WORCESTELR'S 
 
 OLD COMMON 
 
Worcester's 
 Old Common 
 
 Remarks made at the annual banquet 
 of the Worcester "Board of Grade, 
 jipril 19. 1901, by M M M M & 
 
 JMATHANIEL PAINE, ji. M- 
 
 Privately Printed 
 
 Worcester 
 
 1901 
 
Press of r s Blanchard & Cc 
 
 WORCESTER, 
 
 
 
 N.I. 
 of twenty-live co])iL-s printed. 
 
Worcester's Old Comnidii, with Sdiiic of 
 Its Neitditors ani Iiicijents. 
 
 RDM the "Records of the 
 ]'ro])rietors" it appears that 
 111 May, 1667, a Committee 
 w as appointed by the General 
 Court to view the "Country 
 near the Quinsigamond 
 I'linds." with the intention of 
 estabhshing a settlement 
 there, and a few small houses 
 were erected soon after. In 
 June, i66t). the Committee passed the 
 following vote : "Ordered : 
 
 "Agreed. That their bee a place 
 rreserued in comon nearre the centerr of 
 the towne conuenient forr that purrpose 
 al)out twenty accres forr a trayning place 
 & to set a scoolc house vpon as nearre as 
 may be wherrc the meeting house shalbe 
 placed." 
 
 r 
 
 
A settlement, liii\ve\'er, was not ct¥ect- 
 ed till i'>73, Init, (nving to trouble with 
 the Indians, it was soon abandoned, and 
 was not tinallv established till 1713. 
 
 The twenty acres set apart for the 
 Common had been reduced by sale, so 
 that in 173J, when a survey was made liv 
 order of the Proprietors, only alioul 
 eleven or twelve acres remained, b^om 
 this had been set off to Capt. Moses Rice 
 a lot of aliout half an acre, frontino; on 
 the iNTain street, now covered by the 
 Walker lluilding. Cajit. Rice came to 
 W^Drcester from Sudbury and became an 
 influential citizen, and on the lot set ofif 
 til him btiilt the first tavern in Worcester, 
 aijout i/iij or 1720, and a iniblic house 
 was kept on that spot for the next twentv 
 years. I'apt. Ivice afterwards removed 
 to Rutland, Mass., where he was killed 
 by the Indians in 1755. 
 
 The Common then extended from 
 Park street on the south to Alechanic 
 street on the north, and east to Salem 
 sfjuare and Church street, with the excep- 
 tion cif the half-acre owned by Capt. 
 Rice. 
 
 Soon after the establishment of Wor- 
 cester county, in 173 1, there came to 
 Worcester a man who was to become an 
 im])ortant factor in the business and nui- 
 nicip.'d life of the town. This was fobn 
 
Chandler of \Voodstock'^ who later held 
 many important offices. He represented 
 Worcester in the General Court in 1732, 
 '735- 1738. 1739. 175^ and 1753. He 
 was also a selectman, town treasurer and 
 the first clerk of the courts for Worcester 
 comity. In 1742 the Rice tavern lot on 
 the Common was bought by Mr. Chand- 
 ler, who had come into possession of land 
 adjoining. He died in 1762, his death 
 being noticed in the Boston News Letter 
 of Aug-. 12 of that year. His remains 
 were placed in the Chandler tomb on the 
 Common, which, with the Di.x tomb, w-as 
 a little to the south of the Soldiers 
 Monument. I well remember these 
 tombs, which were not removed till after 
 the brick school house on the east end 
 of the Conunon was built. 
 
 Mr. Chandler's son, Col. John Chanil- 
 ler, who came to Worcester a boy of 
 about eleven years of age, succeeded to 
 some of the offices held by his father. 
 He was town treasurer 1753- 1760, town 
 clerk 1764-1768, county treasurer 1762- 
 1775, sheriiT of Worcester county 1751- 
 1762, and judge of probate from 1762 to 
 
 i774-_ 
 
 .\ fine mansion had been erected, with 
 
 barns and other buildings, and Col. 
 
 *'rin 1749a partof Worcester county. Though 
 the town in that year changed her allegiance to 
 Connecticut, the respective states long wrangled 
 over the matter. 
 
A ROUGH DIACtRAM OF THE COMMON AND ADJACENT STREETS, 
 
 'VAT OPtCESTER, 3VC-A_SS. 
 
 1839-43. 
 
 
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 iiliiuil cipiio-silc llii- i'iilr;incc' (o .ludv'i' I':iini'\ VMrd.l '' 
 
Chancilcr resided there until jusl Itefore 
 the be.efiniiino- of the War of the Revoki- 
 tion, at wiiich time he went to Englantl 
 with other loyalists, and died there in the 
 year 1800. He was known in England 
 as the "Honest Refugee." on account of 
 tlie justness of liis claims for losses sus- 
 tained by his espousal of the royalist 
 cause, in comparison witli the extrava- 
 gant claims of others. After lie left the 
 country his name was placed in the list 
 of absentees, and his property confis- 
 cated ; the mansion house and land with 
 some other property were assigned to 
 Airs. Chandler as her dower, she remain- 
 ing in the countr}-. 
 
 Col. Chandler was one of the largest 
 contributors to the building of the Old 
 South meeting house, and was given the 
 first choice of a pew. He chose a wall 
 pew on the minister's right hand. The 
 one on the left was taken by one Lieut. 
 Jacob Hemenway, who chose it because 
 there was a door opening to a place undei 
 the ]nilpit. where he kept a barrel of cidei 
 tor use at Sunday noonings. John 
 Adams (afterwards President of the 
 L'nited States), who taught school in 
 Worcester in 1757, often speaks of Col. 
 Chandler in his diary, says he saw a 
 great deal of him, and once went on a 
 special service for him to the ( Invernor 
 of Rhode Island. 
 
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 ■s. 
 
 ■n 
 
 'A 
 
The description of Col. Chaiuller's 
 property, once a part of the Common, as 
 lately taken from the English records, 
 was as follows : "Thirty rods north 
 easterly from the meeting house ahout 
 one acre. Bounded north westerly on 
 the Cotmty road (Alain street), south 
 easterly on the ministerial land, south 
 westerly on the town common, or road 
 leading from said meeting house to Graf- 
 ton (Front street). Together with one 
 large upright dwelling house, two barns, 
 a cow barn, a large store and a tenement 
 formerly used as an office, also other 
 Ijuildings." 
 
 After Mrs. Chandler's death, in 17S3, 
 some of her children continued to reside 
 in the house, proliably till about 1790. 
 The i)r()])erty in 17S') was formally con- 
 veyed to the heirs-at-law of Col. Chand- 
 ler, I)y a special act of the General Comt, 
 and the\ , in 1789, conveyed it to Samuel 
 Chandler, one of tiie sons. In 1803 he 
 sold it to ("apt. Ephraim Mower, who 
 had occunii'd the house as a tavern since 
 1 79 1. In 1818 the estate was purchased 
 by William Ho\'ey'-\ who took down the 
 old house and erected a brick one in its 
 place. This was known as the "Worces- 
 ter hotel," and later as the United States 
 
 *Mr. Hovey was at one time a manufacturer 
 of hav-cutters on Summer .street. 
 
hotel, renKjved in 1855 to make room for 
 Clark's block*. Among the landlords of 
 the United States hotel were James 
 Worthington, the late William C. Clark 
 and Charles Sibley, the present crier of 
 tlie court. 
 
 In 1757 Col. Chandler marched from 
 the Com!i]on to the relief of Fort William 
 Henry. In (Jctober, 1760, so savs the 
 lioston News Letter, the mansion of Col. 
 Chandler at Worcester was brilliantly 
 illuminated on account of the success of 
 ilis Majesty's arms by the taking of 
 Montreal by Lord Amherst. 
 
 It was from the Chandler house, in 
 178(1, that the Rev. Aaron liancroft, just 
 called to settle over the Second parish 
 in Worcester, was married to Lucretia 
 Chandler, daughter of Col. Chandler, 
 and for a while occupied the house. It 
 was in the fall or winter of 1786, at 
 the time of the famous Shays rebellinn, 
 when the leader of the insurgents de- 
 manded that some of his men should be 
 admitted to the Chaniller house, that Dr. 
 ISancroft refused to admit them, saying 
 they could not come in except over his 
 dead body. 
 
 Another of the Chandler family, who 
 occupied a part of the original Common, 
 having a store near the corner of Alain 
 and Front streets, was Clark Chandler, 
 
 *The old structure was removed t(i Mechanic 
 street, and taken down to make wav for the 
 Crompton block, built in 1S69. 
 
the loyalist tnwn clerk, from ijhH to 
 1775, who, ill 1774, entered upon the 
 town records the famous protest of the 
 loyalists against the resolutions adopted 
 by the town in AJay of that year regard- 
 ing the ttse and importation of tea. The 
 store occupied by Mr. Chandler was 
 afterwards known as the old compound 
 and was moved to I'leasant street, where 
 the Rogers block now is. 
 
 The acceptance of the protest was re- 
 fused bv tile town, but Chandler, the 
 town clerk, himself among the signers of 
 the protest, as were several of his rela- 
 tives and friends, copied it on the records 
 and also sent a copy to Boston for publi- 
 cation. 
 
 As soon as the Whigs discovered thai 
 this protest had been entered upon the 
 town records, they were very excited ami 
 indignant with the clerk for having, as 
 tlK-\' claimed, exceeded his powers, and 
 insulted the town by his procedure. A 
 petition was at once presented to the 
 selectmen, asking them to call a sjiecial 
 meeting to take action upon the unwar- 
 rantable proceeding of the clerk. 
 
 .\t a meeting held the 24th of ,\ugust, 
 1774, resolutions, prepared by a commit- 
 tee previously appointed, were adojited, 
 denouncing the protest of the Tories in 
 the strongest terms ; and as it appeared 
 "that the same is recorded in the town 
 
DKFACK!) l'A(;i'; OF Ti)\VN RECORDS. 
 
book, notwithstanding the many asper- 
 sions against the people of this town, 
 and without tlie liberty or knowledge of 
 the town" ; therefore it was 
 
 "\'oted that the town clerk do, in the 
 presence of the town, obliterate, erase, 
 or otherwise deface the said recorded 
 protest, and the names thereto subscribed, 
 so that it may become utterly illegible 
 and unintelligible." 
 
 1 he clerk, thereupon, in ojjcn meeting, 
 with his pen defaced the pages upon 
 which the obnoxious record was made; 
 but this not proving satisfactory to the 
 patriotic voters then assembled, he was 
 made to dip his fingers into the ink and 
 draw them across the records, so effectu- 
 allv accomplishing the object that the 
 words have indeed become utterly illegi- 
 l)Ie, as may be seen by an inspection of 
 the volume in the hands of the city clerk. 
 A vote was also passed by the town 
 reprimanding and admonishing Mr. 
 ChaniUer for the course he had taken. 
 This inuch about that part of the Com- 
 mon now covered by substantial build- 
 ings and entirely given up to the demands 
 of business. 
 
 Encroachments ui)on the Common, as 
 originaliv laid out. have been made from 
 time to time, so that it is ncnv reduced to 
 about seven acres. The gun house and 
 hearse house wee in the center of the 
 Common for many years*. 
 
 *They stood a little to the west of the pres 
 ent location of the Col. Timothy Bigelow mon- 
 ument. 
 
P'ifty or sixt_\- _\-ears ago there were two 
 traveled roads across the Common — one 
 from the northwest to the southeast cor- 
 ner, the other from the southwest corner, 
 at the present junction of Main and Park 
 streets, to the northeast corner, near the 
 house of Capt. Daniel Goulding'. which 
 was in 1829 a tavern, kept by Nathaniel 
 Eaton, and stood near the jjresent loca- 
 tion of Houghton's block. 
 
 Although nnich reduced in size, the 
 Common continued to be a gathering 
 place for the people, and events of his- 
 toric interest often occurred within its 
 limits, of which a few will be briefly 
 alluded t... 
 
 In August, 1774, when the country was 
 excited and indignant over the arbitrary 
 acts of the i'.rilish g(i\ernment, a large 
 uumlx-r of people of Worcester and the 
 adj(.iining towns assembled on the Com- 
 mi)U, chose a committee to wait upon 
 Timothy Paine, clerk of the courts and 
 chairnian of the selectmen, wdio had 
 lately been appointed one of the man- 
 damuscouncillors and demanded that he 
 resign his office and ])romise that he 
 \\i>uld n.cver act as councillor. 
 
 'Idle committee called upon him at his 
 house, on the west side of Lincoln street, 
 a few rods fmm Lincoln square (the 
 house is still standing) and insisted that 
 
he should appear before the jjeoplc 
 assenihlefl on the coninion and there read 
 his resignation. This he did, and was 
 afterwards allowed to return to his home, 
 after being treated with great indignit\'. 
 It was in the Timothy Paine house that 
 John Adams (afterwards President of 
 the United States) used to visit, and to 
 which he often alludes in his diary. 
 
 The people of the town became greatly 
 excited upon public affairs, and set about 
 preparing for a struggle which, they felt, 
 would soon be forced upon them ; and 
 the\' foresaw that, so arliitrary and intol- 
 erant had become the requirements of the 
 home government, that the result was 
 likeh- to be a separation from ( Ireat 
 IJritain. 
 
 That they might be better iirepared for 
 the impending conflict, the ])atriotic citi- 
 zens of Worcester organized a company 
 of minute men, who drilled on the Com- 
 mon or in the streets, half a day of each 
 week, for which they were allowed by the 
 town compensation of one shilling ])er 
 man for each half day of service. 
 
 On the 19th of April one hun- 
 dred and twenty-six years ago (1775). 
 the news of the attack on Lexington and 
 the fi.ght at Concord was brought to 
 Worcester by a special messenger. He 
 rode through the Main street to the Com- 
 mon, calling upon our citizens to take 
 
up anus in defcncu of their country. In 
 response the minute men promptly as- 
 sembled there. 
 
 Caj)!. Timothy LSigelow took command 
 ami after a fervent prayer by Rev. Thad- 
 deus Maccarty, minister of the Old South 
 church, amid the ringings of l)ells and 
 firing of cann(3n, the brave little Viand of 
 patriotic citizens were soon on their way 
 to lend their aid to their fellow country- 
 men of Lexington and Conciird. The 
 same day another company, under com- 
 mand of Capt. Benjamin l^lagg, fol- 
 lowed, S(i that over one hundred men 
 marched from Worcester Common that 
 19th of April, 1775 
 
 Capt. Bigelow remaine<l in active ser- 
 vice (luring the war as colonel of the 
 i\rassachusetts 15th regiment, which ren- 
 ders 1 most efficient ser\-ice, only to be 
 surpassed by the famous 15th regiment 
 of the War of the Rebellion. 
 
 Eighty-six years later, the Tyth of 
 April, 1861, the anniversary of Col. Bige- 
 Iciw's departure for the war, a suitable 
 niniuinient to his memory was dedicated 
 with appropriate ceremonies, having been 
 erected bv Col. Timothy Bigelow Law- 
 rence of Boston. 
 
 The fact that Revolutionary soldiers 
 were buried im the old Common has 
 latel'i' been recognized, ami a suitable 
 
iiifiiiorial ti3 their meniory lias been put 
 up !)}• the city council, prompted thereto 
 by the city's patriotic societies. 
 
 Another episode of great historical in- 
 terest which took place within the limits 
 of the present Common was the reading 
 of the Declaration of Independence from 
 the porch of the Old South church. 
 
 The Declaration of Independence was 
 passed by Congress on the evening of 
 July 4, 1776. and signed on that clay by 
 President John Hancock and the secre- 
 tary, Charles Thompson, but was not 
 signed, in its completed form, by the 
 members, til! the second day of August 
 following. Iiumediately after its pas- 
 sage, it was 
 
 "Resolved that copies of the Declara- 
 tion be sent to the several assemblies, 
 conventions, and Committees of Councils 
 of Safety, and to the several commanding 
 officers of the Continental troops, and 
 that it be proclaimed in each of the 
 Cmted States and at the Head of the 
 Army." 
 
 As soon, therefore, as copies could be 
 printed, it was sent by couriers to the 
 different States. Having been first pub- 
 licly read at Philadelphia the 8th of 
 July, it was received in New York, at 
 Washington's headquarters, on the 9th, 
 and in the evening it was read at the 
 headquarters of each brigade. 
 
By some means, liowever, rumors of 
 the passage of the act had reached Wor- 
 cester in advance of the messenger with 
 the printed copy, for in the "Massachu- 
 setts Spy" of July loth was the following 
 announcement : — 
 
 "It is reported that the Honorable 
 Continental Congress have declared the 
 American Colonies independent of the 
 Monster of imperious domination and 
 cruelty — Gerat Britain ! Which we hope 
 is true." 
 
 The confirmation of this runiur was 
 received in Worcester on Saturday, the 
 13th, or Sunday, the 14th of July, and 
 was read publicly for the first time in 
 New England by Isaiah Thomas, the 
 publisher of the Massachusetts Spy, 
 from the roof of the west porch of the 
 Olil South meeting house, and also on 
 Sunday, after service, in the house itself*. 
 
 Mr. Thomas, with true journalistic 
 enterprise, intercepted the messenger of 
 Congress on his way through the town, 
 and secured a copy of the important doc- 
 ument, and it was printcil in the "Sp}'" 
 of July 17, for the first time in any news- 
 paper in Massachusetts. The Declara- 
 tion was read in Lloston on the i8th of 
 
 "*The old porch was removed many years be- 
 fore the building itself was taken dovrn, and 
 for sev-eral years served as part of a house on 
 Grafton street. 
 
July, from the balcony of the State 
 House, by Col. Thomas Crafts, to an im- 
 mense concourse, including' not only the 
 loyal people, but many of the British 
 officers and men who were held as pris- 
 oners in Boston. Four da\s later, the 
 first public celebration of its adoption 
 took place in Worcester, and is thus re- 
 [lorted in the "Spy" of the 24th: 
 
 "(Jn Monday last a number of patriotic 
 gentlemen of this town, animated with a 
 love of their country, and to show their 
 approbation of the measures lately taken 
 by the Grand Council of America, 
 assembled on the Green, near the liberty 
 pole, where, after having displayed the 
 colors of the 13 Confederate Colonies 
 of America, the bells were set aringing 
 and the drums a beating, after which, the 
 Declaration of Independence of the 
 United States was reacl to a large and re- 
 spectable body (among whom were the 
 selectmen and committee of correspond- 
 ence), assembled on the occasion, who 
 testified their approbation by repeated 
 huzzas, firing of musketry and cannon, 
 bonfires and other demonstrations of joy; 
 When the arms of that tyrant in Britain, 
 George the III, of execrable memor\-, 
 which in former times decorated, but of 
 late ilisgraced the court house in this 
 town, were committed to the flames and 
 consumed to ashes ; after which, a select 
 company of the sons of freedom, re])aire(l 
 to the tavern, lately known by the sign 
 of the King's .Vrms, which odious signa- 
 
ture of duspulism was taken down by 
 oriiei" of the people, which was cheerfully 
 complied with by the innkeeper. Toasts 
 were ottered upon this occasion, among 
 which were the following : — 
 
 "Prosperity and perpetuity to the 
 United States of i\nierica. The Presi- 
 dent of the Grand Council of America. 
 The Grand Council of America. His ex- 
 cellency, (ieorge Washington. The Pat- 
 riots of America. Every Friend of 
 America. George rejected and liberty 
 protected. Sore eyes to all the Tories 
 and a chestnut biuT for an eyestone. 
 Perpetual itching witliout the benefit of 
 scratching to the enemies of America. 
 Speedy redemption to all the officers and 
 soldiers who are now jjrisoners <if war 
 among our enemies. The Selectmen and 
 Committees of Correspondence for the 
 Town of Worcester. May the enemies 
 of America be laid at her feet. May the 
 freedom and independency of America 
 endure, till the sun grows dim with age. 
 and this earth retm-ns to chaos." 
 
 The report says : — 
 
 "The greatest of decency and good or- 
 iler was observed, and at a suitable time 
 each man returned to jiis respective 
 home." 
 
 There arc other facts of interest con- 
 nected with the Common during the 
 Revohitionar\- period which might bo 
 mentioned, but the time albitted will 
 not periuit. 
 
 More than J^ \ears ago an eminent 
 
citizen oi Alassachusetts and a resident 
 of Worcester, the Hon. John Davis, in 
 an address at the dedication of the Town 
 Hall, in I<S25, referred to tlic patriotic 
 spirit and hold action of the citizens of 
 Worcester before the Declaration of In- 
 dependence, an<l 1 think 1 can_ not do 
 better in closing than to quote from his 
 remarks on that occasion. 
 
 He said : — 
 
 "We have jtist heard mnch jnst praise 
 bestowed upon the bold and overpower- 
 intr elo(|uence of James Otis and ratrick 
 Henrv. but vehement and daring as they 
 were," thev could not have uttered their 
 sentiments in a more decisive tone than 
 do the humble records of Worcester those 
 of its citizens. They could not have re- 
 iielled aggression in a more resolute man- 
 ner, nor more warily shunned the snares 
 that were set for an unsuspecting people. 
 •| Ik- iiihahitanis could n.it be brought in 
 anv manner, direct or indirect, to ae- 
 ciu'iesce in the usurpations of the crown. 
 They would not permit their representa- 
 tives to he sworn bv an officer not ap- 
 pointed according to the provisions of the 
 Provincial Charter, nor to sit where the 
 deliberations of the Legislature would 
 be overawed bv an armed force. 1 heir 
 rcsnhitinn was to vield no right, to sub- 
 mit to no infraction; and if thev could 
 not enjov the privileges secured by the 
 charter, to establish an independent gov- 
 ernment, and commit the issue to a ju.st 
 God. ;f .-m appeal to arms should ensue. 
 
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LIBRftRY OF CONGRESS 
 
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