History

Welcome to the transcription of the Stearns History of Ashburnham, a part time project to allow the availability to all of this magnificent piece of work, more will appear as time allows. I believe all copyrights have expired. The numbers represent the actual page numbers in the original copy of the book, please verify any suspected mistakes there as the English and spelling of the time were copied directly from the book and it does not always agree with today's use and spelling. A technical problem lies in the fact that my word processor does not have the correct fonts to correctly transcribe the examples of early text that the author used. All red print are my personal additions to the text. Christopher Gagnon

“Whatever strengthens our local attachments is favorable both to individual and national character. Show me a man who cares no more for one place than another, and I will show you in that same person one who loves nothing but himself.”

This volume is presented in response to a popular demand. The enterprise was instituted and sustained by a generous desire of the citizens of Ashburnham to secure the publication of the history of the town. The initial action to this end is found in a vote of the town in 1880, making choice of Wilbur F. Whitney, Rev. Josiah D. Crosby, Simeon Merritt and William P. Ellis to make preliminary arrangements for the compilation and publication of a volume. By subsequent votes of the town the committee has been directed to consummate the work.

In 1882 Mr. Merritt died, and George F. Stevens was elected by the town to complete the original number of the committee. Subsequently, on account of age and feeble health, Mr. Crosby resigned, and Mr. Charles Winchester was designated to fill the vacancy. Mr. Ellis was appointed by the committee to gather material and family registers, and from this point the work has been prosecuted without interruption.

Early in the spring of 1884 the committee contracted with Hon. Ezra S. Stearns, of Rindge, New Hampshire, to write a History of Ashburnham, following a general plan which he submitted for our consideration, and which met our approbation.

Mr. Stearns has faithfully and ably fulfilled the obligation he assumed, and has produced a work which meets our warmest approval and unqualified endorsement. Yielding to the express desire of the author, we reluctantly refrain from a more particular expression of our estimate of the sterling character of the volume and of our ready appreciation of the vigor of thought and felicity of expression which will not escape the attention of the reader.

A New England town can allege no antiquity. Only in a comparative sense can one assume the dignity of age. The municipal history of Ashburnham is compressed within the brief span of one hundred and fifty years, and of this period the first two decades are isolated from the connected narrative of the remainder. The drama is limited in duration, yet the scenes are crowded with events. At the threshold stands the surveyor with his compass and chain, the emblems of approaching civilization, ready to sever from the wilderness a defined area and limit the stage on which will appear the shifting scenes of succeeding years. The early settler, struggling with the subjugation of the forest, and, in the dying flame and fading smoke of the clearing, rearing a cabin and garnering the product of a virgin soil, the mechanic in daily toil dreaming not that he is founding industries that will become swelling tributaries to the commerce of the world, the Revolutionary sildier breathing into life his aspierations of liberty, and in the fruits of war revealing the possibility of a republican form of government, the meeting-house on the hill, the settlement and labor of “the learned orthodox minister,” the early schools, the primitave roads broadening by use into thoroughfares, the rude mills exhibiting only the elements of mechanical skill,

are a part of the history of every New England town, and each occupies a place in the following chapters. And yet throughout the work, in early and in later affairs, it has been my constant aim to present, in a proper light, the forms of procedure and the phases of character peculiar to this town. The stereotyped features, which in the force and sequence of events are common to the history of all New England towns, have been mainly employed as connecting links in the succession of events or as mirrors to the individuality of Ashburnham. The glory of any town is reflected in the lives of sterling men whose deeds are the soul of its annals. In the following chapters, generation has succeeded generation, and each has left to posterity the strengthening influence of an inspiring example. In local history is found the most potent incentive to activity of life and an honorable conduct. The nearness and familiarity of the exemplars animate the example.

During a review of these many years I have found entertainment, which can be renewed by the reader, in silently noting the types of mind and character developed by the several families which have constituted the population of the town, - each generation exhibiting the balances between extremes of character and ability that incite comparisions and suggest conclusions. The summary record of achievement and conduct demonstrates that the genius of Ashburnham has been persevering, that the average ability of the citizen has been conspicuous, and the general character of the masses has been well sustained.

Without an interruption of the narrative in an exhibition of the fact, it has been my purpose to supplement the deeds of men with an effort to also portray the habit and thought, the manners and customs, the aspirations and passions of

each generation, and to state facts in such a manner that the reader be left at full liberty to draw suggested conclusions. Leaving the discussions of philosophies to more pretentious volumes, it has remained our pleasurable labor to revive fading memories, to give form and substance to the shadows of the past, to clothe in the habiliments of truth the fugitive forms of tradition, to assign to deeds of men the inspiration of a good or an unworthy motive, to present a picture of the past in which can be seen in clearer light the outlines of the present, and to combine the past with the present in an connected narrative of sequence and fact. Not to the manner born nor at any time a resident of Ashburnham, I have often gleaned in the field at a disadvantage, but I have been free from the prejudices of familiarity, and in this effort have not been misguided by the vivid impressions and false estimates of childhood and youth.

The fields, from which the material of the following chapters has been garnered, are the town and church records, the manuscript volumes in the State archives, manuscripts and printed volumes wherever found, and registry and probate records of several counties. Cemeteries with their rigid inscriptions and family records, preserved by pious care, have supplied many dates that could not be secured from other sources. To the custodians of the numerous records that have been laid under tribute, and to a multitude of friends who have rendered cheerful and valued assistance, my weighty obligations are revived in the memory of polite attention and spontaneous kindness. A generous measure of genealogical information has been obtained at the library of the New England Historic-Genealogical Society, and to John Ward Dean, A.M., and

his obliging assistants, I am indebted beyond the conventional forms of acknowledgment. And duty joins with pleasure in an unreserved expression of my gratitude to Harriet P. Poore, whose familiarity with the repositories of historic and genealogical lore has aided successful research for many dates and facts not easily accessible. To Wilbur F. Whitney, William P. Ellis, George F. Stevens and Charles Winchester, who have faithfully represented the town in the preparation and publication of this volume, I am pleased to express personal obligations for courteous treatment and polite attention. Their zeal and interest in the prosecution of the work have been a constant incentive, and their prompt attention in the proffer of facilities has anticipated every reasonable requirement. The committee has relieved me from the embarrassment of censorship and the restraint of dictation, and, in a proper recognition of the fact, I assume responsibility for errors, for failure of judgement and for all imperfections which appear in the following pages.

It should be borne in mind that many of the following chapters were written two years ago, and that mention of present time has reference to the beginning of the year 1886. The mention of a subsequent event and the employment of a later date are gratuitous amendments to the plan originally adopted.

Location. – Boundaries. – Area. – Surface. – Soil. – Course of the Streams. – Connecticut and Merrimack Drainage. – Ponds. – Arboral Products. – Wild Animals. – Native Birds. – Fish. – Elevations. – Scenery.

Seven Grants of Land. – The Policy of the General Court. – An Era of Grants. – The Starr Grant. – Owned by Green, Wilder and Joslin, - The Cambridge Grant. – The First Survey. – The Lexington Grant. – Sale of same to the Germans. – The Bluefield Grant. – The Early Road to Northfield. – The Grant Sold to William Jones and Ephraim Wetherbee. – The Converse Grant. – Sale to Joseph Wilder. – The Rolfe Grant. – Sale to John Greenwood. – The Dorchester Canada of Township Grant. – The Canada Soldiers. – Four Towns Chartered in One Enactment. – The Township Surveyed. – Area. – Personal Notices. 27-51

The Township Awarded to Sixty Persons. – Their Influence over the Settlement. – Proceedings of the First Meeting. – Changes in Membership of the Proprietors. – House Lots Surveyed. – Site for Meeting-house Selected. – Saw-mill Proposed. – Second Distribution of Land. – A Fulling-mill Suggested. – The First Meeting-house. – War with Hezekiah Gates. – The Province Line. – Mossman’s Inn. – Fear of Indians. – Block House Built. – The Settlement Temporarily Abandoned. – The Situation. – Changes in Membership of the Proprietors. – Personal Notices. – Mossman’s Petition. 52-79

Renewed Activity of the Proprietors. – Moses Foster. – The Second Sawmill. – Grain-mill. – Settlement. – Disagreement between Resident and Non-resident Proprietors. – Names of Early Settlers. – The German Settlement. – The Province Line. – Manufacture of Potash. – Distribution of Undivided Lands. – Farewell to the Proprietors. – Personal Notices. 80-107

Incorporation. – The Petitions of the Inhabitants and of the Proprietors. – The Name of Ashfield Proposed. – The Charter. – Early Town Meetings. – Ashby Incorporated. – Contribution to Ashby. – New Arrivals. – Salary of the Minister. – Schools. – Abatement of the Province Tax. – Revolutionary Flashes. – Death of First Minister. – The Common. – Tax List, 1770. – Price of Commodities. – A Pound and Field Drivers. – Gardner First Suggested. – Warning Out. 108-130

Situation of the Town. – The Covenant. – Worcester Convention. – The Juror List. – Represented in Provincial Congress. – Powder and Lead. – The Militia Organized. – Prominent Citizens Interviewed. – The Salt Problem. – Alarm at Lexington. – Captain Gate’s Company. – Captain Davis’ Company. – The Siege of Boston and Battle of Bunker Hill. – Captain Wilder’s Company. – The Declaration of Independence. – Enlistments in 1776. – An Hour of Gloom. – Town Proceedings. – Soldiers in 1777. – Alarm and call for Troops. – The Response of Ashburnham. – Continental and Other Soldiers. – Public Aid. – Assent to the Articles of Confederation. – Depreciation of the Currency. – The Soldiers in the Field. – New Recruits. – Clothing for the Army. – Alas! One Deserter. – Soldiers in 1779. – Representative to General Court. – Price of Commodities. – Constitution Proposed. – Thanksgiving. – Soldiers in 1780. – Town Meetings. – Observance of the Sabbath. – Soldiers in 1781. – Bounty Proposed. – A Fine Remitted. – Requisitions for Beef. – Home Trials. 131-176

Personal Notices. – Ebenezer Munroe. – Abraham Lowe. – Joseph Jewett. – Samuel Kelton. – Reuben Townsend. – Isaac Stearns. – William Stearns. – Isaac Whitmore. – Charles Hastings. – David Wallis. – Cyrus Fairbanks. – Ebenezer Wallis. – Thomas Gibson. – Jonas Rice. – Reuben Rice. – Eliakim Rice. – Jabez Marble. – Lemuel Stimson. – Abraham Townsend. – John Bowman. – Joshua Fletcher. – Joseph Merriam. – Asa Brocklebank. – Jonathan Gates. – Jonathan Samson. – Ezekiel S. Metcalf. – David Clark. – David Chaffin. – Ebenezer B. Davis. – Isaac Merriam. – David Merriam. – John Winter. – William Ward. – Edward Whitmore. – Reuben Rice. – Abraham Lowe. – Joseph Jewett. – Reuben Townsend. – Lemuel Stimson. – Jonas Rice. – Jabez and Oliver Marble. – Thomas Gibson. – Charles Hastings. – Joseph Gibbs. – David Wallis. – Cyrus Fairbanks. – Joshua Fletcher. – Joseph Merriam. – Names of Pensioners Residing in Ashburnham in 1840. 177-210

A Season of Disquietude. – Shay’s Revolt. – The Loyal Sentiment of Ashburnham. – Volunteers to Suppress the Revolt. – Isaac Stearns’ Diary. – A Bloodless Campaign. – Constitutional Conventions. – Representation in the Legislature. – Vote of the Town for Governor. – Proposed Divisions of the County. – A List of Town Officers. 211-242

Early Measures to Secure Preaching. – Rev. Elisha Harding. – Call and Ordination of Rev. Jonathan Winchester. – A Church Embodied. – The Covenant. – Original Membership. – Additions. – The First Deacons. – Death of Mr. Winchester. – His Character. – Call and Ordination of Rev. John Cushing. – A Long and Successful Ministry. – An Era of Concord. – Discipline without Asperity. – Half Way Covenant. – Death of Mr. Cushing. – His Character. – Call and Ordination of Rev. George Perkins. – Installation of Rev. George Goodyear. – Rev. Edwin Jennison. – Rev. Elnathan Davis. – Rev. Frederick A. Fiske. – Rev. Elbridge G. Little. – Rev. Thomas Boutelle. – Rev. George E. Fisher. – Rev. Moody A.
Stevens. – Rev. Leonard S. Parker. – Rev. Daniel E. Adams. – Rev. Josiah D. Crosby. – A Vacancy. – The Deacons. 243-283

The First Meeting-house. – Votes Concerning the Edifice. – Pews Constructed. – The Town as a Parish. – The Salary of Mr. Cushing. – The Hurricane. – The Site of the First Meeting-house. – The Second Meeting-house. – Proceedings 1791. – Painting of the Meeting-house. – Toleration. – Dissolution of the Relations between the Town and the Church. – First Parish Organized. – Contention over the Ministerial Fund. – The Third Meeting-house. – Location. – Continued History. – The Edifice Remodelled. – The Parsonage. 284-308

The Methodists. – The Field and the Situation. – The Early Preachers. – The First Meeting-house. – Second Meeting-house. – The Misisters.

The Union Church. – The Elements Collected. – The Meeting-house. – A Church Embodied. – The Early Preachers. – Elder Edwin A. Rollins. – Rev. A.A. Whitmore. – Temporary Supplies. – Rev. Daniel Wight. – The Parish. – Personal Notices. – The Deacons.

The Baptists. – Preachers Without Pay. – Stephen Gibson. – Disintegration.

The Catholics. – First Services in this Town. – Purchase a Meeting-house. – Rev. John Conway. 309-323

A Truthful Remark of No Great Account. – Early Action in Relation to Sacred Music. – Ye Pitch-pipe. – Early Hymn-books. – New Tunes. – First Choristers. – Deaconing the Hymn. – Bass Viol. – Musical Families. – Later Members of the Congregational Choir. – The Methodist Choir. 324-330

Home Education. – First Appropriation for Schools. – First School-houses. – Districts. – Eight Districts Defined. – A New District. – The Tenth District. – New Boundaries. – The Eleventh District. – The District System Aolished. – School-houses. – Text-books. – Teachers. – Appropriations. – School Legislation. – High Schools. – Prudential Affairs. – Supervision. 331-349

Incidental Features of the Endowment. – The Will of Thomas Parkman Cushing. – The Trustees. – Progress of Events. – Winchester Square. – The Edifice. – Dedication. – The School Fund. – Jewett Hall. – The Crosby Scholarship. – Library and Apparatus. – Professor Pierce. – Professor Vose. – Board of Trustees, Past and Present. 350-359

Donation of Land to Other Towns. – Original Area. – Province Line. – Incorporation of Ashby. – Gardner. – Area Served from Ashburnham. – The Families. – Land Annexed to Ashby. – The Petitioners. – Ashburnham Residents. – New Boundaries. – The Families. – A New Town Proposed. – Meeting-house Built. – Renewed Effort and Opposition. – John Ward and William Barrell Annexed. – Petition of George Wilker and others. 360-371

The Primitive Roads. – The Northfield Road. – Early Roads in Ashburnham. – The Great Road to Ipswich Canada. – A County Road. – Road to Ashby Line. – New Roads. – The Town Indicted. – Other County Roads. – South Turnpike. – The Winchendon Road Amended. – Turnpikes. – Teaming. – Expenditure. – Road Commissioners. – Railroads. 372-388

The First Inn. – Several Early Inn Holders. – Uncle Tim’s. – The Cockerel Tavern. – Two Hotels on Main Street. – Children of the Woods. – A New Tavern. – The Central House. – The Frye Tavern. – The Tavern at Factory Village.

The Stores. – The First Store. – The Jewetts and their Successors. – Madame Cushing a Merchant. – Several Small Stores. – The Winchesters. – Adams and Greenwood. – Ellis and Lane. – Newton Hayden. – Parker Brothers. – Marble and Gilson. – George Rockwood. – Elliot Moore. – Mirick Stimson. – Store in South Ashburnham. 389-400

Prominent Position of Ashburnham. – Three Early Mills. – A Multitude of Grain-mills and Saw-mills. – The Manufacture of Chairs. – The Great Number Engaged. – John Eaton. – The Pioneers. – Philip R. Merriam. – Charles and George Winchester. – The Boston Chair Manufacturing Company. – W. F. Whitney. – The Manufacture of Chairs in South Ashburnham. – Burrageville. – Tubs and Pails. – Thread Spools. – Friction Matches. – Baskets. – Miscellaneous Wood-ware. – Wool Carding and Cloth Dressing. – Cotton Factories. – Tanning. – Morocco Business. – John and S. W. Putnam. 401-423

Zeal in Military Pursuits. – Early Officers. – The Light Infantry Organized. – First Commanders. – A Few Veterans. – Service in War of 1812. – The Roll. – Years of Prosperity. – List of Officers 1791 to 1847. – Promotions. – The Militia Company. – Militia Officers. – The Draft 1814. – History from 1855 to 1862. – Brief Record from 1866 to Present Time. – List of Officers. 424-439

Prepared For War. – Mission of the Ashburnham Light Infantry. – Early Enlistment. – Second Regiment. – The Home Company. – The Uniform. – Liberality of George C. Winchester. – State Aid. – Twenty-first Regiment. – Its Record. – Names of Men in this Service. – Colonel Joseph P. Rice. – Captain Walker and the Slavery Problem. – Other Enlistments in 1861. – Record of 1862. – Fifty-third Regiment. – Resolutions. – Record of 1863. – The Draft. – Enlistments. – The Second Draft. – Conclusion. 440-463

Chapter XX. Physicians. – Lawyers. – Personal Notices. – College Graduates. – Other Sons of Ashburnham.

Doctors, Brooks, Senter, Abraham Lowe, Abraham T. Lowe, Nathaniel Peirce, Abercrombie, Cutler, Stone, Miller, Wallace, Whitmore, Mattoon, Temple, Jillson, Charles L. Pierce, Stickney, Amory Jewett, Nathaniel Jewett. – Lawyers, Cunningham, Adams, Parker and Andrews. – Samuel Wilder. – Joseph Jewett. – Ivers Jewett. – Jacob Willard. – Silas Willard. – John Adams. – Enoch Whitmore. – Jerome W. Foster. – Ohio Whitney. – Isaac Hill. – Thomas Parkman Cushing. – Milton Whitney. – A List of College Graduates. – Other Sons of Ashburnham. 464-517

Pauperism. – Tithingmen. – Town House. – Union Hall. – Post Offices. – Libraries. – First National Bank. – Savings Bank. – Farmer’s Club. – Pounds. – Bounties on Wild Animals. – Thief Detecting Society. – Brass Band. – Powder House. – Population. 518-540

The Early Burrials. – Death of Mr. Haskell – Germans Burried Elsewhere. – The Old and the New Cemeteries. – Suicides. – Accidental Deaths. – Record of Deaths of Aged Persons. – List of Aged Persons now Living in Ashburnham. 541-555

A Present to Rev. John Cushing. – Seating the Meeting-house. – Minor Topics. – A New Town Proposed. – A New Name Suggested for Ashburnham. – A War Cloud. – Sickness. – A Severe Winter. – A Variety. – The Great Gale. – The First Fire Engine. – Temperance. – Millerites. – The Great Freshet. – Miscellaneous Topics. 556-573

Ezra S. Stearns, Frontis / Josiah D. Crosby 281 / A.T. Lowe 466 / William H. Cutler 469 / Jerome W. Foster 485 / Ohio Whitney Jr. 486 / H. C. Hobart 502 / Ivers W. Adams 592 / Joseph Cushing 666 / Rodney Hunt 762 / Simeon Merritt 825 / Loring Munroe 839 / Ivers Phillips 848 / Ohio Whitney 962 / Wilbur

Second Meeting House 295 / Congregational Church 306 / Cushing Academy 356 / The Brick Store 396 / Factories: Boston Chair Manufacturing Co. 413, Wilbur F. Whitney 414 / Powder House 539 / Adams Homestead 586 / Peter Hunt Homestead 761 / Residence: Dr. N. Jewett 765 / The Wilder Homestead 849 / Residence: Dr. A. L. Stickney 909 / The Ohio Whitney Homestead 962 / Residence: Charles Winchester 996

Ashburnham is the most eastern of the three towns in Worcester county in Massachusetts bordering upon New Hampshire and is bounded on the north by Rindge and New Ipswich; on the east by Ashby and Fitchburg; on the south by Westminster and Gardner and on the west by Winchendon. The old common on Meeting-house hill is fifty-five miles in right line northwest from Boston, and thirty-one miles north from Worcester, and is in latitude 42° 38¢ north, and longitude 4° 10¢, very nearly, east from Washington. The area of the town is about twenty-four thousand five hundred acres including about one thousand five hundred acres of water. The surface is hilly and diversified. Without ranges or systems of hills the outlines of the landscape are bold and majestic, and promontories are frequent, yet isolated. Many of the elevations are bold and rugged, while others are rounded and elevated swells of land fertile to the summit. There is very little plain and intervale. The streams are gathered in broken and narrow valleys.

The soil of Ashburnham is that common to the hill towns in this vicinity. When placed in comparison it is even stubborn and rocky, yet in most parts arable and productive. The surface is well watered. The subsurface is clay retaining moisture and springs of the purest water are abundant.

The altitude of this town is greater than that of the surrounding country on the east, south and west. The courses of the streams are outward except in the north. The line of water-shed between the Connecticut and Merrimack valleys extends diagonally through the town. The line of division is irregular but is easily traced from Great Watatic to Little Watatic, thence southerly and over the low ridges between Upper Naukeag and Rice pond to the old common. Diverging to the north and west the line extends near the ancient Winchendon road Coughlin Road past the residence of Edwin Hayward to near the John Woods farm, the intersection of Rt. 12 and Hunter Ave. thence southerly into the forest about one mile near the intersection of the Cheshire Rail bed and Old County road and thence westerly and southwesterly jagged fashion about two miles to the southeast corner of Winchendon to Town Line Hill.

The northwestern or Connecticut slope is drained into Miller’s river. The Upper Naukeag lake which flows into Lower Naukeag is the source of the south branch of that river. At the Lower Naukeag it receives a copious affluent from the northeast. This stream rises in Binney pond in New Ipswich and receives the drainage of a considerable portion of the eastern slope of New Ipswich mountains. It enters this town, at Wallace Pond on Rt. 119, through the farm of Edwin J. Stearns and flows, under Stearns Road into the old cranberry bog, under Ferin Road and Lake Shore Drive and into Lake Watatic, thence through the village of North Ashburnham and into the Lower Naukeag. In its onward course from this lake the next considerable tributary to the south branch of Miller’s is the modest contribution of Rindge, the outflow from Pecker Pond and a small stream that crosses Ferin Road originating in a bog north of that road forming the Bear Meadow Brook which flows past the mills of Robert W. McIntire (Now Clayton Whitney’s property # East Rindge Road) combined with the Bluefield Brook which drains the lowlands west of Lake Watatic, crosses under East Rindge Road and merges with Bear Meadow near State Forest land north of Young Road, flows under Young and Dunn Road into Sunset Lake, and joins the stream north of Burrageville (intersection of Rt. 12 and Depot Road). The river thus reinforced abruptly leaves the town but repenting before a mile is traversed, it returns and patiently drives the

mills at Burrageville, the mill pond lying north-south and divided by the town line (1870 map). In compensation for exhausted energy it soon receives a tributary from the south Cheshire Pond outflow or a reference to the Otter River which flowed through a portion of the original Ashburnham as Bailey Brook, now in Gardner and rushes on to its many tasks below until it falls into the Connecticut near Greenfield. By this river a half of the town is drained. The source of the brook rising in New Ipswich and flowing through this town is the extreme eastern point of the Connecticut valley.

The southeastern or Merrimack slope is divided into four sections and is drained by as many streams flowing outward. The first drainage is in the northeast part of the town and embraces the basin defined by Great Watatic, Little Watatic and Blood Hill. Here the overflow of Stoger meadow and a few smaller streams faling into Ward pond and thence into Watatic pond give rise to a branch of the Souhegan river. Its course is through the north part of Ashby and New Ipswich and onward to the Merrimack river at the town of Merrimack New Hampshire.

The second drainage is of small area lying between Blood and Russell hills and embraces portions of the Dutch and Cambridge farms. The streams leave this town near the residence of Joseph W. Wilker (# Rindge Turnpike) and fall into the Ashby reservoir (now Fitchburg Reservoir, (1842 Nashua Reservoir Company) dammed on two sides, and also heads Falulah Brook). Here the collected water assumes the name of Willard’s brook and is tributary to the Squanicook river in Townsend.

The third drainage is bounded on the north and east by the Connecticut slope and the first and second sections of the Merrimack slope. The western boundary is the height of land from Meeting-house hill, thence south across the the farm of Joseph Harris (Allan's on sharp corner at # Cashman Hill Road) to the line of Westminster. The water collected at Rice or Reservoir pond (Lake Winnekeag) is drained by Phillip’s brook flowing through the centre village and onward through the northeast part of Westminster into Fitchburg called Nookagee Brook 1764 map of Fitchburg, page 99, The City And The River.

southwest and remaining area of the town. Here are several artificial ponds but no natural bodies of water. The drainage is collected in the stream Whitman River rising in the Nashua reservoir, Dam built 1842-44 Nashua Reservoir Co. 233 acres of water now called Ballou and subsequently Wampanoag, and flowing through the village of South Ashburnham and thence through Westminster in a course nearly parallel with Phillip’s brook to the line of Fitchburg. At this point it abruptly turns to the north and unites with Phillip’s brook at West Fitchburg. The Whitman River joins the Nashua River in West Fitchburg, this is the abrupt turn as it does not join the Phillip’s Brook. Dashing on in a first embrace through the rocky valley of Fitchburg it more leisurely pursues its way through Leominster and Lancaster to a point between Groton and Shirley where it receives the Squanicook, bearing the waters of the second drainage. Together the triune river engulfed in stronger currents falls into the Merrimack river at Nashua. Perhaps somewhere in the river-bed they recognize and mingle with the clear waters from Watatic pond which in its onward course to the ocean has wandered through the valley of the Souhegan. Fallulah or Baker’s brook flowing into Fitchburg and a small stream flowing into Westminster are tributary in a short distance to the larger streams and are not considered separately.

There are eight natural ponds in this town; four are tributary to the Connecticut and four to the Merrimack river.

The Upper Naukeag or Meeting-house pond, beneath the towering summits of the surrounding hills and dotted with rugged islands, is a lake of peculiar beauty and attraction. The water is clear and cool and the basin unusually free from sediment. The shores are mainly rocky, sometimes bold and rugged, in other places pure sand of sparkling whiteness forms the encircling barrier and extends beneath the surface of the crystal water, but nowhere is the lake approached by low and marshy ground. This lake and the Watatic mountains were known to the explorers before the settlement of the town. The names undoubtedly are

of Indian origin, but the original sound has been so imperfectly preserved and the names have experienced so many changes in English orthography that students of the Indian dialects fail to discover the original signification of the terms. Professor Trumbull, a recognized authority, has examined these names in every form orthography and fails to find in them any element that designates either pond or mountain.

The Lower Naukeag Lake is less rugged in outline. At the eastern extremity the accumulating deposit of centuries has appeared above the surface of the water and many acres of lowland are included within the original basin of the lake. The drainage is controlled by artificial obstruction.

A Nameless Pond (Mud) of small area is found in the forest and surrounded by marsh. It is situated a short distance west of Little Watatic and is tributary to the stream which flows through North Ashburnham.

Another Nameless Pond, (Cheshire Pond) a lonely sheet of water, is found in the marsh in the northwest part of the town. It is near the line of the Cheshire railroad and midway between the depots at North and South Ashburnham. It is tributary to the south branch of the Miller’s river at Burrageville. The course of the stream is northwest and near the line of the Cheshire railroad.

Rice Pond (Winnekeag) is the most important body of water in the Merrimack drainage. The dam at the outlet controls the natural current and overflows the original boundaries. The declivity of the shores is generally uniform and the natural features and contour of the pond are generally preserved. At the present time it is frequently called Reservoir pond, formerly East Pond and in 1735 it was known as Wenecheag pond.

Lincoln Mud Pond of small area is tributary to Rice pond and is situated about one-half mile northwest of it.

Ward pond, formerly known as Whiteman pond, is a gem among the lakes guarded and nurtured by the encircling hills. Its pebbly shores are familiar to the angler while its placid surface and pituresque surroundings are suggestive of rest and tranquility.

Watatic Pond on the stream below Ward pond is similar in outline but smaller in area. It lies partly in Ashby, but the greater portion is in this town. Near these two ponds were the homes of several of the earliest settlers of Dorchester Canada.

In addition to these natural bodies of water, which for centuries have enlivened the landscape and mirrored in their crystal waters each passing bird and the overhanging hills, there are many reservoirs or artificial ponds in this town. Maintained by the work and for the convenience of man they are perishable and unless the barriers are constantly renewed the waters will again flow within the banks of the natural features of the town.

The prevailing arboral products are white pine, spruce, hemlock, maple, birch and beach. These are found in all parts of the town. In the original forests the heaviest growth of the deciduous varieties was found in the southeast part of the town, while the soft woods were in greater abundance in the northern and western portions of the town. The red oak, chestnut, white and black ash, hard pine, juniper or tamarack, fir balsam, basswood, leverwood and hornbeam are native here. The elm, black cherry and white oak are found in small quantity. The white willow, poplar and gray birch are possibly of secondary growth and are constantly increasing in quantity. The moosewood, with its large, broad leaves, flourishes beneath the shade of the forests. Black alder, bearing red berries, is seen upon the roadside, and tag alder

lines the shore of the brooks and the margin of the lowlands. Red and poison sumac, or dogwood are rare. Clusters of withe, whitewood, witch and nut hazel, and laurel are found in many places. A few locust – two varieties – butternut or white walnut, and Lombardy poplar have flourished as shade trees, but are not natives here.

The town originally was heavily wooded. The denizens of the dense forests included a variety of animals common to the locality. In the early progress of the settlement the black bear forsook his favorite haunts without thought of contest or show of resistance. A coward both by instinct and habit he fled at the approach of man. But every solitary bear that since has made a hasty circuit of the town has lived perennial tradition and has immortalized every man or woman who chanced to behold the fugitive presence. Very few of the early settlers ever beheld the countenance of a living bear. Habitually his face was directed the other way and his eye was ever resting on some distant point he desired to visit. The wolf in early times was more numerous and troublesome. Fifty years ago they had not entirely disappeared.

Deer, Moose and in the last fifteen years coyote, fisher cat, lynx and though rarely in the past, reports of mountain lion with a lingering suspicion of their continued presence.

Traces of beaver dams are not yet wholly obliterated but the builders abruptly refused to labor in competition with man. The track of the otter is yet seen occasionally in the new fallen snow and the mink still inhabits along the courses of the streams. Muskrats with little fear of man continue to build their round moundlike houses in the shallow water of the ponds. Foxes, fed by the garbage of civilization, and the woodchuck, partial to the succulent vegetation of cultivated fields, are probably as numerous as at any former period. The several varieties of squirrels, the hare and the coney rabbit, while limited in the area of their possesions, are relatively numerous. Occasionally the sleepy porcupine is found in his quiet home in a hollow tree and the raccoon visits

The birds found here are such as are common to the latitude, and other conditions of the town. The melodies that greeted the morning light in the solitudes of the original forests are our delight at the present time. The thrush and the sparrow, first to confide in the mercy of men and nest near the hamlets of the clearing, if not as numerous as formerly, are still the welcome visitors of the summer-time. The red-headed woodpecker, whose animated rappings broke the stillness of the forest, was frequently seen in former years but is now extinct, while the imported sparrow has found its way hither from the seaboard. The wild goose, the black and gray duck, of migratory habits, visit the ponds in their spring and autumn transits. The wood and dipper duck not unfrequently nest here, and can be found in their retreats during the summer and autumn. The loon or northern diver (Colymbus glacialis) during the summer months and early autumn is daily seen floating upon the lakes or is heard calling his mate during a flight between the ponds. They frequently nest upon the islands in Upper Naukeag. The wild pigeon is less abundant than formerly, while the sonorous whistle of the quail (Ortyx virginianus) is sometimes heard, but this bird seldom nests in this latitude. Partridges (Tetras umbellus, or the Bonasa umbellus of Linnaeus) are abundant, and the loud whirring sound of their wings, as they burst away at the approach of visitors to their haunts, and their animated drumming in the forest continue to attest to their familiar presence. Wild turkeys, albeit the variety reintroduced from that country, have made a strong resurgence. Crows in abundance and of good size, blue jays in great number and mourning doves in fair amount reside year round.

The lakes, reservoirs and rivulets of this town abound in fish peculiar to the waters of this vicinity. So far as known, none of the natives of these waters have become extinct. The black bass, land-locked salmon and lake trout are of recent and artificial introduction. The brook, or spotted

trout, fond of shade and cool water, have been disturbed in their favorite haunts by the removal of the forests, and are less numerous than formerly. The name and characteristics of the habitants of the lakes and brooks of this town familiar to all, yet the following list may be of interest at some future time:

The pickerel (Esox reticulatus); brook trout (Salmo fontinalis); perch (Perva flavescens); shiner (Stilbe chrysolencas); bream or sunfish (Pomotis vulgaris); chub or cheven (Leuciscus chephalus); black sucker (Catostomus); chub sucker, another of the same genus; the minnow, or minum, a very small fish, and a specie of Leuciscus; cat fish or horned pout (Pimelodus catus). The common eel (Anguilla tenuirostris), and the lamprey eel, a specie of the Petromyzon, although rare, are sometimes taken from the ponds.

The most prominent elevation is Great Watatic. Its rounded summit is one thousand eight hundred and forty-seven feet above tide water. This grand and lofty tower on the line of the water-shed, is symmetrical in its form and imposing in its presence, and with grim visage it overlooks the hamlets in the northeast part of the town. In a right line and a mile nearer the old common, is Little Watatic, of similar form and softened outlines. An earlier orthography of these mountains, was Wautatuck. Blood hill, south of great Watatic, and on the line of Ashby, in the morning light, casts its fretted shadow over the lakes at its base and around its crest the rainbow appears in the lingering rain of an evening shower. Across the intervening valley at the south, is the plateau of Russell hill, once heavily wooded, and now the seat of productive farms. Jewell hill, near at hand, is a sturdy watch-tower on the limits of the town.

Mount Hunger. If its name and sterility are suggestive of famine, its situation near the lake is a safeguard against thirst. And on the line of the water-shed, in Meeting-house hill, which commands an extensive view of the surrounding country. Here our fathers literally went up to worship, and early called it “a hill with a very fair prospect.” Brown hill, and the ridges in the northwest part of town, and other elevations, on which are houses and cultivated fields, would be styled mountains amid surroundings less grand and lofty.

The altitude of the town, and the bold and rugged outlines of the landscape, are the elements of scenery unsurpassed in beauty and grandeur. These features of nature are a living inspiration and enjoyment to all who inhabit here, and treasured among golden memories are the visions of matchless sublimity which delighted the childhood and youth of every absent son and daughter of Ashburnham.