Library of Congress. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. Chap.B-IA Shelf .v- B->£ii3 V / 1786. i886 Centennial Celebration ( ) K -I' H E INCORPORATION «)K THE TOWN OF BOYLSTON MASSACHUSEnS AUGUST IS, 188B WORCESTER, MASS.; PRESS OF S A N F O R D & DAVIS 1S87. 69781 Boylston, (Voiii \712 to 1 T^C) known as the Noi'th I*ai'isli (>(' Slii'cw.sbiii-y, was iiK'(H-|)()i'a1('(l as a town by the Lc;;isIa1iii-(' of Massacliusetts Mai-cli 1, 17«S6, and was named in honor ol" VVard iNicliolas IJoyl.stoii, a prominent eiti/en ol Hoslon. ^' B0YL8T0N CENTENNIAL The diupx^ i< 1^ ■U OF THE INCOItPOliATlOX OF THE J ToiLji} t OP t- BogLSToi] _^ CWedRday, August 18, 18862 /y. President of the Pay, HON. PHINEHAS BALL. Orator of the Pay, HENRY WL. SIVIIXH, ESQ Chief Marshal, HON. CHARLES B. PRA'ra\ AIDES, John W. Howe, J. Nelson Ball. Alfred G Larkin, J. Walter Flagg, Geo. W. Ball, TOAST-MASTER, GEOEGE L. WEIGHT. BOYLSTON CENTENNIAL. ^Pregrarnrtie^ Ringing of Bells and Firing cf Salutes at Sunrise. 8 to 8.30 A. M. Field Sports on the Common, under charge of a committee consisting of Charles Bray, C W. Moore, M. Flagg Jr. Chas. E. Cutler, and Geo. A. Hastings. 8.30 to 9 o'clock. Selections of Music by the Worcester Brass Band, from the Band Stand on the Common, during which time a Procession consisting of the Town Officers, Schools, Citizens and organizations under the escort of the Worcester Brass Band, and Battery " B," M. V. M., under command of Capt. Wellington, will form and march around the Commons to the Town Hall, where a Memorial Tablet to the memory of Boylston Soldiers who fell in the Mexican and Civil Wars, will be presented by George A. CoTTiNG, Esq., of Hudson, a former resident of the town, ac- companied with appropriate services. 10 o'clock. EXERCISES IN THE SPEAKERS' TENT. Order of Services. Music by the Band. Invocation and Prayer, . . Rev. Israel Ainsworth. Reading of the Scriptures, . Rev. Henry S. Kimball. Reading of the Act of Incorporation, Henry H, Brigham, Town Clerk. PSALM (78.) (Tune Coronation.) Congregation. I. III. Let children hear the mighty deeds Our lips shall tell them to our sons, Which God performed of old; And they again to theirs; Which in our younger years we saw, That generations yet unborn And which our Fathers told. j May teach them to their heirs. IL j IV. He bids us make His glories known, | Thus shall ihey learn in God alone His works of pow'r and grace; ' Their hope securely stands; And we'll convey his wonders down That they may ne'er forget His works, Through every rising race. But practice His commands. Centennial Address by Henry M Smith, Esq., of Worcester. (A son-in-law of Rev. Wm. H. Sanford, for many years minister of the Town.) Poem by William N. Davenport, Esq., of Marlboro, (A native of the Town.) BOYLSTON CENTENNIAL. HYMN (1300). (Tune, Italian Hymn.) Congregation. I. I HI. Our land with mercies crowned, Dear native land! rejoice; This wide enchanting land, O God I is thine; Our fathers knew thy name; The trophies of their fame, — Our heritage, — proclaim A Power divine. II. Far in the purple West, Thy hand with beauty dressed These fertile plains. These rivers dark and deep, These torrents down the steep. These mighty woods that sweep Raise thou thy virgin voice To God on high; From all thy hills and bays. From all thy homes and ways, Symphonies and praise Ascend the sky. IV. And Thou Almighty One. At whose eternal throne She bows the kneel In all coming time Bless Thou this favored clime, And may her deeds sublime From mountain chains. | Be hymns to Thee. Benediction. At 12 o'clock M. an Exhibition Drill and Firing of Salutes will take place by Battery "B." M. V. M. of Worcester, following which Dinner will be Served in a Tent on the Common, by J. L. Nugent, Caterer of Clinton. After which Exercises con- sisting of Music, Toasts and Speeches, from present and former residents and others, will take place in the Speakers' tent. The exercises of the day concluding with a Band Concert on the Common. In the Town House there will be a display of Antique articles and interest- ing Relics connected with the history of the Town. Jlt^^'A book will be provided at the Town Hall in which all natives, former residents and descendants of former residents, are requested to register their names and addresses. FIELD SPORTS AND GAMES. The Field Sports will take place in the forenoon and afternoon during Exercises in the Tent, consisting of VVlieelbarrow Race. Potato Race, Sack Race, Three-Legged Race, Doughiuit Race, Foot Race, Egg Race, Hurdle Race, Greased Pole, Tug-of-War. The eight first mentioned races will be open to citizens of Boylston and invited guests only. The Greased Pole and Tug-of-War will be open to the public. Prizes will be offered as follows: For each Race the 1st Prize will be $1.00 I Tug-of War, . . . $5.00 Second Prize will be . , . . .50 | Greased Pole, . . . 2.00 All races to have at least three entries. Entries to be made with Charles Bray, Chairman of the Committee on Sports, on or before the Centennial Day. A Game of Base Ball will be played between Saw- yer's Mills and Shrewsbury Nines during the day. THE DAY'S CELEBRATION. Wednesday, the 18th of August opened clear and beautiful, while cool breezes tempered the air, making the day perfect. The town had put on a holiday dress. The dawn was saluted with ringing of bells and firing of cannon, the youth of the town generally participating in the latter duty. Tlie Worcester Brass Band arrived early on the grounds, and from the band stand gave a concert while the procession formed in front of the town house, in the following order : THE PROCESSION. Worcester Brass Band, L. D. Waters leader, 23 pieces. Chief Marshal Hon. Charles B. Pratt, of Worcester. Aides — John W. Howe, J. Nelson Ball, Alfred G. Larkin, J. Wal- ter Flagg, George W. Ball. Battery B., of Worcester, Capt. Fred W. Wellington ; 1st Lieut. • John B. Merrill ; 1st Sergeant Joseph Bruso, Jr. ; Sergeants R. F. Lathe, H.W. Haynes ; Guidon, Corp. H. W. Searles, 35 men. The George D. Wells Post, No 28, William G. Haskin, Officer of the day in command, 30 men. The Boylston Grange, Patrons of Husbandry, five wagons. Flora's car of the Grange represented a floral bower, under 10 BOTLSTON CENTENNIAL. which sat half a dozen ladies surrounded by flowers and potted plants ; the sides of the wagon were inscribed : To me belong the forest, the garden and the garlands of flowers; and at the end was Let flowers be unto you an emblem of hope. Next came a wagon with twelve young ladies, dressed in white ; next Pomona's car; a wagon load of fruits ; it was covered with apples and grapes, and lettered on the sides : The lucious products of the orchard and fruit garden are mine. At tne rear end of the wagon was Let fruits be to you an emblem of faith. Seated on the wagon were three ladies. Next came Ceres' car, a wagon load of grain, the ladies being decorated with grain. It was marked on the sides . My tribute is the golden grain, and at the end was : Let corn ever be unto you an emblem of charity. Behind this were two barges with members of the Grange. THE TABLET PRESENTATION. The march was about the common and up to the band stand, where the services of presentation of the Memorial Tablet to the soldiers who fell in the Mexican and civil wars took place. This Tablet is the gift of George A. Cotting, Esq., of Hudson, a former resident of Boylston. It is of white marble with a gilt band, and bears the following inscription in gilt letters: THIS TABLET, Erected on the One Hundredth Anniversary of Boylston by George A. Cot- ting, is in commemoration of the valor of its citizens, who died in the great civil war of 1801 to preserve the unity of our country. John R. Roberts, Private Co. K, 2d Reg. Mass. Vol. Killed at Battle of Cedar Mountain, Va., Aug 9, 1^62. JE 25 yrs. He was the first soldier enlisted from Boylston. Elliot J. Flagg, Private Co. I, 4th Reg. N. Y. Vols Killed at Battle of Antietam, Md„ Sept. 17th, 1862. JE 23 years. James H. W^ilson, Private Co. L, 21st Reg. Mass. Vols. Died of wounds at Fredericksburg, Va,, Dec. 15th, 18G2. M 28 years. Albert Hastings. Private Co. E, 21st Reg. Mass. Vols. Died at Camp Nel- son, Ky., April 12th, 1864. JE 24 years. BOYLSTON CENTENNIAL. 11 John W. Partridge, Private Co. I), 'ijth Keg. Mass. Vols. Died at Auder- sonville, Ga., May, 2864. JE 29 years. George W. Brewer, Corp. Co. D, 25th Reg. Mass. Vols. Killed at Cold Harbor, on June 3d, 18G4. JE 23 years. Watson Wilson, Private Co. I, 36th Reg. Mass. Vols. Died ol wounds at Washington, D. C, June 28th, 1864. JE 22 years. John M. Forbes, Sergt. Co. C, 34th Reg. Mass. Vols. Died at Salisbury, N. C, Sept. 27lh, 1864. JE 25 years, Ferdinand Andrews, Corporal Co. D, 25th Reg. Mass. Vol. Died at Boyls- ton, Mass , Nov. 26th, 1864. JE 25 years. George C. Flagg, Private Co. F., Mass. Vols, in Mexican war, at 17. S. Hospital Barracks, New Orleans, July 26th, 1848. /E 24 years. August 18, 1886. The exercises were simple but of great interest. Mr. Cot- ting presented the Tablet in a brief add re.ss as follows : Mr. President, Ex- Soldiers, and Citizens of Boy Is Inn : — It is a great pleasure to me to be with you on this centennial cele- bration of the incorporation of the town of Boylston, here to make my contribution to the memory of the valor of those brave and patriotic sons who volunteered their services and laid down their lives in defense of the Union of our country. Their deeds of valor and patriotism should ever be brought before the young men of this great Republic so that when our country is in jeop- ardy by foes within, or without, there will be those to imitate those fallen and these living comrades who are before us. Although this is a small and sparsely inhabited town, it has always given its full quota of defenders of the country in its time of need, from the time of its incorporation to the end of the late civil war. When it was a part of Shrewsbury and Lancaster this terri- tory gave more than its proportion in its defence against the Indians and support of the Revolution ; many lost their lives in action, more died by hardship and sickness, whose names are carefully preserved in the history of those towns. All honor to their names. In the war of 1812 this town filled its quota of men required, and every man safely returned to his home. We have one of those 1812 i?oldiers with us to-day in yonder 12 BOYLSTON CENTENNIAL. carriage, who is nearly as old as this town, and is able to be with us to celebrate and grace this occasion with these boys in blue, who now stand before you. In the Mexican war one young man, an only son of Francis Flagg, left his home with his father's consent, went to Boston and enlisted in our only Massachusetts Regiment. George G. Flagg, private, Company F, Massachusettt Regiment, died at United Stales Hospital Barracks, New Orleans, La., July 26, 1848, aged 24 years. He was a dutiful son, a brave and gallant soldier, was in several hard fought actions with the Mexicans and received the commendation of his commander. John R. Roberts, a young man who came to this town to work on our farms, was the first man to put his name on paper for the defense of the Union of this Government, and was the first Boylston man to fall by a rebel bullet at the fiercely contested battle of Cedar Mountain, where Company K, Second Regiment Massachusetts Volunteers, so bravely fought August 9th, 1862. He was 25 years old. Elliott J. Flagg, private. Company I, Fourth Regiment New York Volunteers, killed at the battle of Antietam, Md., Sep- tember 17th, 1862, aged 23 years. I knew him as a bright boy, while a member of the Center School, and living on yonder hill. He was a fine young man. James H. Wilson, private. Company E, Twenty-first Regi- ment Massachusetts Volunteers, died of wounds received iu that hard disastrous battle at Fredericksburg, Val, December 15th, 1862, aged 28 years. He has a brother with us to-day, an ex- soldier. Albert S. Hastings, private. Company E, Twenty-first Regi- ment, Massachusetts Volunteers, died in Camp Nelson, Kentucky, April 12th, 1864. He was born in that part of Boylston known as East Woods. When quite young his parents moved to the farm which Mr. Augustus Flagg now owns and resides on. He attended the Six Nations District School, became a Land Surveyor and Civil Engineer, and when not occupied in his profession, worked with his father on the farm. Being full of patriotism he went to the defense of his country, served out his term of enlist- ment, and then re-enlisted, his fate being not to die on the field IIOVLSTOX CKNTKNXIAL. io of battle, but in camp from sickness. He was a brave and good boy. George VV. Brewer, corporal. Company D, Twenty- fiftli Regi- ment Massachusetts Yolunteors, killed at the battle oi' Cold Har- bor, Va , June Hd. 1864, aged 23. He knew no fear, was a member of the i^outh District School, enlisted Deceml^erlS, 1863. His aged father is with us to-day. John W. Partridge, private, Company D, Twenty-lifth Regi- ment Massachusetts Volunteers, served last in the Signal service. Taken prisoner and confined in that fatal prison, to so many brave sons of the North, he died from neglect and cruel star- vation at Andersonville, Ga., some time in the month of May, 1864. He was the senior of his fallen comrades, an only son, well educated, a school-mate with young Brewer, and respected by his townsmen. His mother and youngest sister are with us to-day. Watson Wilson, private Company 1, Thirty-sixth Regiment, Massachusetts Volunteers, died of wounds at Washington, D. C, June 28, 1864, aged 22 years. He was the youngest of the fallen from this town. John M. Forbes, sergeant, Company C, Thirty-lourth Regi- ment, Massachusetts Volunteers, died at Salsbury, N. C, Janu- ary 13, 1865, aged 26 years. He was born and educated in the East School District, was a brave soldier, was taken prisoner and inhumanly used in prison. His comrades can testify to his gal- lantry and to. the nobility of his character. His word was as good as his bond. His mother and only sister are with us to-day. Ferdinand Andrews, corporal, Company D, Twenty-fifth Reg- iment, Massachusetts Volunteers, who came ho^ie with his com- pany at the expiration of three years enlistment, but too sick and feeble to receive a discharge with his comrades, died in the service of his country November 26, 1864, aged 26. His hon- ored dust rests in yonder cemetery, where you, ex-soldiers and citizens of Boylston, can decorate his grave with flowers and drop a tear in remembrance of the aforesaid comrades who rest in unmarked and unknown graves, and whose names are cut upon this tablet. Gentlemen, Selectmen, I now present this Memorial Tablet, 14 BOTLSTON CENTENNIAL. through you to the town of Boylston, placed in your Town Hall, you to cherish it as a tribute of honor to those valiant men who fell in defense of the unity of our government. At the close of Mr. Cotting's remarks the band played the Soldiers Funeral Hymn, and prayer was offered by Rev. George S. Ball, of Upton. The tablet was then accepted by Mr. Augus- tus Flagg, in behalf of the town, who said : Mr. Catting' : In behalf of the town of Boylston we accept the Tablet presented by you, and we thank you heartily for this munificent gift. Indeed, if it is possible to express our feelings in stronger language, we are grateful, all the more so because it has been given by one who was formerly one of our highly re- spected citizens, and who has alwa^'S taken a deep interest in tlie welfare and well-being of our town : all the more so liecause your name is inscribed with those of our fallen heroes. The inscrip- tions engraved upon this beautiful tablet are highly suggestive, — They will tell to future generations more than any historian has ever written ; it tells more than any historian can ever write It tells of self-forgetting, of unbounded consecration and supreme devotion to our beloved country. It speaks of sacrifices made by fathers and mothers, by wives and children. It tells of the sacrifices of those who left their homes never to return. It tells of sufferings in camp and on the march, on the battle-field and in prison. Again, sir, we thank you for your benevolence, and patriotism, and be assured if any of us survive you when we are gathered on Memorial Day to scatter flowers over the graves of our fallen comrades your grave will not be forgotten. Mr. Lyman S. Walker spoke for the Grand Army : Mr. Chairman., Comrades., Ladies and Gentlemen : — A pleasant task devolves upon me to-day, and I would that I had language to portray my feelings upon this occasion. In behalf of the Comrades of Boylston, I am called upon to accept the beautiful Tablet, with the names of all the deceased Soldiers inscribed thereon, presented to the Town by a former BOYLSTON CENTENNIAL. 15 citizen. A noble deed, and one which will endear him to every living comrade. An act which will cause his name to be loved and cherished by many yet unborn, years after his remains lie mouldering in the dust. The mother of the boy who died in the great cause, and whose name is inscril)ed upon the Tablet, will look upon it, and receive comfort from it. The widow whose husband died that the nation might live, may point her fatherless boy to his father's name that he may derive fresh supplies of patriotic inspiration from it. Old age and lisping childhood may visit this Memorial, and be inspired by its solemn teachings ; and there, in the eternal mar- ble shall those names remain, growing brighter and brighter as the years recede. Of all the names mentioned on this Tablet, I was acquainted with only one, that one was John Forbes ; he belonged to the same Regiment and Company, and I knew him well ; I knew him as a true and brave man ; a man who was strictly temperate in his habits, ever faithful in his duty, and a great lover of home. I can remember how his eyes would sparkle when a message came from lionie, and also how sad he would look when he received none. Ou a beautiful day in Oct. 1864, when nature shone in all its beauty through the Shenandoah Valley, we were encamped near Cedar Creek. Some were writing letters home, others reading, and some passing away the time with a game of whist, and, as we supposed, all was going on smoothly, when a shell exploded in our midst, and all was changed, as in the twinkling of an eye. We hurried into line, and went forth to fight, and do our duty. Our Regiment was badly cut up, and many fell to rise no more. John Forbes was taken prisoner, and I never saw him again. I was told by another comrade that lie was carried to the hospital, and a few days later he there looked upon his lifeless corpse in a nude state ; he now lies in an unknown grave. This is but one case of the many thousands who died that the country might live. Comrades, we are called upon to-day to guard and protect this Tablet. Let no man dare bring reproach upon these names inscril)ed thereon. They had their vices, also their virtues ; let him that is per- fect cast the first stone. Now to you Mr. Chairman, and to you, 16 BOYLSTON CENTENNIAL. the donor of this beautiful Tablet, I wouhl say in l)elialf of the comrades, we will guard it well, we will guard it while we live. and will endeavor to teach our posterity, as they look upon it from time to time, to be true to their country and the old flag ; and when the great nation for which they died shall finally have achieved its full mission, and there shall be no spot upon the face of the globe where the equality of man is not recognized, the names of these men inscribed upon the brightest rolls of this world's history, shall challenge the admiration of all the ages. That this may be so, we devotedly pray ; that it shall be so, we pledge ourselves. THE LITERARY EXERCISES. The procession then reformed and marched to the tent, where the literary exercises took place. Meanwhile people had assem- bled in crowds, and the common and the tents presented a lively appearance everywhere ; old residents were meeting and welcom- ing each other. Among the older jjcrsons present were Abel Farwell, 95, and Ezra Ball, 91, both 1812 veterans, and Luther Brigham, 8t), all residents of the town ; Mrs. W. H. Sanford, of Worcester, widow of a former pastor, and Mrs. Andrew Bigelow, widow of an old pastor, now of Southborough, and a daughter of Hoil Marshall P. Wilder. On a table in the tent was a collection of photographs of the Bush family, with an ideal view of the old family residence ; Col. Jotham Bush, his wife, son and brothers, and a number of their descendants were included in the frame, which proved of the greatest interest 1o many old residents. Dr. William A. IIol- combe of New York, a grandson of Col. Bush, arranged the group. BOYLSTON CENTENNIAL. 3 7 Hon. Phinehas Ball presided in the tent. The exercises took place in the following order : Music by the Band. Invocation and Prayer by tiie Kev. Israel Ainsworth. Beading of tlie Scriptures by the Rev. Henry S. Kimball. Reading of the Act of Incorporation by Henry H. Brigham, Esq., Town Clerk. Singing of the Lxxviii Psalm by the audience. Tlie President in inti-oducing the Orator of tlie Day said : Ladies and Gentlemen, Citizens of Boi/lston, Fellow Kin- dred and Invited Guests: — We assemble to-day in obedience to one of the deepest instincts of the human heart — that of the love of home — in response to the tender, the enduring and sacred memory of one's birthplace. For it matters not whether we first saw light and were taught to lisp our motlier tongue amid the scenery and l)loom of a second edition of the Garden of Eden, or in tlie humble cottage nestling amid the rocks and woods untouched by the hand of man ; the warm impulses of our hearts cherish with lasting emotion the vivid recollection of those early scenes, and those of our nearest kindred, who shared and enjoyed and bore with us our early lot. To cease from our ordinary cares and labors, and to bring back the memories of these early scenes : to greet again the friends and associates of our youth among the living, or to make up the soul's mementoes of the larger number of early companions and kin among the dead ; to renew old friendships, to be introduced to the children and grand-children of tlie fathers and mothers wliom we knew. To these ends let us dedicate and consecrate these few hours. On this Centennial of the Town let us not stop to commune with ourselves alone. Let us here remember, with ever increas- ing gratitude and reverent honor, those noble ancestors of ours, whose wise forethought, whose labors amid privation and hard- ship, built the corporate existence of this town. To them we owe a debt which can only be repaid by gratitude for what they have done for us, by cherishing their memories and by living virtuous and honorable lives. 18 BOYLSTON CENTENNIAL. To the celebration of the Centennial of the Town of Boylston its citizens bid us a cordial, hearty and open-handed welcome, one and all. Let us enter into the festivities of the occasion with earnestness and sincerity, thanking our kind friends of the town for the opportunity thus afforded us to gain an acquaintance with its present people and the descendants of the founders of the town. Of the history of the town it is not mine to speak ; that task lias been wisely allotted to one of the sons of Boylston, made such by that mysterious human bond analogous to that which the old chemists called '• elective affinity ; " in other words, he mar- ried one of the daughters of the town, and thereby became one of its sons. I now have the pleasure and honor of introducing to you Henry M. Smith, Esq., of Worcester, as orator of the day. HISTORICAL ADDRESS. Ten years ago, at Philadelphia, with a pomp and circum- stance befitting a great occasion, our nation celebrated its one hundredth birthday. With wide-spread preparation and costly expenditure in assembling the material tokens of our century of progress, we passed in review before the enlightened peoples of the earth. Since then, there have been numerous occasions, similar in meaning, varying in prominence, but with a common interest. It has been a decade consecrated to the memories of our national past. Two years ago, the neighboring city of Worcester turned the pages of her history of two hundred years. Since then Spring- field, and still later Albany, have reviewed their still longer periods. The longest lapse of time that holds the records of an American community, at first glance, seems insignificant, meas- ured on the Old World's calendars. This year Lucerne cele- brates the five hundredth anniversary of the battle of Sempach, which secured Swiss independence. In England, within the present month, the town of Kipon observes its one thousandth birthday ; her chronicles go back to Royal Alfred and the Danish invasion. But the Muse of History has no sneer for our American past, though its whole story is contained in these few generations of men. Within very recent years, history has reformed her methods and has begun to tell the story of the common people, — the massed experiences of average communities, in distinction 20 BOYLSTON CENTENNIAL. from the embroidered chronicles of kings and great commanders. Our American anniversary celebrations, of the past ten years, have stirred deeply the fountains of our local annals. The reader and the student of tliis, and coming time, can understand the order of facts and the meaning of our early days, far better than preceding generations could have done, though nearer to the events themselves. Never has history, and that philosophy of history, found richer treasures than have been supplied by our modern town historians. We come together to-day, on this beautiful common, to cele- brate the one hundredth anniversary of this representative Massa- chusetts hill town. It has a character, possessed from its ear- liest past, which must be understood if we would understand this old Commonwealth, and the sources of the influence Massachu- setts has had upon other commonwealths. For us here to-day two dates stand opposed — 1786-1886. But, as in our national celebration, ten years ago, the event we commemorate is only in a limited sense initial. The nation was shaped in the colonial period, and tested and tempered in the red heat of the Revolution, before it began to live a separate existence. It had passed through a century and a half of expe- rience before 1776 ; an experience never again to be repeated by any of earth's people, the founding of a nation in the will derness. The story of every town and hamlet that shared this early period of the nation is a page of national history. The pleasant town of Boylston, with its story of one hun- dred years, the Hrst century of its existence, had a history before 1786, a history that took in the life and labors of two preceding generations of her citizens. From this earlier date of 1786, as our mount of vision, let us take the backward look. Boylston derives her greatest antiquity from motherly Lan- caster, from which came one-quarter of her territory, but she is chiefly the daughter of Shrewsbury, and grand-daughter of Marl- })orough, who sending hither her sons one hundred and sixty years ago, is to-day represented here by a son of Boylston birth she has herself delighted to honor, the bearer of grand-motherly congratulations. EOYLSTON CENTENNIAL. 21 Moreover, Boylston is the mother of West Boylston. Thus the labors of local annalists in four contributing towns, may be searched for the story of Boylston. It has been Wiitten into them all. A word as to the place of the hill towns in the ordei- of her early settlements. The home government, so lavish in bestowing wilderness grants as to be willing to slice a continent from sea to sea, set a very liberal example for those who, under the first colonial charters, parted the wilderness with unstinted hands. They give to individuals to reward service, or increase emolu- ment ; or demonstrate patronage to new settlements, or to church organizations. There were considerations still plainly to be dis- cussed, why the first settlers sought far and wide for the meadow lands ; the broad intervale that lay like rare oases in the else- where wilderness of woods and broken hills. These pleasing meads were ready to be occupied with little labor. They were richest in suggesting to the English settlers. They gave ready fodder for English stock. There were not many of these spots, they were wide apart. Lancaster became the oldest town in this county for such a reason. They of Brookfield planted homes in a perilous region, thirty miles away from their nearest and only neighbors in Lan- caster, Springfield and Hadley, because they were in love with the " six miles square near Quaboag pond." The heart of the future commonwealth was a region of rug- ged hills, deep veined by frequent streams whose currents clogged by the beaver and his fellows, turned the narrow valleys into dis- mal bogs. What is now Worcester county, seems to have come first into Massachusetts annals in 1633, when Governor Winthrop saw from an eminence in Watertown " a very high hill due West about forty miles off," and so old Wachusett got his first mention as sentinel among inland hills. And when nearly one hundred years later there was the movement, which became succcsslul in 1731, to form Worcester county, with thirteen towns, his Majesty's representatives met the proposition with discouragement. Governor Belcher demurritig, and Thomas Hutchinson, afterwards Governor, but then a mem- ber of the General Court, strenuously opposing the project for the 22 BOYLSTON CENTENNIAL. new county, declaring " the unpracticability of its ever making- anj^ progress for this hill country could never attract settlers." Marlborough, settled in 1660, had her share in the red letter days of Indian troubles. At the end of King Philip's affair in 1676, she was still a frontier settlement with no town west this side of tlie Connecticut river, Lancaster, Brookfield and Spring- field having been wiped out. Marlborough herself had suffered sorely, for she was visited and burned in 1676, but her settlers began to come back the next year, and in 1680 had rebuilt their meeting-house, thatching it with straw. In 1688 they erected another in its place that stood until 1809, a worthy type of that permanence in doctrine which gave them in 1679 a church cove- nant that was used by the church until 1837. That was the brave, staunch old grand-mother of Boylston. By 1706 Marlborough had so well strengthened itself that John Brigham and thirty others went out to establish Shrews- bury, and the borough towns began to be set off from her terri- tory, Westborough leading the list. Marlborough had voted con- cerning one of these off-shoots, as a rule for all, that if these outgoing settlers " see fit to build another meeting-house, and are able to do so, and maintain a minister then the division to be made." Shrewsbury was liberally endowed, by the General Court, with a territory fifteen miles long, extending from Lancaster at the north, to Sutton on the south, and from three to four miles wide, lying between what was then Marlborough and Worcester. The committee appointed to lay out and apportion the tract fin- ished their labors in 1718. But the general reasons, already referred to, as discrimina- ting against the hill towns, seemed for a time to weigh very strongly against the Shrewsbury township. Early chroniclers did not hesitate to declare that it was " not a good parcel of land." It was rough and uneven. Its good lands had been so frequently and relentlessly burned over by the Indians, and inter- lopers from other towns, that vast tracts of forest stood blackened and ruined, in many places the soil itself being burned down to hard-pan. One early writer declared that little use was ever likely to BOYLSTON CENTENNIAL. 23 be made of it but " to pass over it to a better place." Write as the poets may of "the forest primeval," the condition of sav- agery cannot even care for its own forests. Tlie woods of this region are far more dense and luxuriant to-day tlian they were when the red man kept them dwarfed and scrubby with forest fires. But the territory that became Boylston, held grants of land older and of different derivation from the Shrewsbury grant, or the portion set off from Lancaster. In 1655 the church in Maiden received from the General Caiirt a grant of nine hundred acres. The name is perpetuated in the Maiden Hill, a prominent feature in your western landscape. Ward, in his History of Shrewsbury, calls this a " pretended grant," but it is referred to in the Maiden town records, in 1736, as the " Town Farm in Worcester or Shrewsbury," and action was taken to protect the rights of the town thereon, it having been invaded by squatters. In 1659, another grant, still more closely a Boylston posses- sion, was the six hundred and fifty acres given to Richard Daven- port, ancestor of a long and well-known Boylston family, from one of whose descendants you are to hear to-day. Davenport was a man of note, a commander at Castle Island, where he was killed by lightning in 1665. Of this Davenport tract there remains the interesting me- mento and monument in the tree still standing in the road, below the Clarendon Mills toward Clinton, which was made the start- ing point by the surveyors of the tract two hundred and twenty- seven years ago, and is referred to as " a great white oak." It is twenty feet seven inches in circumlerence at the ground, and one of the few historic trees of this region. Its trunk is said to be well filled with iron spikes hammered stoutly home by Ezra Beaman's own hand, to induce all future woodmen to " spare that tree." In the grant to Shrewsbury the provision appears, " that they have at least forty families settled, with an orthodox minis- ter within the space of three years, for whom allotment of land was to be made, and another for the use of the school." Towns thus founded were sure to be divided, and again divided, when- ever distance measured on blazed tracks, or cart paths through 24 BOYLSTON CENTENNIAX. the woods, made church going a burden, too hard for endurance, by any neighborhood whose numbers were sufficient to set up a church of its own. The founding of Shrewsbury went forward in the spirit of those days, the central point and mainspring, a meeting house, and a godly minister. Very little can be told of the early his- tory of what is now Boylston. The farm, later held by Rev. Ward Cotton, was occupied a number of years before any other settlement in the vicinity of the meeting house, and the com- mon. Several settlers by the name of Keyes came to a large tract of land in what is now the south part of Boylston, as early as 1720. Among the settlers immediately, or within the first few years were those who bore the names of Brigham, Sawyer, Ben- net, Starr, Bigelow, Hastings, Taylor, Ball, Newton, Keyes, Temple, Flagg, Howe, Bush, Davenport, Wheeler, Andrews ; and these names, or nearly all of them have always had a familiar Boylston sound. As the the first settlers in the northwest part of this town, William and Nathaniel Davenport, descendants of the first owner came, in 1736, to the Davenport tract, portions of which were occupied by the eighth generation of the family. The first settlers in the territory that became Boylston, divided their attendance at Lord's Day services between Shrews- bury and Lancaster, finding their way through forest bridle paths and fording the streams as they came to them, realizing what their neighbors of Bolton, about the same time, in their petition to the General Court, called the " making the Sabbath, which should be a day of rest, a day of the hardest labor." There are those who affect to si.eer at the pious considera- tions that guided the founding and division and growth of our New England towns. Benjamin Franklin will not ])e deemed a bigot of his time. In his recently published correspondence is given his letter writ- ten in 1787, to one presumably a Governor of Georgia, wherein he praises in high terms the New England method of establishing the settlements, with the meeting house and schools expressly secured as central features. He declares this is •' excellent for BOYLSTON CENTENNIAL. 25 mutual protectioH, for the advantage of schooling to their children, for securing morals by the influence of religion, and for mutual improvement by civil society, and conversation," in comparison with wliich he declares that " In our way of sparse and remote settlements the people are without these advantages and we are in danger ot bringing up a set of savages of our own color.'* So well did what is now Boylston defeat the inauspicious earlier auguries derived from its rough hills, that in 1742 it at- tempted to secure a formal separation from iShrewsbury, urging as a reason, distance from the meeting house. This town might have been 1-44 years old at the present time but for the opposi- tion of Shewsbury and Gov. Shirley's petulant veto. He objects to the multiplication of towns as being as undesirable in his majesty's interests for it meant an increase of representatives that might l)e troublesome. Instead of a separate town it became on December 1~, 1742, the North Parish of Shrewsbtiry. The records show that the North Parish began to pay for preaching on the first Sabbath after being set off. Before June the meeting house was begun, and in October the church was organized and the first minister ordained, though the sanctuary had neither floor, windows nor doors, pulpit nor pew. Nineteen male members and sixteen female members were dismissed from the mother church in Shrewsbury. "The minis- try lands lying within the North Parish " were set off to be " always for the use and improvement of the minister tluit may be settled in the north part aforesaid," and in consideration of the " right and interest in the meeting house," in Shrewslniry £32 10s. lawful money were to be paid over "when the North Parish, erected and covered a suitable frame for a meeting house for the worship of (rod among them." These facts are honoral)le to the founders of these hill com- munities. The spirit of the pious Pilgrims was brought here undiminished in meaning, though the first colonial period had passed away. The story of events l)eforc the organization of a separate town in 1788 comes from scanty records and must be briefly told. The most painstaking research by the competent historians in this region, and these are numerous, gives very little, a glimpse 26 BOTLSTON CENTENNIAL. here and there, of the liome life of the rural community in the early part of the past century. We might be sure however, that life was not dull, nor un- thoughtful, which called for so constant and vivid struggle for common things and common needs. It did not lack excitement, for it was not sheltered by the walls of modern life, nor could it be called narrow, forced as these settlers were to share the cares of government in such a nation-building as this earth has only once seen, and shall never see again. In this there would seem to have been very little Indian history. In the grant from and through Shrewsbury, no Indian name appears, all aboriginal titles having been extinguished by the General Court. In the northwest part of the town of Boyl- ston, set otf from Lancaster, the Indian associations were more direct, and, here is presented almost the sole incident of Indian war adventure to an inhabitant of this town ; the often told experiences of Thomas Sawyer in 1705, carried off in an Indian raid, and ransoming himself and his companions in captivity by building a saw mill for the Canadian authorities. Nevertheless, with the first settlers in this region, the whole story of Indian troubles was still comparatively fresh. Sudbury tight lived in the memory of the elders, or with a generation only once removed. The fresh romance of the Rice l)oys captured by a war party in 1704, in a Marlborough meadow, was sure to be kept alive by the fact that the lads were adopted by the Indians, and one had become a sachem. Though no Indians ever actually brought disturbance to the settlement on and about this hill, the constant dread remained through many of these earlier years. There were two garrison houses, defenses on the nortli and east, in this immediate vicin- ity, another in the west part of the town near Stony Brook. The farmers carried firearms to church and field. The slender news channels of the day were kept vivid with Indian rumors. Nor was the reason wholly withdrawn. In 1747 w^e find the town of Rutland petitioning the General Court to fortify their town against the common enemy, and all the able bodied men were drawn by the Selectmen for scouting. In 1747, John Fitch (who gave his name to Fitcliburg) , was BOYLSTON CENTENNIAL. 27 carried off to Canada by a French and Indian war party. Holmes finely suggests the clinging tenacity of the Indian terror, when the venerable grandmother of a Boston household, on the day of the Bunker Hill fight, in her frenzy of alarm at the heavy din, is made to exclaim, "Are tliey Indians ? Are they Indians ?" It is told of a Boylston housewife of the early time, that having hung her dinner pot on the crane, she ran off to Marl- borough in a sudden panic, returning a year after to find her kitchen affairs just as she had left them. Hurrounded as we are by the eternal means and stimulants to education, and accepting them as indispensable in our time, we are not to forget how good a school of development, in all that is noble and enduring, was supplied by the conditions of the New England settlement, in the middle period between the retirement of the savages and the establishment of separate national existence. With Indian wars and rumors of wars, with the old French wars, that made no small drafts in these communities, there was a constant drill and training in citizen watch and ward. Arms were never out of their hands, nor preparation for defense long absent from their minds. Shrewsbury shared in 1745 in the expedition to Louisburg and Cape Breton. Men of Shrewsbury, and what is now Boylston, were present at Crown Point in 1755. Two sons of Phineas Bennet, a settler in 1740 in the west part of this town now West Boylston, were both killed in the disastrous "morning fight" at Ticonderoga in 1758. Then came the Revolutionary war in which Boylston shared the nota- ble annals of Shrewsbury. It was in Shrewsbury, ten months before the Boston Tea Party, that a travelling pedler was made to surrender to be burned forthwith, thirty pounds of the prohibited herb, before this banned by town decree. It was Shrewsbury in 1744 that Ross Wyman called his Blacksmiths' Convention at Worcester, pledging their king of all the crafts, in that day, to do no work for the tories. Our centennial national reviews have flashed a broad clear 28 BOYLSTON CENTENNIAL. light on the revolutionary epoch, to show that it was no sudden fervor but had strengthened in many neighborhoods and through many channels, in more than one generation. And when it came, it came to a people who had learned the art and spirit of defense, and shrunk not from self assertion. But Boylston had her especial and equal share at the very threshold of the contest with the mother country. It was a struggle between parish and minister, after twenty-five years of mutually honored and happy relations. From Ward's history of Shrewsbury it appears that all the persons suspected of too much loyalty except one were inhabitants of this North Parish. Among these five martyrs under suspicion was Rev. Mr. Morse, the first pastor of the church, a learned and widely-read man, staunch and immovable, who would continue to pray in public for the kirg, queen and royal family, until his people and townsmen called him to account, disarmed him and prevented him by a show of force from entering his pulpit. They could not drive him away, but they used his steely loyalty to whet the edges of their patriotism. These are but shallow students of the Revolutionary period, who do injustice to the position and motives of men who were in that time held by circumstances of trust, and tie, to impulses as genuine as ever bound the subject in loyalty to his king. The greater is the honor and reverence due to the patriots of that time, from this fact that the loyalists of regions like our own in Worcester County, were men of mark and strength who gave way not as reeds bend, but as strong oaks break. Rev. Mr. Morse lived at the close of the era of greatest ministerial dignity, and authority. For a quarter of a century he had ex- ercised the authority of the New Testament bishop, All the more striking, the patriotism of these Boylston men who did their duty, though the red line of excision ran through their own pulpit. It is only from the meagre and scattered annals assembled from various towns of this region, that we gain a glimpse of the burdens and privations of the Revolution, and the resorts forced upon the poorer communities to adjust patriotism to poverty. As an instance in the town of Ward, now Auburn, in this county. BOYLSTON CENTENNIAL. 29 Thomas Todd, one of the town quota, accepted as bounty from his town " eighteen calves of middleing value, the calves to be kept and cared for free of charge for the three years term of service." Boylston had her share, as part of Shrewsbury, in the honors that fell to their townsman. General Artemas Ward, a member of the Second Provincial Congress, appointed Comman- der-in-Chief of the Armies of Congress, until a greater than he appeared, even Washington. And Boylston had more exclusive- ly for herself, Ezra Beaman. One cannot read very far in the annals of that time, in this region without coming upon his name. It stood out as prominently as his great wayaide inn, the Bea- man Tavern overlooking the beautiful intervale of what is now West Boylston, for more than a century from 1764, one of the best known inns of New England. The largest land-holder of his section, lion-like and masterful in action, Ezra Beaman's name is continually repeated in town and church records. It was his grasp that laid hold on Pastor Morse. It was his com pany that was prompt in field. He was in service near, though not on duty at Bunker Hill fight. To Capt. Ezra Beaman, on Feb. 18, 1775, came a letter of acknowledgement from John Avery of the " Committee of Dona- tions," at Boston, for fifty-three bushels of rye and corn sent by the North Parish of Shrewsbury, " for the distressed inhabitants of this poor devoted town who are groaning under the rod of despotism ; " so reads the missive. The names of forty pension- ers of the war of the Revolution are given in Shrewsbury annals. The growth of the North Parish of Shrewsbury, even in the trying period of the Revolution, kept alive its long cherished ambition (defeated 1742) to be a separate town. It was accom- plished in 1786, the occasion we this day commemorate. It was a wonderful birth year, one of the most important and the most critical in the history of America. It seemed as if the free and generous spirit of devotion that had sustained the American colonies had actually burned itself out, and lay smothered in its own ashes. Tlie separate and disjointed provinces were jarring (almost warring; with each other. The Provincial Congress seemed to 30 BOYLSTON CENTENNIAL. have already collapsed. The separate states paying their own representatives to that body, often omitted paying or grossly neglected representation Thus the congress from thirteen states which should have numbered fifty- six members fell to thirty-five. There was a bitter wrangle between contiguous states over ques- tions of trade, finance and of territory. Massachusetts closed her ports to British shipping, Connecticut threw her ports open to British vessels, but established imposts against Massachusetts. New York levied duties at Hell Gate on all Yankee crafts, on all hay and wood and supplies that crossed her borders from Connecticut, and on all market boats that came over from Jersey. Jefferson writes from Paris to protest against the intention of Kentucky to separate not only from Virginia, but from the Union. Pennsylvania with blood and fire was raiding Connecti- cut settlers out of the historic valley of the Wyoming, and New Hampshire and New York were crossing bayonets on the soil of Vermont. Massachusetts had trouble enough at home in the Shay Rebellion. The population of this state was about 350,000. All the states lay under the shadow of debt. Everywhere debtors were massed for mutual protection. Six years before 1786 the paper war issues of New England had ceased to circulate as money. Vagaries of legislation only made matters worse, and the attempt to set aside law brought confusion indescribable. Worcester County had a population of a little over 50,000. There were entered on file in 1784 in the courts, 2000 actions for debt, and nearly as many the following year. There was a wild assault on properly rights, upon law, and upon the lawyers as a profession. It was a sadly troubled page to be read even now. It was full of wide portents then. Washington wrote from his Potomac farm in terms most impetuous, asking if all that Massachusetts fought for in the Revolution, was to be thrown away. Nor was the aspect of our affairs abroad more encouraging. Jefferson writes from Paris in 1786, where he had succeeded Franklin as minister :" American reputation in Europe is not such as to be flattering to us * * * The whole English nation hates us. Hostility is more deeply rooted than through the BOYLSTON CENTENNIAL. 31 war. England declines all arrangements with us. They declare that were Americans to ask to be taken back on the former foot- ing, tlie petition would be absolutely rejected." Franklin gives a few more cheerful views in his letter in the same year to an Amsterdam banker. He says : " Tlie English papers arc sending all the United States to destruction. By their accounts you would think we were in the utmost distress, in want of everything, in confusion, with no government, and wish- ing for that of England. Be assured my friend these are all fictions, mere English wishes not American realities. There are some few faults in our constitution, which is no wonder consider- ing the stormy season in which they were made. And for the best I never saw greater or more undubitable marks of public prosperity in any country. The produce of our agriculture bears a good price, and is all paid in ready hard money All the laboring people have high wages. Everybody is well clothed and well lodged, the poor provided for or assisted, all estates in town and country much increased in value. As to wishing for the English government, we should as soon wish for that of Morocco." This a picture out of the past worth preserving. In 1786, this was a most thoroughly Protestant country. There were by their own report in 1784, only 82,500 Roman Catholics in the United States, of which only 600 were in New England, and 1700 in New York and New Jersey together, but there were 20,000 in Maryland, of whom 8000 were slaves. In this year 1786, came the earliest scheme of colonization in the west. The first plan for the Ohio companies was shaped at Rutland in this county, in that year by Gen. Rufus Putnam and Joel Barlow. Not until 1786 was it made certain that the states would surrender to the general government their claims on the territory west of the Allcghanies. Connecticut made her concession in that year. This made the North-west territory a possibility. Massachusetts men embarked in this Ohio company had a prominent share in shaping the great ordinance of 1787, that dedicated the North-west to freedom. And in this first colony ever planted on territory of the United States, were fifty persons from Rutland, carrying out from the heart of the commonwealth the lessons of its own past, and 32 BOrLSTON CENTENNIAL. establishing at tlie very threshold of the new West of one hun- dred years ago, the faithful pattern of the New England township, and New Englan.d town government. We found in our own time, in the days of Bleeding Kansas, a close and perilous comparison between the civilization of the North and South. But the struggle was one that began a hun- dred years ago, and the New England founded in the West in that elder day., rested on bed rock, and saved the nation to freedom. The year of 1786 is remarkable as the opening era of the great advance in material development. In this year Massa- chusetts laid the foundation of her splendid line of manufactur- ing industries by the state aid that brought out the first jenny and stock card in this country. In 1786 John Fitch's first steamboat was tried on the Dela- ware. In 1787 Noah Webster had begun by public lectures his mission of the naturalization of the English tongue in America. In 1786 the great Methodist clmrch of America, organized two years before as one flock in Christ by Welsey's orders, had be- gun to put forth direct eftbrts for the emancipation of slaves. In 1786 the modern spirit of evangelical missions was awakened in England by William Carey. The first impulse to the great work of missions began in America with the opening of the century. These events and circumstances give an interest to the year 1786, which saw Boylston a separate town, no dull unmeaning sky arched above her. The name is derived from one of the eminent Boylston fam- ilies of Boston, who seemed to have stood for excellent exam- ples in public spirit when the nation well founded was to become a nation fitly adorned. The head of this family made a muni- ficent gift to Harvard College. The first gift of Ward Nicholas Boylston to this new town in 11^1 was £40 to be kept as an accumulating fund for such use as the donor should subsequently direct. The town was faithful to its trust through twenty-eight years, when the patron visiting the town in 1827, found his gift had grown to !|1000. He died the following year and by his will directed that the sum of iSOO should be given to bring the BOYLSTON CENTENNIAL. 33 total fund to $1450, for which in 1830, the town built the sub- stantial and permanently useful granite structure, its Town Eall and school building. But the relation of church and town was to work one more territorial change. It came when the town found it necessary to build a new meeting-house. A warm controversy took place as to its loca- tion. In all these scattered rural communities in that period, the first inquiry regarding the site of the new meeting-house, was " Where is the exact centre of the town." Other towns helped with committees and surveyors. Often the point when found proved unsuitable, or was changed by some prudential reason. It so happened in this case. The central point was found half a mile from where we now stand, but with a wisdom that has always defended itself, the committee decided to fix upon this summit for common and meeting-house : the earliest meeting-house having been built on a lower site near the burying ground. As in other New England towns we owe to the meeting house lot nearly all we have of the modern public square. All the more honor to Boylston's fathers that this noble common was bought, and not a free grant. There was a sufficient power in votes to sustain the action of the locating committee. The town having bought the present common, built the second meeting-house in 1793, on the site occupied by yonder white school house. In 1795, Ezra Beaman and his neighbors, after an effectual protest drew off and formed with parts of adjoining towns the second parish of Boylston, Sterling and Holden, which in 1808 became West Boylston. I can but believe this separation was necessary to save this rural town. Its inhabitants have always been widely dispersed farmers. Inevitably, the s-trongest nucleus of population was forecast for the intervale region in the west and north parts of its territory. It could never have become strong on this hill, which as happened in many other towns, might have ])ecome " the Old Common " with the stronger village centre of Boylston established at some lower level. I believe it was well to save the town of Boylston to itself, and its very triumph over the Beaman party, strong and zealous 34 BOYLSTON CENTENNIAL. as thej must have been, shows that the town stood well on its foundations. Early records say of its inhabitants and first settlers that they were always frugal, industrious and temperate. This is what good Pastor Sumner had to declare of his Slirewsbury flock in his half century sermon in 1812, and he came among them in 1762. Rev. Peter Whitney of Northborough, whose history of Worcester County is a model of its kind, writing of Boylston, his next adjoining town, in 1793, and he had been more than a quarter of a century an observer, says : •' It may be styled a rich town for they are not only clear of debt, but have several hun- dred pounds in their treasury. There are sure indications of wealth and prosperity among them. Here are some large and good farmers as perhaps anywhere in the country, who keep great stocks of cattle. The people raise all kinds of country produce especially beef, pork and grain, butter and cheese, vastly more than they consume, and carry more into the market perhaps than any town of its size and numbers." From old records it is told that, previous to 1808, not less than three thousand busliels of rye with about the same quanti- ties of corn and oats were produced in the town. During the winter season the farmers carried large quantities of rye meal to Boston, about forty miles, for which they realized $1.25 per bushel. At that time large quantities of cider were made from native fruit, grafted trees being unknown. There were thirty cider mills in town. And Boylston cider must have been in good repute. In 17^6 when Rev. Mr. Crafts was ordained in Princeton one Adonijah Howe, as a special town messenger, was sent to this town " for cider and plates," and on another errand to West- minster " for knives and forks." What a clatter of merry-making comes from the ordina- tion dinner out of tlie past. Our early fathers and mothers were by no means a gloomy generation. One early witness of life in a northern Massachusetts town says " we were as poor as mice, but as merry as grigs." In fact they may have been too jolly, especially at ordination dinners, for in 1759 the grave Council of the Royal Governor of this province addressed the BOYLSTON CENTENNIAL. 35 clergy a solemn blast of censure against this tendency to jollity and feasting on such occasions. Other than farming, Boylston has very little of industrial his- tory. In the early day there were saw mills, and grist mills, fill- ing mills and forges, and she has always had Sawyer's Mills ; but the streams ran past her feet, and a thousand cattle were on her hills. She found her soil strong and deep, and good husbandry was and remains her specialty. She did have her share, indeed, in the household industries of the period in the last century when 'New England domestic manufacture was nearly equal to the ordinary wants of the inhabitants for clothing and common supplies. They had few wants that could not be met by home and vil- lage craft. The mechanical industries of this county were in embryo but were already forecast by men of wonderful skill and ingenuitv, with whom Shrewsbury began to abound when she led the way in watches and rifles, aiid ploughs. Boylston has been content with her farms. She was prosperous as a farming town even when farming industry illuminated by modern agricultural science was still in the future. 1 have no doubt that some of the early prosperous agricul- turists of this region looked askance at book-farming and learned societies. And there were some very good results of farming in the older day. In the middle of the last century some of the large farmers of New England kept one hundred cows. In one case in Rhode Island, about, 1760, a herd of seventy-three cows gave ten thousand pounds of butter in five months, an average of nearly one pound from each cow per day. It was not until late in the last century, that there began to bft much discussion as to the improvement of live stock. In the matter of horses, saddle animals were highly valued, but the ox was the farm team. Pleasure vehicles were made impossible by the state of the early roads. Into one of the northern towns of this county came a '* })leasure wagon," so-called in ]81-i, as a curiosity. The stage-coach was not born in England until late in the last century, and in this region the days of coaching only began with the completion of the Boston and Worcester turnpike in 1810. Good roads first brought the call among the country 36 BOFLSTON CENTENNIAL. people for good trotters, and the descendant of Justin Morgan, foaled at Springfield, Mass., in 1793, began to stir the dust at the close of the last century. The first county agricultural exhibition ever held in the country, was the work of Elkanah Watson, at Pittsfield in 1810, to show off three Merino sheep, and the Merino sheep fever a little later had a tremendous run. But there were three earlier less fortunate Merinos, that deserved a better fate. These were two ewes and a ram, brought direct from Spain in 1793, by a Boston citizen, who gav^e them to a friend in the country. That friend '' simply ate them up," and he himself remembered the circumstance a few years later, when he paid $1000 for a Merino ram. BoylstOH as a farming town has been fortunate in its loca- tion. It is said that a central point on a line drawn through the state from north to south, rests on a Boylston hill. So that in the Heart of the Commonwealth this must be the '' Heart of Hearts.'''' This rural town rests like an emerald on the bosom of a county throbbing with manufacturing industries, inspired by local inventive skill. You may search the world in vain to find so closely set a galaxy of such eminent names as Bigelow, Whitney and Blanchard, sons of Worcester County, and of this neighljorhood. The stone rejected by the builders of Gov. Belcher's day, one hundred and fifty years ago, has become the head of the cor- ner of Massachusetts industries. Worcester County stands to-day among the first few counties of the United States in agricultural wealth. Where stands its peer, when its mechanical industries seek comparison ? Yet they said of this hill country, it " could never make a figure — could never attract settlers." The beaver in the day of the wilderness knew where to find descending waters ; so, all up and down our valleys, the early mill-wheels followed in the beaver's track, and the flumes started where he built his dams. President Dwight's Tour gives a very sunny and delightful picture of Worcester County about the year 1790, with busy mill- streams on every side among pleasant farms. We are not called upon here to rehearse the oft-told tale of BOYLSTON CENTENNIAL. 37 the wonders of tlie nineteenth century, the advance in mechani- cal industry and applied science, nor even the progress in hus bandry. But we may well note that nothing has ever superseded, or brought a lighter value to the farmers' occupation, and the share that those whose interests are solidly in the soil, have had in the building of the nation, and its maintenance. The founder of these Massachusetts towns were careful, patient and watchful. This thing is evident from Boylston town and church records while these records were united. They went into public affairs with intense fidelity. The building of the first meeting-house called for no less than fourteen precinct meetings; the matters of the second meeting-house in 1791 and years fol- lowing, occupied no less than twenty town meetings. Public service has never needed civil service reform so little, the duties of good citizenship have never been anywhere so well exemplified, as in the New England town system. Boylston has always been a good and kindly nursing mother to her sons. This region is the abundant source of the best vital forces. Health and vigor are the possession of those who, untainted by vice, drink in the full influence of these hills, and the breezes that sweep over them. The hill towns of Worcester County, have always favored the longevity of their inhabitants. Within the year 1885, there were thirty-nine deaths in Worcester County of persons who had passed the age of ninety years ; several of these had nearly completed the century. Here stands the church organization, founded with the town, and it remains the only church organization, and it retains the faith of the fathers. The great body of the people of the county, from the beginning till after the Revolution, belonged to the Congregational denomination. In 1783 there were forty-seven towns in this county, with a church of the congregational order in every town, and there was in 1881, a similar church in all these towns except two. The history of a church is no more the history of the town, but the rich fruits of the early care of the fathers remain, though the system has passed away. In Boylston from the first estab- lishment of its separate meeting-house the influence of this church and the succession of its pastors, eminent in character 38 BOYLSTON CENTENNIAL. and attainments, has given a constantly uplifting force to public sentiment in this community. Pastor Morse, notwithstanding his tenacious adhesion to the cause of the king, is nevertheless to be honored with the fact that, for the first twenty-five years of town and parish life, he was one of the ablest ministers of this region. The united periods of settlement of Mr. Morse and three of the succeeding pastors — Fairbanks, Cotton and iSanford — cover one hundred and one years of ministerial influence of the best and choicest type. All were broad and scholarly men. To the late Rev. William H Sanford, whose pastorate fills a period of twenty-five years, from 1832, belongs the credit awarded to him by both church and town, of bringing to a happy issue the aflairs of a most difficult and disturbed period. In his time, and guided by his skill and carefulness, the thii-d meeting-house was built, the present structure, first occupied in 1835. Boylston has from the first been heedful of the care of her youth and early realized the measures of early instruction, in- wrought into her original plan. It was doubtless as true here in the earlier day as was said of Princeton by her historian Russell : " Any one need but run his eye over the old records of births in the Town Clerk's office to be convinced that half a dozen familes constituted a very respectnble school district." Though the num- ber of her college-bred sons, since the first settlement oi the town, falls short in comparison with those who have sought other call- ings, the list is respectable, while Boylston has sent far and wide, men of sagacity and good business qualifications. She has furnished two Mayors to Worcester, and a numerous array of Worcester business men, of success in their vocations, and excel- lent citizens : good men, noble women. This community, earnest in the outset, and faithful in the narrower ways of earlier life, has not shrunk from any of the duties and sacrifices this century has imposed. Boylston gave eighty-one of her sons to the armies of the Union in the great rebellion, and seven of these laid down their lives that the nation might live. When our men of middle age were school boys, it seemed as if the military spirit had gone out of our communities. The treasured firearms of revolutionary memory, the sword of the BOYLSTON CENTENNIAL. 39 ancestor of brave days of old, clung to the walls of the farmer's home, or were gathered in antiquarian collections. But their suggestions seemed far remote from any dangers or duties of our time. Bird o' Fredum Sawin, indeed, found out in the Mexican war why " baggonets wuz peaked," but New England set a light value on the school and did not greatly heed the lesson. Forty years ago the militia service held a doubtful place among sober-minded citizens, as furnishing in muster fields and Cornwallis days, only serious perils for the youth and those more feeble in the face of temptation. And this dread supplied one of the first terrors of the gathering to arms in 1861, the possible evils of a disbanded soldiery at the end of the conflict. But Boylston, like other communities, re-absorbed into civil life her sons, when our armies gave them back, as rain sinks into the mellow earth, the subliraest j-roof history has yet furnished among the lessons of the Republic, that enlightenment and civil- ization, with the Bible and the common school as guiding forces, need not impair the sterner qualities that are the bulwarks and defenses of the State. Boylston has been faithful and sympathizing in the leading reforms and benevolent measures of the eras as they arrived. Her best public sentiment was early enrolled on the side of Eman- cipation. Her cider mills gave way promptly before the advance of Total Abstinence. It is worth much for Boylston to have en- rolled among its townsmen for over forty years one whose life was so fully freighted with usefulness for his age and time as that of John B. Gough. He came among you a young man, yet old in the experiences of the woe of drunkenness, with life prospects apparently blighted by the drunkard's cup, with heart and nature scarred by grief and shame ; with a sadness that was never quite parted from in the brightest portions of his illustrious career. From his wide mission tours, in this land or in foreign lands, it was to Hillside he came back to recuperate in a town he loved to call his own And when he went out for the last time to return in life no more, his remains were brought to Hillside to receive the world's tribute of grief and affection, that came flash- ing across continents and under seas. 40 BOYLSTON CENTENNIAL. One hundred years have brought great changes to the world and to the race from whom the earliest settlers of these hills was derived. At the end of the reign of Charles II, two hundred years ago, the English colonists in America numbered 200,000. In two hundred years their increase has been two hundred and fifty fold. In the century, whose close we celebrate to-day, the United States has increased its territory ten fold. The influx of a population, alien in blood and purposes from the early founders of the nation, has nearly all taken place within these hundred years. They share our destinies and will share in shaping them. " We march to fate abreast." In one hundred years the Anglo Saxon- race, in whom rests the world's hope, has grown from six to one hundred millions. It now comprises one-fifteenth of mankind ; it rules one-third of the earth's surface, and one-quarter of the people. Within the century the world has been belted by the emigrant and the adventurer. Let Alexander weep, — there are no more wilder- nesses to be conquered, no more virgin lands to be explored. Seventy years ago a Boylston pastor preached a clear and ringing discourse on the topic of Missions, and his plea, in 1816, for Christian Evangelization of the new West as a national necessity, reads like fhe most vivid Home Missionary appeal of to-day, notwithstanding the New West of Pastor Cotton's time lay far on this side of the Mississippi. " After me the deluge," shouted the infamous favorite of a licentious king, and the red deluge broke on France nearly one hundred years ago. " After us those for whose estate and welfare we shall be held accountable," was the motto of the founders of this hill town, and well has their pious care been answered. BOYLSTON CENTENNIAL. 41 After the oration, in introducing the Poet of the Day, the President of the Day said : Our youth is passed amid the illusions of poetry, and in the natural order of events on occasions like this, sober fact usually comes first and the poetry afterward. This is following custom, and it may be that the custom is based upon the facts of life after all, because the illusive poetry of childhood soon evaporates before the actual facts of life, and then comes the real inspiration of life in its sober realization of the just proportion, which the chastened mind converts into real poetry. To-day, following the instincts of our feelings, we desire to be filled with the real inspiration of this occasion, and therefore we have called in the art of the poet. The Poet of the Day is a descendant of one of the honored families of Boylston, and 1 now have the pleasure and the honor of introducing William N. Davenport, Esq , of Marlborough, as Poet of the Day. POEM. One hundred years of story and song, O'er the river of time have floated along, Freighted with cargoes of hopes and of fears, The smiles of affection and miseries' tears, To the ocean of ages, the isles of the past, Where all errors with charity's mantle o'ercast. Are hidden from sight 'neath the waves foaming crest And lie safely locked in oblivion's breast. A century's years have passed swiftly away. And sunk 'neath the vortex of nature's decay. Since our dear mother town, without hindrance or fear. Stepped out of its cradle and began its career. T'was a morning in March, the bleak air was chill, The cold winds of winter blew bitter and shrill, When the infant decided, with a will of its own, To forsake its fond parent and go it alone. Its mother objected, she said 'twas too small, That its castles of air would ingloriously fall. And that when despoiled of its infantile charms, ' Twould be glad to return to her sheltering arms. But Shrewsbury, like other good mothers we know. Was compelled to submit, and let the child go. Kind friends gathered round it, it flourished and grew, 'Neath the guidance of men who kept heaven in view. Who sought to establish without blemish or flaw. Our dear native Roj'lston, with virtue its law. The foundations of Church and of school they laid deep. BOYLSTON CENTENNIAL. 43 That those who should follow, might gather aud reap The harvest of blessings, that constantly fall From religion's pure fountains, and learning's proud halls. They were men of convictions, of true simple heart, With plain, homely logic, untainted by art, Who bent with a smile 'neath the chastening rod. And put their whole trust in a beneficent God. Plain yeomen were they — humble tillers of earth, With a patriot's love for the land of their birth. Determined to live in a land truly free, They detied the invader from over the sea. They shouldered the musket, the plowshare laid by, With a firm resolution to conquer or die. Then back to their homes, the fierce conflict ended, The life of the soldier in the farmer the}' blended. Ever ardent for liberty, simple and pure, The praise of the tyrants they could not endure. So when Pastor Morse endeavored to teach, And also to practice, as well as to preach, That to monarchs and kings allegiance was due, That to England's proud sway they should ever prove true, He was told in language emphatic, and plain, That should the offence be committed again. For his labors of love he must seek a new field, That upon this one point they ne%'er would yield. The pastor persisting, was soon banished hence, Where loyalist teachings would not give offence. They were men of stern lives, kind-hearted and true, They built for their children, they builded for you, And then to our keeping, the heritage left, Of none of its brauty, or grandeur bereft. IT. But 'tis a fact, none can dispute, A terse homely maxim, that none dare refute, That a child that disobeys its mother, Will come to grief sometime or other. Two and a score of years passed by, So swiftly do the moments fly, 44 BOTLSTON CENTENNIAL. So short is life, the little span, That marks the pilgrimage of man, So brief the space between our birth, And our resting place in mother earth, That many of the little band Who guarded with protecting hand. The infant town on its natal day, Had passed from all earth's scenes away, Had gone to seek that just reward, Trepared for all who serve the Lord, Ere their Western brothers prayed the state, In the year of grace eighteen hundred eight. To carve from Boylston's teeming breast, A strip of land in the prosperous West, And cause the child to undergo. Some portion of its mother's woe : Thenceforth West Boylston graced the plain, Of Worcester County's fair domain. III. One hundred years of time's vast span, Outnumbering far, the years of man. Have sped since that auspicious morn. When our old mother town was born. What mighty changes these years have brought. What wonders Father Time hath wrought. Nations have risen since that day. Have flourished, and have passed away. Monarchs have sought to stem the tide, Of Liberty's advancing stride. But everywhere beneath the sun, Wherever man his course has run. The Goddess rules far stronger now. Than when the crown first decked her brow. No more the serf shall bend the knee. The slave from all his fetters free Stands disenthralled, his slavery o'er. Nor longer knocks, at freedom's door. BOYLSTOX CENTENNIAL. 45 The visions of our grandsires' dream Vanished before the age of steam. Around the world magnetic bands, Securely bound by faithful hands, All things proclaim of joy or woe, Borne onward by the electric flow. Science and art with each have vied, Inspired alike with honest pride, To onward press to greater things. To touch the chords whence knowledge springs, And 'neath their banners white unfurled, To bear its blessings through the world. TV. Oh ! pleasant scenes of early days. How changed thy walks in all their ways. How changed thy woods that graced the hills, And overhung thy sparkling rills. The woodman's axe has spared them not, Nor sacred held the wood-land grot, But ruthlessly in quest of gain. The monarchs of the wood hast slain. No more we hear the bugle horn, Rousing the County folk at morn, No more the dashing tally-ho, Through summer's heat and winter's snow, Speeds gaily down the village street. Behind the coursers strong and fleet. For now the sturdy iron horse, Through teeming valleys takes its course, While backward, from each towering hill. Its warnings echo loud and shrill. No more the Crier, strong and brown, With clanging bell goes up and down, Proclaiming in stentorian voice. That John, and Jane, have made their choice, And that next Sabbath they will be Bound fast in legal unity. 46 BOYLSTON CENTENNIAL. O change ! why dost thou thus destroy The varied scenes of childhood's joy ? Is it because the laws of fate Have long decreed their present state ? Or do you hope to better build Than those who lirst these acres tilled ? If such thy hope, oh, spare, I pray, And keep thy vandal hands away, Far from that humble woodside cot, To me that almost sacred spot, Where on a bright November morn, My infant eyes beheld life's dawn. Still let my heart about it twine, Like incense, round the sacred shrine. VI. Where are the faces that once we met? The familiar forms we shall ne'er forget. The kindly friends of childhood's years, Who shared with us its joys and fears, As side by side, in the days of yore, We stored our minds with school-book lore. And thought to scale fame's lofty height, By learning how to read aud write. The stones in yonder churchyard gray. Beneath the mournful pine trees' sway. Record that many, by a loving hand, Have been led from earth to the better land. The living are scattered far and wide. By mountain peak and ocean tide. Wherever fiickle fortune calls They seek for wealth in Mammon's halls. They burrow 'neath the fruitful ground, Where Nature's treasures most abound. They till the earth, they speed the train, They face the dangers of the main. In learning's halls they seek for fame. BOYLSTON CENTENNIAL. 4.7 And strive to win an immortal name. From North to South, from East to West, Throughout our land by heaven blest, Where'er ambition leads the van, And fires and sways the heart of man, Old Hoylston's sons in peace abide, With honor for their shield and guide. But still where'er their footsteps turn For the old town their hearts still yearn. VII. Our native town. We hail thee now And place the laurel on thy brow, And as your joyful birthday bells. The peans to thy glory swells, We stand uncovered at thy shrine. And round thy brows fresh garlands twine. Forsaking all the cares of life. Its busy scenes, its daily strife, We've come from factory, shop and farm, From cares that try and scenes that charm, From the marts of trade we've gathered here, To welcome thy one hundredth year. We've gathered from our several ways, To add the tribute of our praise, The homage of our song to pay To thee on thy Centennial Day. The Muses join, with loud acclaim. To swell the glory of thy name. The breezes catch the glad refrain. And send it echoing o'er the plain. Far o'er thy high majestic hills, Adown thy sparkling, rippling rills. On the Nashua's advancing wave, Through the quiet vales its waters lave. Past frowning rock and mossy dell, Past flowery mead, and wooded fell. All Nature adds its roundelays, To swell the measure of thy praise. 46 BOYLSTON CENTENNIAL. VIII. 'Tis said that treasure once was hid Beneath thy green sward's coverlid. That treasure for which strong men sought, By thirst for gold and greed distraught ; Who, through the watches of the night, With naught to guide but the moon's pale light, Into thy bosom plunged the spade, Then upward through the glistening blade. And when at last they reached the pot, And spell-bound stood upon the spot, Upon their view an army broke, When mid the muskets diu and smoke, The kettle slipped from off the bar, And sank into the depths afar. So may thy blessings, dearly bought, If through unholy impulse sought. If greed should seek, or avarice burn, From honor's course thy path to turn, Oh ! cause them quick to disappear, And heap the earth-clods on their bier. IX. Go on, old town, to virtue true, With eagles' flight thy course pursue, And may thy sons and daughters be True to themselves, their God, and thee. On to the future take thy way. Refulgent as the orb of day. Onward old town, we love thee yet. Thy pleasant scenes we'll not forget, For thee our hearts shall ever yearn. To thee our fondest hopes will turn. And when at last life's fleeting breath Checked by the unseen hand of death. Our bark of Life, with sails all furled, vShall bear us to the better world, Here may we come and lie at rest,^ BOYLSTON CENTENNIAL. 49 Within thy kind maternal breast. Go on ! and may thy future be, Bright as the hopes we have for thee. Nor cloud, nor shadow overcast. Nor Summer's gale nor Winter's blast, Dispel the hopes that round thee twine, Of happiness, for thee and thine. Our prayers to heaven will still ascend, To keep and guide thee to the end. AFTER-DINNER EXERCISES. The after dinner exercises took place in the speakers' tent, and were opened with the " Poet and Peasant " overture by the band. The President then introduced Mr. George L. Wright, of Boylston, as toast-master, wlio made following remarks. Mr. President : — It seems but proper and fitting in opening these post-prandial exercises that a few additional words of wel- come and congratulation should be expressed to the sons and daughters of the old town, and the descendants of Boylston fam- ilies, who have honored the occasion with their presence. It has been said that he who forgets not the place of his birth, and the trees whose fruit he plucked, and under whose shade he gamboled in the days of his youth, is not a stranger to the sweetest im- pressions of the human heart. It is especially gratifying to the present citizens of the town to welcome back so many of her former citizens ; natives, who after years of absence, have return- ed on this Centennial Day, which marks the close of the first cen- tury of the town's corporate existence to renew the associations of the past, to recall the memories of childliood, of youth, and of early manhood ; the days which of all the seasons of life cast the strongest impressions and leave the most delightful memories. We welcome you back to the old home, to these hills and valleys, to this heritage of the fathers, to this soil wherein repose the dust of parents and kindred, and made sacred by the tenderest asso- ciations of life. Many of you have gone out from the town and BOTLSTON CENTENNIAL. 51 chosen homes in distant places ; nearly every State in the Union has her representative in this day's gathering. The noble record of Boylston's sons and daughters is a (itting illustration of the sturdy character of the town. Many there are who have adorned almost every walk and calling in life ; whose names and records have alike done honor to themselves, the old town and the com- munities in whicli they have been placed. Statesmen could be named whose voices have been heard, and whose influence has been felt in both the councils of State and Nation. Soldiers, whose bravery has been an honor to the citizen-soldiery of tlie Republic. Philanthropists and divines whose eloquence and pleadings in the causes of religion, temperance and humanity have been heard and felt in every quarter of the globe. Tlie spot on which we are gathered teems with historic interest. In yon- der cemetery rest the early settlers of this town. On the com- mons, hard by, stood the ancient church and school-house, while scattered around it stand the houses whicli for the greater part of the century were the homes of the Boylston pastors — Mor.se, Fairbanks, Hooper, Cotton, Russell, Sanford and Bigelow. Every inch of ground is replete with christianizing and elevating influences and associations which liave made Boylston what it has been. We are honored, in this day's services, with the pres- 'ence of representatives from the parent towns — Lancaster and Shrewsbury, as well as the entire Lancaster circle of towns, while the only daughter, West Boylston, completes the family circle. We greet you all with the kindliest of feelings and most cordial of greetings. At the Bi-Centennial Celel)ration of the old town of Lancaster in 18.5-), the following toast was offered to the town of Boylston : -' Boylston took to herself Shrewsbury's leg and ran away from her mother, but her industry and many virtues have done honor to herself and her parentage." James Davenport, Esq., in rei)lyiug for the town, closed his remarks with the following sentiment : " As the two branches of the Nashaway which flowed sepa- rately all the way from Ashburnham on the north, and Uolden on the south, at different distances until they arrived at Lancas- ter, did not leav'e the place until they had united into one, and 52 BOYLSTON CENTENNIAL. flowed placidly together towards the Merrimac in an unbroken union ; so may this meeting have the effect to cement the good feelings of this great family until the Nashaway shall cease to flow." And this sentiment we now offer as Boylston's greeting upon its Centennial Day. I have the pleasure of offering as the first toast : The day ive celebrate, ivhich welcomes back the sons and daug-hters of the old toivn. May this re-union cement anew our love for the old home. RESPONSE BY THE BAND, which gave Bucallossi's *'• Hunting Scene." The town of Boy Is ton, although her growth has been small, her influence has been wide and her record good. May the second century ., upon which she lias now entered., prove as pros- perous as the first. In offering this toast, the toast-master referred to the diffi- culty which the early settlers of Boylston encountered in their attempts to become a town, and which ended in their becoming the North Precinct of Shrewsbury ; and of the subsequent attempts, at last successful, in 1786, In calling for the response to this toast, he introduced a gentleman who had always been deeply identified with the highest interests of both church and town, who had served nearly forty years as one of the deacons of the church, and nearly as long as clerk of the parish ; thirty-six years as Town Clerk ; who had twice served the town in the Gen- eral Court of the Commonwealth ; and who had been honored with nearly every office in the gift of the town — Deacon Henry H. Brigham. REMARKS OF HENRY H. BRIGHAM, ESQ. That the growth of the town has been small, the reasons are obvious, it is not because its inhabitants have not been prolific, as formerly there were many large families ; eight to fifteen chil- BOYLSTON CENTENNIAL. 53 dren in a family were not uncommon. It was formerly the cus- tom that when a child was born a Note of Thanksgiving was put up in church on the following J^abbath for its safe dclivei'y. There were two families of fifteen children each brought up at the same time. It s'as said to be alternately Andrew Bigelow, Benjamin Houghton; Andrew Bigelow, Benjamin Houghton. We are a coninmnity ef agriculturists. We have no meciianical or other industries to retain our young people. As soon as they arrive at mature age they are obliged +o seek employment else- where ; but we have the satisfaction of knowing tliat healthful influences have gone forth that are widespread and far reaching. Many of our young men have gone forth who occupy positions of influence and respectability in many of our large cities ; especi- ally may we make mention of our neighboring city of Worcester. Two of its Mayors were from this town. From the time of the first organization of the city government, nearly forty years ago, it has had its representatives from this town. Many of its enterpris- ing business men, Water Commissioner Chief Engineer of the Fire Department, and several of its most prominent Civil Engineers were from this town. Of the professionals, there lias been a goodly number of ministers of the gospel, among whom maybe mentioned Jonathan Longley, John Flagg, Jonathan Bigelow, Asahael Big- elow, Andrew Bigelow, D. D., William Whipple, Abijah Stowell, Willard Brigham. Of the Medical profession. Dr. John An- drews was physician of the town forty years. Two young men, graduates from Cambridge and New York Medical Colleges, were sent out last year, one to Rhode Island, the other to Pennsylva- nia. Of the legal profession there have been several ; a speci- men of which we have had in the delivery of the poem to-day. There have been many noble women, several of whom have be- come the wives of clergymen. Among them may be mentioned three from the Ikish family, three from the Hoo))er family, two from Rev. Ward Cotton's family, one from the Wliitc family, one from the Kendall family, two from the Davenport families. There has been musical talent for which tlie town has been noted ; es- pecially in the line of descent from Deacon Levi Moore, who was leader of the singing at the time of deaconing the hymns nearly a century ago. It was said that all of his descendants were singers, 54 BOTLSTON" CENTENNIAL. and it has proved to be so, as they liave heeu the leading singer* in this town from that time to the present. One of the families who went to West Newton have for fifty years been the leading singers and musicians there. Two families, one of thirteen chil- dren, who removed to Ashland, have been tlie leading singers and organists in the several churches there for forty years. If we go to Springfield we find there one of the finest musical estab- lishments in that city kept by a young man from this town. If we go to the State of Ohio we find a noted Professor of Music there from this town. And so of many other places that might be mentioned. We are a temperance people, and are all prohi- bitionists. When called upon to vote whether intoxicating liquors shall be sold in town or not, the vote is an unanimous No. Fifty years ago there were three stores and a tavern where rum was sold, and everybody drank it. No fault was found with the seller ; but the person who got intoxicated was blamed be- cause he would drink so. Soon after that time the sale in all those places was voluntarily given up, and for forty years no rum has been sold in town, consequently very little of the effects of intoxicating drinks have been seen. If the record of the town, during the past century, has been good, may it be far bettor dur- ing the century upon which we now enter. The Commonwealth of Massachusetts^ the Old Bay State^ the brightest star in the national constellation, v)hose government grants full security to ecery citizen. We greet her representa- tive here to-day. HON. HENRY C. GREELEY, of Clinton, Executive Committee for the Seventh District, re- sponded to this toast. He returned thanks for the very complimentary allusion to the mother state, remarking that no child would go very far wrong who thought well of its parents and kept a good hold on the maternal apron strings. He brought congratulations from the state government, expressing great regard for the smaller towns and the work they were doing in sending forth men and BOYLSTON CENTENNIAL. 55 women well developed physically and of great intellectual and moral strength. His words of counsel were that they " cherish the country school, and the old church of the fathers." The early settlers of Boylston. We honor their deeds and cherish their memory. What they sowed in dariger, hardship and privation their descendants reap in ease and prosperity. Responses were made by Ezra Sawyer, of Worcester, for the Sawyer family, (the first settlers of Boylston) ; Rev. George S. Ball, of Upton, for the Ball family, and Wm. Fred Holcombe, M. D., of New York City, a grandson of Col. Jotliam Bush, and great-great-grandson of John Bush, first of the name in Boylston, and who settled, in or about 17:29, the homestead occupied by the family until about thirty years ago. RESPONSE OF EZRA SAWYER, ESQ. Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen : — 1 am glad to be here to-day to participate in the ceremonies of this Centennial Day. I am glad to look in the faces of the descendants of the early settlers of the good old town of Boylston. In responding to this toast I have but little to say of the Sawyer family. I cherish the memory of my ancestors, and we honor their deeds to-day. They certainly sowed in danger, hardship and privation. We can trace the Sawyer family back to three brothers who came from England and settled in this vicinity. One in Berlin, one in Sterling, one in Lancaster, my father's family came from the one who settled in Lancaster. They suffered much from the depredations and cruelties of the Lidians. One of the family was shot while at work in the field with his brother, who was taken prisoner with another man, and taken to Canada. It was soon learned that they were mechanics and millwrights, by trade. They were offered their freedom if they would build them a saw- mill. They built the mill and were given their freedom, and then they came back to Lancaster. Thomas, son of this Elias Sawyer, came to the south part of Lancaster (which was soon set off with a part of Shrewsbury and incorporated as the town of 56 BOYLSTON CENTENNIAL. Boylstou),and built saw and grist mills which, for a long term of years, did a prosperous and flourishing business. These mills and their location has always borne the name of Sawyer's Mills, of which there is hardly anything left to trace where the mills stood. There are two houses left, one built by Tlioraas Sawyer, and one built by my father, Joseph S. Sawyer. There is in the chimney of the house built by Thomas Sawyer a, stone on which is the date of its building. My father was a Clothier, so-called in those days, who had a mill for coloring, shearing and dressing home-spun and woven woolen cloth. I saw a coat a few years ago, the cloth of which he colored and dressed. The coat had then been worn more than twenty years, and it still was not in bad condition, showing how they sewed in those days. Tiiey sowed seed which pertained not only to the physical and outer man, but to the intellectual and spiritual. Some of the first work they did was to build and establish the church and the school. I can just remember when my father and mother joined the church over which Rev. Ward Cotton was pastor. My two older brothers, Caleb K. and Joseph S., with myself, were bap- tized at tlie same time. I never shall forget the feelings of awe and reverence that I felt when he laid his hand on my head, and ever afterwards I had great respect for him as a man of God and I thank God daily that my parents taught me when al)0ut to retire at night, to turn my thoughts to God in prayer, and 1 wish to testify that it has been a great help to me all my life. As to the reaping of what they sowed, there never was a time when the people of this town and country were so well housed, fed and clothed as they are to-day. There never was a time when such good care was taken of the sick, the insane, the orphan and the unfortunate as at the present time. There never was a time when there were such opportunities for education, culture and development in all that is good and true as now. Look at agri- culture, mechanics, and all the sciences, and see what i)rogress is being made. Look at the accumulation of wealth. It is said that we are, as a nation, three millions richer at sunset than we are at sunrise every day. I will close by saying that with all this progress and these opportunities, there comes a fearful responsibility. May we be able to meet it. boylston centennial. 57 Remarks op Key. George S. Ball. Mr. President: — I respond to that sentiment with some reluctance, because I am conscious of inability amid the altered circumstances of to-day, to do anything like justice to the charac- ters of the early settlers of our New England towns. To do this we need the genius of history with a power to become a part of that past, so as to set forth in its true light the dangers, hard- ships and privations of their lot. £t is not alone to recall the one century since the incorporation of your town which is needed, but almost two. What do one hundred and seventy-five years signify of change here ? So wonderful that, if a descrip- tion could be true to their courage, fortitude, patience and energy, — to their hopes and fears, their loves and losses, — you would accuse one of romance or having just come from the peru- sal of the Arabian Nights of Entertainment from which he had borrowed coloring. The reality is full of romance. The young man and his bride gather up a few articles of necessity and strike out for many weary miles into a howling wilderness to make a home. Their faith in God and each other makes them strong for the long weary work. The cloud and sunshine fleck their lives as it will the delicately robed and gloved couple that start in life's work amid the advantages and prosperity of this later day of civilization and progress. We have no records, no key to unlock their inner lives save as the majority of these settlers expressed themselves in some public act or vote tliat told of their faith, hope and purpose for themselves or their posterity. News- paper reporters and reviewers were not then watching as with eagle eye from every hill-top for some fact or fiction to hurry it into print informing you, at the next issue, of matters about yourself and neighbors that were surely news. These settlers were not grumblers and faultfinders. They attended to their own business and found enough of it, and went on with their tasks, asking only what is present duty. Like all others who do God's will, they planted larger than they knew. In founding a town, they planted and nourished that germ of Democracy which has grown through great states into one of the great nationalities of the world. To-day we see no sign of their poverty, and yet they 68 BOTLSTON CENTENNIAL. must have been poor. They, that are dressed in soft raiment, live in kings' houses. They have no cause to face tlie privations of a new country, to cut down the forests, clear the land and break the virgin soil that they may sow and reap their bread in the " sweat of the brow," and still live on the coarsest fare, with a log hut for shelter, and toil and labor and wait. Thus our fathers began. They were the great Commoners^ the bone and sinew of the people, the practical brains from which has come so much worthy our admiration and gratitude. We are to remem- ber that the town was incorporated near the close of the Revolu- tionary war. They gave freely of their means and men to prose- cute it, and yet, when the currency was so debased that a silver dollar would buy more goods than forty of their currency, and a •' Spanish milled dollar was worth seventy-five in the same cur- rency," they shrank not from their duty as citizens and peti- tioned and received their charter for a town. Pew of the rising generation, amid the plenty of our homes and the money passing through the hands of all classes, can have any idea of the sim- plicity and poverty of those days. It was an age of " home- spun." The furnishing of their houses and adornment of rooms went not beyond necessities. Instead of the piano there was the music of the spinning wheels ; instead of the melodeon the click of the shuttle and the dull thud of the lay of the hand-loom as it beat up to its place the stout weft These home-spun, home- wove fabrics furnished the ordinary clothing of the family — warm in winter, cool in summer. At night their houses were lighted with tallow-dipped candles. These houses, also very plain, were innocent of paint without and within. The furniture and adorn- ments limited generally to necessities merely. The uncarpeted floor scrupulously clean, but well sanded, was the pride of the house-wife of that day. Pood was plentiful and luscious if plain. Appetites were undoubtedly good, and the festivities of quiltings, huskings and thanksgivings gave ample seasons for their indul- gence. At such times, if the tables groaned, the boys and girls, young men and maidens, laughed ; and grave seniors smiled benig- nantly as they recalled the past. Books were few but good, and the schools and churches well attended. Out of all this came the noblest product of New England — noble men and women, our BOYLSTON CENTENNIAL. 59 sires and mothers. As the crude iron i.s brittle, and \va.uta libre and strength, we put it under tremendous pressure ; so souls un- der these outward jiressures grew, and as storm and cloud and sorrow environed them, they reached up for God's light and found comfort and peace in commerce with the skies. We rejoice in their deeds, in their English l)lood. I do for one. Say what you will of England to-day, yet the stock is good. We are proud of it. It is stalwart, liberty-loving. It bore transplanting to these shores well, and may I not appeal to the history of New Eng- land, and of our towns, to vindicate my conviction ; it has not deteriorated. And let the deeds of your townsmen, in the late war, show you that the patriotic fire of the sires still burns with undiminished l)rightiiess in the bosoms of the sons. The Church and Ministry of BoylsLon, may its sacred in- fluence and the faithful ministration of those who l/ibor at its altar euer ^uide this people in ways of truth and holiness. Responses by Rev. Israel Ainsworth, the present pastor, and by Rev. Henry S. Kimball, of Dayville, Conn., a former act- ing pastor. Response of Rev. Israel Ainsworth. The seven men who have preceded me in the pastorate of the Boylston church, have not been able to boast of royal blood, as some of the natives of this town, of whom we have just heard, could. But they were royal men nevertheless. Men of God, men who had the educational, moral and religious good of the people at heart. This town owes very much to the church, for it was the religious character of the first settlers which led them to seek for incorporation, first as a precinct, than as a town. During the one hundred and forty-three years of its existence, the church here, under the leadership of its able and faithful ministers, has sought to mould and fashion the lives of the sons and daughters of this place in righteousness, and fit and qualify them, hy inspir- ing within them a desire after the highest and l)est things for usefulness here and Idessedness hereafter. We have no. reason to be ashamed of my predecessors in the ministry of this 60 BOYLSTON CENTENNIAL. church. They were not a whit behind their contemporaries who filled the pulpits in the churches of this vicinity. What- ever we may think, at this date, of the political views of the first pastor, we must admit that he was a man of uncommon intellectual ability and an earnest Christian minister. Those who succeeded him were not all of one mind, and indeed, had they been we should not have had the respect for them which we now have Educated men are thinking men, and edu- cated Christian ministers do not think less than other men of culture and refinement. The theological differences which have occurred in the churches of New England have not failed to dis- turb the Boylston church, and though this church has remained true to the Evangelical faith of the fathers, it has received some of the additional light from God's Holy Word for which the fathers prayed. The church and ministry here have not neg- lected to take a deep interest in the educational welfare of the young. The names of Cotton and Sanford will long be remem- bered in this connection, for they sought by precept and exam- ple to emphasize the feeling of those who laid the foundations of this Republic, that the church and the common school were necessary to the continuauce of the life of the democratic-repub- lican institutions of this country. A Sunday-school was established by the church here in 1818, and the principle of total abstinence from the use of ardent spirits was made binding upon its mem- bers as early as 1833. This church has been catholic in its spirit and treatment of Christians of other denominations. Sev- eral attempts have been made to establish other churches in this town, but they have failed, not because of opposition from the First Church, Init because all real worshippers of God in Christ have been made to feel at home in the old church ; made to feel that Christianity and not sectarianism was the only essential to true church fellowship. Other towns in this county with a popu- lation no larger than that of Boylston, have several church organizations ; but I believe that this church will stand alone in the future as in the past, if it continues to manifest that spirit of Christian courtesy and love which has characterized it during a considerable period in its past history. It has much to rejoice over at present. Very few churches in agricultural towns have BOYLSTON CENTENNIAL. 61 more young people among them than we. I see no reason to despond over the future history of this church, if she only keeps herself " unspotted from the world;" if she only develops in righteousness and true holiness, and labors for the good of those among whom God has placed her, this generation and genera- tions to come shall call her blessed. Rev. Henry S. Kimball, of Dayville, Conn., said : I am always glad to meet the people of Boylston and particularly so to greet them on this anniversary occasion. In this town I had my happiest pastorate. It will be remembered as a bright section of my life. I expect no brighter one during my ministry. But while others refer to the past I wish to speak of the future. I desire to make a plea for these citizens. Those who have remained in the town have sustained its honor so highly that we are proud to return to-day. They have carried forward the educational and religious work remarka- bly well. Now I wish to ask you who have gone forth from this town to assist these worthy residents who remain. They need a chapel ; the basement of the church is not a suitable place in which to hold religious services. Health and life are endangered by attendance there. There is also imperative need of a library building ; they have an excellent collection of books but no room in which to keep them. I appeal to the sons and daughters of Boylston to give these needed buildings to tlieir native town, ('ertainly there can be no better investment, no more enduring monument to your memory. While we gather here to-day I seem to see another company. Looking down upon us I behold Hanford, Bigelow, Flagg, Partridge, Bush, Moore, Andrews, and among them stands that beloved man who recently went home, John B. Grough. Let us remember his last words, make our records clean, and meet those who have gone before in that better world. The toast-master referred to the fact that two of Boylston's pastors, whose united term of service covered a period of more than fifty years, were both prominently connected with the edu- 62 BOYLSTON CENTENNIAL. catioual and social interests of the town as well as the church, and botli represented it in the General Court, and offered the following toast : To the memory of Rev. Ward Cotton, A M., minister of the toum from 1797 to 1825, an honored representative of one of the most illustrious lines of the tninistry in New England. His efforts for the spirtual and temporal interests of the toivn will ever be remembered with respect and veneration. Rev. Daniel S. Whitney, of Southborough, a former resident of the town, and a son-in law fo Rev. Mr. Cotton, replied as follows . Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen : — To do anything like justice to my theme requires more time than the occasion can furnish. It is meet, however, that something should be said, however inadequate. Mr. Cotton's ministry not only extended over more than one-quarter of the life of the town, but it came in that part of its life when it was needful for both ministers and people to struggle against great hardships. Worthless paper currency, the embargo and Madison's war were to those who encountered them no small hardship. With molasses at 11.80 per gallon, and other things in proportion, it must have been a time to try men's stomachs if not their souls. The ministers' houses, in those days, were the taverns for all traveling minis- ters, and not infrequently others would claim tlieir hospitality who had no right above tram})S to l)c taken care of without charge. Mr. Cotton's hospitality was of the broadest type. Whether with single or double team, whoever came, were supplied with tlie best that the house and barn afforded. No unfortunate was ever sent away hungry. He eked out his small income by fitting boys for college and teaching others in his own house, and thus greatly improved tlie standard of education in the town. Books were scarce, and he induced some friends to join him in starting a library which became very serviceable to old and young. Mr. Cotton brought to the town not only the culture of the best insti- tution of learning, but also the manners and graces of his Ply- BOYLSTON CENTENNIAX. 63 mouth home. The self-denial to which his young bride submitted without a murmur, may be seen from the fact that she was so struck, on her first appearance at church, with the contrast be- tween the costumes of the women of the town and her own rich dress that she never again wore it. At her Plymouth home it was proper, but not among the people to whom she had come to be a helpmeet for the young minister. Tiie gay silks lay quietly in draw ers till her girls were old enough to wear silk, then they took a darker color and were made useful. Mr. Cot- ton's ministry, from its beginning to its ending, was one of emi- nent self-denial and self-forgetfulness. The highest interests of the people who had called him to be their spiritual guide were ever in his thought. He refused to listen for a moment to a com- mittee from a much larger town who came to see if he would answer favorably a call to be their minister. When urged by a sister to seek the new field he made this characteristic reply : " It is a poor soldier that deserts in time of battle," and so he continued on to the end. He was always on excellent terms with the young people, and used his influence to direct their amusements and lead them into reasonable channels. The heats and jars among men he ever strove to mitigate and assuage. He seemed to realize the greatness of the blessing pronounced upon the peacemakers. The majority of the people were strongly at- tached to him. This was clearly seen after he ceased to be their minister by their making him, from year to year, their represent- ative in the Legislature till failing health dismissed him entirely from public service. Mr. Cotton and his wife had born unto them six children — four girls and two boys. The second child, a beautiful, healthy little girl, Mary, went to her heavenly home when but seventeen days old through the carelessness of a nurse. The other five lived to mature years, mutually blessing and being blest. The family circle was first broken by the marriage of Lydia Jackson, the eldest of the girls, to Mr. Josiah Pope, of Sterling. Three years later she passed to her spiritual home leaving an infant daughter to manifest in after years something of the beauty of person and character for which her mother was so remarkable. Ward Mather, the younger of the boys, learned the machin- 64 BOTLSTON CENTENNIAL. ist business, married Miss Elizabeth Miller Lamson, of Boylston, settled iu Leominster and was long known as Deacon Cotton, Secretary ui" the Northern Worcester Temperance Society. He died about ten years since, leaving three sons and a daughter, Sally May married Rev. Charles Robinson, of Medfield, where she was called hence live years later, leaving an infant son. A dearly loved and greatly mourned little daughter preceded her to the letter country. Hannah Sophia Phillips married Daniel S. Whitney, has resided in Southborough for more than thirty years, is the only one of the family now living on earth ; and is here with two of her grandsons, John Cotton Billings and Carlyle Whitney Billings to enjoy this celebration. John Thomas, the oldest of the children, was never married, but lived with his parents at the old homestead while they lived. He was town clerk for many years and represented the town in the General Court. He was greatly attached to his mother, and when her failing health required all his time and strength, he cheerfully relinquished all public employments and devoted himself entirely to her comfort till she passed on to other mansions. After his mother's departure he sold the old homestead, bought a small place in Southborough, near his sister's residence, and lived there in good fellowship with his neighbors till his failing health induced him to seek a home with her, where he gradually failed to the end, being in the eighty-fourth year of his age when called away. He left us about two years since, and rests by the side of his parents and sisters in the old cemetery here in Boylston. Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen : These services have been so much confined to a looking back and dwelling upon the heroic deeds of the fathers, that I cannot forbear to cast one glance to the future. There are great acts of justice, heroic deeds yet to be done before the world comes to the top of its possibilities. Chattel slavery is no more, but the slaves of strong drink still menace our beloved country. Is this great Republic to die, as Starr King declared that Greece died, of delirium tre- meus ? What force can we call to our aid against this terrible foe of the human race ? Ihe good ivomen of the land I We must confer municipal suffrage upon them, and then we can cope with this powerful foe. The sooner we do this act of sim- ple Justice the better. BOTLSTON CENTENNIAL. 65 To the memory of Rev. WiUiam H. Sanford^ minister of the church in Boy/ston, from 1832 to 1857 an honored exemplar of the Christian relvjion; a faithful worker for the moral and educational interests of the town. May his memory ever be cherished by this people. This was responded to by Mr. George L. Sanford, of Worcester, a son of the late Wqx. William H. Sanford. I thank you for the call to respond to a sentiment which is intended as a tribute of respect to my late honored father. In a double sense I feel it to be an honor to have been selected by you to voice what you have given us in time past abundant reason to know is your genuine respect and affection for the subject of this sentiment. And I feel it an honor to speak for my father on this occasion, such I know to have been his earnest life, his long cherished affection for Boylston and her people. He came among you in his early manhood fresh from his studies, to era- bark here in a career to which he had turned aside from more ambitious worldly life plans at the call of the Master. He was one of the fruits of the great revivals about the period of 1831-2, and the light that shone in upon him then those of you who were in the Christian fold to which he ministered know to have been the guiding star of his life. Others who are older in years among this audience to-day, remember him as the Boylston pastor in this his only pastorate which, when it had been extended to a period longer far than the average of ministerial engagements in these days, he laid down and took no other. The only pastoral memories he ever had held fast to Boylston, to her homes, to the elders like him ripening for the other world; to the men and wo- men, now heads of families, who had received baptism in infancy at his hands. It will always be a treasured memory with us of his household, the occasion of the visit paid to him by the people in honor of his seventy-fifth birthday in 1875. I have never known a more touching proof of genuine affection between pastor and people than this which then reached over a lapse of nearly OQ BOTLSTON CENTENNIAL. twenty years, to recognize and honor this tie. He never became a stranger here. He was frcquentlj' with you. The strong ties he formed here were never replaced while living in our adjacent city. He retained to the last his interest in your homes and your life here. I am glad to remember, on this occasion, my own share of benefit and happiness in my early home among you Since my later life has been cast with no rural surroundings, it will always be a satisfaction to me to recall the house embowered in orchards and hung round with vines that was the parse nage, my Boylston home. My father, while he clung to his bookish and classic ties, was, as you will remember, skillful in all the arts of horticulture, and like many of the clergymeu in the older day, not so itinerant then as now, led and inspired even farmer neighl)ors to a better husbandry especially in the house field that plants the fruit tree and waters the vine, and takes pride in the kitchen garden. In all this my father, you will remember, was zealous and what he made of his estate, with its other home fea- tures, was vividly described by Rev. Theodore Cuyler in his widely copied sketch, in the Neiv York Observer,, about the year 1856, " The Model Parsonage^ I thank you in behalf of our family for your kind remembrance of my father. I must not longer trespass on your time and the place of those who are to follow me. To the memory of Aaron W/iite, Esq.^ for forty-nine years a resident of Boylston. for twenty four years its town clerk^ and for many years a mag-is tr ate ; ever zealous for the highest wel- fare of the community ; the father of a family whose record has been an honor to the toion. Response by Samuel C. White, Esq., of New Jersey. Aaron White, whose life and services in this town are here commemorated, was the eldest son of Aaron and Elizabeth White, and was born in Roxbury, now called Boston Highlands, June 9, 1771. His death occurred in this town on the 7th of April, 1846, two months and two days under seventy-five years of age. BOYLSTON CENTENNIAL. 67 He was in the fifth line of descendants from John White, who came from England between 1630 and 1640, first settled at Watertown, and a few years later removed to Muddy River, or Boston Farms, as Brookline was formerly called. In this town of Brooicline, the father, Aaron White senior, was born, and all his ancestry of the name of White back to the first comer, Jolm White, lived and died. The education of Aaron White, Jr., was such as the com- mon schools of the town of Roxbury afforded one hundred years ago, but being near the Boston line he had access to the old Boston Public Library, an institution which still exists with its means of disseminating knowledge vastly enlarged. With the aid of books from this library he had an oppor- tunity for indulging his fondness for reading, and his mind was well stored with English history and English literature. When under twenty-one he was for several years employed in daily attendance on Boston market to dispose of the produce of his father's place, mostly devoted to the cultivation of fruit and vegetables. At twenty-one, 1792, he oi-ened a store in the easterly part of the town of Holden. About five years afterwards, or in 1797, he closed up his business in Holden and removed to Boylston, purchasing the old store, tavern stand and farm then owned by Col. Jotham Bush, on the Worcester road, opposite the old cemetery. Here the store and farm occupied his attention until the autumn of 18'21, when he removed to the place formerly owned by Capt. Jason Abbot. Having made an addition to the dwelling house and repaired the main building and erected a new store a short distance to the eastward, he continued the business of a country merchant until a few years before his decease in 1846. Much of his time was occupied in the management of town offices, as town clerk, selectman, and for several years a member of the legislature of the State. Before leaving Holden he became engaged to Mary, eldest daughter of Rev. Joseph Avery, minister of that town, and they were married on the first day of January, 1798, and com- menced housekeeping at the place purchased of Col. Bush. They lived to see their family of seven sons and three daughters 68 BOTLSTON CENTENNIAL. grow up and become settled in life, the youngest daughter remaining at home the comfort and stay of her parents in their declining years. The mother was remarkable for the most per- severing and indefatigable devotion to what she conceived to be her duty to her family, to the church, and to society in general. The faith and hope and Christian confidence never faltered in all her pathway throiigli life. She died May 26, 1860, in the eighty- second year of her age. To the memory of Dr. John Andrews, forty years the phy- sician of the town ; a useful and injiaential citizen. We honor and respect his memory. John D. Andrews, Esq., of Boston, a son of Dr. Andrews, responded as follows : The Andreivs Family : — One hundred years ago, who were they, and from whom did they descend ? One thousand and more years ago Hugh De Sutton, then later Pes Sutton became the Baron Dudley ; then later the Baron Dudley became the Gov. Dudley of the Province of Massachusetts Bay. The daughter of Gov. Dudley, Ann, the poetess, married Gov. Simon Bradstreet, (also a governor of Massacliusetts.) The grand-daughter of Simon and Ann, one Lucy, daughter of Simon Bradstreet of Topsfield, Mass., was married to Bob- ert Andrews, of Boylston, Mass., about 1746, and their children were the Andrews family of Boylston, one hundred years ago : — their names Avcrc Robert, Samuel, Daniel, Elizabeth, John, Lucy, Asa and Jotham, each of whom had families. The children of John were Mary Parker, Willard, Lucy Bradstreet, John, Robert and Tliomas Denny. The .children of Asa were Elizabeth Ann, John Dudley, Edward, Theodore and Charlotte. The children of Daniel were Mary, Sarah, Asaph, Edmund, Eunice and Daniel. The children of Samuel were Lucy Ann, Elizabeth, Judith, Samuel and Mary Morse. The children of Robert were Jotham, Robert, Dolly, xisa, Dudley, Dennis and John. BOYLSTON CENTENNIAL. 69 John the youngest son of Robert lives in the remembrance of most of you, going in and out of your houses as the only doctor in tliis town for nearly half of those hundred years, doing faithfully and well the laborious duties of his pro- fession, and cheerfully l)caring his share of the burdens of town and parish ; a good representative of a family who have contri- buted much, first and last to the general good and welfare of the town they loved, and where so many of them have lived and died, and whose record, if not brilliant, is yet witluut a stain, and whose memory as honest, sober and law-abiding citizens, the inhabitants of the good old town may well cherish, and the rising generation emulate. Our ag'ed felloiv cilizens wlio have witnessed the history and growUi of the toivn throvg-ltout near/// the whole of the first centnry of its existence; venerable men and ivomen, may your last days be your best, and mn.y you long be spared to enjoy the respect and esteem of your townsmen. Response by the Band. The towns of Lancaster and Shrewsbury ; the honored pa- rents and guardians of Boylston in her infancy; to their early fostering- care the daughter owes much of her growth and prosperity. Responses : Rev. A. P. Marvin, for Lancaster ; George H. Harlow Esq., for Shrewsbury. Response op Rev. A. P, Marvin. Mr. President: — The sentiment just read in reference to Lancaster, the mother of towns, is fitting and well expressed. The oldest town in the county, and one of the oldest in the State, having been begun about thirteen years after the settlement of Boston, and having been endowed with an ample territory, it was natural that her vast acreage should be cut up into other towns as the years passed over licr. And so it. has come to pass that eight towns, besides her own goodly proportions, are the results. Five of these towns — Harvard, Leominster, Bolton, Ster- 70 BOTLSTON CENTENNIAL. ling and Berlin, arc children, and the two Boylstons and Clinton are grand-children of this prolific mother. She responds kindly to yonr reverent greeting, and I am happy to be called upon to say a few words in her behalf. The good old town is rather proud of her family, and loves to be greeted as the mother of them all. But, truth to say, she has no great claim to your filial grati- tude and honor. Only a fraction of your territory was ever in her domain. Very few settlers inhabited this section for nearly a century after Prescott, Ball and Waters began to lift axes against the big trees in the Nashua valley. Still, there was Lan- caster blood here in your early settlement, and it continues here to this day. Sawyer, Bigclow, and other names, tell of Lancas- ter birth and breeding. But, on the whole, the old town must be modest in her claims upon Boylston for filial respect. You are only a partial reproduction of herself. You have drawn your population from other towns in larger proportion. Your inher- itance from her is somewhat like that of a noted divine who was visited by the gout. The question was whence it came. " Did your father imbibe too much ? " " No." " Was your grand- father a wine-bibber ? " No." " Well, then, how came you by the infliction ? " Oh, I inherited it from my wife's father," was the reply. Therefore, if you are blessed by many good things, by way of heredity, give Lancaster her share of credit ; if any- thing not good has come to you, lay the blame on some other ancestry. I am glad to say to you that the good old town is holding on her way, unwrinkled, and with undecaying vigor. While many other joining towns are decreasing in population, the last census showed an increase in numbers notwithstanding a de- crease of inmates in the State Industrial School. 'Our farms are improving, our roads are unsurpassed, our schools are among the best in the county, our beautiful scenery as the Creator made it, only improved by cultivation. Like the original Eden, it is the duty of the inhabitants to till and dress it. More than all, the ancient town is "booming" now, to use a coinage of the times. Houses are full, several buildings are now going up, and another is to be erected this season, which will not be inferior to the best in the county of Worcester when finished. I know you BOYLSTON CENTENNIAL. 71 will ])G glad of the prosperity of the mature but fitill young and vigorous mother town, as she will always Ijc in sympathy with all your improvements. Leaving this line of remark, called out ijy tlie toast, I wish to express my pleasure in being able to attend this anniversary meeting. 1 can recall no occasion of the kind which so com- pletely realizes my ideal of a Centennial CclolH-ation of a Now England town. 1 was delighted when, on (irst comiiiji this morning, I looked off upon the scenery that g.ects and charms the eye in various directions, — Ijut chiefly as you look westward over the Nashua valley, the intervening woods and waters, — and finally rested on the magnificent dome of the county — Wachu.sett. Not less pleasing, in another way, was the immediate scene around us. The throngs of people, the procession of happy chil- dren, the campus with all its moving sights as well as its encom- passing buildings; the decorations, the flags, and mottoes, and trees laden with fruit, the tents and the town hall crowded with its antique heir-looms ; the old powder-house, brimful, if not of pow- der, yet of associations of the times whicli tried men's souls ; all these sights cncliained my attention, and as the hours have sped, my interest has increased. To mo the side-shows with their penny-getting greed, and the auctions with their extravagant rhetoric aljout pills and powders, and the cure-alls, have a char- acteristic flavor. Then I took special pleasure in seeing the horses, and the big guns, and the evolutions. There, I said to my- self, in the last resort, is the concentrated might that secures rights under law, puts down rebellion and drives foreign ene- mies from our shores. And here, in this vast tent, with its throng of sons and daughters of the town, with its exercises of music, reading of the Word of God, poetry and oration, we have the culmination of the noblest civilization that has yet blessed the earth. In the crowd without I have neither seen nor heard any. thing to mar the happiness of the occasion ; anrl this blending of country and city in the gathering, wherein you cannot discern the line of meeting ; this country flavor with city culture, so gently melting into each other that nothing occurs to check the full tide of friendship and sympathy, is delightful to see. Tiie whole will have an abiding place in my memory as it will in yours. 72 BOTLSTON CENTENNIAL. But, Mr. President, the only thought I had to express when I came here was, if called upon to say anything, this, that the old-time people who came and settled here in the unbroken woods that filled this region, were a happy set. It is the fashion to pity them as an unhappy generation, with their privations and want ot amusements and rusticity. But they need not our com- miseration, and ask it not. True, they had hard times cutting down the forests, break- ing the sod, living in log houses, making roads; in this there was hard work. Nor was Ihe task of their wives less trying than that of their husbands. Then there were wild beasts, such as foxes, woodchucks, and other nuisances of the sort, besides beasts of prey, as wild-cats wolves and bears. The all-devouring birds made havoc of their crops. Clouds of them shadowed the sun and made the woods ring with their songs or their croakings ; and when they fell upon field or garden, the hopes of men were devoured. Nor is this all. Did you ever think what an omni- present curse were the snakes in those days ? Serpents of all kinds, and in all places, infested their land and crawled into their houses. Many of the towns around us had their " rattle- snake hill." The journals of the officers in the old wars, from 1676 to 1763 have frequent mention of snakes which were killed in their scoutings. Indeed, they endured hard times in their inclement winters ; but, after all, they were the happiest people in the world. This is not the language of extravagance. Your orator of the day has spoken well to this point. It was an aged minister's wife, in Winchendon, who said of the early settlers of that town, " They were as poor as poverty but merry as grigs." But they had the true foundation of happiness. You are aware, sir, that people who are always contriving how to be happy, only betray their unhappiness. Good morals, industry, frugality, honesty, neighborly kindness, fidelity to marriage vows, public spirit, and the fear of God, were the sources of their happiness. They had pleasant gatherings and innocent hilarity, and an out- flow of love to family and kin, and kind, which enriched their minds. They had schools and books, excellent though few ; and above all the meeting-house with pious and scholarly pastors, which brought them knowledge, quickening thought, and incite- BOYLSTON CENTENNIAL. 73 ments to honorable iiving, and laugiii; them that tliey were im- mortal souls. In a word, they had a religion that enlightened their minds, sweetened their atTections, bound them together in kindly neighborhood, and showed them the way to heaven. As you inherit the fruits of their labors, so cherish their virtues as you honor their memory. The town of West Boylston; the only daughter; her growth^ industry and prosperity have done honor to her parenlag-e. Response by Rev. Joseph W. Cross, of West Boylston. Mr. President: — It must be very gratifying to this only daughter to receive so flattering a comj)liraent from the lips of this venerable mother, on her one hundreth birth-day. It indi- cates not only entire reconciliation, but just appreciation and respect, as well as maternal affection. It has been my pleasure to sustain an intimate relation to this only daughter for nearly fifty years, and I can truly say this compliment is as fairly merited as it has been kindly bestowed. During my long and intimate acquaintance with both mother and daughter, I believe their relation to each other has ever been mostcordial, and their intercourse most friendly. If I am correctly informed, this was not always the case. In their earlier history there was some sharp contention, and much temporary alienation. When this daughter was about twenty- two years of age, she became somewhat self-willed and ungovern- able ; the mother regarded her, if I may use a scriptural phrase, as " heady, high-minded." The fact was, she began to feel her own importance ; began to be impatient of maternal restraint, and, if the truth must be told, she coquetted with a major. In spite of maternal council and restraint, she became infatuated and fairly bewitched with him ; or he with her. I believe it was a mutual affair ; until the major by pluck and perseverence, finally snapped the apron string and led her away. But just here, I wish to say what I now believe to be admit- ted on all sides, that this major was a very worthy, honorable man; 74 BOTLSTON CENTENNIAL. held in the highest estimation tliroughout all the eommunity ; distinguished both in civil and military life ; a very patriotic and noble-hearted citizen ; the successful suitor of the daughter, and the honored father of the towji ; so highly esteemed by his fellow citizens, that it was seriously proposed at one time to change the name of the town to Beaman, a proposition which it is to be re- gretted, was not carried into immediate effect. But, Mr. President. 1 do not wish to occupy too much time on this occasion, nor to anticipate what may be better said by those who may come after me, and I will therefore leave it to them to speak more particularly of the growth and prosperity of West Boylston ; and close my remarks with a brief allusion to one of your own beloved pastors ; Rev. William H. Sanford, with whom I Avas three years in Harvard College, and subsequently enjoyed a very pleasant ministerial intercourse of nearly twenty years. His class, that of 1827, was distinguished for talent, having furnished the presidents of two colleges, Dr. Felton, of Harvard, and Rev. Dr. Stearns, of Amherst. The late Rev. Dr. Sweetser, of Worcester, and Rev. Mr. Rogers, of the Winter Street Church of Boston, were members of that class. It was also distinguished for its curious combination ot names. They did not all graduate, but their names were all in the college catalogue at one time ; I think it was in the sopho- more year. 1 do not recall them all, but I ramember the follow- ing : Brooks and Wells, Miles and Inches, Toy and Paint, Potts and Kettle. There was a student from the South, by the name of Hamilton Potts, and Rev. Mr. Rogers name in college, was Samuel Mattrick Elian Kettle. Thus you will perceive, the class was well provided with both cabinet and kitchen furniture. In announcing the next toast, the toast-master said : We cannot pass by the town of West Boylston, without offering some tribute of regard to the memory of one who in the days of the Revolution, was one of the most active and patriotic citizens of the Shrewsbury North Parish, who was inllucntial in the incor- poration of the town of Boylston, and twenty-two years later the principal petitioner for the incorporation of West Boylston. A man who lived in three different towns, and yet never changed his place of residence. BOYLSTON CEXTENXIAL. 75 To the memonj uj Major Kzra Beaniaii^lh^ cliairniau o/ l/'tc first Board of Selectmen of Boylston and West Boylston, and the first representative to the General Court from both toivns ; a brave patriot, a conscientious man, and a useful citizen, may his memory endure so long' as both towns shall exist. Responded to by George M. Lourie, Esq., of West Boylston. The town of Sterling ; the ancient Chocksett ; the dwelling place of Sholan and the Nashaway ; we are glad to greet her citizens and reneio formalities upon this Centennial Day. Response by Arthur P. Rugg, Esq., of Sterling. Mr. Toast-master, Ladies and Gentlemen: — Boylston and Sterling are the two daughters of mother Lancaster, most nearly allied to each other in size, position and age. With an interval of only five years between their births, and separated by a far longer period from any of their sisters, they have kept step through their history in the tastes and occupation of their inhabi- tants, and in their general characteristics as towns. In neither have great manufacturing interests centered ; in Boylston not enough to change it from an agricultural communi- ty ; while in Sterling the few which once existed have almost entirely died out. The value of her annual manufactures half a century ago exceeded by many thousand of dollars, the present product. Consequently there has been little or no increase in population ; indeed Sterling numbers less now than when she first took her place among the towns in the county. The list of tax-payers and voters changes not materially from year to year. Many of the names foremost when our town was incorporated, still appear prominently among our citizens. When with these facts in mind, one looks over the beauti fully diversified landscape of forest and field, hill and vale of these sister towns, quiet farm-houses nestling here and there, but no noisy factories or bustling villages to break the silence, with almost literal truth might be applied the lines of Gray: 76 BOYLSTON CENTENNIAL. *• Far from the m;idding crowds' ignoble strife Tlieir sober wishes never learned to stray: Along the cool, seqijostered vale of life They kept the eveu tenor of their way." But is this want of material progress all together a cause of regret ? It needs only such a celebration as this to answer us, No. This ingathering of so many lionorably eminent sons of the ancient mother town, teach that her chief and most enduring glory is not tlic number of her population, nor the aggregate of her valuation, but raMicr in the quality of the sons and daughters she has produced. The brighcst jewels of her centennial coro- net, arc not the gold and silver gathered within her borders, but the men and women who come back to honor her as their first home. Eistory and observation show that among those who have climbed the higliest in business or in the professions, have been those who received their early training in country towns. The strength of character, and habits of economv, and shrewdness, instilled into their being in youth, were the elements which in- sured them success wherever they miglit go. If I mistake not. Sterling has given at least one to each of the professions whom the country could have ill afforded to be without. A son of our first minister, Prentice Meller, was the first, and for many years tlie Chief-Justice of Maine, and one of the soundest lawyers who have helped to make her jurisprudence respected. The next generation gave to the Unitarian pulpit in the per- son of Dr. George Putnam, one whose silver-tongued eloquence and profound thought did much to render Boston the purest, as well as the most cultured of our great cities. And many who^e blindness has been turned in vision, and whose ears have been unstopped, will pour down blessings on the head of the youngest of our eminent sons, and who is privileged to be here to-day — Dr. William flolcombe, of New York. Besides these a far larger number liave gone forth from our borders to share in the business and in tlie prosperity of larger towns and cities. No doubt Boylston can at least furnish a counterpart to this list from among her own sons. This is why BOYLSTON CENTENNIAL. 77 tliey do not increase in population ; they generously i^iva to the cities a goodly proportion of each generation, retaining only enough to keep the stock of the old town good. No, the nation cannot afford to do without these staid old country towns, and tiie strong men wliom they furnished her. And it is safe to say that the need for the cliaracteiistics which the country boys of generations gone by, liavc supplied to the business and professional life of the state, is as great now as before. The five years of Sterling's second century wliich have al- ready elapsed, show that she appreciates in some degree tlie duties of country towns, for she has established a high school and appropriated liberally for its support, and in the past six years has graduated four of her sons from college. In presenting on this occasion the heartiest congratulations of the elder to the younger sister, on the completion of so suc- cessful and honorable an hundred years of corporate life, I can think of no better sentiment in which to embody them tlian this: — Boylston and Sterling, may they live tiirough their second and succeeding centuries in the sisterly emulation of giving the state and country the truest examples of American manhood. yhe Town of Clinton, the youngest daughter of old Lancas- ter, her teeming industries, led by millions of jhjing spin'lles, have enabled her to far outstrip the mother toium and all the family circle in population, toeallh and resources. Response by C. C. Gook, Esq., Chairman of the Board of Selectmen of Clinton. Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen; — In rising to re- spond to this toast, so complimentary to the town of Clinton, I am mindful of the fact that gentlemen from Clinton arc seated at this table, whose eloquence far transends any language at my command ; still, owing to the position I have the honor to hold temporarily, a few words of congratulation may not be out of place. And, in behalf of the citizens of Clinton, I do congratu^ 78 BOYLSTON CENTENNIAL. late you that you have reached your one hundredth birthday under such favorable circnmstances. Tlie day itself, with its cloudless sunshine, seems to bespeak another century of peace and prosperity for the good old town of Boylston. You have been pleased to call Clinton "the youngest daugh- ter of old Lancaster," and yet Clinton is thirty-six years of age. This may, or may not be considered a compliment as the oppo- site sex, you know, are somewhat timid in this particular, cer- tainly, after having reached the age of twenty-five years. When you say, however, "Her teeming industries, led by millions of fly- ing spindles, have enabled her to outstrip the mother town, and all the family circle, in population, wealth and resources," we hide our blushes and tliank you heartily for such a wholesale compli- ment, and yet are not such the facts ? From the few small factories, thirty-six years ago, scattered along our streams, we now point with pride to several of the largest industries of their kind in the country, one of which is taxed this year for nearly one and a quarter millions of dollars. The history of this marvelous growth cannot be given in a brief after-dinner speech. The chief reason, however, for this wonderful and continued prosperity lies in the fact that from the date of her incorporation until this very day, our capitalists,, merchants, manufacturers, and citizens generally have taken as much interest in the welfare of the town as in their own, conse- quently Clinton, to-day, enjoys nearly all the advantages and conveniences of a modern city. The present year more money will be expended in enlarging factories, building new, and erect- ing private residences, than has been expended in any one year since the incorporation of the town. And sir, does not the prosperity of Clinton mean also the prosperity of Boylston ? Those of us in middle life remember the old covered market wagon that wended its toilsome way " on the road to Boston." Now you have a market at your very doors. May the mutual good fellowship now existing between Boylston and Clinton long contiime, and allow me to improve this oppor- tunity to invite you one and all to the centennial celebration of Clinton in the year 1950. May you all live to see that day. BOYLSTON CENTENNIAL. 79 TItP town of Berlin. Anullmr dfisct:ndant <>J old LancuHter. Like BoyhLon^ her ^roiulh has been slow and vi^orouH. If her frarmenls v)ere not fashioned, her pallern., at least as a town, luas parti ij formed bij a Boijislon Taijlor. We are }>lad to return, the inlerchani^e of CeiUfnnial '^reelin'^s ufion this daij. 'io the town of Berlin and the memory of Daoid Taylor. Kejspoiided to by Rev. William A. Houghton, of norliii. Mr. President : — 1 rewpond Kyaipatlictically to the expicsised rclatioiisliip of my native town to yoias, though somewhat jjuz- zled as to our consanguinity, by your one-fourth descent from lierlin's good grandniotlier. Evidently IJoylston is thus a (quad- roon, iiut we stand by our kin anyway. Berlin has kept its best side towards Boylston. Tliat is, one of them. We have several, — our inside is best. Boylstonward stood John Hudson, sentinel of Cull Hill, father of Hon. Charles Hudson, aud an original member of our church. Next on lino stood the Barneses, a name of noble record, and perpetuated in Bajues Hill. To our loss you enticed some of them over the line, — David iiarnes, John iiarnes, and others, stand largely in our reading for Boylston. But when, as Shrewsbury, "N. P.," you courted I^hillip Larkin and Larkindale, your suit failed. Joshua Houghton, my kinsman far back (on the present Israel Baines place), and Daniel Albert and his son Frederick, near the present fine residence of Henry C. Hastings, sought to push your northern boundary a mile and a half into Lancaster, Phillip appealed and you were compelled to jump his farni whicli was kept in Lancaster till our organization. True, you were kind enough to send us a very good Taylor to lielj) j)ut us " in fash- ion " as a town. Your record of our David, as a workman in Boylston, is very commendable — Town Clerk, Selectman, Asses- sor. Parish Clerk, etc. He was our first Precinc;t Clerk ; also, was original member of the church. He died, 17'J4, his widow in 180'J. Tiiey settled, with their daughter Esther and son-in- law. Deacon Job Spoiford, on the Assaljet, and, I think, on ihe territory which the Taylor's (of Marlborough then), left when they emigrated to iihrewsbury sixty years before. David Tayigr 80 BOTLSTON CENTENNIAL. was a mighty man of valor. Towns were proud of such in those days. In one of the " borough towns " the minister was cham- pion ; a teamster, at the public inn, defied the whole borough ; the evening wore on and he was victor. The parson was sent for; the call stirred his prowess, and coming in, he said: "Who is this Goliath that defies our army ? " Goliath came forth only to be laid on the floor. Our David was champion in lifting. In the ISavy Yard, one day, the marines tauntingly defied the coun- tryman to " end-up " one of the cannon. He did so, and to the amazement of the looi^ers-on, threw the lower end of it over his shoulder, in which tremendous exertion he burst open a new pair of cow-hide shoes. Our traditions never surrender on the feat, the fact, nor the shoes. We have natives who, before, in athletic strains, had burst indispensable attire, but we surrender to Boyl- ston town on king David. Personally 1 just missed of Taylor blood in my own muscle. My grandfather, in second marriage, took Mary Taylor, of Boyl- ston. She called her only son Jonah in honor of the prophet, I always supposed. Her son's son she named Jonah Taylor, which name the naughty boy rejected when he grew up. But he knew not the history of his own name. Ward's Shrewsbury gives Jonali Taylor, son of William Taylor, born on the place of the late Amasa Howe, killed in the capture of Louisburg 1745, aged 28 years. So Mary Taylor commemorated the Shrewsbury pa- triot in Berlin, seventy-five years later, in the name of Jonah Taylor Houghton. Remember, friends, what your names mean. I have noticed, Mr. President, that we are called " the little towns." Of right we should have been the big ones. Our Cen- tral Massachusetts Railroad lies on the direct line from Boston to Albany. Before the Boston and Albany Railroad was thought of, Loammi Baldwin, of Woburn, discoverer of the Baldwin apple on his own farm, civil engineer, built a little observatory in one of those ever sightly elms on Watoquadock Hill in Bolton, to take the depressiors and elevations of the surrounding region with reference to a canal (a la Erie) from Albany to Boston. Berlin, West Berlin and Sawyer's Mills gave in our tonnage in 1825 on that idea. Tiie Boston and Albany should have been on that line, but Worcester, like CaBsar, was ambitious. Tliej BOYLSTON CENTENNIAL. 81 stole our march, as they did the County seat from Lancaster. They got a canal too, while we were talking about one. I saw in the Massachusetts Spy, one day, heavy head lines, " Port of Worcester,'' arrivals, so and so. One holiday I went on foot six miles to see the Worcester and Providence craft come into " Port." We returned in the mood of the inland party who, in the time of " Madison's War," made a trip to Boston to see the embargo on the harbor. I saw no steamboat, nor any other boat or craft, but Worcester was there in her ever-winning attitude, and ever since she built the great thoroughfare from the "Joe Bill road" to the Curtis farm (Adams Square), four rods wide, " all roads" in Worcester county " lead to Home." That road was built for Boylston and the " regions beyond " to come to Worcester, not for Worcester to go thither, Did you ever come to any " cross roads " in Worcester county woods where the guideboard did not direct you to that winsome and receptive city? Well, the small towns have their uses. What would Wor- cester have l)een but for Boylston ? You may well take on some airs to-day, ns you do. "The Heart of the Commonwealth" is waiting at your doors for more Mayors still, and I see several young men in the committees of to-day who will soon be ready. But I am thinking, Mr. President, of your noble mother, your seventy-five per cent, mother, dear old Shrewsbury. She forgot her birthday, and now she must wait. But you will have a good time when she invites you all home in 1927. Berlin had an occasion like yours, in kind, two years ago. Our good mother, Bolton, too, overslept her birthday. She will report on her one hundred and fiftieth two years hence. Ambitious Clinton can hardly wait to " tell the story of her birth." West Boylston has only twenty yeais to wait. A recent history is entitled " The People of 'the United States." In working up a "Centennial Memorial" of Berlin families, I have traversed this whole region when Lancaster was frontier. No Westborough, no Northborough, no Shrewsbury, no Worcester, nor aught from Marlborough to Brookfield and Springfield. I am not more amazed at the steamboat, the iron horse, the telegraph, than I am at what the fathers, by toil, en- durance, patriotism and faith, wrought upon these forests in the 82 BOYLSTON" CENTENNIAL. planting of towns. But we are distressed at the scantiness of records. More than to all others are we indebted to the old " halfway covenant," in the baptism of children, for the origin of families. Over seven hundred names thus recorded in the first half century of Berlin, my native town, I shall always hold to infant baptism. Personally, I would Hive to speak of many Boylston families. The ministry has been happily considered. My Brother Sanford was too modest for a man of his abilities. He was a classical scholar. Harvard college committed to him her students and gave him the authority of the Faculty. My Brother Bigelow, also gone, lionored Iiis town and calling. As a personal friend none knew him but to cherish his company and counsel. His benevolence made many hearts glad ; and who, that has known, shall ever forget the world's most eloquent orator — John B. Gough, of Boylston ? Woi'cesfer, the Heart of the Commonwealth^ the town of Boylston greets her citizens upon this Centennial Day. May the associations of the occasion unite the two places in closer bonds of good-will and friendship. In reading this toast the toast-master referred to the fact that scarcely any other town had furnished so many prominent citizens to the City of Worcester as Boylston. She includes among the list two ex-Mayors in the persons of the President and Marshal of this day ; Aldermen and members of the Com- mon Council, members of the School Board, of the Overseers of the Poor, a Chief Engineer of the Fire Department, a City Mar- shal, and a City Engineer. With all this array of men who have honored the town of their birth, and the city of their adoption, we feel that Boylston has a perfect right to ask Worcester men to assist in this days services. Response by Hon. Charles B. Pkatt, ex-Mayor of Worcester, and Chief Marshal of the day. BOTLSTON CENTENNIAL. 83 Mr. President : — I am doubly honored here to-day, and es" pecially do I feel the honor in being called upon to respond for the city of Worcester. We of that city are proud of everytliing that slie contains ; proud of her institutions of learning and of charity; proud of her enterprise and her wealth; proud of her municipal government and the management of all her depart- ments ; and particularly proud in being the center and metropo- lis of the grand old towns in the central county of the State. We feel that we are the focus from which emanates all the wis- dom and goodness that dominates and controls the outside world. I notice that Worcester people who go abroad nev'cr see any- thing nor learn anything during their absence, but always return with the unchanged conviction that Worcester is the greatest, the best, and the most beautiful city on the face of the earth. But, Mr. President, whatever qualities Worcester may pos- sess to-day, we must remember that for those qualities she is indebted largely to the intelligence and character of the people by whom she has been surrounded. They have contributed the elements that have made her what she is, and from them she has drawn the most valuable constituents of her being. In the midst of a community like this, and subject to such influences, how could she fail of becoming what she has become — the model city of the Commonwealth. One gentleman has said this afternoon, that the sign-boards in the county only proclaim tlie fact that all roads lead to Wor- cester. We in the city know that any road out of it is sure to lead us into some old town like this, where peace and quiet has been unbroken for a century, and where we may come with tired brain and overworked body for rest and refreshment. I have said that we are proud of our enterprise, but there are times in the midst of the whirl of business and advance, and ever-chang- ing improvement in the city, that a feeling of regret comes that the old land-marks have been removed, and that our familiar spots have become strange places. It is not so here. Boylston is to-day what she was when I first knew her, and it is a comfort and a consolation to those who have gone out into the busy world, to know that they can find the place of their childhood unchanged, and the home of their early days undisturbed. 84 BOYLSTON CENTENNIAL. I am gratified that I have been able to tal^e part in these proceedings to-day, in celebrating the one-hundredth anniversary of our town. May the happiness and prosperity with which she has been blessed in the past, continue with her in the future. For nearly forty years this town was the residence of one of the most eloquent orators, most earnest ivorkers and ablest advo- cates for temperance and humanity lohich the world has ever pro- duced — John B. Gough. We venerate his memory and shall keep in lasting remembrance his associations with this town. May his dying- words ever be an incentive to the youth of this community to urge them forvmrd in the paths of truth and virtue. Response — Dirge by the Band. To the memory of Ward Nicholas Boylston. the founder and benefactor of the town. In response to this toast the following communication was read : Providence, August 16, 1886. The family of the late Ward Nicholas Boylston regret that they can only express their gratitude to tlie town of Boylston for the kind remembrance of their ancestor, and their good wishes for the prosperity of the town. For the family, C. W. Parsons. The following sentiment from Thomas White, Esq., of Brooklyn, N. Y., was received too late for announcement at the celebration : The Town Meeting — the germ of our republican institu- tions — first organized for the government of the town of Boyl- ston by its inhabitants one hundred years ago ; a government BOYLSTON CENTENNIAL. 85 based on the piety, 'patriotism, and educated intelligence of the people, the maintenance of those ancestral virtues, the surest guaranty of the prosperity of the toivn for one hundred years to come. At five o'clock, the toast-master called for a vote of thanks to Hon. Phinehas Ball, the President of the Day, and Hon. Charles B. Pratt, the Chief Marshal, which was cordially re- sponded to. The President then declared the festivities at an end. NOTES OF THE DAY. THE DECORATIONS. The decorations consisted of a very general display of bunt- ing and colors from the houses from the center, and in the im- mediate vicinity. Just at tlie junction of the Shrewsbury and Worcester roads, an arch spanned the street, gaily decorated with bunting and evergreen, and bearing on its face the words : " Boylston welcomes home her sons and daughters ;" and on the reverse : " Dear to the heart are the scenes of childhood ;" both sides also bearing the dates ''1786, 1886." Close by, on the little triangular park, stood the old " Powder House," built in 1772, but in its substantial renovation and gay colors just put on, bear- ing little trace of its antiquity. Within it stood an old flint-lock. On the same park stood a large tent for the dinner, while across the street to the east was anotlier for the literary exercises. The residence of Henry V. Woods was decorated with bunting, tastetully arranged. John G. Warner had a large array of bunt, ing and flags, covering the front of his house. Henry Bray dis- played a large flag. A. E. Waterman decorated his dwelling with bunting and small flags. L. P. Kendall had out a pleasing dis- play of colors and streamers. Henry White's house was prettily ornamented. Joseph M. Wright combined the trio of national colors, making a neat appearance. Fred Morey's house was decorated with bunting. B. C. Lane made a grand display at his house in flags and bunting. John T. Andrews floated streamers and lines of flags from a staff. Daniel Marsh decorated with bunting, and floated a flag over the street. Deacon Brigham's BOYLSTON CENTENNIAL. 87 house, and the homestead place of the late Stephen Flagg, were decorated with considerable taste. The church was decorated inside with flowers, and outside with flags and bunting. The Town Hall had like decorations, and across all the roads enter- ing the village were large flags. THE COLLECTION OF RELICS. In the Town Hall was a large collection of old relics. Among them wc noticed a communion plate 140 years old ; some britannia cups 110 years old ; many old hats, pieces of clothing and army pieces and uniforms. There was a large collection from the Bigelow family. Andrew Bigelow had three son's who were ministers, and copies of their sermons, at least half a century old, have been preserved ; the collection also include a gourd bottle, made of a gourd which grew m 1778 ; it was uniquely decorated ; there was also a piece of linen made by the same family by hand, which is 130 years old, as well as some of the money with which Andrew Bigelow was paid when he was a Revolutionary soldier. Among the old books was a copy of the Perpetual Laws of the Commonwealth from 1780 to 1789 ; a copy of the charter granted by Queen Mary to the inhabitants of the Province of Massachu- setts Bay in New England. A plough made in 1634. owned by Israel L. Barnes, and which has always been in the Barnes fam- ily ; an old chair, once the property of Judge Chandler ; a solid shot, about twelve pounds, fired in New Orleans in 1812 ; an old pair of scales, at least a century old ; a valise of Parson Cot- ton that is about ninety years old ; a compass, supposed to be the property of Robert Andrews, one of the first settlers, and has been in the Andrews family for over a century. There was a large amount of crockery, some of it very old. MUSIC. The music during the day was furnished by the Worcester Brass Band. A concert was given from the band stand on the common, from 8.30 to 9 a. m. o5 BOYLSTON CENTENNIAL. SALUTES. Salutes were fired at suurise and at noon, by Battery B, M. V. M. An exhibition drill by the Battery took place at noon, FIELD SPORTS. The following is a list of the field sports engaged in at the Centennial Celebration of the town of Boylston, August 18, 1886, with names of winning parties. From 10 a. m. to 12 m., a matched game of base-ball was played between a nine from Shrewsbury, and a nine from Saw- yer's Mills. The prize offered, a ball and bat, was won by the Sawyer's Mills nine. From 1 P. M. to 4 p. m., foot race first, S. McQuoid ; second, C. Andrews. Three-legged Race — First, S. McQuoid and W, Richardson; second, C. Andrews and F. Andrews. Sack Race — First, A. Jeffrey ; second, O'Malia. Hurdle Race — First, O'Malia ; second, C. Andrews. Wheel-barrow Race — First, O'Malia ; second, S. Bartlett. Apple Race — First, D. Chase ; second, C. Mathews. Doughnut Race — First, A. Newton ; second, P. Kelley. First prize on above races one dollar, second prize fifty cents. The prize of five dollars for winning side on tug-of-war, was awarded to Fielding, W. Bates, C. Mathews, F. Cooley and G. Sule. Three parties made unsuccessful attempts at climbing the greased pole. No prize was awarded. Charles Bray. C. W. Moore. M. Flagg, Jr. Charles Cutler. G. A. Hastings. Committee on Sports. BOYLSTON CENTENKIAL. 89 The following letters were received : [Prom John A. Davenport, Esq., of New York.] 833 Broadway, New York, Aug. 16, 1886. Hon. Phinehas Ball, President. Dear Sir : — Learning from one of your county newspapers that the citizens of Boylston intend to celebrate the one hun- dredth anniversary of its existence, I had fully intended to be present*. But more recent events occurring to prevent my at- tendance, I take the liberty of sending to them, through you, my hearty congratulations. " Though being to the manor born," I have not resided in my native town for over fifty years, nor visited it for over twenty years. But I have ever had a great reverence for my native town, the home of my ancestors, from my great grand -parents, both maternal and paternal, down to my honored parents, all of whom, with seven brothers and sisters lie buried in one of your cemeteries, and by whose side I may hope to lie, admonished by my seventy years, in the very near future. It may not be known to many of the citizens of Boylston that Eleazer, son of Capt. Richard Davenport, who landed from England with Governor Endicott in Salem, September 16, 1628, was granted by the then colonial state of Massachusetts, six hun-_ dred acres of land in this town, some of which is now occupied by Dr. F. B. Willurd, Mr. Andrews, Mr. Daggett, and Mr. George L. Lamson. Some seventy acres of this land remained in the possession of his descendants until within a few years. My father, James Davenport, lived upon it for more than fifty years, being one of the foremost men of the town ; a magistrate for more than forty years, a leader in the cause of education, the first to form a Lyceum for the instruction of the young, the first to discard the use of alcoholic drinks and form the first tem- perance society in the town, and noted for his efforts in the cause of the abolition of slavery in the south ; chairman of the com- mittee which planned and caused the construction of your town * Mr. Davenport was, through some change of circumstances, able to be present, and attended the celebration. 90 BOTLSTON CENTENNIAL. hall, in the school-room of which I received a part of my early education, an intimate friend of the late Governors Lincoln and Davis, and Judge Merrick and other prominent men of your county. In the remembrance of all these early associations is it any wonder that I revere this, my native town ? In conclusion, permit me to hope that the boundaries of this town may never again be lessened, that its population may be increased, and that they may ever be a prosperous, united and happy people. Very truly, John Addington Davenport. [From Caleb S. Grossman.] Van West, 0., Aug. 13, 1886. Messrs. Nathaniel L. Kendall, Joseph M. Wright, and Mon- TRAViLLE Flagg, Esqus, Coui. Oil IncUaliofis. Gentlemen : — Your letter of invitation to me to come and join hands with you in celebrating the glorious Centennial Birth- day of my own, my native town — Boylston, — name always re- membered and revered, was duly received, and I cannot express to you, on paper, how deeply I regret the necessity of saying, " I cannot come." My health is such, and the weather is, and has been, so terribly hot (mercury up from 90'' to 104° in the shade) I am advised that it would be too severe a tax upon my strength for me to venture on so long a journey, aside from the excite- ment attendant upon the so grand and happy occasion. I shall be with you in heart and spirit. Thanking you for your kindly invitation, I am Yours with high regard, C. S. Grossman. [From William J. White, Esq.] Worcester, Aug. 6, 1886. Mr. Nathaniel L. Kendall, Dear Sir : — I received a circular, a few days ago, from the Committee on Invitations to attend the Centennial Celebration to be held in Boylston on the 18th of this month. BOYL8TON CENTENNIAL. 9 J My advanced ago and jiiliimitieH render it Home what liaz- ardous for me to be present on so exciting an occasion, so that it will he (|uil<; uncertain alj(jut my going. Yours very truly, 53 Prospect Street. William J. White. The following tel<;gram was received from the Centennial Committee of the Town of Phillipston, whose oikj hundredth anniversary was celebrated tlie same day: I'niiJJi'HTON, Mash , Aug., IH, 1880. to the cuaiuman of the centennial commi'itbe, boylston, Mass. : rhillip.ston sends congratulations to Boylston on this tlio one hundredth anniversary of ou)- towns, August 18. May pivjH- perity attend you in the future. H, Sanderson, Chairman ('('a. CommiUet. The following was sent in reply : BoYLSTON, Mass., Aug. 18, 1886. To THE Centennial Committee, j'hj/jjj'ston: Boylst^m sends tlianks for the congratulations, and also sends her greetings to i^hillij>ston on this the one hundredth anniversary of the town August 18th. Long may your children gather round you and greet you on your birthdays as circling centuries roll. J. O. Wauneb, Ckairman Cen. Com. 92 BOYLSTON CENTENNIAL. BOYLSTON'S CEJSTEi^^iAL CELEBRATION. August 18, 1886. Incokpobatkd March 1, 1786. 'Twas winter when a town new-born The fathers hailed with loving pride; We greet the century's briglit'ning dawn Mid summer's pomp of waving corn, And wealthy harvests wide. Here those who link the olden time With time that is rejoicing meet ; Here youthful hope and manly prime, Like bells diverse that tuneful chime, The gladsome tale repeat. The children Boylston sent away To earn renown in broader spheres. Come back about her hearth to-day, And in her lap their trophies lay, With mirth, and love, and tears. The anthems that we oifer here Hold one sweet note of tender pain : One honored son doth not appear ; (Adopted, yet esteemed most dear). We wait for Gough in vain ! Behind we look and fondly trace The record that our sires have made ; And memory lends her tender grace To name and deed, to time and place, — A light that shall not fade. We gaze through future vistas far We step beneath a broadening arch ; No limit shall our progress bar, Ours all the coming ages are, — The endless century-march. Clara L. Shattuck, Berlin. i|3.aijl5liiji gejilwiinal ill|iiFf[), ^Musicai^ COMPOSED KOR THE OCCASION BY HENRY T. BRAY, A Native of the Town. BOYLSTON CENTENNIAL MARCH. Composed by H. T. BRAY. Allegro vivace. ■4: R-^-p* — • •-— I— l-H-j 1 1 1 - P-I i i 1 1 1- R^li :^: -^ ii- -«t^ «=3r^- ^z -&-^-^ =1: :=1: ;;iEEE^; :^- J-J_J- . « . §S^i — I X ^= :=1: ^^^^i^^5^^^; .-1: ::1=i1; -^ -^ -ii- ::|=^==1: -^ -a^ V -^ % , --^-^ ^ -«- zPzPzP- =5z:]i:tJz1zJ_^_E:1__d:dzdt-z:=EtzEf:zE^Eiz^^ z^: -1^- -*^i*-^ ^z\z~A ?Ft^- liCj^eat octaves. f » r BOYLSTON CENTENNIAL MARCH. ms f^-- :^— ; n H rq=r$ ■t~- ff* •• ^< I ••<•* ..•^•^*f I -•* J^ ^ J^ -miE^rf.. P-^IV^-J^-'L^ j^f^i^j ■^^^-^l ^.##- -##(•- f:--!?: H^::? '^/o <« Coda from ular lant lime. * * • *t : • « « < « « « ^ 1^ t^ lit i i i V 'Jnd lime repf^a/, to .'H: /■/■ I Isl time p V 2 fid time r I ^^iJzjJtz=J BOYLSTON CENTENNIAL MARCH. Coda. vivace. ,^^ ,^,„ ^^^ ^^^ 9^. •I:e: -« V— 1 — 9^i :i=fi^^5=f^^^=t: -F== =^ *:f* »^S^ 9^tt=P=^: g^^: -b* k' i— m 4=t= :#i|: !•= J71 j"T]^4T^-rr!-(^- g g g g g g i i ; ; ; s fg 3 3 3 3^ J-,J- S^iiliilaiiB :3g:ztifg_:_3g r-^: #--5*- 9^tt^ P=i= :^: 1=1: tzij: r^^ i?^ ■:E^:=]: I HISTORICAL NOTES. MAJOR EZRA BEAMAN. [The following brief biography and accompanying docu- ments are extracted from " A Sketch of the Life of Major Ezra Beaman," by Albert A. Lovell, first printed in the Proceedings of The Worcester Society of Antiquity, and since published in sepa- rate form by Franklin P. Rice, of Worcester.] Ezra Beaman was born in Bolton, Mass., October l(j, 1736. He was the son of Jabez Beaman, who having purchased a large tract of land in the westerly part of the town of Shrewsbury, favorably situated on both sides of the Nashua River, including some of the most fertile in that region, removed thence with his family in 1746. Jabez Beaman dying in 1757, the homestead came under the proprietorsliip of Ezra, the eldest son, where he resided until his death. In 1758 he married Persis, daughter of Cyprian tcyes, with whom he lived thirty years. She died No- vemljer 7th, 1788, at the age of 50 years. By this marriage he had six children. He afterwards married Mary, daughter of Richard Boylston, of Cliarlestown, who survived him. It was a characteristic of Major Beaman that he was consti- tuted with an active and vigorous mind, combined wiih wonder- ful energy, decision, firmness and perseverance. Thus con- stituted he was constantly engaged iu projects both of a piiblic and private nature wliich accrued to his own emolument and to great and essential advantage to the whole community. His judgment was almost unerring, and his designs generally re- sulted in accordance with his expectations and desires. Such 94 BOYLSTON CENTENNIAL. was the confidence reposed in him, and in such high estimation was he held by the people, not only of his own town, but of a large surrounding section, that whenever any project of a public nature bearing upon the well-being of the people at large was to be considered, he was at once consulted and generally in accord- ance with his expressed opinion either for or against, was the * scheme adopted or rejected. In 1764 he erected a dwelling-house on the tract purchased by his father, which he occupied until his death, and which his son, bearing the same name, continued to occupy for half a cen- tury later. This house, in the thoroughness of its construction, its size and its architectural proportions, was probably unsurpassed by anything of its kind in the county. This was know as the Bea- man Tavern, and for a century was a typical Way-side Inn ; and from it went out an influence which was felt, not only in its im- mediate vicinity but throughout a large extent of country. The tavern of one hundred years ago, and even up to the time when the railroad superseded the stage and the team as a means of transportation for passengers and merchandise, especi- ally when its proprietor was a person of prominence and force, was a power in the community. During the days of the Revolu- tion the tavern was the resort of tories or patriots according to the political proclivities of the landlord, and here were schemes devised, either foi- or against the patriot cause according to the political character which it assumed. It was at the tavern where the people most frequently assembled either in a formal or informal manner to discuss, debate, devise and carry forward such plans and projects as from time to time occupied the atten- tion of the people. Its good cheer no doubt lent its aid, and who can tell what inspiration it imparted ? The influence of the Bea- man Tavern was decidedly in favor of the patriot cause and a favorite stopping place for soldiers on their way to and from the army, there to impart or receive the latest information in regard to events so rapidly transpiring. Major Beaman was a true and ardent patriot. When the first encroachments of arbitrary power were beginning to be felt he was convinced that nothing short of forcible resistance woul4 BOTLSTON CENTENNIAL. 95 be of any avail, and during the struggle he was an active and un- flinching spirit in behalf of the liberties of the people. lie was with the army near Boston in 1775,* was present and took part in the action on Bunker Hill, and during the whole war was ac- tively engaged in whatever tended to the advancement of tlie cause. His time, his influence, his property, were devoted to the cause of colonial independence, making the pledge his own, of life, property and sacred honor. The people of Shrewsbury manifested their confidence in him by repeatedly electing him a member of the Board of Select- men. He was thus chosen in 1706-69-70-71-72-73-76-79-84-85. We of this day can hardly realize the importance of the office of selectman of a town for the years immediately preceding and during the Revolution. The position seems to have implied but little, but ill reality it implied much. In towns true to the patriot cause it implied a lofty patriotism and an unyielding firmness, and was an office of the utmost importance and respon- sibility. Not only were the selectmen called upon to take care of the ordinary interests of the town, but much additional labor was required. The procuring of soldiers to fill requisitions for men, the raising of money and supplies of provisions, and cloth- ing for the army, the care of the families of soldiers, besides the carrying on of the war-to a great extent on the part of the town. As was often the case the Committees of Safety and Correspond- ence were made up wholly or in part from their number. In ac- cordance with recommendations of the Provincial Congress, the town exercised largely legislative, executive and judicial func- tions; its votes were laws, its judgment as to whether a man was a patriot or a tory was final, and from the verdict of hostility there was no appeal ; and the selectmen and committees exe- cuted their decrees with spirit and firmness. By direction of the town they entered tories' houses, disarmed them, confined them * The powder horn of Lieut. Beaman, now in possession of The Worcester Society of Antiquity, is a beautiful and interesting relic. The inscription upon it is as follows: " Lieut. Ezra Beaman, liis horn, made at Fox Poynt, so called, in Dorchester September the 30 y^lTTS, in Thomas Gage's war who came to Boston ye Americans for to enslave and take their rights away. Made by Micah Briar d." 96 BOYLSTON CENTENNIAL. to limits or in jail as the case might require. Thus the office was no sinecure, but on the contrary one of great labor, and prob- ably at no time in the history of the colonies or the states, has such care been exercised in the choice of town officers as during this period of toil and strife. It is difficult at this day to realize the amount of labor and responsibility which devolved upon them. Major Beaman, aside from his services in the army, acted a prominent part in tlie revolutionary proceedings of the town. As selectman, member of the committee of inspection, committee of correspondence and safety, as a prosecutor of persons inimically disposed towards the cause of the colonies, as one chosen to pro- cure men and supplies for the continental army, he was zealous and indefatigable. In 1781 the people of the North Parish desiring to obtain an act of incorporation as a town, took steps in that direction. In the warrant for a town meeting to be held in May of that year, the fifth article was as follows : " To hear the petition of Ezra Beaman and others praying to be set off a separate town." Some opposition manifesting itself, it was not until 1786 that an act of incorporation was obtained. Of the new town, which was named Boylston, Ezra Beaman was chosen Chairman of the Board of Selectmen, which office he held during the years 1786-88-89-90- 91-92, and was a member of the board during the years 1803-4, 5. He was also representative from this town to the Great and General Court in 1789-91, and town treasurer 1791-92-93-94. In 1794 a controversy arose in relation to the location of a new meeting-house about to be erected. Major Beaman, whose resi- dence was some three miles vp'est from Boylston center, was desir- ous that the new house be erected half a mile northwest of the old one. After a protracted struggle the majority decided to build upon the old site. Major Beaman, with others, seceded and lie, at his own expense, built a meeting-house about three miles to the westward, and this difficulty in relation to the meet- ing-house culminated, after much difficulty, in the incorporation of the town of West Boylston in 1808. Of the new town he was chosen Chairman of the Board of Selectmen, Town Treasurer and Representative to the General Court each year until his death in 1811. Benjamin F. Keyes, in BOYLSTON CENTENNIAL. 97 a very brief history of West Boylston, published in 1858, says : " Although it may in truth be said that West Boylston eventually became a town almost wholly in consequence of his great exer- tions and untiring efforts, and that he laid the foundation for its future growth and prosperity, and although he did more to pro- mote the general interest thereof than all others associated with him, yet very little, if anything of adequate importance, has been done (aside from a common tomb-stone erected at his grave) either by individual citizens or the town, as a testimony of his extensive influence, usefulness and great worth as a citizen and public benefactor, or for the perpetuation of his memory as one of the most distinguished and influential of the town and com- munity in which he resided." A few years ago, however, the town desiring to do honor to his memory as its principal founder, voted by a large majority to petition the legislature for a change of name to that of Beaman. Some opposition appearing, and the then representative of the family, a son of him for whom it was to be named, objecting, the petition was never presented. Ezra Beaman's death occurred June 4, 1811, and his re- mains were buried in the plot of ground appropriated by his father, previous to his death, as a family burying ground, and in which several generations of the family now He. This ground is on a ridge of land half a mile from the old Beaman Mansion, near the public road leading to Boylston. It overlooks a beauti- ful scenery of intervale bordering on the Nashua river, and is enclosed by a remarkably solid and substantial stone wall with an iron gateway. At his funeral people came from far and near to pay respect to his memory. A lady still living, who was present on that occasion, seventy years ago, informed me that although the place of burial was half a mile from the house, the head of the procession had arrived back to its starting point before the rear had left it. The inscription on the stone which marks his grave is as follows : 98 BOYLSTON CENTENNIAL. ERECTED IN MEMORY OF EZRA BEAMAN Esq« WHO DIED June 4 1811 Aged 71 years 7 months 19 days. Friends & Physicians could not save My mortal body from the grave Nor can the grave confine me here When Christ shall call me to appear. Major Beaman was rather short in stature, quick and ener- getic in motion. He took much pride in beautifying the road- sides of the town by planting along the highway adjoining his vast estate, trees of various kinds with a view to beauty and shade. There is a large buttonwood tree standing by the roadside near the old location of the ancient Beaman house bearing the marks of age, which was planted by him in 1719, he being then thir- teen years of age. His life was devoted to whatever tended to the advancement of the interests of the community, and his death, was sincerely mourned. He was a member of the Congregational Church and was a liberal contributor to the cause of religion. The following has an interest as connected with tlic incor- poration of the town of Boylston : At a legal meeting holden at the Second Precinct in Shrews- bury on Monday the Ninth day of May A. D. 1785, the warrant for said meeting contained the following article viz; '' "i"*^'^ To hear the Petition of the Committee of the Second Precinct in S*^ Shrewsbury requesting the town would choose a Joynt Commit- tee from each Precinct to perambulate the line and renew the Bounds between the Precincts, as also to settle all other matters relating to a Separation of Parishes & to act anything relative thereto the toun may think proper." The town voted a com- mittee consisting of six, three in each precinct, viz: Col" Job Cushing, L' Jonas Temple, Capt. Jonah Howe, Capt" Joseph Bige- low, Maj"" Ezrah Beaman and Maj"" Asa Rice who reported at a BOTLSTON CENTENNIAL, 99 subsequent meeting that they had " run the bounds &c.; that the one half of the town securities, Town Stock of Ammunition & Intrenching tools which are the Property of said Town shall be- long to the first precinct, and the other half shall be the property of the second Precinct, being equally divided. The Weights & Measures to be the property of the first precinct." The poor are severally assigned. Voted to sett off. The following receipts are interesting as showing the posi- tion of the town of Boylston in Shays' Rebellion, and as giving the names of persons who served in suppressing that insurrec- tion. Boylston, May the 4 AD.llSl. Then Received of Ezra Beaman the wages that is due to us the Subscribers as they are made up in Capt. Robert Andrews' Muster Roll, for servisses Dun in suppressing the Late Rebellion JOSEPH HERENY ELIJAH PIKE SILVANUS DINSMOOR. Boylston May 10 A. D. 1787 Then Receivd of Ezra Beaman all the wages that is Due to us the Subscribers for Serveises while we ware in Capt. Jonah How's Company in Sirpressing tlie Late Rebellion in the west- ward County is JAMES LONGLEY SAMUEL WHITCOMB ALMEK GOODNUF JOHN ANDERSON STEPHE>f BIGLO DAVID RICE JONAS GOODNUF JASON GLAZIER KING HOW JOTHAM GOODNUF ROBERT HUDSON JOSHUA STILES LEVI MOORE AMARIAH SAWYER JOHN WHEELER JOHN HASTINGS Jb WILLIAM SAWYER LEVI BIGLOW SAMUEL HARTHAN JOSEPH BIGELOW Jit JONATHAN BOND Boylston May the Uh 1887 Then Received of Ezra Beaman the wages that is due to us the Subscribers as they are made up on Cap^ Ilollowell Taylers Muster Roll for Servisses Dun in Suppressing the Late Rebellion in the westward Counties. AMHERST MORSE JONATHAN BOND Jr L«fC JOHN ANDREWS. 100 BOYLSTON CENTENNIAL. The documents which follow have an interest as presenting a portion of the history of the incorporation of the town of West Boylston. In 1794 a petition was presented to the town of Boyl- ston as follows : To the I/ihabitants of the Town of Boylston, Gentlemen — The petition of the Subscribers Humbly Sheiveth That your Petitioners view the time as being near at hand when circumstances will admit of their enjoying Ecclesiastical privileges in a more conscientious, agreeable & in a Much more convenient & enlarged manner tlian they have hitherto done, & being sensible that Religion the basis of human happiness is a natural concomitant of these privilege*, we think it our duty to request that you would fully consent to our being incorporated into a separate Town, District or Society, as you think most proper. We do not solicit this favor wholly with a view to pro- mote our Interests, Emolument or convenience, but for the good of a respectable number of our Neighbors, the welfare of our own & their Children & succeeding generations. Your compliance or non compliance with our request we do not consider as deci- sive of the cause we have undertaken ; but we view it in your present power either to aid or oppose our pursuit of the object we aim at. We now declare unto you Gentlemen, that we do not wish to obtain the Prayer of our Petition to you, or of a similar one to higher, power, by any unlawful or unfair means ; but by contrary means. We are inflexibly determined to use our utmost efforts, Because we are persuaded that our request is not only reasonable but that there is a fair prospect of our being separated from you. That this is the case we think you will not deny. If so, will it not be consistent with your own & our Interest to grant us our request. We think it will. Consider your Petitioners as separate from you, and you will still be a respectable society, more numerous, of greater ability than many other Towns in the State. Is a forced connection with us worth contending for. Again, we ask what injury can you sustain by parting with us. To this you may reply that your minis- ters tax will be a little augmented. This will not we think afford BOTLSTON CENTENNIAL. 101 you a sufficient plea to withstand or even induce you to engage in an uncertain contest. Tliese things Gentlemen we request you would wisely consider & your Petitioners as in duty bound shall ever pray. EZRA BEAMAN & 27 others. This petition the town refused to grant and the following was sent to the Great and General Court: To the Honorable the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court Assembled. Humbly shew the Subscribers your petitioners, agents for the second parish in Boylston Holden and Sterling in the County of Worcester that the Inhabitants of said Parish are desirous that the Territory belonging to said Parish may be constituted and incorporated into a District by some proper Name and vested with all the Powers and Privileges which by law appertain and belong to Districts. Your petitioners believe that the Happiness and Comfort of the second Parish aforesaid will be promoted by an incorporation into a District, that their concerns will be managed with more facility, convenience & with less Difficulty than in their present situation, that no possible injury can accrue to the town of Boyl- ston, Holden & Sterling or any other place, by your granting their request. Confidently relying on the Justice & Wisdon of the Legislature they humbly hope that their petition will be granted and as in Duty bound will ever pray. Jan'y 1807 EZRA BE AM AN ■) Agents for and JONATHAN PLYMPTON Vin behalt of the PAUL GOODALE )> Parish in Boylston WILLIAM FAIRBANK ) Holden & Sterling. In House of Representatives July 23, 1807 Received & Committed to Committee on Towns. Sent up for Concurrence PEREZ MORTON Speaker. In Senate Jan'y 23 1807, Read & Concurred. J. BACON President. 102 BOYLSTON CENTENNIAL. The Committee of both Houses appointed to consider the Applications for the incorporation of Towns &c. on the Petition of Ezra Beaman and others report the following order which is submitted. SALEM TOWNE Per order. Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Ordered : That the Petitioners cause an attested Copy of their Petition with this order thereon, to be served on the respective Town Clerks of the Towns of Boylston, Holden & Sterling, Forty days at least before the first Tuesday of the first session of the next General Court, that all persons may then appear, and show cause (if any they have) why the prayer of said Petition should not be granted. In Senate Jan'y 24th 1807 Read and passed. Sent down for Concurrence. J. BACON President. In House of Representatives Jan'y 26th 1807 Read & Concurred. PEREZ NORTON Speaker. A copy of this petition was served upon the town clerk of Boylston by Silas Beaman. A copy was served upon the town clerks of Holden and Sterling by Robert B. Thomas. This petition brought out the following remonstrance : To the Honorable Senate Sf House of Representatives iu General Court Assembled. The Inhabitants of the town of Boylston in the County of Worcester being cited on the Petition of Ezra Beaman & others to shew cause why the second Precinct in the Town of Boylston, Sterling & Holden should not be Incorporated into a District : The Subscribers, agents for said Town duly authorized ins ; was licensed by tlie Old Colony Association, and ordained pastor of the church in South Dartmouth 1841, Rev. Asahel BigeUjw preaching the sermon. After pastorates in the towns of West Needham, Westhampton (only a year in consequeuce of an injury by accident), and Medfield eleven years, he was invited to supply the pulpit in his native town, and commenced labor in the fall of 1866. The uniform courtesy and kindness extended to himself and wife, in so many different forms, for nearly seven years, rendered the relation between pastor and people one of peculiar interest ; with heart and hand i>oth united in labors for the wel- fare of Zion ; the interior of the Church was repaired and im- proved by the addition of a fine organ. His love for the young with his untiring efforts for the highest success in the schools of his parish, are still remembered ; and when declining years ob- liged him to relinquish the Master's work he so much loved, and seek a home in a neighboring town, tlie same happy intercouj'se continued. In tlie words of another : " The pulpit and parish labors of Dr. Bigelow have been characterized by soundness of theology, spiritualit}' of discourse, boldness in proclaiming what he thought to be truth, sociability of intercourse, and success in the winning of souls. He had much of the missionary spirit, and seemed to delight in serving the weaker churches. His worth as an educa- tional director (himself a teacher of rare ability), has insepara- bly connected his name with the cause of universal and scholarly education." He passed away, in Southboro, Sept. 23, 1882, leaving a 120 BOYLSTON CENTENNIAL. widow, the daughter of Marshall P. Wilder, of Boston ; his first wife, Emily Louisa, daughter of Hon, William Bladder, of Mar- blehead, died in Medfield July 4, 1857. Their two children died in infancy. Rev. Andrew Bigelow was aged 72 years 9 months when he deceased. Families in town : First. — James Bigelow, resides with his second son, James A. His third son, William S. (M. D.), graduated from the New York Homoeopathic Medical College March 18, 1881, is practis- ing in Philipsburg, Penn., married a niece of Mrs. John B. Gough. Second. — John T. E. Bigelow (and wife), named for his maternal and paternal ancestors, John Bigelow, Thomas and his son Elias iSawyer, who were carried captives to Canada in 1705 : the two elder, by building a saw-mill secured their freedom. Elias remained to run it a year, and during this time he won the heart of the Governor's daughter, pledging his return after a visit to his parents ; but as they objected to the match, tradition says, '• Batrix Pope sat many a long and tedious year waiting her lover's return, until worn out with watching she passed over Jordan to seek for him in the promised land." Third. — Mrs. iSarah F., wife of Newel Parker. The mother of Miss Dorothea Dix, the philanthropist, was sister to Andrew Bigelow, Senior. THE KENDALL FAMILY. Though the Kendalls have never been very numerous in Boylston, there was one family that moved into the town soon after its incorporation. They came from Ashburnham in 1792. " Francis Kendall, who was the ancestor of most of the Kendalls of Massachusetts, and indeed of New England, came from England, and settled in Woburn, as early as somewhere from 1636 to 1610, and was made freeman in 1647." " He married Dec. 24, 1644, Mary Tidd, of that town, and BOYLSTON CENTENKIAL. 121 had John, born 1646, Thomas, born 1648, Samuel, born May 8, 1659, besides several daughters." This son Samuel married Rebekah , and their son Samuel, born Aug. 13, 1684, married Prudence , whose son Samuel, born 1711, married Phoebe Brintain Sept. 23, 1736. The following children of Samuel and Phoebe Kendall, were baptized, in Sterling, by Rev. Mr. Mellen: Samuel, baptized February 17, 1745. Rebecca, " " " •' Abigail, " July 20, 1746. Caleb, " May 15, 1748. Bartholomew, baptized February 18, 1749. Caleb, baptized March 24, 1750. ■• Bartholomew, baptized February 28, 1753. William, l)aptized October 13, 1754. Phoebe, " July 3, 1757. Lucy, " February 10, 1760. Lucinda, " November 14, 1762. Caleb married 1st, Priscilla Savory, and four children were born to them : Priscilla, Zipora, Caleb, and Joshua, who was a veritable giant in his day, whom no single man would care to meet in any contest, yet his kindly nature, and amiable disposi- tion, made him a choice companion among his associates. Caleb married 2d, Mrs. Lucy Kendall widow of Thomas Kendall (maiden name Lucy Baldwin), April 15, 1788, and these are the children from this union : Lucy, who married Joseph Sawyer. David, born March 12, 1791. Samuel, born October, 1792. Hannah, who married Phineas Moore. Elmira, who married Jotham Howe. Emily, who married James Hastings. William, who married Susan Hartshorn. Caleb, Jr , married Dolly Sawyer, June 24, 1803, and re- sided in Boylston several years on the place now occupied by J. 122 BOTLSTON CENTENNIAL. D. Flagg. There were born here Abigail, who married Moses Dodd ; Caleb, born May, 1807, who was laid at rest Saturday, Jan- uary 1, 1887 ; after the family moved to Holden there were born the following : Dolly, who married Wheeler, of Concord. James, now living in Alabama. Lucy, who married Snell. Edward, now in Cambridge. Eliza, died in early womanhood. Mary, died in Boston, 1884. Joshua married Patty Sawyer, and resided in the house now owned by Mr. Lynch, where he died in 1813, leaving two chil- dren — Charles, who married Mary Andrews, and Oliver S. who married Minday Lamson, and lived on the Oliver Sawyer farm, where he died in July, 1881, leaving three sons, Nathaniel Ever- ett, who married Mary Kcyes, daughter of Deacon Keyes, of Ster- ling ; and Oliver who married Hattie Moore, 1871, and now resides in Worcester. David married Polly Wellington, April 2, 1812. He re- sided in Boylston most of his life. There was one peculiarity in his make-up, and that was that to him manual labor seemed more like pastime than a task. To him were born ten children : Elizabeth, born March 19, 1814, married September 8, 1844, Rev. A Stowell. Sanford M., born March 6, 1816. Horace, born June 21, 1821, died April 27, 1827. Mary, born July 18, 1823, died August 13, 1824. Mary, born July 9, 1825, married Fisk B. Temple March 8, 1848. Horace, born August 28, 1827. John, born November 6, 1829. Lyman P., born February 9, 1832. Sophia Brooks, born April 27, 1834, died May 9, 1834. Olive S., born May 4, 1836, died August 11, 1839. Samuel married Abigail Hastings, always lived in Boylston, and died in 1884. BOYLSTON CENTENNIAL. 123 Persis, born April — , 1816, married James Andrews. Horace married April 4, 18-14, Sarah Maynard, of Boylston, as his first wife ; married second, Fanny Buck, of Worcester, January 1, 1874, who died August 22, 1881. His children : Charles D., born November 10, 1854, married Kate Lindsey, of Grafton. Sanford C, born October 6, 1856, married Jennie Bruce December 24, 1377. Frederick H., born January 20, 1875. John married August 10,1852, Mary T. Knight, of Wor- cester. His children : Olive C, born July 16, 1855. John M., born March 5, 1866. Lyman married June 19, 185'J, Eliza L Moore, of Boylston, who died April 24, 1876. They lived in Boylston always, with the exception of two or three years in Worcester, To them were born : Emma A., born December 4, 1859, died June 17, 1881. Lizzie M., born November 30, 1862, married January 1, 1887, William N. Davenport, of MarlI)oro. Willie, born August 9, 1867, died July 4, 1870. Celia, born June 28, 1871. Ella E., born April 14. 1875, died May 10, 1876. THE LONGLEY FAMILY. James Longley, the first of the name in Boylston, was a son of William and Mary (Parker) Longley, and was born in Shirley, November 4, 1753. His family was of Euglish origin and of res- pectable, and even high standing in church and state ; several were ministers of the established church, and one Thomas Long- 124 BOYLSTON CENTENNIAL. ley, supposed to be of the same family, rose to be Bishop of Dur- ham, Cardinal and Lord Chancellor of England. William (or as some claim Richard) Longley came to New England soon after the settlement of the Massachusetts Bay Colony ; married Joanna Goffe, a sister of Thomas Goffe, Deputy Governor of the Colony ; settled at Lynn where he was admitted as a freeman March 1-1, 1638. His son William Longley, settled in Groton, at or very soon after the first settlement of the place, and was one of the most extensive landed proprietors there ; upon his death, his estates came into the possession of his son, William Longley, who resided there until his death in 1G94, when he and his family became the victims of Lidian depredations, and all were Slain but three children, who were carried into captivity. Of these children one died of starvation ; another was sold to the French in Canada, where she finally embraced the Catholic religion, and entered a convent at Montreal ; the third, a son named John remained with the Indians, gradually adopting their manners and customs, until ransomed by Government wlien he very reluctantly returned to civilized life, and became an honored and useful citizen. Three of his sons, William, John and Jonas removed from Groton to what is now Shirley, about two years before the incorporation of that place ; the distance from their former home was only about eight miles in a direct course, and yet, since they had to turn aside for impassable streams and slow- ly wend their way through the then wilderness, three days were necessary to complete the journey. The life of this William Longley seems to have been that of a quiet New England farmer, uneventful and even in its tenor, varied only by those hardships and privations which were the common lot of every New England pioneer, lie lived to witness the struggle of the Colonies against British aggression, and the final consummation of their indepen- dence, in which struggle several of his descendants bore an hon- orable part. James Longley the son, and principal subject of this sketch, on account of the large lamily of his father, was forced in early boyhood to seek a home elsewhere, and finally went to North- borough where after the custom of the time, he was apprenticed to Samuel Gaml)le, a carpenter, to remain in his service until he BOYLSTON CENTENNIAL. 125 should have arrived at the full age of twenty-one years. Under this master he received harsh and severe treatment. He was in- efficiently and coarsely clad, and was kept at his work during the whole period of his indenture, without obtaining a single day's schooling. His treatment was such as would not be tolerated at the present time. He, however, patiently endured his ever- accu- mulating burdens until tlie term of his apprenticeship was com- pleted. On obtaining his freedom he entered the employ of a hotel proprietor in Northborough; at this time he began to realize the importance of acquiring an education sufficient to enable him to transact ordinaiy business ; he obtained a teacher and began to study ; commencing with the alphabet he continued by patient effort until lie had learned to read, write and solve the problems of common arithmetic. With this beginning he sought to qualify himself for the duties of life, and thus became a life- long student after knowledge. During the Revolution he became imbued with love for the independence of his country, and entered the service of the Colonies, both in the land and sea forces raised for their protec- tion. He was at first in the marine or privateering service, under Commodore Moody, and Avas in several successful cruises. He then joined the land forces and served in that dangerous affair on Long Island under General Sullivan, when the British troops under General Howe, undertook successfully to force the Ameri- cans from the Island, and later was at the battle of Saratoga which witnessed the capture of General Burgoyne. Soon after the close of the Revolution he married Molly Bartlett, of North- borough, and settled upon a large farm near Rocky Pond, in the easterly part of Boylston. His farm was large in extent, con- taining nearly three hundred acres, naturally rough and broken, and hard of cultivation. On it he erected large and commodious buildings, and by hard and patient labor brought it to a good state of cultivation. He was one of the first of the farmers in Boylston to plant orchards, and to introduce improved fall and winter fruit. On this farm he spent the remainder of his days, and here he reared a large family of children, nearly all of whom reached years of maturity. The quiet of his life as a New England farmer was broken from time to time by calls from his 126 BOYLSTON CENTENNIAL. fellow-citizens, to assume important and responsible positions. He was in Shays's Rebellion in 1787, and participated in the night march from Hadley to Petersham, tlirough a blinding snow storm, as the following quaint receipt shows : Boijhton, May 10, 1787. Then Received of Ezra Beaman all the wages that is due to us the subscribers for services while we ware in Capt. Jonah Howe's Company in Sirpi'essing the late Rebellion in the west^- ward Countyis, JAMES LONGLEY JOHN HASTINGS Jr. ROBERT HUDSON JOHN ANDERSON SAMUEL UARTHAN AMARIAH SAWYER JONAS GOODNUFF SAMUEL WHITCOMB WILLIAM SAWYER JOTHANGOODNUFF STEPHEN BIGLO JOSEPH BIGLOW Jr LEVI MOORES JASON GLAZIER ALMA GOODNUFF DAVID RICE He afterwards served for many years in the State Militia, and for some time held the office of captain. He was frequently elected to town office. He served upon the Board of Selectmen for eighteen years, and was chairman of the board thirteen years ; was one of the Assessors for seventeen years and chairman of the board twelve years ; town Treasurer in 1821 ; member of the School Committee in 1803 ; he also served as Moderator of town meetings for many years. He was elected as representative to the General Court for thirteen consecutive years, from 1798 to 1811, and was also the first Justice of the Peace commissioned within the present limits of the town, and was frequently called to preside over petty trials, solemnize marriage, and transact other legal business incident to that office. He was chosen by the town of Boylston to oppose the incorporation of the Second Precinct of Boylston, Holden and Sterling, and again in 1807 to oppose the incorporation of that Precinct as a separate town, and was one of the committee to divide the town property between the towns of Boylston and West Boylston; and was always deeply indentified with whatever tended to increase and develop the best interests of the community. He was of a strong and vigorous constitution, with an active and capacious mind combined with wonderful energy and grexit firmness, decisive in his judgment BOTLSTON CENTENNIAL. 127 which was unerring in whatever projects of a public nature he entered upon. He died January 15, 1837, aged 83 years. He had eleven children : I. Otis, his eldest son, married Lydia Patch, and settled on the home place with his father. As a man he was much esteemed by his fellow townsmen. He was elected as one of the Select- men and also served on the Board of Assessors, and was one of the Building Committee of the present Congregational Church. He died March 21, 1848, aged 63 years. He had six children, viz. : (1.) Joseph Lyon, who married and settled in the West. He now resides in Dows, Wright County, Iowa ; he has four children. (2.) James Otis, married and settled in Worcester; by trade a machinist; he has two children. (3.) Cynthia Jane, died April 23, 1859, aged 26 years. (4.) John Benjamin, who never of a strong constitution, went West and died of Consumption Feb. 4, 1873, aged 37 years. (5.) Granville Augustus, who, after his father's death, went to live with his uncle Jonas Longley, in Westborough, where he remained some six years graduating in the meantime from the Westborough High School, and being of a business turn of mind he removed to Worcester and entered the employ of Jonathan Luther, a clothier, (afterwards C. W. Freeland & Co.), and with Horace W. Bigelow formed the firm of Bigelow & Longley. .Mr. Bigelow dying in 1886 Mr. Longley now continues the business as sole owner, in which they have been successful in building a large trade. Mr. Longley has served four years in the Common Council, during that time on the Committees on Finance, Educa- tion, and Enrollment ; and at the annual city election in Decem- ber last was chosen a member of the Board of Aldermen for the present year. lie has had five children. (6.) Henry G., who, after his father's death, removed to Worcester with his mother, and passed his minority in attending the public schools there, graduating from which he had just en- tered upon a business life when he enlisted in answer to his country's call and served in Company G, Fifty-first Kegimeut 128 BOTLSTON CENTENNIAL. Massachusetts Volunteers, and during the campaign in North Carolina, contracted the Malarial Fever, from which he died in the hospital at Newbern, N. C, Feb. 24, 1863, aged 21 years. His body was brought back to Worcester and interred with mili- tary honors. II. Mary, daughter of James and Molly Longley, born Feb. 18, 1786, married Deacon Abijah Flagg, and settled on the farm now in possession of their son, Montraville Flagg. She died March 3, 1863, aged 76 years. Children : (1.) William Frederick, who went West, married and set- tled in Illinois. He has ten children : (2.) Montraville, who married Parney P. Houghton, and settled on the home place where he now resides ; he has been for many years very active in churcli and parish affairs. He has had nine children. (3.) Nahum, born July 15, 1811, married Hannah B. Nel- son, and settled on the home place with his brother Montra- ville. He died very suddenly in 1861 ; he left two children. (4.) Abijah, who died in infancy. (5.) John Dexter, born Aug. 3, 1817, married Elizabeth Davenport, daughter of Nathaniel Davenport, Esq. He resides in Boylston. He has had six children, five of whom are now living. (6.) Jifary E., born Sept. 17, 1823, married Edwin Stewart, and resides in New York city. Has had five children, two of whom are now living. III. Jonas, son of James and Molly Longley, born Nov. 11, 1787, married and settled in Westborough. He was a builder, contractor and lumber merchant, and held many important trusts to which he was elected by his fellow townsmen. He died Jan. 31, 1866, aged 78 years. He had four children. (1.) James Alfred, born Jan. 6, 1814, was an architect and builder, and built the original buildings for the Massachu- setts State Reform School at Westborougli, and the present Con- gregational Ciuirch edifice at Northborough. He died at South- borough March 8, 1861, aged 47 years. BOYLSTON CENTENNIAL. 3 29 (2.) Susan B., born May 18, 1818, married Ansel Lakin, and died June 1, 1877. (3.) Mary E., born Dec. lb, 1819, married B. B. Nourse. (4.) Charles Otis, born July 20, 1824, resides in West- borough IV. Rev. Jonathan Longley, son of James and Molly Long- ley, born June 21, 1789, entered Harvard College but was forced, on account of ill-health, to leave college before completing his course. He afterwards studied theology with Rev. Dr. Emmons i)i Franklin, and after a brief period spent as Principal of several Academics in this State and in New York, was ordained to the Christian ministry. He was a man of strong mind, sound learning and solid worth, combined with great modesty. He had a wonderful mem- ory which he had richly stored. His familiarity with Jewish and American history was great. The late Rev. George Allen in a notice at the time of his death says " his knowledge of the Scrip- tures was such that he needed no other concordance than his own memory." He died in Northbridge Jan. 26, 1850. V. James, born June 22, 1791, and died June 10, 1793. VI. Israel, born Nov. 21, 1792, and died June 6, 1793. VII. James, born Sept. 3, 1794, married Sally Eustis, and settled in Boston, where he died Jan. 13, 1867, aged 72 years. After going to Boston Mr. Longley was for a short time engaged at the pottery works in East Cambridge, on the site of the present manufactory of the New England Glass Company. Afterwards he was in a grocery store on Leverett Street. He then went to the Commercial Coffee House, then located on the northeast cor- ner of Milk and Batterymarch Streets, remaining there as clerk and proprietor until 1836, when he retired from active business. He served in many positions of trust and honor, was a director in several manufacturing corporations and was twice elected as a member of the Board of Aldemen of the city of Boston. He gave the sura of five hundred dollars to the town of Boylston for the purpose of improving and keeping in order the old cemetery. He died Jan 13, 1867. He left two children. 130 BOYLSTON CENTENNIAL. VI] I. Israel Longley, born Nov. 8, 1795, and died of spot- ted fever Nov. 22, 1812, aged 17 years. IX. Betsey Longley, born May 22, 1799, married Daniel Barnes June 13 1821, and settled on '-Barnes Hill" in Berlin, on the place now in possession of her son, George H. Barnes. She had thirteen children, ten of whom lived to grow up, and nine are now living. (1.) Mary Sophia, born June 22, 1822, married Oliver. Car- ter, and settled in Berlin near her father's place. She has bad four children. (2.) Caroline E., born Aug. 16, 1823, married Levi Lin- coln Flagg, and settled in Boylston, where she died July 2, 1871, aged 49 years. Mr. Flagg has been much employed in town af- fairs, and is one of the most influential and respected citizens of Boylston. He has served many years as Selectman, Assessor, Town Treasurer, &c., and represented the town in the General Court. Tliey have had eight children, all of whom are now living. (3.) Israel L. who married and settled in Boylston where he now resides. He has three children. (4) Angenette, born Dec. 10, 1826. married Levi E. Brig- ham, and resides in Clinton. They have had six children, five of whom are now living. (5.) Rowena M., born Oct. 21, 1828, married Charles L. Whitcomb, who died several years since. Tliey have had six children, five of whom are now living. (6.) George Henry, born Dec. 18, 1833, married and set- tled on the homestead, in Berlin, where he now resides. He has had four children, three of whom are now living. (7.) Hannah Jane, born Aug. 10, 1835, married Samuel H. Hastings, and now resides in Grafton. They have had four children. (8.) Martha, born March 30, 1837, married and resides in Boylston. (9.) Asenath Moore, born July 25, 1839, married John F. Bartlett, and now resides in Boylston. They have had eleven Children, ten of whom are now living. BOYLSTON CENTENNIAI.. 131 (10.) David, born Oct. 19, 1842, married Miranda Parker, of Boylston, and resides in Shrewsbury. Mrs. Barnes was possessed of a strong mind, and an active constitution, such as few of her sex can boast. At her death, which occurred Sept. 13, 1881, at the age of 82 years, she left a large posterity, thei-e being more than two-score of grand- children, and over a score of great-grandchildren. X. Parker Longley, born Nov 22, 1800, was never pos- sessed of firm health, and was obliged to go abroad in his youth, following the seas for some years, visiting Nova Scotia, where he had relatives, and other places. He married April 30, 1832, and settled in Boylston on the place originally belonging to John Hastings, and now in the possession of his son, Charles I. Long- ley. He was a man respected by his fellow townsmen, a kind and obliging neighbor. He had four children, three of whom are now living, viz. : (1.) Edwin F., born Aug. 29, 1834, married and settled in Marlborough, where he was for a time engaged in the manufac- ture of boots and shoes, building two large blocks in the center of the town for that purpose. He is now the owner of a large steam saw and box mill in which he annually manufactures large quantities of boot and shoe boxes, and is also engaged in other projects. He has had four children, two of whom are now living. (2.) Charles I., born April 12, 1837, married Olive E. Stratton, of Boylston, and settled on the home place. He has always taken a lively interest in town affairs, and has held many offices of trust and honor, and was seven years one of the Asses- sors, two years Collector of Taxes, and on several committees of more or less importance. He was the Clerk and one of the Trustees of the Boylston Social Library for nearly twenty years, and was one of those who urged the establishment of the Boyl- ston Public Library, which was in part made up of the Social Library, and served on the first Board of Trustees. (3.) Ashael P., born Nov. 11, 1840; unmarried and now resides in Marlborough. 132 BOYLSTON CENTENNIAL. XL Lois Longley, the youngest and last surviving daugh- ter of James and Molly Longley, was b©rn May 26, 1805. She married Joseph Dudley and settled in Northbridge. She "was a woman of more than ordinary ability, with a retentive memory, a gift for which the family has been noted. She visited Boylston on Centennial Day for, as she then said, the last time. She was taken ill before her return, from which sickness she never rallied, and died at the house of her daughter, in Grafton, Oct. 6, 1886, at the age of 82 years. She had ten children, three ot whom are now living, viz. : (L) Charles J., born Jan. 13, 1836, married and settled in Northbridge. Has two children. (2.) Ellen Abbie, born Feb. 28, 1838, married Dea. Perley Goddard, and now resides in Grafton. Have had six children, five now living. (3.) Francis S., born Dec. 17, 1848, married and settled on the home place in Northbridge. Has two children. TOWN OFFICERS. ^3iCl786.