812; born in New Braintree ; graduated from Williams in 1807. Josiah Clark from March, 1812, to August, 1818; born in Northampton 1785; graduated from Williams in 1809 ; afterward pastor of the church in Rutland and many years a trustee. Bradford Sumner, one term, 1818 and 1819 ; graduated from Brown in 1808. John Richardson, from Feb- ruary, 1819, to August, 1833; born in Woburn, grad- uated from Harvard in 1813. He is remembered as a thorough disciplinarian, a good scholar and instructor. Ivuther Wright, from August, 1833, to August, 1839; bornin Eusihampton and graduated from Yalein 1822. He was a man of great vigor, a good scholar and effec- tive teacher. Under his administration the school greatly increased in numbers. He was afterward prin- cipal of the Williston Academy, Easthampton. In 1832 the second academy building was sold for four hundred dollar:*. The new building was erected on the site of the old. Mr. Elias Carter was the architect. It is of brick, three stories in height. It was one hundred and two feet in length, the centre forty-two feet by forty, and the wings thirty feet square. The east wing has in part been occupied by the principals and their families, and the west as a boardiug-honse. The upper rooms were for the asso- ciate preceptiir and students. The building was completed and finished in the winter of 1833, and on the 25th of December was dedicated. Addresses were made by Rev. George Allen on be- half of the irustees, and Mr. Luther Wright, the principal preceptor. The subject of Mr. Wright's address was " Education." It was published, to- gether with a " Brief Sketch of the History of Lei- cester Academy," prepared under the directitn of the building committee. The cost "f the edifice was ten thousand do'lars. Mr. Wright was principal for six years, with Mr. Joseph L. Partridge as assistant, and also Mis-s Elizabeth Holmes during the last four years. She was the first female teacher of the academy and held the position twelve years. During the period of Mr. Wright's administradon the school greatly increased in numbers. Joseph L. Partridge followed as principal from August, 1839, to November, 1845. In his time the number of pupils reached one hundred and seventy- five, 'which is believed to be the largest in its history. He was born in Hatfield in 1804 and graduated from Williams in 1828. He has been on the board of trustees for fourteen years, and, residing in Brooklyn, N. Y., is still, at the age of eighty-four, a regular at- tendant upon its meetings and an active and valuable member. Jo«iah Clark, .Ir., born in Leicester in 1814 and graduated from Yale in 18j3, was principal from January, 1846, to January, 1849, when he became principal of Williston Seminary. The academy at this time held high rank as a fitting-school. "' I am sure," says Hon. W. W. Rice of Mr. Clark, in his centennial address, "that he might have been the great master, but Leicester let him go." " He was an accomplished scholar, courteous in manner, but decided in principle, with a clear head, a large heart and a beautiful spirit." The English department was also conducted with marked ability for ten years, from 1834, by Luther Haven. Burritt A. Smith was principal from July, 1849, to August, 1852. From August, 1852, to June, 1860, Alvan Hyde Washburn was principal. He was a man of high character, excellent scholar.-hip and refined taste. He afterward became an P^piscopal clergyman. He was killed in the fearful railroad accident at Ashtabula, Ohio, December 29, 1876, not a vestige remaining to mark his identity. After the large increase of funds in 1852, extensive alterations and improvements were made in the building, at a cost of about forty-two hundred dollars. The main building above the school-rooms was con- verted into a Inrge and attractive audience-room, and named Smith Hall. In this hall are hung portraits of benefactors and trustees of the institution. The re-dedication took place October 26, 1853. Hon. Thomas Kinnicutt spoke for the trustees, and Mr. Washburn, the prin- cipal, delivered an address upon '• Old and New Methods," which was published. The town iu 1856 organized a high school under 30 LEICESTER. the requirements of the State law, and other schools of the same nature were multiplied in the vicinity. As the number of pupils in the academy became reduced, the school was closed at the end of the summer term of 1860, and remained suspended till January, 1862, when it was re-opened, with ten pu- pils, under William B. Phillips, a graduate of Brown University in 1856. In April the terra opened with forty pupils, and H. G. Merriam was engaged as teacher in the English department. Mr. Phillips left at the end of the year, and John Avery had charge of the school one terra. He was born in Conway, and graduated from Amherst in 1861. He was an eminent linguist, Oriental scholar and author, and afterward was professor in Iowa Col- lege and Bowdoin College. Henry G. Merriam, after teaching in the Engli-h department a year, was made principal in May, 1863, and resigned June, 1865. He was graduated from Brown University in 1857. In 1862 the boys of the school were organized into a military company, and afterward inio a battalion. Mr. Merriam, a thor- ough disciplinarian and teacher, conducted the school with ability and energy, and under his ad- ministration the numbers increased to about one hundred, and all the rooms for students were crowded. It was in the time of the war, and the military training met a popular need. Company, battalion and skirmish drill became important feat- ures in the daily exercise of the pupils and promi- nent attractions in the public examinations. The effect of this training appeared in the erect bearing and grace of the " Leicester Cadets." They were received with favor when they appeared in Worces- ter on parade and drill. The government, on rec- ommendation of the academy, readily gave commis- sions to a number of young men, and they went immediately into active service. In 1863 a proposi- tion to make the school a State military academy was taken into consideration ; and on the 2d day of August a State Commission visited the school, and expressed much gratification with the proficiency of the military training. The Hon. Edward Everett was chairman of the commission, and addressed the pupils in his peculiarly felicitous and eloquent manner. George W. Waite, of the class of 1861 at Amherst, was principal from August, 1865, to April, 1867, and Wm. C. Peckham, class of 1867, Amherst, from June, 1867, to June, 1868. Darius P. Sackett, a graduate of Yale, 1866, was principal preceptor from August, 1868, to March, 1871. His administration raised the school to a high rank in discipline, scholarship and general character, not far surpassed in the previous history of theacademy. He is now principaloftheSackettSchool, in Oakland, Cal. Charles A. Wetmore succeeded him, in March, 1871. He was born in Norwich, N. Y., November 8, 1843, and graduated from Hamilton College in 1869. He was an enthusiasiic and inspir- ing teacher, entirely devoted to his work, although a great sufferer from asthma the last year of his life. In the summer of 1874 he went to Jefferson, N. H., fur his health, where he died suddenly July 6th. James 0. Averill, of the class of 1870, at Amherst, was principal one year, from August, 1874, and D. Newton Putney, three years, from August, 1875. In 1867 the meeting-house of the First Church was purchased and removed to its present position, in the rear of the academy. The upper part was con- verted into rooms for students and the lower into a gymnasium. In the summer of 1878 the school was again sus- pended, in order that the funds might accumulate sufficiently to warrant extensive repairs and better provisions for its work. These improvements were made at a cost of six thousand one hundred dollars. The school-rooms were finished in ash; the labora- tory was reconstructed and fitted for practical use for students in chemistry and zoology ; and a new, con- venient and attractive hall was finished in the east wing for cabinets and the department of physics. It is named " Murdock Hall,'' in honor of Mr. Joseph Murdock, at whose expense the work was done, and who has furnished it with a telescope, sets of globes, charts and other facilities and adornments. He has also refurnished the gymnasium. In 1887 Dr. Pliuy Earle presented to the academy his valuable cabinet of shells and minerals, collected in connection with his extensive travels in various parts of the earth. It contains probably over twelve thousand specimens, many of them rare and beauti- ful. He also provided an appropriate case, and en- dowed the cabinet with a fund of one thousand dol- lars. In 1888 Mr. J. Bradford Sargent, of Leicester, fitted a room in the tower of the gymnasium as a weather stati'm, and furnished it at large expense with a set of meteorological instruments, which for delicacy and beauty are supposed not to be equaled. In the fall of 1882 the academy was reopened with Mr. Caleb A. Page, a native of, Burlington, Me., a graduate of Bowdoin College, in 1870, as principal. He still retains the position. The school is organized in three departments: The classical and scientific four years' courses, and the three years' business course. The number of pupils has been about eighty. Since the reorganization many members have been prepared for different col- leges, and for normal and technical schools; while others have gone from the business department into eligible mechanical and mercantile situations. The centennial anniversary of the academy was celebrated September 4, 1884. A large number of the former members of the institution assembled in the morning at the academy building— among them Edmund J. Mills, of Sutton, a pupil in 1803, and then in the ninety-fifth year of his age. An address of welcome was given by Rev. A. H. Coolidge, the LKICESTER. 31 president of the board of (rupees. An historical address was given by Hon. W. W. Rice, and a poem by Rev. Thomne Hill, D.D. The company, to the number of seven hundred, then took dinner in a Yale tent on the Common. Rev. A. Huntington Clapp, D.D., presided in a very felicitous manner. Among the addresj'es were those of Lieutenant-Governor Oliver Ames, A. L. Partridge, E.sq., Dr. Thomas Hill, Prof. F. A. March, Judge Asa French, John E. Russell, Esq., Colonel Homer B. Sprague, Rev. M. B. Angier, Rev. A. C. Dennison, Rev. J. L. Jenkins, Judge C. C. Esty, Mr. Wm. B. Earle and Rev. Samuel May. Dr. Pliny Earle read a short original poem, as did also Captain J. \Va!do Denny and Rev. A. C. Denni- son. The occasion was one of rare interest and pleasure. In the evening there was a delightful reunion in the academy. An association of the Alumni of Leicester Academy was organized, of which Hon. Oliver Ames, now Governor of Massachusetts, was president. The association has since then held an annual reunion at the Leicester Hotel, in June. The academy has numbered among its trustees such men as Hon. Thomas Gill, Lieutenant-Governor of Massachusetts : Colonel Rufus Putnam, one of the founders of the North West Territory ; Hon. Levi Lin- coln, Attorney-General, United States ; Rev. Thaddeus Maccarty, pastor of the old South Church, Worces- ter; Hon. Dwight Foster, United States Senator; Rev. Aaron Bancroft, D.D., pastor of the Second Congregational Church, Worcester ; Hon. Nathaniel Paine, Hon. Aaron Tufts, Hon. Daniel Waldo, Samuel M. Burnside, Esq., Hon. Levi Lincoln, Governor of Massachusetts; Hon. Abijah Bigelow, Hon. Stephen Salisbury, Hon. Samuel Mixter, Ichabod Washburn, Rev. Seth Sweetser, D.D., Hon. George F. Hoar, United States Senator; Hon. A. D. Foster, Rev. Horatio Bardwell, Judge Henry Chapin, Rev. Samuel May, and many other prominent men of Leicester, together with former teachers and pupils of the academy elsewhere mentioned. Many of the teachers of the academy afterward became distin- guished in other positions. Among these are Rev. John Pierce, D.D., for fifty-two years pastor of the church in Brookline; Theodore Dehon, D.D., Bishop ofSouth Carolina; Dr. James Jackson, for many years at the head of the medical profession in Boston ; Dr. John Dixwell and Dr. George Shattuck, also eminent physicians in Boston ; Hon. Timothy Fuller, father of Margaret Fuller, Representative in Congress ; Rev. John N. Putnam, the learned Professor of Greek in Dartmouth College; Prof. Francis A. March, of Lafayette College, Pennsylvania; William M. Poole, the eminent librarian, author of " Poole's Index" and " Index of Periodicals ; " Hon. W. W. Rice, for ten years member of the national House of Repre- sentatives. Only a few of the many pupils of the academy who have become distinguished can be mentioned : Hon. Samuel C. Crafts, Representative and Senator in Con- gress and Governor of Vermont ; Eli Whitney, in- ventor of the cotton-gin ; Hon. William L. Marcy, Secretary of State, United States; Hon. Wm. Upham, United States Senator from Vermont ; Rev. Gardi- ner Spring, D.D., New York ; Hon. John Davis, United States Senator and Governor of Massachusetts ; Hon. Ebenezer Lane, Chief Justice of Ohio; Colonel Thomas Aspinwall, United States consul at London ; Hon. David Henshaw, Secretary of the Navy ; Rev. George Allen ; Hon. Charles Allen, Representative in Con- gress and judge; Dr. Levi Hodge, professor in Har- vard College; Hon. Emery Washburn, Governor of Massachusetts; Rev. Thomas Hill, D.D., president of Harvard University from 1862-68; Hon. Pliny Mer- rick and Hon. Benjamin F. Thomas, judges of the Supreme Court of Massachusetts ; Rev. A. H. Clapp D.D., Judge Asa D. French, Hon. Oliver Ames, Governor of Massachusetts. CHAPTER VI. LEICESTER— ( Continued. ) BUSINESS. Card husineii — Woolen Mnnvfacture — Boot and Shoe BvBineBs — Tanning and Currying Bunnees — Leicettter National and Savings Banks — Miscel- laneous Industries. Card Business. — Leicester for many years con- tinued to be a purely agricultural community, the people dependent for a living upon the products of their farms. In the latter part of the last century the industry was introduced which became the distinctive business of the town, and for a long time the principal source of its prosperity and wealth. In this enterprise Mr. Edmond Snow was the pio- neer. He began the manufacture of hand-cards in 1885. Pliny Earle commenced the same busines in 1786. In 1789 we find him receiving an order for card cloth- ing from Almy & Brown, of Providence, R. I., and with it a reference to the fact that he had already cov- ered carding-machines in Worcester. Soon after this Samuel Slater came to this country, and the next year, under the auspices of Almy & Brown, began the manufacture of cotton goods by machinery moved by water-power; and Mr. Earle supplied him with the cards by which the cotton was prepared, which was first spun in this way in the United States. Hitherto, cards had been made in " plain " form, but the filleting for Mr. Slater was set diagonally or " twilled." The sheets were of calf-skin. The holes were pricked by hand, with two needles fas- tened into a handle. The teeth were cut and bent by machinery and set by hand. The statement that one hundred thousand holes were thus pricked probably falls below the fact. About the year 1797 Mr. Earle 32 LEICESTER. invented a machine for pricking " twilled '' cards, for which, in 1803, he secured a patent. It was based upon a principle previously unrecognized in American card machinery, and was not only involved in all subsequent pricking-machines, but is continued in Mr. Whitte- more's machine for pricking and setting — that wonder- ful mechanism the credit for inventing which is so largely due to Eleazer Smith, and of which John Eandolph, speaking on the extension of its patent, said, " Yes, I would renew it to all eternity, for it is the only machine which has a soul." In 1791 Mr. Earle associated with himself his brothers Jonah and Silas, in the firm of Pliny Earle & Brothers. They were probably for some years the largest manufac- turers of card-clothing in the country. From their factory at Mulberry Grove, hand-cards were taken by horse-teams even to Charleston, S. C. Th^y manu- factured machines for carding both cotton and wool, and also had wool-carding mills in several towns in Worcester County and Rhode Island, for the conve- nience of the farmers. Pliny Earle died in 1832, and the business was conducted in his nauje till 1849 by his son, William R Earle, who had had charge of it from the year 1819. He devoted much of his skill to the improvement of the card-setting machine, and as an expert in that machinery is said to have had no superior. In 1837 he received of the Massa- chusetts Charitable Society in Bostou, a silver medal for one of his machines. Silas Earle withdrew from the firm and carried on the business independently, at the Marshall house, on Marshall Street, from about 1806 till the time of his death, in 1842. His machines were bought by Timothy K. Earle, who then commenced the business, but soon removed to Worcester. Daniel Denny in 1792 made hand-cards on Denny Hill. Woodcock & Knight. — Winthrop Earle began the machine-card business in 1812, in a building in the rear of Col. Thomas Denny's factorv, which stood east of the Leicester Hotel. He died in 1807, and John Woodcock continued the business in connection with the widow until her marriage to Alpheus Smith, 1808, when Mr. Smith assumed her share. Mr. Woodcock invented the machine for splitting leather to a uniform thickness. In 1811 the factory was moved west of the hotel and the next year was enlarged by Mr. Woodcock. In 1812 James Smith joined the company, which took the name of Woodcock & Smith. Mr. Wood- .cock retired in 1813, and the next year John A. and Rufus Smith look his place, forming the fiim of James & John A. Smith & Co. Rufus Smith died in 1818. In 1825, October 18th, John Woodcock, Hiram Knight and Emory Drewry became partners. In 1827 and 1828 they built the Brick Factory. Mr. Drewry left the firm in 1829, and continued to manu- facture cards on Pleasant Street, a mile from the vil- lege. In 1836 they added to their business the manu- facture of card-clobhing in Philadelphia, with George W. Morse as a partner, and continued it for about ten years, as the firm of James Smith &'t^o., while carry- ing on business iu Leicester as Smith. Woodcock & Knight. They removed to the Central Factory, north of the Church, in 1846. In 1848 T. E. Woodcock and Dexter Knight, sons of the senior members, were admitted to tlie firm, which took the title of Wood- cock, Knight & Co. In 1867 the fathers disposed of their interests to their sons (T. E. Woodcock, Dexter, George M. and James J. Knight). They dissolved in 1881, and sold the building and machinery to the Card-Clothing Association. The factory was much enlarged and improved in 1866. Capt. Isaac Southgate and Col. Henry Sargent, both of them enterprising and public-spirited citizens of Leicester, began the manufacture of machine-curds in 1810, as the firm of Southgate & Sargent, in Colonel Thos. Denny's house. Col. Sargent withdrew in 1812, andwasirt business till his death, in 1829, his brother ((Jol. Jos. D.) being with him from 1814 to 1819. Capt. Southgate, in 1826, associated with himself Joshua Lamb, DvvightBisco, Joseph A. Denny and John Stone, as the firm of Isaac Southgate & Co., manufacturing machine-cards in the building west of the hotel. Mr, Stone died in 1827, Mr. Lamb retired in 1831 and Capt. Southgate in 1843, when the name was changed to Bisco & Denny. In 1828 they built the Central Factory, and in 1845 the present factory of Biaco & Denny. In 1857 Charles A. Denny and George Bisco joined the firm. Jos. A. Denny died in 1875 and Deacon Bisco in 1882, when John W. Bisco joined the firm. In 1857 a branch establishment was opened at Manchester, N. H. Colonel Joseph D. Sargent first made hand-cards at his home, on the road from Cherry Valley to Auburn, beyond Denny Hill. After separating from his brother in 1819, he continued to manufacture hand- cards at the Brick Factory till his death, in 1849, but sold the other part of the business to Lamb & White, in 183G. Silas Jones, Nathan Ainsvvorih and William Boggs were at ditferent times his partners. Josiah Q. Lamb and Alonzo White manufactured ma- chine-cards in Sargent's brick factory from 1836 to 1846, when Mr. Lamb ret. red and Mr. White continued the business at the same place until his death, in 1850. Christopher C. Denny became associated with Mr. White in 1846, in the firm of White & Dtnny. In 1868 Mr. Denny disposed of his interest to H. Ar- thur White, and the firm of White & Son continued business till 1888, when, H. A. White having pur- chased the interest of the father, the concern was consolidated with the " Decker & Bonitz Card Cloth- ing Company," incorporated under the laws of Massa- chusetts, which also carries on an extensive business in Philadelphia. Mr. White assumed the manage- ment of the Leicester branch. This corporation pur- chased the Central Factory, which they enlarged and _jL •^ffUp A.ff.B!0ae C^ ^5^2>^.^^ ^^^7^^^ I LEICESTEE. 33 renovated, and added new buildings for the accommo- dation of their new power-plant, and the grinding of cards under patents owned by the corporation, and for additional facilities lor their increasing business. The firm of J. & J. Murdoch had its origin in 1840, in that of Southgate & Murdock, composed of Sam- uel Southgate, Jr., and Joshua Murdock, Jr. Mr. Southgate retired in 1844, and Mr. Murdock con- tinued the business alone untd 1848, when his brother Joseph joined him, and the firm-name of J. & J. Murdock was adopted, which is still used. In 1858, John N. Murdock came into the firm. In March, 1883, Joshua died, and, in the following June, Julius O. Murdock was admitted, forming the present com- pany. For the first eight years the business was small. When the present firm was organized the company had only thirteen machines. In 1857 they bought the business of Baylies Up- ham, thus adding twenty machines to their plant that year. Previous to 1864 the motive-power was horses in a circular tread-mill. In that year steam was substituted for the i>rimitive horse-power. At the present time they have one hundred and thirty-seven machines, capable of producing more than one hun- dred thousand feet of cards yearly, and their machine card business is the largest in town. The business has from the first been carried on at the same site. J. & J. Murdock's factory was enlarged in 1856 by the addition of sixty-six feet, and, in 1866, it was further enlarged by what is now the main building, thirty-five by one hundred and fifty feet. In 1868 a new branch of the business was added, and machin- ery put in for currying and finishing the leather for cards, eighteen thousand sides yearly being finished and used for this purpose, in addition to a considera- ble quantity of cloth. In the early part of the year 1888 a dynamo was put in and the works lighted by electricity. After leaving the firm of James & John A. Smith & Co. in 1830, John A. Smith began the manufacture of card-clothing on the site of the present Wire Mill. In 1844 he was succeeded by the firm of Southgate & Smith, consisting of Samuel Southgate, Jr., and John S. Smith. In 1859 Horace Waite, who had been making hand-cards on the first floor of Waite's factory, while Southgate & Smith were using the upper floors, succeeded Mr. Southgate, and the firm became Smith & Waite. Mr. Smith retired in 1867, and the firm of E. C. & L. M. Waite & Co. was organized. Mr. Horace Waite died in 1871, Lucius M. retired in 1874, and the business has since been continued by Edward C. Waite. Josephus Woodcock, Benjamin Conklin and Austin Conklin, as the firm of Conklin, Woodcock & Co., began the machine-card busines-t on Pleasant Street, in 1828; dissolved in 1830, when Mr. Woodcock, with his brother Lucius, formed the firm of J. & L. Wood- cock. Danforth Rice was with them from 1831 to 1836, and William P. White from 1848 till his death. in 1881. Charles H. then took the interest of his father, Josephus Woodcock ; Henry Bisco joined the company, and the business was continued in the name of L. Woodcock «fe Co. until 1888, when it was given up, and the machinery sold to the Card Clothing Association. Mr. Lucius Woodcock died in 1887. Baylies Upham manufactured machine-cards from 1825 to 1857, when he sold to J. & J. Murdoch. From 1825 till 1833 Samuel Hurd was in company with him, and from 1849 to 1855 Irving Sprague. After leaving Mr. Upham, Mr. Hurd united with James Trask in the manufacture of machine and hand-cards, on the Trask place, on Mount Pleasant. Mr. Trask died in 1848, and Mr. Hurd removed to the rear of White & Denny's factory. la 1862 he sold to L. S. Watson, but continued to make cards till 1866 on commission. William F. Holman manufactured hand-cards from 1867 to 1873. Claramon Hunt made cards on a foundation of wood from 1868 to 1874 in White & Denny's factory, and then sold to L. S. Watson & Co. In 1842 John H. & William Whittemore began the manufacture of card-clothing in the building west of ihe Friends' burying-ground, which William Earle was at the same time using for making card-machines. In 1845 they received their brother James. John H. was killed on the Western Railroad in 1851, and the firm assumed the name of W. &. J. Whittemore. James died in 1882. William F., his son, joined the company in 1874. After making cards about a year at Mannville, the Whittemores removed to the Centre Village, and occupied, for a few years, the building on Market Street in which is now Wheeler's meat- market. They then built their factory, which was much enlarged in 1883. Cheney Hatch, first on Pleasant Street, then on Main Street, made cards from 1823 to 1836, when he sold to Alden Bisco, who soon sold to Henry A. Denny, who, in 1849, took into partnership his sons — Joseph Waldo and William 8., — as the firm of Henry A. Denny & Sons. In 1854 they sold to White & Denny. Henry A. Denny commenced making hand-cards in 1823, with Emory Drury, as the firm of Drury & Denny, on Pleasant Street, about a mile south of Main Street, where Samuel D. Watson had before carried on the same business two or three years. They dis-solved, and he continued alone, on the corner of Main and Mechanic Streets. Afterward he was associated with Reuben Merriam, until 1836, when he purchased the factory hitherto used by Mr. Hatch, Cot. Thomas Denny, with William Earle, made hand-cards on Denny Hill. In 1802 he began the manufacture of cards, hand and machine, on the corner of Main and Market Streets, which he con- ducted on an extensive scale till his death, in 1814. He had in the same building the post-ofSce and a store. 34 LEICESTER. Jonathan Earle manufactured cards on Mount Pleasant from 1804 to 1813. Alpheus Smith built a brick factory, afterward the house of H. G. Henshaw, where he manufactured card clothing from 1813 to 1823, and was succeeded by his brother Horace. James Stone made hand-cards from 1849 to 1853. Rosewell Spvyue built a store opposite the academy, and in it manufactured cards. Reuben Merriam, in the same house, made hand and machine-cards, and built card-machines for many years, from 1821, George W. Morse and Henry A. Denny being at times his partners. Capt. William Sprugue & Sons were engaged in the same business ; also Brigham Barton, Bernard Upham, Samuel D. Watson, Aaron Morse, Guy S. Newton, Timothy Earle, Samuel Southgate, William H. Scott, Oliver Sylvester and others. Joseph B. and Edward Sargent began the manu- facture of hand cards at the " Brick Factory," May 1, 1854. George H. Sargent came into the firm January 1, 1859, at which time the well-known Sar- gent Hardware Commission House was established, in New York City. They carried on the hand-card business in Leicester on a large scale, purchasing the interest of several other firms. About the year 1868 they removed the business to Worcester, and in 1883 sold to L. S. Watson & Co. X. S. Watmn & Co. are the principal hand-card manufacturers in the country. Like other interests in town, this enterprise has gradually grown from a very small beginning. Lory S. Watson came to Leicester from Spencer in 1842, and in company with Horace Waite bought one-half of Col. Joseph D. Sargent's machinery. Waite & Watson made hand- cards in the " Brick Factory" till 1845, when the co-partnership was dissolved, each partner taking one-half of the machines. At this time Mr. Watson had eight card-setting machines, which were dis- tributed in different factories, in which he hired power. The coarse cards were pricked at Mulberry Grove by one of Silas Earle's pricking-machines, and the teeth set by hand. About the year 1861 he bought out Samuel Hurd and George Upham. In this year he built the present factory, and introduced for power Ericson's hot-air engine. In 1865 he took his son Edwin L. into partnership, under the title of L. S. Watson & Co. The factory was enlarged in 1866, and steam-power was introduced. In 1878 the building was again enlarged, and again in 1885. It is in size one hundred feet by forty feet, and of four stories, and there are also separate store-houses. In 1883 they bought the hand-card machinery and stock of Sargent Hardware C.)., and for nearly two years carried on a branch establishment in Worcester. At pre^^ent they have one hundred machines, and manufacture about 14,000 dozen pairs of hand-cards annually. In 1873 the company began the manu- facture of wire heddles, which they have continued as a separate department. The capacity of the wire heddle machines is 100,000 daily. The history of Leicester is closely identified with the rise and development of card manufacture in this country. At first the entire process was hand- work. The holes were pricked by hand. The ma- chine for pricking was then invented, and for many years the setting of teeth by hand furnished employ- ment for women and children in their homes through- out this whole region. In this way they could, at one time, earn fourteen cents a day. This continued through the first quarter of the century, when the card-pricking and setting machine began to come in- to general use. The use of power in the preparation of the leather is of much more recent date. As we have seen, Mr. John Woodcock invented the machine for splitting leather, something like seventy-five years ago, and the preparation of the leather by power has been coming into use within the last twenty-five yeais. Cloth also is now extensively used. At first the machines were moved by hand. Dog- power was then introduced, Jhen horse-power. Thirty years ago White & Denny's factory was the only establishment in which steam-power was employed. It is now used in all. Within two years the heavy machines for grinding cards after they are set, has been brought into general use in town. The busi- ness now requires larger facilities and capital than were necessary at an earlier period. There has been a change in the number and magnitude of the manu- facturing establishments. There are at present only five card-clothing factories in town. Formerly many men made hand-cards on a small scale. Now there is only one firm in town engaged in this branch of the business, and there are only three manufactories of cotton and woolen hand cards in the country. There were made in the year 1887 by all the card- clothing manufacturers in the country 975,742 square feet, valued at $1,219,677. Of these, 216,468 feet were made in Leicester, valued at $270,585. Woolen Manufacture. — Samuel Watson is en- titled to the position of pioneer woolen manufacturer in Leicester. During the War of 1812, or as Washburn states, "previous to 1814 he enlarged his clothier's shop," and began the weaving of woolen cloth upon looms moved by hand. The mill was located on the Auburn road near Main Street, on the privilege used by Richard Southgate for his saw-mill, the second erected in town. Alexander Parkman afterward used it as a fulling-mill, and was followed by Asahel Washburn. According to Washburn's his- tory Mr. Watson leased the mill to James Anderton, who had been bred a woolen manufacturer in Lan- cashire, England, who disposed of his interest to Thomas Bottomly, "who continued to carry on the business there until 1825." The building was burnt February 11, 1848. Mr. Bottomly may truthfully be termed the found- -^■'j/- uy H-UKpiU - a-t.^^^ LEICESTER. 35 er of Cherry Valley as a manufacturing village. When he camp to Leicester there were, as nearly as can be ascertained, only ten houses in what is now the village. Most of the present residences were built in his lifetime, and it was by him that the three brick factories were erected. He was a native of Yorkshire, England. He had worked in the factories as a child, but was afterward a shepherd on the moors, where he earned money with which to come to America. He came to this country in 1819, land- ing at Philadelphia, where he worked for a short time, and then started on foot for Rochdale, where WHS James Anderton, whom he had known in Eng- land. He found himself without money before the journey was completed, and always remembered with special gratitude the kindness of a family in Connec- ticut who entertained him over the Sabbath. He worked in Rochdale for a time, and came to Cherry Valley, and built what is now Olney's Mill in 1821, and was running it as late as 1824. The cloth was woven by hand in a building before used as a tan- nery, where the post-office now stands. There was a saw-mill here at an early date owned by Benjamin Studley. * About the year 1765 the privi- lege, with an acre of land, was bought by the " Forge Partner?," who erected a building for some kind of iron-works. They, however, sold the property, which was called the " Forge Acre," to Matthew Watson, who had there a saw-mill till about the year 1821, when Thomas Bottomly built on it a woolen-factory of brick. Such is the early history of this site, with a few varia- tions, as given by Governor Washburn and also by Joseph A. Denny, Esq., except that Washburn makes 1820 the date of building the mill, while Mr. Bottom- ly's son Wright places it 1821. There have been various transfers of the property since that time. It passed from Thomas Bottomly to the Bottomly Manufacturing Company June 1, 1827, from them back to Thomas Bottomly November 10, 1846, from him to Samuel Bottomly March 10, 1849, from him to George Hodges July 6th of the same year, and December 21st one-half of Mr. Hodges' in- terest to Benjamin A. F'arnum. June 20, 1855, Samuel L. Hodges came into possession of his father's inter- est, and October 9, 1857, that of Mr. Farnum, making him at this date the sole owner of the property. The factory was partially destroyed by tire September 7, 1864 ; up to Mr. Hodges' time broadcloths of superior grade were woven here. He introduced the manufac- ture of flannels. By his energy and public spirit Mr. Hodges did much to build up Cherry Valley. In 1866, October 9th, the property was conveyed in trust to George H. Gilbert, Jr., George Hodges and Henry C. Weston, and by them to B. A. Farnum, June 7, 1867, Mr. and Mrs. Hodges giving them a quit-claim deed the same day. Frank C. Fiske came into possession January 1, 1870. The mill was nearly destroyed by fire June 3, 1874. Albert T. B. Ames purchased it August 1,1874, and at the same time made a declaration of trust as to one-half of the property, held for George W. Olney, who with him formed the company of George W. Olney & Co. They rebuilt and opened the mill in the autumn of 1874, and con- tinued to run it till February, 1876. George W. Olney came into entire possession March 22, 1876, and reopened the mill June 14, 1876, since which time he has continued the manufacture of flaunels. Two con- siderable additions have since been made to the main building — one in 1881, and the other in 1885. A store- house and other buildings and several tenement- houses have also been erected, and the general aspect of that part of the village much improved. The factory contains seven sets of cards, forty-six looms and four thousand two hundred and forty spindles. Mr. Olney is largely interested, also, in manufacturing in Lisbon, Maine. In 1821 James Anderton began the manufacture of broadcloths and cassimeres in the south part of the town, in a small wooden mill, built about this time, by Thomas Scott, on the site of the present Lower Rochdale Factory. The Leicester Manufacturing Company was soon incorporated, and continued the same business, being afterward united with the Saxon Manufacturing Company, in Framingham, as the Saxon and Leicester Company. Mr. Joshua Clapp bought the property in 1829 and continued the stime line of manufactures till 1840. For two or three years little was done in the mill. It then came into the hands of John Marland, of Andover, who sold it in 1845 to Barnes & Mansur, who added the manufac- ture of flannels. The building was burned in 1846. The same year Mr. Reuben S. Denny bought out Mr. Mansur's interest, and, with Mr. Barnes, built a brick factory on the same site, which was completed in 1847. Mr. Denny in 1850 bought out Mr. Barnes. This factory was burned in 1851, and rebuilt in 1852. Meantime, about the year 1844, a wooden building had been erected on the site of the present Upper Factory, where the manufacture of carpets was carried on for a year with indifferent success. This building Mr. Denny bought while erecting his new factory, and manufactured white flannels. It was burned in 1854, and the present brick building took its place. In 1856 Ebenezer Dale, representing the firm of Johnson, Sewall & Co., of Boston, came into possession of both factories and a large property, real and per- sonal, connected with them. In the two mills are thirteen sets of machinery. Since 1859, first as the Clappville Mills, then as the Rochdale Mills, they have manufactured flannels and ladies' dress goods, averaging for the last twenty years from one to one and a half million yards. New and improved ma- chinery has within a few years taken the place of the old. E. G. Carlton has for thirty years been the agent and manager, and the reputation of the products of the Rochdale Mills is exceeded by few, if any, manu- facturing establishments in the country. In 1838 Amos S. Earle and Billings Mann, as the 36 LEICESTER. firm of Earle & Mann, began the manufacture of sat- inets in the building near the corner of Mannviiie and Earle Streets, at Mannviiie, in which Earle & Bros, had made card-machines and Amos S. Earle had afterward made hand-cards Mr. Mann removed irom town in 1844. Nathan Daniels became Mr. Earle's [lartner, and the firm of Earle & Danii Is built forty feet of the prei-ent mill. Mr. Daniels died and the estate being solvent, it was bought by asyndi- cale of creditors. Meantime Mr. Mann liad been engaged in the same business in Holden with Albert Marshall. In 1853 Mann & Marshall purchased the property, en- larged the mill and continued the manufacture of satinets twenty-two years. They were heavy losers in the Boston fire in 1873, and were obliged soon after to su?pend business. George and Billings Mann were associated with them for about one year. In 1879 George and Billings Mann and John P. Stephen, their brother-in-law, began business. They have en- larged and improved the plant, built cottages for the operatives and conducted a prosperous business. Cherry Valley Woolen-Mills. — In 1836 Thos. Bottomly laid the foundations of the factory now run by the Cherry Valley Woolen-Mills on the privilege early occupied by Nathan Sargent as a grist-mill. In 1837 he began there the manufacture of broad-cloths. He sold to Effingham L. Caprou in 1845. In 1859 the mill was owned by E. D. Thayer and used by Mowry Lapham and James A. Smith under the firm-name of Lapham & Smith, until 18G2, when Mr. Smith sold to Mr. Lapham and removed to Rhode Island. In 1863 the building was destroyed by fire, and the privilege remained vacant till 18G5, when George N. and James A. Smith bought it and built a six-set mill for the manufacture of fancy cassimeres. In 1868 George N. Smith sold his share to James A. In 1870 the factory was nearly destroyed by the " Flood." Mr. Smith rebuilt in 1878 and leased to Eli Collier and A. E. Smiih. Collier & Smith dis.solved in 1879, and A. E. Smith continued the business until 1887, when the mill was leased to the present "Cherry Valley Woolen-Mills " Company. The property was sold to F. T. Blackmer, Esq., of Worcester, in 1881, and is now owned by his heirs. The mill now manufactures ladies' dress and skirt goods. Kettle Brook, which furnishes the water-power for all the factories in Mannviiie, Lakeside, Cherry Val- ley, Valley Falls and Jamesville, and which has repeat- edly , in time of freshets, been the source of serious ap- prehension through the valley, was originally only a little stream winding in picturesque beauty through meadows and forests, and leaping down the rocks through narrow defiUs. Says one who lived by it " When I was a little girl, Kettle Brook was a small stream of water, that I have waded across many times." Collier' 8 Mill.— About the year 1835 L. G. Dickin- son built the embankment north of Main Street, and the dam south of the road, where Collier's mill stands. To this place Mr. Dickinson moved his saw-mill, which formerly was located where A. W. Darling & Co.'s mill uow is. This mill of Mr. Dickinson was used as a saw-mill until 1844, when it was converted into a satinet-factory. The business was carried on by Jonathan Earle. In the same building was the cabinet shop of Silas A. Morse. It was burned to the ground March 24, 1848, but afterwards rebuilt by Mr. Dickinson, of lumber from an old church in Charl- ton. It was leased to Baker & Bellows October 1, 1848. October 1, 1853, it was leased to Eli Collier. It was burned January 5, 1866, but rebuilt the next summer from the lumber of the Lower Tophet ma- chine-shop, and was jeaaed to Collier. April 8, 1881, it was sold to Collier & Butler. September 1, 1888, Butler sold out to Collier. It has been a satinet-mill since it was first changed from a saw-mill. Chapel Mill.— In the year 1836 or '37 John Waite bought land of Samuel Waite, built a dam and canal and erected a mill where the Chapel Mill now stands, on Chapel Street, a few rods north of Main Street. Here he made churns. It was. afterwards a shuttle- shop. It was used later, about 1844, by H. G. Hen- shaw for drawing wire. It was here that Eichard Sugden, whose extensive wire business is one of the important factors in the wealth of Spencer, first drew wire in this country ; both he and Mr. Myrick worked for Mr. Henshaw. In 1849 Myrick and Sugden bought the machinery of Mr. Henshaw and formed a partnership under the name of Henshaw, Myrick & Sugden, of Spencer. The partnership was dissolved in 185-1. The Chapel Mill property was afterward owned by N. R. Parkherst, and was sold by him to L. G. Dick- inson, October, 1854. It has been occupied by Johu Q. Adams, who used it for a shoddy-mill, and by Bottomly & Fay, who made satinets there. James Fay was in business there when it was burned, March 7, 1865. The property was bought by Samuel Chism, of Newton, and he rebuilt from the lumber of the old Baptist Church in Greenville, thus giving to the mill the name of Chapel Mill. It was legfced to H. G. Kitredge, who made satinets there for two years, then to George A. Kimball and I. R. Bar- bour, who occupied it until sold to William N. Pierce, April 18, 1871. It was then leased to James A.Smith & Co., wlio made satinets there until March 6, 1879. May 5, 1879, it was leased to Collier & Butler for three years and nine months, when A. E. Smith bought the property and used it as a satinet-mill until May 1, 1887. George N. Smith then leased it and made satinets until June 15, 1887, when it was burned. Collier & Butler bought the property, re- built the mill and leased it to George N. Smith, who now occupies it. There are in 1889 ten woolen-mills in the town of Leicester, and nine firms engaged in the manufacture JiEICESTER. 37 of woolen cloth. The average annual value of the products of these mills is about $1,286,000. A. W. Barling A Co.— In 1827 Thomas Bottomly built a dam upon Kettle Brook, on Chapel Street, about half a mile from the corner of Main Street. The pond formed thereby was considered a reservoir for the privileges below until 1847, when the present Bottomly Mill was erected by Thomas Bottomly. Previous to this, about 1833 or 1834, L. G. Dickenson erected a saw-mill on the same privilege as the pres- ent mill. In 1845, Mr. Bottomly opened a brick -yard on this spot, and made the brick of which, in 1847, he began the present Bottomly Mill. About the same year he caused the Waite meadew to be over- flowed; this was the beginning of the Waite reservoir; the property afterwards came into the hands of Booth Bottomly. In 1874 E. D. Thayer bought the property of the trustees of the Bottomly estate, and has owned it ever since. Booth Bottomly began to manufacture here in 1855 or 1856, and continued until his death in 1868. Other firms who have occupied the mill are E. L. Hawes & Co., George Kimball & Co., for a short time; E. D. Thayer, for twenty years, Bramley Bottomly being for some years associated with him. After 1876 or 1877 the Hopeville Company used the mill for a few years, then E. D. Thayer, Jr., from 1884 to 1886, when the firm of A. W. Darling & Co. assumed the business. It is a four-set satinet-mill. The Greenville Woolen-Factory was first built in 1871 by A. W. & J. D. Clark. It was of wood, fifty feet square, and three stories high, with a brick picker-house adjoining. The buildings were rented to Joseph Peel, of Spencer, who began the manufac- ture of woolen goods in the winter of 1872, and con- tinued until January, 1877 ; since that time the business has been carried on by J. D. Clark. The mill was enlarged in 1880. The Lakeside Manufacturing Co. — In 1847, D. AValdo Kent put up a saw-mill at Lakeside. In 1853 he built his planing-mill and box-factory. In this building, in 1857. he set up the first circular saw-mill introduced into this part of the State. In 1866 he began the manufacture of shoddy, and, in 1880, of satinets. The present factory was erected in 1883. Since April, 1885, it has been running night and day. The surroundings of the factory have been much improved, and around it has sprung up a neat little village. The business of the Lakeside Manufactur- ing Company is carried on by P. G. & Daniel Kent. The factory was first lighted by electricity in July, 1887. In 1885 they bought the Jamesville Mills, in Worcester, and, with the two mills, they are said to J)e the largest manufacturers of satinets in the country. 77*6 Leicester Wire Company had its origin in 1871. At this time Mr. Cyrus D. Howard, an experienced workman, set up machines and began the drawing of ' 4 wire for cards in the building which had been used by successive firms as a card manufactory, and later as a box shop. Thomas Shaw was afterward associated with him for a short time as the firm of Cyrus D. Howard & Co. David Bemis went into company with Howard in 1876, as the firm of Howard & Bemis. In 1880 J. Bradford Sargent joined the firm, which became Howard, Bemis & Co. Mr. Howard retired in 1884, and the Leicester Wire Company was organized. Harry E. Sargent came into the firm in 1885, and Mr. Bemis retired. Of this firm H. E. Sar- gent is president, and J. B. Sargent treasurer. The new buildings were erected in 1881, and engine-house and boiler in 1883. The machinery is principally employed in drawing card, reed and stone wire. The Lakeside Woolen Mills jjut in a dynamo and lighted their factory by electricity in July, 1887. Since that time dynamos have been placed in the card factories of J. & J. Murdock, and Decker, Bonitz & Co. On December 19, 1887, an electric plant was estab- lished at the Leicester Wire Company's works, by which the other card factories are lighted, also the Leicester Hotel, the stores in the centre, and several private houses. Charles W. Warren began the making of shoe-count- ers in the house on the southwest corner of Main and Rawson Streets about the year 1852, then moved to the house on the lot between the bank and the post- office about the year 1854, there manufacturing in- soles. The buildings were burnt in 1862. In 1867 he built his house and factory on Pleasant Street. The factory has been several times enlarged, and is devoted to the manufacture of shoe-heels, employing about forty persons. Boots and Shoes. — The only shoe manufactory in town is that of Horace & Warren Smith, on Mt. Pleasant, begun in 1865. Among those who at dif- ferent times have carried on the boot and shoe business are Amasa Watson, Delphus Washburn, Baldwin Wat- son, Cheney Hatch, Wm. F. Holman. About the year 1849 several gentlemen formed a company for the manufacture of boots, having in mind the increase of business in town. The work was at first carried on in the house on Market Street in which is AVheeler's meat market, where there was horse-power. After a few years it was removed to Main Street, where now stands the house of E. D. Waite. On the 25th of September, 1860, the building was burnt. The company had met with heavy losses in consequence of the failures of that period, and after the fire the business was abandoned. Leather. — The tanning and currying of leather appears to have been a prominent industry in former times. Elijah Warren had a tannery on the main road, half a mile from the Spencer line, at a very early date. He was succeeded by his son, Joseph. Henry E. Warren afterward owned it, and had also a tan-house north of Main Street, near the Spencer line. It was burned in 1848. John Lynde, the early settler, 38 LEICESTER. also had a tannery in the north part of the town. Jonathan Warren had a tannery on Pine Street, two miles from the village, and was succeeded by his sons Jonathan and Elijah. It was burned in 1825. Lieut. Jonas Stone built a tannery at the foot of Strawberry Hill in 1790, where work was continued by different persons for thirty or forty years, — among them Thaddeus Upham, and E. H. & George Bowen. Mr. Studley had a tannery in Cherry Valley, where the post-office now stands. Amasa Warren and Horace and Baldwin Watson were tanners in the west part of the town. Leander Warren, when a young man, began the currying business near the house of his father, Joseph Warren. In 1845 he bought the place south of the Centre School-house, where he carried on the business till his death, in 1862, when he was succeeded by John N. Grout. Since Mr. Grout's time there has been ro currying done in town, except in connection with Murdock's Card Manufactory. A. Hankeij & Co., Manufacturers nf Machine Knives. — In 1798 Caleb Wall bought land of the Green family and built above the present works of A. Hankey & Co. a blacksmith shop, where be made scythes, carry- ing on a large business. In 1830 Thomas Wall and Nathan Harkness built on the present site of the " Lower Shop," and carried on the business three or four years, and were followed by Cadsey, Brown & Draper. In 1848 Hankey, Stiles & Go. purchased the prop- erty and remodeled it for the manufacture of machine- knives. The firm w^as Anthony Hankey, Francis Stiles and H. C. Bishop. About 1851 Mr. Hankey went into the dredging business in Boston, where he had invented a dredging-machine. The business in Greenville was carried on by Stiles & Co. (F. Stiles and F. W. Taylor) until a few years later, when Mr. Hankey returned and managed the business under the firm-name of Stiles & Co. This partnership was dissolved July 14, 1866. and in October of the same year Stiles sold his entire interest to A. Hankey & Co. J. E. Jones was admitted as a partner, but he only remained a short time. The firm was A. Hankey and George A. Corser. In February, 1877, Hankey bought out Corser, and continued the business alone until March, 1881, when J. X. Eogers was admitted to the partnership under the old firm-name of A. Hankey & Co., which continues to this date. In 1881 a system of improvements was inaugurated. The old buildings were torn down and new and larger ones erected ; new water-ways and new machinery were added, and it is to-day the largest and most com- plete shop in the world for the exclusive manufacture of machine-knives. The products of this shop go to all parts of the world, in many instances direct to Cuba, South America, Spain, Germany and China, tn 1887 a branch was started in Philadelphia. It is an interesting fact that the first knives that were used on a planing-machine in this country were forged by hand by Mr. Hankey in Boston, and also that the first dies for cutting out paper collars were made at this shop. Leicester Xatioxal Baxk. — " Leicester Bank " was chartered as a State bank March 4, 1826, with a capital of one hundred thousand dollars, which in 1853 was increased to one hundred and fifty thousand dollars, and in 1854 to two hundred thousand dollars. John Clapp was made president of the bank April 26, 1826; N. P. Denny, October 4, 1830; Joshua Clapp, October 3, 1836 ; Waldo Flint, October 2, 1837 ; Joseph A. Denny, October 1, 1838; Cheney Hatch, October 2, 1843 ; Charles A. Denny, December 16, 1878. John A. Smith was appointed cashier May 26, 1826; H. G. Henshaw, October 21, 1826; D. E. Merriam, December 15, 1845 ; George H. Sprague, May 20, 1885. The institution was made a national bank March 21, 1865. The first bank building was in connection with the old town-house, built in 1826 by the town and the bank. In 1853 the bank was removed to the brick building east of Leicester Hotel. In 1871 the present bank was completed and the business removed to it. Leicester Savings Bank. — The Leicester Savings Bank was incorporated April 17, 1869. Cheney Hatch was elected president ^lay 5, 1869, and Lory S. Watson, May 21, 1879. D. E. Merriam was the first treasurer, appointed May 14, 1869, and was suc- ceeded by the present incumbent, George H. Sprague, May 24, 1885. The present amount of deposits is three hundred and ninety-one thousand two hundred and eighty dollars. MiscELLAXEOUS INDUSTRIES. — There have been several hatters. John Whittemore bound books where the Whittemore Card Factory now stands. Hori Brown had a printing-office on the west corner of Main and Mechanic Streets, where he not only did job-work, but printed books ; among these was "Scott's Lessons," printed in 1815. At the foot of the hill, from 1823 to 1853, was the grocery of Evi Chilson, especially prized by students of the academy for the rare quality of its entertain- ment for the inner man. It is remembered by them after many other things are forgotten. It would be impossible to mention all the different kinds of business carried on at different times in town, or to give the history of the many stores. LEICESTER. 39 CHAPTER VII. LEIC ESTER— ( Con/ in tied. ) THE CIVIL WAR. Sixth MiUtachiuetts Itegiment — War Meetiiigt—Tiaeiily-Jlftli Uegimeitl — Fifteenth^ Twenty-Jiriit, Thirty-f he bought the hotel in the Centre village, and converted it into a temperance house. Mrs. Ellen E. Flint afterwards owned the Clapp place for many years. She was a woman of strong character, benevo- lent and public-spirited. She built the massive walls which have given to the place the name of " Stone- wall Farm."' The place, some time after her death, came into the hands of Dr. Horace P. Wakefield, who resided there several years. It was then pur- chased by Hon. Samuel Winslow, mayor of Worcester, remodeleil and much enlarged, and is now the resi- dence of Iiis son, Samuel E. Winslow. Phineas Bruce was elected to Congress in 1803, but never took his seat. Hon. W^illiam Upham was educated at the academy; was district judge in Vermont, and United States Senator. Hon. Joseph Allen was a member of the House of Representatives; also Hon. John E. Russell, elected in 1886. Three persons at least, in Leicester liave lived to a remarkable age. Elihu Emerson was born in West- field, Mass., July 21, 1771. He resided for many years in the home of his daughter, Mrs. Dr. Edward Flint, where he died, October 31, 1873, at the age of one hundred and two years, three months and ten days. Ebenezer Dunbar was born March 29, 1777, in Lei- cester, where he always resided. He died November 46 LEICESTER. 4, 1877, and was thus one hundred years, seven months and six days old. Mis. I>ydla Watson, the widow of Mr. Robert Wat- son, was born in Leicester, January 5, 1787. She died in Leicester, where her whole life was spent, April 11, 1889, at the age of one hundred and two years, three months and six days. | Physicians. — The first physician in Leicester was Dr. Thomas Green, already noticed as tlie first pastor of the Baptist Church in Gi'eenville. Dr. Pliny Lawton tauglit scliool in 1748 and 1749 and was then called "Doctor." He died in 1761, of small-pox, wliich he contracted while in tlie cour- ageous discharge of his duty, and was buried in his own field. Dr. John Honeywood was in practice here in 1753. He was an Englislunan and his interest in the early Revolutionary movements, and his death while serving in the American army, have been already noticed. He was a well-educated and skill- ful physician. Dr. Solomon Parsons, son of Rev. David Parsons, school teacher in 1751, was born April 18, 1720, and and died March 20, 1807. His wife died the .same year as Dr. Lawton, of small-pox, and he was under the necessity of burying her alone, by night. He is supposed to have been a surgeon in the army in 1761. Dr. Isaac Green, son of Dr. Thomas Green, was born in 1741, and died in 1812. He was surgeon in Col. Samuel Denny's regiment in 1777, and was at Saratoga at the taking of Burgoyne. Dr. Edward Rawson was born in Mendon, in 1754, and died in 1786. Dr. Absolom Russell practiced here a few years, and was a surgeon in the Revolutionary army. Di'. Robert Craige, Dr. Jeremiah Larned and Dr. Thomas Hersey were in practice in town during the last half of the last century, and also Dr. Thaddeus Brown. The most eminent physician of the town, after Dr. Thomas Green, was Dr. Austin Flint. He was born in Shrewsbury, January, 1760; came to Leicester in 1783, and died August 29, 1850. He is characterized by Gov. Washburn as "an intelligent, well-informed man, of strong will and indomitable courage;" of "affable manners" and with a "rich fund of anec- dote and good sense." He entered the army at the age of seventeen, and his record in the Revolution and the "Shays' Rebellion" has already been given. He was for twenty successive years moderator of town-meeting, for fifteen years town clerk, for sixteen years trustee of the academy, for about thirty years a magistrate, and for five years a Representative in the Legislature. He not only practiced throughout the town, but also in (jther towns. He kept a record of the births at which he rendered professional aid. The number is 1750. His wife (Elizabeth) was the daughter of Col. William Henshaw. Dr. Edward Flint, his son, elsewhere noticed, began practice here in 1811. Dr. Ames Walbridge came to Greenville about the year 1830, and died there July 30, 1867, at the age of seventy-five. Dr. Jacob Holmes was a physician in Leicester from 18.34 to 1847. Rev. Isaac Worcester, M. D., who married the daughter of Colonel Henry Sargent, was for a short time in practice liere, as were also Dr. C. D. Whitcomb, and Dr. James P. C. Cummings and Dr. E. A. Daggett, who was followed by Dr. John P. Scribner. Dr. George O. AVarner came to Leicester in 1866, and remained until his death, November 12, 1885, at the age of forty-six. He gained a very exten- sive practice throughout the entire town and region. He was for a short time an array surgeon. He was kind and sympathetic, and his death was universally lamented. The present physicians of the centre are Fred H. Gift'ord, who was graduated from the Harvard Medi cal School in 1874, and began practice in Leicester in 1879; Dr. Charles H. Warner, graduated from the Harvard Medical School in 1870, commencing prac- tice in Leicester in 1885 ; and Dr. Charles G. Stearns, graduated from Amherst College in 1874 and from the Harvard Medical School in 1881, and com- mencing practice here in the winter of 1885. Dr. Leonard W. Atkinson was graduated from Boston University Medical School in 1884, and began practice in Cherry Valley in 1885. Lawykks. — Christopher J. Lawton came to Lei cester in 1735, and practiced until 1751. Hon. Nathaniel Paine Denny was graduated from Harvard, 1797, settled in Leicester in 1800, practiced for twenty years, and represented the town in the Legislature ten years. Bradford Sumner was graduated from Brown Uni- versity, 1808, came to Leicester 1813, and practiced until 1820. David Brigham was graduated from Harvard, 1810, came to Leicester in 1817, and ijracticed here a little more than two years. Daniel Knight was graduated from Brown Univer- sity, in 1813, and came to Leicester, 1821. Emory Washburn was graduated from Williams College in 1817, and practiced in Leicester from 1821 to 1828. Waldo Flint was graduated from Harvard in 1814, and came to Leicester in 1828. He was after- ward for many years president of the Eagle Bank, Boston. Silas Jones succeeded Mr. Flint, but only practiced for a short time. Henry Oliver Smith, a native of Leicester, was graduated from Amherst in 1863, and since 1866 has practiced in Leicester. Items of Intehest. — A few items of interest from Washburn's History, and other sources, are added here. The first public conveyance for passen- gers was the line of " stage wagons " between Boston and Hartford, opened October 20, 1783, by Levy Pease, of Somers, Conn., and Reuben Sikes, of Hartford. Before this the mails were carried on horseback. LEICESTER. 47 There are persons now living who remember to have seen, sixteen stage-coaches at one time around the tavern on Leicester Hill. In the last century two huge horse-blocks near the meeting-house and the public stocks were conspicuous objects on the Com- mon. The last " pillory " was built in 1763, for thir- teen shillings, by Benjamin Tucker. George Wash- ington, on his journey to Boston in 1789, passed through Leicester October 22d, and met a delegation of gentlemen from Worcester on the line between the two towns. Lafayettte, on the 3d of September, 1824, passed through the south part of the town " attended by a troop of horse and an escort of military oificers, citizens, etc." Colonel Thomas Denny introduced the first piano to the town about the year 1809. The second be- longed to the daughter of Captain John Southgate a few years later. The first carpet in town was woven by Mrs. David Bryant early in the present century. In the first quarter of the present century there was in the Centre Village a literary association composed of the younger women, which met from house to house, and is represented to have had a brilliant suc- cess. Some of the productions of its members found a place in the Worcester Spy, among the " Blossoms of Parnassus." " History," says Washburn, " can only record the fact that it once existed, flourished many years and disappeared." It has had, however, many successors. Bdeying-Geounds. — The first burying-ground in town was the church-yard back of the early meeting- house, which was surrounded by a brush fence. It dates back to 1714. The Greenville Cemetery was opened about the year 1736 ; the Elliott Burying- yard, in the north part of the town, in 1756. The burying-ground of the Friends at Mannville was in existence as early as 1739. The Rawson Brook Cem- etery dates back to 1755, and the Cherry Valley Cemetery was opened in 1816, and the Pine Grove in 1842. In these several burying-places have been laid about 2800 bodies. The number of deaths in town since 1800, recorded on the town books and elsewhere, is 3469. In the first decade there are 98, in the sec- ond, 150; in the third, 193 ; in the fourth, 265; in the fifth, 324; in the sixth, 431 ; in the seventh, 474; in the eighth, 552 ; from 1880 to 1883, 451. The^e facts are from the record of C. C. Denny, Esq., who has made a careful investigation and study of the subject. Post-Offices. — A post-office was established in Leicester about 1798, and Ebenezer Adams, Esq., was the first com missioned postmaster. He was succeeded by Col. Thomas Denny, Col. Henry Sargent, John Sargent (appointed April, 1829), Henry D. Hatch, L. D. Thurston, the present incumbent appointed. Thepost-office in Rochdale was established in 1824, and Rev. Joseph Muenscher was the first postmaster. The post-office in Cherry Valley was established in 1859, with H»rf(»yTainter, postmaster. FiEE Depaetment.— The date of procuring the little engine upon which the town depended many years for extinguishing fires is not known. A fire- engine, called " Union No 2," wa.s purchased in 1841, partly by the town and partly by individual subscrip- tions. It came to town April 20th. A steam fire- engine was bought in 1869, and in 1886 it was re- placed by the present steam-engine. In 1885 a steamer was obtained for Cherry Valley, and chemi- cal extinguishers for Rochdale and Greenville. Ta VEENS. — The first tavern was on the corner of Main and Paxton Streets. It was occupied by Na- thaniel Richardson in 1721, John Tyler 1746, John Tyler, Jr., 1755, Seth Washburn 1756, then by John Tyler, by Benjamin Tucker 1761, Edward Bond 1767- It was then burnt and rebuilt, occupied by Elijah Lathrop 1776, Peter Taft 1778, Reuben Swan 1781, William Denny 1801, Aaron Morse 1810. The second tavern was opposite the Catholic Church, built by Jonathan Sargent as early as 1727. He was succeeded by his son Phineas, and he in 1776 by Nathan Waite. James Smith had a tavern in the last house in Lei- cester, on the road to Spencer, in 1740. He was fol- lowed by Samuel Lynde in 1755; the house was de- stroyed by the hurricane in 1759, Phineas Newhall built in 1776 a tavern on the lat- nuck Road, where the last house in Leicester stands, which was open for many years. The first tavern on the site of Leicester Hotel, oppo- site the Common, was built in 1776, by Nathan Waite. Jacob Reed Rivera, the Jew, bought it for his store in 1777. Here a hotel has been kept by successive land" lords to the present time. Among these was John Hobert, who had charge of it from 1799 to 1817, and gave to it a wide-spread reputation as an excellent hostelry. In later years, notwithstanding the growth of the temperance sentiment in town, this hotel con- tinued to defy the public will. It at length became so intolerable a nuisance that it was purchased by a company of citizens and closed. In 1882 it was burnt. In 1885 this company built the present Leicester Hotel, which has since been kept by L. G. Joslin, and has become a favorite resort for "summer boarders." During the Revolution Abner Dunbar had a tavern on Mount Pleasant (Benjamin Earle place), and George Bruce about the beginning of this century kept public-house on Mount Pleasant, in the residence before occupied by Major James Swan. Samuel Green had a tavern in Greenville. The Rochdale Hotel was built by Samuel Stone about 1810, and was first kept by Hezekiah Stone. LiBEAEiES. — In 1793 provision was made for a "Social Library," the "Proprietors" first meeting December 10th. The fire-engine company established a library in 1812. A "Second Social Library" was commenced in 1829. These several libraries had fallen into disuse, but in 1858, by the effi)rts of the writer, they were united, and removed to one of the rooms of the Town House, and again opened for cir- 48 LEICESTER. culation. This library, containing about eight hun- dred and fifty volumes, was, in 1861, offered to the town, and at the town-meeting held March 4, 1861 was unanimously accepted. The library has grad- ually increased, and in February, 1888, the number of volumes was six thousand two hundred and twenty- eight. There are branch libraries at Kochdale, Green- ville and Cherry Valley, and the books, are largely used in all parts of the town. The library has received donations of books from many individuals. Among these should be especially mentioned Waldo Flint, Esq., who gave to it nearly three hundred and fifty volumes. Over five hundred volumes from his own library came to it after his death. The library is also indebted to the interest and liberality of Abraham Firth, Esq. Mrs. E. H. Flint, Governor Washburn and many others have been its generous friends. But the library is most of all indebted to Eev. Samuel May for his long-continued devotion and services. He has taken upon himself as a free-will service the arrangement and care of books, the preparation and publishing of catalogues, and the general supervision of the library. The management of the library is committed to a Board of Directors consisting of five members, one of whom is annually chosen to serve five years. On the 13th and 14th days of January, 1873, the library was placed in the new " Memorial Hall," an attractive room in the Town House. It has already nearly outgrown these accommodations, and waits the time when wealthy and generous friends shall make provision for a library building. D. E. Merriam, who died in 1888, left toward this object $5,000. Cherry Valley Flood.— On March 29th, 1876, the dam of Lynde Brook Reservoir, the water supply of Worcester, gave signs of weakness. The water mtr- 4?4.e-4. ^i*©* of the lake is 1870 acres and there were in it at the time 663,330,000 gallons of water. There had been heavy rains. Four days before one of the series of dams on the Kettle Brook, into which Lynde Brook empties, gave way, occasioning great damage to roads and bridges and flooding a part of Cherry Valley. The water of Lynde Reservoir was at the time run- ning over the flash-boards, twenty-seven inches higher than the dam. A leakage at the lower waste-gate house showed signs of increase, and this was the sig- nal of danger. Strenuous efforts were made through this and the next day to save the dam, or at least hold it in place till the waters could gradually escape. Loads of earth and stone and large trees were thrown in above the dam. Meanwhile the alarm was given to families along the stream. Dwelling-houses were deserted, mill property was removed to the hill-sides and crowds of people stood upon the banks awaiting the result. The dam stood through the day and night and through the next day, and it was hoped that the calamity might be averted. All through the night and the next day the anxious watch continued. At about ten minutes before six, in the afternoon of Thursday, March 30th, a little stream of water broke out above the lower gate-house. The alarm was given ; the dam was cleared of men and teams. The stream enlarged each second, earth and stones were thrown up, the bank of the dam caved in, the stone wall stood for a minute and then gave way, and the reservoir poured its contents into the channel below. The scene is described by many who witnessed it as grand beyond description. The water came rushing and roaring down the course of the brook, tearing out a gorge a hundred feet in width and carrying the solid masonry far down the stream. Those who were in Cherry Valley could hear the grating of the rocks ground together by the force of the waters. As it pas.sed down the ravine its appearance was grandly beautiful. The water, nearly fifty feet in height, came surging, seething, rolling on, lashed into foam, a white feathery vapor rising above it. When it reached the street it tore away the bridge and road- way and then spread out over the meadow, converting the lower parts of the village into a sea, and then at Smith's dam was forced through the narrow passage. It pa.ssed through the centre of Mr. Olney's house, leaving the walls standing. The barn and carriage- house were separated and then floated out gracefully on the water, only to be wrecked when they reached the rocks below. Several tenement houses were de- stroyed. The flood tore away most of Smith's factory, annihilated Bottomly's mill and carried away the rear of the several factories along the stream and the dams ; it wrenched away the boiler of Ashvvorth & Jones' mill and deposited it half a mile below, and swept away the engine and boiler of Smith's mill so that they were never found. At the corner of the James- ville Road and Main Street it struck the bank, and be- came a whirlpool as it turned southerly to Jamesville, where it was divided. A part of the flood followed the stream, inflicting damage upon the dam and fac- tory. The other part followed the Boston & Albany Railroad for nearly two miles, gullying out the track and destroying the double arch bridge. The scene after the flood was one of wild desolation, the fields and meadows being covered with boulders and the debris. The spot was visited by thousands of people during the next few days, some of them coming from a distance. The estimated number on one day was thirty thousand. Histories. — Leicester is unusually rich in annal- ists and historians. First among these is Governor Emory Washburn, to whose " Topographical and His- torical Sketches of the Town of Leicester," published .June, 1826, in the Worcester Magazine and Historical Journal, his " Brief Sketch of the History of Leices- ter Academy," published in 1855, his several addresses on anniversary occasions, and his " History of Leices- ter," published in 1860, the town is indebted for the collection and preservation of the facts of its early history. In the preparation of his history he was / LEICESTER. 49 more largely than is generally known indebted to j Jos. A. Denny, Esq., who gathered much of this information, and whose " Reminiscences of Leices- ter," published about fourteen years ago in the WoreesUr Spy, whose history of the schools, published in the School Jleport of 1849, whose various compila- tions from the Town Eecords, whose identification of locations, and whose personal journal, covering a period of eighteen years, including that of the Civil War, entitle him to the distinction of the annalist of Leicester. Miss Harriet E. HensRajv in 1?76 pub- lished " Reminiscences of Colonel William Henshaw," which are rich in interesting and curious information relating to the Revolutionary period. Not only local, but other historians are indebted to her rich stores of ancient manuscripts, including the Orderly Books of Colonel William Henshaw, Adjutant-General of the Provincial Army, containing the official records of the Revolutionary army during the first year of the war, letters of the Committee of Correspondence, and other documents of inestimable historical value. Draper's "History of Spencer" and Whitney's "His- tory of Worcester County " are also sources from which light is also thrown upon the early history of the town. The academy has also had its historians. A brief but valuable sketch was published in 1829 in connection with Principal Preceptor Luther Wright's address. Rev. S. May, in the " Proceedings of the Worcester Society of Antiquity," 1882, has a paper on the academy. Governor Washburn's history, and the address of Hon. W. W. Rice at the centennial anniversary of the institution, are both of them the result of much careful research. The historical ser- mon of Rev. B. F. Cooley, at the fiftieth anniversary of Christ Church, Rochdale, and " The Religious History of the First Congregational Church in Leicester," by Rev. A. H. Coolidge, have also been published. To these sources of information is to be added the historical sermon of Rev. Hiram Estes, D.D., at the one hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the Baptist Church in Greenville. The manuscript journal of Ruth Henshaw, reaching back into the last century, gives an insight into the life of the early times, and serves to verify some of the facts and dates of history. The letters of Grace Denny, of England, published in the " Genealogy of the Denny Family," prepared by C. C. Denny, Esq., are of special interest, referring as they do to the situation of the place soon after its settlement. Celebrations. — Li addition to celebrations in town which have been noticed in other connections, are others of an interesting character. The four towns, Leicester, Spencer, Paxton and Auburn, which wholly or in part were embraced in the original township, united in celebration on the 4th of July, 1849, in the grove, on Grove Street. Hon. /ame» Draper, of Spencer, presided. More than two thousand persons were present. The citizens of Spencer, preceded by the fire company, were escorted into the village. under the direction of Henry A. Denny as chief mar- shal, by the Leicester Fire Company, with the North- bridge Band. Four Revolutionary soldiers were honored gueste. The address was by Hon. Emory Washburn, and is a valuable contribution to the Revolutionary history of the towns. Rev. Dr. Nelson was chaplain. Among the after-dinner addresses was that of Hon. Joseph Sprague, ex-mayor of Brooklyn, N. Y. The 4th of July, 1871, was chosen as the date of celebrating the one hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the organization of the town by the several towns of the original township. The exercises were in a large tent on the Common. Rev. S. May, in behali of the Committee of Arrangements, introduced the exercises of the morning, which consisted of music by the Worcester Band, singing, prayer by the chap- lain. Rev. A. H. Coolidge, and a learned and eloquent historical address by Governor Emory Washburn. About eight hundred sons and daughters of Leicester sat down at the tables, Capt. J. D. Cogswell as mar- shal having charge of the arrangements. Jos. A. Denny, Esq., as president of the day, introduced the after-dinner exercises, Dr. J. N. Murdock acting as toast-master. Addresses were made by Hon. Waldo Flint, Abraham Firth, Esq., Hon. Edward Earle, Gen. E. T. Jones, Hon. N. Sargent and others. In 1876 the towns again united and celebrated the centennial of the Declaration of Independence. The morning exercises were in the town hall, and Rev. S. May was president of the day. John E. Russell, Esq., delivered an eloquent address. The singing was un- der the direction of Mr. Thomas S. Livermore, and the music by the Leicester Cornet Band. The com- pany then moved in procession, under Capt. J. D. Cogswell as marshal, to Sargent's Grove, where after- dinner addresses were made by the several clergymen, teachers of the academy and others. • The principal addresses on all these occasions have been published, and are invaluable sources of import- ant and interesting local and general history. BIOGRAPHICAL. DR. EDWARD FLINT.' Dr. Edward Flint belonged to a family of physi- cians. His grandfather, Dr. Edward Flint, of Shrews- bury, was the physician of that town during a long life. His father. Dr. Austin Flint, born in Shrews- bury, established himself in Leicester in 1783, at the close of the War of the Revolution, in which he had been an army surgeon, lived here a long and honored life, professionally eminent, and died at over ninety years of age. His elder brother was Dr. Joseph H. 'By Rev. Samuel May. 50 LEICESTEK. Flint, of Northampton and Springfield, whose son Austin became distinguished in New York, both in practice and as a medical author ; and who left a son, also named Austin, as successor to his labors and hon- ors. Dr. John Flint, of Boston, was a cousin, and studied medicine with him. And his only son, John Sydenham Flint, was a physician for some forty years in Eoxbury, held in the highest esteem there, and died in April, 1887. Dr. Edward Flint, second son of Dr. Austin and Elizabeth (Henshaw) Flint, of Leicester, was born November 7, 1789. He studied medicine with his father, and established himself in its practice in Lei- cester in 1811. Six years later he was married to Harriet, eldest daughter of Elihu Emerson, Esq., of Norwich, Vt. Soon after marriage he built the house in the centre of the town which he occupied during life, and where his widow now resides in her ninety- first year. Dr. Flint died May 30, 1880, being, like his father, a few months over ninety years of age. Three children was born to them — Charlotte Emerson, Sally, and John Sydenham. The daughters were very excellent and attractive young women, but they both died in early womanhood. Their loss severely tried Dr. Flint's faith and firmness; but no murmur escaped him. Seven years after his own death, his only son died, as already stated, and the mother is now left childless, but is ministered to, in her age and many infirmities, with unsurpassed devotedness. Dr. Flint succeeded to his father's large practice, which extended beyond the town limits. He gave his life, in the strictest sense, to his profession, and to those who needed his services, making no discrimina- tion among those wJio were able and those who were not able to pay him for that service. It was a life uneventful, but steadily laborious, and attended with frequent exposures. A physician has peculiar oppor- tunity to»render charitable service, and Dr. Flint had his full share of such experience ; and as he had a great repugnance to pressing the collection of debts due him, it followed that an unusual amount of such indebtedness was never paid. A recent writer in a Health Journal says : " It is safe to say that but few physicians in general practice manage to collect more than one-half of their bills," and enlarges upon the wrong thus done. Cases of destitution will always occur, and our physicians may be safely trusted not to forget them ; but it should cease to be thought allowable for others to use a doctor's time and ser- vices without compensation. Attempts, on various grounds, were made to introduce other physicians to the town, but the general respect and confidence of Leicester people were never withdrawn from Dr. Flint. Washburn, in his " History of Leicester," says of him: "The rank and position which Dr. Flint sustains in the community have been the natural re- sult of the many years of honorable and successful pursuit of the profession of his choice." He was a life-long friend of temperance. When his house was built — which was before the day of tem- perance societies — he induced the workmen to give up the customary strong drink, and he furnished them hot coffee in its place, which Mrs. Flint daily made for them. He never permitted wine or strong drinks to be placed on his table, nor offered to visitors, and never used them himself. He told the present writer that he had an early lesson on the subject, in seeing his father always pass the mug or gla.ss untasted, as it went the rounds among the neighbors collected at some public place. His horses and his dogs were more than his servants : they were his friends and he was theirs. He had a quaint humor, with a somewhat rough manner, in both respects resembling his father. When a boy he one day brought from the post-office to his father a small packet ; his father, on opening it, said, " Here, Ned, take off your jacket," which being done, the father rolled up the boy's sleeve, and with no further notice made an incision in his arm and in- serted some vaccine matter, and thus, as he always claimed, he became, with little previous notice, tbe first subject of vaccination in the town of Leicester. DEA. .JOSHUA MURDOCK.^ The older readers of this history will be glad to rec- ognize in the accompanying engraving the likeness of Dea. Joshua Murdock. He was the son of William and Achsah Murdock, and was born in Westminster, Mass., October 28, 1780. He served a regular appren- ticeship as cabinet-maker to Artemas Woodward, of Medfield, Mass. He was United in marriage with Clarissa Hartshorn, of Medfield, June 3, 1806, and soon removed to West Boylston, and, with his brother Artemas, began the business of cabinet-making. In 1811 he came to Leicester and purchased the place still owned by the family. His cabinet-shop was east of the house. Here he carried on the business for many years, employing a number of hands. He was in every sense a master-workman. The products of his skill were at once thorough and elegant, and many highly valued and beautiful specimens are still retained in various families in the vicinity. In 183.3, and again in 1834, the town expressed its appreciation of him by electing him to the House of Representatives in the Legislature of the State. He was for many years treasurer of the First Parish, first elected when the affairs of the parish were managed by the town, through the selectmen. He was also trustee of the invested funds of the church and parish to the time of his death. He was made deacon of the church January 7, 1817, and retained the office through life. He was the first superintendent of the Sunday-school, and held that office, as nearly as can be ascertained, more than twenty-five years. In April, 1812, he with his wife united with the First Congregational Church — the first persons to make I By A. H. Coolidgn. ^?'-^^^^^^ <^ .^^'/^^^t^.i^t!!^^^'-^-^ LEICESTER. 51 a public profession of faith after the settlement of Dr. Nelson, the month before. He possessed a singularly even and benign spirit, sweetened by genuine piety. He was always very modest and retiring, yet he cheerfully accepted the cares and responsibilities of his office in the church, and was always heard with interest and pleasure in the several meetings of the church. The writer remembers him with the deepest respect and tenderness as one of the truest, most helpful and sym- pathetic of his friends in the first years of his min- istry. He died suddenly, in his shop, December 30, 1859. A memorial sermon was preached by the junior pastor, January 8, 18G0, from Prov. 20: 6 — "Most men will proclaim everyone his own goodness ; but a faithful man who can find?" JOSEPH A. DENNY, ESQ.' Jcseph Addison Denny was the grandson of Daniel Denny, who settled in Leicester in the spring of 1717. He was one of the twelve children of Joseph Denny. His mother, Phosbe Denny, was the daughter of Col. William Henshaw. He was born May 13, 1804, and passed his early childhood in the house on Main Street now owned by the family of the late John Loring. His mother died when he was eleven years old. About two years later he left home and was a clerk in the store of H. G. Henshaw, Esq., in New Worcester, for two or three years. He then returned home, and attended school at Leicester Academy for several terms. About the year 1823 he was engaged as a clerk in the store of James & John A. Smith, in a building west of the Leicester Hotel. There he remained until 1826, when he commenced the manufacture of card-clothing, which he continued until 1857. He was a diligent and intelligent student, and pro- ductions of his pen at this period, which are still pre- served, indicate unusual thoughtfulness as well as lit- erary taste. He early formed the determination of making his life a success in the truest sense. He even gave up the games and other amusements in which many of the young were absorbed, that he might se- cure his evenings for useful reading. When he reached the age of twenty-one years he wrote a series of reso- lutions for " future guidance." These resolutions are indicative of his early purpose, as well as of his later character. Among them are the resolutions to abstain from the use of " ardent spirits," gambling and pro- fane language. The platform of business principles which he then adopted is worthy of the consideration of theyoung, andisgiven in his own words: "Eesolved, That if frugality and application to business will en- sure me a competency of wealth, I will never be poor. That, while I have my health, I will never spend faster than I earn, and on the contrary, while I have a sufficiency, I will never deny myeelf the conveni- 1 By Rev. A. H. Coolidge. ences of life for the purpose of hoarding up treasure. That, while I am prospered in business, I will never refuse charity, where I think it my duty to extend it. And should I ever accumulate property, may I have the satisfaction of reflecting that it was not obtained by oppressing the poor, unfair dealing or any other dishonorable means, and may a bountiful Providence prosper my undertakings." In the year 1826 he entered the firm of Isaac Southgate & Co., which, as has already been stated, developed into that of Bisco & Denny. It was in the beginning a small enterprise. The pricking and tooth-forming machines were moved by hand, and the cards sent out to be set by women and children. The business increased gradually, and prospered so that by careful attention to its details he secured a competence. He was also largely interested in the establish- ment of the Leicester Boot Company. He was a prominent director and valued adviser in the State Mutual Life Acsurance, and the Merchants' and Farmers' Mutual Fire Insurance Companies in Wor- cester, from the date of their organization to the time of his death. He was a director and for a time the president of the Leicester Bank. He was assistant assessor in the Internal Revenue Depart- ment during and after the war. He served the town as selectman and School Committee, and from March, 1850, to the time of his death, in 1875, was town clerk. He was, in 1857, elected to the House of Representatives in the Legislature of the State. His services for the academy, to whose interest he was earnestly devoted, were invaluable. He was a trustee from August 20, 1834, and treasurer from May 11, 1858, till his death, in 1875. He gave to this institution his personal services, and contributed liberally to its funds ; and it was through his influ- ence that most of its present endowment was se- cured. With many of the former pupils of this in- stitution the thought of Leicester Academy and Joseph A. Denny are inseparable. His portrait has a place with the founders and benefactors of the academy in Smith Hall. Mr. Denny was a man of literary tastes, and spent much time in reading, thus familiarizing himself with history and the best lit- erature. He at different times traveled in various parts of the country, and had a comprehensive appreciation alike of its resources and its need. He took special pains to familiarize himself with statute law. He wrote legal documents, and had charge of pecuniary trusts, and settled estates. He wrote many wills, and often, by wise suggestion, impressed upon men in the disposal of their property the importance of making liberal provision for their wives, a consideration which is too often found overlooked. Although never admitted to the bar, he was still a legal ad- viser, consulted by people of his own and neighbor- ing towns. This service was to a large extent gra- 52 LEICESTER. tuitous. He was pre-emiuently the friend and helper of widows and orphans, and of the poor. Men and women of all classes and diflerent nationalities re- sorted to him for counsel and help. They came to him with their quarrels, their business perplexities, their financial troubles, their plans and enterprises and their sorrows ; and found in him an attentive listener, a sound adviser, a generous helper and a sympathizing friend. He was, perhaps, more than any other person, familiar with the locations and his- tory of Leicester and the lives of its former in- habitants; and to him, more largely than is gener- ally known. Gov. Emory Washburn was indebted for the materials of his excellent history of the town. His manuscript notes, his " Reminiscences of Leices- ter,'' published in the Worcester Spy, and his journal which is a record of passing events, are of great his- torical value. He may be truthfully termed the an- nalist of Leicester. In 1874 he made a tour of Europe, which was a source of great profit and enjoyment to so intelligent and appreciative an observer. He was especially interested in visiting the home of his ancestors and his relatives in England. He united with the First Congregational Church in July, 1827, and through life was one of its devoted and helpful members and a constant attendant upon all its services. He was, for many years and at the time of his death, a teacher in the Sunday-school. He was interested in the great missionary enter- prises, both home and foreign, and contributed liber- ally to them. He set apart at the beginning of each year a certain portion of his income for benevolent objects, and regarded one-tenth of a successful busi- ness man's profits as too little to be thus employed. He was interested in young men who were struggling for an education, and gave liberal aid to those who were preparing for the ministry. He had a large circle of friends, and was widely known. He mar- ried, April 30, 1829, Mary Davis, the daughter of Major Joel Davis, of Rutland, Mass., who survives him. They had two children, — Mary Elizabeth, the wife of Deacon Lyman D. Thurston, and Hon. Charles Ad- dison Denny. He built the house in which he so long resided in 1837. He had all the qualities which made home and social life delightful. He was fond of children, and his conversation was in- structive and entertaining. He died February 25, 1875, of pneumonia, after a few days' illness. It was said of him at his funeral, which was largely attended in the First Congregational Church : " He under- stood better than most men the truth that while men die, institutions and influences live, and was largely endowed with that rare, unselfish wisdom which qual- ifies one to build the foundations of the public wel- fare deep and enduring. The effects of this purpose, which, to a large extent, dictated the policy of his life, will be more fully understood and acknowledged in the future than they can be now, and his name will go down to posterity as one of the benefactors of the town." He kept from January 1, 1857, to September, 1874, a personal journal, which is of great value as a record also of local and public events in one of the most eventful periods of our national history. A few days before his death he completed a transfer to this journal of the diary of his European travels, and for- mally concluded the series of entries with these sig- nificant words: "And here I will close this daily journal of my own private matters, which I have kept for almost eighteen years, intending it princi- pally as a business memoranda. It has often been useful to me as a reference; but as I have fewer business transactions, and have just recorded the history of one of the most important transactions of my life— a voyage to Europe — I will here close my record, blessing God for his care and protection, not only during this voyage, but a long life, now reach- ing more than three-score years and ten." DWIGHT BISCO.' Dwight Bisco, who was for sixty years one of the leading citizens and business men of Leicester, was born in Spencer April 27, 1799, one of several sons of Jacob Bisco. Upon his father's farm he lived and worked until twenty-two years of age, when, with a silver dollar as his only money capital, he came to Leicester, and engaged in the employ- ment of Cheney Hatch, one of the card-clothing manufacturers, — a business of which Leicester then had almost a monopoly. Bringing with him good character, intelligence, habits of industry and self- control, and not afraid of work, he steadily acquired skill in this intricate and difficult manufacture. In 182G he associated himself as partner with Isaac Southgate, Joshua Lamb, John Stone and Joseph A. Denny, another house- in the same business. In 1843 Mr. Denny and he bought the interest of the other partners, and continued the business, under the name of Bisco & Denny, until Mr. Denny's death, in 1875. It was then passed on by Mr. Bisco into the hands of his sons and of Mr. Denny's only son, he continuing to occupy himself in the factory until February, 1882, when he entirely withdrew, being then in his eighty- third year. In middle life he had invested the chief part of his savings in the Leicester Boot Company. It was un- fortunate, Und was brought to an end by the burning of the company's buildings and stock, September 25, 1860, inflicting on him a total loss of all he had paid in. With a quiet courage he applied himself again to business, as closely as in his youth, and was en- abled to make good his loss, and to present to his eight children, at the Thanksgiving dinner-table, five hundred dollars each. 1 By Rev, Sitnniel May. ^/lOTfCf ^i^tyt? i /^<^'—ti-'^'7^T^ i-y c-a^z^-t^y^-/^— lEICESTER. 53 Hia marriage with Kuth Woodcock (daughter of Johu Woodcock, St., and sister of John, Josephua and Lucius, of the following generation), in 1826, founded a family life of great happiness and unity for more than fifty years. When they celebrated their golden wedding, January 8, 1876, "we saw them," said Eev. Mr. Coolidge, " standing together, a spectacle rarely witnessed, an unbroken family," — parents, children and grandchildren, — a circle which death had then never entered. But in September of that year Mrs. Bisco died, with little warning ; and Mr. Bisco sufl'ared the severest loss which could pos- sibly happen to him. He had become very deaf, and her loss was the more severe. Their children, who are all living, are Emily A., Charles D., George, John W., William, Henry, and Frederick A.; all married but William. Mr. Bisco died December 7, 1882. He was repeateo'y a selectman of the town ; a di- rector of the Leicet '■.er Bank eleven years ; treasurer of the Pine Grove Cemetery Company forty years ; treasurer of the Unitarian Congregational Society as long, and a deacon of that church. He was a mem- ber of the State Legislature in 1847 and '48. In a notice of him in the Christian Register, Mr. Abraham Firth wrote of "his marked faithfulness in all these relations, and in every sphere of life in which he moved. He was always found on the side of virtue, and of political and spiritual freedom. Brought up under the teaching of Calvinism, it never satisfied him." One who was long in daily business association with him wrote, in the Worcester Spy, " he was known among his associates as an honest, upright man, of superior sense and judj^ment." His pastor, during his later years, wrote of him, " I have never known a truer man, nor one of i^reater strength of character." His first minister, a. the funeral ser- vices, paid a warm tribute to his character and life. " No man in Leicester," said a fellow -citizen, " has a better record than Dwight Bisco." A memorial book of Mr. and Mrs. Bisco has been printed. CAPTAIN HIRAM KNIGHT.' Captain Hiram Knight was one of the successful business men of Leicester, who, beginning life with- out pecuniary advantages, have secured far them- selves a handsome property. His father, Silas Knight, was a wheelwright, and in very moderate circum- stances. He was a Kevolutionary soldier and pen- sioner. He lived to the venerable age ef eighty-five years and five mohths. His mother was sevent/-six years and six mont!is old at the time of her death. Her maiden name Wi.i Martha Goodnow. Hiram Knight was born in Oakham, August 22, 1793. When about twenty-one years of age he came to Leicester for employment. He was married by ' By Rev. A. H. Coolidge. Rev. John Nelson, D.D., April 28, 1818, to Olive Barnes. Her mother was Betsy, the daughter of William Green, who was born in Leicester in 1743, and was the son of William and Rebeckah Green. Their first home was on Main Street, in the house afterward occupied by thfe Leicester Boot Company. The next year he removed to the academy, of which he was steward from 1819 to 1822. In 1823 he pur- chased the old " Green Tavern," on the corner of Main and Paxton Streets. Here for about two years he resided, engaged during the time in the occupa- tions of butchering, tavern-keeping and for a time was associated with Reuben Merriam in card-making and a store. In 1826 he became a member of the firm of James & John A. Smith & Co., who built and occupied the factory where the Wire Mill now stands; and also the brick factory above and the boarding- house. The history of this company, which was afterward the firm of Smith, Woodcock & Knight, and later of Woodcock, Knight & Co., is given elsewhere. Mr. and Mrs. Knight kept the board- ing-houses for this firm till about the year 1832, when the family came back to the Green tavern. Mr. Knight was in the card business till 1867, when he transferred his interest to his sons. He, with John Woodcock and George Morse, was in partnership with James Smith & Co. at the formation of that house in Philadelphia in 1836, and retained his interest for a number of years. The lower factory of his firm was to a considerable extent built under his supervision. He superintended the building of the Brick Factory and the boarding- house. He also had general charge of the building of the brick school-house on Pleasant Street. His own residence, on the site of the old tavern, and now occupied by his son Dexter, was erected in 1843. Mr. Knight had agricultural tastes, and at one time had considerable land, which he cultivated and im- proved. He was an active member of the Worcester Agricultural Society. He was one of the directors of the Leicester Na- tional Bank from 1850 to 1874. Between the years 1836 and 1844 he served the town in the various offices of moderator of town-meetings, selectman and assessor, etc. He was appointed justice of the peace by Governor Boutwell. He was one of the early members of the Second Congregational Society, Uni- tarian. In politics he was a Democrat, but reserved the right of independent thought and action. He was a member of the State Constitutional Conven- tion in 1853. In early life he was somewhat active in military afiairs, and was captain of the local mili- tary company. Captain Knight was engaged in the manufacture of card-clothing in the period of the rapid develop- ment of that industry, when inventive genius was perfecting the wonderful machine for card-setting, of which a gentleman once said, after admiringly watching its almost human movements : " Why 1 it 54 LEICESTER. thinks ! " He had not been trained to the business, but was a natural mechanic, inventive and ingen- ious; and though not forward in asserting his claims, made many valuable improvements in the machinery for card-making. According to the testimony of his partner, Mr. John Woodcock, he made the first card clothing set by machinery in Leicester. Captain Knight was a man of sound judgment, self-reliant, and of strict business integrity. He gave close attention to his business and was successful. He was wise and cautious in his investments, and became one of the wealthy men of the town. For his success he was largely indebted to his wife. She was a woman of domestic tastes, and devoted herself untiringly and efficiently to the varied duties of the household, acting her part with true womanly fidelity and fortitude in all the varied experiences of the family, in prosperity and in trial and .sorrow. She was married at the age of seventeen years. They had eleven children, seven of whom died young ; the three older at the ages of nine, ten and twelve years respectively. Their daughter Susan died in 1856, at the age of twenty-five. She is re- membered as an excellent scholar, retiring in man- ners, and loved by all her associates. Three sons survive-^exter, James J. and George M. Captain Knight died May 6, 1875, at the age of eighty-one ycaro and eight months. His wife sur- vived him about four years, and died April 19, 1879, at the age of seventy-eight years. REV. SAMUEL MAY. Rev. Samuel May, the first minister of the Second Congregational (Unitarian) Church and Society, and who continued such for twelve years, was born in Boston, April 11, 1810, oldest son of Samuel and Mary (Goddard) May. Four years a pupil of Deacon Samuel Greele, afterwards for three years at the Pub- lic Latin School of Boston, and one year at the Round Hill School, Northampton, he was graduated at Har- vard College in 1829. After spending nearly a year in study with his cousin. Rev. Samuel J. May, at Brooklyn, Ct., he entered the Cambridge Divinity School in the fall of 1830, and was graduated there in 1833. The society at Leicester was then young, having been incorpor- ated in April, 1833, and holding its meetings in the old Town Hall. Mr. May spent six or seven weeks in their service that autumn, then left to fulfill some other engagements, and returned in March, 1834, to begin a second engagement. That spring he received and accepted the society's call to be their minister, and was ordained as such August 13th, the services being held in the society's new church, which had been dedicated the evening previous, when the late Rev. Dr. James Walker, then of Charlestown, preached the very impressive discourse, afterwards so widely circulated by the American Unitarian Association, entitled, " Faith, Regeneration, Atonement," showing these to be successive periods and steps of the reli- gious life. Mr. May's ministry was one of fair success. Rela- tions of good will and friendship were formed, which continued far beyond the term of his ministerial con- nection, and to the close of life of his parishioners in nearly every instance. Entire harmony of feeling exist- ed between them, except with regard to one question, viz.: that of slavery in the United States, and whether a Christian minister should or should not take part in the effort to bring that condition of slavery to an end. Mr. May regarding it his duty to take such part, and to seek to induce his hearers to do the same, several persons were so much dissatisfied as to withdraw themselves from the society. One or more others who remained being similarly dissatisfied, Mr. May de- cided to resign his oflice rather than be a cause of di- vision, and the connection was closed in the summer of 1846. Mr. May has continued to have his residence at Leicester to the present time. In 1835 he was married to Sarah Russell, third daughter of Nathaniel P.Rus- sell, of Boston. Their children, all born in Leicester, and still living, are Adeline, Edward, Joseph Russell, and Elizabeth Goddard. The daughters reside with their parents. Edward is a pay director of the United States Navy, and Joseph R. is in commercial life in Boston. Edward married, in 1871, Mary Mig- not Blodgett, of Boston. They have four children. Soon after resigning his position at Leicester, Mr. May was minister of the First Ecclesiastical Society, Brooklyn, Ct., until June, 1847. Then he became the general agent of the Massachusetts Anti-slavery So- ciety. He held this place, with the exception of about a year and a half of impaired health, for eighteen years, and until 1865, the time when, by amendment of the Constitution, slavery in the United States ceased to exist. He was also, for several years, corresponding secretary of the American Anti- slavery Society. From 1841 to 1865 Mr. May refused to take any political action under the United States Constitution because of its recognition and support of slavery — refused, that is, to vote for oflicers who must take an oath to support the Constitution. When the Constitution was amended he resumed the exercise of the citizen's duties. At the outbreak of the War of the Rebellion, in 1861, he gave such aid as he could to the cause of the Union, and to its armies in the field, speaking and acting publicly. He early took a decided stand against the use of intoxicating drinks ; was a member of town, county and State societies formed to promote total abstinence from their use ; and joined with others to establish the Leicester Hotel as a house in which no such drinks should be sold. Mr. May served upon the town School Committee, at two different periods, for twenty-one years. He was LEICESTER. 55 chosen one of the directors of the town's public library at its eatablishment, in 1861, and still con- tinues as such, having served nearly twenty-eight years. In 1874 he was elected a trustee of Leices- ter Academy. In 1875 he was a member of the State Legislature, representing, with Mr. Pliny Litchfield, of Southbridge, the district formed of the towns of Leicester, Spencer, Charlton, Southbridge and Auburn. As House chairman of the Committee on Federal Relations, he took an active part in the State's commemoration of the one hundredth anni- versaries of the battles of Lexington, Concord and Bunker Hill. At the town's celebration of the cen- tennial of American Independence, July 4, 1876, Mr. May was chairman of the town's committee. He edited the pamphlet which records in full that day's doings in Leicester. He is a member of the American Social Science Association, of the Worcester Society of Antiquity, and of the Bostonian Society. He was chosen secre- tary of the Class of 1829, Harvard College, at the time of graduating, and has held the office to the present time. He aided in the compilation of the large pamphlet which records the one hundredth anniver- sary of the foundation of Leicester Ac*demy, and the proceedings of that occasion, September 4, 1884. PlilNY EARLE, A.M., M.B.' Dr. Pliny Earle was the fourth son of Pliny Earle, the great-grandson of Ralph Earle, who came to Leicester in 1717. His mother was the daughter of William Buffum, of Smithfield, R. I. He was born December 31, 1809, and his childhood was passed in the home of his father at Mulberry Grove. He was a pupil in Leicester Academy, and afterwards in the Friends' School, in Providence, R. I., where he was a teacher in the winter of 1828-29, and also from 1831 to 1835, when he was made principal. He pursued the study of medicine, first with Dr. Usher Parsons, of Providence, and afoerwards at the University of Pennsylvania, from which he was graduated with the degree of M.D. in 1837. The next tyro years were spent in Europe ; one in the medical school and the hospitals of Paris, and the other in a tour of professional and general observation, " in which he visited various insti- tutions for the insane, from England to Turkey.'' The results of these observations were published in 1840, in a pamphlet entitled " A Visit to Thirteen Asylums for the Insane in Europe." He had an office in Philadelphia for a short time, but in the spring of 1840 became resident physician of the Friends' Asylum for the Insane, near Frankford, now a part of Philadelphia. In 1844 he was appointed medical superintendent of the Bloomingdale Asylum for the Insane, in New York City. In 1849 he made ' By Rev. A. H. Coolidge. another tour in Europe, visiting thirty-four institu- tions for the insane in England, Belgium, France and the Germanic countries, and, upon his return, pub- lished his book upon " Institutions for the Insane in Prussia, Austria, and Germany." In 1853 he was elected a visiting physician of the New York City Lunatic Asylum, on Blackwell's Island. In 1855 he returned to Leicester for rest and the confirmation of his health, and passed several years on the homestead of his grandfather, Robert Earle near Mulberry Grove (now called "Earle Ridge") During this time, however, he spent the winters of 1862-63 and 1863-64 in the care of the insane soldiers of the army and navy, at the Government Hospital for the Insane near Washington, D. C, of which his former pupil. Dr. Charles H. Nichols, was superin- tendent. He also wrote for the medical periodicals, and acted as an expert in the trials of several impor- tant cases involving the question of insanity before the legal tribunals of Massachusetts and the adjoin- ing States. It was in these years of comparative rest that he rendered the town essential service as a member of the School Committee. In this relation the writer, together with Dr. J. N. Murdock, was associated with him. In this period the public schools were subjected to a thorough reorganization, and new and more prac- tical methods of instruction were introduced. In these services Dr. Earle exhibited the same executive force, the same mastery of details, the same practical wisdom, the same contempt of shams and ability to puncture them, and the same personal integrity and demand for strict uprightness and fidelity in those who were under his supervision, which characterized his administration of the institution in Northampton, of which he was afterward the head. In one respect he was in advance of the time. He came early to appreciate the importance of objective illustration, and the practical application of school instruction. He required pupils to use books only as instructors, and to know things and not mere words. Without seeking the position, he was appointed superintendent of the State Lunatic Hospital at Northampton, Mass., July 2, 1864, and held the office twenty-one years and three months, resigning it Octo- ber 1, 1885. He made that hospital in many respects a model institution for the insane ; and its trustees, in the resolutions passed at the time of their acceptance of his resignation, expressed as follows not only their own conviction, but the general judgment with refer- ence to the value of his administration : " In its man- agement he has combined the highest professional skill and acquirement with rare executive ability. By his patient attention to details, by his wisdom and firmness, his absolute fidelity to duty and devotion to the interests of the hospital, he has rendered invalua- ble service to the in«titution, and to the community which it serves." They also express the hope that " he will continue to make his home in the institution. 56 LEICESTER. that they may continue to profit by his counsels ; and they will provide that his rooms shall alwiiys be open and ready for his use." This offer Mr. Earle accepted, although his summers have been spent at Mulberry Grove. The Northampton Hospital had been erected in opposition to a widely prevalent opinion that it was not, and never could be, needed, — an opinion which delayed its construction, made the obtaining of appro- priations very difHcult, and finally compelled the trustees to put it in operation in a very incomplete condition, internally. The Civil War had tended to restrict the price of board for public patients to a very low limit, and in 1864, when Dr. Earle took charge of it, it had never paid its current expenses. He imme- diately addressed himself to the task of making it not only a first-class curative institution, but a self- supporting one as well. He purchased supplies at wholesale and in open market. He reorganized and reduced to a very complete system all the departments — domestic, economical, financial and medical — with checks and counter-checks for the detection of loss, or of waste by carelessness, as well as for the exposure of unfaithfulness in the discharge of duty toward the patients, or in other respects. The so-called "moral treatment" of the patients was amplified, made more diversified, and extended over a greater portion of the year than in any other American hospital. The pecuniary results of this system were the pay- ment of current expenses io the second year, and, during the whole period of Dr. Earle's service, the purchase of land at a cost of over twenty-five thou- sand dollars ; the payment for all ordinary repairs, and over one hundred and seventy-three thousand dollars for buildings and other improvements, and an increase in cash assets and provisions and supplies of over forty-three thousand dollars, all of which became, of course, the property of the State, without any assistance from the State. The results as productive of an improved curative institution, being less tangi- ble, cannot well be illustrated, but, as reflected in current public opinion, they were equally succets- ful. The importance of occupation for the insane was early recognized by Dr. Earle, and it has nowhere in New England been practically applied to a greater extent than at Northampton. As early as 1870 it was estimated that not less than two-thirds of the manual labor necessary to the running of the hos- pital was performed by patients. Believing that a large part of the excessive cost of such hospitals as that at Dauvers adds nothing to the curative capability of the institutions, Dr. Earle con- demned such expenditure as unwise political econ- omy, ostentatious charity and gross injustice to the payer of taxes. Dr. Earle has been instrumental in introducing im- portant changes in the treatment of the insane. In 1845 he established a school for the patients in the men's department of the Bloomingdale Asylum, and this was continued for two years. As early as 1840, while in the Frankford Asylum, he gave illustrated lectures on physics to the inmates. "This was the first known attempt to address an audience of the insane in any discourse other than a sermon, and has led to that system of entertainments for the patients now considered indispensable in a first-class hospital." At Northampton he gave a great variety of lectures, upon miscellaneous subjects. One course of six lec- tures was upon diseases of the brain, which are ac- companied with mental disorder. The average number of patients who attended them was two hundred and fifty-six. " This is the first time,'' he says in his annual report, "that an audience of insane persons ever listened to a discourse on their own malady." His observation of the effect on the audience was not unlike that of other preachers. If the listeners were slow to take the application to themselves, they were quite ready to appropriate it " to their neighbors." He also secured lectures and entertainments from other sources, and provided amusements in which the inmates participated. Dr. Earle is the author of many papers upon in- sanity and other subjects, which have been published in the Jotirnal of Insanity, the American Journal of the Medical Sciences, etc. Some of these have been issued in pamphlet form. He anticipated by many years the valuable treatise of Dr. B. Jay Jeffries, in a paper on "The Inability to Distinguish Colors." His twenty-two reports of the Northampton Hospital are classics in the literature of mental disease. By a combination of causes the public, so far as they knew or cared about the subject, had come to the belief that from seventy-five to ninety per cent, of the insane can be cured at the hospital. Dr. Earle became convinced of the erroneousness of this belief, and was the first hospital superintendent who com- bated it. His researches upon the subject extended over a series of years, were embodied in his annual reports, and at length in 1887 collected and published by the J. B. Lippincott Company, in a book entitled " The Curability of Insanity." The doctor showed that one causeof the false opinion in regard to curability was the reporting of repeated recoveriesof the same person, in paroxysmal insanity. One patient was reported cured six times in one year, another seven times, a third sixteen times in three years, and a fourth forty-six times in the course of her life, and she finally died a raving maniac in one of the hospitals. Judging from the results of the doctor's researches, not one-third of the persons ad- mitted to the Massachusetts insane hospitals have been permanently cured. Of his work on The Curability of Insanity a re- viewer writes : " This book may mark an epoch in the literature of insanity, since it has changed the whole front of that literature, and set in motion in- vestigating forces which will carry out its main doc- I i cdhA^u^-^ i^'-^^^oLoo^ LEICESTER. 57 trine into many useful detr of the National Bank and a trustee of the Savings Hank, Under the district system lie was for many years the prudential committee of the centre schools. He discharged the duties of this office with exceptional wisdom, and ethcienoy, aod to him the marked excellence and improvement of the village schools at' that period are largely due. He unite4 Mr. Sargent completed the building of his elegant residence, opposite the attractive sheet of water (m what was originally the "Town Meadow,"' where the beavers built their houses and dams, and through which ran " Bawson Brook,"' but which has long been called, after his name, ''Sargent's Pond."' This house is now the home of his son, J. Bradford Sargent. At the same time Mr. Sargent built his handsome stal)le for his horses. He was a good horseman, and, especially in the earlier years of his life, very fond of the horse and of driving. He regarded time as too valuable to be wasted in making distances on the road. He was married, February 9, 18.58. by Rev. A. H. Coolidge, to Adelaide Sophia, tlie daughter of Austin F., grandson of Rev. Benjamin Conklin, and Sophia (Hatcli) Conklin. She was a woman of amiable and cheerful spirit and superior intelligence and worth. After twenty-tliree years of married life slie died on the nth day of February, 1881. They had three cliildren, — Joseph Bradford, Wintlirop (wlio died in childliood) and Harry Edward. Mr. Sargent was mucli affected by the death of his wife, to whom he was devotedly attached, and survived lier less than two years. He died Januarv 30. 1883. BlI. LINUS .MANN." The village of Manville received its name from Mr. Billings Mann, to whom it is largely indebted. He. with Mr. Albert Marshall, carried on the manu- facture of woolen cloth, in the first of the series of factories on Kettle Brook, on the corner of Earle and Mannville Streets. Around this mill there has grad- ually grown the little village that bears his name. Mr. Marshall, a worthy and highly-esteemed citizen of the town, is still living, at an advani'ed age. Mr. Mann was born in Worcester in 1797. He was the son of Josepli and Mehitable (Billings) Mann. His father was a clothier, and he worked with liim dressing cloth. He thus became familiar with the details of his subsequent business. His education was that of the common school. On the 21st of July, 1822, he married Jemima, the daughter of Eliot and Jemima Wijjht, of Bellingham, Mass., by wliom he had one daughter, who was married to Maj. Theron E. Hall. The same year, at the age of twenty-five, he began the manufacture of woolen cloth in Fitchburg. In 1828 he removed from Fitchburg to Worcester, and engaged in manufacturing with Mr. Gunn. In 1837 he was in the business in West Rutland. The next year, 1838, he first came to Leicester, and, as has been elsewhere stated, was associated with Mr. Amos Earle in the manufacture of satinets. In 1844 he associated himself with his brotherin-law, Mr. Albert Marshall, in the same business, in Holden, as ' By Rev. A. H. Coolidge. •^ftyAJlSt^'^ ?J / Ay,(iij, AESac'nc- (FT-l^XP ^e__^ LEICESTER. 59 the tirm of Mann A Marshall. Here he remained till 1853, when, with Mr. Marshall, he came to Lei- cester. They purchased the mill property and com- menced the manufacture of satinets, as elsewhere stated. Mr. Mann's home, t!re were no school-houses, no church buildings, and few of the conveniences and comforts of older settled communities. The girls of the family rode on horse-back thirty miles to purchase their gowns; and the parish of the Presbyterian minister extended from Rochester to the Pennsylvania line. Mr. White was born, and lived when a boy. in a log-house. He worked upon the farm until he was twenty years of age. He then determined to seek his fortune elsewhere, and first went on foot to Dan- ville, twenty miles distant, where he earned the money for his proposed journey by carting wood, spending his extra time in making brooms. In the fall of 1828 he came to Spencer, where his uncle re- sided, and worked on the farm. In February of the next year he came to Leicester, and commenced his apprenticeship as a card-maker with Reuben Mer- riam & Co. There was then no card setting machine in the establishment, although the newly-invented machine was coming gradually into use. The holes and the teeth were made by machines and the teeth set by hand. The next year card-setting machines made by Mr. Merriam were introduced. After remaining with Mr. Merriam a year, Mr. Wliite was engaged at one hundred dollars per year by (Colonel Joseph D. Sargent, who was then making cards on the Auburn Road, in Cherry Valley. The machines were moved by dog power. Upon Mr. Sargent's removal to the Brick Factory. Mr. White came with him, and was in his employ seven years. In 183(5 he, with his partners, bought out Colonel Sargent, and commenced business as the firm of liamb & Wliite. Colonel Sargent highly valued the services of Mr. White, and expressed his appreciation in a substantial manner. He expressed his confidence in him at this time by furnishing him the capital for the new enterprise. M) . WTiite's subsequent business career is given in the notice of the firm of White & Denny, and White i^ Son. Mr. White lias served the town in the offices of selectman, assessor, etc. He was the contractor for the new town-house. For a short time he was a director of the bank. He united with the First Congrega- tional Church in September. 1831. In 1834, April 10th, he married Elizabeth Lincoln, the daughter of Aden Davis, of Oakham, Mass., by whom he has had six children, four of whom, two sons and two daughters, are living. He has been to them a generous parent, and to the (community and the church a free and generous helper. He built liis house on the corner of Main and Grove Streets, in 1848. Here he, with his wife, with whom he has been united for almost fifty-five years, still reside, in the enjoyment of the fruits of their industry and enterprise, and the society of their friends. They have the satisfaction of seeing their children with their families settled in good homes of their own in Leicester. By Rev. A. H. Coolidge. S.\I.KM I.IVERMOBE.' John Livermore, ancestor of all the Livermores probably in the United States, embarked at Ipswich, Old England, for New England, in April, lt)34, then twenty-eight years old, in the ship "Francis." John Cutting, master. He was admitted freeman of the Massachusetts Colony May 6, 1635. On the list of freemen his name was written Leathermore, and in other old documents and rt?«?ords sometimes Lether- more and Lithermore. He was a potter by trade. He was many years selectman, and filled other «|- fices of trust and honor in Watertown, where he first settled and last resided, he being, for about eleven years, from 1639 to KiuO, a resident of New Haven. Conn., after which he returned to Water- town, Mass., where he died, April 14, 1684, aged • By Caleb A. Wall. 60 LEICESTER. seventy-eight, and his wife, Grace, died there in June, 1601. He was probably son of Peter and Marabella (Wysback) Livermore, of Little Tliurloe, Suffolk Covmty, England, about seven miles north- west of Clare. On his removal from Watertowu to Connecticut he was made a freeman of tliat colony, October 29, 1040, and he sold out his estate in New Haven May 7, 1650, and went back to Water- town. Four of his nine children — SamueP, Daniel" and two daughters — were baptized in New Haven, and his oldest child. Jlannah", who married John Coolidge, Jr., was born in England in 1()33, the others in America. His fourth child, and oldest son, John' Livermore, Jr., born in 1040, settled on an estate of fifty-two acres, called the " Cowpen Farm," in Weston, near the border of Sudbury, which estate was given him by the father. This .John'^ Livermore, Jr., who was a lieutenant in the military, had in Weston, by his first wife, Han- nah, who wiiS mother of all his children, five sons and four daugliters, born between 1008 and 1090, of whom the fiftli child and third son was UanieP Livermore, bom in Weston June S. 1077, ensign, an original pro- prietor and settler in Leicester before 1720. on lot No. 29, which included what has since been called Livermore Hill. This DanieP Livermore dieil March 26, 1726, aged forty-nine, and by his wife, Mehitabel, afterwards wife of John Parmenter, of Sudbury, liad five sons and three daughters, born between 1707 and 1720. as follows: 1. Daniel,^ Jr., boin in Weston June 10, 1707, by wife, Mary, had in Weston three sons and three daughters, born between 1734 and 1748; 2. Jonas*, born in Weston May 13, 1710, man-ied, October, 1735, Elizabeth Kice, of Sudl)ury, and settled neai' the foot of l.ivertaore Hill, in Leicester, on the east side of the road running nortli and south through his fathei's lot. No. 20, where .lonas' died in 1773, and his wife died in 1790 — parents, in Leicester, of five sons and three daughters; 3. Mehitabel'. born March 13, 1713, mar- ried. May 14, 173(), Eliakim Rice, an early settler in Worcester, S(m of Elisha Kice, who was brother of Jonas, Gershom, .lames, Ephraim, Thomas and Jo- siah Kice, original proprietors and settlers in Worces- ter (see Caleb A.. Wall's " Keminiscences of Worces- ter,'" pages 40 to 43) ; 4. Sarah*, born March 7, 1717; 5. Isaac*, born May 11, 1720, resided on the west side of the road, opposite liis brother Jonas, near the foot of Livermore Hill, wliere, by his wife, Dorothy, he had four sons and two daughters; 0. Hannah* born April 10, 1723; 7. Abraliam*, born November 9, 1724, died of scarlet fever Sej)tember 4, 1742; 8. Nathan*, born March 20, 1726, married. May 7, 1755, Lucy Bent, of Sudbury. The above-named Ensign Daniel' f^jvermore's sister Hannah", born in Westoa, September 27, 1070, married, F"ebruary 22, 1089, the. above named Eph- raim Bice,, then of Sudbury, who was an original proprietor of Worcester, where his children settled, near lii^s brothers, on Sagatabscott Hill. Jonas* and Elizabeth (Rice) Livermore liad in Leicester these eight children. 1. Jonas', Jr., born February 28, 1736, carpenter and farmer, married November 10, 1701, Sarah, daughter of Ilezekiah and Sarah (Green) Ward, and resitled in the south l)art of Leicester, near Auburn, where Jonas' sou, Salem Live) more, afterwards lived, and where Jonas' died, January 31, 1825, aged eighty-nine, and his wife, Sarah, died Sept. 10, 1832, aged ninety- four, parents of ten children; 2. Micah', born in 1738, settled in Oxford; 3. Mary', born 1743. married Thomas Scott and resided on tlie estate in.\>iburn, near Leicester, wliere his father, John Scott, had lived and where Thomas' son, David Scott, Sr., after- wards lived; 4. David.', bom 1745, married, in 1770. for his first wife, Anna Heywood of Holden, and settled on the south part of lot No. 59, in Spencer, where they had seven children, and he died there De- cember 13, 1818, and she died June 12, 1794, his second wife being her sister, Mrs. Mary Osborne, of Holden, who died January 5, 1842, aged eighty, by whom he had three children, one of them, Melinda, wife of the late Benjamin H. Brewer of Worcester; 5. Elizabeth, twin, born 1745. married Samuel Tucker, Jr.. of Leicester: (i. Elisha, born 1751; 7. Beulah, born 1753, married Levi Dunton; 8. Lydia, born 1755, married Asa, son of David Prouty, of Spencer, and had there Aaron, Asa, Jr., Persis, Jonas and Joel Prouty, born between 1770 and 1784, of whom Persis was wife of Eli Muzzy, son of .John Muzzy. .Ir.. of Spent^er. Jonas' and Sarah (Ward) Livermore had in Lei- cester these nine children: 1. Hannah, born .May 13, 1762. died August 24, 1767; 2. Jonas', born April 13, 17(>4, died unmarried, at Leicester, April 20, 1700: 3. Sally, born .lune 28, 170(>. died unmarried, February 17, 18:53; 4. Patty, born October 22, 17(>8, married in 1701 Captain Samuel Upham, Jr., of Leicester, and removed soon j after 1800 to Randolph, Vt,, where he died in 1848. ! aged eighty-seven, the oldest of their three children being the late Hon. William L^pham, Senator in Con- gress from Vermont, from 1843 till his decease, January 14, 18.53. in Washington, aged sixty-one; 5. Salem, born September 26, 1770, married, first, Nancy Walker, who died March 2. 1838. and he married, second, Ruth Livermore, and resided on his '' fathei-'s estate in the south part of Leicester near Auburn, where he died .\pril 20, 1858, father of nine children, all by his first wife; 0. Bathshcba. borii July 23, 1772, married John Page and settled in I Camb)idge, Vt. ; 7. Louisa, born April 27, 1774, died i December 1800, married Abner Gale ; 8. Daniel, :born June 10, 1776, married May 29, 1801, Betsy, born 1777, daughter of Thomas Pai'ker, of Leices- ter, and resided on the estate of his grandfather, Jonas j Livermore, Sr., neai' the foot of Livermore Hill, i where Daniel Livermore died August 31, 1809, aged j ninety-three, and his wife, Betsy, died November 2, 1840, parents of Jonas Livermore, of Camden, N. J., Rev. Daniel Parker Livermore, of Melrose, Mass., j Diantha, wife of Daniel Henshaw, Mary, wife of / rt^ LEICESTER. 61 David McFarland, late of Worcester, and Eliza, resid- ing with her brother, Eev. Daniel P., in Melrose ; 9. Eebecca, born November 13, 1778, married Lebbeus Turner, from Bennington, Vt., and had in Leicester, Stillman, now deceased, Jeru.sha, now in Spencertown, N. Y., Caroline, wife of Dexter Converse, and Roxana, wife of Thomas Wall, all now deceased. Salem* and Nancy (Walker) Livermore had in Leicester these nine children : 1 . Mary, born August 25, 1795 ; died September 6, 1841 ; married Jonathan Warren, and had, in Lei- cester, Jonas L. Warren, formerly railroad station agent at Rochdale ; now in Shirley. 2. Sarah, born August 31, 1797; died May 1, 1827; married, August 10, 1823, Samuel Bottomly (his first wife), and had a daughter, Sarah, who married a Schofield. 3. Nancy, born October 13, 1800 ; died December 27, 1875; married, first, Moses Rockwood, of Grafton, and had John, Angeline and David Rockwood ; married, second, February, 1837, Stephen Adams, and had, in Paxton, Maria, June and Aaron Adams. 4. Hannah, born May 21, 1804; died July 29, 183() ; married, January 9, 1828, Samuel Bottomly, and had, in Cherry Valley, Cornelia, Sarah, Levinah and Nancy Bottomly. 5. Thomas, born September 7, 1805; died young. 6. Salem, Jr., born April 23, 1809; died in Roch- dale Village March 4, 1865 ; married, November 26, 1833, Roxa Darling, their only child being their son, Thomas Salem Livermore, born July 22, 1836 ; mar- ried, September 26, 1871, Mary Symons, daughter of John H. and Sarah (Crossley) Symon.s, of Rochdale, and owns and occupies the homestead erected by his lather in Rochdale Village, nearly opposite the rail- road depot. 7. Seraph, twin of Salem, Jr., born April 23, 1809; married James Hollingsworth, and died April 4, 1832. 8. Tamason, born May 28, 1812; married Liberty Beers, and died February 8, 1840. 9. Moses, born March 11, 1815; died June 20, 1854; resided on his grandfather's old place, near Auburn. . Rev. Daniel P. Livermore, son of DanieP and Betsy (Packer) Livermore, of Leicester, is a Uni- versalist clergyman in Melrose, ordained in 1841. He married. May 6, 1845, Mary, daughter of Timo- thy and Zebiah Vose (Ashton) Rice, of Boston ; since that time distinguished as an eloquent lecturer and speaker on temperance, women's rights and other reforms. Their two surviving children are : Mary Elizabeth and Henrietta W., the latter wife of John Oscar Norris, master of East Boston High School. Dexter and Caroline (Livermore) Converse resided in Leicester, near Charlton, where they had a family of twelve children, among their sons being Edmund, Harrison and Lebbeus T. Converse, of Worcester. Salem' Livermore, Jr., like his father and grand- father before him, was a carpenter, as well as a thrifty and industrious farmer and operator in real estate, in which kinds of business Salem, Jr., is well repre- sented by his son, Thomas S. Livermore, who suc- ceeded to and improves upon the five hundred acres of land in Leicester, Oxford and Auburn, including the homestead at Rochdale Village, on which he re- sides with his mother. Jona.s^ Livermore, Jr., was originally a Baptist, one of the pillars of the old Greenville Church ; his son, Salem, Sr., was a Uni- versalist, as well as the latter's brother Daniel, and Salem, Jr., was a member of the Episcopal Church at Rochdale. Thomas S. Livermore has a specialty in the musical line, having officiated in a choir since he was fourteen years of age, and for the past few years he has been chorister and organist of the Unitarian Church at Leicester. APPENDIX MANUFACTURING BUSINESS. Several Statements are here added, to render more nearly complete the History of Manufacturing and of Manufacturing Firms in Town. THE EARLY MANUFACTURE OF MA- CHINE CARDS. BY DB. PLINY BAELE. F'or many years it has generally been believed, by persons interested in the subject, that the first machine cards manufactured in Leicester were those made by Pliny Earle, for the ma- chines constructed by Samuel Slater, after the formation of a business connection between the said Slater and the firm of Almy & Brown, of Providence, R. I. Letters are still in existence by which the incorrectness of this belief is clearly demonstrated, and which show that Pliny Earle made machine cards before the arrival of Mr. Slater in America. Under date of 11th Mo. [November] 4th, 1789, Almy & Brown ordered a set of cards of the said Earle, and in their letter alluded to a set which he had previously made for a company in Wor- cester. On the 14th of the next month, December, 1789, Pliny Earle's brother Silas wrote, from Leicester, to their brother Jonah, then residing in New York City, as follows : — " Pliny is going to set off for Providence day after to-morrow morning, to put on long cards on to Almy and Brown's machine." On the " 7th of 1st Mo. [January] 1790," Pliny | Earle wrote, from Providence, to his brother Jonah, in New York City, as follows :— « I have I lately covered a Carding Machine for Moses ! Brown, here, which I have £18-18s-0d for doing, ' man to cover a machine for him which he will pay cash for. Moses Brown's machine will card at a great rate — they tell me six or seven pounds an hour." Two months and five days later, that is, on "3d Mo. [March] 12th, 1790," writing again from Providence to his brother Jonah in New York, Pliny Earle made the following statement: — "I have just finished* a carding machine, to-day, for one Potter, in this town, for which I have received the cash. I have a machine to do in Worcester by the 'i-'^th of this month." Samuel Slater landed in New York on the ! 11th of November, 1789, just one week after Almy & Brown ordered the caj-ds for their I machine. Three weeks afterward, on the 2d of December, he first wrote to Moses Brown seek- ing employment. Brown's reply to this letter was written on the 10th of Decen)ber, which was but six days before Pliny Earle, according to the letter of his brother Silas, went to Providence to put the cards upon Almy Capt. Samuel Green, \ Capt. Seth Washburn, Col. William Henshaw, ^ Capt. Seth Washburn, f Capt. Seth Washburn, Capt. Seth Washburn, ^ Capt. John Lyon, ) Col. Samuel Denny, Capt. Seth Washburn, 1780 to 1787. 18-23 and 1824. 1835 and 1836. 1863. 1883 and 1884. 1721 to 1741 and 1745 to 1749 and 1752 to 1756 and 1758 and 1761 and 1764 and 1767 and 1770 to 1723. 1724. 1725. 1733. 1736. 1742. 1747. 1750. 1755. 1757. 1759. 1762. 1765. 1768. 1774. 1774. 1775. 1775. 1775. 1776. 1777. 1778 and 1779. 1780. 1782 and 1783. 1786. 1787. 1788. APPENDIX. 67 Dcnni Col. Thomas Denny, Col. Thomas Denny, Col. William Henshaw, Col. Thomas Denny, Hon. Nathaniel P. Denny, Hon. Nathaniel P. Denny, John Hobart, Hon. Nathaniel P, Dr. Austin Flint, John King, John Hobart, Hon. Nathaniel P. Denny, Hon. Emory Washburn, Hon. Nathaniel P. Denny, John Hobart, Hon. Nathaniel P. Denny, ^^ Hon. Waldo Flint, j John Hobart, | Deacon John King, ) Hon. Waldo Flint, » Deacon Joshua Murdock, ) Reuben Merriam, | Deacon Joshua Murdock, ) Silas Earle, » Cheney Hatch, J Cheney Hatch, | Thomas Sprague, ) Thomas Sprague, Capt. Isaac Southgate, Samuel Watson, | Col. Joseph D. Sargent, ) Samuel Watson, } Capt. Isaac Southgate, ) Capt. Isaac Southgate, i Hon. David Henshaw, ) Nathaniel P. Denny, Esq. John Sargent, John Woodcock, Col. Joseph D. Sargent, Henry A. Denny, Deacon Dwight Bisco, Samuel Watson, Abraham Firth, Capt. John D. Cogswell, Lucius Woodcock, Hanson L. Read, Joseph A. Denny, Esq. Capt. John I). Cogswell, Josephus Woodcock, Lory S. Watson, Luke G. Sturtevant, Christopher C. Denny,* e,f 1791 and 1792. 1794. 1796, 1798. 1800, 1801. 1803 to 1806. 1808. 1809 and 1810. 1811. 1812 to 1817. 1819 and 1820. 1821 and 1822. 1825. 1826 and 1827. 1828. 1829. 1830. 1831. 1832. 1833. 1834. 1835. 1836. 1837. 1838. 1839. 1840. 1841 and 1842. 1843 and 1844. 1845. 1846. 1847 and 1848. 1849 and 1850. 1851. 1854. 1855. 1856. 1857. 1859 to 1861. 1863 to 1865. 1867 to 1869. 1871. 1872. Rev. Samuel May, Capt. John D. Cogswell, William F. Holraan, Dr. John N. Murdock, H. Arthur White, Henry O. Smith, Esq. 1874. 1876. 1880. 1883. 1885. 1888. At the election, May 11th, 1829, Hon. David Henshaw, then a resident of Boston, tendered a printed ballot for representatives to the General Court. Before that time all ballots cast in tlie state were written by hand. His vote was rejected as not conforming to the law requiring "written votes". He brought the question before the Supreme Court, which, at the March session, 1830, decided that "the rejection of the plaintiff's vote was illegal," on the ground that printed votes are written votes, within the meaning of the provisions of the constitution. COLLEGE GBADUATES. The following list contains the names of natives of Leicester who have been graduated from colleges : St. John Honey wood, Yale, 1782 ; lawyer in Salem, N. Y., painter and poet. Hon. Nathaniel Paine Denny, Harvard, 1797 ; lawyer in Leicester, for ten years member of the Massachusetts House of Rei^resenta- tives, and two years of the Senate; second President of Leicester Bank. Samuel Swan, Harvard, 1799; lawyer in Hub- bardston. Daniel Henshaw, Harvard, 1806; lawyer in Winchendon and Worcester, and editor of the " Lynn Record," and " The Yeoman " in Worcester. Reuben Washburn, Dartmouth, 1808 ; lawyer and judge in Vermont. Thomas G. Mower, Harvard, 1810. Waldo Flint, Harvard, 1814 : lawyer in Leices- ter and Boston, president of Eagle Bank, Boston. John F. Adams, Dartmouth, 1817 ; lawyer in Mobile. Emory Washburn, Williams, 1817 ; lawyer in Leicester and Worcester, Governor of Massachusetts, Bussey Professor in Dane Law School, Harvard University. Josiah Clark, Jr., Yale, 1823 ; Principal of Leicester Academy, and Williston Seminary. * To fill the vacancy occasioned by Mr. Sturtevant's resignation. 68 APPENDIX. Thomas Denny, Harvard, 1823 ; banker in New York. Winthrop Earle, Jr., Yale, 1826. Andrew Denny, M. D., Amherst, 1831 ; physi- cian in Jackson, Ala. Joseph Sargent, M. D., Harvard, 1834; physi- cian in Worcester. Henry Sargent, M. D., Yale, 1841 ; physician in Worcester. William A. Smith, Harvard, 1843 ; for many years assistant Clerk of Cpurts in Worces- ter County. John Sydenham Flint, M. D., Harvard, 1843; physician in Roxbury. Daniel Nelson Merriam, Amherst, 1844. John Newton Murdock, M. I)., Williams, 1846; physician in Auburn and Paxton, card manufacturer in Leicester. Arthur S. Denny, Brown, 1854. Frank W. Hayden, Holy Cross, 1867 ; surgeon in the French Army. Henry Oliver Smith, Amherst, 1863; lawyer in Leicester. Joseph Augustus Titus, Amherst, 1863 ; lawyer in Worcester. Horace Anthony Smith, Amherst, 1864; shoe manufacturer in Leicester. Rev. Albert Warren, Yale, 1867. Arthur H. Warren, Yale, 1870. Daniel Kent, Amherst, 1875; woolen manu- facturer in Leicester and Worcester. Sara Brainerd Coolidge, Wellesley, 1885 ; pre- ceptress of Leicester Academy. Edward Lester Marsh, Amherst, 1888. John Nelson Coolidge, Amherst, 1889. Everett Alonzo White, Amherst, 1889. TOWN HOUSES. Town and Military meetings were for more than a hundred years generally held in the F'irst Meeting-house.* This was also the place for all public assemblies, and here were held the exhibitions of the Academy. In 1826, a town hall and bank building of two stories was erected, the bank occupying the lower floor. It was built of wood. It was dedicated Jan. 1, 1827. The address was by Hon. Emory Washburn. The present town-house, built of brick, two stories, was dedicated May 21, 1855. The lower floor was occupied as engine house, fire com- * In the early years, town meetings were sometimes held in the taverns or in private houses. pany's parlors, selectmen's room, etc., and the upper floor as the town hall. In 1872, the lower rooms were remodelled, and a Memorial Hall was finished in memory of the soldiers of the civil war, and for the use of the public library. In this hall are the marble tablets containing the names of soldiers who died in the service, thirty-seven in number. The hall was dedicated Dec. 23, 1872, addresses being made by Rev. S. May, Capt. J. D. Cogswell, Mr. William F. Holman, Mr. H. A. White, Mr. John E. Russell and Rev. A. II. Coolidge, and a poem read by Mrs. Jerome M. Parker. An engine house was at the same time built in the rear of the town-house, and connected with it. Steam heat and electric lights were introduced in 1889. SOUTHGATE FUND. According to the provisions of the will of Capt. Isaac Southgate, of Leicester, a fund of 13,000 was placed in the hands of Joseph A. Denny, Silas Gleason and D wig) it Bisco, as trustees, the income of which was to be '-for the use and benefit of indigent maidens, widows and orphans, who are actually legal inhabitants of the said Leicester, and not otherwise." This " assistance," is to be " rendered in every case " — " without partiality or distinction of party or sect," to " those who are actually needy and striving to help themselves without charge to the town." The trustees received the fund April 2, 1861. In 1863, Mrs. Maria Southgate, the widow of Capt. Isaac Southgate, added to it one thousand dollars. The fund has since been increased $400 by legacy of Dr. Ames Walbridge, SI 500 by legacy of Mrs. Sally Denny, widow of Mr. John Alden Denny, and $1000 by donation of Mrs. John E. Russell (Caroline Nelson). D. E. Merriam left to the fund in liis will $5000. The fund has also been increased by changes of investment. Its present amount including the legacy of Mr. Merriam is 12,440.76. The trustees at this time are Mr. Dexter Knight and Hon. C. A. Denny. This noble charity has already proved most beneficent, and is continually approving the wisdom of its institution. MISCELLANEOUS ITEMS. There were several purchasers of original lots who never settled in town. In addition to APPENDIX. 69 those named in Washburn's History were Samuel Prince, and probably Paul Dudley. Rev. David Parsons, the first minister of Leicester, was married in Springfield, Mass., Oct. 22, 1707, to Sarah Stebbins of that town. The J^iends Meeting house was taken down in 1876. G. A. i?.— Post 131 of the Grand Army of the Republic, the "George H. Thomas Post," was chartered in Leicester, June 21, 1870. Leicester Public Library. — At the town- meeting held March 4, 1889, the Public Library was reorganized, under the new State law, with six Trustees, two to be chosen each year, to serve three years. Leicester Academy. — Mrs. Maria Southgate, in 1863, gave to the Academy $1000 as a fund to be known " as the Southgate Fund," to aid in the payment of the tuition of needy students from Leicester, in the departments of lan- guages, and the higher English branches. Robert Earle also left to the Academy $2000, for purposes similar to those of the Newhall Fund. Streets. — All the roads were named as streets, by vote of the town, March 6, 1882. In the spring of 1880, concrete walks were laid on the east side of Pleasant Street, and in the spring of 1883 and the summer of 1885 on Main Street, the expense being met by private subscription. Pleasant Street was first lighted for a few years, about twenty years ago, at the expense of families residing on it. At the annual town- meeting, November 8, 1881, it was voted to authorize the selectmen to light the streets of the several villages, whenever citizens should set up street lanterns. The vote was carried into effect in the Centre, Cherry Valley, Rochdale, and Greenville villages in December following. Gasoline and kerosene were, for several years alternately used for the purpose. At the town-meeting held March 4, 1889, the selectmen were authorized to contract with the Leicester Electric Company, to light the public streets with electricity. The streets of the Center, Cherry Valley, Rochdale, and Greenville villages were first generally illumi- nated with incandescent lights, August 13, 1889. I 2sr ID E IK. Academy, Leicester 25-31 Origin, incorporation, opening, 25, 26 Exhibitions, finances .... 27 Funds 27, 28, 29, 69 Buildings 26, 27, 29, 30 .\ Military Scliool 30 Principal, Preceptors .... 26, 29, 80 Suspensions and He-opening 30 Dr. Pliny Earle's Collection of Shells, etc 30 Meteorological Observatory . 30 Centenninl Celebration . . . 30, 31 Trustees, 'leachers. Pupils . 31 Adams, Ebenezer 29 Samuel 8, 9, 26 Allen, Dr. Ephraim 26 Rev. George 29 Hon. Joseph 8, 12, 15, 26, 45 Almy& Brown 31,63,64 Ames, Gov. Oliver 31 Ammunition purchased, stored . 9,11 Anderton, James 34, 35 Auburn 7 Baldwin, Capt. Jeduthan .... 8 Bancroft, Rev. Aaron, D.D. . . 22,28,31 Bank, National 38 Savings 38 Bass, Henry 14 Bell on First Meeting-house . . 19 Bible Reading in Church .... 20 Biscoe, Deacon Dwight . . . 22, !J2, 52, 53, 67 Biographies 49-61 Blagden, Rev. George, D.D. ... 19 Book-l)inding 38 Bottomly, Thomas 34, 35, 36, 37 Boots and Shoes 37 Bounties 13, 41 Boston Threatened by French Fleet 8 Occupied by British Troops 9 Brick Yards ........ 37 Brown, Capt. John . . ... 7, 9, 14, 66 Hori 38 Buckingham, Hev. Jostph, of Rut- land 26 Bunker Hill, Battle of 12, 13 Burying Giounds 20,26,47 Cadets, Leicester Academy, ... 30 Carlton, E. G 35 Carpet Making, 35, 47 Capital, Proposed change of, 15 Carey, Arthur, . 3, 4 Carriages, . • 5 Card Business, 31-34 Annual value of, 34 Card Machines, 81-32-34 Vowi-v for, 33, 34 Card Manufacturers, Edniond Snow, 31 Pliny Earle, Pliny Karle & Brothers, . 31,32, 63, 64 Silas Earle, T. K. Earle, . . 32 Daniel Deimy, .... 32 Winthrop Earle, Alpheus Smith, Woodcock & Smith, James & John A. Smith & Co., James Smith & Co., Smith, Woodcock & Knight, Woodcock, Knight & Co., 32, 58 Southgate h B Joseph D J. Bradford, Nathan, . John, School houses, districts, masters, mistresses, Mulberry Grove, Town High, Schools, first town action respect- ing, line for not keeping, Appropriations for, . . Shay's Rebellion, Shoe Counters, Silk Culture, Small pox, . . . • Slater, Samuel, . • Slavery in Leicester, Smith, James, Eleazer, Snow, Edmund, Snow storms, Southgate, Capt. Isaac, 11 Spencer incorporated, 47 Spies, 2 Sprague, Knight, . . 2, 3 Stamp act, .... 88 Stevens, John P. . . ; Strawberry Hill, . . . 4 6t) 67 ■ Stebbiiis, Capt. John, 10 11 13 i^tickney, Thomas,. . 29, 81 I Stages, 1^5* 17 Stone, Benjamin, Steele, Judge Thomas . . Sunday schools, .... 11 Sumner, Rev. Joseph, D.D. 18 26 ' *^"^''*"'' ^'''^^^^^" • • > .>,( S«!ili. M.r>. I>:llil)!.'s, . . . ^ .l;l.riH> lavunir ... Tea . Thomas, Isaiah . Town-houses . 13 •■>, 3--', 53, 58 34, ."SS 34, 58 32, 45, 47 34, 58 32, 58. 67 30, 37, 58 1*2, 16, 36 -17, 67 25 21 25, 29 25 15,16,25 27 37 2 6, 46 31 16 28 29 32 32 31 4, 16, 19 22, 32, 67 7 13 8 9, 10 36* 3 8, 26 26 46, 47 26, 29 1(», 45, 66 20, 22 28 36 64 42 to 21 6 47 10 ■iO, 28, 68 38 Town-meetings 4, 8, 11, 39 Trades 5 Tything men 4 Uphani, Hon. William Waite, E. C Waldo, Daniel Ward, Gen. Artemas Hezekiah Washburn, Alvan Hyde Gov. Emory ... 8, 12, 20, Lieut. Joseph Col. Setb 12, Washington in Leicester . . . , Waters, Israel Watson, Lieut. William Mrs. Lydia Samuel Waterberry, Rev. Julius .... Wetmore, Charles A Whitney, Eli Whitfield, Rev. George White, Alonzo H. Arthur 46 33, 37* 28 12* 9, 13, 66 29 22, 42, 46, 67 14 13, 14, 15, 66 47 28 11 46 34, 67 24 30 27 18 32, 59 32, 64, 67 VI. INDEX Wilby, Mrs. Ann ....... 23 Wilson, Luther 29 Wild animals 4 Wire drawing 36, 37 Woodcock, John 32 Woolen Manufacture 34-38 Annual value of ' 37 Samuel Watson 34 Olney Mills 35 Rochdale Mills 35 Woolen Manufacturers, continued. Mannville Mills 35, 36 Valley Woolen Mills .... 36 Collier's Mill 36 Chapel Mill 36 A. W. Darling* Co 37 Greenville Woolen Mills, Fac- tory 37 Lakeside Manufacturing Co. 37 Wright, Luther 29 CORRECTIONS AND ADDITIONS. Page 3, line 95, Read thirty-seven. Page 12, line 30, Ununiformed. fo?, Page 21. line 56, f:oirer for Converse, and Foster for Forbes. Page 36, line 9. Insolvent for Solvent. Page 37, Omit Ainasa Watson. Page 43, Read George M. Roberts. Page 49, line 20, Read 1834. Capt. Jolin Chandler was on the comjnittee to determine whieli half of tlie townsliip shoukl first be settled, (p. 3.) It was Pliny Eai-le (p. 2.) whose estate was named Mulberry (irove, and on his machines (p. 34), that L. S. Watson iiricl^ed cards. Rev. Mr. Goddaid's name should be associated witli that of .lonatlian Edwards on page 18, .Josepli A. Denny was the great grandson of Daniel Denny (p. 51.) It should perhaps be more deflinitely stated on page 25, that the first scliool master in town was Jolin Lynde, .Jr., son of .lolm Lynde, who came to Leicester before 1721. To the names of the children of Dea. Dwiglit Bisco, (p. 53), should be added that of Edward F., secretary of the W(5rcester Safe Deposit and Trust Company. I To tlie names of soldiers in the Civil War, are liere added those of Rev. .1. Hill Rouse, who is noticed on page 23; Dr. George O. Warner, noticed on page 46; James Palmer, 51st Massachusetts Regiment, who enlisted for Worcester. 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