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Fitchburg Histofical Society. 
 
 REMINISCENCES AND 
 OBSERYATIONS- 
 
 Nineteenth Century, 
 
 MORE PARTICULARLY 
 RELATING TO THE FIRST HALF. 
 
 BY 
 
 FESTUS C. CURRIER. 
 
 FITCHBURG : 
 
 SENTINEL PRINTING COMPANY. 
 1902 
 

 I 
 
 
REMINISCENCES. 
 
 PART I. 
 
 Having been honored by your form- 
 er secretary with the request that I 
 write up something of my knowledge 
 of the past, and after much hesitation, 
 as I have no diary to refresh the mem- 
 ory, I have consented to make the at- 
 tempt, and in the beginning may I ask 
 your indulgence and patience over such 
 of the material as will constitute its 
 chief substance, which is more or less 
 of a personal nature. Men of the pres- 
 ent day, who through age and good 
 memory, that goes back toward the 
 beginning of the century, are able to 
 realize the vast changes that have oc- 
 curred within their lifetime in the ma- 
 terial and social condition of mankind. 
 More than 70 years have passed with- 
 in my remembrance, and many events 
 and occurrences of that early period 
 are yet fresh in my mind. 
 
 Born and brought up in the society 
 of people of the previous century, in- 
 cluding soldiers of the Revolution, and 
 in my youthful days hearing and tak- 
 ing in much of the conversation at 
 home and elsewhere, relating to Rev- 
 olutionary times and subsequent years, 
 down to the 19th century, of the trials 
 
 *Read at a meeting of the Society Oct. 20, 1902. 
 3 
 
and hardships of the war, and the un- 
 settled condition of the country in the 
 succeeding- years, of the hard times 
 through which the people passed, and 
 from studying school histories in my 
 boyhood, impressed upon my memory 
 many of these events, and much as to 
 the condition and situation of the 
 people prior, and at the beginning of 
 the century, and through its first 
 quarter, so that I may make the start- 
 ing point of this paper at the opening 
 up of the new government, which in 
 the last decade of the previous cen- 
 tury, under the wise and skilful guid- 
 ance of Washington, was inaugurated 
 and successfully started on its great 
 career. The commencement of the 
 new century found the government 
 slowly gaining in the confidence of 
 the people, but the great strain on the 
 resources of the country to maintain 
 the Revolution, and bring order out of 
 chaos at its close, was yet severely 
 felt, and the people of all classes were 
 poor and suffered many privations, 
 and were compelled to live in the most 
 frugal manner. 
 
 The great depreciation of the cur- 
 rency during the war and down to this 
 period, and the scarcity of real money 
 in circulation throug-hout the country, 
 prevented the growth of trade and 
 commerce and made hard times. The 
 lack of capital gave little encourage- 
 ment to industrial enterprises. The 
 "Chief occupation of the community 
 \vas tilling the soil. In the absence of 
 a ready market for their products, 
 small returns in money came to them, 
 and their means for a comfortable liv- 
 
ingr were limited and hard to get. This 
 was the condition of New England and 
 its people at the dawn of this century, 
 and there was practically little im- 
 provement in the same during its first 
 quarter, and during this period, the 
 war of 1812 with England added to the 
 burdens, and increased the already 
 hard conditions, but two years later 
 brought a successful termination of 
 the war, which gave increased 
 strength to the government, and 
 greater confidence to capital, and trade 
 and commerce began to move slowly. 
 The successful operations of the com- 
 mercial marine on the ocean and 
 lakes, brought to ship masters and 
 owners, and to merchants along tide 
 water large returns, and this soon 
 found its way into the country, in the 
 shape of capital for manufacturing 
 enterprises, as was the case in 1815, 
 when the foundations of the future 
 city of Lowell were begun, and which 
 was the first to turn the waters of the 
 Merrimac into wheels of commercial 
 enterprise and wealth, and laid the 
 foundations of many other industrial 
 concerns, which in later years gradu- 
 ally grew up to large dimensions. 
 Many small manufacturing concerns 
 were soon located on the rivers and 
 streams running through the towns 
 and villages of New England, giving 
 employment to sons and daughters of 
 rural homes in these places, although 
 at small wages and long hours; they 
 doubtless were thankful to earn a lit- 
 tle ready money, and by this means, 
 mortgages were removed from homes 
 long burdened, and many comforts 
 
added to the scant things of the house- 
 hold. 
 
 While small manufacturing- indus- 
 tries were slowly working their way 
 into the country districts, and in some 
 measure supplying the domestic 
 wants, not until later, when steam 
 power and railroads became an as- 
 sured fact, and were in successful op- 
 eration, did a more aggressive busi- 
 ness activity become apparent. Thus 
 far, the country had made little prog- 
 ress, the business of agriculture waa 
 still the chief occupation of the com- 
 munity, and the failure to materially 
 enlarge the market of farm products, 
 rendered the farmer small chance to 
 improve his condition, and compelled 
 the closest economy or his part, and 
 that of his household; in fact, little 
 money came into his hands during the 
 year, and he was obliged to obtain the 
 necessary supplies for the family, as 
 far as possible, from the farm. The 
 clothing for the household was made 
 from wool of sheep raised on the farm, 
 spun and wove by the mother and 
 daughters in the home, the needed 
 boots and shoes were from skins of his 
 cattle, tanned at his neighbors' tan- 
 nery, and made up by some itinerant 
 shoemaker or cobbler going from 
 house to house, making and mending 
 the shoes of the village, and the gro- 
 ceries and other articles not produced 
 at home were purchased at the village 
 store, and paid for as far as possible 
 with produce brought from the farm; 
 the balance due, if any, was charged 
 up on an account, not often closed. In 
 this way, the farmer got along with 
 
little money, buying nothing that 
 could be done without. His farming 
 tools were of the most primitive kind, 
 and in most cases were made on the 
 farm; wooden plows, home made, 
 turned the soil; and in antiquarian 
 rooms of these days, some of these 
 tools of our fathers may yet be seen. 
 
 The dwelling houses and out build- 
 ings were built from lumber cut on the 
 farm wood lot, and sawed in the little 
 saw mill near by, and as hardware 
 stores were scarce things in the coun- 
 try, the village blacksmith supplied 
 the necessary door hinges, and made 
 the nails required, and such other iron 
 ware as was needed. Some of the old 
 houses of the 18th century had wooden 
 door latches and handles; a few of 
 these may yet be seen in ancient 
 buildings preserved as memorials of a 
 past age, but in the march of progress, 
 at a later day, hardware for most all 
 purposes, factory made, came into use, 
 much to the relief and convenience of 
 the community. 
 
 The above indicates the condition of 
 the country and the people at the end 
 of the first quarter of this century, but 
 the next decade shows a material ad- 
 vance, and the country found some re- 
 lief, from the small industrial concerns 
 springing up wherever water power 
 was available. Steam power had not 
 then been applied in any manufactur- 
 ing establishment in this common- 
 wealth, nor in New England, and busi- 
 ness was carried on in a small way, 
 and with few operatives in each place, 
 and at small wages,from 12 to 14 hours 
 per day, six days in the week — no laws 
 
then protected the laborer from unjust 
 exactions — labor reform societies and 
 unions were unknown, and the laborer 
 did not appear to have any conception 
 of them, and was content, even at small 
 pay and long- hours, if the chance to 
 work could be obtained. This was the 
 condition of the community at my 
 earliest remembrance. 
 
 The country outside of the few large 
 towns, in the first part of the century, 
 was quite undeveloped and few roads 
 could be found. The country roads 
 from town to town, where the mail 
 stag-es i^an, were kept in passable con- 
 dition, as the law required, but the 
 local roads were mere cart paths, un- 
 safe for g-eneral travel, and as yet, little 
 improvement had taken place in them, 
 as the tax payers did not want to pay 
 the cost, so that light carriages were 
 not in use in many of the country vil- 
 lag-es; the ones in general use were 
 wagons strong and roughly made, 
 having wooden axletrees, without 
 springs, used for all purposes of the 
 farm, including- the family riding-, but 
 this was very uncomfortable, and soon 
 a remedy was invented in springs of 
 various kinds, which came into use, re- 
 lieving the situation. The two-wheeled 
 chaise was occasionally seen, which 
 first made its appearance in Colonial 
 times, and was more or less in use in 
 the more populous toWns, where the 
 roads were better. They were a some- 
 what expensive vehicle, and only the 
 gentry rode in them, as the common 
 people could not afford their cost. I re- 
 member one of the ancient vehicles in 
 my native town; it was elaborately 
 
built, heavy and cumbersome, and in 
 its day was looked upon as a fine car- 
 riage. Its owner, an old farmer and his 
 wife, rode to town and to meeting- in it 
 for upwards of 50 years, and left it to 
 their heirs. It was in one of these 
 two-wheeled chaises that Daniel ^Wehs- 
 ter with his father rode from his home 
 in Salisbury, N. H. (now Franklin), to 
 Etxeter, some 50 miles distant, when 14 
 years of age, to begin his education in 
 Phillips academy in that place in 1796, 
 with his trunk tied on the axletree. No 
 covered carriages, as now in use ev- 
 erywhere, were then seen, nor light 
 buggies after the style of those of the 
 present day were anywhere to be found. 
 The common box wagon, hung witli 
 leather springs made for business pur- 
 poses and family riding, constituted 
 the chief vehicle for light transporta- 
 tion and for general use. It was in 
 one of these wagons that I rode on my 
 first visit to Boston, in 1833. Horseback 
 riding was the chief mode of getting 
 about, and men and women rode in 
 this way to meeting and to town, and 
 about the country. This came about 
 from lack of proper carriage roads.and 
 had come down from the days of our 
 grandfathers, who had no roads, but 
 traversed the country through ' the 
 wilderness, by Indian trails, and over 
 paths of wild beasts. 
 
 I remember in my boyhood seeing the 
 old family physician, astride of his 
 faithful horse going his daily rounds to 
 visit his patients,with saddlebags filled 
 with all the requisite medicines needed 
 —practically a traveling apothecary. 
 As no regular apothecary shops were 
 
then in existence, the doctor had to 
 supply the necessary medicines. The 
 town clergyman was on horseback, 
 visiting schools or the homes of the 
 people, looking after their welfare spir- 
 itually and otherwise. He had no oth- 
 er mode of travel. Professional men 
 almost everywhere traveled through 
 the country in this manner. I heard 
 my mother relate, when in her young 
 days at home on her father's farm, 
 some three miles distant from the vil- 
 lage, that she rode horseback very of- 
 ten, as they had no carriage comforta- 
 ble to ride in, and no roads decent to 
 drive over. To go to meeting on Sun- 
 day, it was on horseback, seated on a 
 pillion attached to the saddle behind 
 her father, and when they arrived at 
 the meeting house, a horse block stood 
 near to the entrance for the purpose 
 of dismounting. This she did many 
 times, as no other way was provided to 
 get there. This was the general mode 
 of getting to meeting in her young 
 days, for those who lived distant from 
 the same. 
 
 I wonder how the young ladies of the 
 present day would like this way of rid- 
 ing to church, clothed in fine raiment, 
 sitting behind their escort on horse- 
 back? I am inclined to think they 
 would not be there every Sunday, but 
 young men and women found horse- 
 back riding a pleasant recreation, and 
 this was quite common in my early 
 days. This practice with rare excep- 
 tions, has long ago gone out of use in 
 this part of the country, and no such 
 thing as a pillion is seen in these days, 
 as comfortable carriages and better 
 
 10 
 
roads are found everywhere, and a 
 much better and more convenient way 
 of travel is in use. 
 
 In all dwelling houses of that period, 
 fireplaces only were in use; the stove 
 had not made its appearance. Every 
 room of ordinary size had a flreplnce. 
 The extreme cold of our New England 
 winters was severely felt, and it was 
 found difficult to keep the dwellings 
 comfortable. None of the modern ap- 
 pliances for heating purposes were 
 then in existence, or heard of. Wood 
 was the only fuel in use. Coal was 
 nowhere seen or to be had in any coun- 
 try town. The first coal fire I ever saw 
 was in a tavern in Boston, in an open 
 coal grate. This I thought was a fine 
 thing, and a good place on a cold night 
 to sit by. It is related that when ex- 
 President John Adams returned to his 
 native town of Quincy, after a consid- 
 erable number of years spent in the 
 service of his country, his neighbors 
 gave him a call of welcome home. They 
 told him that as independence had been 
 secured, the great services he had ren- 
 dered his country entitled him to rest 
 and recreation. He, in his response, 
 said that Quincy was a most delightful 
 place to live in the greater part of the 
 year, but the winter months were so 
 severe that if he could find a place, 
 like the dormouse, to burrow in, he 
 would be content, as the winters were 
 most unbearable. 
 
 In those early times, in the absence 
 of modern apparatus for heating, with 
 nothing but open fireplaces to warm 
 their dwellings, the inhabitants of 
 New England no doubt suffered much 
 
 11 
 
from the rigors of the winters, and 
 only found relief later through the in- 
 troduction of stoves. Fireplaces in old 
 time houses, as we remember them, 
 were very large, capable of taking in 
 a large quantity of wood at one time, 
 and a considrable amount of the heat 
 would escape up through the large 
 chimney flue and was lost. To remedy 
 this waste, iron frames were invented, 
 set into the brick at the mouth of the 
 fireplace, standing partially out into 
 the room; this was designed to give 
 more heating surface and a better dis- 
 tribution of heat into the room, and 
 then the back of the fireplace was 
 fixed to prevent as far as possible, the 
 loss of heat up the chimney, and send 
 the same out into the room. These 
 were known as the Franklin Fire 
 Frame, and were ornamental in de- 
 sign, and somewhat improved the ap- 
 pearance of the room. They answered 
 their purpose until something better 
 came along, then went out of use. I 
 remember the large fireplace in my 
 mother's kitchen, and the brick oven 
 near by, and particularly the large 
 quantity of wood needed to keep them 
 going, as I had to bring it in from the 
 shed outside, and then I have not for- 
 gotten how cooking in a fireplace ap- 
 peared to me, in comparison with the 
 same over a cooking stove. Every 
 housekeeper of three score years ago 
 knows the difference, and realizes the 
 labor saving and economy of the mod- 
 ern cooking stove. It would doubtless 
 be a difficult matter for the young 
 housekeeper of the present day to be 
 content to do her cooking in a fire- 
 
place. She would not long, if any- 
 thing better could be found, but her 
 grandmother and great-grandmother 
 did it, and knew no better way, and 
 were apparently content. But a 
 change was near at hand, and the 
 cooking stove was soon to come to the 
 housekeeper's relief. This wonderful 
 invention, as it was then called, was 
 already talked about, and its wonders 
 told in the weekly newspapers, so the 
 good housewife was set to thinking 
 about what a looking thing it must be, 
 and perhaps had some doubts in her 
 mind, that anything had been found 
 better or equal to her fireplace, such 
 as her mother had cooked in all her 
 life, but she would wait and see. The 
 inventors of the stove claimed that it 
 would save much wood over the fire- 
 place, and was more convenient and 
 economical otherwise, but the more 
 conservative people were not ready to 
 believe all they heard, and were wait- 
 ing with curiosity and doubts to see 
 the new thing. 
 
 The first stove to come to our town 
 was bought by my father. It did not 
 look much like the handsome and 
 commodious ones of the present age, 
 and was of a very different pattern-' 
 none of this style is now in use or 
 seen anywhere, at least, I have not 
 seen one of them for many years. It 
 M^as composed of thick, rough iron 
 castings and was very heavy, as it 
 took a number of men to carry it into 
 the house. When it was set up and 
 ready for use, the neighbors began to 
 come in to see it. I was a rather 
 small chap at that time, but like some 
 13 
 
of the older ones present, had my curi- 
 osity considerably excited over the 
 new comer, and I paid close attention 
 to all that was said and done, and re- 
 member what some of the wise ones 
 had to say about it. Some half a doz- 
 en of the neighboring women came )n 
 on the first day, and I think they all 
 had something to say in regard to it. 
 One woman told my mother that she 
 did not believe it would be very con- 
 venient, and the cooking would not be 
 as good as in the fireplace. Another 
 said that it was of no use to tell her, 
 that as much could be done, and as 
 well, as in her convenient fireplace, 
 and she would stick to that a while 
 longer, and one was particularly cer- 
 tain that the cooking for our large 
 family could not be done on it; but 
 there were others who did not express 
 an opinion, preferring to give it a fair 
 trial; so they all went home with dif- 
 ferent views, some for, and others 
 against, but the stove stood the trial, 
 and came off victorious, proving very 
 satisfactory, especially in the amount 
 of wood consumed, which I remember 
 reduced the quantity required to be 
 carried in, much to my relief. As the 
 fire place was no longer needed, it was 
 closed up, and the old pots and kettles, 
 and gridirons, and tin baker, and other 
 fireplace utensils went into retirement- 
 This was about 1832 or 1833. Soon 
 parlor stoves came into use, and im- 
 proved the heating matter very much, 
 keeping the house more comfortable 
 with less fuel and less labor in cutting 
 wood. Some 15 years elapsed before 
 
 14 
 
coal came to my town, and then it 
 gradually superseded wood. 
 
 Another invention came round about 
 this time, that proved very useful and 
 important, the friction match, a new 
 thing-, not heard of before. Previous 
 to its advent, the only means known to 
 start a fire was the flint and steel, and 
 tinder box. A violent stroke of the 
 steel against the flint would produce 
 a spark which dropped into the tinder- 
 box, would ignite the combustible ma- 
 terial therein, prepared for the pur- 
 pose. This would cause a blaze suf- 
 ficient to set fire to shavings or other 
 light material used in kindling fires. 
 In this way our parents and grandpar- 
 ents kindled their fires. There may 
 have been other means of producing a 
 sufllcient spark, but I am not aware of 
 any. To obviate this rather uncertain 
 way, live coals were kept by burying 
 them in ashes, which if properly done, 
 would keep alive a long time. This was 
 a practical device, and was generally 
 adopted, but in the event of the coals 
 going out, the next thing to do was to 
 g-o to the nearest neighbor, if one was 
 reasonably near, to get some live coals, 
 if they happened to have any. I re- 
 member being- called on to render this 
 service for my mother. The first match 
 g-otten up was not friction, but simply 
 a stick about four inches long, dipped 
 in some inflammable substance, prepared 
 only to ignite when applied to a live 
 coal or fire. These were quite useful 
 and convenient, but soon the real fric- 
 tion match appeared and proved to be 
 a very important discovery, which in 
 these days would be indispensable, and 
 
 15 
 
to be without them would be a serious 
 misfortune. 
 
 For illuminating- purposes, whale oil 
 and tallow candles were chiefly in use. 
 The candle was the light of the farm 
 house and was of domestic make, the 
 tallow was from cattle slaughtered on 
 the farm, and prepared and dipped by 
 the frugal housewife. The oil was of 
 the sperm kind; it being more expen- 
 sive, was only used on special occa- 
 sions, when company came in, but in 
 public buildings it was the sole illu- 
 minator. 
 
 Gas of any description had not come 
 into use anywhere in New England 
 outside of Boston. Prom the scarcity 
 and high price of sperm oil, it went out 
 of use for lighting purposes, and sub- 
 stitutes made their appearance, such 
 as chemical oil, burning fluid, cam- 
 phene and other expedients, more or 
 less of a dangerous character, but as 
 we all realized, time brought relief in 
 the discovery of crude oil, brought to 
 the surface in great quantities, and ap- 
 parently without limit, and finding of a 
 way to refine it, produced the best 
 burning oil known, and so cheap iii 
 cost that the poorest home need not go 
 without plenty of good light. 
 
 It is also largely used for heating 
 and other domestic purposes, and is 
 now quite indispensable. Coal gas was 
 first brought into use in England.about 
 the first of this century, and into New 
 York about 1823, and soon into Boston, 
 but outside of the large cities, did not 
 get into use for a number of years. It 
 was more than 50 years after the in- 
 troduction of gas into Boston that the 
 
 16 
 
great discovery was made of the elec- 
 trical current as an illuminator. Those 
 of us who lived in the days of whale 
 oil and tallow candles, the only way 
 then known to light our homes, realize 
 the vast difference between the old 
 light of our fathers, and the marvelous 
 one of the present age, and wonder 
 what next will appear to illuminate us, 
 and amaze the world. 
 
 In my boyhood days many veterans 
 of the Revolution were yet seen and 
 met with in the home and in public 
 places, aged and venerable in appear- 
 ance, some carrying on their persons 
 evidence of their experience in that 
 terrible struggle, through the loss of 
 an arm or leg, or eyesight, or other 
 casualties, such as we now see almost 
 daily on the veterans of the Civil War, 
 whose similar appearance indicates 
 that war is the same in one century as 
 in another. These old soldiers of the 
 Revolution, 50 years or more after the 
 close of the war, feeble and decrepit 
 with age, were held in much respect, 
 and always found a welcome every- 
 where. It was evident that their de- 
 light was to tell of the hair-breadth es- 
 capes and hard experiences of their 
 soldier life, and as young men and 
 boys, anything about war interested us 
 much, and when the opportunity of- 
 fered to hear one of these veterans 
 talk, we were generally on hand, and I 
 have not forgotten one of these occa- 
 sions that possessed more interest than 
 the thrice told tales of some of these 
 veterans, and it may not be uninterest- 
 ing here to relate some incidents con- 
 nected with a visit to an old veteran's 
 
home, and what he told us of his ex- 
 perience, which was not shared by 
 many of his comrades in the service. 
 
 In the fall of 1840, then just ending 
 my 15th year, with my father, I went 
 on a visit to his father, who was then 
 far advanced in years, but was well 
 preserved. His home was in a rural 
 town in New Hampshire, to which we 
 traveled in our one horse wagon, such 
 as was in general use in those days. 
 It was not of the modern type, either 
 in style, or in the most comfortable 
 riding, but I remember we got along 
 very well, as our turnout was about 
 the same as everybody else had and 
 rode in. 
 
 No railroad was then in any part of 
 the Granite state nor in any part of 
 this state through which we traveled 
 at this time. Stage coaches and great 
 teams were numerous along our route, 
 but these were not all we met. This 
 was within a month of the presidential 
 election of that year, known as the 
 "Hard Cider campaign." Harrison and 
 Tyler, or at that time better known as 
 "Tippecanoe and Tyler Too." Log 
 cabins and hard cider barrels, and coon 
 skins were a part of the election ma- 
 chinery set up to enlighten the people 
 how to vote on the great questions of 
 the day. The purpose of this mode of 
 electioneering was to bring home to 
 the voters the fact of the humble origin 
 of their candidate, as in contrast with 
 that of the opposing candidate, Mr. 
 Van Buren, whom they said was an 
 aristocrat. Most of the large towns 
 we passed through had a log cabin, and 
 in a few, more than one, and frequently 
 
 18 
 
one was met drawn by long- strings 
 of oxen, filled with men and boys 
 shouting for their candidates and 
 drinking cider from barrels standing 
 on platformis on the outside, within 
 reach of the multitude, with coon 
 skins nailed up over the entrance and 
 on the sides,and also there were posted 
 everywhere on barns and sheds and in 
 public places caricatures of "Little 
 Mattie," as he was called, all the way 
 from my home to the end of our jour- 
 ney, and taverns where we stopped for 
 the night were filled with men drink- 
 ing and hurrahing for "Tippecanoe and 
 Tyler Too," late into the night. Pro- 
 hibition against the sale of liquor was 
 not then the law in this state or in 
 New Hampshire. It was freely sold 
 over the bar in all the taverns wherever 
 we stayed. Traveling on the highway 
 at this time was not lonesome business, 
 especially in this noted political cam- 
 paign, but we got through safely, and 
 arrived at our destination. The old 
 g-entleman's house was of the old 
 style, built some tirrue in the 18th cen- 
 tury, a high, sharp roof, one side of it 
 went down near the ground, with a 
 large chimney, and had a capacious 
 fireplace, taking in at one time a large 
 quantity of wood, whose bright fire 
 gave sufficient light in the room with- 
 out the aid of other light. As nothing 
 but conversation was going on around 
 the fireplace, my aged grandmother, 
 my father and some others made up 
 the circle, with the old veteran as the 
 central flgnre. This group is indelibly 
 fixed in my memory, and my mind's 
 eye can see them as distinctly now as 
 
 19 
 
then, and it brings back to me those 
 then present, who long- ago have 
 passed away. The most Interesting in- 
 cident told was his account of seeing 
 General Washington. He served from 
 the beginning to the end of the war 
 and was five years in the ranks, and 
 two years detailed about camp as ser- 
 vant to the officers, on account of his 
 age and slender appearance. This first 
 year of service was at the headquar- 
 ters of the general of the army sta- 
 tioned at Cambridge, and there he had 
 the opportunity to see the great gene- 
 ral quite often, and became familiar 
 with his appearance. His majestic 
 and dignified bearing attracted atten- 
 tion and excited his admiration. He 
 was tall, six feet or more, broad across 
 the shoulders, erect, and of polished 
 manners, always self-possessed and 
 stern in deportment. When disturbed, 
 through failure of subordinates to 
 carry out orders, he would in strong 
 and forcible language express his dis- 
 pleasure in a way that did not require 
 repetition to bring the delinquents at 
 once to duty. This, he remarked, gave 
 him the impression at the time, that 
 the general was a great man — a born 
 commander of men — superior in every 
 respect to anyone else about him. 
 
 While relating this, the countenance 
 of the aged patriarch indicated his- 
 deep reverence and love for his great 
 commander, and seemed to inspire him 
 with some of the spirit of his younger 
 days. This to me was most interest- 
 ing and, having from childhood up 
 been taught reverence for the Father 
 of our Country, and to hear from the 
 
 20 
 
lips of one who in his daily duty had 
 frequently seen him, the most illus- 
 trious man in the world's history, 
 whose undying fame is immortalized 
 the world over, was an event of my life 
 not to be forgotten, and when I read 
 anything about Washington, I am at 
 once reminded of this long ago inter- 
 esting occasion. 
 
 The country from 1830 to '40 made 
 considerable progress and was steadily 
 improving in its condition, and indus- 
 trial establishments were finding en- 
 couragement in various sections of 
 New England,and were slowly increas- 
 ing in number and importance. Rail- 
 roads were beginning to be operated in 
 some parts of the country, and with 
 some success. In the eastern part of 
 this state small shoe factories were 
 quite numerous, employing a few op- 
 eratives in each; also tanneries were 
 in successful operation, not only in 
 this state, but in localities outside, and 
 gave employment to many persons. The 
 shoe business in this commonwealth 
 at this time was an important indus- 
 try, although done in a small way, 
 without machinery of any sort. These 
 little concerns where located, gave em- 
 ployment to many persons, young and 
 old, and were the life and strength of 
 the town. Their products found a 
 market in the South and Southwest, 
 and were the coarse heavy plantation 
 shoe for Southern trade. These small 
 shops were run by men of little or no 
 ready capital, the proprietor doing his 
 own work as far as possible, employ- 
 ing a small number of workmen to as- 
 sist him, carrying, in most instances 
 
 21 
 
his manufactured products to Boston, 
 the head center of this trade in this 
 country at that time, in his own team, 
 and exchanging the same for new 
 supplies, necessary to continue the 
 business, and to get such an amount of 
 money as the merchant would allow 
 him. In this way the shoe industry at 
 this period was carried on, and in the 
 existing scarcity of money in circula- 
 tion, the manufacturer paid his help 
 largely in orders on the village store. 
 In this manner many were employed, 
 but at small pay and long days, but the 
 next decade showed a large increase 
 in the shoe and leather business in 
 New England, and later resulted in 
 laying the foundation of an immense 
 business in this state, that extended 
 itself to all parts of the Northern 
 states, and created great wealth, and 
 gave employment to hundreds of 
 thousands of men, women and children, 
 and by the invention of machinery, ap- 
 plicable to all parts of the work, and 
 through the high degree of perfection 
 to which this great industry has been 
 carried, the country is fast monopoliz- 
 mg in all its several branches, the 
 shoe and leather trade of the world. 
 
 Up to the beginning of the first decade 
 of the forties, emigration from the old 
 countries had been small, and few of 
 the foreign laboring class had found 
 their way into this country, but the 
 building of railroads, then in course of 
 construction and contemplation, all 
 over the country, made a demand for 
 a large number of laborers, and the 
 opening of a large emigration was the 
 result, and the navigation of the 
 
 22 
 
ocean by steam vessels, which had just 
 begun, enabled their transportation 
 more quickly,and in considerable num- 
 bers, and the steady growth of many 
 industrial enterprises in various sec- 
 tions of the country gave plenty of 
 employment to all that came. . 
 
 The increase in banking institutions 
 at this period facilitated business en- 
 terprises, and increased the circulation 
 of money, but no radical change in 
 railroads took place until later, when 
 railroads took the place of stage 
 coaches and teaming on the highways, 
 and steamships in place of sailing 
 craft. Boston had a few years before 
 changed from a town government to a 
 city, having been incorporated in 1822, 
 with a population of about 40,000. New 
 Tork at this time numbered about 60,- 
 000. Boston was the metropolis of 
 New England, and Salem as a com- 
 mercial port stood next. Boston at 
 this time covered a small territory, 
 confined to islands quite surrounded 
 by water, reached from the mainland 
 over bridges and long causeways. In 
 1833, with my father, I made my first 
 visit to this city, passing over the long 
 causeway known then, and for many 
 years after, as the Mill Dam, since as 
 Western avenue, and now as an ex- 
 tension of Beacon street. I can well 
 remember how Boston of those early 
 days looked, and I think I took it all 
 in, as never before had I been in so 
 large a place. The famous old common 
 did not then look as it does now. I 
 think a wooden fence surrounded it, 
 presenting rather a dilapidated ap- 
 pearance, the trees looked as if they 
 
 23 
 
failed to get much attention, and it 
 was said that some of the residents of 
 Beacon street and adjacent streets, 
 pastured their cows there, through 
 permission of the city, and that this 
 practice continued up to 1840 if not 
 longer. The state house towered abov'e 
 everything else and could be seen far 
 out into the surrounding country, as 
 no high buildings then obstructed the 
 view. I looked on it as a very large 
 and elegant structure, without any 
 rivals in the city or the country round 
 about. The streets were narrow and 
 crooked, paved with large and small 
 cobble stones, very uneven, dirty and 
 antiquated in appearance, no public 
 improvements of any sort were seen 
 anywhere. The beautiful public gar- 
 den of the present day, had not yet 
 been begun, the ground where it now 
 is, was a boggy marsh covered at high 
 tide with water to the foot of the com- 
 mon, in fact, the whole back bay dis- 
 trict from the common to the Brook- 
 line town line and out to Roxbury, 
 was of the same character, and this 
 whole territory, extending to South 
 Boston was frequently under water, 
 and was a disagreeable waste. No 
 railroads run by steam power entered 
 the city at this time. Stage coaches 
 and great teams filled the streets 
 night as well as day, making such a 
 noise over the uneven pavements, that 
 it was difficult for a country chap to 
 get any sleep, and in the daytime was 
 so confusing, that he hardly knew at 
 times where he was. Bunker Hill mon- 
 ument was then in course of construc- 
 tion, and the granite brought from 
 
 24 
 
Quincy being transported there 
 through the streets. As this was my 
 first visit to a city, it struck me as a 
 mighty big place, and I wondered 
 where all the people came from, and 
 where they all found a place to stay. 
 The wonderful sights seen gave me 
 much to talk about for sometime. A 
 few years later within this decade, I 
 was again in the city, and had the 
 chance to see the present custom 
 house in process of construction. The 
 place where it now stands was a part 
 of Long Wharf, which until taken for 
 this purpose, extended up to what was 
 then the foot of State street; the na- 
 tional government took this property 
 and filled it in by driving piles, mak- 
 ing a solid foundation, which up to 
 this day has sustained the weight of 
 this immense granite building, with- 
 out perceptible weakness anywhere. It 
 is of Quincy granite, the roof as well 
 as the walls, and is fire proof, the 
 great granite pillars seen standing on 
 the front were said to weigh 40 tons 
 each, having been cut from the ledge 
 whole, and brought from Quincy on 
 large scows set on low wheels made 
 especially for that purpose, and were 
 drawn by oxen; two of these pillars 
 were on the ground near, and none of 
 them were then in place. This was 
 the most costly building erected in 
 New England up to this time, and cost 
 the government upwards of a million 
 dollars, a very large sum for those 
 days, and it was considered a wonder, 
 and many went to see it. The sharp 
 whistle of the locomotive had not yet 
 been heard in any part of this com- 
 
 25 
 
monwealth, although railroads leading 
 out of Boston in several directions 
 were under construction, but no train 
 had yet traversed the hills and val- 
 leys of New England. The stage coach 
 was the chief public conveyance from 
 place to place along the great high- 
 ways of the country, and its arrival 
 and departure gave the only life and 
 stir to the otherwise quiet and monot- 
 onous towns and villages through 
 which it passed. 
 
 No daily newspaper found its way 
 into any town outside of Boston, and 
 there only one or two small ones were 
 issued. Weekly newspapers were sent 
 out in the mails to the country, and at 
 the county seats, one or more were is- 
 sued, local in character, and generally 
 in the interest of a political party, but 
 void of general news, and what they 
 had was some days old. "When we 
 read the news from Washington of 
 the congressional doings, it would be 
 from eight to 10 days old. No tele- 
 graphs were then in existence or 
 thought of, and the only means the 
 papers had for getting the latest news 
 was through the mails or from stage 
 drivers or travelers. The newspapers 
 of that time were not much like those 
 of the present day. When President 
 Harrison died in 1841,it was some days 
 before it was known in New England, 
 although post riders brought the sad 
 news far in advance of the mails, and 
 it was from four to six weeks before 
 news from the other side of the ocean 
 was read in our newspapers. On the 
 8th of January, 1815, the battle of New 
 Orleans was fought. On the 24th of 
 
 26 
 
December previous, 15 days before this 
 great fight occurred, a treaty of peace 
 was signed at Ghent, by the repre- 
 sentatives of England and this coun- 
 try, the news of this very important 
 transaction was not received in this 
 country until about the first of Febru- 
 ary following, so that it will be seen, 
 had the present Atlantic cable been 
 in existence at that time, no battle of 
 New Orleans would have been fought, 
 and American history would have 
 been deprived of one of its brightest 
 pages, the political fortunes of its he- 
 roes would have been greatly changed, 
 and the political annals of the country 
 would have recorded events of a very 
 different character. This goes to il- 
 lustrate the mighty importance and 
 effect of the electric telegraph and 
 cable upon the destinies of mankind 
 and the world. This great discovery 
 and invention was the product of this 
 19th century. No one had as yet in- 
 dicated any knowledge or conception 
 of this great and marvelous agent, 
 which was soon to astonish the world — 
 that could almost in the twinkling of 
 an eye transmit intelligence to its 
 most distant points. 
 
 The weekly newspaper of those days 
 had the whole field of journalism, as 
 daily newspapers had not yet come 
 round, so there was much competition 
 between the various papers issued for 
 subscribers, as the matter of adver- 
 tisements cut a sm.all figure in their 
 income. As but little of it was offered, 
 the subscribers' list was the main 
 support of the paper. To keep up a 
 good list, canvassers were sent out to 
 
 27 
 
gather them in. A story was told of 
 a young man in my native town, who 
 war. urged quite sharp, by one of these 
 canvassers to subscribe for his paper, 
 the young man did not take much in- 
 terest in the paper, therefore declined 
 to subscribe, but the agent was per- 
 sistent. To get rid of him, the young 
 fellow told him if he would bring 
 along a paper filled with murders, 
 robberies, accidents, and fires, he 
 would subscribe. As the agent could 
 not guarantee this, he failed to obtain 
 his subscription. This man is now 
 living at about 90 years of age. If he 
 can read the daily paper of today, he 
 will find what he demanded nearly 
 three score and 10 years ago. 
 
 In the national election of 1844 a 
 number of weeks passed before the re- 
 sult of the election was known in this 
 state. It was more than two weeks 
 before sufficient returns of the election 
 in New York state were received at 
 Albany, to determine the result in that 
 state. The newspapers of the time 
 furnished the political and religious 
 reading of the day, and political par- 
 ties of the day were represented by an 
 organ, and were located at the county 
 seats and in Boston. As public libra- 
 ries nowhere existed for the people, 
 these weekly papers provided the chief 
 reading matter of the home, and from 
 the rather high subscription price of 
 the weekly paper, many families 
 failed to take a paper, and they only 
 got hold of one when a kind neighbor 
 sent them one, and it was the practice 
 in neighborhoods for a number of fam- 
 ilies to join together and subscribe for 
 
 28 
 
one paper, to be passed in turn to each 
 family paying their share. No daily 
 papers, or other reading matter, such 
 as books and other periodicals as now, 
 were kept ior sale on stands and coun- 
 ters, and in railroad stations. No 
 place could be found where, at the cost 
 of a penny, the news could2be obtained. 
 The occupation of the newsboy was 
 unknown, and none were on the streets 
 or in public places vending the latest 
 news. No daily mail came to any 
 town or village in New England ex- 
 cept to populous places near Boston, 
 so that these New England communi- 
 ties moved along at about the same 
 pace as they did at the beginning of 
 the century, and not until railroads 
 became the common carriers of the 
 country, and the electric telegraph, 
 that swift motor of intelligence and 
 business communication was in opera- 
 tion throughout the length and 
 breadth of the land, did enterprise and 
 push provide the daily newspaper, and 
 put it within reach of the people in 
 the most isolated village, and furnish 
 to every community at least, one mail 
 per day, if not more, and brought into 
 use a thousand and one things for the 
 convenience and comfort of the people. 
 All of these inventions and improve- 
 ments have come about within the last 
 60 years in the business experience of 
 many now living. 
 
 As evidence of the steady growth of 
 business enterprise during the first 
 quarter of the century, the efforts of 
 inland towns to secure better trans- 
 portation facilities with commercial 
 centers on the coast, led to the build- 
 
 29 
 
ing of canals along the courses of riv- 
 ers and throug-h populous places, so 
 that the farmer and manufacturer 
 could transport their products more 
 cheaply and regularly, and the mer- 
 chant get his store supplies at less 
 cost. Outside of New England at this 
 time, this mode of transportation was 
 in successful operation, and was an 
 important factor in the internal com- 
 merce of the country, and projects for 
 this purpose at this period were start- 
 ed in some places of New England, 
 and we find the first canal in the 
 course of construction was the Mid- 
 dlesex canal, starting from Pawtucket 
 Falls on the Merrimac river, a short 
 distance above where the city of Low- 
 ell now stands, and ending at tidewa- 
 ter in Charlestown. This enterprise 
 had its beginning as early as 1793, and 
 its charter was signed by Governor 
 John Hancock, but it did not get into 
 operation until 1803 — some 15 years 
 before the great enterprise of building 
 Lowell was begun, which was not then 
 to be found on the map of the com- 
 monwealth, as the territory was a part 
 of the old town of Chelmsford. This 
 canal was in successful operation un- 
 til 1843, when through the success of 
 the Boston & Lowell railroad as a 
 competitor, it ceased to do any busi- 
 ness. For a time it was a paying con- 
 cern, and was no doubt the chief in- 
 fluence that located the present great 
 manufacturing city of Lowell. This 
 canal transported both freight and 
 passengers, and in conjunction with 
 smaller boats, then run on the river 
 above the falls as far as Concord, N. 
 
H., transporting freight to that place 
 and to intermediate places, and prov- 
 ing a valuable help to people living 
 along the line of the river. Another 
 canal, nearer to Fitchburg was built 
 in the third decade of the century, 
 from Providence, R. L, to Worcester, 
 known as the Blackstone canal, going 
 through the valley of the Blackstone 
 river, from which it was named. This 
 project was first suggested in Provi- 
 dence in 1796, but did not then mate- 
 rialize, because the Massachusetts 
 legislature refused to grant a charter, 
 but in 1822, a meeting was held in 
 Worcester to consider the canal mat- 
 ter, composed of some of its most 
 eminent and wealthy citizens. The re- 
 sult of this and subsequent gatherings 
 was, that i 1825 a corporation was 
 formed, and the subscriptions to its 
 stock exceeded three times the amount 
 called for, it being $400,000, and the 
 work of construction was at once be- 
 gun, and w^as completed in 1828, and 
 the first boat to arrive in Worcester 
 was in October of that year, and was 
 moored in the basin at the foot of 
 Central street, where it was advertised 
 to take passengers for Milbury the 
 next morning, returning in the even- 
 ing, and would remain in the town 
 during the week for the accommoda- 
 tion of parties. This indicates that the 
 boat must have been more than an 
 ordinary affair, and was built for pas- 
 senger service as well as for freight. 
 
 The town of Worcester at this peri- 
 od had about 3000 population, and was 
 by far the largest place in the county, 
 and besides being the county seat 
 
where all the courts of the county 
 were held, it was the chief commercial 
 and political center of the county, and 
 all the country round about did their 
 trading- there. The merchants of Bos- 
 ton were considerably disturbed over 
 the success of this canal, from fear of 
 the trade of Worcester and this section 
 of the state being diverted to Provi- 
 dence, then a port of some importance, 
 so they began to urge the advisability 
 of building a railroad to Worcester 
 from Boston, as the matter of railroad 
 construction was then agitating the 
 minds of business men in various parts 
 of the country, and a line in New Jer- 
 sey had already been completed and 
 successfully run. So through this ag- 
 itation of Boston merchants, Boston 
 capital built the Boston & Worcester 
 railroad, and the first train of cars ran 
 into Worcester from Boston in 1835. 
 This of course was an important event 
 to Worcester, and to the heart of the 
 commonwealth, but the canal contin- 
 ued to run its boats for 12 years after 
 the opening of this railroad, and only 
 when the Providence & Worcester 
 railroad opened up its line throug-h the 
 Blackstone valley to Worcester, and 
 purchased the rights and property of 
 the canal company, did it cease opera- 
 tions and go out of business, which 
 was in 1847. This was practically the 
 end of canal transportation and con- 
 struction in this commonwealth. This 
 canal in its 19 years of service was a 
 great help to Worcester, and did much 
 for its prosperity, but the era of stage 
 coaches and canals as common carri- 
 
 32 
 
ers in New England had passed, and 
 railroads were fast taking their place. 
 I remember seeing boats passing and 
 repassing in this canal when on a visit 
 to a town on its line in 1838 or '39, and 
 in passing over the railroad from 
 Worcester to Providence at the present 
 day, sections of this abandoned canal 
 can be seen from the car window. It 
 may be interesting here to recall to 
 mind the census of 1820, wherein the 
 population of a few of the towns in 
 this vicinity are given. Worcester at 
 this time had 2960, Fitchburg 1736, 
 Leominster 1790 (leading Fitchburg 
 54), Lunenburg 1209, Westminster 1634, 
 Ashburnham 1402 — these figures show 
 comparatively little difference in the 
 numbers of population in these towns, 
 and I venture to say, while I have not 
 before me this census report for the 
 whole state, it will be found on ex- 
 amination that the same relative dif- 
 ferences existed between the other 
 towns in the state as appears between 
 the towns here named, and no sign 
 had yet appeared indicating any radi- 
 cal change in their future position. 
 The decade from 1820 to '30 began to 
 show some advancement, and the cen- 
 sus of 1830 showed a large increase in 
 Worcester's population, and in the 
 next two decades trebled its numbers. 
 Fitchburg in the same space of time 
 more than doubled its inhabitants, and 
 largely increased its material prosper- 
 ity, and Leominster in the same period 
 made a large increase. The other towns 
 in the list, with the exception of Lu- 
 nenburg, which shows a loss, made a 
 steady gain through these three de- 
 
 33 
 
cades. The introduction of the canal 
 into Worcester was the beginning of 
 its great advaaice, and the coming of 
 the railroad in the next decade brought 
 with it large increase in wealth and 
 prosperity, as shown in the census re- 
 turns of the next three decades, so it 
 was in Fitchburg and Leominster in 
 the next decade, when the railroad put 
 in an appearance in 1845, bringing 
 along with it new life and energy and 
 laying the foundation of their future 
 great growth in wealth and population. 
 The marvelous discoveries and inven- 
 tions brought to light in this, the sec- 
 ond quarter of the century, were open- 
 ing up at this time their wonders to the 
 astonished gaze of mankind, and the 
 dawn of a new era in business possibil- 
 ities and methods was at hand, and the 
 old was passing away. Steam was rev- 
 olutionizing the old world as well as 
 the new, and railroads and steamships 
 were rapidly becoming the carriers on 
 land and sea, and the great progress 
 of later times had its starting point 
 within this period of the 19th century. 
 New England towns before the era 
 of railroads were quite local in their 
 affairs, and through lack of frequent 
 communication with their neighbors, 
 had little in common with them in do- 
 mestic affairs and in general business. 
 The government was then, as now, the 
 town meeting, and was of New Eng- 
 land origin, and came down from Co- 
 lonial times, and is peculiar to New 
 England, as it nowhere else then ex- 
 isted in this country. It is recognized 
 as the most Democratic government 
 ever instituted, and is the pride of 
 
 34 
 
every New Englander wherever he 
 may be found. In town meeting, every 
 citizen duly qualified by law, stands 
 on an equality with every other citi- 
 zen, and possesses the right to take 
 part in all legislation, holding the 
 ballot in hand to control the same, in 
 fact, as often said, a "government of 
 the people, for the people, by the peo- 
 ple." At this time these little democ- 
 racies were controlled by the farmers, 
 who were in a large majority in the 
 commonwealth and ruled that, as well 
 as the town. As a class they were fru- 
 gal and industrious, and found little 
 time to devote to other matters, and 
 through necessity practiced the strict- 
 est economy, bringing up their families 
 in the same way. They had but few 
 holidays for rest and recreation. May 
 training would attract them if planting 
 was finished, they celebrated the 4th 
 of July if haying was not urgent, and 
 went to the fall militia muster, if their 
 crops were abundant and the year gave 
 good returns; and later, when cattle 
 shows became an established institu- 
 tion and attracted the interest and at- 
 tention of the farmer, they generally 
 went to them. These days gave about 
 the only chance of the young men and 
 maidens to get away from the drudg- 
 ery of the farm and other occupations. 
 That old time festival. Thanksgiving 
 day, should not be forgotten. Coming 
 down from the early Colonial period, 
 time honored, and of New England ori- 
 gin, when our forefathers and mothers 
 gathered in the old home with their 
 usually large families and family con- 
 nections for the annual reunion around 
 
 35 
 
the family altar and fireside. This was 
 an important occasion in all the homes 
 of New Eng-Iand, and is remembered 
 as the most interesting and sacred 
 event of our youthful days. Today it 
 is recognized and kept throughout our 
 entire land in response to the national 
 proclamation issued from Washington. 
 Another day, not recognized in the 
 early days of New England, as of any 
 special importance, but at the present 
 time fast becoming the chief holiday 
 and festive season of the year in all 
 our communities, that day kept in 
 commemoration of the birth of the 
 Saviour of Mankind, Christmas day, 
 recognized all over the Christian world 
 as such. While this day has been sa- 
 credly kept by the Christian church in 
 all its varied branches in the Old 
 "World, from the beginning of the 
 Christian era down to the present time, 
 it found no recognition in the old Puri- 
 tan church of New England, from ics 
 start at Plymouth Rock, down to late 
 in the 19th century. In the olden time, 
 this day went by unnoticed, and the 
 goodly people of New England had no 
 opportunity for its celebration. All I 
 knew about Christmas day in my 
 youth was found in the calendar of 
 December in old Robert B. Thomas' 
 almanac, that the 25th day of that 
 month was Christmas, and I am in- 
 clined to think that this is about all 
 that was then known about it by the 
 public generally. In this age of intelli- 
 gence and more general knowledge, 
 the great mass of the community of all 
 classes of belief appear to be coming 
 together to join in its celebration, as 
 
 36 
 
the great festival of the year, and the 
 descendants of the old church of our 
 fathers are fast falling into line in its 
 due recognition. This whole matter 
 goes to show the liberal and broaden- 
 ing tendencies of the age in which we 
 live, and its good influences over soci- 
 ety at large. 
 
 There were no wealthy men in those 
 days in the towns, as measured by the 
 standard of this age, and the little pos- 
 sessed was pretty evenly distributed 
 among the people. To be counted worth 
 ten thousand dollars constituted a rich 
 man in the estimation of his neighbors, 
 and but few could be found. No bonds 
 or stocks found a lodgment in any of 
 the country homes. Savings banks 
 were few and far between in the coun- 
 try districts. The little money saved 
 for investment found ample opportuni- 
 ty in mortgages on a neighbor's house 
 or farm, and the demand for this pur- 
 pose exceeded the supply. There was 
 no leisure class, without apparent oc- 
 cupation in these rural villages. Ev- 
 eryone, old and young, had to work on 
 the farm or at some trade, but few va- 
 cation days were known and allowed, 
 and children were early put to work, 
 and brought up in the way that their 
 parents had been before them, and not 
 until greater prosperity and intelli- 
 gence created an enlarged public sen- 
 timent and a higher standard in the 
 community, did much improvement 
 take place in the condition of the 
 people. 
 
 "While agricultural pursuits were the 
 chief business of the town, other oc- 
 cupations found a place in the needs of 
 
 37 
 
the community, such as blacksmiths, 
 carriage and harness makers, carpen- 
 ters, and masons, brick masons, paint- 
 ers, shoe makers, and other artisans 
 needed in the local business wants of 
 the community, as none from outside 
 were expected to do that which could 
 be done by home workmen. 
 
 The country store was an import- 
 ant element in the business needs of 
 the place, and was the commercial 
 center of trade. The merchant behind 
 his counter was an important factor in 
 the village life, and he knew all the 
 people. His stock in trade usually con- 
 sisted of about everything required Lo 
 supply the local demand. GHne Mild «** 
 The facilities for getting to Boston or 
 other large trade centers, was not as 
 good as it is now, so the people were 
 obliged to do their trading in the home 
 store, and the merchant kept the busi- 
 ness, but it sometimes happened that 
 some enterprising fellow would drop 
 into town, and discover a good open- 
 ing for trade. The result would be the 
 starting of another store in opposition 
 to the old store, and competition would 
 be sharp, and the people would profit 
 by it for a while at least. The stocks 
 of merchandise in these old time 
 stores were of a general and miscella- 
 neous assortment, like that found in 
 the back country stores of the present 
 time. Everything needed in the home 
 or on the farm was kept for sale, and 
 frequently large stocks were carried to 
 supply the local demand. One kind of 
 merchandise not found in country 
 stores today, was found in stock, in the 
 shape of spirituous liquors on tap, by 
 
 38 
 
the glass, or by the pint, quart or gal- 
 lon, as the customer desired, but pub- 
 lic sentiment has driven out the sale 
 of this class of goods from the village 
 store, and the community is relieved 
 from this disagreeable feature of their 
 local trade. The credit system was 
 the prevailing custom of trade, and 
 long credits were given in almost 
 every branch of trade. The limited 
 circulation of money among the people 
 and the small wages earned, compelled 
 it. This mode of business in- 
 creased the cost of the goods pur- 
 chased, as the interest at both ends of 
 the transaction, was finally paid by the 
 consumer. This was the country store 
 and its mode of business in the first 
 half of the century. 
 
 Another institution holding an im- 
 portant place in the town was the 
 old country tavern. Who of us that 
 does not remember the tavern in our 
 native village, in the days when the 
 stage coach held the fort, and the rail- 
 road was not in it, — stately and capa- 
 cious in appearance, with an acre of 
 barns in the rear, — holding the most 
 eligible site in town, with its swinging 
 sign in front, to attract the traveller. 
 The grand center around which every- 
 thing appeared to revolve. The land- 
 lord was an important person, a lead- 
 ing citizen of the town; smiling on all 
 occasions and when the stage coach 
 drove up to his door, or other guests 
 made their appearance, he would in 
 the most polite manner be on hand to 
 welcome them, and escort them into 
 the house — none could perform this 
 agreeable function better than he. He 
 
 39 
 
was often at the head of the board of 
 selectmen, a justice of the petice, colo- 
 nel or captain in the militia, — and 
 sometimes a representative to the gen- 
 eral court, and occasionally the town'js 
 postmaster. He knew everybody in 
 town, young- and old, and was at all 
 times ready to give information and 
 advice on all matters relating to town 
 affairs, or about the inhaoitants, — in 
 short, he was looked upon as the chief 
 oracle of the community. His house 
 was not only the resort of travelers 
 and strangers, but was the social and 
 political center of the village. There 
 the patriotic citizens came to talk over 
 town affairs, and discuss the current 
 political questions of the day, and hold 
 caucuses and arrange for elections and 
 town meetings, and in the long winter 
 evenings sit around the blazing fire of 
 the barroom, and talk over events and 
 occurrences of the day, and doubtless 
 take something to keep themselves in 
 a social state of mind. And then as a 
 part of the social functions of the 
 house, the young men and maidens of 
 the village would come together for a 
 dance, and older people would occa- 
 sionally gather together to renew the 
 scenes of their young days in an old 
 time dance, and then on all public oc- 
 casions in town, the people and their 
 friends would make the tavern their 
 headquarters; in fact, it was the chief 
 public place of the town. This institu- 
 tion came down from the olden time, 
 and was coincident with the settlement 
 of the country, and was in its most 
 popular andp rosperous period found 
 in every town and village, along the 
 
 40 
 
great routes of transportation. Filled 
 nightly with travelers, and when later, 
 In the progress of the age, the ancient 
 stage coach of our fathers, as a pub- 
 lic conveyance on the highways of the 
 country gave way before the railway 
 train, these time honored inns began 
 to lose their prestige as houses of pub- 
 lic entertainment, and the stately 
 mansions of once generous and pros- 
 perous landlords, in village and by 
 roadside, where thousands in years 
 gone by, came to find hearty greeting 
 and cheer, are now deserted and in 
 ruins, or perhaps giving shelter to a 
 different class of tenants. In its 
 stead, we have that modern establish- 
 ment, the hotel. 
 
 Another item in the make-up of the 
 country village in the boyhood days of 
 some of us, was the volunteer fire 
 company and the machine with which 
 we used to run. The old time fire 
 company of the 40s and 50s. was a 
 pretty active and vigorous institution, 
 and was an important factor in the life 
 of the town, and its young men found 
 an opportunity to exercise their mus- 
 cles and test their endurance, without 
 forming athletic clubs. No such an 
 organization as a fire company existed 
 in any of the towns and villages of 
 New England in the first quarter of 
 the century. The first organized com- 
 pany to fight fire, was men with buck- 
 ets known in some places as the 
 "bucket brigade." Each man provided 
 a bucket for himself, to be kept solely 
 for fire purposes, in a convenient place, 
 so that on an alarm of fire, he could 
 quickly get the bucket to the fire, and 
 
when there, the company would form 
 a line to the nearest supply of water 
 and then pass the filled buckets along 
 to be thrown on to the fire. If they 
 reached the fire early they might check 
 it, but if late, their work was ineffect- 
 ual, but they could be serviceable in 
 protecting exposed property. In case 
 a member failed to appear with his 
 bucket promptly he was subject to a 
 fine. When machines were invented to 
 force the water on to a fire, then the 
 bucket company was useful in filling 
 the machine. I remember seeing one 
 of these buckets hung up in my homo 
 with my father's name on it, so I 
 think he was a member of one of these 
 companies. Sometime in the 30s a ma- 
 chine made its appearance to force the 
 water, but did not draw it, worked by 
 two long handle cranks. One of these 
 was purchased by my town, and as I 
 remember, was a hard thing to operate 
 and soon would exhaust the strength 
 of its workers, and it was not long be- 
 fore the authorities failed to get any 
 company to work it. It was reported 
 that a number of towns purchased 
 them, but they proved practically 
 worthless and were cast aside. Later 
 the large towns and manufacturing 
 villages began to organize fire com- 
 panies and purchase machines of more 
 modern design, such as are now found 
 in many places, the hand brake suction 
 machine, familiar to everybody in 
 these days. In many cities and towns 
 they are practically laid aside for the 
 steam fire engine and chemical ma- 
 chine with their regular paid firemen 
 in place of the volunteer companies. 
 
 42 
 
Excepting in small towns, the volun- 
 teer fire department has been super- 
 seded by regular paid departments. 
 Who of us that does not remember the 
 old fire company and hand brake tub 
 in the days of its supremacy in fire 
 fighting, when much rivalry existed to 
 see which company would get the first 
 water on to the fire, and which could 
 throw the water the farthest, and then 
 firemen's musters were all the go. 
 These of course had to be attended, 
 taking along all the muscle that could 
 be worked up by frequent drilling, to 
 get the prize offered, and come off vic- 
 tor, and take home the trophy, under 
 flying colors, to the great satisfaction 
 of the towns' folk. I am told that the 
 old town of Fitchburg in those days 
 was not far behind in this business, 
 that she had some lively companies, 
 made up from live young men of the 
 town, and that they were generally on 
 hand on these occasions, and that the 
 good name of the town did not suffer 
 from their lack of push and go ahead. 
 
 I remember my experience in some 
 of this business, and that the company 
 I run with, attended a muster held in 
 Worcester somewhere about 1855 or 6. 
 It was a great affair, and a large 
 number of companies from all parts of 
 New England were present, and no 
 doubt Fitchburg w^as represented 
 there, and that some here may remem- 
 ber it, but it was a big time, and thou- 
 sands put in an appearance. My com- 
 pany went on with their machine, 
 headed by a band of music, confident 
 of our ability to get pretty near the 
 head, if not at the top, after much 
 
 43 
 
drilling and practice, but fate was 
 against us. After exhausting all the 
 wind that was in us, at the moment 
 when victory appeared to perch on our 
 banner, our hose burst, and our game 
 was up, so we went home consoling 
 ourselves that we did mighty good 
 work, but rotten hose spoiled the game, 
 and the prize was not ours, and the 
 good people of our town, or some of 
 them, doubtless thought they had a 
 pretty smart company, but this expe- 
 rience was enough for me, and my de- 
 sire to train in fire companies and go 
 to firemen's musters was quenched, 
 and I retired from that service. But 
 the musters are still held, notwith- 
 standing the old tub has gone by as a 
 servant of fire extinguishers, it still 
 finds occupancy in some sections as 
 prize winners at musters of firemen, 
 or in the attempt to do so, but other- 
 wise its days of usefulness have de- 
 parted with its volunteer company. 
 
 Another matter of the olden times, 
 then of som-e importance, should not be 
 passed by. Who of us, men of three 
 score and ten years, that does not re- 
 member the militia training days of his 
 boyhood, when the fife and drum awak- 
 ened in him the desire to become a 
 soldier, and the stalwart militia com- 
 pany of his town marched in battle ar- 
 raj'' by his home? This was in times 
 when~compulsory military service was 
 required of every able-bodied man 
 from 18 to 45 years of age, unless ex- 
 empt through legal disabilities from 
 such service, a day was set apart by 
 law, when this service should be per- 
 formed, known for many years as an- 
 
nual training day, which was the last 
 Wednesday in May. On this day, un- 
 less legally relieved, after being duly 
 warned, the soldier was obliged to 
 appear for drill and inspection, and if 
 he failed to put in an appearance, was 
 liable to a fine or imprisonment. He 
 must appear fully equipped, according 
 to law, and when on parade must pass 
 the inspection of his equipments, to as- 
 certain if he was ready at a moment's 
 call for duty. His gun required careful 
 examination, and its flint lock,and flint, 
 was especially investigated, to be sure 
 of its perfect condition. Percussion 
 caps had not then been invented, so the 
 flint was the only thing known to pro- 
 duce the necessary spark required to 
 discharge the gun. After some drill- 
 ing in the manual of arms, and in 
 marching, his duty for the day was 
 done, and he went home thinking over 
 in his mind what a farce this whole 
 business of militia training was, to 
 compel a citizen of this free country to 
 do military duty in the time of pro- 
 found peace; to his mind, it was un- 
 necessary and wrong. This was the 
 very general opinion of those obliged to 
 perform this duty, and they, all over 
 the state determined to get rid of this 
 law, which for many years had been on 
 the statute books of the state, and af- 
 ter much effort and considerable de- 
 lay, the law requiring military train- 
 ing was repealed. 
 
 When I reached my 18th year, and 
 was liable to perform military service, 
 the law had just been done away with, 
 so that I escaped being obliged to 
 train in the militia, but the military 
 
spirit of the old Bay State still held 
 good, and volunteer companies, finely 
 uniformed and equipped, chartered by 
 the state, were in existence throughout 
 the state, and were recognized and 
 maintained as the regular militia force 
 of the commonwealth, subject to its 
 laws and control, and each soldier was 
 allowed a small stipend for each day's 
 duty performed as required by law. 
 This was the policy of the state con- 
 cerning the militia, under its various 
 conditions, until the Civil War, but the 
 citizen soldiers of these earlier times 
 were not so generously provided for as 
 those of the present age. They were 
 obliged to provide their uniforms and 
 other equipments, with the exception 
 of the arms (which were allowed by 
 the government) and to supply their 
 own armories, unless the city or town 
 where located did it, and the military 
 discipline exercised then was not up to 
 the present standard; but with these 
 drawbacks, the militia force of the 
 commonwealth,made up of its stalwart 
 sons, as it was, maintained its dignity 
 and honor, and was second to none in 
 the country. 
 
 Another event of considerable im- 
 portance, and far reaching in its ef- 
 fects, had an existence in the first half 
 of the century that brought to thou- 
 sands of honest and misguided people 
 in New England and outside, much 
 trouble and despair, destroying tho 
 peace and quietude of many Christian 
 homes, and carried ruin and poverty 
 to large numbers of well to do people. 
 This was the Millerite delusion, in the 
 decade from 1833 to 1843. One William 
 
 46 
 
Miller, a native of this state, but re- 
 siding somewhere in New York state, 
 a farmer, and a religious enthusiast, 
 had made the Bible his study for many- 
 years, and had become thoroughly 
 conversant with every part of it, es- 
 pecially the prophecies of the Old and 
 New Testaments; of every chapter re- 
 lating to the second coming of Christ. 
 He became thoroughly convinced that 
 that important event was at hand, and 
 the world was about to come to an end, 
 and the promised millenium was near. 
 About this time he began to publish 
 and send abroad in pamphlets and in 
 the press, his convictions; and the evi- 
 dence therefor. He predicted that in 
 the year of 1843, in the month of July, 
 (I have forgotten the exact day) that 
 this momentous change would take 
 place. He left his farm to go to waste, 
 and traveled over the country during 
 these 10 years, delivering addresses 
 and spreading broadcast his tracts, at- 
 tracting large numbers of people to 
 hear him, creating much interest and 
 excitement wherever he went. He ad- 
 dressed a large meeting in my native 
 place, and through curiosity I went to 
 see and hear him. This was sometime 
 in 1841 or 2. He was then in middle 
 life, of fair personal appearance, but 
 terribly in earnest, and had his sub- 
 ject at his tongue's end; could quote 
 Scripture from one end to the other, 
 and readily answered any questions 
 asked; he had the time of dissolution 
 all figured out, and printed on slips for 
 distribution, showing how* he had 
 arrived at his conclusions, and chapter 
 and verse was given to prove his po- 
 
 47 
 
sition, and this with his very earnest 
 and effective manner of putting it, 
 produced a remarkable effect, and sent 
 many out from his meetings to their 
 homes with fear and trembling. His 
 meetings were large, and thousands 
 were attracted to them. The newspa- 
 pers of the time were everywhere filled 
 with reports of them, and many arti- 
 cles appeared, combating his position, 
 and ministers preached sermons to 
 their congregations, showing the fal- 
 lacy of his theories, and they may 
 have had some effect with the more 
 intelligent, but the fire continued to 
 rage, and multitudes filled his audi- 
 ence rooms everywhere in large cities 
 and towns, and through the rural dis- 
 tricts of the country, and during the 
 last year before the appointed day 
 campmeetings of his followers, gath- 
 ered together in many places, to pray 
 and await the promised coming of 
 their Savior. 
 
 Farms were deserted, no crops were 
 raised on them the year preceding the 
 date of the expected change. Men left 
 their occupations and business affairs 
 and the daily newspaper reported a 
 number of committals to asylums in 
 various parts of the country, persons 
 becoming insane over this terrible deJ'.i 
 sion. A little less than a month before 
 the expected day in 1843, late in the 
 afternoon of the 17th of June, I was 
 returning from Boston, where I had 
 been to the celebration of the comple- 
 tion of Bunker Hill monument, and to 
 hear Daniel* Webster, and see President 
 John Tyler (who was a guest of the 
 Monument association on that occa- 
 
 48 
 
sion), riding on the outside of a stage 
 coach, when passing- along the street 
 near the station of M^ellesley Hills on 
 the Boston & Albany railroad, then 
 known as Grantville station, we ob- 
 served four men carrying along in the 
 direction of the station a n;an, whom 
 we supposed was drunk or in a fit, but 
 inquiry brought out the fact that he 
 was a raving maniac, caused by this 
 Millerite excitement^ and that he was 
 being taken to Worcester insane asy- 
 lum. The morning papers of the next 
 day reported the case. He was repre- 
 sented as a man of about 50 years of 
 age, in good standing and circum- 
 stances, but under the influence of 
 Miller's doctrine, had become hopeless- 
 ly insane. This was only one of 
 the many unfortunates reported, led 
 away from reason and calm judgment. 
 But the near approach of the "last day" 
 as Miller termed it, only increased the 
 excitement, and many substancial citi- 
 zens were affected by it, particularly 
 those of strong religious feelings and 
 emotional temperaments. The few days 
 before the set day, the newspapers 
 were full of reports here and there of 
 the assembled expectants in camps 
 and gatherings, preparing their white 
 robes for ascension. The great inter- 
 est wrought up made the arrival of the 
 day and the night previous of more 
 than usual interest to lookers, and 
 to those not convinced that anything 
 out of the ordinary course of nature 
 was about to happen. I remember 
 this appointed July morning, the sun 
 arose as usual, and the day passed 
 without a sign of a change from the 
 
natural order of things, very much to 
 the relief of those who had become 
 somewhat disturbed over the matter, 
 but the more earnest believers held to 
 their faith, saying that some mistake 
 in the calculations had been made, 
 that the language of the Bible was 
 plain, and must be believed, but it did 
 not come, as expected, and the disap- 
 pointment of the dupes of this religious 
 fanatic was very great, and much suf- 
 fering, mentally and physically, was 
 the result. The loss of home, property 
 and means of subsistence to many hon- 
 est and misguided persons all over the 
 land was a serious matter, and for a 
 long time after, was felt greatly by its 
 unfortunate victims. The newspapers 
 soon after published interviews with 
 some of the prominent believers, whose 
 faith was still firm in the early disso- 
 lution and destruction of all things, 
 but nearly 60 years has come and 
 gone, and no sign has yet appeared in- 
 dicating the near approach of any such 
 an event, and in the course of time 
 nearly all, if not all, of these mis- 
 guided and unfortunate follow^ers of 
 Miller, together with himself, have 
 passed away. It was reported at the 
 time of his death, which occurred some 
 five years after the time he set for the 
 end, that he died, disappointed and un- 
 happy, over the failure of his predic- 
 tions to come to pass. 
 
 This whole unfortunate occurrence 
 goes to show from how small a spark 
 a great fire may be kindled. 
 
 50 
 
REMINISCENCES. 
 
 PART II. 
 
 In writing up the old Puritan church 
 of our forefathers, of their creeds and 
 doctrines and houses of worship, of 
 their customs and practices therein, 
 and of the strict rules and stern disci- 
 pline set up to govern their religious 
 and domestic lives, to learn what 
 manner of men they were, and what 
 they builded, we will go back to its 
 beginning, at Plymouth Rock, nearly 
 three centuries ago, and which existed 
 for nearly two centuries, with few ex- 
 ceptions, as the sole religious organi- 
 zation in New England, and not only 
 was it the dominating religious power 
 through this long period, but it ruled 
 secular affairs with an iron hand. Its 
 founders had left the mother country 
 to found a place where unhindered-, 
 and with perfect freedom, they could, 
 in accordance with the dictates of 
 conscience, worship their Divine Crea- 
 tor. For this they had left their kin- 
 dred and childhood homes, and through 
 almost insurmountable trials and dif- 
 ficulties, come to the wilderness of 
 North America, to found a home for 
 themselves, their wives and children. 
 
 ♦Read at a meeting of the Society Nov. 17, 190-2 
 51 
 
In establishing- this first church, these 
 men of Plymouth Rock were of the 
 most radical Orthodox faith, and in 
 creed and doctrine of the straightest 
 sect. No man, not a member of the 
 church, was permitted to take part 
 in the secular matters of the colony, 
 nor was he desired in their community 
 Everyone must be baptized, and prom- 
 ise obedieme to all rules and ordi- 
 nances oi che church. No bishops, 
 prelates or priests were recognized as 
 necessary in their church; none were 
 wanted. They had just fled from their 
 presence in their native land. Their 
 first meetinghouse was of logs, not 
 only as a house of worship, but as a 
 fort for protection against the raids 
 of Indians. Twenty-five years later 
 they erected another meetinghouse, not 
 a church, as that name was repugnant 
 to them. It was of the plainest kind, 
 and the services therein were of the 
 same character. They were governed 
 by ruling elders, who managed all the 
 affairs of the society and colony. The 
 Sabbath, which began at sundown on 
 Saturday evening, terminated at sun- 
 down on Sunday evening. The Sab- 
 bath was a sacred season, no manual 
 labor was done or permitted. Every- 
 one, young and old, were required to 
 go to meeting, and no excuse for non- 
 attendance, short of extreme illness, 
 was accepted. Their hatred of the old 
 Church of England was so strong that 
 in the construction of their houses of 
 worship nothing ornamental or any, 
 thing like the old home church was al- 
 lowed, nor any of the forms of wor- 
 
 52 
 
ship used in that church permitted 
 in any part of their service, they de- 
 claring they wanted none of their 
 Romish practices. This was the first 
 Puritan Orthodox church set up in 
 New England and was substantially 
 in creed and doctrine, the same that 
 existed for two hundred years or 
 more, and was practically the estab- 
 lished church during that period, rec- 
 ognized by law, and supported by gen- 
 eral taxation of all inhabitants, and 
 no other religious organization was in 
 any way recognized. It was, in fact, 
 the ruling power in all matters reli- 
 gious and civil, until this common- 
 wealth in 1820 changed its constitu- 
 tion. 
 
 In the new one, it was declared that 
 no person without their consent, should 
 be taxed to support any church or re> 
 ligious society in this state. Previous 
 to this, under the old charter, the 
 church, parish, and town government 
 were one and the same in all fiscal 
 matters. Every property owner and 
 tax payer, no matter what his reli- 
 gious opinions might be, was obliged 
 to pay the tax for the support of the 
 established church. 
 
 About this period, at the beginning 
 of the century, the Baptists and Meth- 
 odists were organizing churches in va- 
 rious places in New England, and met 
 much opposition from the old church. 
 This opposition increased the feeling 
 against the old establishment, so that 
 these independent congregations, with 
 the aid of the non-church attendants, 
 were able to carry the constitutional 
 
 53 
 
convention in favor of the entire sep- 
 aration of church and state. In the 
 new charter, and from this time down, 
 no such connection has existed in this 
 commonwealth, and later, in any other 
 part of the country. Previous to the 
 Revolution, a few Church of England 
 cong-reg-ations existed in New Eng- 
 land, and in other parts of the land, 
 and continued through the war and 
 after, but in a small and feeble condi- 
 tion. Their very general adherence to 
 the mother country through that 
 struggle, rendered them obnoxious to 
 the patriotic masses of the country, 
 and they became for a while, nearly- 
 extinct. 
 
 The old church now being depend- 
 ent on its adherents for support, and 
 to meet the liberal tendency of the 
 age, were obliged to relax in their dis- 
 cipline and allow more freedom in 
 their church organization. Previous 
 to this, there had been in many of 
 their churches, considerable contention 
 over the doctrine of the Trinity, and 
 the Calvinistic creed of eternal pun- 
 ishment of the wicked. These differ- 
 ences led to a revolt on the part of 
 many strong and influential members 
 of their congregations, and a crisis was 
 imminent in the old church but theCal- 
 vinistic and Evangelical party would 
 not concede any point, as they claimed 
 that these old doctrines constituted 
 the chief corner-stone upon which the 
 church had stood from Plymouth Rock 
 down, and were not to be surrendered 
 or changed; so that the contention in 
 church and out, continued to rage with 
 
 54. 
 
greater force than before, and it was 
 said that the Bible found students who 
 before had not been inclinftd to study 
 it much, and under the excitement 
 produced, were seen, book in hand, 
 discussing chapters and verses relat- 
 ing to the questions at issue. Much 
 interest was awakened over this mat- 
 ter, and muny were more or less euv- 
 lightened about church creeds and 
 doctrines. 
 
 This great controversy finally led 
 to the disruption of many congrega- 
 tions in New England. Many of the 
 protestants against the old standard 
 of faith were men and women of the 
 highest standing in the community, 
 and well-known and prominent in af- 
 fairs of town and state, and the clergy 
 were not all of one mind, and were 
 divided on these matters of doctrine. 
 Both parties retained more or less of 
 them. This gave the contention more 
 interest and importance in the com- 
 munity. The government of the 
 church and parish being subject to the 
 majority rule in all matters, enabled 
 the strongest party to retain the 
 church and parish organization, and 
 the meetinghouse and other property 
 of the parish leaving the minority to 
 accept the situation, or go out, as many 
 did. If the lesser number were too 
 small to organize themselves into a 
 separate congregation, they generally 
 remained or went to other denomina- 
 tions then existing in many places. 
 Where the minority was strong in 
 numbers and influence, they formed 
 new congregations, and built them- 
 
 55 
 
selves new houses of worship, retain- 
 ing the old plan and system of church 
 and parish organization such as had 
 existed in the ancient Congregational 
 church of their fathers, so that both 
 parties to the controversy kept intact 
 their old name and and system of 
 government. The only difference 
 known between them, was in their 
 declaration of faith and doctrine. This 
 was the case in a large number of 
 towns and villages in New England, 
 and made the dividing line permanent 
 and distinct, but all this change did 
 not take place in peace and harmony. 
 A recourse to the courts was neces- 
 sary in some instances to determine 
 the rights of the parties concerned, 
 and more than a quarter of a century 
 passed before this matter ceased to be 
 a disturbing factor in the religious and 
 social affairs of many communities. 
 For considerable time after, when the 
 controversy had apparently been set- 
 tled by division, it furnished a sub- 
 ject for conversation and discussion 
 around the domestic fireside, and in 
 shops and public places, and the min- 
 isters in their Sunday sermons con- 
 tinued in many instances to keep alive 
 these discussions by preaching from 
 texts relating to the doctrines in con- 
 tention. I remember as a young lis- 
 tener in my home, hearing this mat- 
 ter talked over quite often. When 
 neighbors came in for an evening call 
 it was sure to come up, as it was 
 doubtless the subject of the pastorhs 
 sermon on the Sunday before. In this 
 way, I learned very much of this great 
 
 56 
 
controversy, from its beginning to its 
 end. 
 
 Theological questions in those days 
 furnished much material for discus- 
 sions at social and neighborhood gath- 
 erings in rural communities, as al- 
 most everybody went to meeting. There 
 was not then so much to talk about, 
 the daily newspaper had not put in an 
 appearance, and daily occurrences did 
 not come to supply subjects for even- 
 ing talk. Town gossip and the Sun- 
 day sermon were the chief topics 
 talked over, and served to keep up an 
 interest in church affairs and in the 
 social doings of the community. 
 
 In these days of daily papers, of 
 steam and electricity, the people find 
 something else to do and talk about. 
 The mighty push of an ambitious 
 populace, the mad rush of railway 
 trains through the villages, and that 
 annihilator of time and space, the tel- 
 egraph, furnishes ample material for 
 thought and attention and make sec- 
 ondary the consideration of church 
 doctrines outside of church con- 
 ventions, as they are not deemed 
 of as much importance as they were 
 in the time of our fathers. A broader 
 and more generous spirit prevails in 
 neighborhoods, and people are less 
 concerned about what their next-door 
 neighbor believes, and to what church 
 he attends, but ready in an intelligent 
 and liberal spirit to grant that which 
 he asks for himself. This is the re- 
 sult of the great progress rapidly 
 developing everywhere for the relief 
 
 57 
 
and benefit of the people, and is u 
 product of this century. 
 
 The ancient meeting houses of our 
 forefathers are yet seen in many places 
 in the land, and appear well pre- 
 served, surmounted by the usual high 
 tower, to be seen far and wide, dignified 
 and impressive, standing, a silent wit- 
 ness of thousands upon thousands, who 
 at onetimeor another,entered their por- 
 tals to worship their Divine Creator. 
 These old houses of worship are se- 
 verely plain outside and in, and are 
 most substantial in appearance, erected. 
 as most of them were, in the ISth cen- 
 tury, but there are a few yet occupied 
 for worship that were built in the 17th 
 century; one in Hingham was built in 
 16S1, two and a quarter centuries ago. 
 and has been continually in use from 
 the date of its erection: it is of the 
 square box style of that remote age.and 
 is surmounted with a bell tower, stand- 
 ing on the apex of its square roof. Its 
 exterior is well preserved, and is most 
 venerable in appearance, and is kept as 
 near as possible the same as when first 
 built. The interior was thoroughly 
 modernized a few years ago; the old 
 pulpit is removed, and the high back 
 square pews are replaced by the mod- 
 ern style, and the seats are cushioned, 
 and floors carpeted, where once none 
 of these comforts were found. It is a 
 very ancient structure, and is well wor- 
 thy of a visit. But few, if any of this 
 peculiar design will be found in New 
 England. The Old South church in 
 Boston, built in 1730, is well known to 
 everybody who goes to the city, also the 
 old North church and King's chapel, 
 
built some time previous to the Revo- 
 lution. In fact, Boston is rich in these 
 ancient meeting houses. Newburyport 
 has a number, and all over Massachu- 
 setts they will be found, their high 
 steeples rising above everything else, 
 being seen from far out into the coun- 
 try*. These old sanctuaries mostly built 
 in the 18th century are of the same gen- 
 eral style of architecture, and those 
 built in the first years of the 19th cen- 
 tury follow the same general design: 
 none of this type are built in these 
 days. These old structures in most 
 cases '•etain their original exterior de- 
 sign as first built, and are in remarka- 
 bly good condition, showing how thor- 
 oughly they were built, and how well 
 they have withstood the storms and 
 blasts of a century, more or less, and 
 how well they have been cared for by 
 successive generations, who have oc- 
 cupied them in their time. "While the 
 exteriors are preserved, the interiors in 
 nearly every one — to meet the demand 
 of later times — have been greatly 
 changed. The old high pulpit and 
 sounding board suspended over it, are 
 gone, the high back square pews with 
 doors and seats on hinges to raise or 
 drop, are removed. The modem ros- 
 trum or def»k has taken the place of the 
 pulpit, and the low back pews without 
 doors, are in place of the old ones, neat- 
 ly cushioned and carpeted, where be- 
 fore none was ever seen, and in addi- 
 tion, substantial heating apparatus is 
 found, where none was seen in former 
 times. The whole is so changed that 
 the attendant of earlier times, to enter 
 
 59 
 
now, would not recognize his old house 
 of worship. 
 
 A few years ago the opportunity 
 came to me, officially, to inspect the 
 public buildings of this state; the 
 churches were included in the list. 
 Through this, I visited a large majority 
 of them in this commonwealth, and 
 learned their condition, and acquired 
 much information about those of the 
 ancient type, getting up some interest 
 in them, which is not forgotten; this 
 enables me to write more intelligently 
 of them than otherwise. Two very re- 
 markable churches of an early period 
 came under my observation, that also 
 possess some historical interest, that may 
 be worthy of notice here. In December 
 of 1886, I was in Charleston, S. C„ two 
 and one-half months after the terrible 
 earthquake that befell that city.passing 
 through its streets, where buildings on 
 both sides were shattered, and many 
 leveled with the ground. Two very ven- 
 erable structures met my eye, a short 
 distance apart. The first, St. Michael's 
 church, was completed in 1761, and was 
 10 years in process of construction. 
 This old house of worship was badly 
 shaken up, and its condition made it 
 doubtful whether it could be repaired. 
 Its tall tower was in a leaning condi- 
 tion, and was badly fractured through 
 its whole length, and was declared un- 
 safe to remain, but subsequently was 
 righted up and repaired and declared 
 safe. This tower can be seen far out 
 in the surrounding country, and a long 
 distance out to sea. It has been used 
 as a view point and signal tower, from 
 the days of the Revolution. It was 
 
 60 
 
here that the Patriots watched the 
 British fleets as they sailed into the 
 harbor, and it served the same purpose 
 in the War of 1812, and from it, night 
 and day, the Confederates kept a 
 watchful eye out for the Federal forces, 
 that one time or another assailed the 
 sacred precincts of the city. 
 For this, it is held in much veneration 
 for its long- historical record, by the 
 people of that ancient town. The inte- 
 rior shows its age, although well kept 
 and preserved. Its high pulpit, 
 chancel and rail and substantial pews, 
 all denote an edifice of more than ordi- 
 nary character, but its condition as I 
 saw it, from the effects of the earth- 
 quake was terrible, and it is most re- 
 markable that the whole structure did 
 not fall to the ground. As I went 
 through the doorway, over the debris of 
 shattered columns and doors, and 
 climbed in the porch over the uprooted 
 floor timbers into the auditorium, a 
 scene presented itself almost indescrib- 
 able, the floors torn up in all directions, 
 with the great floor timbers thrust 
 up through the floor, standing partially 
 on end, and some of them at least 12 
 inches square of oak, splintered and 
 broken into many shapes, the pews 
 thrown up on end, broken into 
 kindling wood, and covered by the 
 fallen ceiling and overhead finish, 
 and the broken chandeliers and glass 
 of the windows made it almost impos- 
 sible to get far into the church. The 
 walls being of wood and having a very 
 strong frame, stood quite firm through 
 all this havoc, and it is reported that it 
 has been thoroughly repaired and re- 
 
 61 
 
stored, and is said to be complete in 
 every particular, good for another cen- 
 tury. 
 
 The other structure, St. Philip's 
 church, was built in 1838, in place of 
 the original one built in 1681, destroyed 
 by Are. It is the oldest church and 
 parish organization in the South, where 
 continuous services have been held 
 from the first settlement of the country 
 to the present time. This is a hand- 
 some, substantial building, and has a 
 very tall steeple, and is said to be the 
 finest, architecturally, in the world, and 
 through its commanding height and ar- 
 tistic proportions, always attracts the 
 eye of strangers entering the city by 
 land or water. In 1894 the Federal gov- 
 ernment placed a light of great power 
 near its top, reaching far out to sea, en- 
 abling vessels at night to enter the 
 harbor of Charleston. This is known 
 as St. Philip's light, and the old sex- 
 ton of the church, who has occupied 
 that position for more than 50 years, 
 attends to the light and has never 
 failed, rain or shine, to mount the high 
 staircase every evening at sunset, to 
 light the great lamp in its lofty perch. 
 
 When the city was bombarded in the 
 Civil War, the steeples of these 
 churches escaped with slight damage, 
 but the great shake-up of 1886 shat- 
 tered this, rather more than its older 
 neighbor,and it had to be partially taken 
 down for repairs. Since, it has been 
 thoroughly repaired and is no doubt 
 now, as formerly, an elegant and digni- 
 fied house of worship. Both of these 
 venerable structures are associated 
 with the long and eventful history of 
 
 62 
 
the city and state, and are held as pre- 
 cious relics of the past. In the church- 
 yard adjoining St. Philip's are buried 
 some of the most distinguished and em- 
 inent men found in the history of South 
 Carolina, who in their day worshiped 
 in this church. The epitaphs upon the 
 monuments and tablets are very inter- 
 esting reading, and it was with intense 
 interest that I stood over these graves 
 and read the epitaphs of men, whom 
 from boyhood up, I had read and heard 
 about, who had occupied at various 
 times prominent places in the govern- 
 ment of our country. The first to be 
 seen on entering is that of Charles 
 Cotesworth Pinckney of Revolutionary 
 fame, who in 1796, as commissioner to 
 France, was told by that famous 
 Frenchman, Talleyrand, that prelimi- 
 nary to any negotiations, a gift of 
 money to the French government was 
 necessary, and that a refusal would 
 bring on war. Pinckney is said to have 
 replied, "War be it then, millions for 
 defense, but not one cent for tribute." 
 Near this stands the monument of Rob- 
 ert Y. Hayne of senatorial notoriety, 
 to whom, in reply.Daniel Webster made 
 that ever memorable speech in 1830, in 
 the United States senate in defense of 
 the Union. Another, not far away, is 
 the monument of one who long held 
 high position in the councils of the na- 
 tion, and who is not yet forgotten, John 
 C. Calhoun. It is stated that during 
 the Rebellion, when it became apparent 
 that the Federals might capture the 
 city, his body was exhumed and carried 
 outside the city, for fear that it would 
 be taken up by Union soldiers, but 
 
 63 
 
later, when the danger had passed, it 
 was returned to its original resting 
 place, where it now is. Other men of 
 national reputation rest here, Randolph, 
 Preston and the Gadsdens. Many 
 names are found on its tombstones of 
 political notoriety, who in their day 
 were much heard of, and have a place 
 in political history. In fact, this 
 churchyard contains the remains of as 
 much of South Carolina's chivalry, if 
 not more, than any other in that state. 
 No one going to Charleston should fail 
 to visit these famous churches and this 
 churchyard. 
 
 The old meeting house in my native 
 / town is remembered pretty well, and 
 I have not forgotten how it looked when 
 my mother took me to meeting there, 
 nearly three-quarters of a century ago, 
 the old style pulpit standing on pillars 
 painted white, with an entrance from 
 the side, and the high pews with doors, 
 and the long row of singers in the gal- 
 lery over the porch, with their accom- 
 paniments of bass viols, violins and 
 clarionets, and then I have not forgot- 
 ten being seated on the end seat, my 
 head below the top railing of the pew, 
 and my feet not reaching down to the 
 floor. The only person outside of the 
 pew to be seen was the minister when 
 he arose to begin service, and then to 
 be compelled to sit in an uncushioned 
 seat through the long service of an hour 
 and a half at least, not being allowed 
 to move about, and having been told 
 before leaving home that if I did not 
 behave well, the tithingman, an impor- 
 tant church official of those days, 
 would get hold of me, with this admo- 
 
 64 
 
nition and the keeping an eye out for 
 him, did not to my young mind, pro- 
 mote a favorable desire to go to meet- 
 ing, but this was the fate of the infant 
 class, as they all had to go to meeting 
 as soon as they could walk. 
 
 This house completed in 1822, in style 
 of construction, shows some advance 
 over those of the 18th century, but in 
 general outlines the plan of that period 
 is preserved. Its high and handsome 
 steeple gives the whole a stately ap- 
 pearance. No carpets or cushions were 
 seen in those early days, with the ex- 
 ception, perhaps, of a few wealthy 
 persons who were able to add these 
 comforts to their pews. The floors in 
 the country meeting house of that time 
 were generally bare. In the progress of 
 later times this old home church has 
 been enlarged and modernized in every 
 respect, having every comfort of the 
 modern church of today, and is well 
 cared for and preserved. 
 
 The mode of worship and customs 
 prevailing in the old Puritan meeting 
 houses at the beginning of this cen- 
 tury, and for an indefinite period before, 
 were peculiar and somewhat inter- 
 esting. In early times, it was 
 the practice of the more influential 
 families to go to meeting in a formal 
 and reverential manner, led by the 
 head of the family, followed by all the 
 members of the household, in accord- 
 ance with age, accompanied by guests 
 of the house, followed by the servants, 
 as none were permitted to remain at 
 home, and when in the meeting, the 
 men sitting on one side of the house 
 and the women on the other side on 
 
benches, after the fashion of a Quaker 
 meeting^ house, the deacons sitting in 
 front of the pulpit, on elevated seats 
 prepared for them. Later some of the 
 important and dignified members were 
 permitted to build pews for themselves, 
 that their families might sit together. 
 There were very serious contentions 
 over the matter of seating the meet- 
 ing house, to decide who, through their 
 standing in society, was best entitled 
 to the highest seats, leaving the com- 
 mon people to sit on benches as before, 
 the young folks in the gallery, and the 
 colored people and servants on seats 
 in the galleries or under the stairways 
 prepared for them. This appears to 
 have been the rule and practice govern- 
 ing attendance upon public worship 
 in the ancient meeting houses a century 
 and a half ago, and then it was, that 
 important church official, the tithing- 
 man, became a necessary adjunct to 
 good order and quiet in meeting. That 
 official I remember seeing when I first 
 went to meeting. He was an officer of 
 much dignity and consequence, whose 
 duty it was to see what good order was 
 preserved in meeting, and that the 
 young people in the galleries behaved 
 themselves, and armed with a long i)ole 
 a symbol of his authority, to go about 
 and keep awake those of the congrega- 
 tion inclined to sleep during- the ser- 
 vice. In short, he appears to have been 
 general director and regulator in meet- 
 ing, and besides he was to see that the 
 people came regularly to meeting, and 
 did not labor or travel on the Lord's 
 Day. 
 
 In these days no instrumental music 
 
 66 
 
was permitted to enter into the ser- 
 vice, nor was there any organized 
 choir or body of singers in any of 
 these houses of worship down to this 
 century, and in many much later. In-^ 
 strumental or vocal music as a sci- 
 ence was not taught in New England 
 towns in these early days, so that in 
 congregations few could sing by note 
 or otherwise. Very little singing or" 
 music of any kind, — and that of very 
 unmusical sort, — had any part in the 
 services. In its absence, the minister 
 would read a psalm or hymn, then 
 the deacon, whose seat was elevated 
 above the congregation, would line it 
 by repeating, and so on through all 
 the lines. When it so happened that 
 a few could sing, then the same offi- 
 cer would pitch the tune, after which 
 the minister would read a chapter in 
 the Bible and expound its meaning, 
 then the usual prayer, all standing, 
 of considerable length. Sometimes an 
 hour was consumed in this petition, 
 and then the sermon divided into a 
 number of heads, from firstly to 
 tenthly, taking an hour and a half, 
 and on important occasions two 
 hours for delivery; then after an in- 
 termission of an hour or more, the 
 afternoon service would take place, 
 of about the same length as the morn- 
 ing service, so the day must have 
 been well consumed in prayers and 
 sermons. Consider the short winter \ 
 days, with no fire to warm the meet- 
 inghouse, and many of the attend- 
 ants living some distance away, com- 
 ing to meeting on cold Sunday morn- 
 
ings with no place to warm them- 
 selves in, must have tried their faith 
 severely, but they came just the same, 
 old and young, as they were all ex- 
 pected to put in an appearance, and 
 if they were not there, the minister 
 or deacon would give them a call to 
 learn the cause of non-attendance. It 
 is quite difficult to believe that gen- 
 erations of people, for two centuries 
 at least, in New England, attended 
 divine worship in buildings without 
 artificial heat in them, during the 
 long winters in this severe climate, 
 but it is nevertheless a fact, and 
 there are those living who remem- 
 ber this through experience. No heat- 
 ing apparatus of any description was 
 put into any meetinghouse in this 
 state, with the exception of Boston 
 and its near vicinity, as far as known, 
 until two decades in this century had 
 passed, as was the case in the old 
 meetinghouse here in Fitchburg, and 
 in the meetinghouse in Ashburnham. 
 In my native town the meeting- 
 house was not provided with any ar- 
 tificial heat for twelve years after its 
 erection, and I have not forgotten 
 carrying my mother's footstove to 
 keep her feet warm during that 
 period. I can hardly conceive how it 
 was possible without great danger 
 to health, and it would not be endured 
 now, nor would it be permitted, but it 
 is not yet three score years since this 
 condition existed in meetinghouses in 
 this commonwealth, and when the 
 movement was begun in many places 
 to introduce artificial heat into their 
 
houses of worship, it met with much 
 opposition, as was the case in Ash- 
 burnham. Tn my town the opposition 
 prevented for some time its introduc- 
 tion. This came from a few radical, 
 orthodox members, whose objections 
 Avere that it would make the air in the 
 room bad, and unhealthy, and as their 
 fathers and mothers had got along 
 without it they saw no reason why 
 they could not get along without it 
 in the same way, but the needed heat 
 got there at last, and I remember see- 
 ing the stoves put in. They were large, 
 box stoves to burn wood, and were lo- 
 cated in the porch, with long strings 
 of funnel running through the audi- 
 torium. They warmed the church very 
 well for a number of years, and later 
 hot air furnaces were substituted. It 
 is a fact that on the first Sunday after 
 the stoves were in place that one of 
 the chief opponents went out of meet- 
 ing during the service. He was asked 
 why he went out; he replied that his 
 head ached severely, that he mu»t 
 go out to get some fresh air. He said 
 it was just as he had predicted, the 
 air in the room was very bad, all in 
 consequence of the heat from the 
 stoves. But it so happened that this 
 October day was unusually warm, and 
 no fire was needed, and none had 
 been built; if the air was bad it could 
 not have come from the stoves and 
 could not be charged to them. Evi- 
 dently this complainant's opposition 
 to the heating of the meetinghouse 
 had so worked on his imagination that 
 his physical health was affected more 
 
 69 
 
or less by the thought of this infrac- 
 tion upon the sanctity of God's house. 
 The fact was that any innovation or 
 change proposed in the customs or 
 conditions of the sanctuary, met with 
 much opposition. To propose any 
 measure of relief from the ancient 
 practices of their fathers was sacri- 
 lege to many, and caused much fric- 
 tion in church councils. 
 
 Previous to any movement being 
 made to warm the meetinghouse, mem- 
 bers in some of the parishes who re- 
 sided at a distance from the meeting- 
 house, and who desired to remain for 
 the afternoon service, and who felt the 
 need of some place to warm them- 
 selves and their families, built near 
 the meetinghouse a building, called a 
 noon house, with one or more fire- 
 places in it; the wood needed was 
 brought from the occupants' farms. 
 This afforded them a place to warm 
 themselves and partake of the lunch 
 brought from home, but in places 
 where no provision was made for 
 this purpose, it was the custom of the 
 women and children to go to some 
 near neighbor, or to the minister's 
 house, which was in those days of 
 considerable size, and the men went 
 to the tavern to eat their lunch brought 
 with them, and wash it down with 
 hot flip, prepared by the landlord, and 
 talk over general affairs and news of 
 the day. This was the winter experi- 
 ences of the faithful church attend- 
 ants in rural New England in the first 
 years of the century, and had come 
 down from much earlier times. At 
 
 70 
 
this period the town and the parish 
 were one and the same, and the min- 
 ister had about all the families in 
 town under his care; excepting the 
 few who had broken away from the 
 old establishment, and formed some 
 other church then starting up in some 
 places. He kept good watch over their 
 spiritual condition, and over the gen- 
 eral conduct of the households, and to 
 help him, besides his deacons, the 
 tythingman, who in addition to his 
 duties in the meetinghouse, was to go 
 about in town and see if they kept 
 the Sabbath properly, and went to 
 meeting, and to allow no one to per- 
 foim any labor on the Lord's day, and 
 if any person was seen riding, unless 
 he was going to meeting, it was his 
 duty to stop him and inquire why he 
 was traveling on that day, and if no 
 sufficient excuse was offered, he would 
 be brought into court and either fined 
 or sent to jail. All these old Sunday 
 laws were strictly enforced. No farmer 
 could safely get in his hay, to save it, 
 without danger of prosecution, and no 
 other occupation could be carried on, 
 no matter what the exigency might 
 be, without being in danger of arrest, 
 and not a few were brought up and 
 punished for slight offences on the 
 Lord's day, within my remembrance. 
 These Sunday blue laws, as they were 
 called, were rigidly enforced, although 
 public opinion had set in against their 
 extreme enforcement. In Connecticut 
 it was said that these Sunday laws 
 were more arbitrary than in this 
 state, and existed longer in actual 
 
force, but the opening of the railroads, 
 and the growing progressive spirit of 
 later times, relieved the community 
 from many of these exactions. While 
 some of these old blue laws remain on 
 the statute book of the state, they are 
 practically a dead letter, and with 
 their going out of use the tythingman 
 went with them, and no such officer 
 finds employment in these days. 
 
 I will her relate one of the experi- 
 ences of one of these officers, as he 
 told it in my hearing, some years after 
 its occurrence, with considerable 
 amusement. He said that on one Sun- 
 day, late in the afternoon, from his 
 residence he spied a team of four 
 horses coming up the highway. To 
 do his duty he at once went out, and 
 stopped the team, and demanded of 
 the driver why he was on the high- 
 way on the Lord's day. The teamster 
 replied that he had the day before 
 been below with a load of goods, and 
 on account of the storm that set in 
 he could not return on the same day. 
 As it was near sundown he ventured 
 to start on his way home, as it was 
 quite necessary for him to get there 
 as soon as possible, but his explana- 
 tion did not satisfy this sharp officer, 
 who ordered him to go no farther 
 than the tavern, which was on the 
 road just beyond, and put up his 
 team for the night; this the teamster 
 did. When about to start in the morn- 
 ing, he told the landlord who sent him 
 there, and he supposed he would pay 
 the tavern bill, and then went on his 
 way home. In due time the bill was 
 
 72 
 
presented to the worthy tythingman 
 for payment, and finally he paid it, as 
 he found he had no authority short 
 of the order of the court to contract 
 the bill. He kept this receipted bill 
 for a long time, and used to show it 
 as evidence of his experience as a 
 tythingman. 
 
 In early times the office of deacon 
 was held in great respect and rever- 
 ence, as he stood next to the minister 
 in all church matters. There were 
 then in the old Puritan church two 
 deacons, the oldest taking precedence. 
 They were men of high standing and 
 dignity in the community, and were 
 given prominent seats in the meet- 
 inghouse, but this custom of special 
 seats for the deacons had passed away 
 before my time, as nothing of the kind 
 appeared to me in my going to meet- 
 ing. The senior deacon was expected 
 to aid the minister, to watch over the 
 conduct of members, and see that they 
 attended meeting and that their chil- 
 dren in their homes were properly in- 
 structed in the Catechism and Gospel 
 Primer, and that all infants without 
 delay be brought to the minister for 
 baptism, and if any failed to comply 
 with this rule of the church to report 
 it to the minister. It will be seen the 
 spiritual well-being of the community 
 was pretty well looked after and 
 guarded in the early days of some of 
 us, and probably in generations be- 
 fore our time. 
 
 The minister, beside his clerical du- 
 ties, was expected to look after the 
 schools; no special superintendent of 
 
schools was employed in those days. 
 He was very generally chairman of 
 the school committee and practically 
 had charge of the schools. I have not 
 forgotten his coming to our district 
 school in the old school house. When 
 he made his appearance in the door- 
 way we were instructed to rise, and 
 remain standing until he was seated, 
 and we were further told that when- 
 ever we might meet him to take off 
 our caps and make a bow, and the girls 
 were to salute by a curtsey, and it 
 was the custom in school and at home 
 to teach children respect and rever- 
 ence, not only for the minister, but for 
 aged persons. Judging from appear- 
 ances, some of the young people of the 
 present day are not instructed much in 
 this excellent rule, at least, it is not 
 much observed. The good old minister 
 of these bygone days was highly re- 
 spected, and due respect was paid co 
 his calling. He was expected to take 
 a leading part on all special occasions, 
 and an interest in the affairs of the 
 town, and for all his labors in behalf 
 of the community over which he was 
 settled, his annual salary in the towns 
 of New England did not average $500 
 per year, and it was a very rare case 
 where the salary went up to $1000, but 
 it was the custom in some of the towns 
 for the more generous members of his 
 fllock, to aid him by gifts from the 
 products of the farm and otherwise. 
 This was about the limit of salaries 
 paid the clergy in the first 40 years of 
 this century. Comparing the same 
 with the standard of the present time, 
 it appears rather small, and the faith- 
 
 74 
 
ful minister of those days must have 
 had a hard time to make both ends 
 meet, and lay up something for old 
 age, but somehow he got along, and 
 maintained the dignity of his calling, 
 and left a good record where called to 
 labor. 
 
 About the close of the first quarter of 
 the cenutry, greater interest in the 
 music of the church service was felt, 
 and a demand for improvement was 
 everywhere being made. The vocal mu- 
 sic, up to this time, w^as irregular and 
 imperfectly organized and trained; to 
 aid the vocal, instrumental music was 
 introduced. The double bass viol and 
 single bass, the clarionet and violin 
 made their appearance in meeting, and 
 with the somewhat skilled leader of 
 those times, succeeded in improving 
 the musical part, and rendered the 
 services more interesting to the 
 younger portion of the community. But 
 some of the older members did not ap- 
 preciate the change, the instruments 
 were quite objectionable to them, and 
 they met with considerable opposition. 
 Like the opponents of the stoves, while 
 the air in the meeting house was not 
 affected by these instruments, the 
 sanctity of the service was, as they 
 were associated with things not con- 
 genial to the Lord's House. The violin 
 was especially objectionable, as it was 
 used in dancing. These were serious 
 objections to these pious people, and 
 they made a strong fight in many 
 places against their admission, but fi- 
 nally they were admitted. Later the 
 church organ appeared, and gradually 
 found its way into the meeting houses 
 
 75 
 
of the country, superseding the objec- 
 tionable instruments. The large choirs 
 organized, with the aid of instrumental 
 music, made up of the young men and 
 women of the town, whose musical 
 knowledge had been obtained in sing- 
 ing schools, then kept in the villages 
 by itinerant singing masters, who made 
 it their business in the winter months 
 to organize schools in various places, 
 charging a small fee. No vocal or in- 
 strumental music was taught in the 
 public schools, and very few musical 
 instruments, such as pianos and house 
 organs were to be found in any of the 
 homes in our country villages. 
 
 I remember when a lad, the first pi- 
 ano that came to my town, and its ar- 
 rival excited considerable interest and 
 curiosity, and was said to have been 
 brought over from the old country, 
 I have not forgotten sitting under the 
 open windows of the house where it 
 was, on a summer's evening, to hear it 
 played, and how its wonderfully fine 
 music captivated me. 
 
 It was about this period in the thir- 
 ties that music began to interest the 
 people, and from this time on its 
 progress and development in communi- 
 ties was rapid and soon became an im- 
 portant element in the education of the 
 young, and its effect produced a de- 
 mand for higher attainments in church 
 music, and with the introduction of 
 church organs the services in the 
 meeting house were greatly improved 
 and rendered more attractive. It was 
 about this time that full brass bands 
 Avere being organized in many of the 
 larger places. Previous to this the 
 
 re 
 
bugle, clarionet, fife and drum consti- 
 tuted the average band for street mu- 
 sic. In Boston larger organizations of 
 this character had been in existence 
 some time prior to this time. The 
 church organs and regular organized 
 choirs were a part of church service in 
 Europe long before their existence in 
 this country. The people of New Eng- 
 land in these early times moved slowly, 
 and were of a conservative tempera- 
 ment, and economic in their disposi- 
 tion and habits, and through the lack 
 of accumulated wealth in their com- 
 munities, slow progress was made to- 
 ward higher intellectual and social de- 
 velopment, and not until the mighty 
 discoveries and inventions of this par- 
 ticular age began to open up their 
 wonderful powers, did they take on a 
 quicker pace, and a larger conception 
 of the material advance then in prog- 
 ress, that has produced such remarka- 
 ble results in the last 50 years. 
 
 In pursuance of a law of this com- 
 monwealth, three score and 10 years 
 ago, the service in the meeting house 
 was occasionally rendered more in- 
 teresting and attracted considerable 
 attention, at least, from a portion of 
 the congregation, and it may be of 
 interest to the young men and women 
 of today to hear about it. Their fathers 
 and mothers, at least some of them, 
 may remember it from actual experi- 
 ence. A law was in force in this state 
 for very many years before this cen- 
 tury, and for 40 years of this, requir- 
 ing the town or city clerk, before he 
 could grant a certificate permitting 
 marriage, the application of the par- 
 
ties must first be orally published in 
 some public assembly or congreg-ation 
 for three successive weeks. Previous 
 to the issuing of the same, a church 
 congregation was always selected, 
 there to announce the names of the 
 parties and their intentions, so that if 
 any one knew of any objections to the 
 proposed marriage, they could make it 
 known. If no proper objections were 
 filed with the clerk at the end of the 
 three weeks, the clerk could issue the 
 necessary certificate. In this way, it 
 will be seen that getting married in 
 those early times could not legally take 
 place in a private and hasty manner. 
 Our forefathers evidently deemed the 
 matter of matrimony of considerable 
 importance, and that the public had a 
 right beforehand to know about it. 
 This is the rule in the Roman Catholic 
 church at the present time. The mem- 
 bers of the church intending marriage 
 must first be announced from the altar 
 by the priest on three successive Sun- 
 days, before marriage can take place. 
 This, to my mind, is a proper rule, and 
 tends to prevent undesirable and hasty 
 marriage. This requirement subjected 
 the parties to much notoriety and gos- 
 sip, and before the wedding day ar- 
 rived the matter was pretty thorough- 
 ly canvassed. 
 
 I remember in my boyhood, in our 
 meeting house, the town clerk standing 
 in his pew at the close of the service, 
 reading some of these marriage inten- 
 tions, as it was the custom of this ofll- 
 cer to read them, but in some other 
 places, as it was in Pitchburg,the min- 
 ister read them from the pulpit. In this 
 
 78 
 
public way, marriage intentions were 
 published some time before marriage 
 could legally take place. 
 
 Somewhere in the 30s, this law was 
 changed to posting these official notices 
 of marriage in some public place, usu- 
 ally on the church, for three weeks re- 
 quired by the law. The box containing 
 these publishments was a very attrac- 
 tive place on Sundays, and drew large 
 attention. In 1850, this law was re- 
 pealed, since then a certificate can be 
 granted by the city or town clerk, upon 
 application, if the proper fee is forth- 
 coming. 
 
 Another oldtime custom existed In 
 my youthful days, that went out of 
 practice half a century ago. This was 
 tolling the church bell on the death of 
 a person within the limits of the town. 
 In my town, it was the practice, if the 
 death occurred after sunset, to toll the 
 bell at sunrise the next morning, if af- 
 ter sunrise, at sunset of the same day. 
 If the person was a male, three times 
 three was struck, if female, twice three, 
 and their age was tolled out in full, 
 and at the time of their funeral, when 
 the funeral train approached the cem- 
 etery, if near the church, the bell was 
 tolled until the body was deposited in 
 the grave. This custom came down, I 
 suppose, from very early times, and 
 was very generally practiced in the 
 towns of New England up to the mid- 
 dle of this century. 
 
 These miscellaneous obsei^^ations of 
 our forefathers, and their ancient meet- 
 ing houses and customs, made up from 
 old records and personal memory, al- 
 though crude and indefinite, may serve 
 
 79 
 
to recall to the minds of persons of 
 three score and ten years, many of the 
 peculiar customs and beliefs existing 
 in their early life, and of the great 
 change that has taken place in the last 
 half of the century in church condi- 
 tions and affairs. This change is so 
 great that it is difficult to measure its 
 extent and importance in the work of 
 the church at the present time. 
 
 The old time spirit of bigotry and in- 
 tolerance has largely passed away, and 
 a more charitable and generous feeling 
 exists between the various branches 
 of the Christian church in this coun- 
 try, and church creeds and doctrines 
 are less recognized and essential in re- 
 ligious work than formerly, and that 
 the great religious thought and senti- 
 ment of the country is rapidly moving 
 along on a higher and broader plane of 
 Christian duty, and has caught the 
 spirit of the mighty progress now going 
 forward in the present age, and I ven- 
 ture to say, nowhere under the sun, 
 exists a country that has made greater 
 progress toward the uplifting of its 
 people, than in our own beloved land in 
 the century just ended. 
 
 Among the remarkable things that 
 came into existence from the great dis- 
 coveries and inventions of the first half 
 of the century was the successful ap- 
 plication of steam power in propelling 
 sea-going ships. This, in its effect on 
 the commerce of the world, has proved 
 of as much importance (if not more) as 
 the great transportation lines of rail- 
 ways are to business on land. The ap- 
 plication of steam in sailing vessels 
 was begun early in the century; river 
 
 80 
 
boats, small coast-wise vessels and 
 lake boats were successfully run by this 
 power, but not until 1837 or '38 did any 
 ship attempt to cross the ocean. In 
 1836 the Sirios was built in Bristol, 
 England, 170 feet long, 270-horse power, 
 tonnage 700, and her quickest passage 
 was 18 days, 11 hours and 15 minutes. 
 The Great Western, built in 1838 at 
 Bristol, was 212 feet long and 35 feet 
 and 4 inches broad, 1340 tons burden, 
 and had engines of 450-horse power. 
 She sailed from Bristol for New York 
 in that year, and had paddle wheels and 
 regular ship- rig. Subsequently, if I 
 remember rightly, this shop was lost. 
 In 1840 the Cunard Steamship company 
 sailed its first vessel into Boston harbor 
 from Liverpool, the Brittania. She was 
 a paddle boat 207 feet long, 35 feet 
 broad, 450-horse power, tonnage 1155, 
 and consumed 15 days on her first 
 passage. All these vessels were built 
 of wood. Ten years later, the Inman 
 line sent an iron screw steamer, the 
 City of Glasgow, of 1600 tons burden, of 
 350 nominal horse power, to New York 
 from Liverpool, the first ship of this 
 kind to come to this country. No ships 
 of the Cunard line went to New York 
 until 1848. Down to this time no 
 steamship crossed the ocean flying the 
 Stars and Stripes. A short time later 
 the Collins line of American steamships 
 under our flag sailed from New York 
 for Liverpool; some four or five ships 
 composed the line and were, on the av- 
 erage, the fastest vessels afloat, but 
 they lost two of their ships, and the 
 lack of remunerative business com- 
 pelled a suspension, and finally the line 
 
went out of existence. During- this 
 period a few other ships crossed the 
 ocean, but were unsuccessful, and one 
 or two were lost. In this beginning of 
 steamship navigation, in the first 
 decades of this century, like railroad 
 transportation, lacked the confidence 
 and support of the public. Very few 
 people in the first 20 years patronized 
 the steamship and took pleasure trips 
 to the old country, as is now the case. 
 The risk of the trip across the wide 
 ocean, and the rough experience told 
 by those who tried it in the small ships 
 of that time, was a considerable barrier 
 in the way of European travel in 
 steamships of that day, but the last 
 half of the century has so developed the 
 powder and size of the ships, and made 
 so many improvements in the vessels 
 and their fittings, that a trip across 
 the big water is a holiday affair, and 
 taken for pleasure and sight-seeing by 
 thousands of our people every year. 
 The importance of the steamship as a 
 commercial factor is now fully deter- 
 mined, and is seen on all the great wa- 
 ters, and in all the marts of the world, 
 and like that other great agent, the 
 railroad, whose power comes from the 
 same source, and which in the century 
 just ended, was first brought to light 
 and developed, has within this period, 
 revolutionized and enlarged the great 
 commercial interests of nations, and 
 carried civilization and better condi- 
 tions to mankind everywhere in the 
 known world. 
 
 A few reminiscences about steam- 
 ships sailing out of Boston in these 
 early days of the century may not be 
 
 82 
 
uninteresting- here. This winter of 1844 
 was an exceedingly cold season, and 
 the Boston harbor froze up solid, so 
 that an ice embargo fell on all shipping 
 in port, none could go out or come in. 
 This lasted for weeks and was a sore 
 hindrance to the commerce of the port. 
 The Cunard steamship Brittania was 
 one of the vessels frozen in, and 
 as her sailing day approached, Feb. 1, 
 the papers were full of misgivings as 
 to the probable serious delay in send- 
 ing her out to sea, as it looked as if the 
 ice blockade had become complete and 
 threatened to continue. The mer- 
 chants of the city, under Mayor Martin 
 Brimmer, took the matter up and de- 
 cided that the steamer should at once 
 be cut out without expense to the 
 Steamship company, and sent to sea- 
 Two channels were cut, one from East 
 Boston ferry out to open sea, the other 
 from the ferry to India wharf. This 
 work was promptly done, and the ship 
 sailed on Feb. 3, following, a delay of 
 only two days from its date of sailing. 
 It was an event that attracted great 
 interest at the time, and thousands 
 were said to have witnessed the prog- 
 ress of the work, and the sailing of the 
 ship out through the narrow channel 
 prepared for her; and then again in 
 1857, in January, the steamship America 
 was frozen in and a channel had to be 
 cut to enable her to depart. I was 
 in the city at this time and went with 
 the multitude to see the sight. Stand- 
 ing on a wharf in full view of the large 
 number of men employed to cut the 
 channel, and the ship as she passed 
 very slowly out, and seeing the hun- 
 
 83 
 
dreds of people down the harbor on the 
 ice to witness the sailing-, and the large 
 number of teams of all descriptions out 
 there on the ice, was in itself quite a 
 scene, and is not forgotten. The har- 
 bor was frozen solid as far as my eye 
 could reach and was a wintery sig-ht. 
 The weather, I remember, was extreme- 
 ly cold, and no prospect appeared that 
 it was going to let up. Another little 
 incident that occurred later, in 1846, 
 which I remember very well, of a per- 
 sonal nature, may be worth telling-. In 
 June of that year I was stopping- in 
 Boston. On a very pleasant Sunday 
 morning, one of a party of young men 
 with w^hom I was in company, sug- 
 gested that we go over to East Boston 
 and see the Cunard steamship sail. This 
 was g^ladly accepted, and we w^ent over 
 to the island ward to see that which 
 we country boys had not had the chance 
 to see before, a curiosity in those days, 
 as not many of that kind of sailing 
 craft were afloat in this country, or any 
 other. The ship was to have sailed 
 the day before, but a severe easterly 
 storm prevented. We arrived on the 
 wharf about half an hour before the 
 ship sailed. This gave us time to look 
 about and see the ship. I am not quite 
 sure of the name of the vessel, but 
 think it was the Britannia, the first 
 ship of this line to come to Boston, be- 
 fore herein referred to. She w^as a 
 small side wheeler of about 1100 tons, 
 and was about 200 feet in length, and 
 as compared with the Cunard ships of 
 the present day, was a pretty small af- 
 fair, and as I remember her, she might 
 be easily put whole into one of the 
 
 84 
 
present ships of that line. She was 
 full ship rig-g-ed, carrying- full sail, as 
 the confidence in her machinery was 
 not fully established, and she looked 
 very much like the clipper ship of that 
 day in size and rigg-ing, the smoke 
 stack and wheel houses showing- the 
 only difference, was painted white and 
 looked very neat. We were not able 
 to go aboard, as none of our party had 
 any friends going- to sail on her; at 
 that time these regulations were strict. 
 I noticed when the U. S. mail wag-on 
 broug-ht the mail over, that the quan- 
 tity was rather small, only what one 
 small job wagon could bring-. Some dif- 
 ferent from the quantity sent out now 
 on one of the ships of these days. When 
 the ship was about to sail, we all 
 clambered onto as g-ood positions as 
 could be found, so that we mig-ht see 
 her back out and sail down the har- 
 bor. In this I selected a corner pile of 
 the wharf, standing- of course outside 
 of the frame work. On the top of this 
 I seated myself; there was nothing- to 
 hold on to, but it seemed firmly fixed 
 and safe. When the vessel backed out 
 from the wharf into the stream, and in 
 turning- round to head out to sea she 
 fired a cannon,, which then was the 
 practice, and it so happened that in 
 turning-, the g-un was brought into 
 rang-e with the post on which I was 
 sitting-. The effect of the g-un on my 
 post was to g-ive it a g-reat shake, and 
 I very narrowly escaped from having 
 a salt water bath, and perhaps some- 
 thing- more, but I providentially es- 
 caped, a g-ood deal excited, but thank- 
 ful it was no worse. Since then I have 
 
 85 
 
never got up on any post or pile on the 
 outer edge of a wharf, but this Sunday's 
 event is not forgotten and will not be 
 very soon. 
 
 At the beginning of this century, no 
 regular or general system of public 
 instruction prevailed in this common- 
 wealth, and none had existed from 
 colonial times down to this period. 
 This lack of interest in education came 
 from the poor condition of the people, 
 who were groping along in poverty, 
 since the Revolution. Their hard con- 
 dition prevented any proper movement 
 toward this important matter, and it 
 has been stated, that as late as 1830, 
 the subject of education had received 
 but little attention in many places, 
 and there it was made secondary to 
 the church. The schools in existence 
 were private, and only those who had 
 the means could send their children to 
 them. The fact was, the people were 
 without any system of public instruc- 
 tion. In some towns aid was given 
 in a limited way, but in a weak and 
 indifferent manner. Private high 
 schools were kept in the more popu- 
 lous towns, and were for those able to 
 maintain them, and where, in some 
 places, efforts were made to open 
 schools for the benefit of the common 
 people, the lack of any system of in- 
 struction adapted to them, and the 
 limited support given, were generally 
 failures, and allowed to close up. 
 Where they did get support sufficient 
 to continue they were generally in 
 charge of the town's minister, who 
 appears in some instances to have 
 
considered the Gospel Primer and 
 Church Catechism of as much im- 
 portance as reading, writing and spell- 
 ing. This was the condition of edu- 
 cation at the beginning of this cen- 
 tury, with little advance through its 
 first two decades. At about this time, 
 efforts were put forth to improve the 
 matter, and the general court was 
 called on for legislation in the direc- 
 tion of a free public system, to be 
 supported by general taxation of the 
 property and polls in the state. The 
 result of this demand was favorable. 
 A law was passed, establishing the 
 first free common schools in this state. 
 In the act passed, the district plan was 
 adopted, each town to be divided into 
 districts, each district to be inde- 
 pendent of any other, with the right to 
 direct its school matters, and was a 
 legal body, with power to tax the prop- 
 erty and polls within the district to 
 raise money sufficient to build and 
 furnish proper school buildings and 
 also to select a suitable teacher, sub- 
 ject to the approval of the town's gen- 
 eral school committee, and was to be 
 paid out of the town's appropriation 
 for schools. The branches taught were 
 reading, writing, spelling, arithmetic, 
 and geography, no higher grades were 
 permissible under the law, and for 
 twenty-five years after. Then the 
 towns were allowed to enlarge the list 
 of studies, and do away with the dis- 
 trict system, which has been done very 
 generally throughout the state. "Who 
 of us of three score years that does 
 not remember going to the district 
 
 87 
 
school in our youthful days, in the 
 old school house, sitting- on its plain, 
 unpainted pine benches, the seats so 
 hig-h from the floor that the younger 
 scholars' feet could not touch the 
 same, and then the old box wood stove, 
 often emiting more smoke into the 
 room than went up through the chim- 
 ney, poorly constructed and generally 
 out of repair, with no proper sanitary 
 arrangements, bad ventilation, with no 
 regular person employed to car^ for 
 the building and build the fiifse, too 
 small for the number of scholars at- 
 tending, often fifty scholars crowded 
 into a room where thirty or forty 
 would have been enough to get along 
 comfortably, of all ages from four to 
 twenty years old. Young men and 
 women as large as the teacher, all in 
 one room, being confined there from 
 9 a. m. to 4 p. m., and sometimes 
 longer, with one hour out at noon for 
 recreation and lunch, and this for five 
 days at least in the week, for not less 
 than an average term of three months. 
 No vacation was allowed during- the 
 term, unless an epidemic broke out in 
 school, then for the shortest time pos- 
 sible. No storm was so great as to 
 prevent the school from keeping. If a 
 great snow storm came, blocking up 
 the roads, the farmers would turn out 
 with their oxen, and soon open them 
 for travel, so the school went on just 
 the same, as the teacher was paid by 
 the week or month, and then on ac- 
 count of the limited money appropri- 
 ated, the term was necessarily short, 
 and some of the families wanted their 
 
 88 
 
older children at home, to assist in 
 supporting- the family, not feeling able 
 to keep them in school for so long a 
 term. No compulsory laws then existed 
 compelling the parents to send their 
 children to school. These were days 
 of pretty limited means in many house- 
 holds, and it was a severe tax upon 
 them to provide the necessary school 
 books and supplies for their children, 
 which they were required to do. This 
 was no doubt why the average citi- 
 en in town meeting was slow in voting 
 liberal appropriations for schools. 
 
 Under these narrow conditions and 
 circumstances the old district school 
 of our early days, when in charge of a 
 competent teacher, did good work for 
 the time and means to do with, and 
 taught the rudiments of an education 
 to many young men, who went out into 
 the world to fight the battle of life 
 with no higher schooling, and gained 
 success. This was the extent of the 
 advantages of the free public school 
 system of this old commonwealth 
 three score years ago, and those who 
 went to them in those early days may 
 remember something about them, at 
 least, they have not forgotten some 
 of the exercises not laid down in the 
 rules. The hard fisted farmer boy, 
 who had been confined to the farm 
 through the season, to get away for a 
 while was rest and recreation for him, 
 and he came to school more interested 
 in having a good time than to study 
 much. Then if anything was going on 
 among his fellows, he wanted to be 
 be in it. If the master did not suit 
 
 89 
 
them they laid their plans to get rid 
 of him, and the first their parents 
 knew the master was put out of the 
 school room. Some one of them would 
 disobey the rules, and when brought 
 up for correction his fellows would 
 take his part, and then the struggle 
 would be to see which was master. 
 These things were of common occur- 
 rence in my school days, and in some 
 of the farming districts many a teacher 
 lost his job because he could not gov- 
 ern the turbulent elements and often 
 the schools were closed for want of a 
 master who could control them. This 
 class of young men generally came 
 from homes which rather encouraged 
 such things, as their boys, in their 
 eyes, were stalwart bullies, and could 
 whip anything that came along, but 
 masters were found equal to the occa- 
 sion, and no school within my knowl- 
 edge remained closed. These troubles 
 arose in most instances in isolated 
 districts, among people of little in- 
 telligence, and from a lack of proper 
 discipline in the home, but for all 
 theis, the district school in those day« 
 did the work assigned to it, and laid 
 the foundation for a larger and more 
 liberal system of education, which to- 
 day is made compulsory, and every 
 child in our old commonwealth has 
 the benefit of the highest grade schoola 
 free, a marked difference between the 
 opportunities possessed by the youth 
 of the first half century as compared 
 with those of the present age. The 
 youth of this generation goes to school 
 in palatial buildings, equipped with 
 
 90 
 
every convenience and comfort, is pro- 
 vided with all books and stationery- 
 free of cost, and is often transported 
 from his home and back, that he may 
 get the advantages of graded schools, 
 giving to every child in the common- 
 wealth a high grade education, with- 
 out price, free to all. A remarkable 
 advance since the school days of 
 many of us, when we were obliged to 
 trudge on to school from one to three 
 miles to reach the school house, rain 
 or shine, and winter storms, and take 
 along the books we had to buy, show- 
 ing the wonderful progress made in 
 the matter of education within the 
 century. 
 
 The old-time spelling school was an 
 important adjunct to the district 
 school. When the boys and girls came 
 together in the school house on a win- 
 ter's evening for a social time, and 
 held a spelling match. This should not 
 be forgotten. These spelling schools 
 were generally very pleasant and 
 agreeable occasions, and were not 
 without considerable profit in learn- 
 ing to spell correctly, when in charge 
 of a good master. I imagine they are 
 not yet forgotten by some of us of 
 those old times. I remember them as 
 lively gatherings. When the school 
 house was built no thought occurred 
 to the builders that any evening gath- 
 erings would be held in them, so noth- 
 ing was provided to light the building. 
 To supply the necessary light each 
 scholar brought from home his light, 
 this supplied the need, the tallow can- 
 dle largely predominating, as this waa 
 
 91 
 
the chief light found in the farmers' 
 home. When they were lig-hted, and 
 with a red hot stove on a cold winter's 
 nig-ht, in a poorly ventilated room, it 
 did not improve the air therein, but 
 this did not prevent an interesting 
 time, and was not taken into account. 
 It will be remembered that in these 
 schools the practice was to choose 
 sides from all present, the master 
 generally selected the two leading 
 scholars to choose the members of 
 their respective sides. When this was 
 completed, the master would, from a 
 common spelling book, give out the 
 words alternately from one side to the 
 other. When a scholar failed to spell 
 the word correctly, it went over to the 
 other side, and continued from side 
 to side until it was correctly spelled. 
 Those who failed to spell right went 
 to the foot of their respective sides, 
 and so on to the end of the lesson for 
 that evening, then those standing at 
 the head of the respective sides at the 
 close were accounted the best spellers, 
 and they went home elated over their 
 success, and the parents at home felt 
 happy over the good standing of their 
 children. The results were profitable 
 and the time well spent, and many 
 were made good spellers.' But these 
 schools have very generally passed 
 out of use, probably not considered 
 necessary in these days of high grade 
 schools, but judging from the spelling 
 of some of the scholars of our high 
 schools, we might suggest that it 
 would be a good plan to re-establish 
 spelling schools in Fitchburg. I have 
 
 92 
 
not forg-otten the interest taken in 
 these schools, and I always attended 
 them. Writing- was then an import- 
 ant exercise in the district schools. 
 We were required to bring- our writing 
 books, ink and pens; no metal pens 
 were then in use anywhere, and were 
 unknown in the country villages. 
 Goose quills were the only thing- known 
 to write with, and the master had to 
 instruct us in the art of making- a 
 good pen. This necessitated a pen- 
 knife, so each of the scholars had to 
 get one, but the mischief was, they 
 did not all g-et used in making pens; 
 the school benches and desks were 
 operated on more or less, and were 
 only saved from serious inroads upon 
 their appearance through the firm- 
 ness of the master. The success in 
 making a good pen lay in the mechan- 
 ical ability of the learner, but they all 
 made out in some way to make one. 
 Those who have used this kind of pen 
 found it, when properly made, equal, if 
 not superior, to any metal one ever 
 made. This was my experience, and 
 the goose quill pen will be found at 
 the present day in state and legisla- 
 ture departments, judges' and lawyers* 
 offices and court rooms, many of the 
 most important papers are yet signed 
 with this class of pen. 
 
 Beside the teaching of writing in the 
 district schools, expert masters of the 
 quill went through the country, keep- 
 ing writing schools in the towns and 
 villages; these were well patronized 
 and quite popular. Vocal and instru- 
 mental music was nowhere taught in 
 
 93 
 
any public school in this common- 
 wealth at this time, and the art was 
 learned in private singing schools and 
 throug-h private singing teachers. 
 These were kept in many places in the 
 winter evenings, and did very much 
 in improving musical education, and 
 supplied good singers for church 
 choirs of that period. 
 
 Another institution existed in those 
 days, and was popular, but little heard 
 of now, the Village Lyceum. This flour- 
 ished in many New England towns 
 and was for the time an important ad- 
 junct to village social life. This is 
 doubtless remembered by those who 
 attended, and took part in them, as 
 among the worthy associations of their 
 earlier days, organized as reading and 
 debating societies for intellectual im- 
 provement, and to maintain a course 
 of lectures during the winter season. 
 One of these organizations existed in 
 my home town for a number of years, 
 and was a lively and successful asso- 
 ciation, popular and brought together a 
 large attendance of people of the town. 
 The lectures provided were popular, 
 and did much to enhance the value of 
 the society. Among the lecturers who 
 came to our place, I remember ex-Gov. 
 Boutwell before he was governor, at 
 the time, I think, he was a member of 
 the State Board of Education. Gen. N. 
 P. Banks, another, young, polished in 
 diction and manner, and had a large 
 audience. Charles Sumner came and 
 gave one of his scholarly and learned 
 addresses, others came, but now for- 
 gotten. I took some interest in this 
 association, although under 21 years 
 
 94 
 
old. These societies are not much 
 heard of in these days, and appear to 
 have gone out of use. It is quite ap- 
 parent that young men of the present 
 age are more interested in the develop- 
 ment of muscle, rather than the culti- 
 vation of the brain; this is quite evi- 
 dent in educational centers. 
 
 As the country grew in wealth and 
 population, higher grade schools were 
 demanded, and high schools and acade- 
 mies found a place in all the larger 
 towns, and some smaller ones. They 
 were private institutions, supported by 
 term fees, as the town district schools 
 taught only the common branches, 
 these higher schools supplied the de- 
 mand for a time, and when under good 
 teachers and management, were suc- 
 cessful. Those of us who went to the 
 old academy in the forties or there- 
 abouts, may look back with pleasant 
 memory to those days, and call to mind 
 some of the teachers and scholars with 
 whom we associated and spent many 
 agreeable hours. I have not forgocten 
 the good old academy days from 1840 to 
 '43, .and as I look back on them, my 
 regret is that I did not better appre- 
 ciate them. The school I attended was 
 no doubt like other academies of that 
 day,and pursued about the same course 
 of studies. Their system of teaching 
 was general in character, including 
 English in all its various branches, sci- 
 entific literature and the languages, 
 fitting students for college. Their terms 
 of admission varied according to the 
 class of special studies taken outside 
 of the regular course, but were reason- 
 able, and opened up the opportunity for 
 
 95 
 
the student oi limited means to enter 
 and pursue the full course. Some of 
 these institutions maintained an in- 
 dustrial department, whereby the needy 
 scholar could earn a portion of the 
 necessary expense, and then the dis- 
 trict schools in town and vicinity in 
 the winter season would give to many 
 employment as teachers, g-iving- them 
 the means to continue their studies. 
 This plan brought many from humble 
 homes, who otherwise could not have 
 come. In this way, with strict econo- 
 my, many indigent pupils acquired a 
 good academical education, and finally 
 worteed themselves through college. 
 This was the practice in my old acad- 
 emy,and many came from various parts 
 of the country; it was, in its best days, 
 largely attended, and some bright 
 young men came who subsequently 
 made their mark in the world. One in 
 particular, I remember, who came 
 without money to work his way up, of 
 more than ordinary ability, doing the 
 chores about the principal's home for 
 his board. In this way, with such else 
 as he could get to support himself, he 
 finally reached the goal of his ambi- 
 tion, and became a prominent and suc- 
 cessful attorney in Boston, and died 
 prematurely, mourned by a large num- 
 ber of personal and professional 
 friends. Had he the same opportunity 
 as offered in the present age to satisfy 
 his ambition to gain a liberal educa- 
 tion, it would have been at much less 
 personal sacrifice and labor, illustrat- 
 ing the great progress made in the last 
 half century, in the ways and means of 
 obtaining an education. I have some 
 
 96 
 
pleasant recollections of the young 
 men in the class room and in school, 
 and have not forgotten some of the ex- 
 ercises required, such as writing com- 
 positions, and then reading them be- 
 fore the school, not an agreeable task. 
 Then once a month on a half day set 
 apart for that purpose, we were ex- 
 pected to be ready to declaim before 
 the school, and such invited guests as 
 happened to be present. This was no 
 pleasant duty, and quite a number 
 would get excused for one reason or 
 another, but there was always enough 
 ready for duty, that usually made the 
 occasion interesting and sometimes ex- 
 citing. A few would be able to deliver 
 their own composition, but the larger 
 number would orate from Patrick Hen- 
 ry, Webster, Otis, or Chatham, and 
 other orators noted in history. This 
 was an interesting and profitable exer- 
 cise, and much pleasant rivalry existed 
 to see which gained the most applause, 
 and carried off the honors. This ex- 
 ercise was more or less dreaded, and we 
 got excused when possible, but its im- 
 portance was felt, and waswell sustained 
 by the students. At the close of the year, 
 the annual public examination and ex- 
 hibition occurred. To us it was a 
 most trying time, as the parents and 
 friends of the students came from far 
 and near, and with the public, usually 
 crowded the house, and two days and 
 an evening were consumed in various 
 exercises. The closing scene would be, 
 the public declamations in the evening 
 before a crowded assembly, consisting 
 of orations and dialogues, some of them 
 composed by the students, and in addi- 
 
tion good music graced the occasion. 
 This was always a great event for the 
 town, and was looked forward to with 
 much interest by the towns people, and 
 the scholars and their friends. This 
 was a large school of both sexes, and 
 always had ample material for a suc- 
 cessful exhibition, and under its able 
 and wise management, reflected much 
 credit on its principal and his worthy 
 assistants, and while under the guid- 
 ance of this coterie of teachers, it was 
 a great success. In this personal ex- 
 perience, I assume that the same came 
 to others in this class of schools, and 
 possibly someone may be present who 
 had something of the same experience 
 in his old academy, in by gone days. 
 
 It was my privilege to join in a 
 pilgrimage, in 1875, of the old pupils of 
 Holliston Academy, that I attended, to 
 the home of our old teacher in Shrews- 
 bury, Mass., on his 70th birthday. It 
 was a memorable occasion and one 
 long to be remembered by all who were 
 present, — over 200 of his former schol- 
 ars were there, coming from all parts 
 of New England, New York, Wisconsin, 
 District of Columbia and even from 
 South Carolina and Louisana for the 
 purpose of tendering their greeting to 
 their beloved "Master Rice," as he was 
 familiarly called. 
 
 Few of them had seen him since he 
 left the Academy more than 30 years 
 before and with some nearly 40 years 
 had elapsed. 
 
 Many men prominent in business 
 and public life were among the number 
 present. 
 
 The sight of the greeting was a most 
 
 98 
 
beautiful one, even gray-haired men in 
 the fervor of their affection for the old 
 gentleman were seen to imprint a kiss 
 on his wrinkled brow, and the univer- 
 sal hearty shake of the hand,and pleas- 
 ant smiles of recognition were observ- 
 able on every hand. 
 
 Few teachers could after a lapse of 
 nearly 40 years, show such a hold on 
 the affectionate regards of their pupils 
 as to call for such demonstration. 
 
 Master Rice was one of the best of 
 teachers and had the faculty of making 
 himself understood and his kindly na- 
 ture and pleasant smile endeared him 
 to all who came in contact with him. 
 The discipline of the school, as he ex- 
 pressed it, was designed to be parental, 
 and by direct appeal to the better 
 principles of the heart, rather than by 
 disgraceful and severe punishment, but 
 if the pupil was not susceptible to such 
 influence he was promptly returned to 
 his friends, without unnecessary dis- 
 grace. 
 
 The day was spent in drawing on the 
 treasures of memory and recalling the 
 old days and men whose hair was 
 growing gray, grew young again, in re- 
 calling with glee the fun they used to 
 have. 
 
 Many were the pranks that were 
 called to mind, like the time when one 
 afternoon a load of uncut wood was 
 unloaded in the back yard and the next 
 morning it was found neatly piled in 
 the middle of the kitchen floor, nobody 
 knew who did it. 
 
 The patient old cow of the master 
 came in for attention on several oc- 
 casions. Once the good doctor went 
 
 99 
 
out to ride, and found old Mollie 
 standing- in the wood shed harnessed 
 into the sleigh, and at another time the 
 old cow was in some way induced to 
 go into the house and was found pa- 
 tiently waiting- in the large pantry 
 when the door was opened the next 
 morning, and many other things were 
 told. But the old master always kept 
 cool and the boys never got the best 
 of him and in the midst of their fun 
 he always retained their sincere re- 
 spect. All honor to Master Rice, that 
 he moulded so many minds to high and 
 noble purposes. 
 
 The academy of these early times 
 was not favored with knowledge that 
 subseqently came out of the wonderful 
 QW^-^ and mighty discourses that soon were 
 to amaze the world and revolutionize 
 the material and social concerns of 
 mankind. Steam was then in its ex- 
 perimental stage, and was an unde- 
 veloped power. Railroads were yet 
 in their infancy, and were* on trial. 
 Electric telegraphs and cables were 
 unknown, and the telephone was un- 
 heard of. The lighting of our streets 
 and pulic buildings and private dwell- 
 ings with the electric current, and the 
 propelling of carriages in our streets, 
 rnd the running of machinery by the 
 same power, was far in the distance, 
 and not dreamed of and hundreds of 
 other marvelous inventions were then 
 entirely unknown to the student of the 
 old academy, or to anybody else. None 
 of these wonderful things were open 
 to them for investigation and inquiry, 
 such as students of later days enjoyed. 
 
Public libraries were practically un- 
 known, the daily newspaper was no- 
 where to be had, and miscellaneous 
 reading matter of all sorts was not to 
 be had then as now. Envelopes had 
 not been invented, and all letters sent 
 throug-h the postofRce were required 
 to be properly folded and directed, one 
 side of the letter to be reserved for 
 direction, and to be securely sealed 
 with sealing wax or wafers then in 
 use. Gluten had not been discovered. 
 The government provided no postal 
 stamps of any kind, and all letters 
 and other mailable matter could not 
 be prepaid, the receiver of his mail 
 had to par the postage or not get it. 
 A letter that can now be sent over our 
 entire country for two cents, then re- 
 quired six and a quarter cents, for 
 30 miles or less; and not exceeding 
 80 miles, ten cents; not exceeding 150 
 miles, twelve and one-half cents, and 
 for not more than 400 miles, eighteen 
 and two-thirds cents; and for all dis- 
 tances beyond, twenty-five cents. To 
 get a letter under these rates cost the 
 person of small means quite a sum, and 
 if not paid, would be sent to the dead 
 letter office at Washington. The scar- 
 city of ready money in may homes in 
 these times, sent many letters and 
 other matter to the dead letter oflftce. 
 So the poor students away from home 
 at the academy, found it difficult to 
 carry on much correspondence with 
 home and friends. It was not until 
 1845 that congress, after much de- 
 lay and contention established the 
 present system, providing prepayment 
 
 101 
 
in all cases and postal stamps of every 
 needed class and dimension at rates a 
 little higher than now, soon were re- 
 duced to the present rates, and later 
 were added postal cards of great vari- 
 ety, and stamped envelopes of every 
 conceivable description, and many 
 other improvements for the benefit of 
 the public. The young men of this 
 prolific age can hardly realize the ex- 
 tent of the tremendous change that 
 has taken place within the last sixty 
 years, and those only who have lived 
 through these years can measure In 
 any possible way the extent of the re- 
 markable progress made during this 
 period. 
 
 The discovery and development of 
 steam, telegraphy and electrical power 
 within the century just ended has 
 transformed and enlarged the scope of 
 great material interests and affairs of 
 continents, and quickened the im- 
 pulses of mankind the world over. 
 This may be seen in our streets, in 
 our business and daily occupations, 
 in our homes, in fact, everywhere we 
 travel, and is growing more rapid and 
 persistent as years roll on. Just ob- 
 serve the tireless energy and vitality 
 of the moving mass of people on our 
 streets and thoroughfares, the quick 
 solution of matters coming in their 
 way, and the immense energy dis- 
 played in pursuit of business or pleas- 
 ure. The average lad of ten years is 
 farther advanced in general informa- 
 tion than the average youth of fif- 
 teen before the days of steam and 
 electricity, and the same may apply 
 
 102 
 
to the adult in the same proportion. 
 They all read the daily papers, go to 
 the public library to look over the 
 pictorials and monthlies and select 
 such books as may interest them, and 
 the boy o- twelve is fully posted in 
 all that is going on in town and he 
 observes the passing railway train as 
 it rushes through his village and 
 watches closely the new arrivals and 
 perhaps sells a daily paper and tells 
 his customer the latest telegraphic 
 news. All these incidents are the 
 daily educator of his mind and he 
 grows up fully inoculated with the 
 rushing spirit of the age. 
 
 The boy and adult, and student at 
 school, in the age before the railroads 
 and steamships and telegraphs, had 
 none of these wonderful things to 
 stimulate and aid their education. 
 Educational opportunities were very 
 limited and circumscribed, as com- 
 pared with those provided for the 
 youth of the present time. The obser- 
 vations of the young man of that time 
 were very generally confined to his 
 native vilage. He doubtless saw the 
 stage coach as it passed by his home, 
 probably went to the circus when it 
 came along, and took in the militia 
 muster and cattle show if they came 
 his way, and attended the village en- 
 tertainments and sociables, and went 
 to meeting regularly, took no daily 
 paper, as there was none to get. This 
 was about his daily and yearly ex- 
 perience as he grew up. He went to 
 the district school and may be went 
 one or two terms to the town academy 
 
 103 
 
if his father thought he could afford it, 
 and then he went out into the world 
 to seek his fortune, but he had had no 
 opportunity to study the arts and sci- 
 ences such as are taught in all high 
 grade public schools. No industrial 
 schools existed anywhere, wherein he 
 could go and learn a trade and get a 
 knowledge of the use of tools. No tech- 
 nical or scientific school was open to 
 enable him to acquire the profession 
 of civil engineer, that he might, on 
 leaving his home, be able to take up 
 any of these industrial employments 
 and make himself master of his pro- 
 fession. Then no commercial schools 
 or colleges existed wherein he could fit 
 himself for the counting room or a 
 mercantile business. None of these 
 various schools were anywhere to be 
 found in his time. This was the sit- 
 uation confronting young men in the 
 first forty years of this century. How 
 was it with young women at this early- 
 period? What was their position for 
 advancement? It is well known, that 
 in these early times, education of 
 young women was considered second- 
 ary in importance to that of young 
 men, to give the boys an education 
 was about all the family could afford 
 to do. The girls went to the district 
 school, and if home could spare them, 
 they sometimes went to the academy 
 to qualify themselves for teaching in 
 the common schools, but farther than 
 this, with few exceptions, no higher 
 place was open to them or expected, 
 as men only were deemed competent 
 and proper to fill them. In short, none 
 
of the large number of occupations 
 now filled by women, were then oc- 
 cupied by any other than men. In 
 fact, in the early years of the century 
 the position of women was quite in- 
 ferior to that of men as far as rights, 
 independence and opportunity were 
 concerned. In the matter of property, 
 the law gave little independent hold- 
 ing to them in the rights of estate, 
 their control was small as compared 
 with that of the husband. This was 
 practically the situation of women up 
 to the middle of the century, but since 
 then, down to the present time, a 
 great change has been going on in 
 public sentiment in relation to the 
 rights of women. Now they maintain 
 sepai-ate property rights secured by 
 law.and the right to honorable employ- 
 ment is accorded by public opinion 
 everywhere in this country, and they 
 stand practically on an equality with 
 men in all material affairs of life. 
 Young men and women of this day and 
 generation, with well directed effort 
 and ambition, can find a hundred op- 
 portunities open to them, when in 
 the early times of their fathers, a score 
 could not be found. 
 
 The tremendous vitality and brain 
 power exhibited in this driving and 
 progressive age, as compared with the 
 early years of this century, is as a 
 thousand now, to one in that period. 
 This is a calculation made at random, 
 but how can it be measured at all? 
 We all realize that a great change has 
 taken place in our time, and that it is 
 still going on. In its swift progress 
 we find it difficult to keep track of its 
 
 105 
 
mighty movements and grasp its im- 
 portance and measure its wonderful 
 results. 
 
 In reviewing the 19th century from 
 its beginning to its end, nearly three- 
 quarters of it within the observation 
 and memory of some of us, we can not 
 have failed to note that greater 
 changes in the condition and modes of 
 living have occurred in our life time 
 than is recorded in the history of any 
 previous age. At the beginning of this 
 century our territory did not extend 
 beyond the Mississippi river, our pop- 
 ulation hardly four million, the na- 
 tional revenues less than four million 
 of dollars annually, and our national 
 government not fully organized in all 
 its departments, and that within our 
 time, the country has been enlarged 
 fourfold and the population is 18 times 
 greater, and the convertible wealth of 
 its people has increased even in greater 
 ratio. In reflecting upon this mighty 
 transition from the old to the new, in 
 the 19th century, we may realize the 
 historical fact, that no preceding cen- 
 tury will compare favorably with this, 
 in wonderful achievement and prog- 
 ress, nor one that did more for the ad- 
 vancement and elevation of the human 
 race, and in the development of things 
 on the earth. 
 
 106