If r t .f. .■..■.•tJWWt ,>>>,,• , , , , • , , ■ ' ' > . J •.,.,,, , !>>>.. • 1 .. ,, , , \ J~3 3 ^1 ^0/ « .•. » & « c .» .« " •4, '■ v. •31;^ A SKETCH OF THE CHANDLER FAMILY IN \ WORCESTER. " But for these lives, my life had never known This faded vesture which it calls its own." The founders of this family, so large and so influential before the Revolution, were of very obscure origin and in very humble circumstances when they landed on these shores. William Chandler and Annice his wife came from England in 1637 with their children and settled in Rox- bury, Massachusetts. The family seem to have been without any means of support, and during the long illness of Mr. Chandler they were cared for by their neighbors and friends, on account of their affection for him. He died in the year 1641, "having lived a very religious and godly life" and "leaving a sweet memory and savor behind him." Annice Chandler must have been an attractive woman, for she was not only soon married to a second husband, but to a third, and her last one evidently ex- pected her to enter into matrimony a fourth time, for in his "Will," he provided that she shall hAve the use of his warming pan "only so long as she remained his widow." Goodwife Parmenter, however, died in 1683, in full pos- session of the warming pan, the widow of her third hus- band. John Chandler, a son of William, emigrated to Woodstock, and there became a fartaer in a small way, or, to use his own words, a husbandman, for so he designates himself in his "Will," of Woodstock, in the County of Suffolk in the Province of Massachusetts Bay, in New England. He was chosen a selectman and deacon of the church in Wood- stock, and died in 1703, leaving a family, and property of the value of £512. 00. 6d. The second John Chandler, son of the first of that name, had, before his father's death, moved to New London, Connecticut, where he married, and in 1698 had opened a "house of entertainment" there. He at a later date moved back to South Woodstock and in 1711 was chosen representative to the General Court at Boston for several years. I quote the following: "After the erection of Worcester County by an act of the Legislature of Massa- chusetts, 2 of April, 1731, from the counties of Suffolk, and Middlesex, the first Probate Court in Worcester County, was held by Col. Chandler as Judge, in the meeting-house, on the 13 of July, 1731, and the first Court of Common Pleas and General Sessions on the 10th of August following, by the Hon. John Chandler, of Woodstock, commissioned June 30th, 1731, Chief Justice." These offices he held until his death, as well as that of Colonel of Militia. Lincoln, in his "History of Worcester" says, "To which stations of civil, judicial and military honors, he rose by force of his strong mental powers, with but slight advantages of education," Judge John Chandler died in Woodstock, Conn., August 10th, 1743, in his seventy-ninth year. Im- proving on his father's worldly condition as regards prop- erty, he leaves to his family £8,699. 16. 6d. John Chandler the third of the name, son of the Hon. John Chandler of Woodstock, moved to Worcester, when the County of Worcester was formed, and he seems to have held nearly all the offices in the town; Selectman, Sheriff, Probate Judge, Town Treasurer, County Treasurer, Register of Probate, Register of Deeds, Chief Judge of County Courts, Judge of Court of Common Pleas, Repre- sentative to the General Court, Colonel in the Militia and a member of the Governor's Council. One of his descend- ants writes that "he died in 1762, wealthy and full of honors." He also adds, "The Chandlers were among the wealthiest and most distinguished families in Worcester County aristocracy." I have heard some of the old people in the family say: "They, the Chandlers, ruled the roost in Worcester County in former days," but there seems to be no evidence that anyone of them possessed great wealth. The Boston News Letter of August 12, 1762, says: " Worces- ter, Saturday August 12, 1762, departed this hfe the Hon. John Chandler, Esq., of Worcester, in the 69th year of his age; eldest son of Hon. John Chandler late of Wood- stock, deceased." Lincoln in his " History of Worcester," says, "His talents were rather brilliant and showy, than solid and profound, with manners highly popular, he possessed a cheerful and joyous disposition, indulging in jest and hilarity, and exercised liberal hospitality. While Judge of Probate he kept open house on Court Days for the widows and orphans who were brought to his tribunal by concerns of business." Judge Chandler was married to Hannah Gardiner, daughter of John Gardiner of the Isle of Wight, in 1716, by John Mulford, Esq., their bans being published in Woodstock, Conn. She died in Worces- ter in 1738, aged 39 years, leaving nine children, the first members of the Chandler family who were born and bred in Worcester, These children through their mother were great-great-grandchildren of "Brave Lieutenant Lion Gardiner," as Lowell the poet calls him, one of the most picturesque figures of the early times, and of whom it was written after his death: "Lion Gardiner was at an early age a God-fearing Puritan; he emigrated to New England in the interest of Puritanism, and labored with and for the early Puritan fathers, and justly belongs among the founders of New England. He was singularly modest; firm in his friendships; patient of toil; serene amidst alarms; inflexible in faith"; and "he died in a good old age, an old man and full of years." As an ancestor of the Worcester family of Chandlers, though on the distaff side. Lion Gardiner deserves more than a passing notice. He was born in England in the days of "Good Queen Bess, and he attained his majority during the reign of the first English Sovereign of the House of Stuart." He was a gentleman by birth, an engineer by profession, a Dissenter in his religious opinions, an adherent of Parlia- ment against the King, and a friend of the Puritans, who. Lord Macaulay says, "were the most remarkable body of men, perhaps, which the world had ever produced." Fol- lowing in the footsteps of many of his countrymen, Lion Gardiner passed into the ''Low Countries," during the reign of Charles the First and entered the service of the Prince of Orange, "as an engineer and master of works of fortification." While there he was approached by certain eminent Puritans on behalf of Lords Say and Seele, Lord Brooke, Sir Richard Saltonstall, and other "Lords and Gentlemen" with an offer to go to New England to con- struct works of fortification, and command them under the direction of John Winthrop the Younger. The offer was accepted, and he contracted with these gentlemen, "for £100 per annum for a term of four years." A small sum this seems, to remunerate him for leaving his own country, to meet the dangers, known and unknown, and the vicissitudes of fortune in the New World. About this time, he went to Woerdon, in Holland, and was married to Mary Wileenson, daughter of Derike Wileenson, and with her and her Dutch maid he left Woerdon on the 10 July, 1635, bound for New England via. London. Leaving Rotterdam, in the bark "Batcheler," they first entered the port of London, after which, on the 16th of August, they set sail for New England, but it was not until November 28th, 1635, that Governor Winthrop of Massachusetts men- tions in his journal the arrival of a small bark sent over by Lord Say and Seele and others, with Gardiner, "an expert engineer, on board, and provisions of all sorts to begin a fort at the mouth of the Connecticut river." Gardiner remained in Boston during the winter and was engaged by the authorities to complete the fortifications on Fort Hill, but early in the spring he continued his journey, arri\dng at his destination in March, and began the first fortification erected in New England, which in honor of Lord Say and Seele and Lord Brooke was called Fort Saybrooke. The Indians were more numerous in this vicinity than in any other part of New England and the Pequots, Narra- gansetts and Mohegans when not fighting among them- selves were harassing the white settlers and attacking the Fort, and Gardiner's time seems to have been fully occupied in defending it from these savages and commanding puni- tive expeditions against them. Notwithstanding every discouragement, Gardiner remained at his post, and fulfilled his contract to the end, his engagement having expired in the summer of 1639. During his residence at Saybrooke Fort, his wife and her maid remained with him and shared with him its deprivations and dan- gers, and here his two eldest children were born; and to provide a permanent home for his family he bought from a friendly Sachem an island in Long Island Sound called Mauchouac, for which tradition says he paid, "one large black dog, one gun, a quantity of powder and shot, some rum, and a few Dutch blankets.'' At a later date however he procured a grant of the same island from the Earl of Stirling, to whom it had been granted by the King of England, for which he was to pay £5, yearly. This island, called "Mauchouac" by the Indians, "Isle of Wight" by the English and in later years "Gardiner's Island," has been the home now, for more than two hundred and fifty years, of the family of that name, contained over three thousand acres of land, and here Gardiner removed with his family, taking with him a number of men from the fort for farmers. Here he seems to have led a pastoral life, breeding cattle and sheep and keeping up a constant correspondence with the younger Winthrop, who owned a farm on Fisher's Island, in Long Island Sound, to whom he sells cows and sheep, and buying of him grass seed, corn and wheat and other articles of the same nature. In 1649, Gardiner bought a tract of land on Long Island, and in 1653, he placed his island in the care of farmers and removed to East Hampton, and here he wrote his history of the Pequot Wars. "In the latter part of 1663, he died at the age of sixty-four. Thus passed from earth one of the prominent figures in the colonial history of New England." He left his property to his wife, who died in 1665, aged sixty-four years. The Isle of Wight now came into the possession of their oldest son David, and from him John Gardiner, the father of Hannah Chandler, inherited it. He died suddenly, by accident, caused by falling from a horse at Groton, Con- necticut, and was buried in New London in the same State, and the following inscription is on his tombstone: Here lyeth Buried y Body of His Excelcy John Gardiner Third Lord of y Isle of Wight He was born April 19th 1661 and Departed this Life June 25th 1738. One of his descendants writes: "John was a hearty, active, robust man; generous and upright; sober at home but jovial abroad, and swore sometimes; always kept a chaplain; he was a good farmer, and made great improve- ments in the Island. He had an expensive family of children, and gave them for those times large portions." It was in the lifetime of John Gardiner that Captain Kidd, concerning whom so many romantic stories have been told, visited the Isle of Wight. He left a "Will," and I quote the following from it: "To my beloved daughter Hannah Chandler, I give and bequeath, the sum of one hundred pounds in silver money at eight shillings the ounce Troy Weight, to be paid to her by my executors." In another part of this document, he directs that she should have a portion of his personal property, such as plate, etc. " I give and bequeath unto my granddaughter Sarah Chandler, the sum of fifty pounds in New England money, to be paid her by my executors when she shall have arrived at the age of eighteen or marriage, which shall happen first." This will of John Gardiner, is dated " 14th of December 1737, in the eleventh year of the reign of King George the Second over Great Britain." Sarah Chandler was, at her grandfather's death, only thirteen years old, and as she was my great-grandmother, it would be interesting to know why she was selected from among the Chandler grandchildren to receive this bequest. The two eldest children of John and Hannah Gardiner Chandler were daughters, named Mary and Esther. The former married Benjamin Greene of Boston, and the latter Rev. Thomas Clapp. John Chandler, the fourth to bear his name, was the third child and was born in 1720; was married twice and had sixteen children. He was Colonel of the Worcester Regiment, and in 1757 saw active duty in that capacity. Up to 1774 "John Chandler's hfe had been one of almost unbroken prosperity, but when the rebellion broke out against England, his loyalist sentiments brought him into angry opposition to popular feeling, and he was compelled to leave home and family and retire to Boston." "When Boston fell into the hands of the Conti- nental army, he fled to Halifax and thence to London, where he spent the rest of his life, twenty-four years." "The Hon. John Chandler, of Worcester, whose sons and daughters were as numerous as those of his Royal Master, and with whose family every other leading family of the region was proud to entwine itself by marriage alliance, sleeps far from the town and shire of whose honors he had almost the monoply." "He succeeded to the military, nmnicipal, and some of the judicial offices of his father and grandfather, and inherited the characteristic traits of his ancestors. He was cheerful in temperament, engaging in manners, hospitable as a citizen, friendly and kind as a neiglibor, and industrious nnd enterprising as a merchant. He was a refugee and sacrificed large posses- 10 sions, £36,190. 0, as appraised in this country by commis- sioners here, to a chivalrous sense of loyalty. In the schedule exhibited to the British Commissioners, appointed to adjust the compensation to the Americans who adhered to the royal cause, the amount of real and personal property which was confiscated, is estimated at £11,067 and the losses from income from office, from destruction of business and other causes, at nearly £6000 more." So just and moderate was this compensation ascertained to be, at a time when extravagant claims were presented by others, that his claims were allowed in full; he was denominated in England, "The Honest Refugee." The Boston News Letter of 16th October, 1760, observes: "We hear from Worcester that on the evening of the 9th inst, the house of Mr. Sheriff Chandler, and others of that town, were beautifully illuminated on account of the success of his Majesty's Arms in America." "Hon. John Chandler was one of the six inhabitants of Worcester who were included in the act of banishment, forbidding the return of former citizens of the State, who had joined the enemy; requiring them, if they once visited their native country, forthwith to depart; and pronouncing the penalty of death if they should be found a second time within this jurisdiction." Of this list of six were his sons Rufus and William, his brother-in-law James Putnam and his nephew, my grandfather. Dr. Wm. Paine, who went by the name of "The Tory Doctor," and whom the Worcester people threatened to hang, if he ever set foot in Worcester again. John Chandler was styled "Tory Tom," for in those days John and Thomas were considered the same name. John Chandler died in London in 1800, and was buried in Islington church-yard, and on his tombstone is inscribed: "Here lies the body of John Chandler Esq., formerly of Worcester, Massachusetts Bay, North America, who died the 26th of September A. D. 1800, in the 80th year of liis 11 age." Hecently a nephew of John Chandler, of the fourth generation, made a pious pilgrimage to the grave of his uncle, but found the church-yard had been turned, as many other old grave yards in London have been, into a park, the stones all being level with the ground, so there was no trace of the grave he was in search of. This work had been done, however, so short a time before his visit, that the sexton was able to point out the exact spot where it was. John Adams, late President of the United States, says in his diary: "The Chandlers exercised great influence in the County of Worcester until they took the side of govern- ment in the Revolution, and lost their position." "The family of the Chandlers were well bred, agreeable people, and I visited them as often as my school, and my studies in the lawyer's office would admit." I have never known the exact spot in Main street where John Chandler's house was located, but have been tokl that he owned a farm somewhere between Front and Mechanic streets, and the following story has been con- nected with it: The pigs were being killed, and Mrs. Chand- ler had hanging from the crane in her kitchen fireplace two enormous kettles of boiling water, ready for scalding them when they were brought in, when some American soldiers entered. She ordered them to leave at once, and said, pointing to the kettles, or "In you go," and the story goes that they did not delay their departure. John Chandler attended the "Old South Meeting House," and his pew, a wall one, was on the right-hand side of the minister, next to the pulpit by the stairs. This pew was directly opposite one of a friend who chose it because it had a door opening under the pulpit, where he kept a barrel of cider for "nooning use." The eldest son of John Chandler bore his name, and became the fifth of the name. He was born in Worcester in 1742 and emigrated to Petersham in Worcester LofC. 12 County, where he became a successful merchant. His house was a fine old colonial mansion, in the northern part of the town, and is still in good preservation, and the staircase I recall as being very handsome. Con- nected with the house was a "Deer Park," from which place the deer strayed one winter when the snow was deep enough to cover the fence which surrounded it. Mr. Chandler died in 1794, leaving five children, the oldest, becoming the sixth John Chandler and the head of the mercantile house of John Chandler & Brothers. An old man in Petersham told me some years since that these brothers had large warehouses in different parts of Worces- ter County, one being at Petersham, and that their great wagons used to bring a variety of goods from Boston to these houses, and from them goods were supplied to all the small villages in the vicinity. The sixth John was an eccentric man and many queer stories are told concerning him. One was that when the interior of the church in Petersham required painting, he offered to pay for one-half of the work, and unbeknown to the parishioners, the work was done, and when he noti- fied them that his share was finished, they found just one-half of the meeting-house had been painted bright green, and he notified them he had done his half, and they could do the other. He took charge of the church clock, and when the minister objected to the erratic mode in which the timepiece was managed, he said, "you take care of your end of the meeting-house and I will take care of mine." He divided his time between Boston and Petersham, but considered the latter place his home. The fifth John Chandler had a daughter named Lydia, who was styled " an amiable, handsome, delightful woman." It was said of her that "no woman in Worcester County ever refused so many good offers of marriage as she, for she had over forty." She married a Boston gentleman and died in 1837, leaving two children. The youngest, whom 13 I knew in her old age, possessed a portrait of her mother, of no value as a painting, but valuable as a likeness, and illustrative of art in New England in its day, and showing the style of dress of the period. On her death-bed she exacted from her niece a promise that she would destroy this picture after her death. As a relative of this lady whose portrait was to be destroyed, for she was my father's second cousin, I was invited to be present at the ceremony. Thanksgiving Day was appointed and the niece, dressed in her best apparel, brought the portrait into the room, where a large fire was burning, and first the frame was made way with and then the canvas, cut into pieces, was thrown upon the flames and the sacrifice was soon com- plete. It was a weird proceeding, and done against the wishes of the niece, who had put off fulfilling her promise to her aunt so long as she could do so. Nathaniel Chandler was another son of the fifth John Chandler. He was born in 1773 and graduated from Har- vard Universitj'- in 1792; resided in Petersham, Worcester County, and conducted that branch of the mercantile house of John Chandler & Brothers located there, residing in his father's house and was the last of the name to do so. He later moved to South Lancaster, and from him the present family in that town is descended. He died in 1852. *'In person Mr, Chandler was of medium height and size, his complexion was light, his features regular but marked." "He retained his intelligence, shrewdness, wit and dry humor, his dignity of person and character, his marked civility and gentlemanly bearing until the last." The last John Chandler of Lancaster was his son, and he died a few years since; and there are now only one son and one daughter and five grandchildren left of the Lancaster branch of the Chandlers, who are residents at this date. In Petersham there are none of the name, belonging to this family. I remember Mr. Chandler well, for he frequently visited 14 at my father's house when I was a child and I recall how entertaining he was as he commented on people and things. He was one of the last people living who would be called "A gentleman of the old school." It is a singular fact that, although the fourth John Chandler had sixteen children, not a single descendant bearing his name is now living in Worcester and only very few of those of another. Clark Chandler was the third son of his and was employed in the office of Register of Probate; was appointed joint Register of Probate with Hon. Timothy Paine and held that appointment from 1766 to 1774. He was also Town Clerk of Worcester, from 1768 to 1775. In 1774 he brought upon himself the just indignation of the Whig majority of the people by entering on the town's records without authority a protest against the Whig proceedings of the town, and he was obliged, in presence of the inhabitants, to blot out the obnoxious record, dipping his fingers in ink, and drawing them over the protest. In 1775 Mr. Chandler left Worcester, but in the same year returned and surrendered himself. He was committed to prison on suspicion of having held intercourse with the enemy, but later was permitted to go on parole, and to reside in Lan- caster. After a time he returned to Worcester, and kept a store at the corner of Main and Front streets. He is described **as rather undersized and wore bright red small- clothes; was odd and singular in appearance, which often provoked the jeers and jokes of those around him, but which he was apt to repay with compound interest." He died in 1804. Rufus Chandler was born in 1747, old style; he gradua- ted at Harvard College in 1766, in a class of forty, with the rank of the fourth in "dignity of family." He read law in the office of Ms uncle, Hon. James Putnam, in Worces- ter, where he afterwards practiced his profession until the courts were closed in 1774. Rufus Chandler inherited the loyalty of his family and he left the country at the com- 15 mencement of hostilities. He was banished in 1778, and resided in England as a private gentleman and died in London in 1823, and his remains were laid with those of his father's in Islington church-yard. Gardiner Chandler was born in 1749 and became a merchant at Hardwick. He sided with the loyalists and left the state, and his property was confiscated and paid into the treasury of the state. Returning to Hardwick, however, it was voted by the town "that as Gardiner Chandler has now made acknowledgment and says he is sorry for his past conduct, that they will treat him as a friend and neighbor so long as he shall behave himself well." He was the grandfather of the late Mrs. George T. Rice, H. G. 0. Blake and others, and a great-great- granddaughter is still living in Worcester. Nathaniel Chandler, born in 1750, was a lawyer in Peters- ham and a graduate of Harvard College; a loyalist, and at one time he commanded a volunteer corps in the Brit- ish service. He died in Worcester in 1801, at the house of his sister, Mrs. Sever, which stood on the spot in Elm street, where the Lincoln House now stands. William Chandler graduated from Harvard College in 1772, and was ranked in his class "No. 1, on the dignity of his family." He was one of the " 18 County Gentlemen," who addressed Governor Gage on his departure in 1775, and was driven, therefor, and for other acts of loyalty, from his home. In 1776 he went to Halifax. He had but just returned from Europe with his cousin. Dr. Wm. Paine of Worcester, for the Massachusetts Spy, 1775, an- nounced: "Messrs. Chandler and Paine of this town are arrived in Salem from London." After the Revolution he returned to Worcester, where he died in 1793. The younger sons of "Tory Tom," as he was styled in Worcester, seem to have accepted the new order of affairs, and abstaining from politics, to have turned their attention to more homely and peaceful occupations. Charles Chand- 16 ler at the time of his death in 1798 was a merchant in Worcester, under the firm of C. & S. Chandler, and seems to have been in more than easy circumstances, owning a large tract of land in the southern part of the town. Samuel Chandler lived in the vicinity of Summer street and his farm extended back to and included "Chandler Hill." He and his brother were among the largest land owners and the very best farmers in Worcester. "He was gentle- manly, hospitable, noticed strangers ; and when he lived in a house that stood at the foot of what is now Pearl street, Worcester, gave a ball which was long remembered. At this ball the children were invited in the afternoon and stayed till 6 o'clock p. m., and the adults were invited to spend the evening." He died in 1813. Thomas Chandler graduated from Harvard College in 1787; was a merchant in Worcester, his store being in front of the "Town House," and he lived at the corner of Main and Park streets. At one time while residing in the "Green House" a mile out on the Leicester road, he gave a "Sillabub" party, which was long remembered by those present. The great feature of the entertainment was drinking "Sillabub," for the making of which the late Mrs. John Davis, the niece of the host, gives the following receipt: "Put port wine and sugar in a pail and milk the cow directly on to it." This record of the sons of "The Honest Refugee" is only of interest and value as it represents the political and social life in Worcester in their day and generation. They are living pictures of that period, and in our mind's eye we can see these men as they passed up and down the little village street, one hundred and more years ago, pursuing their daily avocations. We enter with them into the "King's Arms," a tavern which stood on the northern corner of Elm and Main streets and which was a famous resort of the royahsts, and listen to the toasts they give as they drink to the health of the "English Sovereign," 17 and we follow them in thought to the house of their uncle, Gardiner Chandler, where in the large parlor the "Tories used to gather in solemn conclave at the breaking out of the Revolution, and we hear words of grave import, as they began to realize the importance of the great political dangers culminating around them. I have referred to the few descendants of John Chandler now living in Worcester. The late Governor Levi Lincoln married one of his granddaughters, and one of their children is still living, and a number of grandchildren of more re- mote relationship. Allusion has been made to some of the Chandlers having graduated from Harvard College, ranking in the class according to the "dignity of family." It may not be generally known that in the old Colonial days the graduates were numbered in the catalogue according to their social standing in the community and not alphabetically as they are now, a custom which would hardly find favor in these latter days. An antiquarian has made the remark that in searching for material concerning one's family, that a person in so doing would "find certain pious family fictions, that must not be disturbed." This seems good advice, for it is im- possible to investigate or verify traditions which have been handed down for many generations, but which may still be valuable as illustrating the period in which the people lived of whom they are told. Bearing this advice in mind, I relate herewith family legends which have been handed down from one genera- tion to another among my kinsfolk, leaving it for my readers to determine what credence shall be attached to them. Gardiner Chandler was the second son and fourth child of John and Hannah Gardiner Chandler, but as all I have to say concerning him has been embodied in the account of the Chandler house on Main street, I will not repeat 18 it here. Three of his descendants are at this date Hving in Worcester, but not bearing his name. Part II. Sarah Chandler was the fifth child of John and Hannah Gardiner Chandler and the third daughter. "There were seven of these sisters and, from their distinguished attri- butes, were called in their day and generation 'The Seven Stars.' She was born in the Httle village of Worcester Jan'y 11, 1725, and died there in 1811 in her eighty-fifth year. She was the little girl of thirteen years of age, to whom her grandfather Gardiner left the fifty pounds in silver, to the exclusion of all her brothers and sisters. In 1749, she was married to Timothy Paine, whose mother became, after the death of her first husband, the second wife of John Chandler, so these young people had probably been brought up under the same roof from early childhood. "Timothy Paine and Sarah Chandler his wife not only feared God, but honored the King," so the old record runs. "They belonged to families, often associated together, in the remembrance of the present generation, as having ad- hered, through the wavering fortunes, and final success of the Revolution, devoted and consistently, to the British Crown. The Chandlers were in every respect, the most eminent family in Worcester County, and furnished many men of distinction in its ante-revolutionary history. They were closely allied by blood, marriage or friendship with the aristocracy of the county and province, in which they had extensive and unbounded sway. They had large pos- sessions, and shared with the Paine family the entire local influence at Worcester, but did not, like that family, survive the shock of the Revolution, and retain a 'local habitation and a name.' 'Their property was confiscated and they were declared traitors.' "The family was broken up; some members of it went abroad and died there, others were scattered in this country ; 19 yet not a few of their descendants, eminent in the most honorable pursuits, and in the highest positions in life, under different names and in various localities, represent that ancient, honorable and once numerous race." "Mrs. Timothy Paine, or Madam Paine as she was styled from respect to her dignity and position, was a woman of uncommon energy and acuteness. She was noted in her day for her zeal in aiding, as far as was in her power, the followers of the crown, and in defeating the plans of the rebellious colonists. In her the King possessed a faith- ful ally. In her hands his dignity was safe, and no insult offered to it, in her presence, could go unavenged." "Her wit and loyalty never shone more conspicuously than on the following occasion: When President John Adams was a young man, he was invited to dine with the court and bar at the house of Judge Paine, an eminent loyalist of Worcester. When the wine was circulating around the table, Judge Paine gave as a toast, 'The King.' Some of the Whigs were about to refuse to drink it, but Mr. Adams whispered to them to comply, saying, ' we shall have an opportunity to return the compliment.' At length, when he was desired to give a toast, he gave, 'The Devil.' As the host was about to resent the indignity, his wife calmed him and turned the laugh upon Mr. Adams, by immediately exclaiming, 'My dear! As the gentleman has been so kind as to drink to our King, let us by no means refuse, in our turn, to drink to his.' "Madam Paine, in passing the guard house, which stood nearly where the old Nashua Hotel stood in Lincoln square, heard the soldiers say, 'Let us shoot the old Tory.' She turned round facing them and said, ' Shoot if you dare ' and then she reported to General Knox the insult she had received, which was not repeated." She then lived in a house nearly opposite, on Lincoln street. It was in the door of this house, tradition says, she placed herself, when the Whig soldiers came to carry 20 off her loyal husband and told them they should not enter the house except over her prostrate body. The china dinner service used at the dinner referred to is still extant, or was so in the lifetime of the late Miss Susan Trumbull, who was Madam Paine's great-granddaughter. It is very evident, judging from the anecdotes told of my great- grandmother, that she had inherited many of the attributes of her great-great-grandfather, the old Indian fighter, Lion Gardiner. There are over twenty-five descendants of Madam Paine now living in Worcester, and a large number elsewhere — the most noted one at the present time being the eldest daughter of the President of the United States, who is her grandchild in the sixth generation. Judge Paine's house was situated at the lower part of, Lincoln street, a httle to the north of the "Hancock Arms," and with the exception of the house belonging to Governor John Hancock was the only one in the street. This latter house was sold in 1781 to Gov. Levi Lincoln the elder. The family must have been more than well off, judging from the style of their living, and the items mentioned in Mrs. Paine's "Will," which she bequeathed to her chil- dren show that her house was well furnished. "The crimson satin bed-cover," and "the silver butter boats," "the china" and other articles are indicative of more than easy circumstances. Her parlor chairs were imported from England and are still in existence, among her descen- dants. Her shoes with buckles, of which there were many, were formerly at her son's house, of English make, made of some silk material of different colors, with very high heels, and pointed toes, show that her style of dress was costly. Madam Paine must have inherited money from her father John Chandler, and when he died the widow, the mother of Timothy Paine, had set off to her £25,505, and besides this sum, her personal property was valued at £611. 11. 9; her silver-ware alone was valued at £84. 11. 8. One-fifth of all this property came at her death 21 to her son Timothy. Her slave was left to Mrs. Paine. The servants in the house were probably slaves, which I have heard were freed. In those days the hours were very primitive and I have heard some of the old people in the family say that the dinner hour was eleven or twelve o'clock, and that when Madam Paine gave her tea parties, the company came at three or four o'clock, and, having had supper at five, went home at sundown. Mr. and Mrs. Paine attended the South Church, the only one in Worcester in those days, though their children as they grew up seceded from it and helped to found the Second Parish, and when they passed away, they were laid in the cemetery on the Common. When the Rural Cemetery was arranged, my father endeavored to find their remains to have them re- moved, but could find no trace of them. When the late Governor Lincoln was married in 1807, he brought his bride to the Paine house. "Aunt Paine's house," Mrs. Lincoln used to call it, and as Mrs. Paine did not die until 1811, she must have passed the last years of her life with her son Dr. Paine, which fact would account for her personal property being left there. Mrs. Charlotte Bradish, the daughter of Nathaniel Paine, was born in the "old Paine House, by the two elm trees," in Lincoln street, in 1788. She told me of this fact herself. She married Timothy Paine Bradish in 1818 and died in Worces- ter in 1866. Timothy Paine, the husband of Sarah Chand- ler, was born in Bristol, R. I.. July 30th, 1730, and died in Worcester July 17, 1793, aged sixty- three years. His ancestor, Stephen Paine, of the parish of Great Ellingham, County of Norfolk, England, emigrated, in 1638, with his wife and three children, to America. Timothy was the great-grandson of Stephen, whom I judge to have been of small means, as his estate at his death was valued at only £535; the family, like that of the Chandlers, was evidently of humble origin, and I believe were millers in the old country. The mother of Timothy, the widow of Hon 22 Nathaniel Paine, married the third John Chandler, the father of Sarah whom Timothy later espoused. He came with her to Worcester at the age of eight years. I find in the catalogue of Harvard College that Timothy Paine be- longed to the class of 1748, and that he was, according to "dignity of family,'^ the fifth in his class. This custom, which seems so out of place in these latter days, of reg- istering the students according to their social position in the colony, was happily discontinued in 1772. "Soon after leaving college Mr. Paine was engaged in public affairs and the number and variety of offices which he held exhibit the estimation in which he stood. He was at different periods Clerk of the Courts; Register of Deeds; Register of Probate; member of the executive council of the Province; in 1774 he was appointed one of his Majesty's Mandamus Councillors; Selectman and Town Clerk; and Representative many years to the Gene- ral Court." "Sohd talents, practical sense, candor, sincerity, ability and mildness were the characteristics of his life. He was also Special Justice of the Supreme Court in 1771." "When the appeal to arms approached, between this country and Great Britain, many of the inhabitants of Worcester, most distinguished for talents, influence and honors adhered with constancy to the King. Educated with veneration for the sovereign to whom they had sworn fealty; indebted to his bounty for the honors and wealth they possessed, — loyalty and gratitude alike influenced them to resist acts which to them seemed treasonable and rebellious. We may respect the sincerity of motives, attested by the sacrifice of property, the loss of power, and all the miseries of confiscation and exile. The struggle between the patriotism of the people, and the loyalty of a minority, powerful in numbers, as well as talents, wealth and influence, arrived at its crisis in Worcester, early in 1774, and terminated in the total defeat of the loyalists. 23 Among the many grievances, the vesting the government in the dependents of the King, aggravated the irritation and urged to acts of violence. The weight of pubhc in- dignation fell on those appointed to office under the new acts, and they were soon compelled to lay aside their obnoxious honors. "Timothy Paine, Esq., had received a commission as one of the Mandamus Councillors. High as was the per- sonal regard and respect for the purity of private character of this gentleman it was controlled by the political feeling of a period of excitement, and measures were taken to compel his resignation of a post which was unwelcome to himself, but which he dared not refuse, when declining would have been construed as contempt for the authority of the King by whom it was conferred." The journals of the day best describe his treatment by the indignant Whigs. "The spirit of the people was never known to be so great since the first settlement of the colonies as it is at this time." "People in the county for hundreds of miles are prepared and determined to die or be Free." "August 23, 1774. "Yesterday, Mr. Paine, of Worcester was visited by nearly 3000 people; notice was given of the intended visit the day before, from one town to another, and though the warning was so short, the above mnnber collected, and most of them entered the town before 7 o'c in the morning. They all marched into the town in order, and drew up on the common, and behaved admirably well; they chose a committee of two or three men of each company to wait upon Mr. Paine, and demand a resigna- tion of his office as Councillor; that committee being large, they chose, from among themselves, a sub-committee, who went to his house, when he agreed to resign that office, and drew up an acknowledgment, mentioning his obligations to the county for favors done him, his sorrow 24 for taking the oath, and a promise that he never would act in that office contrary to the charter, and after that he came with the committee to the common, where the people were drawn up in two bodies, making a lane between them, through which he and the committee passed, and read divers times as they passed along, the said acknowledg- ment. At first one of the committee read the resignation of Mr. Paine in his behalf. It was then insisted that he should read it with his hat off. He hesitated and demanded protection from the committee. Finally he complied; and was allowed to retire to his dwelling." Tradition says that a bull joined this procession, and continued to bellow as it proceeded on the way, only stop- ping when Mr. Paine began to speak. Tradition also declares that in the excitement attendant upon this scene, Mr. Paine's wig was either knocked off, or fell off. But as it may be, from that day he abjured wigs, and never wore one again. The now dishonored wig in question he gave to one of his negro slaves, called "Worcester." "In the earlier days of the Revolution, some American soldiers quartered at his house repaid his perhaps too unwilfing hospitality and signified the intensity of their feelings towards him, by cutting the throat of his full length por- trait." This picture I remember very well and am probably the only person who can do so. After the death of Mr. and Mrs. Paine, it with other property of theirs was trans- ferred to the house of his son. Dr. Wm. Paine, and always hung over the fireplace, in what was then the dining- room. When the house was remodelled in 1836, after Dr. Paine's death, the picture disappeared, and I never knew what became of it. It represented a stout gentleman, sitting at a table on which were law books. He wore a wig and was dressed in a suit of drab coloi-ed clothes, with a red waistcoat. He wore knee-breeches, long stockings, with low shoes with buckles on them and the throat of the portrait was cut from ear to ear. Following the custom 25 of the English judges, Judge Paine used to drive to the court house when holding court in his glass coach, which must have been a mere form, for the court house was not more than five minutes' walk from his house. Among the other articles brought to Dr. Paine's house after Judge Paine's death, was this coach, which stood in what was called the "Chaise House" for many years. It was a very handsome vehicle, painted outside a sage green, with much glass and gilding about it and lined with satin of the same color, to match the outside. It was in fairly good repair when I remember it, and served as a play- thing for the children of the family. I don't know what became of it finally and I can only regret that this old carriage, which must have been imported from England, and my great-grandfather's portrait had not been preserved for his descendants. Timothy and Sarah Paine had nine children, the oldest being William, who was born in Worcester in 1750 and died there in April, 1833, aged eighty-three yeans. He graduated at Harvard College in 1768 with the rank of second in the class of forty-two members. In the college catalogue of the class of 1768 I read the following: "Wilham Paine A.M.; M.D. (Hon.) 1818; Fellow Am: Acad." One of his early instructors was John Adams, afterwards President of the United States, who was then reading law in the office of Hon. James Putnam at Worcester. He began the practice of medicine in Worcester in 1771. In that year Mr. Adams revisited Worcester after an absence of sixteen years, and notes his impressions of his former pupils as follows: "Here I saw many young gentlemen who were my scholars and pupils when I kept school here. John Chandler, Esq., of Petersham; Rufus Chandler the lawyer; and Dr. William Paine, who now studies physic with Dr. Holyoke of Salem; and others, most of whom began to learn Latin with me. Drank tea at Mr. Putnam's 26 with Mr. and Mrs. Paine, Dr. Holyoke's lady and Dr. Billy Paine. The doctor is a very civil, agreeable, and sensible young gentleman." Such an excellent memoir of Dr. Paine has been so recently issued by the American Antiquarian Society, in which the author deals so fully with his connection with the American Revolution, that I will not refer to it here. "To the last he was an inflexible loyalist in feeling. He possessed extensive professional learning, and was equally respected as a physician and a citizen and regained the confidence and long enjoyed the respect and esteem of the community." I was only seven years old when my grandfather died, but I remember him very well. At this time he had given up the practice of his profession, but he left his house every morning in his old chaise with an equally old horse to make a round of friendly visits. One of the last families in which he practiced was that of the late Gov. Levi Lincoln, and one of his daughters has told me with what regret her mother received the notice from him that he would make no more professional visits. I can see Dr. Paine now as he walked out to the piazza, an alert, well pre- served old gentleman, careful of his dress, which consisted of a dark blue dress coat, and drab colored trousers, with a bunch of seals hanging from his watch-fob, and on his head a beaver hat of drab color. His complexion was fair, his hair was snow white, and was brushed back from his face and tied in a queue bound with black ribbon, which ended with a bow of the same. His first call was upon his daughter Mrs. Rose, who lived at the corner of Main and School streets. Miss Rachel Rose in her letters, refers to him as "The Good Doctor," and I judge the family depended on him for guidance regarding their domestic affairs. Then there was his sister, Mrs. Bradish, to see, who then lived in the northern part of a double brick house, on the western side of Main street, belonging to the Flagg family, with her three granddaughters. In 27 the south side Uved Mr, Elisha Flagg, close to the bakery, famous on public days for soft crackers, and sugar ginger- bread. Miss Hannah Paine had married a gentleman by the name of Bradish. The Worcester Spy of Oct. 21, 1772, contains the following: "This day Ebenezer Bradish Esq., of Cambridge, was united in the most agreeable state of human life, to Miss Hannah Paine, daughter of Hon. Timothy Paine, Esq., of this place— of whom it may not be told her acquaintances, but she is one of the most de- serving of her sex." I remember seeing tliis old lady once, when she lived with her relative. Mis. Francis Blake, in the old Maccarty house. She died in 1841, leaving no descendants in Worcester. The next call would perhaps be on Mrs. Trumbull, who lived in Trumbull square, who had married Dr. Joseph Trumbull of Petersham. "The Worcester Spy of February 16, 1786, announces the fact of Dr. Trumbull's marriage to the very amiable Miss Elizabeth Paine, youngest daughter of the Hon. Timothy Paine, Esq., of this Town." Mr. Trumbull was a martyr to gout, and being somewhat of an artist, painted a picture of the devil touching his toes with red hot coals. He died in 1824. I never to my knowledge saw this great-aunt of mine, but I went to her funeral in the South Meeting House, she having died one year before her brother William. Mrs. Trumbull lived in a house, formed from the old court house, which had been given her by her sister Sarah, who had married a rich merchant of Boston, Mr. James Perkins. She also gave her the share of property whicii came to her under the "Will of her father Hon. Timothy Paine." The late George A. Trumbull was a son of Dr. Joseph Trumbull. A great-grandchild is the only descend- ant of Mrs. Trumbull living in Worcester. The visits of Dr. Paine included the family of his brother Nathaniel, and that of his cousin Mrs. Bancroft, as well as that of Mrs. Levi Lincoln, his kinswoman, upon whom 28 he continued to make friendly calls. His friends the Waldos and Salisburys, former patients, were not forgotten ; so the old gentleman was kept busy during the early part of the day, and after dinner he was ready for his armchair by the wood fire, reading and dozing the afternoon away. I recall his funeral in the church of the Second Parish, to which I went, and seeing him laid in the old Mechanic street Cemetery, from which he was removed with his wife to the Rural Cemetery at a later date. There was a light fall of snow the night previous, and the early spring flowers were showing their bright colors above their white covering. Dr. Paine had been presented during one of his visits to England to King George the Third and Queen Charlotte, wearing the court dress prescribed for medical men, which was a gray cloth coat, with silver buttons, a white satin waistcoat, satin smallclothes, silk hose, and wearing a sword, and a fall of lace from his cravat or collar, and lace ruffles in the sleeves. Until recently I had this lace in my possession. It was interesting to read some of his letters, written as he was about leaving England with the English army. In one of them he writes, "The Colonists had better lay down their arms at once, for we are coming over with an overwhelming force to destroy them." It is not to be wondered at, that he supposed the colonists were in no position to withstand the might and power of Great Britain. His wife and children seemed to have for a time remained with his father and mother while he was in England, but finding their position in Worcester unpleasant on account of their unpopular political opinions, she left and went to Rhode Island. I saw a letter some years ago written by Mr. Timothy Orne of Salem, Mrs. Dr. Paine's father, to Judge Paine, in which he reports the safe arrival of his daughter and family within the "British Lines." I suppose too they had small means, for Levi Lincoln the elder advised that Miss Esther Paine, 29 the oldest daughter of Dr. Paine, should be put out to service! "The Tory Dr.'s daughter" he called her. In those days, to use an Irish phrase, ''The Lincolns and Paines did not take tea together." The Whigs and Tories would not meet except as enemies. Dr. Paine's letters to his relatives in Lancaster were amusing, for he seems to have depended on them for some of his domestic supplies, and as a sample of the prices in those days, he writes, "If the butter is of extra quality I am willing to pay as high as nine pence per pound for it." There seems to have been gay doings in the old Paine house, when Sarah or, as her family called her, "Sally Paine" was married to Mr. Perkins. One of his sisters writes the following: "In case of my brother's marriage nearly eighty-nine suns have not entirely obliterated the incidents, although they have the dates; you have revived the memory of my journey from Boston to Worcester, with my brother, on the great occasion of his marriage; it was in the winter season, and in a small open sleigh. We happened to upset in a snow bank! This, too, with the remembrance of a sleighing party and a dance at Leicester, with its accom- panying jollification, are all the lingering memories of that by-gone time." This marriage took place in 1786. "Samuel Paine," the third child of Timothy and Sarah Paine, was born in Worcester in 1753; and died in 1807 in his father's house. "His name stands forth in the class of 1771, of Harvard College. He was as devoted a royalist as his brother William and soon incurred the displeasure of the patriot Whigs, and by the order of the town was arrested and sent away to be dealt with as the honorable congress shall think proper." In 1776, Mr. Paine accompanied the British army from Boston to Hali- fax and thence to England. He lived some years in London. The enjoyment of an annual pension of £84 from the English Government, with a patrimony not inconsiderable 30 for those days, precluded the necessity of his sharing those sufferings and privations encountered by too many devoted royahsts in their adopted country. He was a man of elegance and fashion in his day, and is said to have re- sembled in person and manners the Prince of Wales of that day, later George the Fourth. Mr. Paine in one of his letters describes the Battle of Bunker Hill, as he wit- nessed it from Beacon Hill and writes, "That d — d rebel Warren is dow^n," and in another he refers to him as an "old rascal." There were other brothers, but the only one I remember was "Uncle John," who lived in his father's old house in Lincoln street, an old gray haired gentleman, who used to call on my grandfather every day. He died six months before Dr. Paine. I have not here referred to the old Judge of Probate, Mr. Nathaniel Paine, for a long notice of him was written in connection with the Chandler house on Main street. The fourth of the seven stars and sixth child of John and Hannah Gardiner Chandler was Hannah, of whom I know nothing. She was born in 1727, married in 1750 to Samuel Williams of Roxbury and died in that town in 1804. At one time Mr. and Mrs. Williams resided in Worcester in the old Chandler house in Lincoln square. The fifth of the family was Lucretia, who became the third wife of Colonel John Murray of Rutland in 1761. At this period Miss Chandler was living in Boston with her brother-in-law Mr. Benjamin Greene, whose wife had died, in the care of his house and family. There appeared at this time in society in Boston a very handsome man by the name of Murray, of whose antecedents people seemed to be ignorant. He fell in love with the beautiful Miss Chandler, as she was styled, her two portraits by Copley seeming to bear out her right to be so called, and after her marriage they went to Rutland to live. This is all I can learn of her after leaving the luxurious home of her brother-in-law and the pleasant life she was leading in 31 "Boston Town," to reside in this dull little New England village, not a desirable place of residence now, and how much less so it must have been one hundred years and more ago. A large household of ten children, belonging to the first wife of Col. Murray, must have added to her far from attractive surroundings. Here she died, but I can find no record of the event, leaving one child, a daugh- ter, also named Lucretia, born in 1762, who died in 1836. Mrs. Murray's tomb stands quite near the entrance to the old grave-yard in Rutland, now much broken and disfig- ured. Tradition is responsible for the story that when the American soldiers went to arrest Col. Murray, for he was an ardent royalist, that, not finding him, they went to the grave of his wife and damaged her tombstone. This is one of the "family fictions" which should not have been disturbed, for on investigating the affair on the spot, I learned from the "oldest inhabitant," that this piece of vandalism was the work of mischievous boys. The story of the portrait of Col. Murray being shot at by the soldiers is true, for I have seen this picture, painted by Copley, in St, John, New Brunswick, hanging over the sideboard in the house of the Hon. Robert L. Hazen, a grandson of Colonel Murray. "There is a hole in the right breast, the size of a silver dollar; and the tradition in the family is that the party of soldiers who sought the colonel at his house after his flight, vexed because he eluded them, vowed they would leave their mark behind them and so sent a bullet through the canvas." Col. Murray is represented in a sitting position, in the dress of a gentleman of the day, and wearing a wig. Colonel Murray left his house in 1774, with his daughter Lucretia, taking with them the Copley portraits of himself and her mother, and fled to Boston. He in 1776 accom- panied the royal army to HaHfax, and from there went to England, but after a time returned to St. John, where he made a home with his daughter. He died in 1794, 32 and is buried in the new Rural Cemetery, over his grave being a plain white marble monument erected to his memory. After her father's death Miss Murray left St. John, leaving the Copley portrait of her father behind her, with Mr. Hazen, one of the descendants of his second wife, and taking with her the portrait of her mother, went to Lan- caster in Massachusetts to be with her relatives the " Chand- ler Family," and here she resided until her death, and was interred in the Chandler lot in the Cemetery. She is said to have been one of the plainest people in her per- sonal appearance who ever lived, and that she would stand before a looking-glass and say, "How could such a handsome father and mother have such an ugly child as I am." Miss Murray bequeathed the portrait of her mother to Mr. Nathaniel Chandler, and it now hangs in the old "Chandler House" in South Lancaster, a charming por- trait of a beautiful woman, the colors in the painting as fresh and bright as they were more than one hundred years ago when Copley painted her picture. The other portrait of Mrs. Murray by Copley remained in the Green family and I saw it just before the great Boston fire in 1872, when the building in which it was stored for the time being was destroyed with all its contents. It was a beautiful picture, representing Mrs. Murray sitting in an armchair, and Gardiner Green, her little nephew, standing by her side. This child, the cousin of Dr. Wm. Paine, became later the famous Boston merchant and married in England in 1800, Miss Copley, a daughter of Elizabeth Clarke and John Singleton Copley, the artist, and sister of Lord Lyndhurst the Lord Chancellor of England. There was always a mystery surrounding John Murray, regarding who he was and where he came from, but his descendants had some reasons for supposing that he was one of the "Athol Family" of Scotland, the surname of the Duke being Murray. Some years since one of Col. 3a Murray's descendants went to "Blair Athol," the family seat of the Dukes of Athol, hoping to hear something about him, and there found an old retainer of the family who recalled the fact that a younger member of the house had disappeared many years before, nothing ever being heard of him again, though it was supposed he had run away to America. When Miss Murray went to Lancaster to reside, she had with her some amount of silver plate, and on each piece was engrave^ the arms of the "Ducal House of Athol." She had small means and when she needed money used to sell this silver, one piece at a time, "In the grant of the town of Athol by the General Court, the first name was that of John Murray, who probably gave the name of his ancestral home to the new town." Col. Murray was very poor when he came to Rutland, and at first "peddled about the country," and then settled there and became a merchant. "He was a man of great influence in his vicinity and in the town of Rutland, which he represented many years in the General Court. On election days his house was open to his friends; and the good cheer dispensed free to all from his store told in his favor at the ballot box. His wealth, social position, and political influence, made him one of the colonial noblemen who lived in a style that has passed away in New England. He was in 1774 appointed by King George Third and Lord Dartmouth 'Mandamus' Councillor; but he was not sworn into that office, because a party of about five hundred stanch Whigs, repaired to his house in Rutland and re- quested him to resign his seat in the Council. These Whigs were a portion of the company who had compelled Judge Timothy Paine to take the same course, marching directly to Rutland on the same day. Col. Murray left a large estate when he fled to Boston, and in 1778 was proscribed and banished; and in 1779, lost his extensive property." He must have received with Mrs. Murray some considerable amount of money. 34 Elizabeth, the sixth daughter of Judge Chandler, was born in Worcester in 1732 and was married to Hon. James Putnam in 1754, by Chief Justice Sewall. He belonged to the "Danvers Family" of Putnam, was a graduate of Harvard College in 1746, and commenced the practice of law in Worcester in 1749. "His ability and learning soon gave him a flood of clients." One of his associates said of him: "Judge Putnam was an unerring lawyer, he was never astray in his law; he was I am incHned to think, the best lawyer in North America." "He was like all those connected with the 'Chandler Family' a zealous royalist, and on the eve of the Revolution, when the govern- ment party found itself voted down four to one in Worces- ter, he drew up with the assistance of his wife's nephew, Dr. William Paine, the Protest against the strong patriotic Whig votes, and proceedings of a previous town meeting, which protest stands ' illegibly ' expunged on the book of the town records. "One who had taken sides so strongly for his king could hardly fail to receive from the excited Whigs injuries and indignities in various ways. In 1775 Judge Putnam of Worcester, a firm friend of government, had two fat cows stolen and a very valuable gristmill burned and was obliged to leave a fair estate in Worcester and return to Boston. "He accompanied the British army to New York and thence he went to Halifax, and embarked for England in 1776, where he remained until the peace of 1783. In 1784 he was appointed a member of the Council of New Brunswick and Judge of the Supreme Court of that province. He resided in the city of St. John, and retained the office of Judge until his death in 1789, in his sixty-fourth year; and the tablet over his remains records not only his death, but that of his widow, my great-great-aunt, who died in 1798, aged sixty-six years." While in Worcester Judge Putnam lived on Main street, 35 on the corner of Park and his law office was on the opposite side of the street. In this office John Adams, the second president of the United States, studied law, and boarded in the family of James Putnam, while he was keeping the district school of the village. Mr. Adams says in his Diary, "When asked, in 1758, to settle in Worcester as an oppo- nent to the royalists and office-holders, the Chandlers, I declined, with this among other reasons. That as the Chandlers were worthy people and discharged the duties of their offices well, I envied not their felicity and had no desire to set myself in opposition to them, especially to Mr. Putnam, who had married a beautiful daughter of that family and had treated me with civility and kindness." Mrs. Putnam was rather short in stature, of dark complexion, and had dark hair and eyes. There are no descendants of this family in Worcester or else- where. "James Putnam, the oldest son of Judge Putnam, was born in 1756 and died in England in 1838. He was at Harvard College in 1774; refugee in 1775; and one of the eighteen 'Country Gentlemen' who were driven to Boston, and who addressed Governor Gage on his departure. He became intimate at one time with the Duke of Kent. He was barrack master, member of his household, and was one of the executors of his will." The seventh daughter of Judge Chandler was Katherine, the youngest of the family. "These ladies, from tlieir beauty, intelligence and social position were called 'The Seven Stars.' " She was born in Worcester in 1735, and married Colonel Levi Willard of Lancaster in Worcester County. He was a merchant there under the firm of Willard & Ward. Their house was in South Lancaster, nearly opposite the "Chandler Mansion," standing among the beautiful elms of that town, while the trading house of the firm, the largest in the county of Worcester in their day, stood a Uttle more to the south of it, near the street. 36 Their store was also nearly opposite, a little to the south of the house of his partner in business, Mr. Samuel Ward, now the "Chandler House." This trading house I sup- pose to have been one of the depots for storing goods, to which I have referred in connection with Petersham, from which the local shopkeepers in the small villages in the vicinity were supplied with what they needed for their customers. Mr. Willard's estate was inventoried after liis departure for England as a refugee at £6538, and was confiscated. He returned in 1785, "Mrs. Willard in her advanced years was timid and singular about some tilings. One was, she was so fearful, when about to drive, that she would get into her chaise before the horse was harnessed in." She and her husband were laid in the old part of the grave- yard in South Lancaster, and a double tombstone stands at the head of their graves. There are a number of their descendants living, but not in Worcester County, and not of their name. Madam Prescott, the mother of the his- torian, William H. Prescott, once lived in the "Willard Family," being, as a child, sent from the West Indies to go to school, which she did in the little old brick school- house, which I believe is still standing. There was a ghost story connected with the Willard house. One of the sons of Mrs. Willard left the house one morning with horse and chaise to drive to Boston. A few days later, he was seen towards evening driving up the avenue, not only by his mother, but by other members of the family, going towards the stable. As he did not make his appearance in the house, Mrs. Willard sent someone to see where he was, and to her amazement it was discovered that no one in the rear of the house had seen him, and the horse and chaise were not there. In those days it took a long time for a letter to reach South Lancaster from Boston, but when one arrived it announced the sudden death of Mr. 37 Willard at the very moment when he had been seen by the family in the avenue! Here ends my sketch of the "Chandler Family" in Worcester and Worcester County, the materials of which have been gleaned from the researches of others, mingled with old-time stories which have been handed down from one generation to another in the family. It is imperfect- ly drawn, but it may serve "to keep in remembrance the names and services of this ancient and once numerous" Tory family. P. S. — In a former paper concerning "Three Old Houses," I have referred to Mr, and Mrs. Levi Lincoln as going to the "old Chandler House" to hve after their marriage. It seems I was misinformed, and from a reliable source I learn that they spent some time in the old Timothy Paine house in Lincoln street before moving to Lincoln square. An amusing incident occurred while they were in resi- dence here. Miss Ann Sever, the sister of Mrs. Lincoln, was on a visit to the latter, and being in her youth con- sidered a great beauty, had many admirers. One day she saw one of them on whom she had not smiled approach- ing the house, and hoping he had not seen her, she escaped and hid in a closet under the stairs. He had seen her, however, and meaning to punish her for escaping him, not only called at the house, but remained to tea, and for some time later, and it was only after his departure she could free herself. Miss Sever married Dr. John Brazer, a native of Worcester, and the pastor of the North Church in Salem. LB '08 A SKETCH OF THE CHANDLER FAMILY, IN WORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS. BY MRS. p:. o. p. sturgis. PRIVATELY PRINTED. LIBRftRY OF CONGRESS 021 549 417 2 I'l'i'': ■''''' ''■■■■^^ :;:;;., .,;,;:;;J;;!;;;;X;;;;'rftpj i ■ < ' ; ' I ' (j* ' \ ' i . »*i ■ ' r - .-.''',' M ■''■■■;':'■';■,•;;!■;'? > ' '. ■■'■■,'.',',' ,1,'',' ' ' t / 'J?l :;;';'-'';':':'.'';';'.':;';';''!;;a| ■ ['■'■''.': ■ '■'rl':-:^l>','-'i'l'V^ui ;■:■.■, :'^y■y.:;;'':■■u; ii^:i__ :•'•■■■■■' ■' ; ;■■'■■';'■■;•;■;' if?l ■.':■;■'•■■' : ''.^••;';''-'' iiN'^'fL. ■.'.'■■■' ' ' ■'. '-ji '''',' ''^i*; ■ :'\ ';■:•;.;■■.-;;;■:■••;; ;o';!ii^ -•■■''^ ■-' ■'":'-';;'"!':■;!!*' ' ' * . ,','.'■',' ^ '. * ' ' . ' . ■':'■ .'''•■•■,'•,!, ',< ;■ ■'•■■^■■' '■,■', I'r'yri'i'l-l-l ['ii[ •'■'■';■' :';■;';•;!';';';■;';■=';;!;;;; ' ' ' ' '■''''■''■'' i' ' ^ i',' ! '■';''''