OLD WORCESTER. 
 
 WORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS, ABOUT 1840. 
 
 FOURTH PAPER IN CONTINUATION. 
 
 By MRS. E. O. P. STURGIS. 
 
PRIVATELY PRINTED, 
 
 2a i'hoi 
 
OLD WORCESTER. 
 
 WORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS, ABOUT 1840. 
 
 FOURTH PAPER IN CONTINUATION. 
 
 By MRS. E. 0. P. STURGIS. 
 From Proceedings of Worcester Society of Antiquity. 
 
 List of previous papers by the same writer, printed by ttie Worcester 
 Society of Antiquity : — 
 
 Old Time Cattle Show. Bulletin of Worcester Society of Antiquity, 
 page 104, Vol. XVI., 1898. 
 
 Extracts from Old Worcester Letters, Vol. XVI., 1899, page 557. 
 
 Old Lincoln Street. Bygone days in Worcester. 1900, Vol. XVII., 
 page 123. 
 
 A Story of three Old Houses. Residences of Hon. Levi Lincoln. 
 Proceedings, Vol. XVII., 1900, page 134. 
 
 Old Worcester, No. 1, Vol. XVII., page 402, 1901. Lincoln Square, Main 
 and Front Streets. Prominent houses and their occupants. 
 
 Old Worcester, No. 2, Vol. XVII., page 413, 1901. Main and Pleasant 
 Streets. Buildings and notable people residing there. 
 
 Old Worcester, No. 3, Vol. XVII., page 470, 1901. Main Street resi- 
 dences. The Second Parish (Unitarian) Church and its parishioners, 
 during the pastorates of Rev. Dr. Aaron Bancroft and Rev. Dr. Alonzo 
 Hill. The Gardiner Chandler House and the House of Rev. Dr. Aaron 
 Bancroft. 
 
 WORCESTER, MASS.: 
 
 PRESS OF CHARLES HAMILTON, 
 
 No. 311 Main Stkeet. 
 
 1902. 
 
Frr, 
 
AJ 
 
 OLD WORCESTER. IV. 
 
 (Continued). 
 
 Chestnut Street, About 1840. 
 
 On Chestnut street, facing Pearl street, there stood a large 
 handsome house painted white, with an extensive garden 
 connected with it, owned and occupied by Mr. Francis H. 
 Kinnicutt, with his wife and six children. He was the 
 younger brother of Judge Kinnicutt, and had married Miss 
 Parker, a niece of Hon. Levi Lincoln, having been engaged 
 first to her elder sister, Martha, whose death prevented their 
 union. Mr. Kinnicutt was a hardware merchant, and oc- 
 cupied a store in " Paine 's Block," on the corner of Main 
 and Walnut streets. Miss Sarah Parker, a younger sister 
 of Mrs. Kinnicutt, formed a part of her family, and in this 
 house was married to Mr. Joseph Mason. 
 
 The next house on the north was occupied by Mr. Clarendon 
 Harris and his wife, who was Miss Charlotte Thayer, but 
 later by Mr. and Mrs. Frederick Gale, Mr. Harris having 
 built a cottage on Elm Street for his own use, nearly opposite 
 to what is now the ''Jonas Clark" estate. Mr. Harris, 
 when I recall him, kept a small store on the west side of 
 Main street, where he sold stationery, a few books, and the 
 usual matters pertaining to such a business. 
 
 On the corner of Chestnut and Elm streets there stood a 
 large handsome wooden house, occupied by Judge Pliny 
 Merrick, one of the most prominent lawyers in the "County 
 of Worcester." At an earlier date however, he lived on the 
 eastern side of Main street, near Thomas street. I am igno- 
 
4 Old Worcester. IV. 
 
 rant if the "Merrick Family" were indigenous to Worces- 
 ter or not, but beside the Judge there were two brothers, 
 one, Francis T., and Thornton, who married Miss Rebecca 
 Curtis, a sister of Mrs. Dr. John Green, and two sisters, one 
 the wife of Mr. Henry W. Miller, and another married to Mr. 
 Samuel Allen, the father of Mrs. S. F. Haven, — all of whom 
 were residents of Worcester at the same period. Judge 
 Merrick was appointed one of the Supreme Court judges 
 in 1853, and held the office until 1864. The latter years 
 of Judge Merrick were spent in Boston, he having moved to 
 that city on his elevation to the "Bench of the Supreme 
 Court." Probably the most important case which Judge 
 Merrick ever engaged in, was that of the "AVebster" 
 murder case ; he defending Dr. John W. Webster, though 
 ineffectually, from the result of his crime of murdering 
 Dr. George Parkman. 
 
 Judge Merrick married Miss Mary Thomas, the daughter of 
 Isaiah Thomas, and granddaughter of Dr. Isaiah Thomas 
 who was styled "one of the most patriotic and public spirited 
 citizens of Worcester during and after the Revolutionary 
 War." Dr. Thomas was a native of Boston, born January 
 19, 1749, and was appointed postmaster in Worcester in 
 1775, holding the office for many years. On July 14, 1776, 
 he read to the people in front of the porch of "The Old South 
 Meeting House " the " Declaration of Independence." He was 
 the first president of the " American Antiquarian Society," 
 and presented not only his valuable library to it, but gave 
 gifts in money and built the hall which it formerly occupied 
 on Summer street. John Hancock and Samuel Adams were 
 living in Worcester when Dr. Thomas moved there with The 
 Spy, and possibly it was owing to their influence and encour- 
 agement that he was enabled to publish it in that town, they 
 hoping perhaps that its teachings would "stem the tide" and 
 counteract in some degree the royalist sentiment which at 
 that period pervaded not only the town, but the "County 
 of Worcester." The Spy or The American Oracle of Liberty 
 
Old Worcester. IV. 5 
 
 was the first newspaper published in Worcester, although 
 it had been established in Boston some years earlier.^ 
 
 Dr. Thomas built a house, for those days an elegant man- 
 sion, on the ground where the "New Court House" now 
 stands, "the building containing his printing press standing 
 just south of it," and here he passed the closing days of his 
 life, dying in 1831, at the age of eighty-two years, "the most 
 distinguished citizen of Worcester." "Dr. Thomas as well 
 as Dr. Bancroft wore in the street long grey stockings, knee 
 buckles, small-clothes and the capacious coat so fashionable 
 among gentlemen in the beginning of the century, and he 
 was one of the last to appear in the street in that costume." 
 
 Judge and Mrs. Merrick had no children, but a niece of 
 the latter, Miss Caroline Crocker, made her home with her 
 aunt a part of the year, for the purpose of attending school 
 in Worcester. Mrs. Merrick was a most estimable woman, 
 and one much respected by her friends and acquaintances, 
 and after her removal to Boston, her house was frequented 
 by some of the most agreeable and noted people in the city, 
 the legal element naturally predominating. 
 
 On the northwestern corner of Elm and Chestnut streets 
 there was as now a large open lot, belonging to the fine estate 
 of the late S. M. Burnside, who moved from Main Street 
 more than fifty years since, and was one of the first people 
 to build in this part of the town. His former home was a 
 large old fashioned house, on the east side of Main street, 
 built of wood and painted white, with a large garden in 
 the rear, and here the eldest of the family, a daughter, 
 died more than sixty years since. Mrs. Burnside was a 
 sister of the late Mr. Alfred D. Foster, who, following in 
 the footsteps of his brother-in-law, migrated from Main 
 street and built the next house to his on Chestnut street. 
 Mr. Foster's house on Main street was built of brick, and 
 finally became a hotel. All of the Foster family with one 
 exception have now passed away. 
 
 > The firat number of The Spy published in Worcester is dated May 3, 1776. 
 
6 Old Worcester. IV. 
 
 The late Francis H. Dewey built a house beyond there 
 going north, and here my knowledge of Chestnut street ends. 
 I remember very little about the lower part of Elm street. 
 Mr. H. B. Clafiin, who kept a dry goods store in the town, 
 lived near the foot of the street, near Main (until he moved 
 to New York), as did also Mr. Henry K. Newcomb, who 
 married Miss Stiles, a sister of Mrs. A. D. Foster. On the 
 southeastern corner of Elm and Chestnut streets, Mr. Francis 
 T. Merrick had a house, with a garden extending down the 
 street. He was at one period president of the Citizens' 
 Bank, and was the father of the late Mrs. D. W. Lincoln, 
 and in this house she was married. On the northern side of 
 Elm street, Dr. Workman lived, above "The Church of 
 the Unity," and there may have been other buildings there, 
 but I cannot recall them.' 
 
 Passing the ''Corner Lot," as it was called, on the corner 
 of Elm and Chestnut streets, one came to a small wooden 
 house built by Gov. Levi Lincoln for his own use, pending 
 the building of his larger house farther west. Though small 
 in extent, this was a pretty, attractive place, with a garden 
 on the eastern side and a stable in the rear of the house. 
 Mr. F. H. Kinnicutt occupied this house after Gov. Lincoln 
 left it, and finally it became the property of the late George 
 W. Richardson, who lived here with his wife and two chil- 
 dren, Mr. Richardson came from Watertown, where he had 
 married Miss Lucy White, a sister of the first Mrs. James 
 Russell Lowell, and began the practice of law in Worcester. 
 Both Mr. and Mrs. Richardson died some years since, but 
 the two children are still living, though away from their 
 birthplace. A large garden extended from here to the resi- 
 dence of the late Levi Lincoln, now occupied by his grandson. 
 
 When Governer Lincoln first occupied his new house 
 there was an unobstructed view of the country as far as 
 "Newton Hill," but gradually the "Old Sever Farm" was 
 
 •Between the Church of the Unity and Dr. Workman's were the residences of 
 Calvin foster and Mason H. Morse. 
 
Old Worcester. IV. 7 
 
 sold in lots, building having been given gin impetus by 
 Gov. Lincoln moving so far out of town as it seemed at that 
 period, and soon it was covered with houses. On the southern 
 side of Elm street, after passing the house of Judge Merrick, 
 the first building I recall was the cottage of Mr. Clarendon 
 Harris, almost opposite Mr. Richardson's house. When 
 Mr. A. H. Bullock married he lived in a small house on this 
 side of the street, to the east however of the large house he 
 built at a later date, now occupied by his son. Some time 
 about 1840, Charles Paine built a house nearly opposite 
 that of Governor Lincoln, but a little more to the west of it, 
 and here he brought his first wife, who was Miss Elizabeth 
 Ferguson, who died in 1842. Henry Paine, a twin brother 
 of Charles, also died there in 1844. Some way over the hill 
 Mr. Gardiner Paine had built a house on the corner of West 
 and Elm Streets, and here he died in 1854, leaving a wife 
 and two children. In this vicinity, but farther to the west, 
 on Pleasant street, Mr. Daniel Waldo Lincoln lived on a farm. 
 He was the third son of the Governor, and was interested in 
 horticultural pursuits, owning green houses, etc., and was 
 one of the first persons in the country to grow and exhibit 
 the great Victoria water lily. He was born in Worcester 
 in 1813 and married in 1841 Miss Frances F. Merrick, 
 daughter of Francis T. Merrick. In 1863 and 1864 he was 
 Mayor of Worcester, and at a later date became president of 
 the Boston and Albany Railroad, which office he held at the 
 time of his death. I do not remember the year, but some 
 time early in the forties, in company with a party of young 
 people of both sexes, I went one evening, by invitation, to 
 the "Lincoln Farm," which in those days seemed far out of 
 town, to a "Husking Bee," a form of entertainment which 
 I presume is now obsolete in Worcester. We sat on piles of 
 hay on the floor of the large barn and husked corn all the 
 evening, but how the barn was lighted I cannot recall. I 
 remember I was the only one of the company who found a 
 "red ear." After our work was finished we adjourned to the 
 
8 Old Worcester. IV. 
 
 house, where we had a supper appropriate to the occasion, 
 consisting of apples, nuts, raisins, etc., and no doubt there 
 was cider to drink, though I do not remember it. I fancy 
 this gathering must have been a sort of housewarming, for 
 handsome George Lincoln was there, and he died in 1847, 
 and had been away from Worcester some time before that 
 event. So the last "husking bee " in Worcester, as I suppose, 
 took place nearly sixty years ago ! 
 
 I remember very little about the Pleasant street of fifty or 
 sixty years ago, and know nothing of its present condition. 
 On the right-hand side. Judge Paine's land extended a long 
 way up the street, and on the opposite one, that belonging 
 to the "Nazro House." On the northern side at the top of 
 the street was a small house in which lived Mrs. Stiles and 
 her two daughters, the Misses Mary and Elizabeth Stiles. 
 There was another daughter, Mrs. Wood, who lived on 
 School street. After the hill was cut down, the access to 
 this house was by means of a steep flight of wooden steps, 
 it having formerly stood near the sidewalk. There may 
 have been houses beyond here, but if so I cannot recall the 
 fact. 
 
 A short distance from Pleasant street going south, one 
 came to the hill corresponding to " Court Hill," on the north 
 part of Main street. I am not aware if this elevation was 
 given any distinctive name, except that it was called either 
 "Nobility Hill," or "Mt. Pisgah," but the "why and the 
 wherefore" of these designations I am ignorant. The 
 Chandler house stood at the point where the land began to 
 rise from Main street, and next was the fine old mansion of 
 Mr. Benjamin Butman, standing far back from the roadway, 
 built and occupied by him after leaving the Chandler house, 
 which he had bought in 1818. In or near the year 1822, 
 he moved into his new house. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Butman, with his niece Miss Ferguson, who 
 later married Mr. Charles Paine, with an adopted son and 
 daughter, composed the family. George Butman married 
 
Old Worcester. IV. 9 
 
 Miss Mary Dowley, daughter of Levi A. Dowley, and died 
 many years ago, having outlived his wife. When Mr. 
 Butman left this house, Dr. Joseph Sargent bought it, and 
 lived in it until the march of improvement caused it to be 
 moved elsewhere. I do not remember in what order the 
 next three houses came, but one, a fine, large wooden house, 
 with end to the street, the entrance being on the north side, 
 which was reached by a pathway from the front, was owned 
 and occupied by Mr. George Tilly Rice, with his wife and 
 two sons. 
 
 Mrs. Rice was Miss Elizabeth Chandler Blake, daughter 
 of Hon. Francis Blake of Worcester. Mr. Rice was born in 
 1796 and died in 1867. He was a merchant, and president 
 of the Worcester and Nashua R. R. Mrs. Rice outlived her 
 husband some years and died in the house on Elm street, 
 which she built after his death. 
 
 One of these three houses belonged to Mr. John Milton Earle, 
 and the other to Mr. Anthony Chase, and both were occupied 
 by them and their families. These gentlemen were Quakers 
 and men much respected in the town of Worcester, where 
 their descendants are still living. Mr. John Milton Earle was 
 much interested in horticultural pursuits and prominent in 
 the annual exhibitions of the Horticultural Society. There 
 was still another house in this vicinity, but I cannot recall 
 who lived in it. The last house on the hill, situated just as 
 the road joined Main street, was owned and occupied by 
 Dr. John Park with his wife and two daughters. Miss 
 Louisa, the elder of the two was an authoress of some repute, 
 she having written and published a novel. She married 
 Rev. Dr. Edward Hall of Providence, the father of Rev. 
 Edward H. Hall, at one time pastor of the "Second Parish." 
 Miss Mary Ann Park married Hon. B. F. Thomas. Dr. 
 Park moved to Worcester in 1831, from Boston, where he 
 had established a school for young ladies in Mt. Vernon 
 street. After their daughters were married, Dr. and Mrs. Park 
 moved to the "W^orcester House," where Dr. Park died in 
 
10 Old Worcester. IV. 
 
 1852. Mrs. Park survived him some years. The "Wor- 
 cester House," which was formerly the home of Gov. Levi 
 Lincoln, is now I understand called the "Lincoln House." 
 It was much enlarged when it became a hotel, and was 
 the home at one time of a number of Worcester families, 
 to say nothing of those who lived there from time to time as 
 their business or pleasure called them to Worcester. Public 
 and private parties, receptions and dinners were given there, 
 and cotillon parties were held during one winter, every 
 fortnight, in the large dining hall. Many law students also 
 made the "Worcester House" their home. It is a difficult 
 matter when a person has been living away from a place for 
 more than fifty years as I have been, to remember details 
 concerning people I formerly knew, and places, and houses 
 with which I was once so familiar. I have no doubt that 
 v;ith the best intentions to be accurate in my account of 
 "Old Worcester" I have made many mistakes. My atten- 
 tion has been called to two misstatements I have made 
 regarding Mrs. Spooner, but I "told the tale as it was told 
 to me." 
 
 This unfortunate lady was not a relative of my father's 
 family, but she was closely connected with it, for her sister, 
 Miss Elizabeth Ruggles, married Mr. Gardiner Chandler 
 (son of John Chandler), who was first cousin to my grand- 
 father, Dr. William Paine, and I have no doubt that these 
 Worcester County families were on intimate terms, for they 
 sympathized in their political opinions, being faithful 
 adherents to the "British Crown." When a child, I often 
 used to hear the story of Mrs. Spooner, and was told that she 
 was executed on "Millstone Hill," and that her grave was 
 in the woods opposite Dr. Paine's house.* I was also told 
 that she was confined during her trial in the "old prison," 
 in Lincoln square. Having no knowledge that there had 
 
 ' Mrs. Spooner with the three other accomplices on the crime were executed upon 
 a knoll which existed nearly upon the site of the Union Station. She was buried in 
 the g.i.rdcu of the A. H. Green estate on Green Hill. 
 
Old Worcester. IV. 11 
 
 ever been a jail on that spot prior to the one I remembered 
 and knew on the south side of the square, I naturally sup- 
 posed this jail was the one referred to by my elders, when I 
 listened to the story of Mrs. Spooner and her unhappy fate. 
 
 As regards the Daniel Waldo house, — by using the word 
 "double" in describing it, I had no intention of conveying 
 the idea that it was two houses under one roof. I remember 
 it perfectly well, and that it was a large square brick house 
 with rooms on each side of the front door. It may not be 
 correct to use the word "double" in reference to such a 
 building, but it is not infrequently used to designate a house 
 built like the Waldo Mansion. 
 
 There is a house in Washington similar to the Waldo 
 house, formerly occupied by a Secretary of State, and I have 
 noticed recently in a letter from a Washington correspondent 
 to a Boston newspaper, that he refers to this house in con- 
 nection with its present occupants as " a large double house." 
 When Daniel Waldo, Sr., moved to his new house, he used 
 the south part of the lower story for the business of The 
 Worcester Bank, he being its first president. 
 
 Pearl Street and its Vicinity, About 1840. 
 
 As the inhabitants of Worcester increased greater demands 
 were made for business facilities, and to attain that end 
 a brick block of stores, handsome for those days, had been 
 erected covering the whole space of ground on Main street 
 between Elm and Pearl streets, and in consequence the 
 house formerly standing on this spot and occupied by Mr. 
 Calvin Willard had been moved round the south corner into 
 Pearl street, thus forming one of the first buildings on this 
 thoroughfare. With few exceptions my memory fails me as 
 to the occupants of the new building, but at the northern 
 end on the corner of Elm and Main streets, one flight up, 
 Dr. Blood the dentist had an office, and about midway in 
 the block in the third story a gentleman by the name of 
 
12 Old Worcester. IV. 
 
 Phipps had opened a girl's school, which I attended. On 
 the southern corner was a store occupied by Messrs. William 
 and Albert Brown, merchant tailors, men much respected 
 in the town. The firm was an old one — how old I can- 
 not say, — but it was in existence in 1830, for Mr. C. C. 
 Baldwin in his "Diary " mentions that he bought "a new 
 green coat" of them in that year. This store was as fav- 
 orably situated as was the old "Citizens' Bank," to observe 
 the comings and goings of the citizens of the small town 
 of that day, and if all reports were true gentlemen living in 
 that part of Worcester were wont to "drop in" there on 
 their way home at noon and the latter part of the day 
 to hear what was going on in the town, and to interchange 
 opinions on matters of public or private import. Over 
 the Browns' store were lawyers' offices and their signs quite 
 covered that end of the building. Mr. Willard continued 
 to reside in his house after it had been transplanted, but 
 when he left it Dr. Joseph Sargent occupied it. He was, I 
 think, a Leicester man, and had recently returned from 
 Paris, where he had been pursuing his medical studies, 
 and was now ready to advise any patients who might entrust 
 themselves to his care. He married Miss Emily Whitney of 
 Cambridge, and remained in this house until he moved into 
 the "Deacon Butman" house on the southern end of Main 
 street. 
 
 Next to the Sargent house,* Mr. Albert Brown had built 
 a small wooden one^ for his own use, or so I am told, for I 
 cannot recall it. 
 
 Beyond this house going west was a brick block of 
 two houses. The eastern one was occupied by Mrs. Denny, 
 with her daughters, and one grandchild, she having moved 
 here from her house on the corner of Main and Mechanic 
 streets, "in the south part of which one of her daughters. 
 Miss Elizabeth Denny, kept a store for the sale of the finer 
 class of dry goods, ladies' fine shoes, &c." Miss Mary Denny 
 
 ' On I'earl street. - A two-story house. 
 
Old Worcester. IV. 13 
 
 married her uncle of the same name as herself, who lived in 
 Leicester, but as this marriage was not legal in Massachu- 
 setts, they were obliged to go to Connecticut to have the 
 ceremony performed, and I believe they made their home 
 in Norwich in that State. 
 
 Miss Harriet Denny was engaged to Mr, William Lincoln, 
 a younger brother of the late Gov. Levi Lincoln, but his 
 death severed the relation. She at a later date married 
 Colonel Nahum Ward, a native of Shrewsbury, but at this 
 time a resident of Marietta, Ohio, he having at an earlier 
 date settled in the western country. 
 
 I am reminded, for I do not recollect the circumstance, 
 that he brought a mummy from the Mammouth Cave to the 
 American Antiquarian Society, and that Mr. Samuel Jen- 
 nison wrote a poem on the subject, which was published in 
 the Worcester Spy, the first two lines being — 
 
 " Just arrived from Kentucky 
 Colonel Ward and his Ducky." 
 
 Miss Caroline Denny, the granddaughter, married Dr. 
 John Tyler, who was for many years the head of the McLean 
 Asylum for the Insane, but she only lived a few years after 
 that event. There was a brother, Mr. Austin Denny, but 
 if he was an inmate of his mother's house, I cannot recall 
 the fact. 
 
 " All the ladies are out but me," was the answer I received 
 one day at the door when I called on my schoolmate Miss 
 Caroline Denny; an amusing incident which I only mention 
 as an illustration of the simple ways of the "Yankee Help" 
 of those days. 
 
 In the other part of the block lived Dr. Smalley, a clergy- 
 man of the orthodox persuasion, and pastor of the Union 
 Church, which stood on Front street, next to the house 
 occupied at one time by Mr. Rejoice Newton; at a much 
 earlier date however than when the church was built. The 
 family consisted of Dr. and Mrs. Smalley and their son 
 
14 Old Worcester. IV. 
 
 George, who for many years lived in London, as corres- 
 pondent of the New York Tribune, and who made for himself 
 a good position in "London Society." For the last few 
 years he has resided in New York, acting as correspondent 
 of the London Times. He has also written a book, composed 
 of sketches of people of note whom he had met while in 
 Europe, and in which he gives an interesting account of 
 Mr. Gladstone's famous "Mid-Lothian" campaign, of which 
 he formed a part in some official capacity. 
 
 In the next house above dwelt Mr. Emory Washburn, 
 with his wife and children; a lawyer by profession, and a 
 man of genial, pleasant manners. He married Miss Giles 
 of Walpole, N. H., a well educated, agreeable woman, with 
 conversational powers of no mean order, who made her 
 house a pleasant resort for her guests both old and young. 
 Miss Giles, a sister of Mrs. Washburn, formed a part of the 
 household. Mr. Washburn was one of that group of lawyers 
 in Worcester who made the "Worcester Bar" so famous, 
 for there was none more so outside of Suffolk County. 
 Judge Barton, Pliny Merrick, B. F. Thomas, Charles Allen, 
 Emory Washburn and others of lesser note in their profession, 
 were renowned all over the State for their legal learning, 
 and the young women of those days were largely indebted 
 to this fact, for law students came from far and wide and 
 filled the offices of these lawyers in order to be initiated into 
 the intricacies of the legal profession. There were always 
 plenty of young men in society for partners at balls and 
 parties. 
 
 Mr. Emory Washburn was born in Leicester in 1800, 
 graduated from Williams College and studied law at Harvard. 
 In 1828, he went to Worcester and for some years was the 
 law partner of "Honest" John Davis. He held a variety 
 of public offices, being at different periods State Senator 
 and Representative to the General Court, aid on Governor 
 Lincoln's staff from 1830 to 1834 ; Judge of the "Court of 
 Common Pleas," so called formerly, but later " The Superior 
 
Old Worcester. IV. 15 
 
 Court " ; and was elected Governor of the State of Massa- 
 chusetts in 1854, being called "the last Whig Governor of 
 Massachusetts." Finally he was made "Dane Professor'' 
 in the Law School at Harvard, holding the same office 
 until 1876 when he resigned. Governor Washburn made 
 his home in Cambridge the latter part of his life, and died 
 there in 1877. Mrs. Washburn survived her husband for 
 many years, having passed away not long since. Of the 
 four children of Governor and Mrs. Washburn, three sons 
 and one daughter, only the latter survived their parents. 
 
 Among the prominent law students who came to Worcester 
 at the time to which I refer, was the late Francis H. Dewey, 
 son of Judge Dewey of Northampton. 
 
 Passing up the street one comes to a large wooden mansion 
 painted white, with the end to the street, on the east side 
 of which was a piazza from which one entered the house. 
 The garden extended down to the Washburn premises. 
 Here lived Hon. Thomas Kinnicutt, a native of Warren, 
 R. I., born in 1800, and who died in Worcester in 1858. He 
 was a lawyer by profession, at one period Speaker of the 
 State House of Representatives and Judge of Probate for 
 the County of Worcester. He married Harriet Paine Bur- 
 ling, my kinswoman, for we were both great grandchildren 
 of Judge Timothy Paine and Sarah Chandler his wife, who 
 was born in 1805 and died in 1838. She was the first person 
 to be buried in the Rural Cemetery. There were three 
 children, two sons and one daughter, the latter and one 
 son outliving their parents.^ 
 
 In the last house of all on the northern side of Pearl 
 street lived Mr. Henry W. Miller. He was a hardware 
 merchant, and his store in nij'- time was the one in the south- 
 ern end of Granite Block, on Main street. In May, 1829, 
 according to the Diary of Mr. C. C. Baldwin, from which 
 I quote, "Henry W. Miller of the firm of Rice & ^liller of 
 
 1 Mr.Washbuni was a Councillor of tlie American Antiquarian Society for twenty- 
 eight years. 
 
16 Old Worcester. IV. 
 
 this town, married Miss Nancy Merrick, sister of Pliny 
 Merrick. Do not attend the wedding." There were two 
 daughters of this marriage, one the wife of the senior Senator 
 of Massachusetts, and the other the late Mrs. W. W. Rice. 
 Mr. Miller married for his second wife a Boston lady by the 
 name of Andrews, both have died within a few years; and 
 his son-in-law Senator Hoar wrote and published in one of 
 the Worcester newspapers an appreciative notice of him. 
 Passing over to the southern side of Pearl street, was 
 the house of Mr. William Brown, the first one who lived there 
 with his wife and daughter, Miss Fanny Brown. Next came 
 the house of Mr. Samuel Jennison ; his wife and five children 
 composing the household. This building was, though on 
 a smaller scale, almost the counterpart of that of Judge 
 Kinnicutt's opposite, the garden reaching down the street 
 as did his. The youngest daughter married a son of Judge 
 Barton, and died many years since, but the three older ones 
 are still living. Samuel Jennison, Jr., has died very recently, 
 having outlived his wife, who was Miss Mary Thaxter of 
 Watertown, many years. He was very musical and con- 
 tributed greatly to the enjoyment of his sister's friends by 
 singing German songs to them at the social gatherings of 
 the young people at the house. Mr. Jennison, the elder, was 
 librarian of the American Antiquarian Society from 1814 
 to 1825, and for twenty-eight years its treasurer. He was 
 also for many years cashier of the Worcester Bank, "the 
 gentle and genial cashier, " as he was styled. Now my 
 memory fails me, but I am told that at the end of Mr. Jen- 
 nison's garden stood a small wooden house occupied at one 
 time by Mr. William Cross. The next house going east was 
 a square wooden building, painted white, and here in 1845 
 Miss Lucretia Bancroft, the ninth child of Dr. Aaron Bancroft 
 and his wife Lucretia, opened a boarding and day school 
 for young ladies. Prior to this occupancy however, Mrs. 
 Phelps kept a boarding-house here, and her son Henry, who 
 was a clerk in the dry goods store of Mr. H. B. Claflin, 
 
Old Worcester. IV. 17 
 
 married Miss Burt, a daughter of Mr, Simeon Burt. Among 
 the scholars at Miss Bancroft's school were two daughters 
 of Mr. Welcome Farnum of Blackstone, Mass., a rich manu- 
 facturer, whose residential village went by the name of 
 " Farnumsville." Soon after the opening of the school. Miss 
 Bancroft became Mrs. Farnum, and Mr. H. G. 0. Blake 
 took possession with Mrs. Blake, of the school. The latter 
 died in 1846, and I suppose this event caused the school to 
 come to an end. The next I heard or recall of this house, 
 was that rooms were let in it to young men, and it was 
 styled "The Bower," but of the origin of this designation 
 I am ignorant. Mrs. Farnum passed the latter years of her 
 life in Europe with her nephew, Mr. George Davis, who had 
 married his cousin. Miss Clara Gherardi. After the death 
 of Mrs. Bancroft, the wife of the historian, Mrs. Farnum 
 left Germany, where she was then residing, to come home 
 to be with her brother in his declining years, but as fate 
 would have it, she died on the passage, so near her desti- 
 nation most happily that she was not buried at sea ; but 
 being brought to Worcester was, after funeral services 
 being performed in her father's old church, laid at rest 
 with her kindred in Rural Cemetery, 
 
 There was one more house before reaching Main street, but 
 I remember very little about it except that it was occupied 
 at one time by Doctor Bates, with his family. Heywood's 
 dry goods store stood on the corner of Main and Pearl. 
 Does anyone know from what circumstance this street 
 derived the name of "Pearl," one of no significance, and 
 why it was not named as other streets in its vicinity were, 
 such as Maple, Walnut, Elm, and Chestnut, for some of our 
 native trees? 
 
 Some Facts concerning Colored People and Domestic 
 Service in the Early Life of Worcester. 
 
 When I was a child there was quite a colony of colored 
 people living in a part of Worcester called "Pine Meadow," 
 
18 Old Worcester. IV. 
 
 and I think we may assume that it was composed of the 
 descendants of slaves which were owned by the inhabitants 
 of that town during the latter part of the eighteenth century. 
 
 I read that on "November 29th, 1767, the Rev. Thaddeus 
 Maccarty married ' Cumberland and Dinah ' negro servants 
 to Gardiner Chandler." 
 
 "On November 24th, 1771, Dido, negro servant to John 
 Chandler, was married to Cato, negro servant to Adam 
 Walker." In 1784, Ann Chandler, widow of Sheriff Chand- 
 ler, before a Justice of the Peace, prays for allowance for 
 supporting Sylvia, negro woman, one year and one-half, from 
 June, 1782, to January, 1784, £23 8s. 
 
 The Worcester Spy of May, 1805, says "Died in this place 
 Sylvia, a female African, supposed to be at least 105 years 
 old." "Mrs. EHza (Bancroft) Davis says that she well re- 
 members old Sylvia, who made it her pleasure to attend 
 young children, and she recalls what was said of her age, 
 for she made at the age of fourteen a shroud for the old 
 woman when she was just one hundred years older than 
 herself." 
 
 This slave seems originally to have belonged in the 
 family of John Chandler, the father of Sheriff Chandler, for 
 when his second wife died, she left this woman to the care 
 of Mrs. Timothy Paine, being included as part of her assets, 
 in the division of her property. I quote the following, 
 "In this Chandler Family there had been a slave, called in 
 1803 and 1804, Old Aunt Sylvia, and at that time she was 
 107 years old and perhaps 114." "When the Hon. James 
 Putnam fled from Worcester during the Revolution, he left 
 behind him a negro man." Mrs. Lucre tia Bancroft in a 
 letter refers to an old colored cook in her father's family. 
 Judge Timothy Paine seems to have owned slaves, for when 
 he had his wig knocked off on the occasion of his forced 
 resignation of the office of Mandamus Councillor, he refused 
 to replace it or again wear one, but presented it "to one of 
 his slaves called Worcester." 
 
Old Worcester. IV. 19 
 
 So we may suppose that the two families mentioned above 
 were not the only people who were slaveholders in Worces- 
 ter in former days, and that later, in a free State, the slaves 
 increased and multiplied. The first colored or mulatto 
 woman whom I remember in Worcester was Mrs. John Rich, 
 a most excellent person, who went out to cook dinners on 
 special occasions, such as Christmas and Thanksgiving Days. 
 She was always dressed in the cleanest of calico dresses, 
 with a bright colored plaid handkerchief on her shoulders 
 and one round her head. She was well to do, and I think 
 owned her house in the town, where she lived with her 
 husband. She was small in stature and a particularly neat 
 looking little body. When the lots in the Rural Cemetery 
 were first sold, she bought one, but when she died there was 
 quite a difference of opinion among those in authority as 
 to allowing her to be buried there. Finally the question 
 was settled in her favor, though not without some strong 
 opposite opinions being expressed on the subject. 
 
 Another colored woman whom I recall was Mrs. Vanvac- 
 ter, a laundress by profession, who, to use an expression 
 common among her fraternity, "washed" for the Supreme 
 Court Judges when they were in Worcester, it being per- 
 fectly understood however, that the work was done in the 
 different houses where she washed by the day. The washing 
 she could manage easily, and not be detected in so doing but 
 the ironing was another affair, so she would do it when the 
 family were at dinner, or later in the day when she felt 
 secure from interruption. 
 
 When the Supreme Court was in session if the people 
 employing her, examined their clothes lines critically they 
 would be sure to find some of Chief Justice Shaw's volumi- 
 nous shirts flapping in the wind. At our house one day she 
 burned the ruffles on one of his shirt bosoms off, but folded 
 it up carefully and shaking with laughter said, "He won't 
 find it out until he gets home." This woman was as black 
 as the ace of spades but held herself to be above her race, 
 
20 Old Worcester. IV. 
 
 and when a hall was arranged so the colored people could 
 go to meeting by themselves, she tossed her head in the 
 air and said, "I am not going to church with niggers," 
 in answer to an inquiry as to her intentions in the matter. 
 This woman was a "character," and a source of great 
 amusement to the children in the family. Then there was 
 a couple of mulattoes John Morey and wife, most respect- 
 able worthy people, he a barber by profession who, it was 
 said, always went to bed every night with clothes pins on 
 their noses, to get them in good shape. John Angier was 
 another colored man whom everybody knew, but was not 
 a shining light in the community. He married Mary, the 
 slave girl whom Mrs. Rose had brought from Antigua, and 
 who found to her cost that slavery under her gentle mis- 
 tress was far preferable to being the hard-worked wife of 
 this worthless negro. 
 
 Does any one in Worcester remember "Sam," for I never 
 heard of his having any other name, who was a Washington 
 negro, a bright capable young man, who used to come and go 
 between Washington and Worcester, with Mr. and Mrs. 
 John Davis when the former was in the Senate. Mrs. Davis 
 used to give a most amusing account of the way she managed 
 when any of her Washington friends came to visit her. In 
 those days a good cook in a house was an impossibility, 
 and perhaps having in her kitchen only an ignorant Yankee 
 woman, who had not the faintest ideas even of the rudiments 
 of cooking, she had to trust to "Sam" for everything in 
 that department. She would instruct Mr. Davis to have a 
 vehicle at the door as soon as he conveniently could after 
 breakfast, to take their guests for a drive, and begging him 
 to keep them out as long as possible. As soon as they 
 were out of sight, she would put on a working dress, and 
 descending to the kitchen, would prepare the dinner, and 
 set every thing in train, knowing that "Sam" could cook 
 it, take it up and bring it to the dining-room in proper order. 
 Then she would dress again and be ready to receive her 
 
Old Worcester. IV. 21 
 
 guests on their arrival. Then after the dinner was served 
 and eaten the company would congratulate her on having 
 such an excellent cook. And no doubt the cooking was 
 good, for all the members of the "Chandler Family" knew 
 what good eating was, and were learned in culinary lore. 
 One of the family many years ago was said to have died 
 from eating too much succotash, not the dish generally 
 known by that name, but a far richer compound, composed 
 of chicken, salt pork, corn and beans, of which modern cooks 
 have no idea of making. Miss Mary Bancroft's "Huckle- 
 berry Pudding" was famous, and in an ancient receipt book, 
 I see her name marked against the receipt for it. 
 
 One of the queer characters I recall in Worcester was a 
 man named "Fay," a carpenter by trade, who used to come 
 to the house to do odd jobs in his line and to make sleds for 
 the children. He was a poet also, and used to bring his 
 effusions to the house for us to read. One poem he ad- 
 dressed to the blue eyes of my grandmother, which was 
 acknowledged in a handsome and substantial way, as I 
 suppose he intended it should be. He lived somewhere in 
 the rear of the "Baptist Meeting House," which stood on a 
 street leading from Front to Park street, and in those days 
 on the top of the hill. 
 
 On the lower part of this roadway, near Front street, 
 used to stand an old yellow barn, in which was kept the town 
 hearse, a very different looking vehicle from those now in 
 use. A story used to be told that some of the early Chandlers 
 of youthful age, brought it out one night, when in an uproar- 
 ious mood, and drove all over the village perched on the top 
 of it ; a story perhaps as apocryphal as the one of their 
 roasting and basting with butter and flour a Bible on one 
 occasion, but which may be true, for some of the young men 
 of this family one hundred years and more ago were from all 
 accounts inclined to convivial pastimes. In "old times," 
 there was a class of people in New England, of whom there 
 are very few left. They were not servants in the modern 
 
22 Old Worcester. IV. 
 
 acceptation of the term, but to use an old fashioned phrase, 
 they were "The Help" in the family and often the standby s 
 of the household. In a case of emergency "The Help" did 
 not stop to consider what "her work was." The household 
 machinery was out of order, and that was enough. The 
 matter rectified, she returned to what she had in hand at 
 the moment. It might be the tending of the baby, baking 
 bread or doing the family mending. Her duties were various, 
 and she was an adept at them all. It was not unusual in 
 former days for young American girls to enter a family, not 
 with the idea of "bettering themselves" the next week if 
 opportunity offered, but to make it their home until they 
 married, and often they remained until death severed the 
 relation. Twenty, thirty, forty years was a term of service 
 not uncommon, and in one case I knew of, the half-century 
 was nearly rounded out. The joys and sorrows, and the 
 interests of the family, were theirs; but no such love and 
 devotion can be bought in these modern days, when the 
 relation between mistress and servants is so often strained, 
 and the latter are so constantly migrating from house to 
 house, making the tie between them only a mercenary 
 one. 
 
 In these later days however, these women would be entire- 
 ly out of place, for with modern days come new customs, 
 fashions and manners, and they belong to the period of groat 
 wood fires in the kitchen, before which the roasting was 
 done in a tin kitchen, cakes baked before the coals, the pan 
 being held up by a flat-iron, bread toasted in a toasting-iron, 
 in front of the hot coals, great ovens in which the week's 
 baking was done, and when we used to blow a hot coal 
 close to a wick of an oil lamp to light it, and when we 
 carried coals and burning sticks in an iron receptacle from 
 one room to another to light a fire — and when after the 
 kitchen floor had been washed up, sanded and herring-boned, 
 and the settle had been put in place beside the hearth, 
 then they were in their element and could "sit down with 
 
Old Worcester. IV. 23 
 
 their whole weight," as the country people would say when 
 they had finished the week's work on a Saturday. 
 
 Formerly there was scarcely one of the old families in 
 Worcester that had not some ancient American servant in 
 their employ, of one or both sexes, but they have gradually 
 passed away, for when the factories were estabhshed in 
 New England, young girls went to work in them, and for a 
 time there was a great dearth of servants until the Irish 
 came to take their places. "Nine shillings" a week, or as 
 we should now say, $1.50, was considered good wages for a 
 cook; and young girls were supposed to work for their 
 clothing, and as they progressed in domestic knowledge, for 
 seventy-five cents per week, their wages being increased in 
 the course of time to one dollar, more or less, according to 
 their merits. These young girls were taught to read and 
 write, to sew, and spell, and were generally cared for by their 
 employers. It was the custom in former days in the 
 country for the lady of the house to go into the kitchen 
 every morning, not only to give her directions for the day, 
 but to prepare the dinner, to make the pudding, and to 
 have a general oversight of domestic matters, leaving the 
 actual cooking of the dinner to "The Help," who could do 
 all that was needful for the simple every-day meal ; but 
 when company was coming to dine it was an anxious time 
 for the hostess. I recall an amusing story told me by an old 
 lady of former days. When on one occasion she expected 
 people to dine she had prepared some young spring chick- 
 ens to roast, placing their livers under their wings, and 
 leaving them all ready for the occupant of the kitchen to 
 cook. Feeling doubtful concerning the result of her labors, 
 she took a look into the kitchen at the last moment, and 
 to her consternation found the birds all in the tin kitchen, 
 hanging legs downwards, the spit having been run through 
 their sides, and there they were looking like little dancing- 
 masters with their chapeaux under their arms. There was 
 no time to be lost, so the lady went to work and sewed up 
 
JIJN 13 1907 
 
 24 Old Worcester. IV. 
 
 the holes, put them again on the spit in a more orthodox 
 fashion, and doubtless the dinner went off just as well as 
 if the chickens had been properly spitted in the first place. 
 Mrs. Stowe gives an amusing account of "Yankee Help" 
 in her "Punkapog Folks," a very important class of people 
 in former days in all New England households.